July 28, 2007 - "Rome-ancing the Mouse Cruisers" -11 days!

[Aurora1959]

I always new Disney people were great!

We got into the DVC last summer through a friend. We had been trying for a while, but all they were selling was Saratoga Springs. We had to wait until it was legal for them to sell it in CA before we could join. So far though, we've never been to Florida. We used up about 350 points this year to take my Mom and Dad on a 4 day trip to Disneyland for my Mom's 50th Birthday. She has to wait 10 more years to go for her 60th before I do it again.

We can't wait until next July. We'll be staying in cabin 6030. We ended up with Late seating, even though I booked early. I am going to have to call and ask them about that.

You're going to laugh when you here how I found this board. Back when we were just getting clues about the cruise. I kept guessing it was the Med. So I searched 'Disney Mediterranean Cruise' in google. And, one of the links I got was to a thread here where people were guessing the same thing. I started reading, learned about secret sections of the ship, things like that. Of course, my friend Naomi, who has cruised more times than I have fingers, knew all those things already.

Kids are in bed - time to keep reading.

Carrie

 

[AJDonn]

Carrie, welcome to our little band of nutty Dis cruisers!

Glad to have you aboard.

 

[Pixie Dust II]

Didn't someone say earlier that airfare to Barcelone from Florida raised nearly $1,000 after Disney announced they were taking the Magic there?

We too were thinking of an earlier trip in and going to Paris prior to the cruise and I know you can usually beat Disney's price on airfare, but they do guarantee you will be there on time for the cruise. There was one time if we had not booked air with Disney we would not have been there on time because of weather problems. I know this would not be the case in July, but with the distance involved, and with my luck the airline would go on strike before my flight---I just don't know! Still thinking!!!

It was easy for us to book this cruise as we were on the ship the week prior to release and they let us pre-book and they called us instead of us being tied up on the phone to call them so that part worked out well---got our cabins we wanted with discount and on board credit too.

Looking forward to meeting everyone!

 

[MrsG]

We'll see you there - Maryann and Tom Graziano. It's to celebrate our 40th Wedding Anniversary!

 

[MrsG]

We'll see you there - Maryann and Tom Graziano. It's to celebrate our 30th Wedding Anniversary!

 

[AnnaS]

Welcome Maryanne and Tom

what a great way to celebrate.

Are you from Long Island? Any thoughts on where you will be flying from? With or without DCL air?

Just curious and keeping us on page - list is growing

 

[benspock]

We are all booked. Cat 5 room. This will be our second cruise. The first was a 7 day Western Carib two years ago as DVC members. There will be four of us including our two teenage kids. Our son will be celebrating his 18th birthday on 7/28 on board. Hope to meet some of you when we sail. Love these cruises.

 

[Aurora1959]

I thought I would add to the book reviews. So far I have Rick Steve's France, Italy, and Great Britain 2006. I've mostly been reading the Great Britain book, and so far I've found it very educational. He goes into a lot of detail on how to get around in the country, what to expect as far as pounds to dollars, etc. He actually also suggests that if you are going from the UK to DLP, that you take the train that goes straight there.

My only complaint about the book is that he only focuses on things on his route. If there is something specific that you want to see, it is a possibility that he wont have any mention of it in his books. I will keep reading on Great Britain, then start reading about France and Italy.

I also picked up a 4th book - Authentic Sardinia by the Touring Club of Italy I know we are only going to Olbia, but so far I really like this book. It breaks down into categories, not regions. So it talks about Heritage, Beaches, Itineraries, Food, Shopping, Events, Wellness, and Practical Info. In each section it then talks about the various cities. For each city, it gives you a short index with how to jump around.
For Example: You can start to learn about Olbia's heritage on page 43. In the lower left corner you then see,
Beaches page 81
Intineraries page 96, 99
Food, page 120, 125, 127, 131
Shopping page 139, 140
Events page 146
Wellness page 154-155
Practical Info page 171, 182

I have to say that I really like this books layouts, pictures, and information. I haven't read a whole lot, except about the heritage and food. But I'm interested in finding a book on Italy by this publisher.

As I read more, if anyone wants I can give a full detailed analysis of any of the books I have, or get.

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

Didn't someone say earlier that airfare to Barcelone from Florida raised nearly $1,000 after Disney announced they were taking the Magic there?

We too were thinking of an earlier trip in and going to Paris prior to the cruise and I know you can usually beat Disney's price on airfare,
Looking forward to meeting everyone!

Consider going by London lots of flights and options as London is a bit further it would be effected by any DCL demand, plus with a lot of competition the prices stay low. Its a busy route London/USA trans atlantic so you get good planes and everyone is after your custom.

From Londson stay for a couple of days, Eurostar Train direct under the channel Direct to DLP is a great experience, it stops under Downtown Disney, then either Plane from Charles De Gaul Paris or Train to Spain!

Plane London/Barcelona is about two hours and quick and either a good add on, BA might allow you a free stop over in London, or many cheaper airlines run this service.

If you are coming over its worth a few days when you are this side of the big pond!

 

[disneylover5]

We are all booked. Cat 5 room. This will be our second cruise. The first was a 7 day Western Carib two years ago as DVC members. There will be four of us including our two teenage kids. Our son will be celebrating his 18th birthday on 7/28 on board. Hope to meet some of you when we sail. Love these cruises.

We are traveling in a large group. We have 2 turning 18 while we cruise. Daniel will 18 on Aug 3rd and Sammy (female) will be 18 on Aug 4th. The kids want to go to a bar at whatever stop we are at for Sammy's birthday (they will both be 18 then).....does anyone know the legal drinking age in Italy?

 

[AJDonn]

Just wanted to throw out a howdy to all the new posters. Welcome! Son we may have enough cruisers to have a successful mutiny if we wanted to.

 

[Aurora1959]

From Londson stay for a couple of days, Eurostar Train direct under the channel Direct to DLP is a great experience, it stops under Downtown Disney, then either Plane from Charles De Gaul Paris or Train to Spain!

Andrew - can you give any personal opinions on the trains there? I understand that in Europe there are many transit companies to choose from, or at least many different companies to get your tickets from. Is one better than another?

Thanks in advance for any advice you can give.

 

[chipscinderelly]

Consider going by London lots of flights and options as London is a bit further it would be effected by any DCL demand, plus with a lot of competition the prices stay low. Its a busy route London/USA trans atlantic so you get good planes and everyone is after your custom.

From Londson stay for a couple of days, Eurostar Train direct under the channel Direct to DLP is a great experience, it stops under Downtown Disney, then either Plane from Charles De Gaul Paris or Train to Spain!

Plane London/Barcelona is about two hours and quick and either a good add on, BA might allow you a free stop over in London, or many cheaper airlines run this service.

If you are coming over its worth a few days when you are this side of the big pond!

Great advice - thanks!

Just a reminder for those of us from North America to be sure and check the baggage allowances if you fly between countries in Europe after coming across the pond - it can be less than our domestic allowances.

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

Andrew - can you give any personal opinions on the trains there? I understand that in Europe there are many transit companies to choose from, or at least many different companies to get your tickets from. Is one better than another?

Thanks in advance for any advice you can give.

From London to Paris there is only one train service Eurostar, it is excllent and kids love it, we have lots of trains we tend to say UK trains are not very good but they are getting better all the time and around London there are three types Tube (the underground) its generally good, but has its bad days, Suburban trains, overland but local services, good apart from rush hours, and network rail /intercity, generally good Virgin the best.

In France the TGV service is excllent, fast reliabile and very good indeed, Paris Metro, like our Tube, but not as deep, is relaible, someone posted earlier about a train from Paris to Spain I think from one of the main Paris terminals not DLP, I think is an overnight Spainsih service. The french have far better trains than us, they have invested in straight fast trains, very good, Our only one is Eurostar, which actaully currently is a converted French TGV, but for the Oylimpics we will have Bullet train service going through Stratford east London.

The link for Eurostar is below, and that has links to Europe travel and DLP. Eurostars DLP station is under downtown Disney you could not get closer if you tried only one hotel the Disneyland is closer to the parks than DLP station, Marne da vallie-chessy.

http://www.eurostar.com/dynamic/index.jsp

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

Great advice - thanks!

Just a reminder for those of us from North America to be sure and check the baggage allowances if you fly between countries in Europe after coming across the pond - it can be less than our domestic allowances.

This is True Economy on Virgin atlantic 23 kg Europe 20kg and you pay above, if travelling on Virgin in Premium economy or Upperclass its 30kg 2 bags.

Virgin is a great carrier to London from New york, Orlando, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, San Fransisco. Their link:-

http://www.virgin-atlantic.com/en/gb/index.jsp;jsessionid=Be766dUM30orSOHgYjbbo4XFjWWqfIaz4XA1HSuy4UTKIbKP9ACr!-1112292905!174843410!8001!7002

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

Hi everyone!

I haven't visited the thread in awhile, but I've been keeping up with the posts. Welcome to the newbies! So glad you've joined us!

Here's a little catch-up on what's happening with me.

Since the last time I posted, we put on a carnival at our church - St. Anthony Fiesta, & I am on the executive committee, so I was swamped for awhile. I just have to crunch numbers now, so now I have more breathing space.

Also, my ds just graduated from high school, and has been living quite the social life right now. He had a nice graduation, and we ended up driving to the Disneyland Resort and having a celebration dinner at Ralph Brennan's Jazz Kitchen. The food was delicious, the musicians played great music, and the company was very enjoyable - it was a very good day.

My dd is still going to school-last day is this Thursday, and she joined the Life Team at her school. They had a dinner last week to welcome the new members and say goodbye to the old. Again, it was a very nice evening, and I found myself volunteering as chaperone and driver to their events for next year. Another mom joined with me (as long as she doesn't have to drive), so we'll be set to go.

The kids are going with their dad & other family members to Florida for a week (only visiting WDW for a day -- he doesn't really get Disney), but they'll have a blast.

I'm going to DL on June 24th with Tink33 & others to see the pre-Pirates premiere & hopefully watch the stars as they come down the red carpet.

Then we're going camping to Sequoia & Yosemite National Parks.

******


Thanks for all the tips so far. I know that we'll be visiting Asturias, Spain (relatives) and DLP, but not exactly sure what order we're going to do this next year, and not exactly sure when we'll be flying & when we'll be taking the train. I took the train from Madrid to Hamburg back in '81, in what they call a "Litera" car (sleeper car w/4 or 6 bunks, I forget), with a changeover in Paris. It was a neat experience, & I think I'd like my kids to experience a similar train ride, too.

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

Oh, I forgot to add... I think these are the suggestions so far for a name

0728 MEDICATED MAGIC CRUISE
AROUND THE WORLD CRUISERS
MED (OR THE MAGIC IN EUROPE DISNEY CRUISERS)
LATIN MAGIC CRUISERS
ROAMING (ROME-ING) MAGIC CRUISERS

Did I capture them all?

Here's a few suggestions from me -

MAGICAL DISERS ON THE MED
MAGICAL MEDITERRANEAN CRUISERS
MAGICAL DIS CRUISERS

Anyone else with suggestions?

 

[tomspixie]

Cool!!! Everything sounds like it is going well MaryJo! Congrats!! Enjoy the early premiere!!! That would be so very exciting!

Here is an idea...not too good...but an attemp, ROME-ANCING THE MOUSE.
Have a great weekend all!

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

Cool!!! Everything sounds like it is going well MaryJo! Congrats!! Enjoy the early premiere!!! That would be so very exciting!

Here is an idea...not too good...but an attemp, ROME-ANCING THE MOUSE.
Have a great weekend all!

Like that

 

[jlawall]

Thx to all, we have a NAME!! Thx to Andrew for the idea and Tomspixie for the idea! We're getting closer!............................