June 18, 2011 - 11 Night Mediterranean Sailing from Barcelona

[JulieWent]

Hi all! Haven't dropped by this site in awhile, but I've been watching this year's Med cruises and have started getting excited. Welcome, George! It looks like you have children who are somewhat close in ages to some of ours. (My son will be 15 -- almost 16 -- when we cruise.)

I have started working on our pre-cruise experience, and I'm hoping that when airfares start coming out for June, 2011 in a few months that they stay at about the same rates they are at right now. (April, 2011 right now -- ATL to London is $845! Last time we flew the same schedule, it was $1300.) Hoping that our frequent flier miles with take care of the trip from London to Barcelona. Also hoping that British Airways can get its act together by next summer since it flies the best schedules.

Anyway, I really like the Blue Lagoon excursion on Malta. All the reports about it have been great. I've been disappointed with reports of Tunisian excursions, but I'm hoping that Disney will tweak these a bit. (Right now, I think I'd like to look at the 4X4 trip into the Berber villages.) I'm still watching what people have to say about Naples / Pompeii. I'm debating whether going on a Disney excursion will be better there or if hiring a private excursion is better. I'm leaning towards going with Disney right now. Rome -- I'm still convinced our family will do better with a private excursion here. The price won't be that much higher, and I think we'll get to see exactly what we want to see at our pace. LaSpezia??? Who knows? Same with France and Corsica. I'm hoping that people will start commenting on these locations more thoroughly.

What are you all thinking about? Have you noticed anything in the reviews that might help?

Okay, we have a little time. But it's fun thinking.

Julie

 

[GeorgeY]

We are thinking that if Disney does the Adventures by disney package again, we may do that. I feel comfortable withe having it all included. but I am also waiting to get reviews of it from this year.

I think we are going to also take a little side trip to London after the cruise. The kids have never been there and we feel like if we are already in Europe, we might as well. Plus we can get an early afternoon flight afte the cruise and not have to rush off the boat to make a morning flight back to the US.

George

 

[JulieWent]

George,

I agree that the ABD stuff sounds interesting. But I'm so darned picky about exactly what I want to do this time.

We went on an ABD trip to London and Paris (see earlier post), and we loved it. I think the tour showed us the perfect things in both cities.

That said, though, we are itching to go back and spend some time in London again. We're probably going to go pre-cruise, though. That will give us a little time to get over our jet lag before the cruise and the ports that we haven't seen before, and we'll get to explore. We want to spend a day at the British Museum. (It's not part of the ABD tour of London, and we only got a little time there last trip.) We also want to take in a play at the Globe. (I'll admit it: I'm an English teacher. The rest of my family has to put up with me.) Other than that we want to stay on the banks of the Thames and wander around the city without an itinerary. (We were glad for ABD's itinerary and their extraordinary planning. We just think we're ready to do some exploring of London on our own now.)

By the time we spend three or four days in London, we should be ready to take on the rest of the Med.

I'm looking forward to what everyone has to say about the ABD tours, too, though. I'm surprised no one has posted anything yet.

Julie

 

[JulieWent]

Hey everyone! Check your cruise price! Just got an email from my Dreams Unlimited rep, and my price had gone down. (She had gone in to check on insurance policies, and she found this.)

Just wanted to give everyone a heads up.

Julie

 

[GeorgeY]

Julie,

THANK YOU SO MUCH. I went online and repriced my cruise and it is now $3800 cheaper total for the 2 cabins. Of course DCL phones are closed, so I put another reservation on hold overnight with that price, just in case tomorrow the price goes back up.

I am hoping they will reprice my original reservation, and get to keep the $400 onboard credit from booking on the Wonder. I don't know if they will give me the extra 10% off the reprice or not. If they do, then it will be even cheaper, as that $3700 savings is from the original 10%off price.

George

 

[GeorgeY]

Well Disney has great service. I called them and they let me keep everything, my 10% onboard discount, onboard credit. I am now saving $4800 total. I hope everyone is checking this board so they can call before Disney changes the price back up.

Julie,
Thanks again for that info.


George

 

[lornak]

Julie, THANK YOU for the heads up! I too was able to adjust my reservation, keep my 10% discount and my OBC! We have GTY cat 11 reserved (2 of them) and we saved $1300!!!!! I am so excited as I think that just paid for our excursions in Rome and Naples!

 

[JulieWent]

We saved $2850 on our one category 5B (or something like that -- used to be category 6). Anyway, I felt the same way. All night I ran around telling my DH what we had just paid for. (Look! Our flight is taken care of now! Or, Guess what! Our cruise is paid for, completely!) I felt kind of silly. But it was such a nice surprise. Glad you all could take advantage of it too.

Julie

 

[Calfan]

OMG! I just pulled up our reservation details on Dreams Unlimited, and the cost of our Cat. 5A stateroom is now showing $3,440 lower than previously. What a great surprise. Has anyone received any info as to why the prices have gone down? As others have said, this feels like a windfall that can now be spent on excursions, photos, etc.

Laura

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

Add us to the list of cruisers for the 6/18/11 cruise. A HUGE thanks for the head's up on the lower price. I called Disney earlier and ended up saving almost $2000! Thanks also to CalFan for directing me to this thread. We're the family she mentioned earlier that she's traveling with: Me, DH, DS (13) and DD (10). We've been on one cruise with Disney before (Mexico a few years ago) and had a fantastic time. We've traveled with ABD to the Emerald Isle (fantastic) and are also DVC owners (VGC).

As far as excursions . . . haven't started thinking about them yet. I had a friend who did this cruise a year ago and she did a private tour of Rome and recommended it. I'll be watching this thread to learn more from you guys.

HUGE thanks again!

 

[JulieWent]

Once we all get ready to start thinking about it, we might do a poll to see who is interested in private touring in Rome. If we're all interested in the same basic things, we might consider pooling a tour. No pressure, but it might be worth exploring. (We definitely want to do a private tour in Rome and want to see the Vatican and the Coliseum for sure.)

Welcome California Girl!

Julie

 

[lornak]

Guess where we'll all be ONE YEAR from today?? That's right! Boarding the Disney Magic!!

So from now on we can say this cruise is LESS than a year away!!

 

[JulieWent]

Lorna!

Just logged in to post the SAME thing.

(Almost) time to start planning.

Julie

 

[Calfan]

Woo hoo!

 

[lornak]

Lorna!

Just logged in to post the SAME thing.

(Almost) time to start planning.

Julie

Great minds, I guess!!!! I do think this marks the "official" planning season!

 

[pegthelawyer]

Yesterday, we changed our August 2011 Alaska to the June 18 Med!!
We are a family of 6 from Northern california. At the time of the cruise we will be:
Me -Peggy (45) and big planner
DH - Walt - will turn 51 on the ship!
DD -Katie (20)
DS - Jamie (18)
DD - Annie (16)

We are really looking forward to it. It will be our 5th Disney cruise, but our first time in Europe. Hoping to share tips as we get closer.

Peggy

 

[Calfan]

Welcome, Peggy. CaliforniaGirl09 and I are both lawyers (we met in law school), and we are both from Northern California. CaliforniaGirl09 is now a writer, but I am still practicing law. Great to have you aboard. My husband will also be celebrating his birthday (44th) on Day 2 of the cruise. It is actually his birthday today.

 

[JulieWent]

Welcome, Peggy! All these California people. Does it count if I was born in California?

We'll have LOTs of birthday fun on our cruise. I'll be turning 50 onboard. What a great way to spend a birthday.

Julie

 

[JulieWent]

Sorry. Double post again. My computer does this, not me.

 

[hygienist999]

Just booked this trip and we can't wait. This will be the 4th cruise on the Magic for us, although last cruise was 2004. In 2008 we did the ABD of the grand canyon and it was great.

It will be me (Allison - 40yrs. time of cruise)
DH (Roddy - 50)
DD (Meghan 21)
DS (Austin - 19)

It will be our first trip to Europe. We will fly out of Atlanta as we are from Dublin, Georgia. Julie- War Eagle! My husband graduated from Auburn and we have a house on Lake Martin. So we are there a lot.

We want to get there the day before, as others have stated to make sure luggage arrives and to rest. We will probably stay at one of the Disney recommended hotels since they will pick up your luggage and take it to the ship for you.

I read that the Blue Ghotto is a great excursion, but we are truly looking forward to Rome. Wish we had 2 days there.

Glad to get to know everyone here and we are Disney Vacation Club memebers also, since 1999.