June 18, 2011 - 11 Night Mediterranean Sailing from Barcelona

[MadHatterMom2]

I have sent the hotel an email (my contacts are Noelia and Roberta) to see what they recommend for getting a bunch of us to port on 6/18. I looked at the most current list and it looks like there are 29 of us staying there. I will let you know what I find out.

 

[MadHatterMom2]

For those staying at Casp74, here's an update. I got an email back from the hotel and they can arrange a bus to take us all to the port on 6/18. The bus holds 50 people and costs 225 euro (including taxes).

I got out the list originally put together by hygienist999 on 1/15 and here's what I have for Casp74:

JulieWent (3)
Calfan (4)
GeorgeY (5)
CaliforniaGirl09 (4)
jmatias (5)
rach7 (4)
MadHatterMom2 (me-4)

So far, a total of 29 people. That would work out to a little less than 7 euro per person - UNLESS there are more people who want to join, then the price would come down.

Let me know what you think!

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

I think we're probably going to try to take a cab because we want to get there very early. I'll let you know if we change out minds . . .

 

[GeorgeY]

Hello Everyone,

I have bad news, well not really really bad, but we have to change our cruise date. With payment date tomorrow we are going to call and see what we can get into for a later cruise. We knew for over a week now, and tried to reschedule our personal conflict, but it just isn't going to happen.

We REALLY wanted to travel with everyone in this group, everyone seems interesting and nice, and the range of ages of the kids seem to work with our kids ages. I would have loved to have met you all at CASP74.

For those that may need it, I am cancelling CASP74 -3bedroom for June 16-18.
Also we will be giving up Cabins 6528 and 6530 (First cabins on Right Side, connecting( if anyone wants to grab them.

I sincerely wish all of you a great cruise and safe trip.

Wish us luck in getting some good cabins on another cruise, and hopefully some good fellow cruisers.

George

 

[jns]

Hello Everyone,

I have bad news, well not really really bad, but we have to change our cruise date. With payment date tomorrow we are going to call and see what we can get into for a later cruise. We knew for over a week now, and tried to reschedule our personal conflict, but it just isn't going to happen.

We REALLY wanted to travel with everyone in this group, everyone seems interesting and nice, and the range of ages of the kids seem to work with our kids ages. I would have loved to have met you all at CASP74.

For those that may need it, I am cancelling CASP74 -3bedroom for June 16-18.
Also we will be giving up Cabins 6528 and 6530 (First cabins on Right Side, connecting( if anyone wants to grab them.

I sincerely wish all of you a great cruise and safe trip.

Wish us luck in getting some good cabins on another cruise, and hopefully some good fellow cruisers.

George

sorry to see you go
hopefully you can cruise again soon

FE list updated Here

 

[JulieWent]

Mad Hatter Mom! Thanks for contacting the hotel. It sounds like our price will go up a little because some won't be going with us, but I am very willing to join up in a group to pay. Count us in (there are three of us). Not having to get a cab and mess with transportation is worth a bit to us.

Julie

 

[Calfan]

For those staying at Casp74, here's an update. I got an email back from the hotel and they can arrange a bus to take us all to the port on 6/18. The bus holds 50 people and costs 225 euro (including taxes).

I got out the list originally put together by hygienist999 on 1/15 and here's what I have for Casp74:

JulieWent (3)
Calfan (4)
GeorgeY (5)
CaliforniaGirl09 (4)
jmatias (5)
rach7 (4)
MadHatterMom2 (me-4)

So far, a total of 29 people. That would work out to a little less than 7 euro per person - UNLESS there are more people who want to join, then the price would come down.

Let me know what you think!

MadHatterMom2: Thanks so much for doing this legwork. Count us in for the bus as well!

 

[MadHatterMom2]

Calfan and JulieWent - I'll will start a "bus list". If we can get at least 20 or so people to go, I think it makes sense to hire the bus. Also, as we get closer to the cruise date, I'm sure more people will join the boards/reserve at Casp74.

 

[*WDW*Groupie*]

I wish I could join everyone on the bus. However we booked our hotel (Le Meridien) on points. Between the cost of the cruise and the ABD add on, we could not have done this trip without the airfare and pre-cruise hotel stay on points!

I have rearranged our flights so that we land in Barcelona on the 15th around 11:00am. So we will have 2+ days to explore the city! Can't wait to try authentic Tapas!

I picked out 2 travel guides so I can educate myself a bit before the trip! Starting to get excited!

 

[2PrincesseInTow]

I wish I could join everyone on the bus. However we booked our hotel (Le Meridien) on points. Between the cost of the cruise and the ABD add on, we could not have done this trip without the airfare and pre-cruise hotel stay on points!

I have rearranged our flights so that we land in Barcelona on the 15th around 11:00am. So we will have 2+ days to explore the city! Can't wait to try authentic Tapas!

I picked out 2 travel guides so I can educate myself a bit before the trip! Starting to get excited!

My DD's and I are also at Le Meridien arriving Tuesday. The rest of our group arrives Friday.

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

Hello Everyone,

I have bad news, well not really really bad, but we have to change our cruise date. With payment date tomorrow we are going to call and see what we can get into for a later cruise. We knew for over a week now, and tried to reschedule our personal conflict, but it just isn't going to happen.
George

Sorry to hear you had to switch your cruise, I'll cross my fingers you find something great!

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

I've spent the entire day researching and trying to figure out our port excursions since our booking window will be opening up soon. Here's where I am so far--if anyone has been on any of these I'd love to hear feedback.

These are all through Disney except where noted.
1. Valetta: Turkish Schooner, Gozo Experience, or Blue Grotto Boat trip
2. Palermo: not up yet, but looking at previous years possibly Boat Ride to Zingaro Park, Selinute and Marinella or Erice and Segesta
3. Naples: private tour
4. Civitavecchia: private vehicle rental through Disney (anyone done this?) or private tour.
5. La Spezia: Portofino and Santa Margherita, Pisa Climb and Tour, or Lerici's Castle and Dinosaurs.
6. Ajaccio: Sweet Corsica or Panoramic Drive and Beach Break
7. Villefranche: Nice and Eze with wine and cheese or Perfumer's Apprentice

And speaking of feedback. I was hoping to find a sticky with Port Adventures/Excursions but didn't see anything. Here is a short list of some of the threads that I found (some more helpful than others). If any of you have any others, I'd appreciate more links. Thanks!

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2632033
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2492334
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2531857
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2559208
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2482707
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2409217
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2464929
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2470021
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2465490
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2474712
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2538173 (excursions on your own)

 

[JulieWent]

Glad I'm not the only one looking at excursions. Here's what I'm thinking for us:

1. Valetta -- Blue Grotto. (Asked my boys about the Schooner, but both thought the grotto sounded fun.)
2. Palermo????
3. Naples -- 1/2 day trip to either Herculenaeum or Pompeii. Don't want to be completely worn out for Rome.
4. Rome -- private tour guide
5. LaSpezia -- Into Florence -- the tour that goes into the art museums.
Not sure about the rest. I think we'll do the wine and cheese tour in France, but still negotiating.

Who else has plans?

Julie

 

[lmb]

So far I have:
Malta: Blue grotto and then walking around town and hitting some of the following: St John's co-cath, toy museum, Cassa Rocca Piccolo, Upper Barracca gardens; Waterfront)
Naples: Private tour to Pompeii, Sorrento, Positano
Rome: Private tour
Corsica: Walk to beach 10 min from port - chill day!
Villafranche; Nice and Eze with wine and cheese
I'd love to get into Florence but the kids but we're still working on that...

 

[jns]

Julie or imb can you tell me more about the private tour you are doing in Rome please

 

[lmb]

We're using Rome in Limo. It's about 9 hrs and includes a trip to the vatican. The base price was 550 euros and it comes down to 500 E if you book another tour with RIL at another port. We opted for a private guide in the vatican and coliseum for 200 euros more. A private guide in the vatican would have been 150 more.

 

[lmb]

oh, and the cost doesn't include any admission tickets. It will be an expensive day but we'll do some less expensive days at other ports.

 

[jns]

Thanks for the info
must look into it

 

[MadHatterMom2]

Here are the port excursions I'm thinking about at this point:

Valletta - DCL tour Valletta for Kids, although I may do this port on our own
Palmermo - No idea - we'll do this one on our own
Naples - Private tour through Tour of Italy
Rome - still deciding whether or not to attempt on our own
Florence - still deciding between Cinque Terre and Lucca/Pisa
Ajaccio - On our own, probably a low-key day
Villefranche - DCL tour of the Car Museum

It's amazing that we are thinking about port excursions and that we can actually book them pretty soon. Yay!

 

[makaylee]

Just wanted to stop in and say Hello!! We just booked this cruise last week and are very excited. We did the same one last year and it was a blast!

If anyone has any questions I can try to answer them for you, I don't have a great memory, but my dh does.