June 18, 2011 - 11 Night Mediterranean Sailing from Barcelona

[CaliforniaGirl09]

We're still waiting four our VGT GTY Veranda rooms--we have two staterooms booked. I keep checking but nothing yet.

 

[carolinagirls]

Was wondering if many of us are waiting for GTY staterooms ?
we have a Restrictions Category VGT, GTY verandah booked

I really don't mind where on the ship we are put , but it dosen't stop me looking every few days

We still are waiting for GTY also (verandah). I also don't care where we are...just excited to have a verandah.

http://www.wdwinfo.com/images/smilies/banana.gif

 

[ga9497]

GTY verandah here too
Hopefully we will get our room numbers soon

 

[lexlaw69]

Did you do any Disney excursions? If so, which ones, and what were your opinions about them?

In general I am against the Disney excursions. I did a short trip report about my experiences last year on the board somewhere. If you are traveling with more than 2 or 3 it usually is more cost effective to rent private transport or even a limo. We often left (sometimes hours) after the DCL tour, beat them to the location, spent more time there and beat them back. It just seems like you are always waiting for the slowest or stupidist one on the tours....and you end up seeing less.

The hardest part was pacing ourselves and overdoing it. The 11 day cruise is the best because you have a sea day to break up things. We were exhausted after some of the ports and on our return we will do less in some locations and more in others.

We traveled with a 2 year old which we loved but it was difficult at times.

Quick Rundown...thoughts:

Malta - totally easy to do on your own. Take taxi to top of hill then make decisions about what to do. Hop on hop off bus available. Good beach day; easy lunch in town; horse and buggy ride was great (negotiate at the top of the hill not at the bottom).

Naples - we used "rome in limo" great service. 350 euros for mercedes van to take us anywhere we wanted. I would NOT go back to the family restaurant associated with the tour. The food was OK, the view was GREAT but I would have rather done something else. We saw Positano and Pompeii - loved both. Lots of work....Pompeii is hard work.

Rome - I don't know why people take the DCL tour, nor do I know why people take a private tour from the boat. It is cheap and easy to get to Rome. From there you have a million tour options from self guided, to accompanied tour guide, hop on hop off, etc. I have a Roman Seafood restaurant recomendation if you want one.

Tunisia - whoops - sorry history. Really regret that this is not an option.

Florence - one of the pricier stops by private and DCL tour. We negotiated with a taxi at the port. I think we paid about 250 euros. Taxi's and their drivers are fairly professional with nice cars in Italy....that was my experience.

Corsica - one of my favorite stops. The biggest surprise in terms of enjoyment we (and others) had on the cruise. There is an amazing open air market right off the boat. You need to get their relatively early. Had a wonderful meal of deli meats, olives, cheese and pizza. One of the best I had in Europe and the picture of what I thought europe would be. Also - get a Corsican knife - they are awesome.

Nice/Monte Carlo - we took the DCL Eze and wine and cheese tasting. Eze is beautiful. Wine and cheese tour sucked (waiting 20 - 30 minutes while glasses are refiled x3). Always waiting on the slowest of the pack.

Happy to answer questions....

 

[lornak]

I received a new confirmation from DCL today and I thought I would post the current schedule in case anyone has missed the changes:

Cruise Itinerary

Day Date Port Ashore Onboard

Saturday 18-Jun-2011 BARCELONA 4:00 PM

Sunday 19-Jun-2011 AT SEA

Monday 20-Jun-2011 MALTA 8:30 AM 6:00 PM

Tuesday 21-Jun-2011 PALERMO 8:00 AM 4:00 PM

Wednesday 22-Jun-2011 CIVITAVECCHIA 7:45 AM 9:00 PM

Thursday 23-Jun-2011 NAPLES 8:30 AM 7:00 PM

Friday 24-Jun-2011 AT SEA

Saturday 25-Jun-2011 LA SPEZIA 7:30 AM 7:30 PM TENDER

Sunday 26-Jun-2011 AJACCIO 7:30 AM 5:00 PM

Monday 27-Jun-2011 VILLEFRANCHE 8:00 AM 7:00 PM TENDER

Tuesday 28-Jun-2011 AT SEA

Wednesday 29-Jun-2011 BARCELONA 7:00 AM

I am a little concerned about the change in Palermo. We are signed up for the "Salinunte and Marinella" excursion. But it says it is a 2 hour drive each way with 75 minutes at Salinunte, another 15 minute drive, lunch and 3 hours in Marinella. There is no way to make that work with the current schedule! Does anyone have feedback on what they think will get cut? We are taking this excursion to see Salinunte. My husband is a high school English teacher and he does an entire unit on Greek mythology. He really wants to see the "home" of Perseus and Medusa! But I'm wondering if there is a better way to do this? Or if 4 hours on a bus is just too much time to "waste".

 

[ga9497]

Just received my flight details from DCL - wohoo they have put us on a non-stop flight. Since we booked this cruise less then two months ago DCL 's airfare prices were better than booking directly with the airline. The flight they put us on would have cost us $300 more per person if we had booked it directly

Now waiting for our room assignment

Less then 60 days to go

 

[stampinot]

I am wondering what excursions people are taking-they look pretty expensive. Does anyone have any tricks of the trade?
The other thing are people doing the Fish EXtender?
I would love to read through this thread, but i am on the disney cruise wehre it is taking hours to load. Any help is appreciated.

 

[lexlaw69]

In general I am against the Disney excursions. I did a short trip report about my experiences last year on the board somewhere. If you are traveling with more than 2 or 3 it usually is more cost effective to rent private transport or even a limo. We often left (sometimes hours) after the DCL tour, beat them to the location, spent more time there and beat them back. It just seems like you are always waiting for the slowest or stupidist one on the tours....and you end up seeing less.

The hardest part was pacing ourselves and overdoing it. The 11 day cruise is the best because you have a sea day to break up things. We were exhausted after some of the ports and on our return we will do less in some locations and more in others.

We traveled with a 2 year old which we loved but it was difficult at times.

Quick Rundown...thoughts:

Malta - totally easy to do on your own. Take taxi to top of hill then make decisions about what to do. Hop on hop off bus available. Good beach day; easy lunch in town; horse and buggy ride was great (negotiate at the top of the hill not at the bottom).

Naples - we used "rome in limo" great service. 350 euros for mercedes van to take us anywhere we wanted. I would NOT go back to the family restaurant associated with the tour. The food was OK, the view was GREAT but I would have rather done something else. We saw Positano and Pompeii - loved both. Lots of work....Pompeii is hard work.

Rome - I don't know why people take the DCL tour, nor do I know why people take a private tour from the boat. It is cheap and easy to get to Rome. From there you have a million tour options from self guided, to accompanied tour guide, hop on hop off, etc. I have a Roman Seafood restaurant recomendation if you want one.

Tunisia - whoops - sorry history. Really regret that this is not an option.

Florence - one of the pricier stops by private and DCL tour. We negotiated with a taxi at the port. I think we paid about 250 euros. Taxi's and their drivers are fairly professional with nice cars in Italy....that was my experience.

Corsica - one of my favorite stops. The biggest surprise in terms of enjoyment we (and others) had on the cruise. There is an amazing open air market right off the boat. You need to get their relatively early. Had a wonderful meal of deli meats, olives, cheese and pizza. One of the best I had in Europe and the picture of what I thought europe would be. Also - get a Corsican knife - they are awesome.

Nice/Monte Carlo - we took the DCL Eze and wine and cheese tasting. Eze is beautiful. Wine and cheese tour sucked (waiting 20 - 30 minutes while glasses are refiled x3). Always waiting on the slowest of the pack.

Happy to answer questions....

 

[ga9497]

shore excursions are great if you have never been to the areas and don't like to venture out on your own.

That being said going into the cities on your can save you a lot of money and be on your own time

I can't stress enough that if you do go on your own plan on being back on the ship 2 hours before the all aboard time. This will give you some cushion time if you should run into delays especially where you have to take trains. The ship doesn't wait for people that went off on their own. They do wait if a ship tour is delayed

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

I am wondering what excursions people are taking-they look pretty expensive.

We are doing mostly Disney excursions (although because of the port time changes, I'm contemplating changing a few) and you are right: they are very expensive. I know we could do it ourselves for much cheaper, but we decided to go with Disney mostly to avoid the planning and stress of missing the boat. I'm sure waiting for people will be a hassle, but hopefully it won't be too painful.

Here's what we have booked with Disney:

Malta: Turkish Schooner
Palermo: Day on the Farm
Villefranche: Nice and Eze with Wine and Cheese
Corsica: Nature Walk at Iles Sanguinaires
Rome: Jumping Back into Eternal Rome
La Spieze: Portofino and Santa Margherita

Private Tour: Naples

 

[Angie_Ohio]

We are doing all the ports on our own. I have been researching off and on for a looooong time. I have read many trip reports and been inspired to go for it. I again recommend reading the TR from Disneyfalcon who describes ports on your own. I prefer to spend my money on the cruise itself. If I had more I would probably do the private tours. I also am not a fan of waiting for people who I have no familial ties to, especially when they are causing me to wait. If they're family what are ya gonna do.

I am sooo excited there are no words.

 

[stampinot]

a tour since we cannot speak the language and do not know where to go. Does anyone know of any private touring companies to save money?
Also, how much money to do you bring on a cruise like this. Should we be getting Euros?

 

[ga9497]

a tour since we cannot speak the language and do not know where to go. Does anyone know of any private touring companies to save money?
Also, how much money to do you bring on a cruise like this. Should we be getting Euros?

I have found that in the tourist areas of a country, main train stations that see many different nationalities comes trough there, etc. that most people speak enough english to get by

I also have found that most of the private tour companies that meet you at the port charge a lot of money. Yes you are on your own time rather than the ship tour time but still not a big savings unless you share the tour.

For Rome I would suggest getting into Rome on your own with the train for 9 or 10 euros per person round trip. Check www.roninrome.com for detailed information. You can then hire a guide to meet you somewhere in Rome for a lot less then what they would charge you if they had to pick you up in Civitavecchia. One of the companies I used for a walking tour is www.romewalks.com I was staying in Rome and the guide met us at our hotel and then proceeded to go on our day tour

We had hired a guide for the day in Paris for 100 Euros he met us at the train station and took us all around Paris, tailored to our needs, and back to the train station at the end of the day. We took the chunnel train in from London for the day so we had limited time in the citya and didn't want to waste time figuring out how to go from point A to point B. It was well worth it

Do some searches on google, cruisecritic, tripadvisor for walking guide tours and you will come up with a lot of options. I would start contacting people now as we are less than 60 days from the ship start date and guides get hired well in advance

On the main boards there is a thread titled Med ports on your own 2011 (I think that is how it is titled) and has a lot of information that may be useful to you

 

[ga9497]

Anyone on a GTY receive their room assignment yet?

56 days to go

 

[jns]

Anyone on a GTY receive their room assignment yet?

56 days to go

none here either

 

[hygienist999]

I've been so busy with my son being a senior in High School and all that goes with that to think about this trip. My goodness it is getting close and so much to do.

I will really be motivated after next week. My husband and I are going down to Disney World for a long weekend. I plan to get a few things to take on the cruise while there.

The major stuff is done, like hotel rooms, airfare, and all of our excursions are booked (thru Disney). I just hope I don't regret some of the excursions I booked based on their length of time.

Soon the Magic will begin!!!!

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

Anyone on a GTY receive their room assignment yet?

Nope, just checked. Hoping for an upgrade to the Disney suite (just kidding ).

 

[2PrincesseInTow]

Just ordered my FE things. Nothing crafty this time. I'm going with useful and disposable. I also am justifying the space they take up in the luggage with being replaced by the souvenirs the girls will simply need to buy.

Getting very excited!!!!

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

Just ordered my FE things.

How funny, I was looking at FE things today, too! I'm not crafty, so it will definitely be store bought items for me. How many did you order? I was holding off since we haven't finalized the list yet, right?

 

[hygienist999]

I've got to get started on my FE items also. I've bought a good bit, but need to find where I stored it.

I need to get all of my door magnets printed out too. I'm really excited about decorating the door and participating in the FE. I've been on 3 other Disney cruises and have never done this before.