June 27, 2013 - Magic in the Med (Venice)

[nzdisneymom]

I was going to ask some of the previous Med cruisers if you opted to do a FE exchange while in the Med. We did one for our Baltic cruise (albeit a small group of maybe 20-25). My Fantasy cruise this summer has over 60 cabins in the FE exchange which is okay for this summer's cruise, but I know I would not want this big of a group for the Med. I think I'm really gonna need to relax as much as I can in between the Med ports.
So how did others manage on the Med ?

We did FE exchanges on both the Med in 2007 and the Baltic in 2010. It's quite a bit different than on Caribbean cruises. We also did one on the Alaska last summer. We had large groups for the Med and the Baltic, medium for Alaska. But it was still fun and no one went "overboard" on their gifts as we were all flying and had weight limits for going and coming. Many of the FE gifts were practical in nature and came in handy, much less "decorative" in nature than on the Caribbean. For the Med, our group decided to do something representative of our home town / state / country. For the Baltic and Alaska, it was all whatever you wanted to do. We don't have a set thing we do each time, it really depends on whether I want to make something or how much room I have. For Alaska, I picked up most of what I needed after we got to Vancouver and put it together one evening pre-cruise.

We do enjoy coming back to our cabin to find someone has been buy and left us a treat. A lot of times we've found magnets to add to our door collection.

 

[nzdisneymom]

I picked up the Rome DK Eyewitness Travel guide at the library this weekend. While I was looking for a link for posting this, I came across their site -
http://traveldk.com/rome Looks like it might be an informative site to read. They have Malta, Venice, Florence, and Barcelona as well.

 

[ame]

We have 3 sons - who will be ages 11/12 (he will be celebrating his birthday on the ship), and twins who will be 8.

Steph

Welcome Steph! We have three boys as well (plus a bonus girl). Our youngest boy will be turnng 11 on the last day of the cruise.

 

[ame]

What we do from a practical standpoint is take three pop-up hampers - one for underwear and socks, one for light clothes and one for dark clothes. If a hamper is full, it goes to the laundry room. And I have to say that I've met some of the nicest people in the laundry room at all hours of the day and night! I've seen some obnoxious people there, too, but for the most part, the rest of us just get a big belly-laugh when they leave!

We do something similar but with the big blue Ikea bags. DH usually does the laundry while he's ironing clothes

We're travelling for 5 weeks so being organised and travelling light will be essential. We're planning to take 4 suitcases for 6 people (plus carryons).

 

[nzdisneymom]

Adventures by Disney is using the El Palace Hotel for pre-cruise stays. I called about the price for their 3-night Barcelona ABD pre-cruise and it's $1,899 per adult. It looks fun but more than we can afford.

DCL says they hope to have pre-cruise hotels available for booking in the fall.

 

[MrsScooby]

We did FE exchanges on both the Med in 2007 and the Baltic in 2010. It's quite a bit different than on Caribbean cruises. We also did one on the Alaska last summer. We had large groups for the Med and the Baltic, medium for Alaska. But it was still fun and no one went "overboard" on their gifts as we were all flying and had weight limits for going and coming. Many of the FE gifts were practical in nature and came in handy, much less "decorative" in nature than on the Caribbean. For the Med, our group decided to do something representative of our home town / state / country. For the Baltic and Alaska, it was all whatever you wanted to do. We don't have a set thing we do each time, it really depends on whether I want to make something or how much room I have. For Alaska, I picked up most of what I needed after we got to Vancouver and put it together one evening pre-cruise.

We do enjoy coming back to our cabin to find someone has been buy and left us a treat. A lot of times we've found magnets to add to our door collection.

I picked up the Rome DK Eyewitness Travel guide at the library this weekend. While I was looking for a link for posting this, I came across their site -
http://traveldk.com/rome Looks like it might be an informative site to read. They have Malta, Venice, Florence, and Barcelona as well.

I really like those books too
Great photos

Adventures by Disney is using the El Palace Hotel for pre-cruise stays. I called about the price for their 3-night Barcelona ABD pre-cruise and it's $1,899 per adult. It looks fun but more than we can afford.

DCL says they hope to have pre-cruise hotels available for booking in the fall.

You wouldn't happen to know what it would cost in DVC points?

 

[nzdisneymom]

You wouldn't happen to know what it would cost in DVC points?

I didn't ask because we didn't have any DVC points left

 

[jel0511]

You wouldn't happen to know what it would cost in DVC points?

You'd probably have to call DVC and ask them. They would know the answer. My guess is that unless you booked your cruise on points, you won't be able to pay for the add-on with DVC points. If you decide to add it on, they might charge you another $95 fee.

 

[Michele911]

Hi Lynda,
I just ordered the paperback book. Can't wait to get it and start planning. Have you been on a Disney Cruise before. I am new to this. I will be going with my two daughters and two granddaughters.

Janet...

Hi everyone - I am one of the daughters that will be going.

Jel0511 - can you accept my FB requst. I can't PM you as this is my first post. Thanks!!

 

[carpenta]

Hi everyone - I am one of the daughters that will be going.

Jel0511 - can you accept my FB requst. I can't PM you as this is my first post. Thanks!!

WELCOME MICHELE 911 !!!!!!!

 

[nzdisneymom]

Hello everyone. We are in the flurry of the end of school and so busy over the next few weeks. Exams, band performances, exams, projects, exams... We can't wait til school is over - and this time next year, we'll be even more excited!

I just checked the price and see it's gone up again for this sailing - for our Cat 5C, it's $672 more for a party of four than when we booked opening day. I also see that both cabins on either side of us are open. I'm still hoping that 6116 will open up on the Greece sailing so we won't have to move cabins because we really want 6116.

 

[nzdisneymom]

Hello everyone!

So I've been checking airfare even though I know it's too early and got stumped when I could no longer find our non-stop flight from ATL to BCN - but it was just a seasonal issue I hit where they were only making 4 flights a week non-stop. But starting April 1, 2013, they are back to daily non-stops, so that means I can start fare watching. Right now the flight in April is $1,072 per person. If it remains that price for the dates we'll want once we're far enough into this summer to book the outbound and return flights, then we will absolutely be booking our own airfare rather than doing it through DCL. Our return date will be July 10th so we have to wait until August to be able to actually be able to book our flights so it will be interesting to see how it goes. Just trying to get things set on our calendar for when we need to do what... anyone else do that?

In the meanwhile, we have 1 1/2 weeks of school plus finals left for the boys. A band concert, piano recital, music department awards ceremony, cooking project, and finishing Driver's Ed virtual school class to do in the same time period.

And taking care of the details for our vacation this summer - going to Yellowstone and Mt. Rushmore and various points between. The last two summers we've had cruises, so it's odd to be planning a land-based vacation! While we're at Yellowstone, we are going to book one of their tours - so it's kinda like booking a cruise excursion

Hope everyone is doing well.

 

[bitocas]

hi everyone!
we are going on this cruise also.it will be me gabriela,dh(vitor),and DD(matilde) age 6.this is our third disney cruise.we live in Portugal,so for us is just a short flight until barcelona.we are very excited with this cruise

 

[nzdisneymom]

hi everyone!
we are going on this cruise also.it will be me gabriela,dh(vitor),and DD(matilde) age 6.this is our third disney cruise.we live in Portugal,so for us is just a short flight until barcelona.we are very excited with this cruise

Glad to have you with us! I'll add you to the first post under the who's sailing!

 

[Kouris_Family]

Welcome to the June 27, 2013 Meet Thread for the Magic's Mediterranean Cruise (with Venice).

I'll reserve this first post to make a list of who's cruising and place other important announcements along the way.

Disney Cruiseline: 800-951-3532

Barcelona Hotels - DIS Thread

http://www.domthirteen.com/images/CruiseItinerary3.jpg

Itinerary with port times:
Thursday, June 27 Barcelona, Spain - 4:00 p.m.
Friday, June 28 Villefranche, France 8:45 a.m. - 6:30 p.m.
Saturday, June 29 La Spezia, Italy 7:45 a.m. - 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, June 30 Civitavecchia, Italy 7:15 a.m. - 6:30 p.m.
Monday, July 1 Naples, Italy 7:45 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.
Tuesday, July 2 At Sea - -
Wednesday, July 3 Venice, Italy 1:00 p.m. -
Thursday, July 4 Venice, Italy - 5:00 p.m.
Friday, July 5 Dubrovnik, Croatia 1:15 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Saturday, July 6 At Sea - -
Sunday, July 7 Valetta, Malta 7:45 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Monday, July 8 At Sea - -
Tuesday, July 9 Barcelona, Spain 7:00 a.m. -

Facebook Group - send a PM to kmitchel or jel0511 if you want to join so they can add you.

DISers ON BOARD:

NZDisneymom (Cindy D.), DH (Gary), DS (17), DS (15)
Winnyis (Ginny), DH, DD (18), DS (15)
Seaulater (Linda), DD (Jamie, 21)
Gydell (Gydell), DH (Bill), DD (Betsy), DGS (11)
MrsScooby (Laurie) DH (Darren)
Yensidfan (Faith and Pete)
Ame, DH, DS (15), DS (13), DS (11), DD (9)
jel0511 (Lori), DH (Darren), DD (15), DS (12)
gotomu212, DH, DS (5), DMom
Goofy559 (Lisa), DD (14), DMom (Liz)
Hawaiian_Mickey (Henry) and Hawaiian_Minnie (Brenda)
Cliffside (Susan), DH (Rick), DD (13)
SerbianPrincess (Angel), DS (10)
Carpenta, DW, DD (11)
rotary_2808 (Emily), Mom, Dad
Disney_fool (Vera), BFF (Socheata)
JLSE50 (Jan), DH (Tom)
shoes99 (Michele), DH (Milton)
miffymouse (Fiona), DD (7), DD (3), DS (3), Mom, Dad
Deb T. and DH
Bellecruiser (Meg), DH (Bruce), DS (22), DD (19)
Lifelong_Dreamer (Lessa) and Beth
Marlaymike (Marla), DH (Mike), DN (13)
collectoraholic, DH, DD (17), DD (11) + Parents and InLaws
Wynn, DH, DS (13), DS (10)
Doingitagain, DH, DD (24), DS (21)
Angie_Ohio, DS (16), DS (15)
Cptjackandcrew, DH, DD (18), DD (15)
pmm0724 (Peggy), DD (Kmitchel), DGS (11)
Bullseyebaby (Janie), DH (Dave), DS (20), DD (16)
MinnieGarden (Christy), K5JMH (Mike)
booger73, DW, DS (12), DS (9)
RMOTHERHUBBARD, DD (16)
kmitchel
mjhoward (Maxine), DH, DS (18), DD (12)
jedipup, DW, DS (6)
wrabitdad (Bob), Dale
MadHatterMom2, DH, DD (14), DS (10)
Disnylvr77 (Stephanie), DH, DD (16), DD (10)
pacurn, DH, DD (21)
doberlady (Debbie), DH (Marty)
tinkerbell0611 (Nancy), DH (Bruce), DGD (11)
tashaschindel, DH, DD (11), DD (9)
1stDisneyCruiseForUs (Steph), Brian, DS (10), DS (7), DS (7)
elm95376 (Janet), Michele911, DD, GD, GD
bitocas (Gabriela), DH (Vitor), DD (6)

Kouris_Family (Kay), DH (Mark), DS 14, DD 10

 

[Kouris_Family]

we are cruising with Hawaiian Michey & Hawaiian Minnie (cousins) and Tiny Bubbles who won't check in until she is inflight to Barcelona...

FLying to Madrid to see more of Spain and visit family before heading to Barcelona. So fun can't wait.

 

[nzdisneymom]

we are cruising with Hawaiian Michey & Hawaiian Minnie (cousins) and Tiny Bubbles who won't check in until she is inflight to Barcelona...

FLying to Madrid to see more of Spain and visit family before heading to Barcelona. So fun can't wait.

I added you to the list right under Hawaiian Mickey and Minnie

I don't understand Tiny Bubbles? Someone else traveling with you all?

 

[Kouris_Family]

Tiny Bubbles is my sister-in-law who is a family of 6 who will be traveling with us as long as they don't back out at the last minute.

I added you to the list right under Hawaiian Mickey and Minnie

I don't understand Tiny Bubbles? Someone else traveling with you all?

 

[Kouris_Family]

Anyone on this cruise that also cruised the Med. 7/7/07? or
Northern Europe Baltic Cruise 7/18/10?
Just wondering if we'll recognize anyone, it is fun when that happens.

 

[carpenta]

Anyone on this cruise that also cruised the Med. 7/7/07? or
Northern Europe Baltic Cruise 7/18/10?
Just wondering if we'll recognize anyone, it is fun when that happens.

We were on the 5/26/2007 cruise and then back in 2010 so this will make our 3rd with Disney in the Med.