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

[jel0511]

Welcome Maxine,

This is going to be a great cruise....this will b our 11th dcl cruise and dd will be 13 at time of sailing...sometimes a tween/ teen thread is set up so the kids can talk to one another before hand...

Susan

and I plan on piggy-backing on that platinum booking advantage!!!!!!

 

[sunkssed22]

I see everyone has booked this cruise, but when I checked ABD and DCL there were no prices or options to book? Is everyone just calling DCL to make reservations? I suppose I'm a bit out of the loop... What is the deposit required for the trip? I've been waiting to book this trip since the last one! SO excited!

 

[Goofy559]

I see everyone has booked this cruise, but when I checked ABD and DCL there were no prices or options to book? Is everyone just calling DCL to make reservations? I suppose I'm a bit out of the loop... What is the deposit required for the trip? I've been waiting to book this trip since the last one! SO excited!

Hi and welcome. This cruise is available to book on the DCL website. Deposit is 20% of the cruise fare, unless you are going to transfer an onboard booking, in which case it is 10%....not sure why you can't find it on the DCL site

Lisa

 

[Goofy559]

I know folks have been asking about what to do in the Ports...first, let me say that we had never been to any of them before, and booked this trip about 3 months out. That being said, we did all our own excursions, except for in Tunisia and a perfume tour in Villefranche.

La Spezia -- took the train on our own to Pisa and booked the Tower climb --super easy to do on your own.

Rome - booked a private tour with RomeInLimo for the day and set our own itinerary -- shared with another DIS family

Naples -- booked a private tour and did Pompeii, Hurculaneum and climbed Mt Vesuvius

Malta - private tour -- saw the blue grotto, the old walled city, and lots of other things

Villefranche -- went to Nice on our own in the morning, and did the DCL perfumer's apprentice tour in the afternoon.

Lots of good information on the cruise critic board about private tours. If you can find others with similar interests, private is the way to go.

Lisa

 

[MrsScooby]

Flavors of sorrento And timeless Pompeii. It is a DCL excursion. You get a small tour of sorrento and some time to explore. You're dropped off at a shop with the most beautiful inlaid wood works. After your time in sorrento you go to a local farm where you will eat the best food of your life! Then you get a guided tour of Pompeii. It was SO HOT in Pompeii but still nice to be there. DEFNITELY book this one for naples!!!!!

Sounds wonderful

Same here. Our friends and co-workers know but no family. I just don't want to hear about it at all from anybody who is anything less than supportive or interested.

That's why I like this Board so much. No one else cares about our trip as much as the people going on it with us

You name it and they had it. Everything from small music boxes,to large game tables that cost 8k euro!!!! Everything they had was beautiful. I wanted a small table for my foyer but at 1,000 euro DH said it was too much. I'm hoping to pick it up this time!

At least you are prepared for the sticker shock this time

I'm thinking one of the music boxes would work for me

That inlaid wood in Sorrento is beautiful. I bought a beautiful jewelry box there when I visited way back in 1999.

Or a jewelry box

The store owner in Sorrento has a brother that runs a store in Shrewsbury Mass. It is called Casa di Sorrento and the web sight is www.casadisorrento.com. It can give...t looked so I figure it made a nice souvenir.

 

[MrsScooby]

Hi Cindy,
My name is Maxine and I'm sailing with my husband, son 18 and daughter 12.
We have never been on any cruise before, this will be our first ever one and I am a bit apprehensive about all the planning everyone seems to be doing. My son will just be 18 and he is a little worried he'll not meet anyone his own age to hang out with as there is no club. What do the older kids do? My daughter is very shy, will the leaders at the club encourage her to stay?
I have so many questions

Hi Maxine

Not really planning at this point as the cruise is too far away to make any real plans-just research and getting to know each other a little bit

My son just turned 18 and my daughter is 15, but we are not sure yet if they will be coming on this cruise with us though.
On our past cruises, my daughter made friends with the daughters of some fellow Dis people that I met here on the Boards. My son is the shy one and we often had a hard time getting him away from the video games. I do know that one of the adult lounges had Wii games because my husband joined in on a bowling video game with a bunch of other cruisers. I am thinking that would be where my DS will get his video games in if he winds up coming with us

It is really hard to tell in advance if your daughter will like the kids club The cast members will try to involve all the kids, but sometimes that works and sometimes not. The one thing I can assure you is that there will plenty of things to do on the ship. Sometimes my daughter just went with my DH and I instead of the clubs. We did things like bingo, shuffle board, movies and shows together. Sometimes we were just tired from a long day in the port and just wanted to relax (watch a movie or read a book).

So making friends can be great, but not necessary to have a good time.

The very first post on this thread has alot of great information as far as the age ranges of the kids that will be onboard from this group as well as a link to trip reports from others who have done this cruise in the past. Keep coming back to see what is new And post a little about yourself so we can get to know you too

 

[nzdisneymom]

Cindy, do you remember what she said about those decorative boxes they sold in St Petersburg? I wound up buying one at the souvenir store at the port because it was the only one I could find that I liked and was in my price range. I know there is a good chance it is not authentic, but It was not a huge investment and I really liked how it looked so I figure it made a nice souvenir.

I don't remember - we were mostly interested in the nesting dolls and we found that to be extremely helpful in making our selection and not having such sticker shock or wondering why some were so much less than others. We had an idea of what size we wanted before we saw any and were very happy with what we were able to get at a fair price. When we were in Skagway, AK, we went into one shop that sold a lot of Russian items (or Russian influenced items) and were able to distinguish those made in Russia vs. those made in China before even looking for the "made in China" sticker.

 

[MrsScooby]

We went both to Monaco and Eze on our Med cruise last year. We also visited Nice for like 5 seconds it seemed like. We also saw Elton's house like a ZILLION times. We took the train ourselves to Monaco and walked up to the casino. We ended eating lunch at the cafe next door. We spent over $100 on two ice cream sundaes, one sandwich and 7 drinks for our party. They were bg sundaes, but it's still a joke between us about our expensive ice cream lunch!!!! We then made our way back to Villefranche and to join our DCL Wine and Cheese and Eze tour. The wine and cheese were interesting and took place in a basement in Nice, across the street from the vineyard owner's shop. It was very informative and fun. After that we got a brief walking tour of the area, then we headed up to Eze. I recommend trying to get to Eze in the morning, because by the time we got there in the afternoon, the whole place was engulfed in fog. The people we also knew on the tour, did the tour in reverse, so they went to Eze first. There were two buses, we just ended up on the unlucky one..... Eze was charming, but due to the fog climbing up to the top to see the supposed AMAZING view was a moot point since you couldn't see anything! I think this time, we might just take the train into Nice on our own and travel around, or head to Cannes.

We'll most likely be on the train to Nice as well
My DH remembers going there years ago while on a high school trip and really wants to go back.

Thanks for the tip about the fog at Eze. From reading the book, it seems like getting to Monaco or Eze are both really easy from Villefranche, so we might actually be brave and do something "on our own" while there. We know there will be some ports that we absolutely want to do through the cruiseline but since this area isn't too far from the ship and we have adequate time in port, unless there's an excursion that just wows us, we may save our money here. Of course we'll also consider what costs we'll have for transportation (and avoid the $100 ice cream - LOL).

We loved Nice - it's one of those places that I wish we'd also had a few hours of free time while there after our bus tour. I had told DH when we were there before that if we ever were back in the Villefranche area, there was still so much I wanted to see of the area, so I'm glad we are getting the opportunity to go back.

I remember another Diser saying the same thing about Monte Carlo being super expensive for food
We'll need to save money for the Rome and Florence ports so will be looking for fun things to do in the others that won't cost alot.
DIY worked well for us in the past in ports that had alot nearby, but for Rome, Florence and Naples we'll be looking for a private tour company.
I will be looking at DCL tours as well as sometimes they have special experiences that you can't get elsewhere

I see everyone has booked this cruise, but when I checked ABD and DCL there were no prices or options to book? Is everyone just calling DCL to make reservations? I suppose I'm a bit out of the loop... What is the deposit required for the trip? I've been waiting to book this trip since the last one! SO excited!

I contacted Dreams Unlimited to book the cuise for us. They offer a nice oboard credit when you book with them

I know folks have been asking about what to do in the Ports...first, let me say that we had never been to any of them before, and booked this trip about 3 months out. That being said, we did all our own excursions, except for in Tunisia and a perfume tour in Villefranche.

La Spezia -- took the train on our own to Pisa and booked the Tower climb --super easy to do on your own.

Rome - booked a private tour with RomeInLimo for the day and set our own itinerary -- shared with another DIS family

Naples -- booked a private tour and did Pompeii, Hurculaneum and climbed Mt Vesuvius

Malta - private tour -- saw the blue grotto, the old walled city, and lots of other things

Villefranche -- went to Nice on our own in the morning, and did the DCL perfumer's apprentice tour in the afternoon.

Lots of good information on the cruise critic board about private tours. If you can find others with similar interests, private is the way to go.

Lisa

Thanks Lisa

We're hoping to find people to share our private tours with but only if our "must do lists" coincide, otherwise we'll just bite the bullet and pay the whole cost.
I heard another Diser liked RomeinLimo alot too, but I don't think I can afford their prices unless we share the tour costs with others. Did you use them for all your private tours?

How strenuous was it to climb Mt Vesuvius in the heat

 

[rotary2808]

Sounds wonderful


That's why I like this Board so much. No one else cares about our trip as much as the people going on it with us



At least you are prepared for the sticker shock this time

I'm thinking one of the music boxes would work for me


Or a jewelry box


Thanks for the website. The large wooden chest on the first page just took my breathe away
I didn't realize DCL let you bring wine in from the ports to consume onboard..has that changed because I thought that wasn't the case on our previous cruises. Maybe it depends on the ports
I'd need someone to help me finish a bottle of wine as my DH doesn't drink at all and I can't finish one by myself
You should see me after the wine tastings


Hey jedipup
Yes, we would love your take on the ports as well
Just having fun researching them at the moment, but all you veterans of the Med are going to be very popular when the heavy duty planning gets started

I'd love the name of the store when you get around to it

My DD and I bought a mask at Epcot last year, just a small one because they were so pricey. Do you remember how much they ranged in price where you went? I'd rather get one real one than a bunch of imitation ones.



I think your mileage may vary on those shopping talks. I think I missed the one for St Petersburg (which I could have really used) and only made the one for Tallin. We wound up following the advice on Tallin and was not crazy about the restaurant and shop the woman raved about

It didn't ruin our day or anything, we just found different shops that had what we wanted and the pear ice cream from a vender was amazing

But yeah I would think the shopping talks are worth going to for most ports
I'm just going to research my lunch spots a little more carefully

Cindy, do you remember what she said about those decorative boxes they sold in St Petersburg? I wound up buying one at the souvenir store at the port because it was the only one I could find that I liked and was in my price range. I know there is a good chance it is not authentic, but It was not a huge investment and I really liked how it looked so I figure it made a nice souvenir.

I don't remember looking at the prices. The cost of making ours was included as one of the ABD activities.

 

[MrsScooby]

I don't remember - we were mostly interested in the nesting dolls and we found that to be extremely helpful in making our selection and not having such sticker shock or wondering why some were so much less than others. We had an idea of what size we wanted before we saw any and were very happy with what we were able to get at a fair price. When we were in Skagway, AK, we went into one shop that sold a lot of Russian items (or Russian influenced items) and were able to distinguish those made in Russia vs. those made in China before even looking for the "made in China" sticker.

I bought some nesting dolls on the internet before we even cruised. I knew shopping in SP was going to be very limited for us because of the visa requirements and I wanted a set so badly I wanted it out of the way ahead of time so I could relax and enjoy the port. Again, not sure if they are authentic, but they look really nice in my living room

 

[MrsScooby]

I don't remember looking at the prices. The cost of making ours was included as one of the ABD activities.

DH and I are looking forward to doing an ABD someday
How many have you done?
I think I would like to go back to Germany and Italy on an ABD

 

[nzdisneymom]

I bought some nesting dolls on the internet before we even cruised. I knew shopping in SP was going to be very limited for us because of the visa requirements and I wanted a set so badly I wanted it out of the way ahead of time so I could relax and enjoy the port. Again, not sure if they are authentic, but they look really nice in my living room

We actually booked the afternoon shopping excursion for St. Petersburg because we wanted to be sure we had time to shop. We were able to get what we wanted pretty quickly and then had time to walk up to Nevksi Prospeck and also the Church of the Spilled Blood that was nearby.

We had learned on the Med in 2007 that there isn't always time to shop on the DCL excursions, or if there is a stop that has shopping available, the time is so short and everyone is crowding in, that we try now to make sure we have some shopping time. And when we are on excursions, we look for the unplanned opportunities to duck into a place (like if it's a cafe stop, finish up and then pop into a nearby shop but be back before it's time to go).

When we were in Rome, the only shopping time we had was in one shop by the Vatican. It was insane. And I don't mind being taken to the souvenir shops that give the cruiseline / tour companies a cut - I just want to have a little time to actually look around (and use the restroom!).

 

[jel0511]

We're hoping to find people to share our private tours with but only if our "must do lists" coincide, otherwise we'll just bite the bullet and pay the whole cost.
I heard another Diser liked RomeinLimo alot too, but I don't think I can afford their prices unless we share the tour costs with others. Did you use them for all your private tours?

How strenuous was it to climb Mt Vesuvius in the heat

We used Limo in Rome for both of our Rome tours and getting to Florence and Pisa. Just realize that you're only hiring a driver, not a tour guide. In Italy you must have a license to give any type of tour. Our drivers were all courteous, but spoke barely any English. This time, I'll spring for a tour guide as well. So think about that additional fee as well.... They don't put those on the site, but will provide them if asked for.

 

[rotary2808]

DH and I are looking forward to doing an ABD someday
How many have you done?
I think I would like to go back to Germany and Italy on an ABD

Just the one, but it was absolutely outstanding. ABD is pricey, but I'd recommend them in a heartbeat. I would love to do the Germany one as well.

 

[wrabitdad]

Hi All,

We're in for this one along with the first Greece B2B.

We'll check in from time to time for now as we're concentrating on 2012 cruises!

Bob & Dale (& Gordy)

 

[nzdisneymom]

Hi All,

We're in for this one along with the first Greece B2B.

We'll check in from time to time for now as we're concentrating on 2012 cruises!

Bob & Dale (& Gordy)

Welcome! We're B2Bing with y'all - looking forward to getting acquainted. I know what you mean about concentrating on what's coming between now and these cruises.

 

[MrsScooby]

We actually booked the afternoon shopping excursion for St. Petersburg because we wanted to be sure we had time to shop. We were able to get what we wanted pretty quickly and then had time to walk up to Nevksi Prospeck and also the Church of the Spilled Blood that was nearby.

We had learned on the Med in 2007 that there isn't always time to shop on the DCL excursions, or if there is a stop that has shopping available, the time is so short and everyone is crowding in, that we try now to make sure we have some shopping time. And when we are on excursions, we look for the unplanned opportunities to duck into a place (like if it's a cafe stop, finish up and then pop into a nearby shop but be back before it's time to go).

When we were in Rome, the only shopping time we had was in one shop by the Vatican. It was insane. And I don't mind being taken to the souvenir shops that give the cruiseline / tour companies a cut - I just want to have a little time to actually look around (and use the restroom!).

Plus the day we are in Rome, the last Sunday of the month, is suppose to even more crowded than usual
My DH hates shopping...maybe I'll put him on the gelato line while I'm on the souvenir line

We used Limo in Rome for both of our Rome tours and getting to Florence and Pisa. Just realize that you're only hiring a driver, not a tour guide. In Italy you must have a license to give any type of tour. Our drivers were all courteous, but spoke barely any English. This time, I'll spring for a tour guide as well. So think about that additional fee as well.... They don't put those on the site, but will provide them if asked for.

thanks, I checked their site. I just wasn't ready to book yet. They are number one on tripadvisor, but I thought I read somewhere that there are plenty of other private companies that are less expensive that are also good. Plenty of time to research before deciding

Just the one, but it was absolutely outstanding. ABD is pricey, but I'd recommend them in a heartbeat. I would love to do the Germany one as well.

My DSis went to Germany this past Christmas and loved it. I'm going to try and convince her to do the Castles of Germany ABD one of these days

They are pricey but I have heard great things from others as well.
How big was your group for the ABD? We were just a little worried that a really big group would slow everything down so much that you could spend alot of time standing around waiting
My DH hates waiting...kind of why he hates shopping now that I think of it

 

[MrsScooby]

Hi All,

We're in for this one along with the first Greece B2B.

We'll check in from time to time for now as we're concentrating on 2012 cruises!

Bob & Dale (& Gordy)

Welcome aboard

I see from your sig you like to cruise

 

[MrsScooby]

I know folks have been asking about what to do in the Ports...first, let me say that we had never been to any of them before, and booked this trip about 3 months out. That being said, we did all our own excursions, except for in Tunisia and a perfume tour in Villefranche.

La Spezia -- took the train on our own to Pisa and booked the Tower climb --super easy to do on your own.

Rome - booked a private tour with RomeInLimo for the day and set our own itinerary -- shared with another DIS family

Naples -- booked a private tour and did Pompeii, Hurculaneum and climbed Mt Vesuvius

Malta - private tour -- saw the blue grotto, the old walled city, and lots of other things

Villefranche -- went to Nice on our own in the morning, and did the DCL perfumer's apprentice tour in the afternoon.

Lots of good information on the cruise critic board about private tours. If you can find others with similar interests, private is the way to go.

Lisa

Hey Lisa,
I was on cruise critic yesterday looking at their pages for the Med ports, and was getting really excited for Malta

Were you able to see the blue grotto and Mdina in one tour or are they too far apart? It is good that we have a sea day before this port because I can see myself doing alot here

 

[rotary2808]

Plus the day we are in Rome, the last Sunday of the month, is suppose to even more crowded than usual
My DH hates shopping...maybe I'll put him on the gelato line while I'm on the souvenir line


thanks, I checked their site. I just wasn't ready to book yet. They are number one on tripadvisor, but I thought I read somewhere that there are plenty of other private companies that are less expensive that are also good. Plenty of time to research before deciding



My DSis went to Germany this past Christmas and loved it. I'm going to try and convince her to do the Castles of Germany ABD one of these days

They are pricey but I have heard great things from others as well.
How big was your group for the ABD? We were just a little worried that a really big group would slow everything down so much that you could spend alot of time standing around waiting
My DH hates waiting...kind of why he hates shopping now that I think of it

If I remember correctly, the max group size is 40. We only had around half. They move just as efficiently no matter the group size. There were times that our group split up to see various things.