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

[lgajohnson]

I can seem to find so much information on all the big ports--Rome, Venice etc.--but what are everybody's thoughts on Dubrovnik and Malta? I am so excited to visit these places, but there just isn't as much out there on these ports. Have any of you been lucky enough to have been there before? or know any tidbits of info?

 

[carpenta]

In Malta the ship docks pretty close to the old walled town that has all the historic cathedrals etc. It is a really easy walk to discover the amazing history that a small island holds. The ancient "temple" that dates back to 3000 yrs. before Christ is located a ways outside the walled city but is an amazing peek into ancient man. Loved Malta....it was one of our favorite stops.

 

[nzdisneymom]

Saw this article today and thought I would share it here:

Top Ten In-flight Exercises to Reduce Jet Lag

 

[elm95376]

Well my family, friend and I have reviewed our options and to leave from San Francisco and get the best price it appears we either will get to Barcelona at 7 in the morning or around 7 at night. We have decided to get there at 7pm the night before the cruise. We prefer leaving in the evening rather that getting up early to guarantee getting there in the morning on time with rush hour traffic. But also mainly because we think the youngest will do best if we get there late and she goes to bed after being on the flight all night.

Does anyone see any big issues getting into Barcelona at around 7pm?

Your input is appreciated.

Thanks,
Janet

 

[gydell]

Well my family, friend and I have reviewed our options and to leave from San Francisco and get the best price it appears we either will get to Barcelona at 7 in the morning or around 7 at night. We have decided to get there at 7pm the night before the cruise. We prefer leaving in the evening rather that getting up early to guarantee getting there in the morning on time with rush hour traffic. But also mainly because we think the youngest will do best if we get there late and she goes to bed after being on the flight all night.

Does anyone see any big issues getting into Barcelona at around 7pm?

Your input is appreciated.

Thanks,
Janet

I wish there was a flight that we could take that wasn't an overnighter. The only problem I see is if your luggage doesn't arrive. If you haven't been to Barcelona what about coming in the day before?

 

[carpenta]

Does anyone see any big issues getting into Barcelona at around 7pm?

Your input is appreciated.

Thanks,
Janet

Barcelona is a new(er) airport and is easy to navigate.They actually built the airport on the opposite side of the old airport so they utlized the runways during construction. Barcelona comes alive about 8 p.m. with families out walking and eating. It is quite different than the U.S. in life style and family time. Good IMHO. Plenty of cabs and DCL would meet you at the customs area if you use their transfers. You will love the city.

 

[kmitchel]

I would worry about flying in the night before for two reason - lost luggage and cancelled flights.

I just flew last week from LGA to Tampa on a Thursday night (Delta). My original flight to Tampa was cancelled and I was REALLY lucky to get a last second flight to Ft. Myers. My luggage did not arrive in the Tampa airport until late Friday night though!

 

[jel0511]

I would worry about flying in the night before for two reason - lost luggage and cancelled flights.

I just flew last week from LGA to Tampa on a Thursday night (Delta). My original flight to Tampa was cancelled and I was REALLY lucky to get a last second flight to Ft. Myers. My luggage did not arrive in the Tampa airport until late Friday night though!

Actually, unless you're flying in at least 2 says early, it really doesn't matter in terms of lost luggage. If you fly to arrive the day before, and your luggage is lost the earliest you can be reunited with your luggage would be on embarkation day. As someone who's lost luggage before and it took 4 days to be reunited with it (domestic flight). The reason is that you have to give them time to find it. As most airlines out of US have one flight daily to BCN, the earliest it could arrive would be the next day. We are arriving on the 26th and flying my least liked airline. I'm praying all our luggage make it, if not I'll probably will not see it until Villefranche or La Spezia.

 

[kmitchel]

I'm sure I'm the only one who did not know this, but I have been planning on flying into Barcelona and then taking an Easy Jet flight to London on the 14th in order to spend time in London/Paris/Switzerland prior to our cruise. The one way flights to London and a one way return flight from Barcelona was going to cost over $4,000 per person which is why I was planning on booking our RT to Barcelona and then just getting the one way to London. I discovered that you can actually book a "multi-city" trip on most airlines that allows me to fly directly to London and then leave from Barcelona back to Tampa for the same price as a RT to Barcelona and half the travel time! I was SOO excited that I thought I would share with any other 'airline challenged' people out there! Now I have to see if the airlines will start posting some travel deals.

 

[jel0511]

I'm sure I'm the only one who did not know this, but I have been planning on flying into Barcelona and then taking an Easy Jet flight to London on the 14th in order to spend time in London/Paris/Switzerland prior to our cruise. The one way flights to London and a one way return flight from Barcelona was going to cost over $4,000 per person which is why I was planning on booking our RT to Barcelona and then just getting the one way to London. I discovered that you can actually book a "multi-city" trip on most airlines that allows me to fly directly to London and then leave from Barcelona back to Tampa for the same price as a RT to Barcelona and half the travel time! I was SOO excited that I thought I would share with any other 'airline challenged' people out there! Now I have to see if the airlines will start posting some travel deals.

I actually was going to suggest that. It's what we did in 2010 when we went to Paris......

 

[gydell]

Anyone know of any books on Italy for teens?

 

[carpenta]

Anyone know of any books on Italy for teens?

I would check the Rick Steves web sight as well as Adventures by Disney web sight. We did a couple of Adv. by Disney trips and they always send a reading list of related books to the area traveled..

 

[gydell]

I would check the Rick Steves web sight as well as Adventures by Disney web sight. We did a couple of Adv. by Disney trips and they always send a reading list of related books to the area traveled..

Thanks!

 

[jedipup]

We did it on our own. We walked to the train station and bought a ticket to Pompeii. Its right across the street from train station stop. On the way back to Naples, we stopped at the Herculeum. It was well worth it. Easy and much cheaper than taking tour. You can rent earphones for audio tour at destination.Our kids were 11 and 7 when we went.

We did the same for Pompeii. The walk isn't too bad to the train station... or walk from the port area and grab a cab for a short ride to the station (don't take the cabs in the port area, they are mouch more expensive than those just outside the port gate). Pompeii is amazing (been there three times), but we liked Herculeum is so much less crowded... and a better experience.

 

[MrsScooby]

I can seem to find so much information on all the big ports--Rome, Venice etc.--but what are everybody's thoughts on Dubrovnik and Malta? I am so excited to visit these places, but there just isn't as much out there on these ports. Have any of you been lucky enough to have been there before? or know any tidbits of info?

My DMiL has been to Dubrovnik...but the only thing she could tell me was not to go on days that cruise ships are there because it gets too crowded on those days

I was searching the internet for info on these ports. I can post the links

Saw this article today and thought I would share it here:

Top Ten In-flight Exercises to Reduce Jet Lag

Thanks

Well my family, friend and I have reviewed our options and to leave from San Francisco and get the best price it appears we either will get to Barcelona at 7 in the morning or around 7 at night. We have decided to get there at 7pm the night before the cruise. We prefer leaving in the evening rather that getting up early to guarantee getting there in the morning on time with rush hour traffic. But also mainly because we think the youngest will do best if we get there late and she goes to bed after being on the flight all night.

Does anyone see any big issues getting into Barcelona at around 7pm?

Your input is appreciated.

Thanks,
Janet

I wish there was a flight that we could take that wasn't an overnighter. The only problem I see is if your luggage doesn't arrive. If you haven't been to Barcelona what about coming in the day before?

I would worry about flying in the night before for two reason - lost luggage and cancelled flights.

I just flew last week from LGA to Tampa on a Thursday night (Delta). My original flight to Tampa was cancelled and I was REALLY lucky to get a last second flight to Ft. Myers. My luggage did not arrive in the Tampa airport until late Friday night though!

Yeah, things can go wrong to delay your arrival. I would suggest choosing the earliest arrival time you can manage.

I'm sure I'm the only one who did not know this, but I have been planning on flying into Barcelona and then taking an Easy Jet flight to London on the 14th in order to spend time in London/Paris/Switzerland prior to our cruise. The one way flights to London and a one way return flight from Barcelona was going to cost over $4,000 per person which is why I was planning on booking our RT to Barcelona and then just getting the one way to London. I discovered that you can actually book a "multi-city" trip on most airlines that allows me to fly directly to London and then leave from Barcelona back to Tampa for the same price as a RT to Barcelona and half the travel time! I was SOO excited that I thought I would share with any other 'airline challenged' people out there! Now I have to see if the airlines will start posting some travel deals.

Haven't had the opportunity to do this yet but now I know for future reference, thanks

 

[MrsScooby]

Well, we have our airfare booked

Found some decent fares and jumped on them

So, we are now arriving in Barcelona 6/25 at 7:35 am.

A return flight of 7/9 11:55 am. (I read that this time was pretty safe to book)

A little over a thousand per ticket.

Now I need trip insurance for my kids, and probably a pricey "cancel for any reason" policy for my DS (18) on the off chance he finds an internship for the summer. Any suggestions???

 

[MrsScooby]

I can seem to find so much information on all the big ports--Rome, Venice etc.--but what are everybody's thoughts on Dubrovnik and Malta? I am so excited to visit these places, but there just isn't as much out there on these ports. Have any of you been lucky enough to have been there before? or know any tidbits of info?

Have you checked Tripadvisor yet?

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractions-g295371-Activities-Dubrovnik_Dubrovnik_Neretva_County_Dalmatia.html

I am definitely doing Dubrovnik on our own ..I think I read that there is a festival during the time we are there so it will be crowded.

Malta, I am thinking of booking a non-DCL tour.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowForum-g190311-i348-Malta.html

 

[MrsScooby]

Ok, posted on facebook and now here as well.
We are looking at Rome in Limo for tours in Florence/Pisa, Rome and Naples/Pompeii.
We can save alot if we share the tours with another family of 4.
http://www.romeinlimotoursharing.com/

We've never been to the Med before so looking to see all the usual highlights.

It would be myself, my DH, DS19 and DD16 (ages at time of cruise).

Let me know if anyone is interested

 

[thumpery]

We might be interested in joining you! We also have never been to the Med. before, and it looks like our children are of the same ages. It would be my DH, myself, DS (which will turn 20 that June) and DS (16). Both boys are very much into gaming. What are your children interested in? We haven't researched any excursions as of yet, but would probably want to see the touristy highlights. I would need some time to look into this option and discuss it with my family. Unfortunately, my oldest just moved back to college. I will plan on researching it this weekend and will get back to you. Thanks for the invite!

 

[thumpery]

Just did a quick peek at the excursions, and it looks as if there are a few in each city. Could you please give me the exact names of the ones you are looking to do? THANKS!