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

[jel0511]

So for those of us first time cruisers who won't get to book until very late will we even be able to get a Disney excursion?

You'll get some excursions, I don't remember any Med one selling out last time. Though some of the newer experiences like the night at Doge's Palace might sell out before you get to book. I know I'm doing it, regardless of price. The price DCL wants is so high that a lot will book private excursions rather than pay DCL pricing, so a lot will be left. Expect most all day excursions to run 200-400 per adult, that's what I recall from our last Med....

 

[nzdisneymom]

So for those of us first time cruisers who won't get to book until very late will we even be able to get a Disney excursion?

DCL also holds some spots back to allow those with later booking windows to have access, and sometimes they hold some spaces to be available for booking once on-board.

That said, if an excursion you want has been booked up, don't dismay - people do tend to change their plans and as those who may have grabbed up an excursion early on start finalizing their plans, they will cancel their spots which opens up a space for others. We've lucked into a couple of excursions that way - we just kept checking back every few days to see if space opened up for the four of us.

Also DCL may add more excursion slots based on demand. In 2007, we really wanted to do the excursion to Pisa because the boys wanted to climb the tower, but it booked up quick and we weren't able to get a spot. But a few weeks later, they ended up adding an afternoon one (they'd only had morning to begin with) so we were able to do that. Turned out to be better for us as an afternoon excursion because we'd been in Rome all day the previous day and the boys were exhausted and needed to sleep in!

My advice to first-timers is to comb through the DCL excursions and make a list of the ones you want to do, prioritizing those that are "must do" for your family vs those that you'd like to do but might be able to do on your own if you can't get it through DCL. Then when your window opens for booking excursions, make the bookings for the must-do ones first. And be patient as there will be lots of traffic on the booking site at the time and can be slow.

What we do with DCL excursions is copy/paste the information from the web into a document for those excursions that we might be remotely interested in (when the boys were younger, that meant any that had an age restriction were off the table for consideration, or if the price was too much for our budget or it was something I knew we wouldn't do like horseback riding), and then I read through and mark the ones for each port that I'm interested in, DH marks the ones he'd like to do, and we see which ones are the same - and then we have the boys chime in on what they'd like to do. so far that strategy has worked well for us.

 

[nzdisneymom]

And speaking of excursions, I'm so excited that my boys have already expressed an interest in something... They are both taking Latin I this year (and will follow that with Latin II next year). So they're spending a lot of time learning about Pompeii. We toured Pompeii in 2007 (they were 9 and 11 at the time) and it was the afternoon portion of an all-day excursion that included Capri and Sorrento (both fabulous), so while they do remember some of it (and pictures help - we shared some with their Latin teacher), they have both said they would like to go back - but only if we can go in the morning and it not be an all-day affair!

I had planned for Naples to be a do-it-ourselves day where we would go see the Underground and go to the Archaeology museum and eat pizza, but I'm definitely willing to book an excursion to Pompeii if they offer one that will fit the boys' requirements. And when we get back, I'd still have time to get some pizza!

 

[MrsScooby]

In 2010 we brought wine back with us from every port as well as cheese and pasteries. We never had a problem. We brought a glass with us to dinner a couple times and the servers were fine. One night we brought a bottle and our server was really reluctant but had to charge us a corkage fee. He was apologetic but we always understood the fee and were fine with that. The wine was really cheap cost wise but was very enjoyable. One time in Sorrento we were buying some wine to bring back and the shop keeper helped us out and even tried to sell us a case of wine. We declined and then he handed us his business card and said "I'm on the web and will ship it where ever you want". It hit us funny where we were in a store that probably dated back hundreds of years and an older gentleman has embraced the 21st century technology. But do enjoy the wines and there is something special about having a nice glass of vino when you are pulling out of port.

Oh, this is good to know
Do you recall any wines in particular that you liked alot??
Smart business man with the card and website

So for those of us first time cruisers who won't get to book until very late will we even be able to get a Disney excursion?

Oh, yeah, you should be able to get something.
I had heard that they hold back some spots for things like Palo, but not excursions. So really popular ones might be gone by the time the 75 day mark comes.
But like nzdisneymom says above, that checking back to see if something opens up is a good idea
Also some advantages to going with a tour from a reputable private company too.

And speaking of excursions, I'm so excited that my boys have already expressed an interest in something... They are both taking Latin I this year (and will follow that with Latin II next year). So they're spending a lot of time learning about Pompeii. We toured Pompeii in 2007 (they were 9 and 11 at the time) and it was the afternoon portion of an all-day excursion that included Capri and Sorrento (both fabulous), so while they do remember some of it (and pictures help - we shared some with their Latin teacher), they have both said they would like to go back - but only if we can go in the morning and it not be an all-day affair!

I had planned for Naples to be a do-it-ourselves day where we would go see the Underground and go to the Archaeology museum and eat pizza, but I'm definitely willing to book an excursion to Pompeii if they offer one that will fit the boys' requirements. And when we get back, I'd still have time to get some pizza!

Oh yes, pizza and Pompeii are on our list for Naples too
My DS (almost 19 now), went to Pompeii with a friend back when he was 15 and loved it. He is also excited about going back
It is unusual for him to admit to being excited about a trip so I think this is a good sign

 

[Cliffside]

I have been kind of MIA for awhile but we are still going.

Not sure if this was posted...but dcl has posted all the excursions for our ports except the new ones of Venice and Dubrovnik ....in looking at them quickly they are very similar if not identical to what they offered in 2010..

Happy planning everyone.

 

[nzdisneymom]

I have been kind of MIA for awhile but we are still going.

Not sure if this was posted...but dcl has posted all the excursions for our ports except the new ones of Venice and Dubrovnik ....in looking at them quickly they are very similar if not identical to what they offered in 2010..

Happy planning everyone.

Sweet.... I knew hey were starting to get some listed.

 

[lisah0711]

You'll get some excursions, I don't remember any Med one selling out last time. Though some of the newer experiences like the night at Doge's Palace might sell out before you get to book. I know I'm doing it, regardless of price. The price DCL wants is so high that a lot will book private excursions rather than pay DCL pricing, so a lot will be left. Expect most all day excursions to run 200-400 per adult, that's what I recall from our last Med....

That is one of the nice things about DVC is that I am only saving for excursions and spending money now since the room and air are paid for. It looks like our cruise is pretty much sold out -- for now.

DCL also holds some spots back to allow those with later booking windows to have access, and sometimes they hold some spaces to be available for booking once on-board.

That said, if an excursion you want has been booked up, don't dismay - people do tend to change their plans and as those who may have grabbed up an excursion early on start finalizing their plans, they will cancel their spots which opens up a space for others. We've lucked into a couple of excursions that way - we just kept checking back every few days to see if space opened up for the four of us.

Also DCL may add more excursion slots based on demand. In 2007, we really wanted to do the excursion to Pisa because the boys wanted to climb the tower, but it booked up quick and we weren't able to get a spot. But a few weeks later, they ended up adding an afternoon one (they'd only had morning to begin with) so we were able to do that. Turned out to be better for us as an afternoon excursion because we'd been in Rome all day the previous day and the boys were exhausted and needed to sleep in!

My advice to first-timers is to comb through the DCL excursions and make a list of the ones you want to do, prioritizing those that are "must do" for your family vs those that you'd like to do but might be able to do on your own if you can't get it through DCL. Then when your window opens for booking excursions, make the bookings for the must-do ones first. And be patient as there will be lots of traffic on the booking site at the time and can be slow.

What we do with DCL excursions is copy/paste the information from the web into a document for those excursions that we might be remotely interested in (when the boys were younger, that meant any that had an age restriction were off the table for consideration, or if the price was too much for our budget or it was something I knew we wouldn't do like horseback riding), and then I read through and mark the ones for each port that I'm interested in, DH marks the ones he'd like to do, and we see which ones are the same - and then we have the boys chime in on what they'd like to do. so far that strategy has worked well for us.

Thanks for replies on the booking info! I just didn't want to get all excited about a particular excursion only to find that there was no way that we were going to have a shot at it. I will enjoy taking the week-end to look at everything that is offered.

And speaking of excursions, I'm so excited that my boys have already expressed an interest in something... They are both taking Latin I this year (and will follow that with Latin II next year). So they're spending a lot of time learning about Pompeii. We toured Pompeii in 2007 (they were 9 and 11 at the time) and it was the afternoon portion of an all-day excursion that included Capri and Sorrento (both fabulous), so while they do remember some of it (and pictures help - we shared some with their Latin teacher), they have both said they would like to go back - but only if we can go in the morning and it not be an all-day affair!

I had planned for Naples to be a do-it-ourselves day where we would go see the Underground and go to the Archaeology museum and eat pizza, but I'm definitely willing to book an excursion to Pompeii if they offer one that will fit the boys' requirements. And when we get back, I'd still have time to get some pizza!

I have a Latin I scholar, too. You have to catch him at the right time to get enthusiasm for the ancient Roman stuff.

Oh, this is good to know
Do you recall any wines in particular that you liked alot??
Smart business man with the card and website

Oh, yeah, you should be able to get something.
I had heard that they hold back some spots for things like Palo, but not excursions. So really popular ones might be gone by the time the 75 day mark comes.
But like nzdisneymom says above, that checking back to see if something opens up is a good idea
Also some advantages to going with a tour from a reputable private company too.



Oh yes, pizza and Pompeii are on our list for Naples too
My DS (almost 19 now), went to Pompeii with a friend back when he was 15 and loved it. He is also excited about going back
It is unusual for him to admit to being excited about a trip so I think this is a good sign

I have been kind of MIA for awhile but we are still going.

Not sure if this was posted...but dcl has posted all the excursions for our ports except the new ones of Venice and Dubrovnik ....in looking at them quickly they are very similar if not identical to what they offered in 2010..

Happy planning everyone.

Thanks for letting us know!

I was hoping to get a Disney Magic ornament for Christmas when I was at WDW last week-end for the Wine & Dine Half Marathon but no such luck and people looked at me like I was crazy for asking.

Happy Planning everyone!

 

[lisah0711]

Forgot to add that one of the highlights of my WDW trip was getting to meet a bunch of really nice WISH folks from the Disboards. I can tell that it is going to be just as fun to meet a bunch of cruisers from the Disboards!

 

[lisah0711]

Wow! I didn't think I would have to worry about my awesome threadkilling abilities on this thread.

 

[DenverVal]

Hey, it's the holidays....

 

[MrsScooby]

Wow! I didn't think I would have to worry about my awesome threadkilling abilities on this thread.

Hey, it's the holidays....

Yeah Lisa, I didn't see anything in your posts that would kill a thread

People are busy.

I imagine it will pick up closer to cruise time.

Are you on the facebook page?

I'm almost always up for cruise discussion
When I'm not catching up on work

I work from home so very easy to get distracted

 

[shoes99]

DH was not going to tell me that he does not want to go until before PIF date, but I got the sense that he does not want to go on the Med Cruise.
I think I'm going to look at Alaska with Princess with a land tour. I am so disappointed, but going on a 2 week trip with a grouchy husband will not work for me. We have been married 35 years so I know his moods better than he does.
Michele

 

[MrsScooby]

DH was not going to tell me that he does not want to go until before PIF date, but I got the sense that he does not want to go on the Med Cruise.
I think I'm going to look at Alaska with Princess with a land tour. I am so disappointed, but going on a 2 week trip with a grouchy husband will not work for me. We have been married 35 years so I know his moods better than he does.
Michele

Bummer...not even reading the descriptions of DCL excursions will change his mind?

I agree I wouldn't want to drag my DH on a long trip to some place he didn't want to go.
Can you go with someone else?

 

[nzdisneymom]

So we've been looking through the DCL excursions and here's what we've come up with, keeping in mind that for these ports, we'll make two stops since we're B2Bing.

Villefranche: 1st stop - Monaco, Monte Carlo, and Eze. and do Villefranche area on our own on this sailing

La Spezia: Florence and Michaelangelo for this sailing. Cinque Terre on our own the previous sailing. If we don't do Florence/Michaelangelo, then we'd do Discovering Florence.

Civitavecchia: Nothing through DCL struck us for going into Rome, so we're going to look for a private tour and/or hook up with someone on the first cruise who is booking something privately. The thing for us is that we did the Jumping Back into Rome excursion in 2007 and it was fabulous, but we saw all the highlights then. The rest of the excursions go back to the very same places or spend more time in the Vatican than we are interested in. So we are going to look into doing something on our own. For this sailing, we will choose either the Pope, Etruscans, and Piazza Del Duomo - amazing Orviero, or Italian Countryside and Olive Oil - leaning more towards the second one because of the cost - however, depending on what we decide to do for this sailing, we might be able to work out a good arrangement with the same private tour provider to do a regional tour on our second time around.

Naples - Pompeii Half Day

Venice and Dubrovnik - TBD

Malta - Island Panoramic on the first sailing, on our own the second.

It's good for me to get an idea of the excursion costs so we can get that fixed up.

 

[thumpery]

Thanks so much for the notice of the shore excursions being up for most of the ports.

When we went on the Alaska cruise, they offered "Disney Signature or Exclusive excursions". Do you think they will offer any for this cruise? Do any of you verteran Med. cruisers remember any special ones?

Thanks in advance and have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

 

[jel0511]

They had some. Most of them were private car rentals. There was a cool o e where you got to drive an exotic car in Monaco. I don't see that one this time. Another one was a private cooking lesson in Tuscany. I saw that one. They are pretty exclusive opportunities not like the Alaska ones at all.

 

[MrsScooby]

So we've been looking through the DCL excursions and here's what we've come up with, keeping in mind that for these ports, we'll make two stops since we're B2Bing.

Villefranche: 1st stop - Monaco, Monte Carlo, and Eze. and do Villefranche area on our own on this sailing

La Spezia: Florence and Michaelangelo for this sailing. Cinque Terre on our own the previous sailing. If we don't do Florence/Michaelangelo, then we'd do Discovering Florence.

Civitavecchia: Nothing through DCL struck us for going into Rome, so we're going to look for a private tour and/or hook up with someone on the first cruise who is booking something privately. The thing for us is that we did the Jumping Back into Rome excursion in 2007 and it was fabulous, but we saw all the highlights then. The rest of the excursions go back to the very same places or spend more time in the Vatican than we are interested in. So we are going to look into doing something on our own. For this sailing, we will choose either the Pope, Etruscans, and Piazza Del Duomo - amazing Orviero, or Italian Countryside and Olive Oil - leaning more towards the second one because of the cost - however, depending on what we decide to do for this sailing, we might be able to work out a good arrangement with the same private tour provider to do a regional tour on our second time around.

Naples - Pompeii Half Day

Venice and Dubrovnik - TBD

Malta - Island Panoramic on the first sailing, on our own the second.

It's good for me to get an idea of the excursion costs so we can get that fixed up.

I'm having fun reading the descriptions of the DCL excursions and looking through the pictures

I am thinking of morning mass at St John's co-cathedral with Denise (or anyone else that wants to join us-only way we'll get to see it as it is closed on Sunday) and then on to Mdina for Malta.
I have really long days planned for Rome, Naples and Florence that I am reluctant to plan alot for the rest of the ports.
I do intend to spend alot of time on shore in Venice
That is what frustrated me about St Petersburg on our Baltic cruise-having so much time there but limited by the visa requirements
With no visa restrictions in Venice I'll be exploring the city from top to bottom!

Thanks so much for the notice of the shore excursions being up for most of the ports.

When we went on the Alaska cruise, they offered "Disney Signature or Exclusive excursions". Do you think they will offer any for this cruise? Do any of you verteran Med. cruisers remember any special ones?

Thanks in advance and have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

hey Marcy

They had some. Most of them were private car rentals. There was a cool o e where you got to drive an exotic car in Monaco. I don't see that one this time. Another one was a private cooking lesson in Tuscany. I saw that one. They are pretty exclusive opportunities not like the Alaska ones at all.

They had some amazing ones in the Baltic-private dances at the palace in St Petersburg, helicopter ride to see the Dream In Germany, ...but way out of our price range..
I'll live vicariously through you all that can get these

 

[MrsScooby]

Well, went ahead and bought tickets for the Hypogeum in Malta
They only allow 10 people per hour and 80 people total per day.
Sounded cool

Thinking of maybe going with a private tour with this company
http://www.touringmalta.com/index.htm

Or maybe just winging it by getting a taxi...not sure.
Needed to get the Hypogeum tickets anyway as the tour company doesn't include entrance fees.

 

[nzdisneymom]

Well, went ahead and bought tickets for the Hypogeum in Malta
They only allow 10 people per hour and 80 people total per day.
Sounded cool

Thinking of maybe going with a private tour with this company
http://www.touringmalta.com/index.htm

Or maybe just winging it by getting a taxi...not sure.
Needed to get the Hypogeum tickets anyway as the tour company doesn't include entrance fees.

What is the Hypogeum?

 

[JLSE50]

Thanks so much for the notice of the shore excursions being up for most of the ports.

When we went on the Alaska cruise, they offered "Disney Signature or Exclusive excursions". Do you think they will offer any for this cruise? Do any of you verteran Med. cruisers remember any special ones?

Thanks in advance and have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

I found this on the DCL website:

http://disneycruise.disney.go.com/c...editerranean-tours-with-adventures-by-disney/



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