May 26, 2010--5/26/2010 10 Night Mediterranean

[marlower]

Couples choice massage sounds great too! I went for the cheaper alternative to the couples massage with the well being massage. My husband has never had a massage before so I thought the shorter one would be the way to go, plus I'll admit it, I'm cheap!

Totally agree with Sinnika, get on the computer at midnight EST to book Palo, shore excursions and spa treatments. I feel asleep on the couch last night and didn't wake up until 1130 our time (30 minutes late) Oh well, I still got the dinner at Palo so I am pumped about that.

 

[jocjarmom]

Last night at 12:05, I booked our dinner at Palo's (for 6 adults) on Malta night... yea!

Also, I booked the Exotic Rasul (recommended by "she who must not be named") for the hubby and me... yeah, $89 to rub mud on each other. Just sounded like too much fun! Hey, we'll have just celebrated our 18th anniversary... so why not?

 

[KLS Georgia]

Hi everyone. In order to schedule our Palo night we were looking into what and when shows were on our cruise. I know the Let the Magic Begin, The Golden Mickeys, Disney Dreams, Twice Charmed (Cinderella), & Remember the Magic are all listed as shows on the Magic on the Disney Cruise website. Also, there will be a new show Disney Vllians and I have heard two things - 1 it is replacing the Golden Mickeys and 2 it is an extra show for longer cruises.

Here is a list of info on shows I found from the 11 night Med cruise in 2007. Does anyone have any more info?

Day 1 Barcelona - All Aboard: Let the Magic Begin
Day 2 Sea Day - The Golden Mickeys
Day 3 Palermo - Comedy & Ventriloquism
Day 4 Naples -On the Nose Game Show
Day 5 Olbia - The Art of the Story
Day 6 Civitavecchia - Movie Night: Pirates of the Caribbean
Day 7 Sea Day Prince & Princess Twice Charmed
Day 8 La Spezia - Crew Talent Show
Day 9 Marseilles - When Mickey Dreams
Day 10 Villefranche - Disney Dreams
Day 11 Sea Day - Till We Meet Again Remember the Magic: A Final Farewell

 

[momtomari]

im thinking of booking this cruise for me and my dd6

 

[marlower]

im thinking of booking this cruise for me and my dd6

Ooooooh! Come join us! You can check out our website too--it is full of useful information! http://muchomagico.weebly.com/

 

[momtomari]

Ooooooh! Come join us! You can check out our website too--it is full of useful information! http://muchomagico.weebly.com/

ive actually been looking at the website today. if we go on this cruise it would be our 5th. im trying to decide since i was looking at the port check in info if i want to let my daughter go to school all day on the 25th of may and then get into barcelona at 320 on the 26th. it would be her last day of school since they get out on june 3rd and we wont get back until june 5th. other thing im running into is i have a wdw trip planned with my dd6 and my godson from june 5th - june 12th and then we are moving to port orange, fl. so it would really be a busy time. I have looked into moving the wdw trip arrival back a day and it would be well worth it if i get to go to europe.

 

[marlower]

ive actually been looking at the website today. if we go on this cruise it would be our 5th.

Super! Don't hesitate to ask if you have any other questions!!

 

[NHdisneylover]

im thinking of booking this cruise for me and my dd6

Oh please do! The more the merrier

Congrats to all of you who have your bookings done now. It sounds like everything otehr than Palo teas and brunches that people wanted was available--that is great I know it feels good to have one more thing taken care of.

We booked our hotel in Barcelona tonight. Since we are driving in and staying two nights (plus two nights in france along the way) we opted to stay at the Holiday Inn Barcelona Molins de Rei Hotel which is about 18 KM from town. It has free parking, is very near the train lines into town and we got the amazing rate of 46 Euro a night for a room that sleeps 4 and includes free breakfast. We just couldn't pass that deal up Now I just have to fiure out where we are staying in France

 

[marlower]

Just finished booking. Got Palo brunch for June 4th (in case we don't get the group brunch), Palo dinner for May 29th, but tea was gone by the time I booked those 2. Only booked 2 other excursions - Three historic cities and dghasjsa boat ride in Malta, and Bardo Museum, Medina, Carthage and Sidi Bou Said in Tunisia. Also booked the Exotic Rasul for DH and I. Never did it before so we'll see on that one!

Hey Taina,

I just noticed that we will be on the same excursion in Malta!! WooHoo! Oh and I booked the Exotic Rasul as well!

 

[ingreece]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hi Everyone,
I want to share some info about Naples since we lived there from 2002-05.
I will order the sites in order of importance. (In my humble opinon.)
1) Pompeii & Herculaneum
2) National Archeological Museum (contains all of the treasures unearthed from Pompeii)
3) Palazzo Reale (Royal Palace) Can walk from ship
4) The street of "Spaccanapoli" with fabulous churches and street life
5) Cappella Sansevero which has the "Veiled Christ" statue - as good as Michaelangelo
It is also in the Spaccanapoli area.
6) Castles Nuovo and dell'Ovo
7) Museo di Capodimonte (amazing art museum)
Be on aleart for theives - Napales is very chaotic, few people speak English. It has such amazing treasures, try to focus on these and don't get down by the grafitti, traffic or chaos.
A good thing to buy are cameos and capidomonte porcelain (real looking flowers).
Pizza was invented here. They make the best! It is cooked in wood buring ovens. Neapolitans have a zest for life. They live in the shadow of a volacano so they live life to the fullest because they never know when it will be their last day.
I like Rick Steves' Guidebooks as well as DK's Naples book.


Jennifer

 

[marlower]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hi Everyone,
I want to share some info about Naples since we lived there from 2002-05.
I will order the sites in order of importance. (In my humble opinon.)
1) Pompeii & Herculaneum
2) National Archeological Museum (contains all of the treasures unearthed from Pompeii)
3) Palazzo Reale (Royal Palace) Can walk from ship
4) The street of "Spaccanapoli" with fabulous churches and street life
5) Cappella Sansevero which has the "Veiled Christ" statue - as good as Michaelangelo
It is also in the Spaccanapoli area.
6) Castles Nuovo and dell'Ovo
7) Museo di Capodimonte (amazing art museum)
Be on aleart for theives - Napales is very chaotic, few people speak English. It has such amazing treasures, try to focus on these and don't get down by the grafitti, traffic or chaos.
A good thing to buy are cameos and capidomonte porcelain (real looking flowers).
Pizza was invented here. They make the best! It is cooked in wood buring ovens. Neapolitans have a zest for life. They live in the shadow of a volacano so they live life to the fullest because they never know when it will be their last day.
I like Rick Steves' Guidebooks as well as DK's Naples book.


Jennifer

Jennifer,

This information is wonderful! Thank you so much! We have a friend that has been to Naples many times and he couldn't stress enough the importance of going to the Archeological Museum!

We plan on heading there as well as Pompeii and to Positano for lunch. Have you eaten in Positano before? Our friend had two recommendations for lunch, Il San Pietro or Chez Black.

 

[Kiss-im-mee2]

For those who are planning on going to Cinque Terre you will need to go to cruise critic to see the link to my pictures since this board will not let me post a link because I do not have 10 posts.

The train leaves La Spezia at 10 which stops at the first and fifth town. Another train leaves at 10:07 that stops at all the towns. Do not buy a train ticket. You need to purchase a CT pass at the national park stand along track one in La Spezia. This pass includes an all day pass to the trains as well as the hiking trails. The train ride to the first town is about 15 minutes. The last town Montorosa has a very nice beach.

 

[ingreece]

Hi Heidi,
We ate at a place right on the water. I don't remember the name. My expereices in Italy have been that the restaurants are usually great. Italians live to eat and they make food such a huge priority. Sorry I can't help more.
Jennifer

 

[ingreece]

Thanks Eileen! Do you know how much the CT Passes are?

 

[sinnika]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hi Everyone,
I want to share some info about Naples since we lived there from 2002-05.
I will order the sites in order of importance. (In my humble opinon.)
1) Pompeii & Herculaneum
2) National Archeological Museum (contains all of the treasures unearthed from Pompeii)
3) Palazzo Reale (Royal Palace) Can walk from ship
4) The street of "Spaccanapoli" with fabulous churches and street life
5) Cappella Sansevero which has the "Veiled Christ" statue - as good as Michaelangelo
It is also in the Spaccanapoli area.
6) Castles Nuovo and dell'Ovo
7) Museo di Capodimonte (amazing art museum)
Be on aleart for theives - Napales is very chaotic, few people speak English. It has such amazing treasures, try to focus on these and don't get down by the grafitti, traffic or chaos.
A good thing to buy are cameos and capidomonte porcelain (real looking flowers).
Pizza was invented here. They make the best! It is cooked in wood buring ovens. Neapolitans have a zest for life. They live in the shadow of a volacano so they live life to the fullest because they never know when it will be their last day.
I like Rick Steves' Guidebooks as well as DK's Naples book.


Jennifer

Thanks Jennifer!
We are trying to arrange a private tour to do the top 3 things on your list:
Pompeii, Herculaneum, and Archeological museum. If we can't find others to share cost, we may just do the train and get there on our own. My biggest concern is the theft alert, esp around the Circumvesusiana station - Rick Steves even mentions it quite in depth in his Italy guide.

So do you think Naples is much worse than other cities? We have done a fair amount of public transportation in major cities in US and Europe. Would love to hear any additional feedback.

Also, any recommendations for pizza in Naples? We plan to do the museum last, and maybe a pizza stop beforehand to tide us over till dinner will be in order.

 

[sinnika]

For those who are planning on going to Cinque Terre you will need to go to cruise critic to see the link to my pictures since this board will not let me post a link because I do not have 10 posts.

The train leaves La Spezia at 10 which stops at the first and fifth town. Another train leaves at 10:07 that stops at all the towns. Do not buy a train ticket. You need to purchase a CT pass at the national park stand along track one in La Spezia. This pass includes an all day pass to the trains as well as the hiking trails. The train ride to the first town is about 15 minutes. The last town Montorosa has a very nice beach.

Seeing those photos of Cinque Terre makes me want to visit - guess we'll have to cruise again! We visited Florence 14 years ago and have always wanted to go back - this time, we are not doing Pisa, been there, done that!
To make the most of our Florence time, we have opted to go by train from Rome so we get to spend the night in Florence and have dinner there, and be up early to go to the Uffizi gallery, the David, and the Duomo. Then we'll meet the ship back in La Spezia.

Eileen, make lots of short posts! just say hi, good morning, etc, and you will be up to 10 in no time! You have a wealth of info and all those great photos to share with us!

 

[ingreece]

You'll be ok on public transport in Naples. Violent crime is very rare. Just don't wear expensive jewelry. Put your money and valuables in a safe place. One trick I learned is to us a twist tie on the zipper of your purse. I have never had a problem in Naples, only in Florence and Rome where my wallet stolen! I was always extra cautious in Naples so nothing ever happened. In Florence I was wearing a backpack purse and someone snaged my wallet while walking through a market and in Rome it happened on the metro but I can't recall how they got into my purse. They are so fast! Anyway, you will be fine doing these things on your own with a good map and Rick Steves' book. Don't worry. As far as pizza goes. I've eaten at several places in Spacanapoli area and both were wonderful. Just look for a place with a wood burning oven and it should be terrific. I can't wait to eat the pizza there again. Nothing compares. (My husband actually prefers American pizza though.) Take Piazza Cavour metro to the National Archeological museum. It is kind of scummy around there but there will be lots of tourists. I was just there in June of 09 and loved it again. I am a mueum person so I always seek out the muesuems. I think Naples Arch. museum is one of the top 10 in the WORLD! You are smart to see it.

 

[jocjarmom]

You'll be ok on public transport in Naples. Violent crime is very rare. Just don't wear expensive jewelry. Put your money and valuables in a safe place. One trick I learned is to us a twist tie on the zipper of your purse. I have never had a problem in Naples, only in Florence and Rome where my wallet stolen! I was always extra cautious in Naples so nothing ever happened. In Florence I was wearing a backpack purse and someone snaged my wallet while walking through a market and in Rome it happened on the metro but I can't recall how they got into my purse. They are so fast! Anyway, you will be fine doing these things on your own with a good map and Rick Steves' book. Don't worry. As far as pizza goes. I've eaten at several places in Spacanapoli area and both were wonderful. Just look for a place with a wood burning oven and it should be terrific. I can't wait to eat the pizza there again. Nothing compares. (My husband actually prefers American pizza though.) Take Piazza Cavour metro to the National Archeological museum. It is kind of scummy around there but there will be lots of tourists. I was just there in June of 09 and loved it again. I am a mueum person so I always seek out the muesuems. I think Naples Arch. museum is one of the top 10 in the WORLD! You are smart to see it.

So I was planning to use a backpack in the front, but now I'm thinking I should just get a Pacsafe purse for excursions. I was thinking of the Citysafe 100. Like this: http://www.luggage.com/asp/superbrowse.asp?clid=498&caid=&sku=PSF1046&refid=FR52-PSF1046

Better to be safe than sorry, yes?

 

[sinnika]

So I was planning to use a backpack in the front, but now I'm thinking I should just get a Pacsafe purse for excursions. I was thinking of the Citysafe 100. Like this: http://www.luggage.com/asp/superbrowse.asp?clid=498&caid=&sku=PSF1046&refid=FR52-PSF1046

Better to be safe than sorry, yes?

And I was thinking of not splurging on the Pacsafe purse and just using my baggelini! I'll leave all monies, cards to the safety of DH. I'll be carrying the guidebook, water bottle, snacks, tissues, toilet seat covers, hand sanitizer and other "mom" necessities so nothing that can't be replaced! LOL

 

[ingreece]

Nice purse. I think it could really give you peace of mind. Nobody could slash it open.