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

[TammyAlphabet]

Wow, that sounds really nice. I really like the access to the food and beverages. Wanna hear something funny.....I have not completely gotten over the sticker shock of how expensive the rooms are yet. Its just that sometimes when the room includes certain perks like the ones you are getting it makes it easier to justify the price since that is one less thing that we have to pay for. Just funny that a $300 room is a bargain !

I totally agree. I would probably never think that 300 is a bargain in the states. LOL. But I am holding two reservations, one for the casa camper and one for the hotel jazz. Since Disney will not offer rides to the hotel unless you book through them, I might as well stay wherever I like. Now I am stressing about transfers. LOL>

 

[MKJEcruisers]

Count us in on the fish extender exchange as well. it sounds so fun!

 

[Tahitian Traveler]

Ya know, I said the same thing but I need assistance with the luggage. It is a shame that I have to "pay extra" for that but for me (with young kids) it will be worth not having to hassle with it. I have been told that if I stay at a disney host hotel and give them my luggage I will not see it again until I get to my stateroom. My husband freaks out about luggage and it getting from point a to b. So for my sanity,the extra expense is worth it. I will check my notes but I think I got the diplomatic for around $ 175 - 200 a nite.

 

[poohkinandpiglet]

P.S. - And if any of you have kids close to my kids' ages let us know. It sounds like one will have to go to Oceaneer Club and one to Oceaneer Lab so it would be good for them to know a name or two before they go...

Welcome! My son will be 10 and my daughter 8 (almost 9) at the time of the cruise. We are also staying at the Holiday Inn Express (Barcelona City-22) before we cruise. We plan to spend an extra 10 days in Italy afterwards. Look forward to meeting you.

Sharon

 

[MKJEcruisers]

Welcome! My son will be 10 and my daughter 8 (almost 9) at the time of the cruise. We are also staying at the Holiday Inn Express (Barcelona City-22) before we cruise. We plan to spend an extra 10 days in Italy afterwards. Look forward to meeting you.

Sharon

Cool, we should get your kids chatting with my oldest daughter who will be 10 at cruise time.

FYI everybody. I found a great solution to the "phone" problem in Europe especially if you have an iPhone or Blackberry. I actually have an iPhone AND a Blackberry. I use my iPhone for work and no longer use my Blackberry. I don't want to mess with my iPhone since I use it for work but I have decided to unlock my Blackberry (done) and look for an international sim card that I can use on my blackberry (VERY HARD TO FIND!) for our Europe trip.

I finally found this one which is the one I'm going to use at mobilitypass.com. It's a pre-paid sim card that works for an unlocked Blackberry or iPhone (or other phone). It works everywhere we are going except Tunisia.
I will also get Telenav Europe (telenav.eu) so that we will have a GPS in case of emergency (data rates aren't good enough to use the GPS too often...).

 

[poohkinandpiglet]

Cool, we should get your kids chatting with my oldest daughter who will be 10 at cruise time.

It's a great idea. My daughter made a new friend and chatted before our last cruise and they had a great time together on the ship and still keep in touch.

Great info about the phones.

 

[poohkinandpiglet]

Anyone know the earliest time we'll be able to disembark if we skip the sit down breakfast on the last day?

 

[sinnika]

Hello Everyone! Just wanted to introduce ourselves. We're the Po Family - me, DH, DD 14 and DS 12 (turning 13 on the cruise). We were booked on the Northern Batics for July 6th but when the kids sail free offer came out, was too good to resist, so I booked this as a new cruise and moved my Baltic cruise to WB TA (a girl can dream, can't she? )
TammyAlphabet, we sailed on the June 13th western together - I sat next to you at the private Palo brunch. DH was not with us on that cruise - he's not much into beaches but looking forward to seeing Italy again (we were there 13 years ago when DD was 6 mo; DH was in Naples 19 years ago working at Navy clinic for 4 weeks so did alot of nearby sighteeing).
Anyway, I have to figure how I am going to get the kids to miss 9 days of public school. Plan to talk to principals when school begins Monday. Any suggestions from those who have done this?
Tahitian Traveler, I have been reading your posts on the DLRP threads. We also are planning a quick trip to Paris and a visit to DLPR for the day if we can work it all out. Since we just moved the ressie, am just starting some planning. Looking forward to chatting about the upcoming cruise with fellow addicts! I mean cruisers!

 

[TammyAlphabet]

Hello Everyone! Just wanted to introduce ourselves. We're the Po Family - me, DH, DD 14 and DS 12 (turning 13 on the cruise). We were booked on the Northern Batics for July 6th but when the kids sail free offer came out, was too good to resist, so I booked this as a new cruise and moved my Baltic cruise to WB TA (a girl can dream, can't she? )
TammyAlphabet, we sailed on the June 13th western together - I sat next to you at the private Palo brunch. DH was not with us on that cruise - he's not much into beaches but looking forward to seeing Italy again (we were there 13 years ago when DD was 6 mo; DH was in Naples 19 years ago working at Navy clinic for 4 weeks so did alot of nearby sighteeing).
Anyway, I have to figure how I am going to get the kids to miss 9 days of public school. Plan to talk to principals when school begins Monday. Any suggestions from those who have done this?
Tahitian Traveler, I have been reading your posts on the DLRP threads. We also are planning a quick trip to Paris and a visit to DLPR for the day if we can work it all out. Since we just moved the ressie, am just starting some planning. Looking forward to chatting about the upcoming cruise with fellow addicts! I mean cruisers!

I remember you!!! You sister is the one that emailed me about the RA! I am so glad that you are cruising with us!!

Missing nine days of school will be rough, however, if they are good students, it shouldn't be a problem. It will be a really be an outstanding educational opportunity for them. That should be worth something.

I am assuming you will come in a day or two early? When you decide where you are staying you will have to let us know. So exciting to see another familiar face on here.

 

[MKJEcruisers]

sinnika,

We are having the same issue with our two girls towards the end of the year. They are going to miss the last week and a half to two weeks of school. The school's policy is that they can be counted present if they are in school, doing a school related activity or are being schooled at home for some reason. What we were planning on doing, if necessary, is putting together some kind of folder with all of the ports and what they can learn from each (like a living history lesson). We were also going to incorporate the Oceaneers Club and Lab activities in the "this trip is educational and this is why" presentation. Hopefully they will see it as such and we will have no problem with the absences.

 

[sinnika]

I remember you!!! You sister is the one that emailed me about the RA! I am so glad that you are cruising with us!!

Missing nine days of school will be rough, however, if they are good students, it shouldn't be a problem. It will be a really be an outstanding educational opportunity for them. That should be worth something.

I am assuming you will come in a day or two early? When you decide where you are staying you will have to let us know. So exciting to see another familiar face on here.

I'm looking for suggestions that will sleep the 4 of us in one room if possible in Barcelona. We are only doing one night post-cruise in Barcelona, and possibly one night pre-cruise. We'll be traveling from Paris before the cruise. Even considering an overnight train with sleepercar for 4 that gets us into Barcelona at 8:30am the morning of the cruise. Or flying the night before and staying in Barcelona. I like the idea of the train though.
Both kids are really good students. Just worried since DD starts high school this year. We'll go to summer school if we need to though to make up hours.
Just need to find out the school policy here in TX. I am getting very excited now about this cruise! Have been on the DIS boards for days reading TR's and Med excursions! Its nice to have some info to go by! And we have visited some of the cities before (Naples, Florence, Pisa) so it makes planning a little easier!

 

[mehaul]

I'm looking for suggestions that will sleep the 4 of us in one room if possible in Barcelona. We are only doing one night post-cruise in Barcelona, and possibly one night pre-cruise. We'll be traveling from Paris before the cruise. Even considering an overnight train with sleepercar for 4 that gets us into Barcelona at 8:30am the morning of the cruise. Or flying the night before and staying in Barcelona. I like the idea of the train though.
Both kids are really good students. Just worried since DD starts high school this year. We'll go to summer school if we need to though to make up hours.
Just need to find out the school policy here in TX. I am getting very excited now about this cruise! Have been on the DIS boards for days reading TR's and Med excursions! Its nice to have some info to go by! And we have visited some of the cities before (Naples, Florence, Pisa) so it makes planning a little easier!

The Ritz in Barcelona will sleep 4 - includes breakfast
The price is pretty reasonable - especially when you factor in you only need 1 room. I am booked on an earlier cruise.
We did the Disney Med Cruise in 2007
I created a blog to help with my planning
I have uploaded the entire list of excursions Disney offered on that cruise (including the price)

www.worldofmouse.com

 

[sinnika]

The Ritz in Barcelona will sleep 4 - includes breakfast
The price is pretty reasonable - especially when you factor in you only need 1 room. I am booked on an earlier cruise.
We did the Disney Med Cruise in 2007
I created a blog to help with my planning
I have uploaded the entire list of excursions Disney offered on that cruise (including the price)

www.worldofmouse.com

Thanks for the suggestion! And thanks for that great website!!! Just what I was looking for, and so helpful to anyone cruising Europe!

 

[Tahitian Traveler]

Welcome Sinnika ! I am still trying to find discounted tickets to DLP. This trip is taking up so much of my time planning. Whew....but I am just as excited as everyone else and cannot wait either. My 7 year old son is going to miss a week and a half of school. Luckily he is only in the 2nd grade so they probably wont say much but then again I have not told his teacher/ administration about our trip either. I agree with the previous post, it is educational and they should know the significance of what will be presented to the children. The truth of the matter is that it all boils down to money for the school districts. We'll talk more later. I have to get to bed for my daily 430am wake up. Good night all.... Have a pleasant day tomorrow.

 

[poohkinandpiglet]

We did the Disney Med Cruise in 2007
I created a blog to help with my planning
I have uploaded the entire list of excursions Disney offered on that cruise (including the price)

www.worldofmouse.com

Thank you for posting this. Great information!

Sharon

 

[cra33f]

Hi everyone: I just joined the group!
I am also doing the Disney Med Cruise in May 26, 2010. It will be me, my husband, daughter 8y , son 6y . It will be our first Disney Cruise. We will be on deck 5, inside cabin , one of the sideway ones.
I am not to sure how to use this site yet so be patient with me.

 

[poohkinandpiglet]

Hi everyone: I just joined the group!
I am also doing the Disney Med Cruise in May 26, 2010. It will be me, my husband, daughter 8y , son 6y . It will be our first Disney Cruise. We will be on deck 5, inside cabin , one of the sideway ones.
I am not to sure how to use this site yet so be patient with me.

Welcome! My daughter is 8 as well. We will be on Deck 5 forward in 5022.

 

[cra33f]

Welcome! My daughter is 8 as well. We will be on Deck 5 forward in 5022.

That is great! Nice to meet you! I am sooo glad my post worked.
I wanted to know if all the Disney excursions are large group of people traveling by bus. I really want something more low key. I heard some people hire a chaufer. The problem I see is trusting a company overseas. Any ideas?

Thanks,

 

[TammyAlphabet]

That is great! Nice to meet you! I am sooo glad my post worked.
I wanted to know if all the Disney excursions are large group of people traveling by bus. I really want something more low key. I heard some people hire a chaufer. The problem I see is trusting a company overseas. Any ideas?

Thanks,

Welcome! I have been doing research on this using cruisecritic.com and tripadvisor.com. There are some companies that are rated well on both. I am looking at some. These can cost as much as 1K per day for four people so pretty pricey. Maybe share with another family? That is what I am hoping to do! I am going to book one for eight and try to get another family to split it with me. But I haven't booked one yet.

 

[shushh]

Anyone know the earliest time we'll be able to disembark if we skip the sit down breakfast on the last day?

Let me know if you find out the answer to this! We are on the 24 April sailing but I am desperately trying to get the information as we have a 1050 flight to catch...

Belinda