May 28, 2011 - 11 Night Mediterranean Sailing from Barcelona

[silvergoldberry]

I just booked this cruise! There are going to be at least 9 of us, maybe 10, in 4 staterooms. For everyone except my daughter this is our first cruise. We are still in the research mode.

With such a large group, I doubt we will all be doing the same things every day.

My biggest challenge in this is planning for Jack, my friend in a wheelchair. This trip was his idea and I'm going to need to find private tours that can accommodate his power wheelchair in the ports. He is very disabled, cannot walk and is unable to transfer out of his chair.

I'm most wondering about Rome and Naples. He really wants to see Pompeii and what he can of Rome.

However Jack will not be able to go ashore in the tendered ports (Villefranche & La Spezia) so there's two ports I don't have to worry about.

I'm really looking forward to this cruise and perhaps finally meeting some DISers!

 

[bearette]

They are closed today, but I got my quote and am now going to book. i am official, as long as my husband gets the vacation days. i won't know until January though for sure.

Last Disney cruise was in 2006 so I am a little rusty on the initials. FE?

I am just now going to look into portas and a few days in Spain afterwards.

 

[kaceyisme]

Last Disney cruise was in 2006 so I am a little rusty on the initials. FE?QUOTE]

Welcome! FE = Fish Extender.

 

[Cousin Orville]

Good morning.

Just as for an update - we will be in Cabin #8076.
Gavin will be 6 and Liam will be 1.
This will be our second cruise, following up our Baltic this year which was lots of fun.
We will do the FE. It will be our first time doing this, so I need to look up what people generally put in these FE.
It's tough planning this so far out when we're also working on a couple of other trips sooner, but we're still looking forward to it!

Kevin

 

[bearette]

Fe- duh I knew that! I usually don't do them since I have to fly to my destination and it is another thing to pack, and forget. They are cute to c though.

It is hard to get excited about a vacation so far away, but I am a planner so I enjoy the planning aspects of it.

 

[floridahippy]

My DH Pete and myself Fi are booked for this cruise - really excited about it. We are both rather shy though!!!!

 

[kaceyisme]

My DH Pete and myself Fi are booked for this cruise - really excited about it. We are both rather shy though!!!!

Hi and welcome!! My DH is shy too (not me though )

I got your PM and sent you the tours we booked. Let me know!

Karen

 

[kaceyisme]

Tour update -

• we have space for two people left on the Rome tour
• we have space for two people left on the Naples tour
• we have space for four people left on the Nice/Monaco tour

 

[scrapycruiser]

Cindy
I'm planning to do the FE, infact I bought some supplies to start making them ! I actually "borrowed" an idea from my last cruise . Are we still doing 1 gift per stateroom ? If there are families with children doing the FE, do you think those cabins could exchange the kids' gifts.And those w/o kids would give 1 "cabin gift" to all cabins . Does that make sense ? I don't want to offend anyone.

 

[Marymom]

Even though we have kids in the cabin, we would like to just do the cabin-only FE group. I don't want to load down my suitcases on international flights! We are looking at flights now but, it looks like we will drive to Miami and catch a cheap flight there. We are DVC members and I am thinking of booking a few nights at Vero Beach to recover from our vacation before we drive home. Hope everyone is having a good week!

Mary

 

[scrapycruiser]

Even though we have kids in the cabin, we would like to just do the cabin-only FE group. I don't want to load down my suitcases on international flights! We are looking at flights now but, it looks like we will drive to Miami and catch a cheap flight there. We are DVC members and I am thinking of booking a few nights at Vero Beach to recover from our vacation before we drive home. Hope everyone is having a good week!

Mary

We are DVC members,too. Sounds like you have a great plan at Vero. We have some Vero points , have had them for years but have never been there We're considering moving to the Orlando area, so maybe then we'll get there. We usually stay at the BCV. Excited about this cruise. We did the 2007 Med cruise with Disney. This time we're going at a slower pace. Loved Florence but think we'll do Cinque Terre on our own instead. Also, we're not even going to Rome. We had a private tour to Rome last time and our guide was so fabulous...we saw everything. Anyway, it's fun planning all this !!

And we will do the FE... 1 gift per cabin !

 

[Marymom]

We are DVC members,too. Sounds like you have a great plan at Vero. We have some Vero points , have had them for years but have never been there We're considering moving to the Orlando area, so maybe then we'll get there. We usually stay at the BCV. Excited about this cruise. We did the 2007 Med cruise with Disney. This time we're going at a slower pace. Loved Florence but think we'll do Cinque Terre on our own instead. Also, we're not even going to Rome. We had a private tour to Rome last time and our guide was so fabulous...we saw everything. Anyway, it's fun planning all this !!

And we will do the FE... 1 gift per cabin !

We have never been to Vero either! I am excited, its like getting 2 vacations! Our home is OKW, which we love. We are in the panhandle of Florida now but my husband is active duty AF. I noticed you live in Newport News. We lived in York County for four years (2004-2008). I miss the beautiful drive on Colonial Parkway to Williamsburg. The problem with planning and researching is that I want to see EVERYTHING. How to choose?

 

[htmlkid]

We have never done FE but would love to this trip. How do we get into the group????

Also looking for info on what is better to do, book excursions with or without disney.

Thanks

 

[scrapycruiser]

We have never done FE but would love to this trip. How do we get into the group????

Also looking for info on what is better to do, book excursions with or without disney.

Thanks

I believe DopeyFan is planning to organize the FE. You can get alot of info by doing a search for FE. I ordered our FE holder from ebay for $30. It has our names on it and the seamstress used cute Disney colors & fabric. Some just buy a sm tote bag and hang that on the fish outside the cabin.

As far as the FE gifts, I am planning to give 1 gift per cabin. I am making mine, but not everyone does. Again, you can get FE gift ideas from these boards.
If you have children ,you might want to get together with others interested in the FE that have children to see if the children want to have their own swap.

Excursions with or without DISNEY ??? Great question !!! Hard to answer !

It depends on several things : the port, time in port, tendering or not, how adventurous you are, what you want to see or do.

We have been on many cruises over the last 30 years and have done both.

With Disney :

Most important, assured of getting back to the ship on time, Disney will wait if your DCL tour is delayed. But not if you're on your own.

With Disney they organize everything for you.

Tendering...as in La Spezia...can be timely. So DCL tours might be best esp if you're going a great distance, like Florence.
When we were there with DCL 2007 we did the DCL tour...Florence on your Own. Worked out great. Everything easy walking to, compact area. The only thing I did ahead of time was to go on line and get tickets for the Academia so we wouldn't have to wait in line.

With DCL tours, you may not have enough time on your own, for shopping or have a snack or beverage. Also, if on a tour you might not hear the guide since you're in a large group ( maybe 30 ).

It could be fun for children being on the tour bus with others their age.

Also, DCL has several tours geared toward children, where they have their own activities.

Touring on your Own :

You can plan what you want to see and when you want to go, and how much time you want to be there.

Sometimes by being on your own you can save money, especially if there are several members in your family.

Depending on the port, you can see alot just walking around town and doing some research of the region on your own before the cruise.

You can use public transportation : HOHO Buses, taxis, trains, or private tours.

Some of my personal ideas in the Med :

Malta....easy to do own your own
Tunis....I've recently read where they have a new cruise terminal and inside the terminal you can arrange for a taxi, pay there ( not having to deal with money in the taxi ), prices very reasonable, go to the places you want to see.

Naples... I would go with DCL tours OR hire a private guide. We are using a company we've used before...romecab.com
Some people do take the train from Naples to Pompeii..I wouldn't feel safe doing that.

Civitavecchia...DCL tours OR hire a private guide. We are also using romecab as we did in 2007.

LaSpezia... again, DCL or Private tour . Depends on where you want to go.
DCL's Florence on your Own ; DCL's tour to Pisa , Lucca, Portoveno and Santa Marguerita, Cinque Terre

I've heard of people going to Pisa on the train on their own.

Cinque Terre is very close, and we have decided to take the train and go on our own.

Corsica...On your Own or DCL tour. Just to walk around town or go to the beach, easy to do on your own. However, Disney does have some fun tours.I was thinking about the Sweet Corsica tour. Also, the jeep tour looks like fun.

Villefranche ....ahhhh !!!! My favorite place !! Feel in love with this charming region in 2007 !!

You have to tender here, but everything is close. No problem on your own unless you have mobility issues. There are alot of hills. The train and public buses are easy. You could easily see Monoco, Monte Carlo, Nice and Eze without a tour. However waiting for trains and buses will eat into your shore time. BUT you are in port for 11 hours.

Last time and this time we're using a private guide, revelationtours.com There are 4 adults and 2 children so it's more cost effective than taking a DCL tour. Also I have certain places I want to see: St Paul de Vence, Antibes, and either Cannes or Nice.

If I have given you more info than you wanted, I'm sorry. Also, these are just my opinions. We have traveled alot, but certainly no expert.

Have fun with your planning. For me, it's half the fun !!

 

[htmlkid]

Thanks so much for all the info....

 

[htmlkid]

Just an FYI

Air Europa has flights from Miami leaving Thursday and returning Wednesday with a stop over in Madrid for $666 per person.

We are probally going to book it.

 

[scrapycruiser]

Just an FYI

Air Europa has flights from Miami leaving Thursday and returning Wednesday with a stop over in Madrid for $666 per person.

We are probally going to book it.

Excellent price ! We booked our air last week. We leave out of MIA, also, on Iberia, also stopping in Madrid for $710.

 

[DopeyFan1966]

Sorry I haven't been on in a while. I'm in the military and had to go to training. Then I was on 2 week vacay at WDW. I will get the pages updated and start the FE list.

I think we should have one FE per party/stateroom. Unless you live in Spain I think it will be a problem getting FEs in your luggage. I'm currently stationed in Europe and it was still a problem because the airlines only allowed 33 pounds per bag and we had to pay for every bag checked.

For those who were wondering what people put in FEs, this past cruise we received:

pencils, sun screen samples, stickers, magnets, note pads, candy, Disney pins, etc.

Hope that helps some of you.

 

[kaceyisme]

Just an FYI

Air Europa has flights from Miami leaving Thursday and returning Wednesday with a stop over in Madrid for $666 per person.

We are probally going to book it.

That's a super price! We are leaving from New York and have non-stop flights on Iberia (which are actually American Airlines flights) for $832 per person. We prefer non-stop so it is worth the extra money to us. Just a tip for anyone who hasn't booked flights yet, Iberia flights are American Airline code shares, but if you book through American you will pay much more. Book through Iberia's website and you will save lots of money.

 

[scrapycruiser]

Sorry I haven't been on in a while. I'm in the military and had to go to training. Then I was on 2 week vacay at WDW. I will get the pages updated and start the FE list.

I think we should have one FE per party/stateroom. Unless you live in Spain I think it will be a problem getting FEs in your luggage. I'm currently stationed in Europe and it was still a problem because the airlines only allowed 33 pounds per bag and we had to pay for every bag checked.

For those who were wondering what people put in FEs, this past cruise we received:

pencils, sun screen samples, stickers, magnets, note pads, candy, Disney pins, etc.

Hope that helps some of you.

Welcome back ! Wow...2 weeks at WDW, good for you !! Where did you stay ? Any fav resturants ? We're going for 4 days next month !

I agree with the FE gifts.

And thanks for your service to our country !!