May Med Magic - May 15 2010 - Meet thread

[tripodjw]

I love pin trading on the ship! Each night they set up a little stand in the atrium by guest services where they sell DCL pins and a CM has a pin book to look through. There's also usually at least one night where you can pin trade with the officers of the ship in the atrium. I LOVE that night because you can just go down the row and find lots of good pins and chat with the officers. We also like to pin trade in the gift shops, CMs standing outside the restaurants, guest services, all over! You'll have plenty of opportunities to trade and you can usually find some really great pins onboard. I always go for the DCL exclusive pins but you can also find some good Disneyland or WDW ones too. Happy pin trading!

The officer pin trading is really neat. They seem to just give the officers a bunch of the DCL pins that are on sale in the shop (especially those that are in sets of 5 or 6 pins), so you can actually go along the line of officers and put together a pretty decent collection of the current DCL pins without having to actually buy any.

 

[tripodjw]

Up to 60 on the meet list. That's a lot of Disers - if we get even a quarter pop along for a meet then that'll be an excellent turnout.

I noticed the EB transatlantic peeps are getting their GTY reservations. probably means it is only another month till we start getting ours.

 

[Welsh Girl]

We have just recieved our info leaflet from DCL...do you know if we will def get our room numbers before we go?? Or do some have to wait till they board? Also....pin trading!! Haven't heard of that before!!

Natalie

Up to 60 on the meet list. That's a lot of Disers - if we get even a quarter pop along for a meet then that'll be an excellent turnout.

I noticed the EB transatlantic peeps are getting their GTY reservations. probably means it is only another month till we start getting ours.

 

[Jeff Spencer]

We'll all get a room assignment before we go. In fact, we should have them a month or more before we sail.

 

[tripodjw]

We'll all get a room assignment before we go. In fact, we should have them a month or more before we sail.

They are currently issuing room numbers around 45 days before sailing so we should get them in around a month.

However, i have read of very rare occasions when GTY room numbers aren't assigned until the port. However this is really really really rare.

 

[tripodjw]

We have just recieved our info leaflet from DCL...do you know if we will def get our room numbers before we go?? Or do some have to wait till they board? Also....pin trading!! Haven't heard of that before!!

Natalie

pin trading is great fun.

It started in the Disney parks but is basically that you buy Disney pins from the shops etc and can trade them with other guests and cast members. There are some really rare pins (small limited edition issues) and plenty of open editions where there's loads of them.

It's a great way to meet new people and to collect souvenirs related to stuff you're interested in. Although it can get expensive as the pins aren't cheap.

I collect pins for Haunted Mansion and Maleficent, plus some that relate to specific stuff from each trip. They do Cruise Line pins and some of these are v cute.

If you want to get started quickly and cheaply you can buy grab packs of lots of pins off ebay which give you some cheap ones to start trading with.

Make sure if you buy off ebay its from someone with a good reputation of selling official Disney pins, there's plenty of knockoff pins out there and some pin traders won't even accept pins from Disneyland Paris/Tokyo/Hong Kong.

 

[Picket Fence]

Hi Kevin & Jamie,
My wife & I are also looking to join others to split tour costs. We are interested in all of the Italian and the Villafranche ports of call. I see there are 4 slots available for some of the ports.
My e mail buckndoe @ verizon.net.

Gary,

We have just gotten started in planning our excusions (we just booked the cruise a couple of days ago). It appears that many people have Rome booked pretty tight and have contacted a company for a private tour. We have reached out to a few people and are still waiting for a couple of responses on potentially other groups we may join. The port we are REALLY interested in getting a tour put together is Rome and we'd be happy to share what we find once more information.

Kevin and Jamie Pickett

kevinpickett @ hotmail.com

 

[jenandmartin]

Hi everyone...I received a reply from Claudio of limoinrome regarding a tour of Tuscany instead of Florence. DH and I have decided to do Cinque Terre on our own instead but I thought this was a nice tour for anyone who didn't want to visit Florence if anyone was interested.

About the excursion to S. Gimignano, Chianti & Pisa:
This excursion is taylored for a visit crossing the rolling hills of the Tuscany to S. Gimignano, one of the best preserved medieval town in Italy.
Your driver-guide will be pleased to meet you at your ship's exit gate to start your excursion. Enjoy a leisurely 2 hours drive via modern highway through the rolling hills of Tuscany region to S.Gimignano. Upon reaching the town you have time at your leisure for shopping and strolling through the narrow streets admiring the " town of the towers": The main square, the XII C town hall, the church housing masterpieces of famous painters of Renaissance. After S.Gimignano your excursion continues to the Chianti countryside for wine tasting in a vinery of local producer. You can stop for optional lunch and in the afternoon time permitting, you'll have a quick stop in Pisa to admire "Piazza dei Miracoli"and the famous "Leaning Tower" your tour ends with a transfer back to the port where estimate arrival will be around 6:30 p.m. This excursion costs : EURO 520(up to 4 pax); EURO 580 ( for party of 6 / 8). The tour would be flexible according to your needs.
Mode payment: cash or traveller checks at the end of the service
If you need further information regarding this or any other of my services, please contact me by e-mail.

By the way, thanks Jeff for all the info you've provided us here...we have a JediJill...you can be YodaJeff!

 

[Pinmeister]

We have just recieved our info leaflet from DCL...do you know if we will def get our room numbers before we go?? Or do some have to wait till they board? Also....pin trading!! Haven't heard of that before!!

Natalie

Hey Natalie,
Pin trading and collecting is alot of fun.
Be glad you don't know about pin trading. Once you catch the pin bug its really addictive, not to mention expensive.

 

[abdmom]

For those of you who have taken private tours in Italy before - what is expected regarding tips?

 

[Travelbee]

The officer pin trading is really neat. They seem to just give the officers a bunch of the DCL pins that are on sale in the shop (especially those that are in sets of 5 or 6 pins), so you can actually go along the line of officers and put together a pretty decent collection of the current DCL pins without having to actually buy any.

My DD loves officer pin trading too. One time we even had to skip dessert for it!

Up to 60 on the meet list. That's a lot of Disers - if we get even a quarter pop along for a meet then that'll be an excellent turnout.

60? The last cruise I was on we had 40+ families and 120 people. I was told it was the biggest group any of them has ever seen. I guess this one will have that beat! How many are doing the FE? I'm not sure I'll have enough luggage room for that many FEs!

Hi everyone...I received a reply from Claudio of limoinrome regarding a tour of Tuscany instead of Florence. DH and I have decided to do Cinque Terre on our own instead but I thought this was a nice tour for anyone who didn't want to visit Florence if anyone was interested.

We're planning on doing Cinque Terre on our own as well. Our friends want to squeeze in Pisa as well, but not sure if it's doable?

 

[jedijill]

We're planning on doing Cinque Terre on our own as well. Our friends want to squeeze in Pisa as well, but not sure if it's doable?

I'm planning on Cinque Terre as well. Rick Steves has a good do it yourself tour in his Italy book. You shouldn't have much trouble getting to Pisa. Just take the train over to Pisa, catch a cab to the Tower, take the obligatory picture, and then take the train back to La Spezia. I loved seeing the Tower but its kind of a "been there done that" thing. Very touristy area around with overpriced and bad food and cheap souveniers. I've heard Cinque Terre is gorgeous and still relatively uncrowded.

Jill in CO

 

[jenandmartin]

We're planning on doing Cinque Terre on our own as well. Our friends want to squeeze in Pisa as well, but not sure if it's doable?

I'm planning on Cinque Terre as well. Rick Steves has a good do it yourself tour in his Italy book. You shouldn't have much trouble getting to Pisa. Just take the train over to Pisa, catch a cab to the Tower, take the obligatory picture, and then take the train back to La Spezia. I loved seeing the Tower but its kind of a "been there done that" thing. Very touristy area around with overpriced and bad food and cheap souveniers. I've heard Cinque Terre is gorgeous and still relatively uncrowded.

Jill in CO

We'd love to see Pisa too even though it's a bit of a hike for a picture moment. Maybe we can all take the train together!

 

[dawne577]

We received our 2010 Disney Cruise planning DVD today - I'm watching the promo for the Med as I type. Not much new but we get one every year we sail to put with all of our planning memorabilia. Sure makes the anticipation build.
Watching the cat 12 cabin assignments with interest - one month seems like a long time to wait.
Guess we'll also be waiting to see what happens with Novotels' grand opening.
A mini meet at the hotel sounds good if we don't get split up.

 

[Crusin Momo]

I don't know if I feel like the rabbit or Alice! This is our first Disney and our first European cruise other then several in the Bahama's I don't know where to begin or what to do. We are DW, DH, DD 29,DSIL29,DGD 5 and DGS 9months. Am I too late to book or see anything? Where do I start?

We are meeting our daughter and her family. They live in Abu Dhabi and our son-in-law is in the Marines. Someone please take pity on me and direct me to some tours that would be reasonable and suitable for the children. Thanks

 

[k8e]

I don't know if I feel like the rabbit or Alice! This is our first Disney and our first European cruise other then several in the Bahama's I don't know where to begin or what to do. We are DW, DH, DD 29,DSIL29,DGD 5 and DGS 9months. Am I too late to book or see anything? Where do I start?

We are meeting our daughter and her family. They live in Abu Dhabi and our son-in-law is in the Marines. Someone please take pity on me and direct me to some tours that would be reasonable and suitable for the children. Thanks

Welcome!

I did my first Med cruise about a year & a half ago. Cruisecritic.com has some great information about the various ports. There are also message boards there with tons of info specific to each country--tour recommendations, ways to see stuff on your own, etc. It was a great help to me in planning my first cruise in Europe. Lots of people on this thread have also been there before and be of great help. Happy planning!!

Katie

 

[Crusin Momo]

Welcome!

I did my first Med cruise about a year & a half ago. Cruisecritic.com has some great information about the various ports. There are also message boards there with tons of info specific to each country--tour recommendations, ways to see stuff on your own, etc. It was a great help to me in planning my first cruise in Europe. Lots of people on this thread have also been there before and be of great help. Happy planning!!

Katie

Thanks for the encouragement Katie. I feel as though I have entered an alternate universe where everyone knows the rules except me! Yikes too many choices. I can see that I am going to become an insomniac until I nail some of the details.

 

[tripodjw]

60? The last cruise I was on we had 40+ families and 120 people. I was told it was the biggest group any of them has ever seen. I guess this one will have that beat! How many are doing the FE? I'm not sure I'll have enough luggage room for that many FEs!

FE is currently at 17 so not too bad (at the moment).

I haven't counted up the number of people but i reckon it'll be somewhere around 180 people so far (which i reckon is probably around 10% of the people currently booked on the ship). Quite a few really. And no doubt there'll be more join up in the next month or so if they keep the low Cat 12 prices available.

 

[jojo6617]

We'd love to see Pisa too even though it's a bit of a hike for a picture moment. Maybe we can all take the train together!

that sounds like a great idea, I will be up for that

 

[rashdecision]

Thanks for the encouragement Katie. I feel as though I have entered an alternate universe where everyone knows the rules except me! Yikes too many choices. I can see that I am going to become an insomniac until I nail some of the details.

cruise critic was a great source for planning and is actually the place where I found this site. I am traveling with two younger children 7 and 9 and we found that the cheapest and best way to do the sites was private excursions. We discovered if you notify the tour operator of the age of your kids and the sites you are interested they will have preprepared itineraries for families. I would also make sure if you are planning on using private tour operators for multiple ports, many of the companies have 10% discounts for mulitbookings. Also there are many people who are looking for people to jump on their excursions to lower the total cost of the trip since it is a set price regardles of the number of people up to a certain point (more people = bigger car/van/bus). Either way, I grabbed a couple of books at the old Barnes and Noble and read about the sites then decided what when and where.