May Med Magic - May 15 2010 - Meet thread

[abdmom]

Well, with the final payment due on this cruise we did some number crunching and decided to cancel. With the dollar to euro exchange being terrible, the cost of airfare and hotel accomodations, and the fact that we can do a 7 night eastern plus spend a week at WDW with dining for less than the price of our cabin alone we are doing that instead next month. We will explore the option again for next summer. Hope that everyone has a wonderful time (how can you not!) and I will be checking out your trip reports when you return!

Laura

Laura, I'm sad to hear this, though I understand. The only reason we're going on this cruise is because of the pricing we got. I had originally booked the Aug 15 cruise on Magic, then switched to Celebrity because of pricing, and then just switched to this one a couple of weeks ago, again because of pricing. If DCL had not had the kids sail free, we still would have been on Celebrity. I've also calculated that the two independent excursions we've booked in Rome and Pompeii are going to cost about the same as the total cruise, because of the Euro to dollar exchange.

So I bought my plane ticket today! OMG, I'm really doing this!

Sayhello, I really hope to meet you on the cruise! I enjoyed sharing our experiences on the ABD China trip. Unfortunately, with 4 people in my group, it didn't make sense to add on the ABD portion. I wonder who your guides will be?

 

[sayhello]

Sayhello, I really hope to meet you on the cruise! I enjoyed sharing our experiences on the ABD China trip. Unfortunately, with 4 people in my group, it didn't make sense to add on the ABD portion. I wonder who your guides will be?

Hey, it's an 11-night cruise! I'm *sure* we can manage to find some time to get together! Once the cruise gets closer, and we have an idea of what our schedules look like, I'd love to set something up to meet you.

Yeah, I can see how this ABD add-on is really a much better deal for me, traveling alone, then it would be for a family. I've heard the guides are competing to be able to do this trip!

Sayhello

 

[AlohaJoe23]

Well the family is booked for the cruise portion.

We are: (Late seating) (Cat. 12 - GTY)

DH - 48
DW - 48
DS - 21
DD - 19

We are coming from the Aloha state so working on airfare next. I research airfare and hotels with kayak.com I find their charting featue helps me get the pretty good pricing. Currently $941 rt to Dublin from Honolulu. This is for Wednesday travel. $200 cheaper than any other day in May. Have seen as low as $800 so will wait it out a bit. Will use BMI and EasyJet for trips to London and Barcelona. Want to spend 5 or 6 days in London/Dublin after cruise.

Always interested if anyone knows other tricks of the internet travel business. Anyone had better success using Wholesaler's?

Did an NCL trip in Nov. 08 that hit Rome and Malta but other ports will be new. We tend to do ports on our own using the local transportation then hiring guides at major attractions.

First day on this site as never dreamed a Disney cruise would be such an affordable option.

 

[Jeff Spencer]

Hi all, Susan and I back from the marathon.

We finished in 4:57:08, which was about 15 minutes slower than we thought we'd do but the cold and wind was just BRUTAL, especially on me. At the race start at 5:40 am Sunday the temp was in the mid 20's with a wind chill of 12.

We included the trip and some photos in our blog (linked below). We did have two ceramic heaters in our camper but still slept bundled up in sweatpants, sweatshirts and had multiple quilts for warmth. We've been visiting Disneyworld regularly for more than 20 years and we've never experienced this type of lingering cold.

Back to the cruise, I'm sorry to see some in the group have dropped out but understand the financial aspect. If it weren't for the cat. 12 rates, we wouldn't be on this cruise either.

On the private tours, so far I've booked a tour in Malta with Duncan Zammit of UPhotoMalta. One of the primary sources I use when researching private tours is TripAdvisor.com. When I search TA for Malta and "Thinks to Do", Uphotomalta came up as the #1 item. Reading the reviews, I knew this was the type of tour that we would be interested in, i.e., not the typical tourist stops, done by a local that is passionate about his subject. Duncan takes small groups (up to 8 people) so there is room for 4 more people on this tour. The price is 50 Euro/per person. Again, no offense to families with younger children but we're looking for either adults or adults with older children.

This would be a 5 hour tour through the Malta countryside beginning at 8:30 am. Here is more info:

[Update: The 4 spots on this tour are now spoken for. I'm now working on the tour of Rome from the port of Civitavecchia - Thanks]

 

[leelee9878]

Hey Everyone,

I booked a tour with Drive Amalfi for Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast. I booked it for 8 people and currently there are only 5 of us, so we have room for 3 more. The cost is $650.00 Euros for 8 people so it works out to $81.25 Euros per person. I have included a description of the tour below, please message me if you are interested in joining us!

"Our most popular Tour is of Pompeii and The Amalfi Coast which typically includes a 2 Hour stop at the legendary ruined City of Pompeii (where you you can choose to hire a Licensed Pompeii Archaeological Guide, take the Audio Tour or Tour on your own) followed by a tour of the Spectacular Amalfi Coast which includes the picturesque towns of Amalfi, Positano, Sorrento and Ravello and of course the stunning 'Amalfi Drive' one of the most beautiful coastal drives in the World. We typically stop off at a Medieval hillside village near Ravello to enjoy lunch in a small inexpensive local restaurant way off the beaten track with extensive views of Ravello and the Coast. Your itinerary is entirely flexible and can be tailor-made to your personal wishes.

The prices are per Van with our Tours being conducted in a fully air conditioned Mercedes Limousine (1-3 Passengers) or a 6 or 8 Passenger seat Mercedes Limovan that offer you maximum comfort and visability.

We will meet you on the Pier (immediately as you exit the Cruise Terminal Building into the Parking Lot) in Naples on Wednesday May 19th 2010 at 09:30am following disembarkation with your name clearly displayed on a Yellow DriveAmalfi meeting sign and return you to the Disney Magic not less than an hour before its scheduled departure time of 21:00pm.

I am from the Town of Amalfi having worked (and still providing all the tours & transportation for their Guests) for over 20 years at the Five Star Hotel Santa Caterina in Amalfi and all our Driver-Guides are hand picked so you are in safe, reliable, local hands.

We conducted Private Shore Excursions from Naples for every Disney Mediterranean Cruise to visit Naples in 2007 (the 1st and only year of Disney Mediterranean Cruises to date) and for every major Cruise Line to visit Naples, Sorrento and Amalfi for many years and have unrivalled experience in this sector."

 

[Jeff Spencer]

Hey leelee9878,

We toured with Drive Amalfi in 2007 and they were GREAT. Our driver was Roberto and he was fabulous. You should have a wonderful time. The Amalfi Coast is the most beautiful coastline I've ever seen and we look forward to returning there in May.

 

[Foo Family - Canada]

Hello Leelee9878,

I'd (Evelyn- Mom) be interested in joining this tour if you have 1 space still available. I've been to Pompeii and Sorrento many years ago but not the drive along the Amalfi coast.
Thanks for arranging.

 

[leelee9878]

Hello Leelee9878,

I'd (Evelyn- Mom) be interested in joining this tour if you have 1 space still available. I've been to Pompeii and Sorrento many years ago but not the drive along the Amalfi coast.
Thanks for arranging.

Hi Evelyn,

We do have space available- please email me at leelee9878@aol.com.

Lisa

 

[Dibbledebobbityboo]

We'll be there - first DC ever... in fact first cruise ever!

Never thought I'd be up for a Cruise, but the opportunity presented itself and the price was right (just about!!) so rather looking forward to it now (assuming we can take DS1 out of school as DW somewhat misread term dates!!) and realising that its now been 25 years since learning Latin at school that I've wanted to go to Pompeii!!

There'll be:

Me (39)
DW - Clare (38)
DS1 - 7
DS2 - 4

Hungry for any and all useful information!!

Ian

 

[sayhello]

Paid in Full day, baby! Happy Cruising to you all!

Sayhello

 

[jojo6617]

Hi all

Does anyone know if there are any formal nights on this cruise, if so how many and how formal are we talking tuxedos and evening dresses?

regards
Joanne

 

[fldisney]

We will be there
CJ celebrating my 40th on the cruise (5/18)
Joe 39
my little one 3
room is on the 8th floor somewhere

this is our 2nd cruise

any recommendations on the excursions? with a 3 yr old

 

[sayhello]

Hi all

Does anyone know if there are any formal nights on this cruise, if so how many and how formal are we talking tuxedos and evening dresses?

regards
Joanne

I haven't heard anything concrete, but someone posted the schedule of dress from 2007's Med cruises, and there were 2 semi-formal nights and one formal night.

How formal you get is up to you. Some people take the opportunity to dress to the nines (evening dresses, tuxes) some dress "nicely" in a nice dress/pansuit or dress slacks/dress shirt/jacket. It's really up to you. From what I've heard, it really runs the whole gamut, depending on what you're comfortable with, and what you feel you want to carry in your luggage to Europe.

And welcome, CJ!

ETA: Here's a discussion from the April 24, 2010 11-night Cruise meet thread, where someone got the breakdown from DCL. Their itinerary is slightly different from ours (Florence & extra Sea day switched) but it at least gives you an idea. There's some discussion about how dressy folks get, also.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=35000189&highlight=med+formal+nights#post35000189

Sayhello

 

[abdmom]

We will be there
CJ celebrating my 40th on the cruise (5/18)
Joe 39
my little one 3
room is on the 8th floor somewhere

this is our 2nd cruise

any recommendations on the excursions? with a 3 yr old

Hey, it's my sister's 40th the same day! Congratulations!

I have a 4 year old. This will be his 4th cruise. Don't want to get all my favorite shore excursions booked up, but the Tortoise Protection Center excursion on Corsica looks good.

 

[tripodjw]

Hi all

Hope everyone had a good festive period. Things have been fairly hectic here, my boss's wife has been diagnosed with cancer after 3 yrs in remission from breast cancer, so have been filling in so he can go to hospital appointments and look after the kids. Absolutely gutting news for them, and we're waiting for news on prognosis and possible treatments, but we all have fingers crossed for them i really like my boss and his family - you really couldn't meet nicer folks).

Anyway, i've finally made it onto the Dis so have updated the cruisers list to add the new folk (welcome all!) and to take off those who have cancelled (really sorry to hear about cancellations but totally understand).

Could i ask everyone to check the details in post #2 and send me a PM if they need anything changing or adding.

As we are now past final payment date i'd like to start figuring out if we are going to have an FE exchange. At the moment there's only 2 groups (including me) who've said they want to participate. If you want to join in on an FE, please post back that you want to join in. For anyone who doesn't know what an FE exchange is there's details here and here

It's good fun giving out little treats and even more fun coming back to your stateroom to find little treats waiting for you. You don't need to spend much and is fun for kids and adults alike.

 

[tripodjw]

Everyone has been talking about excursions so thought i'd break down what we are planning to do:

Malta - Port is really close to Valleta town centre, so we are going to walk around ourselves. Lots to see in valleta itself so this should keep us busy most of the day.
Tunis - Probably doing a tour here, haven't decided if we'll do a DCL or non-DCL version. Port isn't within walking distance of main sights so at the very least we'll be renting a cab for the day.
Naples - We're hoping to do the hike Mt vesuvius and pompeii tour with DCL. Pompei is ace, but last time i was there is was disappointed i didn't get chance to go up vesuvius. So that's the plan.
Civitivecchia - We are avoiding the Rome excursions and planning on having a quiet day in civitivecchia itself and on ship. I have been to Rome before and can get there easily for a short break by plane so will hang around the port to see the (small number) of historical things there. If you may not have another chance to go to Rome, i'd strongly recommend you go(either on a DCL tour or on a private tour).
La Spezia - I think we'll go and explore the coast a bit, but not sure how yet. Again, i've done Pisa/Florence so ant to see something different.
Corsica - Port is literally on doorstep of the town of Ajaccio, so will explore ourselves to see the Napoleon sights.
Villefranche - We'll get the train (just outside port) to Monte Carlo and explore ourselves. Train is fairly cheap and monte carlo itself is relatively small so all the sights are walkable (if you don't mind hills).

 

[Jeff Spencer]

Hi all

Does anyone know if there are any formal nights on this cruise, if so how many and how formal are we talking tuxedos and evening dresses?

regards
Joanne

What we did back in 2007 was:

Formal on first at sea evening (Day 2)
Semi-formal on 2nd at sea evening (Day 7)
Semi-formal on 10th day at Villefranche (Day 10)

Given the 11 night itinerary is basically the same I would guess they'd do the same this time.

I personally always take my tuxedo for formal night but many men wear a suit and tie and women in evening dresses.

 

[Jeff Spencer]

We will be there
CJ celebrating my 40th on the cruise (5/18)
Joe 39
my little one 3
room is on the 8th floor somewhere

this is our 2nd cruise

any recommendations on the excursions? with a 3 yr old

Our kids are grown so I can't help with personal experience but I do know from talking with other DIS'ers on our 2007 Med cruise and 2008 Mexican Riviera cruise, that many left their younger kids on the ship when doing tours, especially those like Rome or Florence/Pisa where there is a lot of driving to and back. When they took beach type tours close to the ship, they'd take their kids along.

 

[nanaguide]

Carl and Anna Bird
6th Disney Cruise
Clermont, Florida

 

[abdmom]

any recommendations on the excursions? with a 3 yr old

Forgot to mention, in Rome and Pompeii, I've hired a private driver. That way, if any of us get tired, we can have an air conditioned vehicle to take us back whenever we want, instead of having to follow a tour. This will be the longest days, and are the places that I really want to see.

F

ormal on first at sea evening (Day 2)
Semi-formal on 2nd at sea evening (Day 7)
Semi-formal on 10th day at Villefranche (Day 10)

What is semi-formal dress? I haven't heard that term in 25 years.

If you want to join in on an FE, please post back that you want to join in.

I'll join in, but I'll need a primer since I've never done it before.