May Med Magic - May 15 2010 - Meet thread

[Crusin Momo]

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.

Thanks so much. Right now I feel so overwhelmed but I am so excited about the trip. I stayed up last night reading this site until 4 a.m. I will look at cruise critic and go from there.

 

[Jeff Spencer]

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

There are contentious threads on sites like cruisecritic where tipping of European tour guides are debated. What I gleaned from them was a general rule of thumb was a tip of 10% was plenty, provided the service received was as expected.

 

[Jeff Spencer]

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.

I couldn't agree more about Pisa being a "been there, done that" place to go to get a photo. The tower really isn't that impressive (54.5 meters/178 feet tall) and the area around the tower and cathedral is very touristy.

 

[Jeff Spencer]

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 to the cruise and to our happy DIS group Crusin Momo!

On planning, to get you more familiar with Disney cruising I'd suggest you check out this thread:

DIS DCL Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ):

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2068966

Here's a link to Disney'd 11 Night Med Cruise page. From here you can refer back to the cruise itinerary and ports we'll be visiting. To find out more about DCL tours, simply click on the port name, which is linked to more detailed info about the port as well as the tours that are offered. Since you are a first time Disney cruiser, your date for being able to book tours, special dining at the Palo restaurant and any spa treatments you might want/need after chasing down grandkids is 75 days prior to your cruise date, which I believe is March 1st (so midnight Eastern time on Feb. 28th).

Disney Cruise Line 11-Night Med Page:

http://disneycruise.disney.go.com/cruises-destinations/europe/itineraries/11-night-mediterranean-cruise/

Feel free to ask any questions you have. There are lots of helpful people on this cruise that have cruised with Disney many times and are familiar with the Magic and how Disney does things.

 

[Jeff Spencer]

Some have asked about ideas for tours. I'd say for those that haven't been to the Amalfi Coast, I would strongly recommend that you consider a DCL or private tour there when we're in Naples. It's some of the most beautiful country / views I've ever seen anywhere. Pictures just don't do it justice.

 

[Travelbee]

I couldn't agree more about Pisa being a "been there, done that" place to go to get a photo. The tower really isn't that impressive (54.5 meters/178 feet tall) and the area around the tower and cathedral is very touristy.

I've heard the same thing but our friends really want to see it. As long as we can fit Cinque Terre in on the same day, I'm happy.

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!

Sounds like a date! More people to get lost together as long as you don't mind having 3 little ones tag along!

 

[Crusin Momo]

Thanks Jeff, Everyone has been so helpful.

 

[Crusin Momo]

Jeff can you or anyone recommend any tour companies that will be able to arrange excursions in all of the ports? Thanks

 

[jedijill]

Some have asked about ideas for tours. I'd say for those that haven't been to the Amalfi Coast, I would strongly recommend that you consider a DCL or private tour there when we're in Naples. It's some of the most beautiful country / views I've ever seen anywhere. Pictures just don't do it justice.

What beautiful pictures! I just drove home in the snow and I CANNOT wait until I'm sipping lemoncello on the Afalfi Coast!

Jill in CO

 

[AppleGuy]

Some have asked about ideas for tours. I'd say for those that haven't been to the Amalfi Coast, I would strongly recommend that you consider a DCL or private tour there when we're in Naples. It's some of the most beautiful country / views I've ever seen anywhere. Pictures just don't do it justice.

Jeff

Great pics--its hard to believe we will really be there to see this in less than 3 months. Thanks for all the info and help on this board

I guess we'll see you at JFK and then on to BCN

Apple Guy - Gary

 

[Crusin Momo]

Can you recommend any tour companies that will be able to book tours in multiple ports? Thanks for your help.

 

[jedijill]

Hey Cruisin Momo,

Did you guys take advantage of the militay rates on the 5/15 cruise? If not, you should check into it.

http://disneycruise.disney.go.com/special-offers/military-rates/

Jill in CO

 

[Crusin Momo]

Hi JediJill, Yes we were thrilled at the great savings to Vets. Do you know any excursion companies that can book trips in multiple ports? Can I access what is offered through Disney before March 1 even though I can't book and if so where?

 

[jedijill]

Hi JediJill, Yes we were thrilled at the great savings to Vets. Do you know any excursion companies that can book trips in multiple ports? Can I access what is offered through Disney before March 1 even though I can't book and if so where?

Great! Those military deals are awesome. Wish I qualified...I'm a vet...just not in Disney's eyes.

I can't answer the private tour companies. I do have all the Disney excursions typed up in a Word doc that I can email you if ou would like. I've found its a lot easier to read and compare than on the Disney site.

You can email me at gijill_1_98@yahoo.com if you are interested.

Jill in CO

 

[LDSsinglegirls]

Inquiring minds (aka everyone in my group except me) are wondering what time schedule the television shows (LOST) on the cruise ship run on? Any ideas?

 

[tripodjw]

Inquiring minds (aka everyone in my group except me) are wondering what time schedule the television shows (LOST) on the cruise ship run on? Any ideas?

If they are able to show the US channels (can they in Med waters?) then i would assume they will still go out live so we'd be talking 6 hours ahead of Eastern time. I can't imagine they'd save them up to show "as live" the following day.

If the show goes out at 9pm Eastern then it would be 3am local time in the Med.

You might want to DVR the shows and watch them when you get back. Then again that smoke monster would seem pretty scary at 3am on the Ariel jumbotron.

We have this problem all the time in the Uk for US sports. For example, the most recent Superbowl kicked off at midnight in the UK .

 

[k8e]

Inquiring minds (aka everyone in my group except me) are wondering what time schedule the television shows (LOST) on the cruise ship run on? Any ideas?

I was wondering the same thing as the series finale of Lost is scheduled to be May 23. I was hoping they'd show it on the ship since Lost is on ABC which is owned by Disney.

 

[jubes]

I am travelling with my husband and 2 children ages 7, 9, and in Corsica would love to go to the beach. I see that Disney has an excursion to the beach but am wondering if anyone knows if it is possible to do on your own? I'm afraid that we could get there, by taxi but may have a hard time getting a taxi to get back to the ship. Does anyone know?

Erin

 

[Jeff Spencer]

Hi JediJill, Yes we were thrilled at the great savings to Vets. Do you know any excursion companies that can book trips in multiple ports? Can I access what is offered through Disney before March 1 even though I can't book and if so where?

Crusin Momo,

There are no tour companies that provide tours for all ports; however, there are a number of well-reviewed tour companies that provide tours in multiple ports (typically Italian ports). Ones that I have found:

Rudy's Touring Service (http://www.rome-car-tours.com/tours.htm)

Rome In Limo (http://www.romeinlimo.com/)

Limo In Rome (http://www.limoinrome.com/)

All Around Italy (http://www.allarounditaly.net/)

Easy Italy Tours (http://www.easitalytours.com/)

Pleasant Travel (http://www.pleasantravel.com/tours_excursions.htm)

For private tours in Villefranche:

Dream Tours (http://www.dream-tours.com/)

Revelation Tours (http://www.revelation-tours.com/)

For private tours in Malta and Tunisia:

Malta Tours (http://www.touringmalta.com/malta_shore_excursions.htm)

Hope this helps.

 

[Jeff Spencer]

Can I access what is offered through Disney before March 1 even though I can't book and if so where?

Using the Word version (if you have Word) would be the easiest. Otherwise, here are the links to the individual port tours on the DCL site. Tripod, perhaps you can put these up on the first page to save people having to search/bookmark?

Valletta, Malta

Tunis, Tunisia

Naples, Italy (Pompeii)

Civitavecchia, Italy (Rome)

La Spezia, Italy (Florence, Pisa)

Ajaccio, Corsica

Villefranche, France (Monte Carlo, Cannes, Nice)