May Med Magic - May 15 2010 - Meet thread

[taras]

Does anyone have a summary of which ports are tender ports?
How long does it take to get off the boat in those places?

 

[dawne577]

To anyone who is interested in picking up wine/spirits, etc. before embarkation there is a department store located at the top of Las Ramblas that is supposed to have reasonable prices - El Corte Ingles. The grocery is in the basement.

Travelbee - Bill and I would also be interested in joining the caravan into Rome. Just let us know the exact time and place.

Check out the threads on the trip report board from the 4-24-10 sailing. Perspectives from couples only & families. Hopefully we can get any last minute questions answered.

 

[jenandmartin]

Is there still a group taking the train to Pisa in the morning and then coming back to Cinque Terre? Is there a meeting place/time? We leave on our TA this Sunday and I'm in ultra prep mode

 

[jenandmartin]

For the DIYers... here's a cool way to see some of Monaco...

"Azur Express" Tourist Train - Monaco

Departing from the Oceanographic Museum, these little trains in the national Monegasque colours take tourists on a 30 min ride around Monaco. The tour has a multi lingual commentary & stops at the Port, Monte-Carlo, the Casino & then back to the Old Town & the Prince's Palace.

The train runs every day except from November to January. It runs from 10am-5pm, the fare is 6 euros.

 

[Welsh Girl]

Sorry Jeff!! After my recent trip to France only just reading back through thread. Of course you can add our room to the crawl....don't kno when it is mind...must have missed that bit

To be added to the dinner seating groups you need to PM dfsc (Felicia) your full names and reservation #. She's is coordinating those with Disney. I would think with your little one, Early Seating would probably be better anyway.

On the stateroom crawl, first of all thanks for volunteering!
I looked up your room and it is a Cat 5 but seems to be the same type of room (larger verandah with metal rail) that we already have as a Cat 6...just on the other side of the ship. What I think would be better is if we could get a Cat 5 that has one of the regular sized verandahs with the plexiglass rail/wall for comparison. Speaking of the crawl, in addition to the Cat 5, we still don't have a Cat 10, or Cat 11/12. The Cat 11 and 12s are the same type of room so I don't think we need to do them separately. It would be even BETTER is for the Cat 11/12 if we could see one of the sideways Cat 11s like Welsh Girl has...hint hint.

Roll Call Photos: Added pics for Pixiedust512, Bubby627, Ariel412, ICollectBelle and Appleguy.

Roll Call List: Added friends of andgon, taras, and dixiecruisegal. There are almost 100 staterooms on the Roll Call now. You won't be able to swing a cat without hitting a DISer on board.

 

[Jeff Spencer]

Does anyone have a summary of which ports are tender ports?
How long does it take to get off the boat in those places?

For sure, we tender in La Spezia and Villefranche. I've never been to Valletta, Tunis or Ajaccio so I don't know about those ports. To get off the ship, one needs a tender ticket. Back in 2007, Disney handed these out in the Buena Vista Theatre. DCL gives priority to those who book DCL excursions with DIY and private tours going afterwards. How long it takes depends on where you are in the priority and how early you're there to get your tender ticket.

Edit: Doing some research, it looks like Valletta is not a tender port, but Tunis is. Ajaccio has been a tender port but last year they opened a port for large cruise ships so I don't believe we'll tender there but that may depend on how many ships are there the same time as us.

To anyone who is interested in picking up wine/spirits, etc. before embarkation there is a department store located at the top of Las Ramblas that is supposed to have reasonable prices - El Corte Ingles. The grocery is in the basement.

Check out the threads on the trip report board from the 4-24-10 sailing. Perspectives from couples only & families. Hopefully we can get any last minute questions answered.

Thanks for the tip on spirits! On the 4-24 cruise, I've also linked to several blogs on the "Links" page of the website. The Phoenix one has been a good read so far.

Sorry Jeff!! After my recent trip to France only just reading back through thread. Of course you can add our room to the crawl....don't kno when it is mind...must have missed that bit

Thank you! Right now, I'm thinking rashdecision (Rob) had a good suggestion - do the stateroom crawl after the DIS wine tasting. The wine tasting is now scheduled for 1 pm so we can make the crawl start at 2 pm.

 

[rashdecision]

That works for us!

 

[maddisney]

In Ajaccio, there is also the possibility to take a touristic train.

The major possible stops regardless to our cruise schedule are Vizzavona (small station in the middle of the nature) and Corte.

The train rides across spectacular landscapes, starting from the level of the sea to climb at 900 m in Vizzavona.

See on the following site for more explanations:
http://www.trains-touristiques.sncf.com/region.asp?lang=en&page=&train=corse&menu=1

Here is some descriptions of Vizzavona and Corte in French. Sorry, but I don’t find detailed information in English about these localities.
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vizzavona
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corte

There is indeed a little detail to take care. We will be in Ajaccio on Sunday and the train schedule is very limited. If you look at them in English, you will find an old schedule. But the one in French was valid until the 4th of April. I hope it will be adapted very soon.

On this schedule, there is the possibility to take only one train:
Ajaccio 8H10 -> Vizzavona 9H18 -> Corte 10H07
Corte 11H22 -> Vizzavona 12H13 -> Ajaccio 13H15

 

[Jeff Spencer]

I read in the Trans-Atlantic thread that their stateroom crawl was a bit disorganized resulting in too many people trying to see too small a space at once. So the engineer/organizer in me screams we need a plan.

My thoughts are that we meet in the Lobby atrium after the DIS wine tasting (approx. 2 pm) and from there send off groups of about 8-10 every 3-5 minutes. The stateroom hosts would all start off in Group 1. Each group would take the forward elevator (or stairs if you want/need exercise) to Deck 8, port side (left). The tour route would be:

Cat. 4 - 8010 - Host Dopeyfan1966 (Cindy)

Walk aft, remaining on port side:

Cat. 3 - 8102 - Host rashdecision (Rob)

Take aft stairs or aft elevator to Deck 6 aft port side:

Cat.5/6 - 6152 - Host jedijill (Jill)

Walk forward and starboard side:

Cat. 8 - 6508 - Host kehonuamemano (Rayna)

Take forward stairs/elevator down to Deck 5 forward, starboard side:

Cat. 11/12 Sideways Cabin - 5005 - Host Welsh Girl

Walk aft, starboard side:

Cat. 7 - 5638 - Host pilar7 (Pilar)

Take aft elevator/stairs to Deck 2. Walk forward, port side (left):

Cat. 9 - 2010 - Host Florida Princess (Jean)

As each host in Group 1 reaches their stateroom, they stay as other groups come through and then join the last group so they can see the rest of the staterooms. I combined the Cat. 5 and 6 since the rooms are the same and the verandahs of a Cat. 5 are the same as what we'll see in Cindy's Cat. 4. Sound good? Oh, and after all that walking we may need to visit the Promenade Lounge or other suitable venue for adult beverages.

 

[Jeff Spencer]

Is definitely not a tender port for us. Here's a pic of the Magic docked in Valletta. Also, cruisers reported they have free wi-fi internet in the Valletta cruise terminal.

 

[moneyhappy]

Forgot to say on the post above.
Hi to everyone hope you all had a good weekend. Up until Sunday, we have not had any rain where I live for over two weeks. ( Very good for April).
So we have been able to get out and about, without having to be bundled up in coats.

Anyway only 19 more days until we are on the Magic.



Is somebody still organising the meet before we get the rain to Rome ?.
Just wanted to know, whether we would be best to get our train tickets, before we leave for the cruise ?.

There was also somone saying about our Villefranche day, we wouldnt mind travelling with others to the destinations on this day.
We want to go to Monte Carlo and then maybe visit somewhere else afterwards ?. Again any ideas ?

I do not mind getting a list of names up together, but would prefer someone who has more knowledge about these ports to determine some of the details.
Phew
Jan

HI Jan,

I mentioned that I do not like our tour time at Villefranche and was looking into something else. Jeff mentioned taking the bus. I was also looking into a private tour as well, but it make be a little late for that.

We also want to see Monte Carlo (it is the top of our list)

To be honest I have only taken pubic transportation buses a few times in my life and it was in freshmen year of high school and once in Northern Ireland.

If some one has knowledge of the port, we maybe willing to join the group. I'll have my DH brush off is French.

 

[moneyhappy]

Hello everyone! This is my first time posting, and i cant express how excited i am to find this thread. With just a few weeks left and lot to do its great to read others thoughts and suggestions.

Welcome to the board!!

 

[jojo6617]

Hi I was just wondering if anyone from this cruise will be joining us on the 18th sept 2010 TransAtlantic cruise.

 

[jedijill]

Hi I was just wondering if anyone from this cruise will be joining us on the 18th sept 2010 TransAtlantic cruise.

Sadly no, I don't have that much vacation.

Jill in CO

 

[peterpanstout]

Hi I was just wondering if anyone from this cruise will be joining us on the 18th sept 2010 TransAtlantic cruise.

We are!

 

[peterpanstout]

Sadly no, I don't have that much vacation.

Jill in CO

Jill, my husband is freaking out about vacation time. It will be so sad if we have to sail without him.

 

[pixiedust519]

Sorry I don't have all the quotes, but there's so much I want to comment on! :

I read that we will dock in Tunis at La Goulette which is about half a mile from downtown. Of course we'll see what the cruisers report back tomorrow!

Jeff - I like the stateroom crawl plan! Since we're not doing the wine tasting, we'll probably meet up with everyone in the atrium at 2 and join one of the groups so we can see some of the rooms!

I love the idea of having free wi-fi in Malta. I really hope that's true so I can get on my iPhone and do some Skype calls!

Moneyhappy - we also were originally booked on the Highlights of Monaco and Monte Carlo excursion with DCL. We decided to do this port on our own just a few weeks ago and after contacting several tour companies, all were already full for our group of 7. I've been doing a lot of research on the cruisecritic website and have figured out (at least I think I have!!) the local transportation and it seems pretty straightforward as long as you have a plan in place. We are going to visit Monaco first and see the casino, Cathedral, palace, etc and then take a bus to Eze. Here's our plan:

•Villefranche-sur-mer to Monaco-Monte Carlo train is approx 2.50€. 10 minutes. 9:01, 9:24, 9:30, 10:01
•After visiting Monaco and Monte Carlo, take Bus 112 to Eze Village 11:25, 1:20, 3:15. Cost is approximately 1€. 20 minutes.
oBus 112 does not run often – check schedules and plan accordingly.
o112 bus stop is across the park from the Casino on Rue des Iris St. between the Casino Gardens and Blvd. Princesse Charlotte. Departs from place de la Crémaillière, one block above the main Tourist Info and casino park. Walk up Rue Iris with Barclays Bank to your left, curve right, and find the bus shelter across the street by the Costa à la Crémaillière café.
•After visiting Eze, Take Bus 83 down to Eze bord de Mer
•Take Bus 100 from Eze bord de Mer to Villefranche (l’Octroi stop)

 

[jedijill]

Jill, my husband is freaking out about vacation time. It will be so sad if we have to sail without him.

LOL

I switched jobs about 1 1/2 years ago when I moved to Colorado and lost 2 weeks of vacation. It makes me sad but I would rather have a paycheck than 52 weeks of vacation. Oh well, 3 more years until I get a week back!

Jill

 

[sayhello]

LOL

I switched jobs about 1 1/2 years ago when I moved to Colorado and lost 2 weeks of vacation. It makes me sad but I would rather have a paycheck than 52 weeks of vacation. Oh well, 3 more years until I get a week back!

Jill

Ah, man, that is definitely one of the down sides of changing jobs! I'm finding it hard to pull enough time together *with* all my vacation days! After this cruise, I'll be just about out for the rest of the year! Hopefully no more nieces/nephews decide to get married this year!!!!

Sayhello

 

[jedijill]

Ah, man, that is definitely one of the down sides of changing jobs! I'm finding it hard to pull enough time together *with* all my vacation days! After this cruise, I'll be just about out for the rest of the year! Hopefully no more nieces/nephews decide to get married this year!!!!

Sayhello

I'm lucky that I still have sick days and some floating holiday....that covers things like going home for my niece's first birthday in June but it certainly makes me plan my time better. Now that I live away from my family (again) they seem to think I should visit them instead of go on vacation!

Jill