Med Cruisers...Let's Discuss Planning!(Updated Tour Info, Links & BCN Info on Page 1)

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

I have only done Disney excursions, i would worry all day if i booked one myself and i didnt get back in time and watched the ship sailing away without me

We are not doing any DCL excursions. But we have both traveled a lot and are not being overly ambitious in the schedule

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

I have only done Disney excursions, i would worry all day if i booked one myself and i didnt get back in time and watched the ship sailing away without me

We're not completely on our own. We're doing a private tour with Rome in Limo. I have asked them several times over the past few months in conversation if anyone has ever missed the ship & they said no. They'll be there at the dock holding a sign with our name on it then drop us off there too. They get awesome reviews on tripadvisor.com. Not even one little petty negative comment so I trust that they'll take care of us just fine.

Besides DCL tours being cost prohibitive for my family of 4, my parents are also cruising with us & have some mobility issues. A large group can only move along as fast as the slowest one in the group. I don't want my parents to be stressed the whole time trying to keep up. With a private tour, we can go at a slower pace. They can enjoy the tours and I won't spend $4000 in excursions. Eveyone wins!

 

[texasgirl29]

Welcome! Have you found Tom's Port Guides yet for DIY? He "publishes" them on the internet for free and includes photo step by step how tos for the most popular ports (except for our La Spezia one).

Google it and it will come up. Super helpful. Hope you guys have a great time on your cruise!

Thanks! Exactly the kind of thing I'm looking for!

 

[texasgirl29]

Hey, we're on that same cruise and also have a DD16! Come join our cruise meet thread: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2868430

I will! We're from Waco... and we have the same avatar.... your daughter wouldn't happen to be Chinese also? Ours are adopted from China, so they really like Mulan.

JoAnn

 

[CBEB]

I will! We're from Waco... and we have the same avatar.... your daughter wouldn't happen to be Chinese also? Ours are adopted from China, so they really like Mulan.

JoAnn

She's adopted from Vietnam! Oh this is a great coincidence! Really hope the girls can mee!

 

[lilpooh108]

We're not completely on our own. We're doing a private tour with Rome in Limo. I have asked them several times over the past few months in conversation if anyone has ever missed the ship & they said no. They'll be there at the dock holding a sign with our name on it then drop us off there too. They get awesome reviews on tripadvisor.com. Not even one little petty negative comment so I trust that they'll take care of us just fine.

Curious to know---what time is your scheduled return time for Rome? We're using a different company and I'm not super comfortable with our return time, but my ambitious "want to see it all" personality keeps telling me it will be fine. Worse comes to worse we'll train it to Naples but still....

 

[nzdisneymom]

Curious to know---what time is your scheduled return time for Rome? We're using a different company and I'm not super comfortable with our return time, but my ambitious "want to see it all" personality keeps telling me it will be fine. Worse comes to worse we'll train it to Naples but still....

We have asked Rome in Limo to have us back to port two hours before all aboard time which we will confirm that morning. Our logic is that if we leave Rome in time to be back two hours ahead, if we have vehicle trouble on the way back, there is time to get a replacement vehicle and have us on our way. Our kids are a little freaked out that we are going that far from port not on a DCL excursion - they are afraid we will be left behind, so we are sacrificing some time in port for their peace of mind - and to help them learn that it's ok to do things on our own as long as we have careful planning. So we figure 90 minutes drive from Rome to Civitavecchia (which I'm not sure is right - it might be closer to 75??) and we'll have our driver plan our day so we're on the port side of the city towards the end of the day.

 

[texasgirl29]

She's adopted from Vietnam! Oh this is a great coincidence! Really hope the girls can mee!

Wow, talk about your coincidences! I will PM you.

JoAnn

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

Unless you love SPAM I would edit the above post and remove your email address. Just use a PM, much less likely to be be grabbed by the spam "services" (They datamine boards like this...)

 

[texasgirl29]

Unless you love SPAM I would edit the above post and remove your email address. Just use a PM, much less likely to be be grabbed by the spam "services" (They datamine boards like this...)

Thanks!

 

[lilpooh108]

We have asked Rome in Limo to have us back to port two hours before all aboard time which we will confirm that morning. Our logic is that if we leave Rome in time to be back two hours ahead, if we have vehicle trouble on the way back, there is time to get a replacement vehicle and have us on our way. Our kids are a little freaked out that we are going that far from port not on a DCL excursion - they are afraid we will be left behind, so we are sacrificing some time in port for their peace of mind - and to help them learn that it's ok to do things on our own as long as we have careful planning. So we figure 90 minutes drive from Rome to Civitavecchia (which I'm not sure is right - it might be closer to 75??) and we'll have our driver plan our day so we're on the port side of the city towards the end of the day.

Thanks! We are also doing about 2 hours before all aboard (we're meeting at 2:15 hours before, but actual drive times will put us at 2 hours before).

BTW, I had been getting up and checking google maps with traffic time at Rome time 4pm to see if it indeed takes 90 minutes--- and it varies but I agree that general drive time is 75-80 minutes. The company I'm using doesn't seem worried about the 2 hour lead time. You're post also made me feel better. That day, though, I am bringing everyone's passports just to be safe.

I was also going to print out our train schedule options so we have a back up plan. I figure if we really miss the ship, hotels are cheaper in Naples than they are in Rome.

 

[lgajohnson]

I usually would post this on our own med cruise thread, but I figured the more dissers the better. We are flying Boston to Frankfurt to Barcelona. We have the same route on the way home Barcelona to Frankfurt to Boston. Both legs are on Lufthansa.

What has been everybody's experiences with customs/immigrations? Will we have to claim our luggage in Frankfurt and then proceed to customs/immigrations? Or does our luggage go straight through to our final destination?

How is the Frankfurt airport?

Thanks for all your tips!

 

[lilpooh108]

I usually would post this on our own med cruise thread, but I figured the more dissers the better. We are flying Boston to Frankfurt to Barcelona. We have the same route on the way home Barcelona to Frankfurt to Boston. Both legs are on Lufthansa.

What has been everybody's experiences with customs/immigrations? Will we have to claim our luggage in Frankfurt and then proceed to customs/immigrations? Or does our luggage go straight through to our final destination?

How is the Frankfurt airport?

Thanks for all your tips!

I haven't connected through the Frankfurt airport but I have flow to Europe a few times w/connections.

Make sure when you are checking in from your origin airport that the luggage is tagged all the way through to your final destination. That way, it will get transferred for you by the airline.

Also---make sure you get your boarding pass for the connecting flight. There shouldn't be any problems but if you don't have the pass for the connecting flight, you will end up having to stop and check in at the counter in Frankfurt which would be a pain.

When going from Europe to the US, make sure you mention to the clerk at check in your final destination. Alot of flights connect through Frankfurt and you want to make sure they print out the right tags, passes, etc.

 

[AngelDisney]

I have only done Disney excursions, i would worry all day if i booked one myself and i didnt get back in time and watched the ship sailing away without me

It's just DD and myself on the Med cruise, so booking non-Disney tours does not save much. Totally agree with having the peace of mind just in case something unexpected happens. We will also be doing just DCL excursions.

Have fun planning!

 

[lilpooh108]

Not sure if anyone is still looking for airfare or if these dates will work for the June cruises, but I just got an alert that Hotwire has LAX to LHR for $900+ ish. When one line drops the pricing, others sometimes match.

http://www.hotwire.com/air/flex/results.jsp?searchTokenId=0

If you are actually looking for airfare, I would use these Hotwire dates as parameters and then "really" look on Kayak or fly.com.

 

[a1sand]

Ok, I just booked a seven night Med cruise for this June. I am so excited, but feeling a little overwhelmed that I have so much planning to do in so little time.
I've read through the whole post, but have a few questions.

My family went on the Dream three night a year ago December, what can I expect to be different on the seven night and on the Magic?

How formal is the formal night?

I've read things about the Rainforest room. Is there one on the Magic? If so, how do you book it?

Thanks!

 

[nzdisneymom]

Ok, I just booked a seven night Med cruise for this June. I am so excited, but feeling a little overwhelmed that I have so much planning to do in so little time.
I've read through the whole post, but have a few questions.

My family went on the Dream three night a year ago December, what can I expect to be different on the seven night and on the Magic?

How formal is the formal night?

I've read things about the Rainforest room. Is there one on the Magic? If so, how do you book it?

Hi - wow - you do have a lot of planning to do in a little bit of time, but don't sweat it. You've cruised before so you know how things work on the ship - even though you'll be on the Magic, much will be the same. What you can expect to be different on a 7-night vs a 3-night is that you will feel like you have time to actually relax a bit - 3 days is quick! Also be prepared to say you'll never do a 3-night again. LOL.

Formal night in the Med tends to be less formal the Formal night in the Caribbean. It's still nice dresses or pants outfits for the women, jackets and ties for the men. Some people do the whole formal thing, but for the most part, with luggage limitations from the airlines, people are less likely to pack their formal wear for the trip.

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

Hi - wow - you do have a lot of planning to do in a little bit of time, but don't sweat it. You've cruised before so you know how things work on the ship - even though you'll be on the Magic, much will be the same. What you can expect to be different on a 7-night vs a 3-night is that you will feel like you have time to actually relax a bit - 3 days is quick! Also be prepared to say you'll never do a 3-night again. LOL.

Formal night in the Med tends to be less formal the Formal night in the Caribbean. It's still nice dresses or pants outfits for the women, jackets and ties for the men. Some people do the whole formal thing, but for the most part, with luggage limitations from the airlines, people are less likely to pack their formal wear for the trip.

We are spending a week in the south of France prior to the cruise. Formal wear is NOT making this trip. We are just going to dress up our black outfit with "paste" and sparkly scarfs LOL! (SORRY for those of you who are going to be looking down at us with disgust, but.... I am not hauling that stuff around for 7 plus days just for one night on a boat!)

Magic has a rainforest area but it's not near as big as on the Dream/Fantasy. I enjoyed the Rainforest room on the Dream but have decided to skip it on this trip as it just seems less interesting (no hot tubs or special showers, not the cool ocean view etc...)

 

[tajz90]

We are spending a week in the south of France prior to the cruise. Formal wear is NOT making this trip. We are just going to dress up our black outfit with "paste" and sparkly scarfs LOL! (SORRY for those of you who are going to be looking down at us with disgust, but.... I am not hauling that stuff around for 7 plus days just for one night on a boat!)

We aren't hauling dressy clothes either Way tooooo much trouble. Baggage room is way too valuable to bring something to wear for one night.

 

[nzdisneymom]

We are spending a week in the south of France prior to the cruise. Formal wear is NOT making this trip. We are just going to dress up our black outfit with "paste" and sparkly scarfs LOL! (SORRY for those of you who are going to be looking down at us with disgust, but.... I am not hauling that stuff around for 7 plus days just for one night on a boat!)

What is "paste"?
We skip formal night in the main dining rooms anyway - we prefer the relaxed nature of Topsiders on formal night - and how empty the pool deck areas are while everyone else has gone to their cabins early to get dressed up.

However, we will stroll through the Captain's reception area and have a free fancy drink on whichever night that is - usually dressed in our shorts and t-shirts We also found that planning to skip dinner has allowed us to go see a movie in the Buena Vista theater that we might otherwise not get to see because of scheduling.