Mediterranean Excursions
- Thread starter mickeyfanmom
- Start date
MJGirl
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 31, 2006
- Messages
- 2,103
The only information any of us have are the excursions. You can check them out at the Disney sight. Regarding ship plans, I believe we will get more information closer to our trip. I'm thinking sometime in the April timeframe (just guessing). All we can do right now is plan and dream ... yet have a great time doing it! Have you checked on the Cruise Meet Threads. Here is a link to your cruise where you can meet others and hopefully find some help with planning... Bringing Home the Magic Part 2
Good luck and have a blast!
funnybunny921
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Feb 22, 2005
- Messages
- 441
Just a sidebar ... I just got a call from my TA and I am now booked for the Post cruise DLP packages!!! I believe they are still going through the wait list before they open up !!!!
wow... congrats... i wish we could go... but we are spending the time in barcelona before instead.
hmmmm.... still dreaming of the year of ultimate disney.... you know the one where you visit all of the parks and take a cuise.... oh when i win the lottery
I would love a copy of your pdf but cannot send a pm since I don't have enough posts. Can you email it to me at: va_tech_hokies1@yahoo.com?
Thank you I am having so much planning and dreaming already and I think your file will just add to my fun.
Thank you I am having so much planning and dreaming already and I think your file will just add to my fun.
Samantha Browns europe is on all this week on the travel channel. Different places including rome and barcelona. I've tivo'd them. So far I have 3 different host shows on each city. As I get closer to picking excursions I am going to rewatch and make notes. 
s
s
Here's an article from today's travel section in the Chicago Tribune. I think this is what a lot of us are wondering about.
CRUISING 2007
Plot your strategy for tours before your ship sails
By Arline and Sam Bleecker
Special to the Tribune
Published February 4, 2007
Excursions are the Achilles' heel of cruising.
Some lines, of course, do a better job with them than others, especially small or boutique lines that favor one-of-a-kind shore experiences. But second only to food, most complaints we hear about from cruisers concern excursions.
One disgruntled passenger even quipped that excursions can be injurious both to your wallet and your world view.
Our own experiences tally disappointments to spare.
On a tour in Dubrovnik, Croatia, for example, our guide was completely indifferent to our group's desire to learn the history of this ancient Roman and Byzantine city and spoke, egotistically, almost entirely about himself.
On another Med outing, the guide spoke English so poorly that she left us mostly confounded by her unintelligible view of Venice.
More recently, in Cartagena, Colombia, a walking tour of the fortified historic district yielded little about this quaint locale because the guide larded toss-away visits to a church and a square or two with never-ending stops to ship-sponsored shops.
And so it goes as cruise lines urge passengers to "play it safe" on ship-arranged tours.
In some cases, though, it's not the cruise line's fault that excursions fall short of expectations. Brutal economics are against both them and you.
Excursions are big business. With profitability from fares squeezed as they are, cruise lines must extract as much additional revenue as they can. Excursions are surefire moneymakers, so most lines push them hard--real hard.
Indeed, on a recent cruise to the Caribbean and Central America, our ship's "excursion director" boastfully touted herself as a shopping consultant. Her onboard talks offered little if any information about upcoming port stops other than which shops were good for emeralds and which for leather goods. She proffered no advice for anyone interested in exploring independently or suggested what to see in port unless--guess what?--it was on a ship's tour. Even then, she merely read word for word from distributed materials we already had in hand.
Cruise lines do have to contend with many factors, though. With hundreds, if not thousands, of passengers to accommodate, lines are compelled to partner with the larger local tour operators, those that have the capacity to handle multitudes. In the Caribbean, in particular, this often results in one-size-fits-all excursions: that is, options offered by one ship that aren't necessarily better--or different--than those of another ship calling at the same port.
In some places, this can prove overwhelming. Take, for example, Coxen Hole, a port on Roatan Island, Honduras. Recently, in a single morning there, the Grand Princess, Holland America's Ryndam and Italy-based MSC Lirica disgorged about 6,000 passengers--about one-fifth the entire island's population of 30,000.
It's hardly possible to enjoy a sense of immersion when most of the people you run into on shore are fellow passengers.
So what can you do to avoid a cookie-cutter experience at a port stop?
-Do your homework at home--before your trip. Sure, it would be lovely leaving it to the cruise lines and excursion directors. After all, you're on vacation and, hey, who wants to be burdened with details? But experience tells us you can have a more rewarding time discovering on your own rather than following the bouncing yellow umbrella of a tour guide.
There are plentiful travel books and the Internet to help you find what's hot and what's not. Compared to shipboard port lectures, which often are little more than sales opportunities for the line to steer you to sponsored shops, you'll dig up useful information on how to get around independently.
-Paying less and getting more is a major benefit of preplanning. For instance, in Venice, cruise lines' excursions to the popular glass capital in nearby Murano will be several times more costly than simply hopping onto one of Venice's ubiquitous water taxis on your own, which also will leave you much more time to explore that quaint island.
In fact, weeks before arriving in Puerto Limon, Costa Rica, one couple on a recent cruise had independently booked the same Tortuguero Canal tour as we did with the cruise line. Not only did their tour last longer and cost 75 percent less than ours, but the couple also toured with only four people in their boat versus the 30 or so in ours.
-In unfamiliar places, it's natural to feel uncertain about going it alone. Consider forming a group with a few like-minded passengers. Armed with research and a guidebook, you can hire a taxi or a local guide and still feel relaxed. There's not only safety in numbers, but it also doesn't hurt to have a few more wallets for splitting the tab.
-Cruise ports typically bustle with cab drivers, guides and representatives from local tour companies eager for your business. And playing it by ear has its advantages. At a stop in Cristobal, Panama, a spirited elderly British couple trotted only a few hundred feet from the ship to the booth of a local enterprise and purchased a tour package for a train ride that would take them through a rain forest and to visit the famed canal at half the cost of the ship's excursion.
So does it ever pay to go with your ship's options?
Definitely.
Passengers with physical limitations, for example, are pretty much assured of tender care on an excursion booked through the line.
If you're visiting a port for the first and perhaps only time, a tour can be a worthwhile way to get the big picture. Just don't expect to linger long anywhere.
Booking a ship's tour may not always be the best deal, but you can rest assured the guides are reputable.
And, perhaps on the minds of many passengers: Your tour guide won't strand you or swindle you--and you're guaranteed to get back to the ship before it sails.
CRUISING 2007
Plot your strategy for tours before your ship sails
By Arline and Sam Bleecker
Special to the Tribune
Published February 4, 2007
Excursions are the Achilles' heel of cruising.
Some lines, of course, do a better job with them than others, especially small or boutique lines that favor one-of-a-kind shore experiences. But second only to food, most complaints we hear about from cruisers concern excursions.
One disgruntled passenger even quipped that excursions can be injurious both to your wallet and your world view.
Our own experiences tally disappointments to spare.
On a tour in Dubrovnik, Croatia, for example, our guide was completely indifferent to our group's desire to learn the history of this ancient Roman and Byzantine city and spoke, egotistically, almost entirely about himself.
On another Med outing, the guide spoke English so poorly that she left us mostly confounded by her unintelligible view of Venice.
More recently, in Cartagena, Colombia, a walking tour of the fortified historic district yielded little about this quaint locale because the guide larded toss-away visits to a church and a square or two with never-ending stops to ship-sponsored shops.
And so it goes as cruise lines urge passengers to "play it safe" on ship-arranged tours.
In some cases, though, it's not the cruise line's fault that excursions fall short of expectations. Brutal economics are against both them and you.
Excursions are big business. With profitability from fares squeezed as they are, cruise lines must extract as much additional revenue as they can. Excursions are surefire moneymakers, so most lines push them hard--real hard.
Indeed, on a recent cruise to the Caribbean and Central America, our ship's "excursion director" boastfully touted herself as a shopping consultant. Her onboard talks offered little if any information about upcoming port stops other than which shops were good for emeralds and which for leather goods. She proffered no advice for anyone interested in exploring independently or suggested what to see in port unless--guess what?--it was on a ship's tour. Even then, she merely read word for word from distributed materials we already had in hand.
Cruise lines do have to contend with many factors, though. With hundreds, if not thousands, of passengers to accommodate, lines are compelled to partner with the larger local tour operators, those that have the capacity to handle multitudes. In the Caribbean, in particular, this often results in one-size-fits-all excursions: that is, options offered by one ship that aren't necessarily better--or different--than those of another ship calling at the same port.
In some places, this can prove overwhelming. Take, for example, Coxen Hole, a port on Roatan Island, Honduras. Recently, in a single morning there, the Grand Princess, Holland America's Ryndam and Italy-based MSC Lirica disgorged about 6,000 passengers--about one-fifth the entire island's population of 30,000.
It's hardly possible to enjoy a sense of immersion when most of the people you run into on shore are fellow passengers.
So what can you do to avoid a cookie-cutter experience at a port stop?
-Do your homework at home--before your trip. Sure, it would be lovely leaving it to the cruise lines and excursion directors. After all, you're on vacation and, hey, who wants to be burdened with details? But experience tells us you can have a more rewarding time discovering on your own rather than following the bouncing yellow umbrella of a tour guide.
There are plentiful travel books and the Internet to help you find what's hot and what's not. Compared to shipboard port lectures, which often are little more than sales opportunities for the line to steer you to sponsored shops, you'll dig up useful information on how to get around independently.
-Paying less and getting more is a major benefit of preplanning. For instance, in Venice, cruise lines' excursions to the popular glass capital in nearby Murano will be several times more costly than simply hopping onto one of Venice's ubiquitous water taxis on your own, which also will leave you much more time to explore that quaint island.
In fact, weeks before arriving in Puerto Limon, Costa Rica, one couple on a recent cruise had independently booked the same Tortuguero Canal tour as we did with the cruise line. Not only did their tour last longer and cost 75 percent less than ours, but the couple also toured with only four people in their boat versus the 30 or so in ours.
-In unfamiliar places, it's natural to feel uncertain about going it alone. Consider forming a group with a few like-minded passengers. Armed with research and a guidebook, you can hire a taxi or a local guide and still feel relaxed. There's not only safety in numbers, but it also doesn't hurt to have a few more wallets for splitting the tab.
-Cruise ports typically bustle with cab drivers, guides and representatives from local tour companies eager for your business. And playing it by ear has its advantages. At a stop in Cristobal, Panama, a spirited elderly British couple trotted only a few hundred feet from the ship to the booth of a local enterprise and purchased a tour package for a train ride that would take them through a rain forest and to visit the famed canal at half the cost of the ship's excursion.
So does it ever pay to go with your ship's options?
Definitely.
Passengers with physical limitations, for example, are pretty much assured of tender care on an excursion booked through the line.
If you're visiting a port for the first and perhaps only time, a tour can be a worthwhile way to get the big picture. Just don't expect to linger long anywhere.
Booking a ship's tour may not always be the best deal, but you can rest assured the guides are reputable.
And, perhaps on the minds of many passengers: Your tour guide won't strand you or swindle you--and you're guaranteed to get back to the ship before it sails.
hawaiian mickey
hawaiian flyer
- Joined
- Nov 27, 2006
- Messages
- 404
aloha everyone,I've been to Rome alot an there is a lot to do. But you can do alot on your own.Everything is in walking distance.
Just get that eyewitness guide book to Rome and just follow their suggestions an you'll be fine. You probably find more things on your own than on a group tour. You're not on a schedule and you can go on your own pace.
Just be careful of pickpocketers they are all over the place.And beware of the gypsies. They'll do anything to distract you an try to rip you off. They will even pretend to drop their baby an as you try to save it they try to seperate you from your goods. Also don't let the kids get even close to you they are there to distract you as one of them is search your pockets or purse. An always beware of pickpocketer on the bus.
Just ask the locals where they eat. Those hole in the walls are usually the best.
Also remember no short or revealing outfits in St Peter's Basillica.
Rome is great and a lot to see.
Aloha,
hawaiian mickey
funnybunny921
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Feb 22, 2005
- Messages
- 441
Hey all!
I know that some people have been able to make their med excursion ressies (eb: CC & concierge, may 26: concierge) just wondering if we can get an account of your experience... if things sold out already etc....
also, have you be able to get times for the excursions?
just getting so excited about booking.
I know that some people have been able to make their med excursion ressies (eb: CC & concierge, may 26: concierge) just wondering if we can get an account of your experience... if things sold out already etc....
also, have you be able to get times for the excursions?just getting so excited about booking.
AnnaS
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jul 7, 2001
- Messages
- 10,572
Hey all!
I know that some people have been able to make their med excursion ressies (eb: CC & concierge, may 26: concierge) just wondering if we can get an account of your experience... if things sold out already etc....
just getting so excited about booking.
Great idea! I am also curious to know/see what time they start and if they are offering more than one tour for each excursion listed.
misseulalie
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Nov 7, 2005
- Messages
- 2,437
Yep, I was able to book all of my top choices. (we are CC members, so we booked at 90 days) A few of my fellow DIS'ers on the same cruise have yet to be able to book due to a "computer malfunction" on DCL part. I guess they were able to book over the phone but they did not get Palo Brunch or Tea.
All excursions had times on them and all were available.
This was for the Med. Repo cruise which is barely half sold out, so I'm guessing the future cruises will have less available if you are 75 days vs. 90 or 105.
All excursions had times on them and all were available.
This was for the Med. Repo cruise which is barely half sold out, so I'm guessing the future cruises will have less available if you are 75 days vs. 90 or 105.
sharonrs50
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Feb 1, 2007
- Messages
- 59
For those of you who are planning on taking the Disney excursions, which ones are you going to book? We have never been to Europe before, and don't speak any languages besides English. I like the idea of not having to worry about making it back to the ship on time, especially in the ports like Florence and Rome that are so far away from the port.
The Florence Michelangelo tour looks interesting to us, and so does the Exclusive VIP Visit of the Vatican & Highlights of Rome.
I was also looking at the Nice and Monte Carlo tour, but there are so many choices it is hard to decide. Also, we will have our 16 YO son with us, so we won't be able to enter the Casino.
I am not sure about the other ports yet.
Your thoughts?
Sharon
The Florence Michelangelo tour looks interesting to us, and so does the Exclusive VIP Visit of the Vatican & Highlights of Rome.
I was also looking at the Nice and Monte Carlo tour, but there are so many choices it is hard to decide. Also, we will have our 16 YO son with us, so we won't be able to enter the Casino.
I am not sure about the other ports yet.
Your thoughts?
Sharon
MV_Photon
Castaway Club
- Joined
- Aug 24, 2005
- Messages
- 128
As Andrew noted a couple of pages back, we decided to book private excursions at most of our European ports of call. My August 2006 thread about private guide options in the Med can be reviewed here: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1184080
Ultimately, these were our selections:
Barcelona -- José Soler
Naples / Pompeii -- Salvatore Lucibello
Olbia, Sardinia (Disney Magic is the only cruise ship to visit during 2007)
Pisa / Florence -- Paola Migliorni (she is also a licensed walking guide in Florence)
Marseilles -- Catherine D'Antuono
Villefranche (Nice + Monte Carlo) -- Michel Legrand
BTW -- We plan to arrive two days in advance, and to stay at Eurostars Grand Marina Hotel.
Ultimately, these were our selections:
Barcelona -- José Soler
- www.pepitotours.com/private-tours-barcelona.html
- wwguides.com/forums/member.php?u=243
- published 12/2006: http://www.thunderbaybooks.com/then-now.htm
-
Naples / Pompeii -- Salvatore Lucibello
Olbia, Sardinia (Disney Magic is the only cruise ship to visit during 2007)
- Disney excursion: Day at Sea at Maddalena
Pisa / Florence -- Paola Migliorni (she is also a licensed walking guide in Florence)
Marseilles -- Catherine D'Antuono
Villefranche (Nice + Monte Carlo) -- Michel Legrand
BTW -- We plan to arrive two days in advance, and to stay at Eurostars Grand Marina Hotel.
Andrew DEREK UK
DIS Legend
- Joined
- Mar 8, 2004
- Messages
- 29,143
Sounds a good list!
sharonrs50
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Feb 1, 2007
- Messages
- 59
Thanks for your list. Obviously this represents a lot of work on your part, very generous of you to share.
Sharon
Sharon
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