Mediterranean Excursions

[MJGirl]

We are new Disney cruisers and are very excited…
What a way to start out!!!
I have to say that picking the excursions is a little overwhelming but fun.
They offer a treasure hunt in Lucca. We have 2 kids 10 and 14 and thought this would be different.
Has anyone participated in a Disney treasure hunt?
Is it worth it?

Thank you to everyone for all your help and information on taking the excursions or doing it on your own. It makes things a lot easier!

Hi ... Not sure about the treasure hunt, but I too am new to Disney cruising! My new theory in life .."when you're going to go big, go really big!"
Which cruise are you on?

 

[Exploring "4" Fun]

Hi ... Not sure about the treasure hunt, but I too am new to Disney cruising! My new theory in life .."when you're going to go big, go really big!"
Which cruise are you on?

There is no doubt about it..."we did it BIG"

We set sail on May 26th. We are all trying to learn a little of the language before we go.

If I'm correct you are sailing on July 7th. I should have some good info for you by then.

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

I know this thread is for excursions, but I figure you all can help... I just got off the phone with DCL who said we can board the ship in Barcelona up till 9pm. Not just for touring but for people arriving (flying in) as well. They said after 4pm, you will have to board the ship directly and have to carry your own luggage to your room. Has anyone else confirmed this? I need to know for sure because my in-laws are flying in that day and their flight arrives at 5pm. Which means they won't get to the ship until 6pm. (they are flying non-stop from Casablanca, so there isn't much chance of being delayed.)

I need to make sure they can still board after 4pm!

Thanks!!!
Jennifer

Do not know but its interesting, the same as when is the lifeboat drill if people are not on at 4pm.

 

[bellelinus]

Do not know but its interesting, the same as when is the lifeboat drill if people are not on at 4pm.

Hi Andrew . . . it is an interesting issue. I was thinking of getting on the ship fairly early, settling in,and then getting off the ship again to go to the beach at Barceloneta for a while before getting back on the ship in time to shower and change for dinner. Also, if the ship is sailing away during the late dinner seating (which I have), do we miss out on some kind of party? And you are right about the muster drill . . . I can't see having that late at night.

 

[Ruth B]

Do not know but its interesting, the same as when is the lifeboat drill if people are not on at 4pm.

accoroding to one of the other thread- the drill is at 9pm, or 5:45 or 4pm, depending on who you talk to at DCL!!!

"When is the lifeboat drill?"
9 pm (or 5:45 PM or 4PM depending on who you ask)

which would be right in the middle of our dinner!

 

[Ruth B]

Also, if the ship is sailing away during the late dinner seating (which I have), do we miss out on some kind of party? And you are right about the muster drill . . . I can't see having that late at night.

Julie
the sailaway party is at 10pm. so hopefully we will be through dinner( but maybe not firedrill!) , We are late sitting also

Reading another thred, there is a suggestion that they might have open dining at least for the first night or possibley for the whole crusie......................

"When we sailed on Holland America in Alaska our departure time was also 9pm. Since some people were boarding very late (because they had land/cruise packages), the first night was completely open dining. They had 2 seatings for the regular dining room and you could choose either of those or simply do the buffet upstairs. We did not meet our servers or sit at our assigned table until the second night. It's possible that Disney will do something similar."

"Disney is thinking about doing this for the whole cruise! We'll learn more in a week or so."

Let hope not as would miss having the same server and dinner mates...............
__________________

 

[Kouris_Family]

We are so excited for our Mediterranean cruise and have been scouring the excursion lists, guide books and internet to figure out what would be the best for our family. So far we have decided to leave the kids on the boat in Civitavecchia since the excursions are so long and our children are 8 and 4, they won't be so excited to see everything. In Naples we want to see Pompeii and Sorrento, maybe Capri. Marseille, a neighbor who lived in France for 3 years said Aix En Provence is a good choice. Definitely want to see the Grand Casino at night. Maybe with the sail date of 07-07-07, we will be lucky. We are so lucky!!! If anyone has a daughter around the 4yr who isn't so fond of characters maybe we can get them together. This is our only concern with this trip. My daughter doesn't like characters and we didn't even consider this as we booked. It was brought up after the fact, we live near DisneyLand but she hasn't gone yet. Yikes!!!

 

[bellelinus]

Julie
the sailaway party is at 10pm. so hopefully we will be through dinner( but maybe not firedrill!) , We are late sitting also

Well, that should make for an interesting first dinner, running up to our staterooms to put on that attractive orange vest between appetizers and the main course, then rushing through dinner to make the sailaway party! I'm sure it will all work out, though . . .

 

[disneylover5]

We are so excited for our Mediterranean cruise and have been scouring the excursion lists, guide books and internet to figure out what would be the best for our family. So far we have decided to leave the kids on the boat in Civitavecchia since the excursions are so long and our children are 8 and 4, they won't be so excited to see everything. In Naples we want to see Pompeii and Sorrento, maybe Capri. Marseille, a neighbor who lived in France for 3 years said Aix En Provence is a good choice. Definitely want to see the Grand Casino at night. Maybe with the sail date of 07-07-07, we will be lucky. We are so lucky!!! If anyone has a daughter around the 4yr who isn't so fond of characters maybe we can get them together. This is our only concern with this trip. My daughter doesn't like characters and we didn't even consider this as we booked. It was brought up after the fact, we live near DisneyLand but she hasn't gone yet. Yikes!!!

I would not fret over the character issue. last year 11 families salied together (we were one of 11) and two of the 4 year olds were scared to death of characters...both ended up loving them by the end of the 7 days.

They are pretty few and far between....and if you do not want to see them you just walk right by. They do not come up to the kids at all.

I think that is how our two little ones come to love them.....it was really neat to watch them grow though the week. I hope the same thing happens to your family!!

 

[bellelinus]

We are so excited for our Mediterranean cruise and have been scouring the excursion lists, guide books and internet to figure out what would be the best for our family. So far we have decided to leave the kids on the boat in Civitavecchia since the excursions are so long and our children are 8 and 4, they won't be so excited to see everything. In Naples we want to see Pompeii and Sorrento, maybe Capri. Marseille, a neighbor who lived in France for 3 years said Aix En Provence is a good choice. Definitely want to see the Grand Casino at night. Maybe with the sail date of 07-07-07, we will be lucky. We are so lucky!!! If anyone has a daughter around the 4yr who isn't so fond of characters maybe we can get them together. This is our only concern with this trip. My daughter doesn't like characters and we didn't even consider this as we booked. It was brought up after the fact, we live near DisneyLand but she hasn't gone yet. Yikes!!!

Welcome! If you go up to the cruise meets thread, you will see a thread specifically for your sailing, and you are sure to find others with girls your daughter's age. Don't worry about the characters -- other than the character breakfast (which you can skip if you'd like) you have to approach the characters (usually wait in a line!) -- they don't generally approach you.

 

[bellelinus]

Julie
the sailaway party is at 10pm. so hopefully we will be through dinner( but maybe not firedrill!) , We are late sitting also

Reading another thred, there is a suggestion that they might have open dining at least for the first night or possibley for the whole crusie......................

"When we sailed on Holland America in Alaska our departure time was also 9pm. Since some people were boarding very late (because they had land/cruise packages), the first night was completely open dining. They had 2 seatings for the regular dining room and you could choose either of those or simply do the buffet upstairs. We did not meet our servers or sit at our assigned table until the second night. It's possible that Disney will do something similar."

"Disney is thinking about doing this for the whole cruise! We'll learn more in a week or so."

Let hope not as would miss having the same server and dinner mates...............
__________________

Ruth,I just read this post more carefully ... open seating would seem to make a lot of sense for the first night, and maybe even every night on these cruises -- they are going to have an entirely different slant than the usual DCL cruises . . . more emphasis off the boat than on, I would guess. I'm easy -- whatever they decide will be fine with me.

 

[Ruth B]

Ruth,I just read this post more carefully ... open seating would seem to make a lot of sense for the first night, and maybe even every night on these cruises -- they are going to have an entirely different slant than the usual DCL cruises . . . more emphasis off the boat than on, I would guess. I'm easy -- whatever they decide will be fine with me.

I went back and edited it- so you wouldn't of seen it first time around.
I agree, it does make more sense and would give more flexibility.
Just not sure how they would mange number ?etc- hey ho, sure it will all work out,
Ruth

 

[bellelinus]

I went back and edited it- so you wouldn't of seen it first time around.
I agree, it does make more sense and would give more flexibility.
Just not sure how they would mange number ?etc- hey ho, sure it will all work out,
Ruth

I've often wondered how they handle the open seating on cruises that have them. . . I certainly wouldn't enjoy waiting around for a table when there are so many other things to do. This is going to be interesting!!!!

 

[got2travel]

I scan this thread every now and then (Hi Julie, Hi Andrew, Hi MJ, Hi disneylover......not to leave anyone else out, but those folks I'll be cruising with in '08). T

The posts about open seating have me curious. I really enjoy the assigned tables and getting to know your servers. I wouldn't want to have different servers every night.

However, open seating the first night really appeals to me. Not sure if all the cruises are like this, but on the Repo, we board on Sat but don't sail until Sun. I'm considering a trip to Monsterat (sp?) on Sat afternoon after dropping off my bags. But I have early seating and didn't want to miss my first dinner. If it's open on the first night, then I'll go ahead with my excursion plan and miss dinner.

Can't wait to hear how it works.

 

[bellelinus]

I scan this thread every now and then (Hi Julie, Hi Andrew, Hi MJ, Hi disneylover......not to leave anyone else out, but those folks I'll be cruising with in '08). T

The posts about open seating have me curious. I really enjoy the assigned tables and getting to know your servers. I wouldn't want to have different servers every night.

However, open seating the first night really appeals to me. Not sure if all the cruises are like this, but on the Repo, we board on Sat but don't sail until Sun. I'm considering a trip to Monsterat (sp?) on Sat afternoon after dropping off my bags. But I have early seating and didn't want to miss my first dinner. If it's open on the first night, then I'll go ahead with my excursion plan and miss dinner.

Can't wait to hear how it works.

Hi Monica -- I like the excitement of not knowing exactly how everything is going to be done in the Med . . . and how so many things are going to be different . . . this is going to be a terrific summer!

 

[Kouris_Family]

Welcome! If you go up to the cruise meets thread, you will see a thread specifically for your sailing, and you are sure to find others with girls your daughter's age. Don't worry about the characters -- other than the character breakfast (which you can skip if you'd like) you have to approach the characters (usually wait in a line!) -- they don't generally approach you.

Thank you for this information, do you know about in the kids club if they go there for visits?

 

[OurDogCisco]

Are they gonna do Pirate night on the cruise?

As for open seating, I hope they don't it because then, you'd have to wait for a table. I would have a feeling that everyone would dine at the same time. People are gonna get tried during this trip and dine earlier especially with those all day tours. But I could be wrong and maybe they will skip dinner. I do think they need to make sure their a lots of food options in the evening just in case you don't want to dine in the dining rooms.

 

[bellelinus]

Thank you for this information, do you know about in the kids club if they go there for visits?

I don't remember my kids ever mentioning going there for visits . . . I think there is some kind of pajama party with Goofy but things like that (with characters) are marked pretty clearly in the description.

 

[bellelinus]

Are they gonna do Pirate night on the cruise?

As for open seating, I hope they don't it because then, you'd have to wait for a table. I would have a feeling that everyone would dine at the same time. People are gonna get tried during this trip and dine earlier especially with those all day tours. But I could be wrong and maybe they will skip dinner. I do think they need to make sure their a lots of food options in the evening just in case you don't want to dine in the dining rooms.

Originally I had heard that there would not be a pirate party, but recently people were being told that there would be . . .

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

The Med packet I received shows a pirates in the carribean party, even though it should be named the Med.

Boat drill I guess will be at 4pm usual time for all who are on board, thats why maybe they encourage you on before 4pm, with the restrctions on luggage. Maybe a 'catch up 'drill for thoose not on board on the first sea day,

I must say I would prefer to be with my servers on a set time from first night.