Much Anticipated Med Cruise 6/29/2011

[TPBChick]

We will be going on the 6/29/11 cruise too. We are a family of three from Maryland. Mom, Dad and DS 16. This will be our first cruise.

 

[TPBChick]

Quick question for all of you: I am trying to book flights but American only has one flight from Barcelona back to the U.S. (JFK) that leaves at 11 a.m. which is too early. We don't want to stay another night as we are arriving two days early. Any options? We are stuck with American and/or their global partners...
Terri

I asked here on the disboards about a flight leaving Barcelona at 10:35 am (non-stop to Philly). I was told that Disney will have you to the airport in plenty of time. I am planning on taking this flight on the day that the cruise ends.

 

[Angie_Ohio]

Hi everyone!!
I started this thread and now am sad to say we are jumping ship.
But... I'm happy to say we are jumping over to the June 18th 11 day Med. When the prices fell we leaped and got an extra day for $200 less than this cruise. I think we will need it after so many ports.
Best Wishes
Bye

 

[DCLShel]

We just booked this cruise yesterday. We were originally booked on the Dream for the same time frame but decided to switch. (I'm sailing on the Inaugural cruise) It will by myself (Shelly), DH (Lance) and DD (Kiley). DD will celebrate her 12th birthday while we're onboard.

I see from previous posts that some have actually booked airfare already. Wow! Can I ask what airlines and, did you get a good rate? I've travelled alot but only internationally once - and the airfare/flights were part of a package. I'm kind of nervous about booking on my own.

We are planning to fly to Barcelona a couple days early to help with the jet lag. Still researching hotels for our stay.

Can't wait for this trip!!

 

[TPBChick]

We just booked this cruise yesterday. We were originally booked on the Dream for the same time frame but decided to switch. (I'm sailing on the Inaugural cruise) It will by myself (Shelly), DH (Lance) and DD (Kiley). DD will celebrate her 12th birthday while we're onboard.

I see from previous posts that some have actually booked airfare already. Wow! Can I ask what airlines and, did you get a good rate? I've travelled alot but only internationally once - and the airfare/flights were part of a package. I'm kind of nervous about booking on my own.

We are planning to fly to Barcelona a couple days early to help with the jet lag. Still researching hotels for our stay.

Can't wait for this trip!!

Welcome DCLShel!
I went ahead and booked US Airways nonstop beween Philadelphia and Barcelona. We will be arriving 2 days before cruise and leaving 1 day after (I changed my mind from earlier post about leaving the same day cruise ends) I paid $1,155, hopefully that is an ok rate. Philadelphia is a 2 hour drive for us, but I don't like to change planes.

 

[DorothyDamato]

Hi!

Flights:
I booked through Continental - nonstop (it is probably cheaper to do stops, but I hate that) - it was $966 but then I had to pay taxes and other costs...one of the other costs was a $250 charge by the federal government??!!! That killed me. I booked through Travelocity - I have looked at Orbitz etc - I always seem to do better with Travelocity, but that Federal charge kind of surprized me.

I have to say that I have been watching airfare for about a year so I could anticipate price drops. There really wasn't any time within the year that the prices dropped alot. It got more expensive as time passed. This time last year, I think October prices lowered a bit. Who knows if the trends are the same every year - I would hope so.

Shore Excursions:

WHATEVER YOU DO - DO NOT BOOK THROUGH THE CRUISE LINE!! Total rip off.
Found looking around at other cruise chat sites that booking a local tour guide is much cheaper and you get one on one service.

Disney Ship Shore Excursion for the Best of Rome was 329 dollars per person (I think - or maybe 280...something like that). You are dealing with everyone else on the ship on a big bus, and waiting for others to keep up along the various sites. You also wait a little for everyone to show up and get on the buses - even when you start the trip (which is about an hour and 1/2 to Rome).

I booked with a Company called ROME IN LIMO. Another family that had gone on the Disney Med criuse in 2007 and 2010 used this company in 2007 and said they had a good experience with them (Plus, I went and checked other comments on Trip Advisor and they were all good). Keep in mind that this guide is driving you around and will give you some local info and knows his way around the city. If you want someone to guide you through the Vatican or Colesium, you have to pay for a separate tour guide to take you into these places.

Rome in Limo prices are not per person - it is more per car or van. We have 3 people in our group. The cost for 4 people is 450...TOTAL for a sedan. The more people you have - the less per person it is. They generally go up from 450 to 550 to 650 as the number of people increase - and 650 you are talking using a Van. All of this info is on the site. You have your own personal guide to drive you around. I also then booked a tour guide for the vatican for 150. I figure its a once in a life time trip for me - I want a guide to show me around a give me the personal touch. You have to pay in Euros or by Euro Travelers Checks.

One thing to remember about the Rome trip and tour guides - Tickets for the Colesium and Vatican are not included. You have to pay this separately.

If you review cruise chat sites, I also found that it is really fairly easy to pick up the train from the port of Civitavecchia, and it takes you directly to the vatican. Once you tour the vatican, everything is really within walking distance. Train tickets are very reasonable. We didn't go this route because my husband was worried that we could get lost.

Various cruise chat sites have pictures of the train tickets and what the information means on the ticket, how to get to the train - what the train station looks like, pictures of train destinations, the machines that you have to use to stamp your tickets, etc.

 

[TPBChick]

The $1,155 I paid for my flight includes tax and other costs. One interesting thing. If I left Baltimore, took a small plane to Philly and then caught the very same flight from Philly to Barcelona, the price was only $1,078 including tax. I opted to leave from Philadelphia because even though the airport is an hour further for us than BWI, our overall travel time is still less since we won't have any layovers. I also didn't want to risk a missed connection. But I did have a hard time deciding. Also, if you are not near a city that has direct flights to Barcelona, it doesn't mean that you will necessarily pay any more for your flights.

 

[DCLShel]

Thanks for all the good info on flights and shore excursions! I'm feeling a little overwhelmed with all the research I need to do but this has really helped!

I'm looking at flights from St. Louis and Chicago. I'll probably have more luck out of Chicago but its about a 3 1/2 hour drive for us. St. Louis is only an hour and 15 mins drive. I'll have to compare prices, connections and time to figure out which airport to fly out of.

 

[jonida3]

Thanks for all the updates!

We booked our flight from Dallas to JFK to Barcelona and we get in 2 days early. I read some of the hotels work with Disney so I am going to try to book with one of them and see if they automatically transfer luggage. I booked a flight out at 8 pm the day we disembark. It is going to be a long trip back!

Thanks, Dorothy, for all the information about the excursions, especially Rome! I need to get busy!

My two cents about staying after: we stayed a couple days after a Disney cruise to tour Port Canaveral, etc... and it was such a let down! After 7 days of luxury and being treated like a King and Queen, staying at a Holiday Inn and eating at Friday's was so ho-hum. They didn't even accept the key to the kingdom card. And it rained.

See you all soon!

 

[keenercam]

Hi, everyone! DH (Howard) and I (Cam) booked this cruise when we were on the Magic in November-December 2009. All this time, we kept the reservation as a placeholder, thinking our kids might prefer a different type of trip for their graduation celebration (DD will be almost 23 and graduating college in May 2011; DS will be almost 18 and graduating HS in June 2011).

Well, DH and I talked this weekend and decided we really would like to do a Mediterranean cruise for this trip-of-a-lifetime graduation trip, so that we talked to our kids last night and they are adamant about going on the Magic. They don't even want us to consider a different cruise line, notwithstanding the options like rock walls, wave pools, etc. LOL! (I got all teary and said to our friend "Thank God. I raised them well.)

I haven't started to research anything yet but will now kick it into high gear. We are fortunate in that we live very close to the Philadelphia airport. I am hoping this will make travel logistics a bit easier. I think we'll travel to Barcelona at least 1, if not 2, days early and will likely stay overnight one night after the cruise so that we can fly non-stop on an early flight.

On every Disney cruise we've taken (4 in all now -- 2 western, 1 eastern and 1 4-day), we've always "met" DISers on-line ahead of time, and it has made the cruises even more enjoyable!

 

[TPBChick]

Welcome keenercam,
It sounds like we might end up on the same flights between Philadelphia and
Barcelona. We are leaving 6/26 and returning 7/10.

 

[keenercam]

Welcome keenercam,
It sounds like we might end up on the same flights between Philadelphia and
Barcelona. We are leaving 6/26 and returning 7/10.

That would be so cool!!! So, where in Maryland are you? We are in North Wilmington.

I am really excited about bringing Jenn (22) and Andrew (17) into the planning on this. I've decided that we'll do a family night dinner each month where we will talk about one of the ports of call. I'll give them the information on the DCL excursions just to see the types of activities available in each port. I'll also check guidebooks out of the library for whichever port we are talking about that month. If possible, I'll try to plan a dinner that features that country's fare, and if I can find a movie about that country/port, I'll do that too. I think I'll do an invitation to them setting forth all the dates for the family dinners, so that they can put the dates on their calendars. FUN!

ETA: OMG! If I start those family nights in October, we'll go through May doing one port (including Barcelona) each month!! I'd better get my butt in gear!

 

[TPBChick]

We live in northern Baltimore County about 1/2 mile south of the Mason-Dixon Line. My son is just one year younger than your son. He will be turning 17 next summer just after the cruise ends. Your dinner idea sounds great. We don't have any definites for our excursions but we like the looks of the Mediterranean Value Package that includes Rome on your own, Florence on your own, and Pompeii. We mainly would like to tour on our own rather than with a tour group, but I like the convenience of just hopping on a bus rather than walking to the train station.

 

[DCLShel]

Keenercam and family!

I am also looking at the direct flight from Philly to Barcelona. Of course, we'll be flying from IL first but I like the idea of a direct flight from the US. I'm still not sure about the return flight. The ship gets into port at 7:00am but I'm nervous about at 10:30am flight. I had hoped to fly out the day we return to port.

I'm going on the MV of the Dream in January and noticed a post from goofy559 saying she had been on the Med cruise this summer. She sent me an email with alot of good information. They booked several excursions on their own - including the Rome in Limo (www.romeinlimo.com) mentioned earlier. They really liked it and thought it was a good value. They also used www.maltatravelnet.com for Malta and www.aptours.it in Naples. If anyone is interested in her comments, I can forward her email to you.

My DD (11) is studying World Georgraphy this year in school so its fitting in nicely with the trip. She's really excited to learn some of the different languages, too.

 

[keenercam]

Shelly -- I'd love to have that information. My email address is keenercam@aol.com
Thanks! Wouldn't it be fun if a bunch of us were able to say hello at the Philly airport before we undertake our transatlantic flight? We've never been to Europe before and the only time Howard and I have been out of the country except on cruise ships is when we did a Couples vacation in Jamaica earlier this year. We're really excited about "seeing" Europe!

TPBChick -- Looks like we'll have lots of 17 year olds on that cruise. It would be awesome for them all to be in touch with each other ahead of time so that they can get to know each other before the trip. Andrew is buried right now with marching band season (he's captain of his drumline and a featured vocalist in their field show) and applying to colleges. I am hoping that by December, life will be a bit easier for him and he'll be able to sit back and enjoy the planning process more.

 

[DCLShel]

Shelly -- I'd love to have that information. My email address is keenercam@aol.com
Thanks! Wouldn't it be fun if a bunch of us were able to say hello at the Philly airport before we undertake our transatlantic flight? We've never been to Europe before and the only time Howard and I have been out of the country except on cruise ships is when we did a Couples vacation in Jamaica earlier this year. We're really excited about "seeing" Europe!

I will email it to you this morning.

I had the same thought about the flight! We've never been to Europe either. DH (Lance) and DD (Kiley) have never traveled internationally before except to the Caribbean and Mexico on cruises. My older DD (Erica-25) and I went to Kenya when she was 12.

This should be a wonderful experience for all of us!

 

[keenercam]

OMG! I am so excited!! We had booked our cabins when we were on DCL in December. We have an oceanview (DH and me) and inside (DD22 and DS17). My favorite travel agent told me yesterday that rates have come down, and suggested that we ask DCL to "re-shop" our 2 cabins so that we'd still get our 10% on board booking discount and our on-board credits (for booking during our cruise), but that the rates should be less.

I can't even believe it, but we saved $2,034.00 total!!!! How incredibly awesome is that?

Just thought I'd share in case any of you booked before the rates came down mid-2010. You might want to check to see if you can save any money.

 

[TPBChick]

keenercam and DCLShel - that would be great to meet up with you at the Philly airport.

keenercam - WTG on the savings. What a nice surprise!

DCLShel - I also had trouble deciding about whether to take the 10:35 am flight on the day that the cruise ends. I kept changing my mind. My TA at DU recommended taking a flight the following day but it sounds like many people have taken that flight with no problems. I chickened out and booked a flight the day after the cruise. We are staying at the Renaissance Barcelona Airport Hotel for a night.

I (Suzanne) have not been to Europe since college. I had a Eurail pass, stayed in Youth Hostels and lived out of a backpack for 2 months. Wow, that seems like a lifetime ago. DH (Buck) and DS (Nick) have never been out of the country. We are all really excited about this trip.

 

[keenercam]

Wow! Suzanne, I am so impressed that you are already that far ahead in booking your Barcelona hotel.

So, how many people checked with DCL or their travel agent to see if they could get their fares reduced?

 

[TPBChick]

Wow! Suzanne, I am so impressed that you are already that far ahead in booking your Barcelona hotel.

I get carried away when it comes to making reservations. We are staying at the Barcelona Universal Hotel for the two nights before the cruise. It got good reviews on tripadvisor.com and looks like it is in a good location for touring. There is a metro stop across the street. If you book on their website you can get a discount and free breakfast.