Much Anticipated Med Cruise 6/29/2011

[johnwdw]

Does anyone plan to do Disneyland Paris in conjunction with their trip?

We are looking to do this as well!!! Are you planning to go to Paris prior to the cruise?

 

[DCLShel]

Hello all,

My wife and I as well as our 2 sons (14 & 16) have cruised 3 times prior with Disney. All have been on the Magic. This is our first time going to Europe and I am working on the logistics now. We are also thinking about heading to Paris prior to getting on the cruise. We are DVC members and are using points to go.

Can't wait to go...

Glad to have you and your family joining us!

 

[DCLShel]

We are planning:

Malta - Using suggestions - going on private tour which will do Swim with dolphins & Blue Grotto as well as drive along coast and other stuff. Forget name of tour group (something like Maltatravelnet).

Tunisia - Not going to do - not into bartering.

Rome - Private tour "Limo in Rome" (Trevi Steps, Colesium, Forum, Vatican)
Naples - Private Tour "Limo in Rome" - Sorrento, Pompeii, Drive Almafi Coast
Florence - Private Tour "Limo in Rome" - Statue of David - walk around.

Corsica - probably just explore on our own - Do Napoleon's place, and grab some wine & cheese in Market and sit on the beach and eat.

Villefranche- Maybe booking a "Revelation Tour" to see Manaco - not sure. Spending 4 hours looking at Rich people's boats - so what? Not like I am ever going to have one!

The "Limo in Rome" tour for my 3 Italy trips is a sedan which we could upgrade to a Van if anyone wants to join us. There are 3 of us. It was 450 Euros for the 3 of us.....I could go on the site and see what it would cost to bump up. I also got a tour guide for the vatican that I am paying for separately.

Dorothy-

I was looking at some different tours in Italy than the ones you had listed. Darn! I would LOVE to see the Vatican; however, my DH & DD would not enjoy it.

Thanks for the offer, though!

Shelly

 

[johnwdw]

Glad to have you and your family joining us!

Thanks, We are looking forward to cruising on the Med and we always look forward to being on the Magic. I confess that I have not read all of the posts on this thread but slowly but surely I will. Has anyone planned a meeting yet?

 

[DCLShel]

There's another thread on the boards indicating "issues" in Tunisia. http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=39536364&posted=1#post39536364

However, when I went to the State Department website this morning, there were not travel warnings issued. Has anyone heard anything about this?

 

[TPBChick]

There's another thread on the boards indicating "issues" in Tunisia. http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=39536364&posted=1#post39536364

However, when I went to the State Department website this morning, there were not travel warnings issued. Has anyone heard anything about this?

I read about Tunisia in the paper this morning and was wondering about it too. Hopefully, everything will be peaceful by this summer.

 

[TPBChick]

Welcome John!
I also have a 16 yr old son who will be on the cruise. Keenercam was putting together a list of cruisers but I have not seen her on here for a long time. Cam where are you? Hope to hear from you soon.

 

[johnwdw]

Welcome John!
I also have a 16 yr old son who will be on the cruise. Keenercam was putting together a list of cruisers but I have not seen her on here for a long time. Cam where are you? Hope to hear from you soon.

Thanks TPBChick, Looking forward to talking & sharing ideas. Hope we all get a chance to meet.

 

[rbtcornett1]

My family just made reservations for the cruise...there will be my wife, and my three daughters (25, 18, 15) and myself...our 4th cruise, but first to the Med...thanks for all of the ideas about excursions....we are very excited

 

[johnwdw]

My family just made reservations for the cruise...there will be my wife, and my three daughters (25, 18, 15) and myself...our 4th cruise, but first to the Med...thanks for all of the ideas about excursions....we are very excited

Welcome aboard!! This is also our 4th cruise. We always seem to be on the Magic. We have been on 2 Eastern 7 day cruises and 1 Western 7 day (This became the 10/11 day).

Aside from booking the cruise, we are also in the early planning stage.

 

[keenercam]

Welcome John!
I also have a 16 yr old son who will be on the cruise. Keenercam was putting together a list of cruisers but I have not seen her on here for a long time. Cam where are you? Hope to hear from you soon.

Sorry, guys! I am here and have occasionally peeked in on the thread but life has taken a completely unexpected turn and I've been a bit distracted.

We are so excited about the cruise but now I am SOOOO glad we didn't book for 2 weeks earlier as we'd originally planned. About two weeks ago, we became the host family for a young man from Haiti who is being "sponsored" so to speak by my son's private high school to do his last year of HS in the US. We are LOVING having him in our family and he has completely taken up residence in our hearts and our lives. However, my priorities have shifted a bit as I now parent 2 high school seniors going through the college selection process, one of whom has the additional considerations you can imagine for a young man from his socio-economic background and for whom English is not his first language.

In any event, life is beyond good and is busy in the most wonderful ways.

For all our new friends on the thread, if you want to be on the master list of the cruisers posting here, please send me the following information for me to add to the document I have compiled:

DIS Screen Name
Email address
Cruisers (names and ages of all in your party)
"Kid Contact" info in case any of the teens/young adults/kids want to email or text
Where you are from
Cabin numbers


I currently have information from the following travel parties:
keenercam
DorothyDamato
TPBChick
DCLShel
thinkoflaura
macassi

Looking forward to hearing from others to add to the list.

Is anyone thinking of doing a Fish Extender list? I think it would be harder on a Med Cruise since some of us would have to transport gifts trans-Atlantic, but let me know if someone is going to coordinate that, so that we can figure out if you need me to add any additional information to the master list to facilitate that.

 

[deplion]

We are planning:

Malta - Using suggestions - going on private tour which will do Swim with dolphins & Blue Grotto as well as drive along coast and other stuff. Forget name of tour group (something like Maltatravelnet).

Tunisia - Not going to do - not into bartering.

Rome - Private tour "Limo in Rome" (Trevi Steps, Colesium, Forum, Vatican)
Naples - Private Tour "Limo in Rome" - Sorrento, Pompeii, Drive Almafi Coast
Florence - Private Tour "Limo in Rome" - Statue of David - walk around.

Corsica - probably just explore on our own - Do Napoleon's place, and grab some wine & cheese in Market and sit on the beach and eat.

Villefranche- Maybe booking a "Revelation Tour" to see Manaco - not sure. Spending 4 hours looking at Rich people's boats - so what? Not like I am ever going to have one!

The "Limo in Rome" tour for my 3 Italy trips is a sedan which we could upgrade to a Van if anyone wants to join us. There are 3 of us. It was 450 Euros for the 3 of us.....I could go on the site and see what it would cost to bump up. I also got a tour guide for the vatican that I am paying for separately.

Hi Dorothy.

My family just booked the 6/29 cruise and we are so excited. Like most on here, we are Disney nuts.

We live in Indiana but get annual passes to WDW most every year, and we went to Disneyland Paris last year, but this will be our first time on DCL.

There are four of us. Me (39), DH (43), and our two DSs aged 9 and 10 who are great world travelers.

We are also looking at the Rome in Limo tour. I think we are going to try Naples on our own with the ferrys / trains, and I think we are going to Pisa during the Florence stop, but if you are interested in possibly pairing up for the Rome trip, it might be a good way to save both of us some money.

I'll be checking back on this thread regularly. Just let me know.

P.S. -- Thanks for sharing all your research on here. The info has been VERY helpful!!

 

[deplion]

Does anybody know boarding time for the cruise?

I know it sets sail around 10:00, but I want to board as soon as I can.

We are spending the night before departure in Tarranto, so I want to make sure I budget plenty of time to get us to the docks early.

 

[johnwdw]

Does anybody know boarding time for the cruise?

I know it sets sail around 10:00, but I want to board as soon as I can.

We are spending the night before departure in Tarranto, so I want to make sure I budget plenty of time to get us to the docks early.

I have cruised multiple times with Disney. In the past, I have been able to board as early as 11:00. You won't be able to get to your stateroom right away. This is our first Med cruise, so I don't know if there are any restrictions / differences having to do with the port.

 

[deplion]

Thanks John. Sounds like the family will need to head into Barcelona early the morning of the 29th.

Also, I am looking into getting the all day tour from Revelation Tours in Villefranche. It is a whirlwind tour that goes to Monaco, Nice, Cannes, and Eze among other places.

The price for the van for the day is 600 Euros for anywhere from 2 - 8 people. We have four of us going. Any other party of up to 4 interested in going as well and sharing the cost of the van between us?

 

[johnwdw]

Thanks John. Sounds like the family will need to head into Barcelona early the morning of the 29th.

Also, I am looking into getting the all day tour from Revelation Tours in Villefranche. It is a whirlwind tour that goes to Monaco, Nice, Cannes, and Eze among other places.

The price for the van for the day is 600 Euros for anywhere from 2 - 8 people. We have four of us going. Any other party of up to 4 interested in going as well and sharing the cost of the van between us?

Hello deplion,

We are also a family of 4. There is me DH(50), DW(54) and our 2 DSs (14) & (16). We have been to WDW 20+ times. We usually go every year, sometimes twice. We are also DVC members and we have cruised with Disney 3 times.
Although we are pretty seasoned travellers, this is our first time to Europe.

We would be interested in touring with you in Villefranches. I have been looking into "Rome in Limo" << Thank you Dorothy!! >> as well. We would be interested in splitting the bill there as well.

Hope to talk soon!!

 

[deplion]

Hello deplion,

We are also a family of 4. There is me DH(50), DW(54) and our 2 DSs (14) & (16). We have been to WDW 20+ times. We usually go every year, sometimes twice. We are also DVC members and we have cruised with Disney 3 times.
Although we are pretty seasoned travellers, this is our first time to Europe.

We would be interested in touring with you in Villefranches. I have been looking into "Rome in Limo" << Thank you Dorothy!! >> as well. We would be interested in splitting the bill there as well.

Hope to talk soon!!

Thanks John. That sounds great!!

I will send you a PM so we can exchange info and firm up our plans.

 

[DCLShel]

Hi, everyone! Just got back from the Maiden Voyage of the Dream. Wow - what a beautiful ship!

Now its time to really focus on this trip. I couldn't believe it when I looked at my ticker this morning - less than 5 months! So much to do before we leave!

Welcome to all the new people!! Can't wait to get to know everyone~

I talked to a few people on the Dream who have done the Med cruise. They said it's amazing but exhausting. Guess we can sleep on the flight home~

 

[johnwdw]

Hi, everyone! Just got back from the Maiden Voyage of the Dream. Wow - what a beautiful ship!

Now its time to really focus on this trip. I couldn't believe it when I looked at my ticker this morning - less than 5 months! So much to do before we leave!

Welcome to all the new people!! Can't wait to get to know everyone~

I talked to a few people on the Dream who have done the Med cruise. They said it's amazing but exhausting. Guess we can sleep on the flight home~

Welcome back!!!

Did you learn any tips or tricks from those Med cruisers?

 

[DCLShel]

Welcome back!!!

Did you learn any tips or tricks from those Med cruisers?

One tip I heard about Rome was - if you do the Coliseum on your own, do NOT stand in the huge que at the front. There are several people standing out front offering tickets for about $20. This person purchased the ticket and was taken directly inside.

I also heard that its easy to take the train to Pompeii and hire a guide when you get there.

Even with these great tips, I will still probably hire a tour company for both of these ports. I'm traveling with my DH & DD who haven't traveled much. I think it will be less stressful for them.