Much Anticipated Med Cruise 6/29/2011

[thinkoflaura]

i've started my research (thank goodness for the internet!) and am thinking more and more about tackling the ports/cities on my own.

from naples, i'm thinking of taking a ferry to capri and then a boat ride around the island, specifically to see The Grotta Azzurra (the Blue Grotto).

anyone else thinking of going to Capri?

http://www.capri.com/en/s/la-grotta-azzurra

 

[DorothyDamato]

Ahoy there (thinkofLaura) matie! Welcome aboard (lI think last week Friday was talk like a pirate day....ARGHHHH)!

I initially wanted to do the drive along the Almafi Coast and take the ferry over to Capri. I have 2 Italian friends who said if I wanted to see natural beauty, I should go over to Capri. They also said Sorrento (the male friend said Sorrento was his favorite) was equally wonderful, Pompeii shouldnt be missed, and a drive along the Almafi Coast is amazing. I reserved ROME IN LIMO to do Sorrento, Pompeii, and Almafi Coast. If there is any time left on our own, We will take the ferry over to Capri.

 

[thinkoflaura]

i've read terrific things about ROME IN LIMO and am considering using them for our day in rome. we'll be a party of 5 and i think it will be a much easier experience for my 70 year old parents to have a car/driver at their disposal.

if we spring for that, then there goes our excursion budget! LOL the rest of our trip will be total public transportation!

this cruise is ALL I THINK ABOUT!!!! i can't wait!

 

[DorothyDamato]

OK - let me give the alternative for a smaller budget (cause I initially thought I would like to take all the transportation available to tourists).
It really is doable. Most of the below was taken from other chat sites.

There is a ferry you can catch - RIGHT OFF THE BOAT. Cost is minimal (at one point I had written down, but deleted. Look at other cruise chat sites long enough and they will tell you the prices). Ferry terminal service to Capri, Sorrento, Positano and Amalfi is located right next to the cruise ship terminal making it easy to explore on your own.
Naples is not exactly user friendly for exploring on your own. The Castel Nuovo is located directly across the street from the cruise ship terminal. This is a 14th century castle that currently houses a museum of sculptures and art from the period. If you have decided to spend the day exploring Naples, the best way to do it is on the HoHo bus.

You can catch a train to Pompeii - you have to walk 25 minutes to the Circumvesuviana line. For your 70 old parents - maybe there is a taxi or something? I have read that it is very hot and not much of a breeze, so this might be kind of hard for your parents. I have also read that there is plenty of information at each of the exhibits within Pompeii (so you don't necessarily need a tour guide). Before you disembark your ship, go to the top deck and look to the eastern side of Naples. You will see a church tower (they have pictures on other cruise chat sites of this). This is where you want to walk to to catch train.

Pompeii is a short 30-minute train ride from downtown Sorrento. Simply walk to the train station and purchase a train ticket to Pompeii. Debark the train when you get to the Pompeii Scava Station. The Pompeii train station is about 100-feet from the main entrance so it is very easy to find. From what I read, you could then take the train to Pompeii, then from Pompeii to Sorrento, explore Sorrento and then take the Ferry back to the boat. It just depends on what you want to do for the day.

AlsO, when you enter Pompeii, I have read you will be approached by "tour guides" offering to take you through the parks. Just ignore them. They may try to scare you by saying it isn't safe to go without one...it is just a sales pitch.

 

[thinkoflaura]

thanks, Dorothy!

the more i talk to my folks, the more i think they will be spending most of their time on the ship. so i think it will just be my DH and DD6 exploring Capri. I love that the ferry is so close to the cruise/port. that's great news!

so what do you think you'll end up doing?

 

[DCLShel]

Hi Everyone!

I haven't been on this board in a while. We just got back from a long weekend at WDW. It was awesome!

The crowds at the park were quite small and we walked on to several big rides at the different parks. Our average wait time was about 10 mins.

I did the Mickey's Halloween 5K, too. It was alot of fun! We ran from the TTC, through MK and back to TTC. There were characters along the route in MK, too. Racers were actually stopping to get their pics taken with them!

Now its time to get serious about planning this trip! I haven't booked our airfare yet. I've been watching the prices but they are holding pretty steady. I'm trying to decide when to fly into Barcelona. My DD is a sleeper and needs 9-10 hours of sleep a night. I'm thinking about leaving on Saturday, the 25th to give her more time to adjust to the time difference.

I have booked a hotel on the coast but its pretty expensive! Can't remember the name off the top of my head but it was listed on the DCL website. I'll be doing some research and rebooking at a less expensive hotel.

Thanks for all the good info about the ports! I'm planning on using LIMO IN ROME, too. Guess I should get it booked soon. Not sure about any of the other ports. Time to focus and make some decisions!

This trip will be here before we know it! Keep the good information flowing~ Thanks!

 

[thinkoflaura]

sounds like you had a blast in WDW! and short lines too, awesome!

On 6/25 DH, DD6 and I will be flying from LA to London (overnight flight), stay in London 2 nights, then continue through to Barcelona, arriving there on 6/28 around 6:30pm.

My parents are skipping London but they'll be on the same connection from Heathrow to BCN, so we'll be getting into Barcelona at the same time.

Since we'll only be there the night before the cruise (hopefully getting to the port around 10am), we're staying at the Renaissance Barcelona Airport Hotel. They have a pre-cruise package which includes airport shuttle, buffet breakfast and shuttle to the port. The cost for this for one night is 135 Euro (about $185) per room.

http://www.marriott.com/hotels/hotel-rooms/bcnbr-renaissance-barcelona-airport-hotel/

We will be staying in Barcelona one night after the cruise as well, but I think we'll stay more in the heart of the city for easy sightseeing. Here are some places that I have bookmarked as possibilities:

http://www.avenidapalace.com/en/fichaOferta.php?of=2467
(read a great review from DISer on a Med Trip Report, 126 Euro per room)

http://www.hoteles-catalonia.com/ProcesoReserva/ReservationHandler
(great location, 135 euro per room)

https://www.juststyle.es/reservas/?idioma=eng&entrada=07-09-2011&noches=1&pax=5&accesible=1
(apartment style, can all 5 stay in 1 room for 135 Euro, near train)

http://www.hotelcontinental.com/web/
(adding this: i like that it has free snacks/drinks all day and is still affordable)

I'd love to hear about the places you're considering.

 

[thinkoflaura]

hahaha - after all that Barcelona research, i think we're going to stay in Sitges.... it's a coastal village about 30km outside of Barcelona. we're going to stay there 2 nights post-cruise. seems like a great place to chill out.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Re...Reviews-Hotel_Platjador-Sitges_Catalonia.html

 

[mzjuniebug]

Just booked the June 29 med cruise! Very excited!

 

[mzjuniebug]

in my excitement. We are grandparents and are joining our daughter, her husband and our granddaughter, Gwendolyn. She will be 5 when we set sail. I hope she finds other little girls her age to play with. She loves making new friends.

 

[Jendisney9]

Finally talked DH into us doing the Med next summer. DS18 will already be touring France with French class, then meet up with us to do this cruise. I haven't made any travel plans, just booked the cruise. I have looked at some of your posts and will need to sit down and read them seriously this weekend. This past summer I did the Inaugural Baltic Cruise and had a fabulous time and can't wait to plan out this trip with you all!

We are a family of four: Me, DH, DS18 and DS 15. I noticed there were a lot of teenagers listed for this cruise.

Can't wait!~Jennifer

 

[keenercam]

To everyone who has just joined, please PM me your information if you want to be on the list of cruisers that I will forward by email.

If you are interested on being on the master list, here are the columns on my chart:

DIS screen name
email address
cruiser names (age)
“kid” contact info (for teens who may want to exchange email addresses or cell numbers for texting
from (state or country)
cabin numbers

So far, I have information for the following families:

keenercam
DorothyDamato
DCLShel
TPBChick
thinkoflaura

I have done this kind of chart for every DCL cruise we've done so far and it was so wonderful to get to "know" families ahead of time. On every cruise that our kids have done, they've "met" other kids their age ahead of time by emailing or texting and those kids all enjoyed looking for each other at the port or running into each other onboard.

If you have any questions, feel free to PM me or email me through the link under my username here.

 

[DCLShel]

to mzjuniebug and Jendisney9! Glad you're onboard~

 

[mzjuniebug]

Hi,



I was wondering if anyone ever used the self laundry facilities aboard the Disney ships?

Before anyone thinks I want to waste my cruise doing laundry, I better explain. Our cruise will be part of a much longer vacation. We will leaving for Milan for a few days and then Paris after that, right after the cruise. I would prefer to get off the ship with clean clothes in the suitcases if possible. I am thinking that last day at sea may be a good time for this. Anyone have any thoughts? And yes, I know I can have their service do laundry but I am very picky and private about my "delicates".

Thanks for any info you may share

June

 

[mzjuniebug]

DCLShel,

For the warm welcome. So far, I am loving this board. It is very cool to be able to have contact with people that will be on the same cruise.

June

 

[keenercam]

June- we have done laundry every cruise. The at sea days were always the busiest in the laundry rooms. If you can do it on a port day it will be quicker probably.

 

[mzjuniebug]

Kennercam,

For the info. I was wondering about how busy the laundry facility was on the "at sea" days, so thanks for for insight. We still may be forced into that situation though, as we want to do every port. Do you remember what the hours were like? I am the family night owl, I am thinking maybe very late at night would be an option, providing their hours allow for that.

June

 

[mzjuniebug]

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

 

[mzjuniebug]

Keenercam,

Thanks again for the info and I finally found the hours....24 hour facility...yay

June

 

[keenercam]

June - Sorry I didn't get back here. I am glad you found the information. I wanted to remind you that when you are planning when to do laundry, you'll want to avoid doing it late the last night because you'll have to have all your suitcases outside your cabins by 10 or 11 pm and sometimes the dryers didnt' dry very well the first time. So, just keep in mind that you don't want to be packing damp clothes and you'll want to have it all packed somewhat early that last night.