Off to the Med! All the way from the East! (Updated 11/30/13)

[pandanasbearz]

The Introduction

Hi everyone! Welcome to my first trip report of my first Disney Cruise!
After stalking the boards for years and getting out as much info as I can, it is finally time to embark on this adventure! We booked this cruise exactly a year ago in August 2012
and let's just say by now the anticipation has never been higher for my whole family!
We are flying out in 2 days (as of 19/08/13) all the way from Thailand to catch the Magic departing on August 24 - August 31 to Villefranche, La Spezia, Rome and Naples

We are planning to to stay in Barcelona for 2 days prior to the cruise to get over the jetlag and see Barcelona for a bit.


The crew

First off, there's me! I'm Sunny 19 years old, studying in the UK and this is my first ever Disney Cruise! I am very Disney crazed!

Next in line is my beloved sister, Sea! She's 23 and I say she's even more Disney crazed than me, in fact, she's the one who got me hooked...(I don't like you Sea...)

Next is one of the most important person in my life....My mum! Since I don't have an individual picture of her right now, I'll give you me, sis, mum and the #1 Duck for now.

And last but not least, my dad! Which I also could not find a picture of, but I promise you'll see him soon!

So there you go! That's the intro done and dusted. I will try to post pictures and update once we're on the trip provided we have decent internet and keep you posted.

I hope you are enjoying reading this so far!​

 

[DVC'96]

Lookinf forward to hearing about your trip!

 

[lwilliam]

another Med report......can't wait - don't forget any details! where you stayed before cruise, excursions, etc......i'll be checking daily - THANK YOU FOR TAKING THE TIME (we HOPE to be on the Med next year on the Magic).

 

[pandanasbearz]

The Plan

We have booked in concierge for this cruise, a 1-Bedroom suite - Room 8032.
Here's the overall plan for each day:

August 21
The Journey begins on this night, we will make our way to the airport for a flight from Bangkok bound for Barcelona via Istanbul at 11.35pm.
We'll be arriving at Barcelona at 11.30am the following day, a total of approx. 16 hours travel time.

August 22
We booked a car transfer from the airport when we arrive to Hotel Pulitzer which is right in the middle of all the shops!
My mum's going to love it! We plan to spend the day recovering from the long flight and explore the area.

August 23
Today we plan to pay Barcelona FC a visit at Camp Nou, and maybe sight see Barcelona on a HOHO bus, or just walk around doing more exploration.
Mum has plans to do some final shopping before embarkation day tomorrow!

August 24 - Embarkation day!
Well, what other plans do we have today?....except for getting on the Magic!

August 25 - Sea Day
Since it's a sea day, me and my sister will probably walk around the whole ship exploring and more importantly, character hunt!
My parents will probably be relaxing up top at the pools or something....I can never guess what they will be up to! They always seem to be having their own plans.

August 26 - Villefranche, France
Ashore: 7.45am
Onboard: 6.30pm

Today, we booked the "Highlights of Monaco and Monte Carlo" excursion through Disney, leaving at 12.45pm until 6.15pm (YAY no early mornings!)
After, we come back (hopefully early) we'll probably have to rush to get changed if we want to go and see the show for that night,
which I have no clue what it is (anyone know?) then on to our dinner since we have late dining.

Then, I guess we'll just wonder around or see one of the shows at night,

August 27 - La Spezia, Italy
Ashore: 7.45am
Onboard: 7.30pm

This day is a little interesting, basically me and my sister are staying on the ship and around the La Spezia area as
we do not fancy spending half our day on a bus with a parents to Florence (5 hours in total).
My parents are on the "Discovering Florence" excursion booked through Disney, and since we have been to Florence before,
me and my sister decided to pass it up for some extra time with the Magic!

August 28 - Civitavecchia, Italy
Ashore: 7.30am
Onboard: 6.30pm

It's Rome day! We booked a private car tour using RomeinLimo, which is about it same price as if we would have went on a Disney excursion.
Since we have been to Rome before, we just wanted to see some of the things we missed last time.
My sister wanted to see Vatican city so off we go!
We're not going into the museums, just a stroll around the area for the sights and some pictures ofcourse!
Then we are going to the Trevi, to throw coins in again, since last time we did and we're going back there!
In the afternoon, we plan to go to the Colosseum and then some shopping before heading back to the Magic.

August 29 - Naples, Italy
Ashore: 7.30am
Onboard: 5.30pm

Pompeii is a place where none of us has been to, hence everyone's super excited to be able to go there!
We booked a private car tour from APTours, and basically we have the car to ourselves for 9 hours.
We are planning to go to Pompeii in the morning, have lunch
then go to the Herculaneum, then back to the boat. Pretty straight forward day I guess, not taking into account other factors which my cause delays...(Hopefully won't happen)

August 30 - Sea day

Our last day on the amazing trip! We have Palo brunch booked at 11am and then some relaxing to do after 2 days of intense touring. Then, ofcourse the dreaded packing....

August 31 - Debarkation day - Barcelona, Spain

Such a sad thing to even think about, but all good things has an end to them...But, there's always a next time .
We leave for Barcelona airport after we get off to catch the 12.25pm flight to Istanbul, connecting to Bangkok later that afternoon.

There you go, that's our plans for this trip!

 

[jedijill]

Hi! I'm excited to hear about your trip! You guys have a LONG flight! I get itchy on the 8 hour flight to Europe...double that would kill me!

Love your plans....may I suggest that you and your sister consider going to Cinque Terre when you are in La Spezia? It's really not a bad train ride and the views are gorgeous. You can hike, take the train, or the boat between the towns. Just my two cents.

Jill in CO

 

[lilpooh108]

Hi there!

Love your TR already. I hope you don't mind, but I'd like to link your TR to the general Med Planning thread so that others can follow along or use it for planning.

Random Note about La Spezia -- we also didn't want to go to Florence due to the long drive, and at the last minute added on the Portofino/Santa Margherita DCL excursion. It was relatively short and we got back to the ship around 4pm, when all aboard was at 7pm so we had the ship to ourselves from about 4 to 6. Portofino was a highlight for us as it was so unexpectedly beautiful. We were glad we added this on instead of staying on the ship.

Can't wait to read more as your trip goes along!

 

[Grumpy's Wife]

Joining in. I can't wait to hear all about it.

 

[wiigirl]

Joining in!

 

[pascalstongue]

Subscribing! Thanks for taking the time to do a TR. we are booked for a Med cruise next summer and I am super excited already!

 

[debsters41]

Wow! What a long journey! Have a great cruise!

 

[pandanasbearz]

Just an update, we're leaving tonight and I haven't even finished my packing (University student habits I guess). I'll keep you guys posted during the journey.

Hi there!

Love your TR already. I hope you don't mind, but I'd like to link your TR to the general Med Planning thread so that others can follow along or use it for planning.

Please link it, I'm glad to help!

 

[pandanasbearz]

We're at the airport! The journey begins!

 

[jedijill]

Bon Voyage!

Have a fantastic and safe trip.

Jill in CO

 

[pandanasbearz]

Day 1 - The Journey to Espana

The journey begins to Barcelona! Not much to say here except that it was tiring! Here are some pics of the journey:

Here's the customary group picture before we leave - the same one posted earlier.

These are from our flight from Bangkok to Istanbul.

That's me!

My sister, being (mildly) goofy...

And my mum, who always seem to be emailing people from work...Relax mum, your on vacation!

Sorry for the lack of photos, we didn't really take that much after that flight since its really early at Istanbul and we wanted sleep!

The plane taking us to Barcelona! 4 hours later.

My mum being awesome as usual!

We arrived around 11.30am, we came out from baggage claim but can't find our driver booked through sunstransfers I started panicing after we looked around and still can't find him. So after calling and waiting for around 30 minutes he finally turned up mum and dad was not happy .

We spent the rest of the afternoon checking in the hotel and walking around while my mum got up to some shopping.

 

[lwilliam]

We are hopefully heading to the Med next summer, on a 12-day Magic. Excited and nervous. I'll have many questions. Thank you for the report. What hotel did you stay in in Barcelona? I see you were disappointed in the transfers, I'll make a note of that! Did you use a tour in Barcelona? THANK YOU

 

[pandanasbearz]

We are hopefully heading to the Med next summer, on a 12-day Magic. Excited and nervous. I'll have many questions. Thank you for the report. What hotel did you stay in in Barcelona? I see you were disappointed in the transfers, I'll make a note of that! Did you use a tour in Barcelona? THANK YOU

Hi there, we're staying at the Pulitzer Hotel right next to the Catalunya. Its really convenient (close to the shops and plenty of restaurants). We didn't use a tour in Barcelona, just walked around and went on the HOHO bus.

 

[pandanasbearz]

Day 2 - Wondering around Barcelona

We got up quite early today (well by my standards anyways) at around 8am. Got ready, then went to have breakfast at a restaurant which I can not remember the name (sorry it was early) where we had many episodes of miscommunication, trying to order an English breakfast but ended up getting continental instead.

Filled up to the brim, the 3 of us (plus my Auntie and her daughter) set off for Camp Nou, FC Barcelona's stadium by the metro, taking about 20 minutes (9 stops from the Catalunya). My sister didn't come with us since she had "Homework" to do and it had to be sent off today since tomorrow we wont have internet on the ship. The stadium tour included a walk around the stadium, some behind the scenes and entry to the team's museum. Very worth it in my opinion.

Here are some pics from the stadium tour:

Got tickets, yay!

The stadium shot.

The corridor to the changing rooms, soo crowded.

Done with the tour, we headed back to the Catalunya and had some lunch. We wanted Paella since we're in Spain so off we went!

The HOHO bus had 2 lines, red and blue. The blue ran up North of the city going to the Sangria Familia, then looping around Camp Nou back to the Catalunya,. The red goes south looping around the Olympic stadium then down to the harbour where we are going tomorrow! . We initially went on the blue line HOHO bus, taking it to the "Sangria Familia" a cathedral which has been in construction for over 200 years. Then going back to the Catalunya by metro to switch to the red line bus since the cathedral is the only thing we wanted to see in the blue line, and we had limited time here in Barcelona (this was at around 5pm). We stayed on the red line until it looped back to where we got on, taking about 2.30 hours on the bus and arriving around 8pm.

Here's the pics:

We had a walk back to the hotel to wash up before having dinner at a Pizzaria on the Ramblas.

 

[debsters41]

Great update! Looks like you had lovely weather!

 

[lilpooh108]

Following along

I have to ask about your DIS screen name. What does it mean? I have a Thai friend and her name is Panda. Is your DIS screen name from someone's name that you know?

 

[pandanasbearz]

Following along

I have to ask about your DIS screen name. What does it mean? I have a Thai friend and her name is Panda. Is your DIS screen name from someone's name that you know?

I love bears as a whole, but when I made this name I thought since pandas are kinda cute, why not? then just make it a bit random and add bearz at the end!

Its embarkation day today, so from now I might not be updating daily due to lack of fast internet...and it looks kinda cloudy . Will keep you posted when I get the chance.