The Med Thread - All Sailings - Mediterranean

[woody73]

one of the biggest problems with booking two different round trip flights is that the baggage allowance for international travel is much different than it is for that within europe. . .

Another problem is if your first flight is delayed and you do not board your connecting flight, the second airline is not obligated to put you on another flight.

Woody

 

[woody73]

. . . a 21" suitcase. I never take anything larger for even a 3 week trip. . .

That's exactly what we do!

We also limit each carry-on to 26 lbs. That way, we can carry our own bag on and off trains, subways, busses, and vaparettos (in Venice), use the overhead racks, and take the stairs at subway stations. For example, many Metro stations in Paris do not have elevators or escalators.

Woody

 

[figment52]

Can I reassure you that the Western med is very safe, as safe as any part of the USA is today. We have had security measures in place far longer than USA, and many ships with americians travel around the Med and far closer to the Eastend, than the Magic will go, and they all enjoy their trips.

It is not Western Europe that I am concerned about - it is just a bit unsettleing with the activity going on back and forth between Israel and Lebonan and that whole area that I can't help but wonder what is going to happen in the year. I don't have my geographical perspective in check yet.

I really want to go on this trip because my last plans for touring Italy were November 2001 and I am sure I don't have to remind anyone why that one was cancelled.

Thanks for trying to calm my nerves Andrew DEREK, I will be fine if I just don't watch the news too much

 

[Scratch42]

Back to the trains...........

What if you have one of those sleeper cars? What to expect there? Would there be room for a 21" and a 26" x 2?

j

 

[GadgetGirl]

Hi,
I'm alice, and my sister and I, (as well as the whole family), are going to be In the med with mickey from the 18th of july 2007, We are from England, and have wanted to try disney cruises for aaages, it seemed sensible to do it closer to home.

If you need any advice on things the european end, we know what it is like to fly across the Atlantic, if its a first for you, i'm sure there may besome questions, feel free to ask!

In true disney style, we would be happy to help!

Alice.

 

[CoolMickster1995]

I should mention that I am logged in under my son's name because for some reason I couldn't switch the logins today. (So, no - I'm not an 11 year old boy asking for this information. )

We thought we would look into having a longer layover in Paris on our way back to Mississippi that would allow us to get in a day or two of sightseeing there. I called Delta and they said that this could be arranged assuming they had open seats. What I didn't ask about was the additional cost of doing something like this. I believe she referred to this as an "open flight" (as opposed to an "open jaw flight" that would have us depart from a different city than the one in which we landed.

I wondered if anyone here has ever done this and, if so, how much more expensive it was than flying directly home.

Marie

 

[slindamood]

I am not certain about how much luggage an overnight compartment would hold. Partly depends on the type of train and compartment - the train to Barcelona from paris is the Elipsos - it is new and different from the old overnight cars.

Here is a link to a really neat virtual tour - you can tour each type of room. To get a detailed floorplan, click on the little floor plan shown with the tour. There is luggage space located above the corridor - I don't know how much it would hold. Some of the rooms have a small recessed space that might hold some luggage.

http://www.elipsos.com/flash/paseo/lnkpaseo.htm

 

[Honu13]

Just got some feedback from DU.

If you don't book the air through DCL, you don't get to book the pre or post nights stays in Barcelona. You can get the transfers, however, if you book any pre or post nights on your own - you would assume that you wouldn't be able to utilize the transfers.

Just an FYI to our plan-a-holics!

Also, still no word on DLP.

 

[AnnaS]

Subscribing

 

[Doingitagain]

Just got some feedback from DU.

If you don't book the air through DCL, you don't get to book the pre or post nights stays in Barcelona. You can get the transfers, however, if you book any pre or post nights on your own - you would assume that you wouldn't be able to utilize the transfers.

Just an FYI to our plan-a-holics!

Also, still no word on DLP.

Interesting. I booked prestay and transfers in Barcelona and we did not book airfare through DCL. I have a confirmation that is just a week old and it has both the prestay (Hilton Diagonal) and transfers on it. I worked directly with DCL. Perhaps they are running short of rooms? I booked the rooms, and will cancel them if I find something better later on.

 

[kaseyC]

Below is an excellent site for booking European Hotels. We used it to book our hotel in Barcelona this past May. It allows you to sort hotels by Star ratings as well as regions of the city.
http://en.venere.com/hotels_barcelona/

This is where we stayed in Barcelona and probably where my DD and I will stay before the Repo cruise in August. Wonderful hotel right on the North end of La Rambla with a Starbucks attached to it.
http://www.nnhotels.com/presentacion/eng/hotels/h1898/presentation.php

 

[BigBlueMan]

We thought we would look into having a longer layover in Paris on our way back to Mississippi that would allow us to get in a day or two of sightseeing there. I called Delta and they said that this could be arranged assuming they had open seats. What I didn't ask about was the additional cost of doing something like this. I believe she referred to this as an "open flight" (as opposed to an "open jaw flight" that would have us depart from a different city than the one in which we landed.

I wondered if anyone here has ever done this and, if so, how much more expensive it was than flying directly home.

Marie

I've never booked a flight like you mention, and quite frankly I didn't think the airlines liked to book this way. They normally will charge you for the layover just like its an additional leg in a multi-leg trip.

Multi-legs are normally much higher, depending on the stops involved. We're doing the same thing you're planning, but we're booking two totally separate flights: 1) into Paris, then 2) Paris to Barcelona. In doing some research on the flights, a multi-leg flight for everywhere we're going would be well over $2,000, where buying separate tickets would be less than half that.

Yours could be less, depending on where you are flying out of. Regardless, I'll be interested in what you find out.

 

[Ltl Mermaid]

Just subscribing and cannot wait to hear more!!

 

[kaseyC]

If you own an Ipod there is a cool and very useful software program called iLingo- it is a language translator for the Ipod. It is compatible with all Ipods except Shuffles. The English Euro pack covers French, Spanish, Italian, German, Russian and Potuguese. The neat thing is that each translation is displayed on your screen and once you click on it is pronounced accurately. I practiced phrases quite a bit on the long flights from Chicago to Barcelona.

We had great success with it on our recent Med cruise in May. I carried my Nano in my small touring bag and we ended up using it a number of times in shops and cafes in Italy and Spain.

edited to add- you can purchase it at the Apple stores

 

[BigBlueMan]

If you own an Ipod there is a cool and very useful software program called iLingo- it is a language translator for the Ipod.

Thanks for the info. Here's another one. I have a Tivo that is networked to my computers at home. With the new 'Tivo to Go' software, you can now convert any program downloaded onto the Tivo to a file that will load onto your Ipod.

In anticipation of the Med cruise, I'm getting all of Samantha Brown's "Passport to Europe" series (Travel Channel) that apply, as well as anything else that might be of use next summer. The process can even be set up automatically or manually. In automatic mode, once Tivo has the show, it is automatically copied to your computer, converted and synched the next time you plug in the Ipod.

Once you have the Tivo networked, its a $24.95 software upgrade to be able to utilize this. It's not only useful, it is sooooo cool. I was eating lunch in a local chicken place today, watching WINGS! (no.. not "chicken wings")

 

[kaseyC]

Thanks for the info. Here's another one. I have a Tivo that is networked to my computers at home. With the new 'Tivo to Go' software, you can now convert any program downloaded onto the Tivo to a file that will load onto your Ipod.

In anticipation of the Med cruise, I'm getting all of Samantha Brown's "Passport to Europe" series (Travel Channel) that apply, as well as anything else that might be of use next summer. The process can even be set up automatically or manually. In automatic mode, once Tivo has the show, it is automatically copied to your computer, converted and synched the next time you plug in the Ipod.

Great Tip!!
You can also download the "Passport to Europe" series from Itunes as well. My DH had the Rome and Barcelona episodes on his video Ipod and his laptop.

 

[woody73]

Back to the trains...........

What if you have one of those sleeper cars? What to expect there? . . .

I would suggest to anyone considering a sleeper car to do a great deal of research about overnight theft of luggage or valuables.

Woody

 

[woody73]

I should mention that I am logged in under my son's name because for some reason I couldn't switch the logins today. (So, no - I'm not an 11 year old boy asking for this information.)

You would never see that on MySpace.

Woody

 

[Scratch42]

I would suggest to anyone considering a sleeper car to do a great deal of research about overnight theft of luggage or valuables.

Woody

With that said..........

It looks like our plans to go to Paris first have been pushed to the back burner and will probably head to Barcelona straight away!

For there, I have already purchased one of those money belts that you wear under you clothes!

Thanks for all the great information!

j

 

[Ltl Mermaid]

I am hoping to get a bit of advice/help here. We are going on the May 26th Med cruise and were not planning on doing any "pre cruise" time in Barcelona. I already am taking May 25th-June 8th off (since I don't want to come back to work for 1 day before the weekend...it just seems sorta pointless to me) which is 10 days off of work (instead of 11 since Memorial day is a day off for us anyway!). So I then decided I would just do an xtra day or two after the cruise and fly home on the 7th or 8th, so I could at least do a bit of sightseeing and it doesn't look like most flights from the US will be getting to Barcelona until about 10:30am on the 26th. Even though I booked air through DCL I am starting to get a little worried about flight times and delays...I do NOT want to miss my cruise! Also, airfar booked online directly through a company is almost $500 cheaper per person!!! I am thinking that I should just cancel the DCL airfar, book it myself, get on the ship right away when we arrive in Barcelona, and then stay for two days at the end...what do you guys think??? I just don't know what to do and I really cannot take more than 10 days off of work, any advice or suggestions would be great! Thank you!