The Med Thread - All Sailings - Mediterranean

[din]

As an aside, has anyone found any good deals on airfare from San Francisco area? And can I get some in put as to hotels in Barcelona.

Leslye

I have been looking from SFO also. I am a little particular about the airline so it kinda limits my options and also the most direct route with minumal transit time... I know I am picky but to many miles flying does that to you.

Anyway the prices I am watching have not changed much, so far running about $1200-$1400 per person.

Anyone else???

 

[kimkatmom]

Din:

I too have only found about $1200 flights. I was curious about Iberia Airlines. I don't know anyone who has ever flown them, so I checked the Kayak.com discussion board. No one, not even a travel agent, had anything good to say about them. Apparently they often lose your luggage and then try to submit a claim. So, I don't think we are flying Iberia.

When is your cruise? We sail on the 6/6/07. We are leaving on 6/1 or 6/2 and staying in Barcelona for a few days.

Leslye

 

[BigBlueMan]

Tomorrow night (Wednesday, Oct 25th), the Travel Channel will have a Samantha Brown special, "My First Cruise", where Samantha does a 12 night Med Cruise. Although it won't be Disney, we could probably all learn a thing or two about the Med from it.

Travel Channel, Wednesday at 7PM Eastern

 

[DadofLostBoys]

Greetings! Just wanted to drop in and say

Believe it or not, we were not planning on taking a cruise. Alex and Kyle (see signature below) were both invited to be People to People Student Ambassadors in summer '07 (Alex went to New Zealand/Austrailia in '04). Alex's group was going to China and Kyle's to Hawaii. The cost for both combined would be around $10,000! I thought that maybe the whole family could do something fun and educational together instead.

Ta-Da! What do you know - I found an educational and fun cruise in the Mediterranean that the whole family can go on!

Just booked 2 Cat. 10s gty lastnight with Dreams Unlimited. Now have to work on the rest. We are planning on flying from Washington D.C. (Dulles) to London on the 4th. Spend the 5th touring London. Fly on to Barcelona on the 6th. The return to Washington on the 18th.

Finding lodging for 5 is a real pain. The Hilton Metropole looks promising for London. Checking out places in Barcelona, but it is difficult to really know - know what I mean? I'd appreciate any help and I'll make sure to pass on any tidbits I stumble across!

Until next time,
Hasta Luego, Adieu, Arrivederci

John

(cross posted on 7/7/07 thread)

 

[carolmb]

Tomorrow night (Wednesday, Oct 25th), the Travel Channel will have a Samantha Brown special, "My First Cruise", where Samantha does a 12 night Med Cruise. Although it won't be Disney, we could probably all learn a thing or two about the Med from it.

Travel Channel, Wednesday at 7PM Eastern

Thanks - I am going to set the DVR. I have been watching her shows on the cities we will be in on the cruise.

 

[MSEC-DVC95]

We are booked on the 10 night med. cruise in June 2007 - prior to the cruise we will be visiting Italy for a few days and will be in Venice. In looking at one-way airfare from Venice to Barcelona - I am getting rates of about $700 - $800 per person (there are 4 of us - yikes!! That's on top of airfare to and from Europe!!) - when I request a round-trip rate from Venice to Barcelona the rate is coming up a little over $200 per person (better!!) - my question is can I book a round trip airfare and not use the return portion?? Has anyone done this?? I've done this in the US but not sure if it would cause problems on international flights (from Italy to Spain)

Thanks!!

 

[PrincessJasmine08]

Tomorrow night (Wednesday, Oct 25th), the Travel Channel will have a Samantha Brown special, "My First Cruise", where Samantha does a 12 night Med Cruise. Although it won't be Disney, we could probably all learn a thing or two about the Med from it.

Travel Channel, Wednesday at 7PM Eastern

I LOVE Samantha Brown, I will definitely be watching that. Thanks!

 

[PrincessJasmine08]

Greetings! Just wanted to drop in and say

Believe it or not, we were not planning on taking a cruise. Alex and Kyle (see signature below) were both invited to be People to People Student Ambassadors in summer '07 (Alex went to New Zealand/Austrailia in '04). Alex's group was going to China and Kyle's to Hawaii. The cost for both combined would be around $10,000! I thought that maybe the whole family could do something fun and educational together instead.

Ta-Da! What do you know - I found an educational and fun cruise in the Mediterranean that the whole family can go on!

Just booked 2 Cat. 10s gty lastnight with Dreams Unlimited. Now have to work on the rest. We are planning on flying from Washington D.C. (Dulles) to London on the 4th. Spend the 5th touring London. Fly on to Barcelona on the 6th. The return to Washington on the 18th.

Finding lodging for 5 is a real pain. The Hilton Metropole looks promising for London. Checking out places in Barcelona, but it is difficult to really know - know what I mean? I'd appreciate any help and I'll make sure to pass on any tidbits I stumble across!

Until next time,
Hasta Luego, Adieu, Arrivederci

John

(cross posted on 7/7/07 thread)

We are a family of 5 as well. Finding a hotel was definitely very stressful as many places would require us to get as many as 3 rooms! We are staying at the Hispanos 7 Suiza, http://www.hispanos7suiza.com/. It was about the same price as 2 hotel rooms and they have apartments that have multiple bedrooms and bathrooms as well as a kitchen. It looks very nice from the website and has great reviews on tripadvisor.

 

[MJGirl]

We are booked on the 10 night med. cruise in June 2007 - prior to the cruise we will be visiting Italy for a few days and will be in Venice. In looking at one-way airfare from Venice to Barcelona - I am getting rates of about $700 - $800 per person (there are 4 of us - yikes!! That's on top of airfare to and from Europe!!) - when I request a round-trip rate from Venice to Barcelona the rate is coming up a little over $200 per person (better!!) - my question is can I book a round trip airfare and not use the return portion?? Has anyone done this?? I've done this in the US but not sure if it would cause problems on international flights (from Italy to Spain)

Thanks!!

Have you looked into the train? I will be travelling one way from Paris to Barcelona and the rate is about 200 Euros for two of us in club class (sleeper for two!) Something to check out. The scenery would be nice!

 

[Monstro]

This past week I booked Air Plus Comet from JFK to BCN. There is a change of planes in Madrid. it cost $263 per person - one way. found it on the Kayak.com search engine, but Travelocity also has it. they only fly two days a week - from JFK on Mon and Friday.

Has anyone flown with Air Comet before?

 

[woody73]

. . . I was curious about Iberia Airlines. I don't know anyone who has ever flown them, so I checked the Kayak.com discussion board. No one, not even a travel agent, had anything good to say about them. Apparently they often lose your luggage and then try to submit a claim. So, I don't think we are flying Iberia.

We have flown Iberia Airlines between Paris and Seville and were very pleased. The flights were on schedule, and flight attendants were very pleasant, and the in-flight "snack" was practically a meal. I would not hesitate to fly with them again.

Iberia is a member of the Sky Team alliance, along with Delta and Air France. So, when we booked flights from Los Angeles to Seville, one flight segment was on Iberia.

Woody

 

[din]

Din:

I too have only found about $1200 flights. I was curious about Iberia Airlines. I don't know anyone who has ever flown them, so I checked the Kayak.com discussion board. No one, not even a travel agent, had anything good to say about them. Apparently they often lose your luggage and then try to submit a claim. So, I don't think we are flying Iberia.

When is your cruise? We sail on the 6/6/07. We are leaving on 6/1 or 6/2 and staying in Barcelona for a few days.

Leslye

Sorry do not know about Iberia, but it looks like there is a good review below. We are on the 7/7 cruise, and we will be in Barcelona for three nights prior to the cruise. For our trip it seems like it is cheaper to leave the next day after the cruise, and I am looking at $1100 - $800 total difference in price for 4 of us

What airlines are you looking at?

 

[disneylover5]

Has anyone flown with Air Comet before?

My newphew did....no problems....

 

[kimkatmom]

Din:

We are actually very open on which airlines to take to BCN. Woody's review of Iberia certainly was much different then any I have seen before. Maybe they aren't so bad after all. The perfect flight would be on Virgin Atlantic, but who knows. I checked this morning - still nothing. I even checked BMI from Sacto to Manchester. That's kinda far reaching.

We are leaving the US on June 2nd, spending three days in BCN, then the cruise, then flying from BCN to Paris to spend a week, partly at DLP and then touring the area.

Please keep me posted if you find anything interesting on the airlines. I will do the same.

Leslye

 

[lzj21428]

We are a family of 5 as well. Finding a hotel was definitely very stressful as many places would require us to get as many as 3 rooms! We are staying at the Hispanos 7 Suiza, http://www.hispanos7suiza.com/. It was about the same price as 2 hotel rooms and they have apartments that have multiple bedrooms and bathrooms as well as a kitchen. It looks very nice from the website and has great reviews on tripadvisor.

We are also a family of 5 and I must agree that finding a hotel was a challenge. I ended up booking two rooms at Rivoli Ramblas, one a triple and one a double. It totaled approx 387 Euros. Expensive, but I have something booked for one night and can cancel w/out penalty if something better comes along.

 

[Monstro]

Sorry do not know about Iberia, but it looks like there is a good review below. We are on the 7/7 cruise, and we will be in Barcelona for three nights prior to the cruise. For our trip it seems like it is cheaper to leave the next day after the cruise, and I am looking at $1100 - $800 total difference in price for 4 of us

What airlines are you looking at?

Din,

We're also on the 7/7 cruise. We have a total of 18 sailing parties on our cruise meet thread. Come join us. Here is the thread link.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=15177614#post15177614

Also - we lived in the east bay for a bit. Still have family there.
Jeff

 

[bellelinus]

We are booked on the 10 night med. cruise in June 2007 - prior to the cruise we will be visiting Italy for a few days and will be in Venice. In looking at one-way airfare from Venice to Barcelona - I am getting rates of about $700 - $800 per person (there are 4 of us - yikes!! That's on top of airfare to and from Europe!!) - when I request a round-trip rate from Venice to Barcelona the rate is coming up a little over $200 per person (better!!) - my question is can I book a round trip airfare and not use the return portion?? Has anyone done this?? I've done this in the US but not sure if it would cause problems on international flights (from Italy to Spain)

Thanks!!

We are flying from Barcelona to Paris after our DCL med cruise. Have you looked at some of the low cost European carriers for one way tickets? Easyjet, ryanair, and vueling come to mind . . . they are all more restrictive on luggage, but very inexpensive. The flight we want to take (BCN-Paris Orly, one way) usually runs about 40 euro.

 

[din]

Din:

We are actually very open on which airlines to take to BCN. Woody's review of Iberia certainly was much different then any I have seen before. Maybe they aren't so bad after all. The perfect flight would be on Virgin Atlantic, but who knows. I checked this morning - still nothing. I even checked BMI from Sacto to Manchester. That's kinda far reaching.

We are leaving the US on June 2nd, spending three days in BCN, then the cruise, then flying from BCN to Paris to spend a week, partly at DLP and then touring the area.

Please keep me posted if you find anything interesting on the airlines. I will do the same.

Leslye

Leslye: Thanks and I will do the same...

 

[slindamood]

My newphew did....no problems....

Thanks! We are already ticketed on Air Comet, so this is good to hear.

We don't expect luxury, of course, and the savings are just too good to pass up.

suzanne

 

[disneylover5]

Thanks! We are already ticketed on Air Comet, so this is good to hear.

We don't expect luxury, of course, and the savings are just too good to pass up.

suzanne

The planes are Airbus and 737....it will be just fine, what day are you flying?