The Med Thread - All Sailings - Mediterranean

[NejTheLion]

The DCL site has been updated with more info about the ports - details on the tourist sites, money, language, etc. No excursion specifics yet, though.

 

[profdsny]

I'm betting the descriptions of the things to see around each port are going to pretty closely mirror the excursions.

 

[jrabbit]

Barcelona
Palermo
Naples
Olbia
Civitavecchia (Rome)
La Spezia (Pisa/ Florence)
Marseille
Villefranche (Monte Carlo, Cannes, Nice)
Cadiz
Gibraltar
Tenerife

 

[littleowensmommy]

The dollar has been very weak against the pound and other currencies this might effect the costs of these trips.

I'm very concerned about this. Shore excursions, shopping...everything is going to be so much more expensive.

 

[profdsny]

I'm very concerned about this. Shore excursions, shopping...everything is going to be so much more expensive.

Yes and no. First off, there is no way to tell how expensive things will be there in relation to the dollar 6 or 8 months from now. Could be much worse. Could be slightly better. I would suggest that once shore excursions open to book them now, in US dollars. Which I would imagine they will be asking. That way the prices are locked in.
As far as shopping there? Well, we will buy a few things, but from experience I know that one can get the exact same thing here, same product, maker, everything, for cheaper than it is there now. Didn't use to be that way, but now it is. Do a price check on a few things and compare. I think you will see that it the case most of the time.
There will still be things there that you won't find here, but make that the exception. At one time we used to love to shop in Europe. Not now.
But, remember that for most this trip will be a rare treat, so while you have to watch your money, (not to mention your wallet or purse) don't let it ruin your trip. Remember you are getting most of your meals on ship, which would be a big cost otherwise. As it is, I think you will find most meal prices on land not much different than what one would spend at WDW. Think of it that way. Maybe it won't seem so bad.

 

[EPCOT_VA]

Do I recall that DCL sends out special bag tags for your checked luggage to be automatically picked up at the airport and taken to the ship? If so, is this only if you book the airfare through DCL?

If you did book your own flight, can you purchase this "baggage transfer" service? We are arriving at 11:00 AM on the day of sailing. I am hoping to see some of Barcelona prior to boarding the ship. It would make it a lot easier if the checked bags were taken care of.

Any info is appreciated...

 

[EPCOT_VA]

I have been reading through the entire Med Thread. Until now I have been grabbing bits and pieces. One persistent topic seems to have been when to buy your airline tickets. I bought mine back at the end of August on British Airways. The RT fare from Washington DC to London was $842 and London to Barcelona was $183. Out of curiosity, I checked the same flights last night for comparison. I was somewhat relieved to see that they are, in fact, more expensive now. $946 for DC to London, and $213 for London to Barcelona. At least so far, it paid to buy as soon as they came out. We're cruising in July.

My recommendation has always been to buy early and have your peace of mind. Barcelona in the summer will fill the cheap seats early. If you wait to catch a "fare war", you could end up paying a lot more if it doesn't happen. You might save $200 per ticket if you're lucky, but you could pay $500 to $1000 more per ticket if you are not.

 

[disneylover5]

I have been reading through the entire Med Thread. Until now I have been grabbing bits and pieces. One persistent topic seems to have been when to buy your airline tickets. I bought mine back at the end of August on British Airways. The RT fare from Washington DC to London was $842 and London to Barcelona was $183. Out of curiosity, I checked the same flights last night for comparison. I was somewhat relieved to see that they are, in fact, more expensive now. $946 for DC to London, and $213 for London to Barcelona. At least so far, it paid to buy as soon as they came out. We're cruising in July.

My recommendation has always been to buy early and have your peace of mind. Barcelona in the summer will fill the cheap seats early. If you wait to catch a "fare war", you could end up paying a lot more if it doesn't happen. You might save $200 per ticket if you're lucky, but you could pay $500 to $1000 more per ticket if you are not.

I was so worried about airfare as well. I was buying 6 round trip tickets. When I found JFK to BCN for $575 I jumped on it! Now we have to commute from DC to JFK, but I figure that was worth $3,000 for my family.

EPCOTVA, We are sailing on July 28th, when are you sailing? You say July as well. We live in Centreville VA...where are you? What airport are you using?

 

[funnybunny921]

Just booked my cruise today and I am wondering if any one else has booked a flight out of ORD? It seems my main choice is where I want my lay over and how long I want my layover. would it be better to fly to Madrid and then on to Barcelona, or to fly to another country (England seems to be the popular one on the search engine's site) and then straight to Barcelona? Also, how much time should I allow between flights if I have to switch carriers?

TIA!!!

 

[justhat]

Disneylover5 - We live in DC but are flying out of NJ for the cruise (we're on the 7/18). It's me, 2 kids (DD will be 3.5yo and DS will be 11 months), and my mom, who lives in NJ. So the thought of flying out of DC alone with both kids and meeting her in Barcelona was so less than my idea of fun. So we'll be driving up to NJ to fly out of Newark with her. So you're not the only one who will be driving 5 or so hours to catch a flight for the cruise!

 

[disneylover5]

Disneylover5 - We live in DC but are flying out of NJ for the cruise (we're on the 7/18). It's me, 2 kids (DD will be 3.5yo and DS will be 11 months), and my mom, who lives in NJ. So the thought of flying out of DC alone with both kids and meeting her in Barcelona was so less than my idea of fun. So we'll be driving up to NJ to fly out of Newark with her. So you're not the only one who will be driving 5 or so hours to catch a flight for the cruise!

Boy, Are you brave!!! My kids are 21, 18 (will turn 18 while we are cruising), 13 and 11. Where in DC are you?

 

[justhat]

We live a few blocks from the zoo in Adams Morgan.

Yeah, brave, that or stupid! My husband starts his new job on 7/1 so he can't take his vacation time 2 weeks later so unfortunately I won't have his help. My mom is good, but I can't make her carry all the heavy stuff like I can do with my husband! I'm just hoping my son isn't walking by then cause that will make my life much harder.

 

[din]

My recommendation has always been to buy early and have your peace of mind. Barcelona in the summer will fill the cheap seats early. If you wait to catch a "fare war", you could end up paying a lot more if it doesn't happen. You might save $200 per ticket if you're lucky, but you could pay $500 to $1000 more per ticket if you are not.

Ahem to that!!!! We are flying from the west coast. I saw the prices earlier in Sept and Oct and was waiting to see if the prices would change. The prices did not changes much for Delta, but for Continental (a little cheaper) it went up a little every few weeks. By the time we booked Continental had the same price as Delta. So we went with Delta because it had better departure times from Barcelona.

 

[winotracy]

Just booked my cruise today and I am wondering if any one else has booked a flight out of ORD? It seems my main choice is where I want my lay over and how long I want my layover. would it be better to fly to Madrid and then on to Barcelona, or to fly to another country (England seems to be the popular one on the search engine's site) and then straight to Barcelona? Also, how much time should I allow between flights if I have to switch carriers?

TIA!!!

Hi funnybunny921, I feel like I know you already We are flying out of ORD and have layovers of under 1 hour (but more than 1/2 hour, I just don't remember how long). We fly by way of Frankfurt on the way there and by way of Zurich on the way back. I would have rather flown somewhere in the US first then direct to BCN, but couldn't find anything at a reasonable rate.

Tracy

 

[CarolAnnC]

We will be flying out of ORD but have not booked air yet. Hoping to catch it down a bit in price. We need 4 tickets so it is quite pricey.

Still hoping to somehow use frequent flyer miles, but have not found the right combination/availability yet. So will keep searching..

 

[Pappy]

have you noticed the down turn in the value of the dollar against the Euro and the Pound over the last 2 weeks..the dollar has dropped like a stone.. good for us if we come your way but it could prove to be very expensive if you come ours

 

[profdsny]

Just booked my cruise today and I am wondering if any one else has booked a flight out of ORD? It seems my main choice is where I want my lay over and how long I want my layover. would it be better to fly to Madrid and then on to Barcelona, or to fly to another country (England seems to be the popular one on the search engine's site) and then straight to Barcelona? Also, how much time should I allow between flights if I have to switch carriers?

TIA!!!

Hi, we have been waiting a bit because I want to us AMEX points for one of the tickets, and Air France hasn't signed off on these past June yet. However, they have a flight ns to Paris, then transfer to Barcelona at a fairly good, for that season, point. The return leaves Barcelona at 10:30 then to Paris for a transfer to Chicago. There is also Swiss Air which flies to Barcelona. Also, Iberia, and possibly American. And as of today, Virgin is flying out of Chicago again starting in April. But they don't fly to Barcelona, and they don't have their prices out yet either. So, a few choices. None 'cheap', some just cheaper. So start checking. Good luck.
(Btw, my mother lives in Westmont.)

 

[MJGirl]

Hi ProfDsny ... I'm flying Air France from Barcelona to Paris as well but my flight leaves at 12:35. I don't know if this will help you with connections or not, but thought I would let you know there is a later flight available.

 

[funnybunny921]

Hi, we have been waiting a bit because I want to us AMEX points for one of the tickets, and Air France hasn't signed off on these past June yet. However, they have a flight ns to Paris, then transfer to Barcelona at a fairly good, for that season, point. The return leaves Barcelona at 10:30 then to Paris for a transfer to Chicago. There is also Swiss Air which flies to Barcelona. Also, Iberia, and possibly American. And as of today, Virgin is flying out of Chicago again starting in April. But they don't fly to Barcelona, and they don't have their prices out yet either. So, a few choices. None 'cheap', some just cheaper. So start checking. Good luck.
(Btw, my mother lives in Westmont.)

Yeah it seams to me the thing is either to fly iberia to madrid and transfer to bcn or fly any number of things to heathro (sp) and then on to bcn. I did see something that went through amsterdam but it took a while. I know i can't do it direct i just want to make sure i don't miss my planeconnection, and i really don't want more than one stop the extra 100-200 dollars is worth not have the hassle of more than one stop.

I guess DH and I will have to just start keeping an eye on things. I don't think we will wait persay, but i think we would like to figure out what all of our options are.

 

[din]

I can't recall if this was mentioned before, but be careful if you are connecting via London. I was warned that some connections in London require you to change airports from heathrow to gatewick..

If you are planning to catch the Continental or Delta direct from barcelona back to the US, be aware that the seats are filling up. On Sat when i looked Continental flight from Barcelona was 1/3 full for July 18th