The Med Thread - All Sailings - Mediterranean

[jrabbit]

Skallywag, I thought that I had some long posts.

And thanks for the info.

 

[MJGirl]

I just got off the phone with DCL - they finally have some information on a post-cruise excursion to Disneyland Paris. (I didn't see anything on the website.)

Disney is offering a three night hotel and length of stay (both parks/hopper) ticket package with ground transportation and an air option.

The price depends on the hotel. Newport Bay is $700/adult and Hotel New York is $770/adult. This includes ground transport from the Paris airport to DLP but not anything from the ship to the Paris airport.

They don't have price with air from Barcelona (and I assume ground from the ship to the Barcelona airport) is not yet available.

I don't know what the luggage allowance with that air option will be. I hope that they'd apply US rules. (Remembe that luggage allowances/charges in Europe are very different than luggage allowances in the US and on international flights. The second bag charge in Europe can easily be more than the ticket on low cost airlines.)

Hi ... Just wanted to add ... I spoke to my TA and she too contacted DCL. Yes they will be offering this, however they are not booking yet, just wait listing. Also, these prices do not include ground transport. There is a shuttle bus you can get that is pretty reasonable, plus they travel every 30 minutes!

 

[din]

On the DCL site!!!!

 

[scottishwee35]

On the DCL site!!!!

My god, there are lot of choice!!

Scottishwee35

 

[OurDogCisco]

My god, there are lot of choice!!

Scottishwee35

I know, I was thinking the same thing.

Does anyone know the dining times? Is it the same as other cruises? I picked early because I know our kids won't be able to make it the late seating but some of these tours are 10 hours long or more. I hope they have a lot of other dining options besides the main dining room. What do you think? Should we switch to late? It is probably too late I'm sure.

 

[din]

We have the late seating and I am not even sure if we can make the late seating with some of these excursions!

 

[OurDogCisco]

I called DCL and the dining times are the same as on a regular cruise. Main seating will be at 5:30, 5:45 & 6 pm. I requested 6 pm. And, the late seating will be at 8, 8:15 & 8:30.

I'm gonna stick with main because if we do a full day tour I know my kids won't make it until 8 pm at. I figured we might miss half of the dinners if we take long tours at those ports. But I figured one of our dinners will be at Palo. So we could miss 4 dinners. I doubt anyone will make it to dinner on the Rome day. So, I figured the remaining 4 dinners will be at Topsiders or room service, or in port etc...

 

[justhat]

That's what I've been wondering too. We picked main seating too cause my kids will be 3.5 and almost 1 so no way can we eat at 8pm everynight. But I guess we'll just have to skip some. My bigger concern is that my son goes to bed at 6:30pm so I'm not sure how he'll do on the excursions. I'm not planning to do too many long ones, but even some of the shorter ones might mean we get back for dinner late and then he'll be in bed late. I guess I'll just have to hope for him to be able to stay up longer by then!

 

[OurDogCisco]

Another thing. I'm seriously considering leaving in my kids in the club once or twice for an entire excursion. After looking at the ports some of the shorter ones don't seem worth it and some of the longer ones would take too much out of them. Gosh, everyone did warn me how port intensive these cruises were. Does anyone know the cancellation policy on these excursions?

Also, does anyone know if any of ports we stop at will we be able to walk to anything from the port. I'm hoping that some of them have interesting things at the port but my feeling is that they won't. Does anyone know?

 

[OurDogCisco]

Oh, I checked my account online and they accidentally booked me for airfare. Oh my gosh, it added $7500 to my bill. They had me arriving the day the cruise embarks and leaving the day after the cruise debarks. So it included one night hotel. So I'm glad we are doing it ourselves.

 

[justhat]

I can't answer your questions, but have a question about leaving your kids in the clubs for the excursions. How does that work with one of the longer ones, say a 10 hour excursion? I'm guessing you're kinda far from the ship so if they page you, would it even work, and if so how would you respond/return? With my son it's not really an option cause I don't think Flounder's is typically open during the afternoon anyway, but my daughter will be old enough for the Club. But I wouldn't want to leave her without them being able to contact me at all for 10 hours.

 

[OurDogCisco]

I can't answer your questions, but have a question about leaving your kids in the clubs for the excursions. How does that work with one of the longer ones, say a 10 hour excursion? I'm guessing you're kinda far from the ship so if they page you, would it even work, and if so how would you respond/return? With my son it's not really an option cause I don't think Flounder's is typically open during the afternoon anyway, but my daughter will be old enough for the Club. But I wouldn't want to leave her without them being able to contact me at all for 10 hours.

I have no idea. I've never left my kids in the club during an excursion. But my are much older at 9 1/2 years old and 6 years old so I'm not too worried about them needing me. Hopefully, somebody knows but I'm thinking we'd have to go to the other board since I think this will be the 1st time Disney had excursions this long.

 

[MJGirl]

FYI ... Just a note to let you know that the new Passporter for 2007 (including Med info) is now available for Pre-order.!!! Should be shipped out late January!

 

[profdsny]

On the DCL site!!!!

$$$$$YIKES!!!!
Well, I knew they wouldn't be cheap. But how many can you figure you can do in a day? Some ports we'd like to do 2. I wonder if that's possible.
Of course, given what prices are for tours, I really stand by my post of seeing a building leaning over. Particularly since there is so much to see in Florence.

 

[justhat]

Since they list the kid price as 5-9 in most excursions, are kids under 5 free? I figured under 3 would be free but thought we'd be paying for my daughter.

 

[EPCOT_VA]

Now the planning can start moving ahead again!

What are the dates when you can book the excursions? This is our first Disney cruise. Wasn't there something about repeat cruisers getting to book first?

EPCOT_VA

 

[OurDogCisco]

Now the planning can start moving ahead again!

What are the dates when you can book the excursions? This is our first Disney cruise. Wasn't there something about repeat cruisers getting to book first?

EPCOT_VA

Yes Castaway members can book 105 days in advance. I think you can book 90 days?? I can't remember. Then, I think, category 1 through 3 can even book earlier than us Castaway members.

JUST WANTED TO EDIT TO SAY THE REP ON THE PHONE GAVE ME THE WRONG INFORMATION. IT IS 90 DAYS FOR CASTAWAY MEMBERS.

 

[EPCOT_VA]

Yes Castaway members can book 105 days in advance. I think you can book 90 days?? I can't remember. Then, I think, category 1 through 3 can even book earlier than us Castaway members.

Is that 90 days before the sailing date for the cruise?

EPCOT_VA

 

[OurDogCisco]

$$$$$YIKES!!!!
Well, I knew they wouldn't be cheap. But how many can you figure you can do in a day? Some ports we'd like to do 2. I wonder if that's possible.
Of course, given what prices are for tours, I really stand by my post of seeing a building leaning over. Particularly since there is so much to see in Florence.

Have you thought about looking into private tour guides. I think that might fit your touring schedule better and then you can tailor the tours to your liking. If I didn't have kids this is exactly what I'd do.

 

[NejTheLion]

Yeah, we may be doing more of the "on your own" tours. I was hesitant about booking excursions outside of Disney since some of these locations are a bit far from the port. So, that way we could plan out our own schedule at our own pace, yet still feel secure that Disney is in charge of getting us to and from the ship. There are only three of us, so it wouldn't be too bad in terms of cost. Some larger families may find it much less expensive to handle their own transportation.

And having spent time in Europe before (though the only repeats for us on this cruise are Florence and Pisa), you really should just settle on a couple of things you want to do in each port. There simply isn't time to do too much with only about half a day.