Viva Italia

[1whooper]

To all those going in September have a great trip and please post reports when you return. My Dh and I will not be going till 2008. Bill and Chris I wish I was on your trip but I did get to go to Ireland and that was wonderful.

 

[kmcrosby]

We did Viva Italia in June 2007 and extended our stay for five days after Venice. We made our way back to Rome by train. We made our own reservations one day in advance when we arrived in each new city and had no problems at all. We spent 1-1/2 days in Milan and Siena, and then 2 days in Rome. The last day was a day trip to Pompei. We stayed at a hotel in Rome near the Termini Station recommended by Rick Steves. It was OK, but ABD spoils you. You really learn to appreciate having someone take care of your luggage too. The hotel arranged a taxi for the 3 of us to the airport. The price is a set fee, which I believe was only 40 euro. By the end of our trip we thought it was a fair price not to hassle with luggage on the train to the airport. The taxi ride to airport from the Termini Station takes about 45 min. to an hour depending upon traffic. We had an early morning flight, so traffic was not bad.

 

[BillandChris]

Just returned from the trip. It was fantastic and well worth it. We are already talking about which ABD trip we should take next. Besides the memories, pictures, and souvenirs, we have acquired 29 new friends which we hope to stay in contact with and maybe travel together on future trips.

 

[1whooper]

Bill and Chris,
I just booked the adults viva italia trip for Sept. 11-19, 2008. My husband and I will be going. We did the Ireland trip this year and it was fantastic. My husband wrote a trip report for that. If you have any pointers for me, I would appreciate it.
Debbie(1whooper)

 

[BillandChris]

The trip will be fantastic. The trip is very casual. Chris brought a couple of skirts/ dresses, but never did wear them. Perhaps because of the vagaries of the weather, Venice was significantly cooler than Rome or Tuscany, providing ample reason (as if we needed any) to buy Italia sweatshirts. The Disney welcome package that we got when we checked in had contents for both rain and heat, but we only needed the rain gear. The temperature was in the upper 70's by day and upper 50's by night, except in Venice, where it probably didn't get above 60. We will eventually post more about our trip, but we are still recovering from jet lag and time zone changes. The trip is described in other posting threads, and is a good representation of the events. And the Disney guides were fantastic. As we were taking the train to Venice, they found out that the storm in Venice that was just ending resulted in several inches of rain that temporarily knocked out communications and the stoppage of all motorcraft and gondolas. So they had to scramble to reschedule the activities we had for the afternoon to the following day, and provided us expert guidance on what to do with our free time that afternoon, switching it from the following day. It came off as smoothly as if it was all planned.

 

[1whooper]

Thank you for taking the time to tell us about your trip especially so soon upon your return. When you are rested , we would love to hear more about the trip. What airline did you use and did you come in early for your trip?
Thank you ,
Debbie(1whooper)

 

[eva]

Bill and Chris,
I just booked the adults viva italia trip for Sept. 11-19, 2008. My husband and I will be going. We did the Ireland trip this year and it was fantastic. My husband wrote a trip report for that. If you have any pointers for me, I would appreciate it.
Debbie(1whooper)

We haven't booked yet, but are hoping to soon for those dates. Did they give you any idea how many people have booked so far? I'm having a tough time trying to decide what to do, this or London and Paris?

 

[1whooper]

Eva,
I have no idea how many people are on the adults trip for Sept..11. My DH and I will be there!!

 

[kverdon]

If anyone is planning on doing this trip BOOK IT NOW!!!! I called yesterday and the ONLY advance bookings avail were possibly:

Aug24, Aug28,Sept 4, Sept 14, Sept 25.

ALL other advance bookings are sold out. Unfortunately my wife's nephew may start college on Aug 20th so these dates are out. The trips are prohibitably expensive without the advance booking discount. To go in May (standard) for the 3 of us would be $11,000! We can take a 12 day Princess cruise for almost 1/2 that! Granted we'd still have to pay for our shore excursions but that is WAY too much for 7 days! My DW was really looking forward to doing an adventrue by Disney but could not believe they were already booked up a year out!

Kevin

 

[eva]

If anyone is planning on doing this trip BOOK IT NOW!!!! I called yesterday and the ONLY advance bookings avail were possibly:

Aug24, Aug28,Sept 4, Sept 14, Sept 25.

ALL other advance bookings are sold out. Unfortunately my wife's nephew may start college on Aug 20th so these dates are out. The trips are prohibitably expensive without the advance booking discount. To go in May (standard) for the 3 of us would be $11,000! We can take a 12 day Princess cruise for almost 1/2 that! Granted we'd still have to pay for our shore excursions but that is WAY too much for 7 days! My DW was really looking forward to doing an adventrue by Disney but could not believe they were already booked up a year out!

Kevin

You are so right! I called on Saturday and September 11th had no early bookings left. We booked for the 14th. We are empty-nesters and hoping to get the adult only trip. But we just couldn't justify the extra 48 points per person. That is almost an entire 1-week stay at WDW in a 1-bedroom. Plus, we had to save the points for a trip with the grandkids in 2009. But, I'm sure it will be great! I don't mind having children along as long as they are well behaved and I don't have to pay for them! As a matter of fact, they can be very entertaining!

 

[Camicar]

If anyone is planning on doing this trip BOOK IT NOW!!!! I called yesterday and the ONLY advance bookings avail were possibly:

Oh crap. I am screwed.