Who's in for GREECE and TURKEY, June 15 2003????

[joius24]

I often do excursions on my own in Caribbean cruises but in Europe I most likely I will be using Dis excursions (not abd) for most of the Med, especially those areas that the sights are far from the port. .... two years ago on a Dis excursion tour of portugal our bus got delayed and we returned an hour past the time of the ship departure BUT cause it was a "disney excursion" the ship waited for us.... I think, for the peace of mind I will stick with them.

airfare??? omg, LOL I dont want to look (but I already did....I will keep looking) ...

 

[nzdisneymom]

We went to Florence last year on a DCL excursion that was, by far, the worse tour I've ever taken. The tour guide didn't care where we were in relation to her so one time she turned around and 2/3 of the group were about 2 blocks behind her. Those little radio ear thingies don't work when you're that far so nobody heard anything she said. I was just slightly behind her (and way out of breath) but she said something like, "Oh, where is everybody?" then continued on as if everybody was right behind her. Didn't slow down, didn't repeat anything she was saying. She was absolutely awful. We were so busy trying to catch up that we didn't see anything!!

I hope you reported this to DCL's shore excursion desk - they do take guest feedback seriously in who they use for tours. Our best tour in the Med was the one in Rome - our guide was AMAZING both in knowledge and in group management. Our worst was in Nice - she was not very experienced at all.

Have you all see that movie My Life in Ruins? Hilarious. Definitely should get it on Netflix before this trip next summer.

We're okay with that since we saw Florence last time...did Pisa too..but Jim didn't get to climb the tower. We need to make the ressies to climb in advance (Lori did it for us last time)..I believe it was 4 or 6 months out.

We chose Pisa in 2007 and specifically booked an excursion that included climbing the Leaning Tower. This was the kids' choice. We had an afternoon excursion which was nice since it was the day after Rome (I like that we're going in reverse order for the ports this year over what we did in 2007). When we tried to book, the excursion was full but we kept checking and they added the afternoon one. We were glad to be on a DCL as we were late getting back because someone in our group got separated and we had to wait for our excursion rep to find her and bring her back. We had a DCL rep on the excursion with us.

I checked out Limo in Rome tours for pricing, and their 9 hour Rome tour would be about 600 euro for the 4 of us in a private van, including being picked up at the port and entrance to the Coliseum and Vatican. That could be even cheaper if we found a family to share a van with. The idea of a private tour appeals to me so we can break/stop when the kids need to. I have been to Rome before so it's for them and DH.

I would also like to do a private or premier type tour in Athens - smaller group size appeals to me. From my research so far on this board (LOVE reading others' trip reports!) I feel pretty confident I can organize the other ports activities on my own.

We will be interested in what's offered through DCL for Athens and also for Rome since we want to see more than the highlights of Rome (since we saw them).

While it's still too early to book our flights, I'm checking each week for as far out as possible to see what the rates are going for. Right now, if we were to go in February and come back in March leaving the same day of the week and coming back the same day of the week as what we'll actually do next June / July, we could fly for $981 each round trip. I know the rates will go up as the season changes to April, May and June flights.

I checked the same dates today and the airfare went up to $1,072. Nearly $100 overnight for the same exact flight as I checked yesterday. Just trying to get a feel for the pattern and such.

 

[nzdisneymom]

Adventures by Disney is using the El Palace Hotel for pre-cruise stays.

DCL says they hope to have pre-cruise hotels available for booking in the fall.

I looked at the ABD pre-cruise in Barcelona. In case anyone was interested, it's $1,899 per adult.

 

[burma]

We just signed up for this cruise on the our Fantasy Sailing .. it will be Me my DW an our DD12 and DD 11 ... looking forward to it.

 

[joius24]

We just signed up for this cruise on the our Fantasy Sailing .. it will be Me my DW an our DD12 and DD 11 ... looking forward to it.

Burma and Family!

This is going to be a great trip nothing like Disney Magic!

 

[burma]

Thanks! We are looking forward to it. We are also looking forward to the smaller ship the fantasy and dream are great but huge!

 

[gailg3horses]

Anyone have experience with this website for shore excursions?

shoreexcursions.viator.com

Saw it in a cruise c r i t i c email I got today. Looks interesting. Going to check around for reviews on them.

 

[nzdisneymom]

Thanks! We are looking forward to it. We are also looking forward to the smaller ship the fantasy and dream are great but huge!

Welcome! Be sure to add yourself to the rollcall.

ROLLCALL FORM

SPREADSHEET

 

[Scott H]

Welcome, new folks.

Yes the Classic ships are mo bettah.

Thanks Cindy for the list and Spreadsheet.

2013 might be the year of all Disney Parks in one year, or maybe in 5 months.

ABD sounds pretty $$$$$$.

 

[Lynn G]

We just signed up for this cruise on the our Fantasy Sailing .. it will be Me my DW an our DD12 and DD 11 ... looking forward to it.

 

[MinnieDiva]

We just signed up for this cruise on the our Fantasy Sailing .. it will be Me my DW an our DD12 and DD 11 ... looking forward to it.

I cant compare the ships (yet), but there's sure something "magical" about the classics!

 

[speakupjc]

Welcome!

 

[mindelmouse]

We just signed up for this cruise on the our Fantasy Sailing .. it will be Me my DW an our DD12 and DD 11 ... looking forward to it.

welcome my DD will be 12 as well.

 

[burma]

welcome my DD will be 12 as well.

Great last week on the Fantasy we had the kids set up an email and text chain so they got to know each other before the cruise. It worked out great we did not see the kids all week except meals and excursions. They made new friends for life!

 

[DL1957]

We just signed up for this cruise on the our Fantasy Sailing .. it will be Me my DW an our DD12 and DD 11 ... looking forward to it.

Welcome,,,, we are getting close to the one year mark and then things will get more exciting! Sue

 

[pxlbarrel]

I'm in the process of transferring my DCL reserved reservation over to DU so I can get the additional OBC. LOL It'll pay for some Treasure Ketch purchases or a game or two of Bingo.

 

[mehaul]

welcome my DD will be 12 as well.

My Oldest DD will be 12 too

 

[mehaul]

Right there with you! I was really hoping to "go all out" and do the ABD add-on, but there is no way I can justify $12,000 for my family of four, especially when I know we would miss at least one port day (my kids are dying to see the Leaning Tower and Florence would hold no interest for them).

I checked out Limo in Rome tours for pricing, and their 9 hour Rome tour would be about 600 euro for the 4 of us in a private van, including being picked up at the port and entrance to the Coliseum and Vatican. That could be even cheaper if we found a family to share a van with. The idea of a private tour appeals to me so we can break/stop when the kids need to. I have been to Rome before so it's for them and DH.

I would also like to do a private or premier type tour in Athens - smaller group size appeals to me. From my research so far on this board (LOVE reading others' trip reports!) I feel pretty confident I can organize the other ports activities on my own.

I know ABD is supposed to be very special, but I just don't see how the price tag reflects the activities - there is nothing on sea days other than the animators class, and a lot of "time on your own" in the ports. I can't even come close to talking myself into it being worth it

I think half the fun of the trip is the planning. Just ask minniediva and mindelmouse. Using ABD is the antiseptic way of doing the trip/ journey. I think u have to get your hands a little dirty to enjoy the adventure.

Scott H quotes it best - the only difference between an adventure and an ordeal is attitude.

 

[Scott H]

I think half the fun of the trip is the planning. Just ask minniediva and mindelmouse. Using ABD is the antiseptic way of doing the trip/ journey. I think u have to get your hands a little dirty to enjoy the adventure.

Scott H quotes it best - the only difference between an adventure and an ordeal is attitude.

Getting dirty really is the essence of travel vs tourism,

 

[mehaul]

I get it

I think the draw for me would definetly be the David although the famous ponte vecchio looks cool too (except mom and i would want to buy some expensive jewelry so thats not good). As far as pisa with bad knees, is the climb up the tower doable?

We climbed the tower in 2011. It's a lot taller than u think, but not overly steep.
We trained to Lucca first and then trained to Pisa. I looked at the different scenarios and "train schedule wise" it is much better to do it in that order.

The window to buy Tkts is crazy it's 16-45 days prior to your visit date. 10 spots are available every 20/30 minutes.

I posted the link On my Florence page
www.worldofmouse.com/la-spezia--florence.html

After u click the link, hit the following link for "ticket office" and then hit ticket office on the subsequent page, it's a little "Goofy"

Kids loved it. It was their must do of the trip.