Is anyone cruising with me on the August 27th 2011 Meditteranean Cruise? Hellooooo?

[TJFrack]

mkmommy -I read about the bathroom breaks on one of the other threads, that Disney doesn't make time for bathroom breaks, you have to find a restroom on your "freetime". I've been reading so much, I can't really pin point where I read it to be honest, but I do know it was on this forum.

gusdmh - Hi Gus! glad to see you will be joining us!

Polyluvr - it's almost thursday! I can't wait to see if you and your family will be our shipmates.

All - I was thinking of working on a website for our cruise. To list all of us that will be sailing, maybe a fish extender if anyone is interested? This is our first cruise, so I am flying by the seat of my pants here. ??? What do you all think?

I think a website is great, but I lack those skills. The cruise we are leaving on in a week has a website which has great details for first time people. www.wonderpanama2011.com

 

[RoniBoBoni]

TJFrack - That is a cool website, haven't seen one like it before. I can do the website, no problem, i've kinda already compiled who will be sailing, just doing alot of research still.

 

[mkmommy]

TJFrack - That is a cool website, haven't seen one like it before. I can do the website, no problem, i've kinda already compiled who will be sailing, just doing alot of research still.

That would be great if you don't mind looking after it, hopefully we will have lots of tips and travel information in one place, it is always hard to go back and find something on some of these threads.

 

[tracyz]

Hi there! I think we're going to book this cruise...myself, DH, and DD8. We've been saving up to go to Italy through Adventures by Disney, but with our current savings schedule we'll be just short of having enough money for summer 2011 so were shooting for 2012. With the new rates for this cruise, though, we could do it this year, which has me so excited! I am just trying to puzzle out shore excursions to figure out what our total price will be and whether we can get the same kind of experience as going there and staying on land with ABD. We've done 3 previous Disney cruises, so we're sold on that aspect! Any thoughts on excursions that look great for a 9-year-old? And anyone planning on flying over a day or two early...what are your plans/thoughts as far as that goes?

I'm going to go back and read through this whole thread shortly, so I apologize if a lot of these questions have already been answered. I just wanted to get into the conversation because I'm excited!

 

[TJFrack]

Hi there! I think we're going to book this cruise...myself, DH, and DD8. We've been saving up to go to Italy through Adventures by Disney, but with our current savings schedule we'll be just short of having enough money for summer 2011 so were shooting for 2012. With the new rates for this cruise, though, we could do it this year, which has me so excited! I am just trying to puzzle out shore excursions to figure out what our total price will be and whether we can get the same kind of experience as going there and staying on land with ABD. We've done 3 previous Disney cruises, so we're sold on that aspect! Any thoughts on excursions that look great for a 9-year-old? And anyone planning on flying over a day or two early...what are your plans/thoughts as far as that goes?

I'm going to go back and read through this whole thread shortly, so I apologize if a lot of these questions have already been answered. I just wanted to get into the conversation because I'm excited!

In doing our own research and planning I have estimated the tours to be about 1,000 per person if you book using the ship. Several people have talked about doing their own tours which is awesome and a lot cheaper. On the panama canal cruise people have each taken a city where either a tour they have done before or know someone who has and arranged it.

For example in Aruba if we would've booked using disney it would've been 89 per person, but someone knew of a tour that was 37.50 per person. Usually the tour company is closed on Monday's but they said if we get 15 people they would run the tour. We got more than that and so basically it cut costs in half.

I haven't been to any of these areas so I can't suggest things to do, but using the disney website we have determined what we want to do so now it is a question of how to accomplish it and how much it will cost. I am basically taking money from our tax return to set aside for the tours that way it will be covered =)

I am excited for this trip in Aug, but first this week our ship sails on Thursday for 15 nights with the Disney Wonder Panama Canal. So I will see you all in a few weeks

 

[tatey99]

We will be joining the Disney Magic on the 27th Aug 2011 for our first cruise ever (& first time on this discussion board!) - no idea what to expect just hope the weather is kind & we meet some nice people along the way! We are from East Yorkshire, UK (Americans think we are part Australian & part martian as we do not sound like the Queen!) and yes it is right what someone said about being fined if we take our children out of school in school time, hence booking this cruise. We have just returned from 2 weeks in Florida & LOVE America & LOVE Disney!! I will be travelling with my husband & then 6 year old daughter on this cruise & look forward to some first time cruising tips & speaking martian with you Americans!!

Kate xxx

 

[imaswede78]

Hi Everyone!

My husband and I took our (then) 6 month old son on the 3 days Bahamas cruise in March and loved it! Disney is the only way to go if you have young kids.

I just booked the August 27th cruise for my husband, mom, aunt, (will be) six month old son and (will be) two year old son. We are big travelers and have always wanted to go to Italy but with two babies our "foot loose and fancy free" days aren't going to happen again for a while.

My brother in law lives in England so we're planning on spending a week with him then heading to Barcelona for the cruise (also hoping the week in England will help the kids adjust to the time difference too).

Hope to meet some of you this summer!!

 

[RoniBoBoni]

Hi tracyz, tatey99, imaswede78
Glad you all could join us (hopefully you too tracyz - keep us posted)

TJFrack - I am trying to plan excursions too - not through Disney as the prices are very high. Lots of time on Trip advisor reading reviews.

Is anyone maybe interested in spliting a few tours? It would be 1/3 of the cost, looking for maybe 2 or 3 people to join. Looking towards a private van that sits 7, we are 4 adults that would take up 4 of those seats. It's still early, didn't know if anyone would consider this? I would have to consult my inlaws to see if they want to share a tour or not... so it's still up in the air, wanted to get a feel of if anyone is interested?

mkmommy - I am currently working on a website, it took me a bit longer than expected to find a host that is compatable with vista, I kept getting errors pm me a link if you come across anything worth sharing. I will include it on the website.

 

[mcpaket]

Hi there
I was on the 5th of May med cruise and am booked to go again on this one. One of the cruisers put together a web site before we went. Might have some useful info:

http://may5med.weebly.com/

T

 

[mkmommy]

Welcome to all the new cruisers I was just looking at pictures from last summer and thinking what a great cruise it was, and I can' t wait to go.

I would be interested in a private tour in Rome, (my must sees are the Coliseum and Sistine Chapel)but it is just myself so don't want to throw numbers off if you prefer to find a group of 3.

OT just saw pictures of the Dream , taking the girls for 4 days in March and they are going to be so excited when I tell them they get to go, they ask almost every day if they can go. I can't wait for that.

 

[RoniBoBoni]

mkmommy - I will keep you in mind

Thanks mcpaket - i'm gonna take a look at the website now

 

[JoyB-UK]

We will be joining the Disney Magic on the 27th Aug 2011 for our first cruise ever (& first time on this discussion board!) - no idea what to expect just hope the weather is kind & we meet some nice people along the way! We are from East Yorkshire, UK (Americans think we are part Australian & part martian as we do not sound like the Queen!) and yes it is right what someone said about being fined if we take our children out of school in school time, hence booking this cruise. We have just returned from 2 weeks in Florida & LOVE America & LOVE Disney!! I will be travelling with my husband & then 6 year old daughter on this cruise & look forward to some first time cruising tips & speaking martian with you Americans!!

Kate xxx

Hi, you won't stand out so much I think there are going to be plenty of British people on this cruise along with many other Europeans and as the crew come from around the world the yorkshire accent will not be that noticeable. On our last DCL cruise we checked in and were sitting in the terminal waiting to board when the older couple next to us asked us where we were from, it turns out it was just 10 miles down the road from them. Its a very small world.
As for the cruise you will love it disney makes a great first cruise, only problem is it spoils you and puts you off trying other cruise lines.

Its great to see so many new people joining it was looking very quiet for a while. Now the new year has passed it feels like the cruise is suddenly very near. (233 days I think)

 

[tatey99]

Hi Joy-B - great to see some fellow yorkshire"men" on this cruise - we will have them all saying eee-by-gum in no time! I was really surprised at how reasonable I got this cruise for, especially with it being in school holidays - any ideas why? Also have you managed to book your flights yet? I booked with Monarch Airlines & for the 3 of us it was £417 return from Manchester - which I thought was a very good price.

RoniBoBoni - thanks for the offer of perhaps joining your party on your trips, but I seem to be very unorganised & haven't even really looked into the destinations yet!! We are staying in Barcelona a few days before we sail so if anyone knows of any decent hotels to stay at, I am all ears! K xx

 

[JoyB-UK]

Hi Joy-B - great to see some fellow yorkshire"men" on this cruise - we will have them all saying eee-by-gum in no time! I was really surprised at how reasonable I got this cruise for, especially with it being in school holidays - any ideas why? Also have you managed to book your flights yet? I booked with Monarch Airlines & for the 3 of us it was £417 return from Manchester - which I thought was a very good price.

I think by the end of august alot of the american schools have reopened so that might have an effect on the price. We booked before the latest offer for the cat 12 but decided to keep our original booking as we wanted to stick with the balcony. I've booked BA flights from heathrow, when I did flight searches the only other thing that came up was easyjet. Having used easyjet before I decided straight off to go with BA. I think it was £498 for the 3 of us (daughter will be 12 so 3 adult fares) which I was happy with. We have Merlin annual passes so will spend the day before at legoland and the night at heathrow. I have booked with Juststyle apartments, which was recommended somewhere on these boards, for 2 nights pre-cruise in Barcelona.http://www.juststyle.es/eng/index.html don't know if the link will work not added one before. Anyway feel free to ask anything. Joy

 

[gusdmh]

Hi Joy-B - great to see some fellow yorkshire"men" on this cruise - we will have them all saying eee-by-gum in no time! I was really surprised at how reasonable I got this cruise for, especially with it being in school holidays - any ideas why? Also have you managed to book your flights yet? I booked with Monarch Airlines & for the 3 of us it was £417 return from Manchester - which I thought was a very good price.

RoniBoBoni - thanks for the offer of perhaps joining your party on your trips, but I seem to be very unorganised & haven't even really looked into the destinations yet!! We are staying in Barcelona a few days before we sail so if anyone knows of any decent hotels to stay at, I am all ears! K xx

Hi, I'll be Spain-trekking starting the 16th, and in Barca on the 25th. I found an outfit called Totally Spain that's helping me with hotels, etc., however, if you look on page 6 of this thread, there is a link that shows the places this person has stayed in during her Disney cruise in May...Great pics also.

 

[sissy_ib]

Hi everyone! I posted a few pages back when I first booked and figured I should pop in! I have been looking at airfare and need to get that taken care of ASAP, but we are not sure about how many extra days we will be staying. I would love to do Paris for a few days before the cruise and Barcelona for a few after, but not sure of the logistics of it all. I'm getting more excited everyday!

 

[RoniBoBoni]

tatey99 - I am currently working on a website with possible hotels near the port or in Las Ramblas area. I've checked out lots of books from the library too, trying to sort through everything

 

[tatey99]

Great - look forward to seeing the website. Am grateful for your help!

 

[sissy_ib]

Is anyone else considering just touring on your own? Even the "on your own" packages are a little pricey, but I guess it would be less worry than getting back and forth on your own. It seems way over priced and it looks like somewhat a waste of time to book with Disney. I visited cruisecritic.com, but all I saw was info on the ports. Some good stuff, but I pretty much know what I want to see in each port. Where would I go to book a tour outside of Disney?

 

[mkmommy]

Is anyone else considering just touring on your own? Even the "on your own" packages are a little pricey, but I guess it would be less worry than getting back and forth on your own. It seems way over priced and it looks like somewhat a waste of time to book with Disney. I visited cruisecritic.com, but all I saw was info on the ports. Some good stuff, but I pretty much know what I want to see in each port. Where would I go to book a tour outside of Disney?

I find Rick Steves books and podcasts to be good for finding out what to see. Once you figure out what cities you want to go to I find here and also cruisecritic under the port threads has a ton of info on how to take the train to each city.

If you are looking for tours once you get city that is hard to find, most people seem to do it on your own, private tour from the port or DCL.

I have been to Europe before and the trains are easy to use