Magic in the Mediterranean 2013

[Tigger71]

After a little convincing (okay ALOT) we are booked on a 12nt Disney cruise in July 2013.

But the best part is we are going back to Paris before the cruise! So excited to be looking at disney resorts again (We have previously stayed at Hotel Cheyenne and would like to try a moderate this visit). And it gets even better - our friends are coming too - to both the cruise and Paris. Sad part (there has to be a downside...) eldest DS is not coming! Hey - the silver lining is that I'll save about $6500 by him staying home AND nobody is needed to collect mail and water the gardens!

Must say I'm dancing right now... -/ -/ -/

[churros]

I look forward to hearing about the med cruise -/

[mushu mama]

Bring on the trip report.... looking forward to hearing about your travels. -/

[KeithS]

eldest DS is not coming!

Take me instead!!!

Sounds like a wonderful trip you have planned - can't wait to hear all about it

[Mel]

Sounds amazing!

I stayed at Hotel Cheyenne on my trip to Disneyland Paris ten years ago and REALLY loved it. I can't wait to hear how you like a moderate there

Congrats on booking such a fun trip

[ajp]

That sounds great! A Mediterranean cruise would be sensational.

[Tigger71]

Trip was awesome! Back to reality now...

Stayed at Atlantis in Dubai - fantastic! Waterpark looks HUGE but lazy river is just long, other parts more compact, still great though very hot!
Did the touristy things like the two mega malls (including the ski slope) and Burj Khalifa

Next up was Disneyland Paris. Stayed at Hotel Newport Bay - absolutely would never recommend anyone stay at that hotel. Needs major renovation. Parks were not very crowded and we did everything we planned to do. My DH laid down the law on our first afternoon there - we are just going to the DL park for the parade ONLY and then to dinner and bed! I wasn't happy at the time but it turned out to be a great plan and we had a big exhausting day at the studio park then next day to make up for it. We didn't see a lot of characters out in either park in the five days we were there but the high light was Crush's Coaster which we only got to do once on our final day.

Onto Barcelona next and we did two days of the HOHO buses to tour the city which was interesting with a group of nine getting on/off buses. Then we had a veg out day and wandered the La Rambla and surrounding area. Our apartment was in a very central location and we had a supermarket and Starbucks across the road. Nothing too special about this city for me except that it was the starting point for our very first ever Disney cruise!

12 nights in the Mediterranean on the Disney Magic followed and we had a ball!
Our first stop was Villefranche and we did a DCL tour (way overpriced for what we got to see but we were novices and hindsight is a wonderful thing)

[KeithS]

12 nights in the Mediterranean on the Disney Magic followed and we had a ball!

Isn't that a common theme on this website? Everyone that does a Disney Cruise comes back and says exactly the same thing

You must post more details about the cruise! The med cruise sounds so fantastic (and Beth will be doing it next year, so she will be sure to want details - LOL)

It sucks to have to go back to the real world though doesn't it

[Tigger71]

oops...

In France we did Monacco, Monte Carlo & Eze - interesting as a once only visit but found that DCL herds you around and our tour guide was a little condescending. My youngest DS was bored until we had free time which we spent at Maccas and a game arcade-lol.
Next day was Pisa/Florence. We hired a private driver and he was very knowledgeable and efficient. We had left DS at kid's club and the other 7yr old in our party was denied to climb the Leaning Tower so went up in two groups. I had been looking forward to this since I was 15yo! Florence was beautiful and we enjoyed a back street restaurant which was homely and very tasty too.
By day three we were tired and ready for a sea day. But Rome was the plan! We used the same company as in Pisa/Florence for Rome and we had another great driver/guide. He knew EVERYTHING and was very funny too. We showed up at the Colosseum and the lines were massive - lucky I had prebooked tickets. Still needed to stop at group ticket office to get the kid's free tickets but they just waved us forward and went entered the turnstiles with kids too. It literally took five minutes- so glad I booked online! The place was huge and we had been given the history and restoration facts from our driver (who isn't a registered tour guide so cannot enter places with you). Our driver had a collection of flip books that showed all of the old buildings and monuments as they are now then placed overlays to show what they once looked like - it was incredible to see the Circus Maximus back in it's day! Rome was not built in a day and definitely cannot be explored in one either! Our Vatican visit was way too quick for me and we ran into some people from our suburb there - small world really. We saw only the major highlights and moved on as we wanted to. Lunch was at a small café that was clean, had acceptable toilets and the big one - FREE Wifi! This was especially good for the two teenage girls who had to forgo Facebook for longer than an hour.
Sea days on days 4 & 5 allowed us a few minutes downtime before we crammed in as many character greetings, Bingo & trivia sessions as we could.
Day 6 was in Athens where we had a private driver/guide again. He was a little tight with words early on but opened up and was very friendly after that. We got lots of history and facts from him plus he knew lots of places for great photos and was able to get us into a packed restaurant (death stares from the line of DCL bus group who were waiting) which was just perfect and VERY cheap (had free Wifi so a hit with the girls). Took us to the Acropolis first thing and instructed us to walk quickly to get tickets NOW! good advice and the DCL bus showed up one minute later and the place was then swamped with buses by the time we were leaving. Money on private van was well spent as we avoided crowds and got a local's point of view on housing, economy, lifestyle and his country.

[Tigger71]

Day 7 was Turkey and we couldn't book the DCL tour we wanted as it was full so we booked a private van (thru DCL) that seated 12px for just the 9 of us. It included a driver and a guide and it was a bargain! Our whole group was hot and bothered early on as we had gone from 13 degrees in Perth/Sydney to 46 in Dubai then mid 20s in Paris and Barcelona to the 30s in the Med...not a drop of rain anywhere and we had toured on every port day plus run ourselves stupid trying to fit in everything on the ship, staying up late for shows and dinner plus hanging out in the adult club after that - call us crazy aussies! Our plan was to visit the ruins in Ephesus then go to a waterpark for the afternoon. It worked out well and the waterpark was a big hit for us. The ruins at Ephesus were very interesting and the kids giggled when we saw the rows of marble and sandstone 'toilets' and the chamber were the musicians would sit to entertain the men doing their 'business' - yes that's how we learned about chamber music! I couldn't believe how we were able to walk on and around the actual relics...there were so many people damaging such old historical pieces! Everyone slept in the van on the way back to the ship!
Day 8 was at sea and we purchased into DVC. So this was my absolute fav day ever! My DH and talked about DVC back in 2005 when I was pregnant and I poo pooed him as I though he was crazy to want to stay in deluxe hotels when the values were just fine for us. Just a few years later I hear him comment to the other DH in our travelling party that we should have bought in all those years back...So guess who was surprised when my DH mentions we should go to the presentation (We hadn't actually gone to one previously just chatted to a CM at a stand in WDW)? So off we toddled to the group

[Tigger71]

presentation. We went ahead with a one on one meeting and still didn't sign as we wanted to think about whether we could actually use the points in the three years...yes really we had to think about this one! Their computers were down when we went to sign so they pushed us back to the next sea day...
Day 9 was Mykonos and we had no tour planned at all. So we had a relaxing breakfast and headed into town. We left the two youngest kids at the club and the boys wanted to ride quad bikes (they do this in EVERY country - I have no idea what the attraction is) so the girls went exploring the waterfront townscape. Have you ever tried to explain to someone via text message where you are when every building is white and blue and there isn't any street names? Well the boys decided the little kids HAD to experience quad biking so we set off to find them to hand over the kids' KTTW cards...we had the yummiest cheap pita bread things for lunch at some backstreet doorway place (as we were ignored after being seated at a waterfront restaurant and we left) - good move I think! Purchased a few trinkets and went onto the ship before all aboard time so we could relax by the pool. Great move as we got character photos without waiting whilst they escorted characters passed us on their way to the lobby. Cheering!
Another sea day on day 10. All this food was making us sluggish and we were tempted to play Bingo again after winning our very first game ever on the first sea day. This time we lost! It was fun and we learnt the B11 song! Did a little packing with all our dirty laundry and whilst we were at the laundry all of the power went out on the ship. Eekkkkk! 40 seconds of blackness was a lifetime and I was lucky to have my mobile phone with me for light. My DS and DH were at the pool and didn't notice except the movie screen went blank. My DD was a the beverage station and was upset that it wasn't working. Did anyone watch the Concordia ship show on foxtel last night? So glad that wasn't us!
Day 11 was Malta and our friends had relatives there. So after meeting with them they hired a private van and we were off on a whirlwind Valetta adventure. We had so much fun at Blue Grotto and Mdina. I cannot remember all the places we visited (yes lots had wifi so girls happy) but we ran from place to van to the next place to markets to beaches to everywhere. We also had a drink at Hard Rock Bar on the waterfront wharf! We saw a young girl get knocked over by a bus - she walked away okay but it was scary as it could have been us - they drive on the same side of the road as us and the girl was watching the wrong way!
Another sea day...packing to go home...last minute collection of Shutter's photos and a surprize from my wonderful DH! He had been asking early in the cruise about a tape measure for our suitcases - I had one on the scales but had no idea what he wanted it for. He handed me a huge taped up box and said it was for me.

[Tigger71]

As we had just spent a few $$$ on DVC I couldn't believe he would buy ANYTHING else, so what did he buy? A painting of Sorcerer Mickey!!! The one I casually mentioned was nice on my way to dinner one night. OMGosh I love that man!
We collected our prints and ordered the CD - another $500 when you include the $15 I spent on the portfolio as a gift for my parents. Big profit at Shutters and it's not even as good as Photopass. Our servers for dinner were Melroy and Christine. Melroy took a little to warm up but he was fantastic with us and has been on the Magic for 12 years (no family or wife to tie him down). Christine told us early on that she was finishing with DCL at the end of our cruise. This made me look at her differently as she called in sick on the second night AND on day 10 too. Really? You're leaving, you call in sick for 2/12 nights but you are magically well for the final evening for tip receiving? She was very pleasant and wonderful with the kids but I just wish she never told us she was not renewing her contract. (I understand people get sick but I am sceptic when they are leaving and sick on two occasions in 12 days). The first person who replaced her was a goose! He was from back of house and had no idea but he was as friendly as he was awkward! The second person was a charmer and it was delightful to have him assist Melroy. We enjoyed our unexpected character breakfast and Christine was adept at making napkin hats for us in the Disney character likenesses. It was a hoot! Food service was quick and efficient but the quality was under par. Many instances of cold food, rubbery items and steaks not cooked to order temps made us a little disappointed as we were hyped to expect better. The rotational dining was a big hit and made up for quality. Sadly the photographers usually didn't make it to our table so we only have two photos of the twelve nights. My DS and DH went up on stage several times for various games/shows and came home with prizes and fond memories. DS also won stuff at the Oceaneer's Lab - both clubs were a hit!
We came home straight from Barcelona via Dubai (BTW the club lounge that Emirates/Qantas use has two pool tables - yay) and as we were landing in Perth the Captain announces that Perth was experiencing poor weather. No big deal. Until we actually leave the airport terminal and we realise it's hailing! Soaking wet luggage and being soggy ourselves we return home to our regular mundane life...but we do have DLR booked for 2014 -/ -/ -/

[KeithS]

Awesome trip report - I have lots of comments and questions, but that will have to wait until tomorrow, but thanks for posting - brilliant

[churros]

Excellent report! I definitely have heaps of questions but I'll just start with where did you stay in Barcelona?

We are not travelling with kids -/ but there will be 7 women. Did you hear if anyone chose a better tour in Villefranche?

[Tigger71]

In Barcelona we stayed at Amister Apartments. We booked through hotels.com - beware although the website claims that you don't pay ANYTHING until arrival, the hotel themselves charges your ccard one night as a deposit (refundable in full up until 30 days prior to check in).

I booked two rooms for our party of 9px. A room that slept 6 and a room that slept 4. Our apartment was the smaller one for 4px and we had a king size bed, a sofa bed that turns into a single bed and the trundle underneath it turned into a comfy single that had fold out legs so it matched the height of the sofa (could have made it into one bed but it was for 2 kids so left it apart). The big drawcard for us using an apartment was the washer/dryer inside the apartment. Actually in the kitchen of each one. The dryer function was not working on our friend's washer so the hotel manager (Adriana?) offered to send out their laundry at no cost. My friends did not bother about it and just washed then used the clothes airer and left the windows open all day (they have roller shutters so can let in air/light but are secure). Having a full size fridge and freezer was very handy for freezing water overnight. In fact they supply several bottles of sealed water upon arrival. There is no daily cleaning (although you could add it for extra $$) and there is a one off 40euro cleaning fee that gets paid upon checkout (we paid it when we checked in for simplicity). They hold a $200 bond on ccard too. The location was perfect for us! And the price was about $220/night - much better than the $600 that DCL was asking for their preferred hotels (but one of them did have a casino...)