Cruising the Med with Mickey and the Crew **Updated 11/25** COMPLETE About This Page:

[DrDolphin]

Disney Cruise Line – Ship Magic
Western Mediterranean 10-nightCruise
When – July 16 – 29
Who – Me – DrDolphin – 3rd DCL trip; First on the Magic
DM – 2nd Disney Cruise (veteran of NCL & Princess Cruises)
DD – 2nd Disney Cruise (veteran of NCL & Princess Cruises)
DN – 2nd Disney Cruise - 8 year old
What – Cat 4 Cabin - #8250

History –
This trip has been a long time in coming!! Or at least it seems that way. And now – with only 2 weeks to go… it is frighteningly close to being here and I am NOT READY!! I keep finding more and more things I need to do, need to pack, phone calls to make, etc. When I heard Disney was taking the Magic to Europe – I was ECSTATIC!! I was raised for about 7 years in Europe, while dad was stationed there with the Army. And while my mom and dad took us lots of places – we never made it to Spain, Italy or the south of France. I have wanted to return to Europe for years. When I heard Disney was taking the Magic to the Med – I called my mom and asked her what she thought about us taking this cruise. Very soon my dad was added – and then - after conferring with my sister – my 8 year old niece Jolene was added to the list of travelers. We booked with our TA and waited for dates for airfare, etc to open. After dealing with a few challenges in the travel arrangement department – we are finally all set to go!!

Itinerary –
We have a strange mix. I am starting in Jacksonville, FL; DM and DD in Albuquerque, NM and DN in Portland, OR

DN will be making her first solo plane ride from Portland to ABQ on 14 July. DM, DD and DN will be flying from ABQ to Philadelphia on 16 July. I will be flying from JAX to PHL – I scored first class tickets on Delta using Frequent Flier miles . I arrive in PHL about 340pm; and they arrive 345pm. We are all supposed to arrive in the same terminal. I am planning on trying to get my baggage checked all the way through to Barcelona so I don’t have to mess with it in PHL (I just HOPE they show up in BCN!!). My parents and DN are not so lucky. They are flying Southwest and will have to claim all of their bags in PHL and recheck them in when we get to the new terminal.

After we all arrive in PHL and we get their bags we need to move to the international terminal and check their bags with British Airways. We have reserved seats in World Traveler Plus Class – which is nicer than the original plan for coach on a US carrier. These seats remind me of US carrier first class seats (about $1,500 each ). I wish we could have afforded first class (or even business class - but this will have to do).

We plan to leave our homes on Monday 16 July and arrive in Heathrow on the morning of the 17th. We will change planes in Heathrow and then fly to Barcelona arriving about 1pm. After claiming bags, and getting a taxi (or 2 as needed with baggage) – we will head to the new Hilton Diagonal Mar, Hilton’s new five star hotel in Barcelona on the beach. I have reserved 2 rooms for one night for free using 80,000 Hilton Hhonors points (Hilton’s reward program). The Diagonal Mar also happens to be one of Disney’s pre/post cruise hotels. Pure luck. I hadn’t planned it that way. This means we can check our bags directly from the hotel to the ship and have transfers from the hotel to the ship.

Hilton Diagonal Mar Barcelona hotel - Home Page

We plan to take it easy once we arrive – get some dinner and just try to relax. Jolene will be glad to know they have a pool, in addition to the beach.

The next day – we get up and head to the ship!!! YEAH!! We plan to be there as early as we can that morning to check in and board. We need to get some lunch – and then we leave on a bus tour of Barcelona from 1245 – 515pm. Looks like we may miss the safety drill.

We have a very diverse list of excursions – and most of them are not together – reflecting our different goals for this cruise.

Excursions -

Day 1 - Barcelona, Spain - Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Panoramic Drive Through Barcelona - Afternoon
All family members

Day 2 - At Sea - Thursday, July 19, 2007
No excursions

Day 3 - Palermo, Sicily - Friday, July 20, 2007
A Day on the Farm - All Day w/lunch
Mom and Jolene

Erice and Segesta - All day with lunch
Terri

Scenic Palermo and Marionettes Museum - Half Day
Dad

Day 4 - Naples, Italy (Pompeii) - Saturday, July 21, 2007
Pompeii, Sorrento and Capri For Families - All Day w/lunch
Mom and Jolene

Mt. Vesuvius Hike and Pompeii - All Day w/lunch
Terri

Leisurely Sorrento - Half Day
Dad

Day 5 - Olbia, Sardinia - Sunday, July 22, 2007
Train to Gallura - All Day w/lunch
Mom, Dad & Jolene

Kayaking in Sardina
Half Day with Snack - Terri

Day 6 - Civitavecchia, Italy (Rome) - Monday, July 23, 2007
Jumping Back Into Eternal Rome- All Day w/lunch
Dad

Historic Rome & the Underground Mysteries of St. Clemente Basilica - All Day w/lunch
Terri

Exclusive VIP Visit of the Vatican & Highlights of Rome - All Day w/lunch
Mom and Jolene

Day 7 - La Spezia, Italy (Florence, Pisa) - Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Wine Tasting and Sarzana - Half Day
Dad

Florence and Michelangelo - All Day w/lunch
Mom, Jolene, Terri

Day 8 - Marseille, France - Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Marseille and the Historic Santons Figurines - Half Day
Whole Family

Day 9 - Villefranche, France (Monte Carlo, Cannes, Nice) - Thursday, July 26, 2007
Cannes, Grasse and St. Paul - All day w/lunch
Mom, Jolene, Terri

Scenic French Riviera - Half Day
Dad

Day 10 - At Sea - Friday, July 27, 2007
No excursions

We do have ONE Palo dinner booked - on the evening we are in Marseilles -- I hope we can get a high tea and bunch reservation while we are on board.

Now to finish shopping, packing and getting ready!!! I am getting SO excited!!

[disneydani]

Wow Terri, what fabulous plans you and your family have!
I know you will get it all together over the next two weeks.
Can't wait to hear all about the cruise and your experiences.

danielle

[Colexis Mom]

Great start and plans Terri I must admit I am so jealous

[SHEANA1226]

How exciting Terri! It is almost here!

[JaimeandChad]

Wow how exciting! Have fun and here are for travel!

[sueh818]

I've been looking forward to reading about this!

Hiking at Mt. Vesuvius and Pomeii!?!! I'm so excited for you!!! That's exactly what I would want to do

[chezp]

Oh my goodness Terri, I can't believe how quickly this is finally coming around for you guys! I have been trying to speed up my updates for my trip report, so I'm fair way through before anyone else heads off, so that you've got some idea of what to expect.

Now that we've done the cruise, I can give you some feedback on some of the excursions you guys are doing. I don't think we actually picked any that were the same, but I do know others who went on the same ones as you.

All I'll say about the Sorrento, Capri and Pompeii tour for families is that I just really hope and pray you guys have a calm day at sea that day, after the problems we had!

I heard good things about the Panaromic Drive Through Barcelona, it was described as a very good way to see most of what the city has to offer in a quick tour.

People who went on the Mount Vesuvius hike and Pompeii loved it, but they did find it very cold and windy at the top of Mount Vesuvius, so even if it starts out as a nice day, their advice was to take sweatshirts, just to be on the safe side. They thought it was a tougher hike than they expected from the information they were given beforehand, but they said the trek was well worth it for the views up there.

Kayaking in Sardinia sounds amazing by the way - I never even spotted that excursion. I can't wait to hear all about that one!

Everyone had more or less the same feedback about the Rome trips - great and they crammed in as much as they possibly could, but there was no way that you could see everything in Rome in one day. Interestingly, the VIP tour got the most rave reviews, so I think your mum and Jolene are in for a treat!

Again, I heard nothing but positive comments about the Florence and Michaelangelo tour and hopefully you'll have a quieter time than we did, as we were in the city on an Italian national holiday and my goodness, the place was mobbed!

We loved the Marseilles city tour we look - there was a lot more there than we expected.

I see you've got your Palo dinner booked for the night you're in Marseilles. Do not miss the show that night When Mickey Dreams if you like Cirque du Soleil - it really is amazing and uses the Tapestry of Dreams music from Epcot. I was moved to tears by it and it is the best Disney show I've ever seen. They told us afterwards that they don't know if they'll perform it again outside of this summer, as the performers all come from Marseilles.

Hope that helps!

[iamgrumpy]

Terri Great start!

I am sure you and your mom, dad and niece will have a magical time!

I can't wait to hear all about it!

[mattnkatsmum]

Shame you're not in London for longer. We could have organised a meet!

Fabulous plans, Terri. Sounds like an amazing trip.

[lauren-roxy]

Great start Terri!! Your plans sound really wonderful!!

[POOH]

Sounds like you're going to have a great time. Can't wait to hear about your excursions, especially the hiking and kayaking.

[Minnie Lor]

Oh cool! You started your Pre-TR. You've been busy. I'm impressed. Finished off two TR's, started a new one, all the while trying to get ready for trip and working.

The itinerary sounds pretty good. I'll bet you'll crash each night after all of that touring. The hotel in Barcelona looks beautiful and on getting it for free. This is your second cruise with Miss Jolene, I think. Can't wait to see your pictures and how much she's grown.

Hope you a wonderful trip and only "wavelets" (new word from Sue's TR) to contend with!

[DyanKJ130]

Great start, Terri! Your plans look like a lot of fun! Can't wait to read all about it.

[lauriep]

It all sounds very exciting! With all the different tours your group is doing it'll be fun to share reviews when you join up for dinner. Hope you have calmer seas than the folks on the first cruise.

[Disney_Scarlett]

Terri, I know you're going to have a fabulous time, and I can't wait to read all about it! Your plans sound fantastic! Safe and happy travels to you and your family!


P.S. I am up for adoption in the niece/nephew catagory. That is all.