Med Reader Mailbag #2

Med Cruise Mailbag!

Thanks to everyone for all your feedback! It encourages us to stay as current as we can and share our adventures. We’re glad we can take you all with us, albeit thru our writings! Keep those emails coming!

John (Tagrel’s WDWNJ) writes: Deb – we are enjoying your entries so much!!! Cathy (Big Red) and I visited Italy in 1978 and your stories and pictures are bringing back so many wonderful memories! I hope we find time in Harrisburg or Mousefest to sit and talk about your trip. I want to hear more and see all of your pictures.

Deb: I do plan to add many many more photos once back at home. At MagicMeets in Harrisburg, my talk is about the Disney Cruise Line, so I will add a bit on the Med Cruise as well!

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Luciann writes: Thank you for the excellent blog!! We are eagerly awaiting our june 27 10 day but I am wondering if you have any sense of whether we should book excursions through Disney or try to do our own. The one in Rome you did sound great and I signed us up for that. If you have any details of good places to go in the ports on your own (this gets very pricey) or tours that are with other operators that are recommended that would be great.

Deb: We are conservative excursion goers, meaning, we prefer to pay the premium to book thru Disney so that we have an someone from the ship looking after our interests should something go wrong. That said, several of the friends we are sailing with are doing their own excursions.

If you read Glo’s blog from the Amalfi coast, you’ll see they hired a driver and had an awesome time. Likewise, we did Monserrat (Barcelona) on our own with fellow cruiser Gary the Guide . I will have more info from Gary once I get back home.

Rome is probably not doable on your own, but Florence is. You could take the Disney bus to Florence (Florence on your own) and do all the walking to the sites.

My best advice is to research research research! And allow plenty of time for traffic and delays in transportation so that you do not miss the ship leaving the port!

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Leslie: Rick, the kids and I are boarding the Magic on Wednesday, can hardly wait! The excursion info you post, again most informative! And I have enjoyed Glo’s articles as well. One question…..what are the temps like in this region?

Deb: The temps on our trip have been in the low 70s and relatively low humidity. I’ve been wearing very light long pants and long sleeve shirt and most comfortable. Linda has been wearing short sleeves and capris. For those of you coming in July or August, keep in mind it gets VERY hot here. Please check weather.com for 10 day temps to see what you’ll need to pack.

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Susan: My husband is a workaholic and plans on bringing laptop and Skype phone on ship. Do you know if the Skype will work with the internet connection on board?

Deb: Skype does NOT work on the ship. I read this from those on the transatlantic cruise so did not bring my headset. I have not heard of anyone with success on Skype, DCL has blocked it.
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Polly Rosenberger — Embarkation Day Questions – What time does the boarding begin for the Magic? What time do you it is best to return to the ship if you want to tour Barcelona? Shopping on Board Question – Is there a lot of Mediterranean merchandise in the shops?

Deb: Our bus from the Diagonal Mar hotel left about 12:30. Boarding on the ship began around that time. It’s not like Florida’s port terminal where there is room to sit and relax. It’s all business to check in and go.

There is some Med merchandise in the cruise shops, however, these shops are small and therefore merchandise is limited. Lots of open edition pins, one for each port. Some t-shirts and sweatshirts. A few other smaller items.

Complete 2007 Mediterranean Cruise Information –
Navigators, Blogs, Photos, Excursion Reviews, Podcasts and more!

Other Mediterranean Blogs from AllEars®
Glo from Miami
Guest Blogs – including Chris and Beci Mahnken