A Magical Mediterranean Cruise, More Pre-Planning

As I have blogged about before, this summer my family is headed on a 7 night Mediterranean cruise onboard Disney Cruise Line.  This weekend we tweaked things a bit, as usual…

We are starting the trip with a non stop flights from NYC. It is an overnight flight, landing in Barcelona at 10am.

We have the Hilton Diagonal Mar Barcelona Hotel reserved for 2 nights before our cruise to help us adjust to the time change and gives us some time to check Barcelona out on our own.  We have private transfers bringing us to the hotel once we land.

The day before our cruise I would like to visit La Sagrada Familia (we still have to pre-purchase tickets) and we will try to visit the Hard Rock in Barcelona after we track down some churros.

The next morning we have private transfers taking us to the Disney Magic. We reserved two, connecting, deluxe oceanview staterooms with Navigator Verandahs. The Navigator’s Verandah is enclosed for greater privacy while still affording a stunning view and sea breezes through a large, open-air porthole above the railing. We will make 4 stops and have 2 sea days during our  cruise vacation.

We board on a Saturday and will absolutely attend the sailaway deck party, our first ever in the Mediterranean after 10 Disney Cruise Line sailings. We adjusted our dining time, to Main Dining, so we have a little time time to refresh for dinner then head to the evening’s show in the Walt Disney Theater.

On Sunday, we booked the VIP Character breakfast onboard followed by the Princess Gathering in the morning. The rest of the day we will enjoy the ship and activities we are so used to and have been missing since our last cruise was such a short one.

On Monday we arrive in Naples. Here it is super important to my daughters to see Pompeii (Mike and I actually visited Pompeii during our honeymoon Princess Cruise Line Holy Land cruise nearly 20 years ago) and for Mike and the kids to see where their relatives come from (Mike’s family is from this area) in Naples. We decided to reserve a private tour guide for the day to cover all of our bases.

On Tuesday we arrive in Rome, well- 90 minutes from Rome. We booked an excurson, via Disney Cruise Line, that will take us to the Colosseum, Trevi Fountain, Pantheon, Navona Square (where we have some free time for pizza and shopping!), ending in St. Peter’s Square for an inside visit of St. Peter’s Basilica. This is a LONG day (11 hours), so we assume we will shower and order room service for dinner tonight as we return to the ship after our dinner seating has begun.

On Wedensday we arrive in Livorno. We chose an excursion (again, via Disney Cruise Line) that takes us to San Rossore Park, where we board a boat and cruise along the Arno River, also known as the Silver River. Along the cruise, we will listen to stories about the rich Italian history of Arno and its surrounding culture. Upon arrival in Pisa Centre a trolley train will be waiting to take us to famous Miracle Square where we will have 60 minutes of free time to enjoy the square—including its great view of the Leaning Tower of Pisa! We tweaked this day a bit as we begun to realize our day in Rome is quite long as is our day in Naples (this excursion is only 5 hours vs the 8 hours in Naples and 11 hours in Rome). Three long days in a row might be a tad much for all of us, especially in the summer heat.

On Thursday, we arrive in Villefranche in France. Here we chose not to schedule an excurson as from the research I have done, this quaint 14th century town looks like a perfect relaxing type of afternoon. I invision Mike and I indulging in some wine and cheese and having our family pictures drawn by artists who pepper the port with their easels. The area is also known for it’s tableclothes and linens in Provencal florals- I will need to measure our diningroom table before we leave in hopes to maybe purchase something pretty to remind us of our day there. That said, there is also beautiful beaches nearby, and if we aren’t too exhausted- that is a very viable option as well for our family. From what I understand, all of the beaches there are free and open to the public.

Friday is a very welcome day at sea! We have Palo brunch reserved for Mike, our oldest daughter Jacqueline, and I  (Jacqueline’s 1st time!), but truth be told- if I can reschedule this for a late seating on Sunday, I would prefer that. I would like to keep Friday open without anything scheduled except for dinner followed by that evening’s show in the Walt Disney Theater. We will have earned some downtime enjoying the ship before heading home the next day.

We head home on Saturday once we arrive back to Barcelona, via Disney Cruise Line transfers to the airport and another non-stop flight back to NYC, landing at 3pm.

It is so exciting to finally say we cruise NEXT MONTH! Hopefully, these plans will stick and everything goes off as smoothly as I hope it will. I am so looking forward to our magical, Mediterrean, family cruise!