Friday, July 13, 2012

Faria’s European Vacation


We have been planning a big vacation for a while now and here we are ready to embark!
I have been in full-crazy, excel spreadsheet, organization mode this week.  We are going on our first cruise. 
I found this fantastic website:  www.cruisecritic.com
I was able to “meet” lots of people who will be taking the same cruise as us and we are planning on several private tours with some of them (able to see more for less money with less people then through the cruise ship).  I was able to get great packing tips and more.  It has been a wonderful resource.
I was also able to see a detailed ship itinerary from the same cruise that took place on May 29th.  I was able to take this and make a rough sketch of what we plan to do and times for things.  I’m feeling pretty organized and I also know that even though I have an extremely detailed list for each day (down to the times and everything) that some things won’t happen and that’s okay.  Times we have to meet people for tours, times for dinner  - those are set in stone.  But whether Bella and I attend a “napkin folding class” or I make it to “Pilates class” are a little more flexible.
Here’s the basic itinerary:


VACATION ITINERARY

Date
City
Activity
Fri July 13th
Dubai, UAE
Hotel Overnight
Sat July 14th
Dubai, UAE
Fly out on Emirates at 7:00 a.m.
Sun July 15th
Barcelona, Spain
Barcelona Tours –                                    ½ Day Tour, Gothic Quarter/ Lunch
Mon July 16th
Barcelona, Spain
Board Cruise & Spend Day on Ship
Tue July 17th
Cannes (Monte Carlo), France
On our Own
Wed July 18th
Livorno (Florence /Pisa), Italy
Rome in Limo Tour with Susan/Ed –Climb Tower of Pisa, Day in Florence
Thu July 19th
Rome (Civitavecchia), Italy
Rome in Limo Tour –
Tour Rome, Tour of Vatican
Fri July 20th
Cruising
Spend Day on Ship
Sat July 21st
Cruising
Spend Day on Ship
Sun July 22nd
Athens (Piraeus), Greece
Royal Caribbean Tour – Tour Athens & Acropolis Museum
Mon July 23rd
Kusadasi (Ephesus), Turkey
Private Tour with Group – Ephesus, Terrace Houses and more
Tue July 24th
Santorini, Greece
Ocean Wave Tour with Group –           Fira, Oia and more
Wed July 25th
Cruising
Spend Day on Ship
Thu July 26th
Naples (Salerno), Italy
Rome in Limo Tour with Victor/Gigi – Tour Pompeii
Fri July 27th
Cruising
Spend Day on Ship
Sat July 28th
Barcelona, Spain
Disembark Ship and Fly out at 4:00 p.m.
Sun July 29th
Dubai, UAE
Hotel Overnight

Here is a detailed idea of a day for us: (I don’t think it transfers from my Excel so well to the blog but you get the idea).  I did a spreadsheet for every day with all of our information on it and I attached printed off tickets or email confirmation for everything that I have in a travel packet.

7/18/2012
                     
                     
Date Port Shore Excursion? Details Co. Name Contact Info. People with Tour Cost Dep/
Pur. Tickets
Balance Due  Misc. 
7/18/2012 Livorno (Pisa/Florence) Yes Climb Leaning Tower of Pisa, Tour City of Florence, Church of Santa Croce, the Duomo and Baptistery, Academia (Statue of David), Ponte Vecchio, Pitti Palace, Piazza of Michaelangelo Rome in Limo info@romeinlimo.com
011 (39) 328 652 6705
Jany
Susan, Ed, Sarah 343.75 Euros +
57 Euros Academia Tickets
$73.88 $434.74  Bought Academia Tickets - Family of 3 joining us 
All 7:00 a.m. Deck 11 Windjammer Café Breakfast
All 7:30 a.m. Deck 4   Lobby Bar near Guest Relations Meet Susan, Ed & Daughter
All 8:00 a.m. Outside Ship Meet Driver with sign saying "FARIA" on it
Bring SEAPASS CARD, PASSPORT
Tour 9:00 a.m. Pisa Climb Leaning Tower of Pisa
Tour 12:30 p.m. Academia Museum Tour
Tour 1:30 p.m. Lunch?
2 p.m. - 4 p.m. Florence Touring around Florence?
All 5:00 p.m. All Aboard Return to Ship
All 6:30 p.m. Deck 4,5 Reflections Dining Room Dinner - Dress is Casual
All 7:30 p.m. Deck 5, 6 Tropical Theater "Stage to Screen"
Include Money for Tour:  350 Euros 
Include Money for Lunch:  50 Euros
Include Money for Spending:  200 Euros
600 EUROS for Livorno
About $750
    After I had the entire two weeks completely spreadsheeted out – I had to make a packing list.  We are able to do laundry on the 20th (about halfway through) on the cruise so I figured on outfits that would work for two days – one day prior to the 20th and one day after and made labels for plastic bags that I could do for all the kids.  Each ziploc bag has a pair of underwear, socks, accessories (in Bella’s case) and their outfit.  This will make it easy for getting dressed each day.
It was also recommended to pack two sets of bathing suits so you never have to put on a wet bathing suit and make sure one set is in your carry-on bag since it takes a while for stuff to get to your room.  I packed all three kids suits in two one bag for each set.  I also did something similar for me but brought a long a few extra dresses for evenings.  I’m hoping all this planning proves worth it!

Here’s Bella’s labels:


Isabella
7/13 - Dubai Outfit
7/22 – Athens
Capris Top Outfit

Isabella
7/14 – Plane Outfit
7/28 – Plane Outfit
Comfy Pink Outfit

Bathing Suit Set 1
Isabella
7/15 – Barcelona
7/26 – Naples
Skirt & Top Outfit

Isabella
7/16 – Cruising
7/21 – Cruising
Shorts Jumper

Isabella
7/17 – Cannes
7/25 – Cruising
Brown Sundress Outfit
Isabella
7/18 – Pisa/Florence
7/23 – Turkey
Leggings & Top Outfit

Isabella
7/19 – Rome
7/24 – Santorini
Red/Navy Dress Outfit

Isabella
7/20 – Cruising
7/27 – Cruising
Shorts Jumper


Here’s our ship:

1 comment:

jojet said...

This is similar to the cruise I am saving to go in 2013. It will be Disney Cruise Line, the ship will be coming from Spain.