Trip Report Our 19-Day Mediterranean Adventure – Greece, Turkey and the Search for Free Wifi

Finally, right? It seems like I’ve been waiting forever to start this, but really we’ve only been back three weeks! And in that time I’ve lived in a hotel for two weeks and driven across the country from Washington DC to our new home in...wait for it...Las Vegas! For some reason I have chosen now, surrounded by boxes that need to be unpacked, as the time to start my trip report. Stalling maybe? :D So here it goes!

What: A massive 19 day (13 days on the cruise with 6 more including travel time and extra days in Europe) trip extravaganza. A 12 night Mediterranean cruise with a day in London beforehand and a few days in London and Barcelona afterwards. So yes. This is going to be a long stinking trip report. Oh, and I took 5239 pictures. On my camera! That doesn’t even count the Instagram/iphone photos you’ll see scattered throughout the report.

Great day in the morning.

Why: Because cruises are awesome mostly. But also because I was able to do a last-minute 11 night Med cruise back in April of 2010 with my daughter and some other family and friends, so this was a makeup cruise for my son and husband. It worked nicely as a graduation trip/present. :)

When: June 13-July 1, 2013

I booked this cruise the day it came out, back in January of 2012.

As time got closer we realized it was going to get crazy. My daughter was going to have to miss the last day of school, my son was graduating from high school the Saturday before the trip, we had a house full of family that whole weekend and a big graduation party on Sunday, he then left and was coming home one day early from his senior trip to make it on time, and we were moving across the country to Las Vegas so our household goods were all moved the day before we left. Then the kids were traveling with their youth group to Scotland 3 days after the cruise ended, so it really didn’t make sense for us to come all the way back home and we needed to stay in Europe for three more days before we dropped them off in London Heathrow. Got all that? Yes. Like I said, a little crazy.

Totally worth it though. :)

Who: Us! Here we are a few days before we left! This picture is a celebration of the whole Whiting family – but mostly Chase. The high school graduate. Also appearing in this photo are myself-Tammy, hubby-Stephen, and daughter – Ally.



My parents! My parents were on our last Med cruise, and have been in several of my trip reports. They had quite the trip in store for them. Here they are in Monaco:



My in-laws! My in-laws were also on my last Med cruise, as well as a few other cruises with us, so they may look familiar if you've ever read one of my reports. Here they are in Palo:



My brother-in-law! Scott has appeared in a few trip cruise trip reports as well. He’s the oldest of three boys with my hubby falling in the middle. Here he is in Mykonos:

 

Disneyfalcon

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Day 5: - La Spezia

Yay! Another port day! We debated for a while what to do in La Spezia. We’d been to Pisa before, but Florence was such a long way. About a two hour train ride each way? Also, it was Monday and the museums are closed on Mondays in Florence.

We had more and more people tell us to go to Florence anyway, but 4 hours on a train? Ugh. We knew didn’t want to go that far away from the ship on our own, so if we did Florence we were going to take the Disney transfers in.

We kind of left it up to fate and waited until the night before to check on the transfers. What do you know, they were full! Well Pisa it is then! :)

We knew we had plenty of time to get to Pisa and back, not to mention we wanted to avoid the tender mess in the mornings, so we slept in a little. Stephen went running before we got up. When I got out of bed, I did the first thing I always do on a cruise. Go look out the window and see what’s out there! Today I was quite surprised because when I moved the curtain, I was like 10 feet away from the people on the top deck of the tender.



Ack!

Bedhead! In my pajamas! :eek:

Hey! That’s the guys from Junk in the red shorts in the corner!

Here’s the next one – empty so far!

 

Disneyfalcon

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Stephen brought me a coke every morning after he went running. So sweet! :)

Yes I drink coke in the morning. Don’t judge. :D

I got dressed and went upstairs to take some pictures.

Here’s our room from the elevator. Right next door! I love being so close to an elevator.



Here’s a tender from deck 4:



La Spezia:



Deck 4:



 

Disneyfalcon

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I brought Ally back some bacon and Chase back some cereal so they could sleep a little longer.

When I knocked on my parents door, my Dad said my mom woke up not feeling well so they were going to stay onboard.

Shoot! That’s no fun! She was fine the night before? Insert ominous music here...

And Wuh oh! I was counting on my dad helping me remember how to get to the train station! It’s okay, I think I could find it. :D

We boarded our tender right away today, but unfortunately we sat on it for 30 (!) minutes before we left. We sat up top so we could take pictures. Man it was hot in the sun!









 

Disneyfalcon

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Look! One of these boats is named Peter Pan!



Here are my directions to the train station in case they help someone one day. I meant to take pictures on the way back, but Ally and I ended up running back to the tender for reasons I will get to later.

Here’s the dock:



When you disembark from the tender, you want to take a left and start walking down the street. After you pass a park on the right, take your first right. Then follow that street all the way into town! You pretty much dead end at the train station!

Like I planned it.:D

Crossing the street:

 

Disneyfalcon

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
We had about a 30 minute wait.

The station had a McDonalds in it, and while we weren’t hungry, you know what McDonalds has right?

Free Wi-Fi of course!!

This McDonalds has lots of food options:







We bought some cokes, and okay maybe some French fries, and sat down for a little while.





We walked out to the track about 10 minutes before our train was to arrive. We stood there for a few minutes and noticed a train a lot further down the track. See it way down there? Way past the sign for Pisa?

 

Disneyfalcon

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Stephen took a selfie before giving back my camera:





Brother-in-law:



Chase’s toes riding the train to Pisa:



Around this time I started to realize we didn’t have as much time as we thought. Ally had a spa appointment, courtesy of her grandparents, at 3:30. We left the ship at 11, but after waiting for the tender for 30 minutes, tendering for 20 minutes, walking through town, and then waiting on a train, we were actually going to be cutting it a little close!

Oops!
 

Disneyfalcon

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
The last time we were in Pisa, it took quite a while to figure out which bus to get on. This time I was prepared. We bought our 1.5 Euro bus tickets at the newsstand and crossed the street in front of the train station. This is the train station looking back from the bus stand:



The bus stop you want for the tower is right across the street in front of this hotel:



The bus is Lam Rosa. Several passed and my family questioned me many times, but I knew this was right!

Here’s the train station:





The stops:

 

Disneyfalcon

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
And finally it came.



We got off on the Torre stop. You can see the square from the bus, but the stop is called Torre if you ever try it.

Here we are getting off:



Goodbye bus!



Well there’s a McDonalds here too!



There’s the square!



What’s behind those walls? Tune in tomorrow (hopefully) to find out!

Thanks for reading! :)
 

TheMouseFan

Well-Known Member
I am loving all your pics Tammy!! I also drink Coke in the morning! I don't drink coffee and I need to get my caffeine somehow!:D Can't wait to read more!
 

dnylla

New Member
When I knocked on my parents door, my Dad said my mom woke up not feeling well so they were going to stay onboard.

Shoot! That’s no fun! She was fine the night before? Insert ominous music here...

ominous music... :eek: Now I'm hoping your Mom didn't get quarantined in her cabin... but like you said, in the end she at least has a good story

What’s behind those walls? Tune in tomorrow (hopefully) to find out!

Thanks for reading! :)

Looking forward to the next part of your review (darn these cliffhangers :D)
 

Disneyfalcon

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I am loving all your pics Tammy!! I also drink Coke in the morning! I don't drink coffee and I need to get my caffeine somehow!:D Can't wait to read more!

Thank you, Amy! :)
Yes! Caffeine in the morning! Coffee lovers certainly can't fault us! :)

ominous music... :eek: Now I'm hoping your Mom didn't get quarantined in her cabin... but like you said, in the end she at least has a good story



Looking forward to the next part of your review (darn these cliffhangers :D)

Totally ominous! :)

Thanks, dnylla! Almost done with the next part!
 

sweetpee_1993

Well-Known Member
Wow, Tammy! As a person who had to really buck-up the courage to go it alone in ports you are really impressing the heck outta me! I'm reading this with you knowing where the train stations are, which way to walk, which buses to take, etc., etc. and I'm totally blown away. Completely. I seriously thought, "Tammy IS SuperWoman!" For real! Honest, I'd be so lost. And nervous. But you're rockin' it like its old hat. So, should I ever do a European tour you are cordially invited to come be the hired guide! LOL!

Love the wi-fi finds!

Oh no! Its starting for your mom! Ugh! I want to cry for her!
 

Disneyfalcon

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Wow, Tammy! As a person who had to really buck-up the courage to go it alone in ports you are really impressing the heck outta me! I'm reading this with you knowing where the train stations are, which way to walk, which buses to take, etc., etc. and I'm totally blown away. Completely. I seriously thought, "Tammy IS SuperWoman!" For real! Honest, I'd be so lost. And nervous. But you're rockin' it like its old hat. So, should I ever do a European tour you are cordially invited to come be the hired guide! LOL!

Love the wi-fi finds!

Oh no! Its starting for your mom! Ugh! I want to cry for her!

I'm pretty relaxed in foreign ports. I do my research so I feel pretty prepared. My dad says I was more relaxed than I should have been last time in Tunisia though! Lol. This time it was even easier since we had done some of them before. That helps so much! You can stop worrying about going from point A to B as much, and just be in the moment more. :)

Oh I will totally hire myself out for European tours! Hah!

Poor Mom. :(
 

sweetpee_1993

Well-Known Member
I'm pretty relaxed in foreign ports. I do my research so I feel pretty prepared. My dad says I was more relaxed than I should have been last time in Tunisia though! Lol. This time it was even easier since we had done some of them before. That helps so much! You can stop worrying about going from point A to B as much, and just be in the moment more. :)

Oh I will totally hire myself out for European tours! Hah!

Poor Mom. :(

I can understand. I'm much more relaxed running free on the Western ports now. LOL! I was just totally in awe when you were talking about this train as opposed to that train and it's this bus even tho your family questioned your direction. I was totally sitting here with my jaw dropped thinking, "I want to be able to do that!" I think you're making me a little brave. I'm totally trying to figure out buses, ferries, and/or island-hoppers to get from St. Thomas to Virgin Gorda to see The Baths in November. By boat everyone on Cruise Critic says it's too far in such a short time. My brain says there's gotta be a way. It's about 45 miles. That's not that far! I want to see those Baths. I don't give a flip about St. Thomas. LOL!
 

Kristia

Well-Known Member
All caught up! Beautiful pictures as always! I so want to go to Monaco. I agree with Kelly. I would be so lost and overwhelmed trying to find my way without an excursion in these foreign ports. I think that is why I like the cruises so much. Even though you are going to these foreign places, you have the security of a tour group as well. I wouldn't know the first thing about trying find my way around. And then having to worry about getting lost and not getting back to ship on time! Stressed out just thinking about it!
 

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