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Thanks hoffse!

jtmh2012jtmh2012 mod
Moderator Eighth Anniversary 2500 Comments 500 Love Its
edited June 2016 in Money Matters

Logged in last night to get our Roman Colosseum tickets,  Had lost track of the dates, but just happened to be the first date that tickets were available for September.  So we now have our admission tickets and the third ring/underground tour tickets.

Now I just have to figure out a way to bring baby supplies for while we're there since they don't allow bags, etc....

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Re: Thanks hoffse!

  • hoffsehoffse member
    Sixth Anniversary 2500 Comments 500 Love Its Name Dropper
    No problem!  Tickets sell out really fast.

    I've read that bags are OK as long as they aren't the huge ones that can block other people.  We'll be there next week, so I'll try to remember to let you know what it's like.  

    Is this baby's first transatlantic?  Let me know how that goes.  My H used to go to Belgium every other year as a kid to visit family, back when Belgium was on the Franc (and really cheap).  There was a year when my inlaws did a transatlantic with a 5 year old, 3 year old, and infant.  This was before the days of in-flight entertainment.  They are kind of my heroes for doing it, but I also secretly think they were a little crazy, lol.

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  • jtmh2012jtmh2012 mod
    Moderator Eighth Anniversary 2500 Comments 500 Love Its
    edited June 2016
    hoffse said:
    No problem!  Tickets sell out really fast.

    I've read that bags are OK as long as they aren't the huge ones that can block other people.  We'll be there next week, so I'll try to remember to let you know what it's like.

    Seems to be a lot of conflicting info.  The website says to put all your stuff into your backpack (we actually use a backpack as a diaper bag, so it'd be nice if we could just bring it).  However, I've seen mentions elsewhere that no bags of any type are being allowed.  I want to say I also saw that in one of their emails or on the website somewhere, but I couldn't find it when I wanted to reference it.


    hoffse said:
    Is this baby's first transatlantic?  Let me know how that goes.  My H used to go to Belgium every other year as a kid to visit family, back when Belgium was on the Franc (and really cheap).  There was a year when my inlaws did a transatlantic with a 5 year old, 3 year old, and infant.  This was before the days of in-flight entertainment.  They are kind of my heroes for doing it, but I also secretly think they were a little crazy, lol.

    Yeah, this will be the first "long flight" for him.  He's been back and forth to Miami (about 2hrs direct) and we've been out to LA and back for a cruise (about 6 hrs with a connection).  So far he's been good about it.

    I'm hoping the way over will be somewhat easy as it'll be an overnight flight for us, so just hoping he'll sleep.

    Either way, we'll need to figure something out.  My wife's parents are in Bangkok, Thailand which is 24-26 hours in a plane.  The only good thing is he'll be closer to 3 then.  Wondering if I can book a separate plane from my wife and the kid. ;)

    Daisypath Anniversary tickers
  • jtmh2012 said:
    hoffse said:
    No problem!  Tickets sell out really fast.

    I've read that bags are OK as long as they aren't the huge ones that can block other people.  We'll be there next week, so I'll try to remember to let you know what it's like.

    Seems to be a lot of conflicting info.  The website says to put all your stuff into your backpack (we actually use a backpack as a diaper bag, so it'd be nice if we could just bring it).  However, I've seen mentions elsewhere that no bags of any type are being allowed.  I want to say I also saw that in one of their emails or on the website somewhere, but I couldn't find it when I wanted to reference it.


    hoffse said:
    Is this baby's first transatlantic?  Let me know how that goes.  My H used to go to Belgium every other year as a kid to visit family, back when Belgium was on the Franc (and really cheap).  There was a year when my inlaws did a transatlantic with a 5 year old, 3 year old, and infant.  This was before the days of in-flight entertainment.  They are kind of my heroes for doing it, but I also secretly think they were a little crazy, lol.

    Yeah, this will be the first "long flight" for him.  He's been back and forth to Miami (about 2hrs direct) and we've been out to LA and back for a cruise (about 6 hrs with a connection).  So far he's been good about it.

    I'm hoping the way over will be somewhat easy as it'll be an overnight flight for us, so just hoping he'll sleep.

    Either way, we'll need to figure something out.  My wife's parents are in Bangkok, Thailand which is 24-26 hours in a plane.  The only good thing is he'll be closer to 3 then.  Wondering if I can book a separate plane from my wife and the kid. ;)



    You are so brave to take your little one.  I want to hear how it goes.  We have 5 kids and we want to take them there too.
    We are taking them to the Banff this year so we see how that goes.   
  • hoffsehoffse member
    Sixth Anniversary 2500 Comments 500 Love Its Name Dropper
    We are going to bring small bags with us.  They don't have a bag check room, and we need SOMETHING to carry water and cameras.  I've been reading reviews on TripAdvisor, and there haven't been any recent reports of people getting turned away for bringing bags.  I think people would be mentioning it if that was a frequent problem.

    Best of luck with the baby!  I've been on several transatlantics with kids and rarely hear a peep from them.  I'm actually a little jealous that they sleep so well on planes, lol
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  • hoffse said:
    We are going to bring small bags with us.  They don't have a bag check room, and we need SOMETHING to carry water and cameras.  I've been reading reviews on TripAdvisor, and there haven't been any recent reports of people getting turned away for bringing bags.  I think people would be mentioning it if that was a frequent problem.

    Best of luck with the baby!  I've been on several transatlantics with kids and rarely hear a peep from them.  I'm actually a little jealous that they sleep so well on planes, lol
    Thanks.  So far he's been good on planes.  So I'm crossing my fingers.

    And I think you and I probably ran into the same TripAdvisor thread.  I haven't seen anything recent either.  So we'll plan to just take something small and see what happens.
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  • moneymom said:

    You are so brave to take your little one.  I want to hear how it goes.  We have 5 kids and we want to take them there too.
    We are taking them to the Banff this year so we see how that goes.   
    I'll definitely come back and report.  We still need to figure out our excursions for all the ports.
    Daisypath Anniversary tickers
  • jtmh2012 said:
    moneymom said:

    You are so brave to take your little one.  I want to hear how it goes.  We have 5 kids and we want to take them there too.
    We are taking them to the Banff this year so we see how that goes.   
    I'll definitely come back and report.  We still need to figure out our excursions for all the ports.

    Where are you going the whole time?
    How exciting.  I can't wait to hear about it.
  • moneymom said:
    jtmh2012 said:
    moneymom said:

    You are so brave to take your little one.  I want to hear how it goes.  We have 5 kids and we want to take them there too.
    We are taking them to the Banff this year so we see how that goes.   
    I'll definitely come back and report.  We still need to figure out our excursions for all the ports.

    Where are you going the whole time?
    How exciting.  I can't wait to hear about it.
    • Rome (Civitavecchia), Italy
    • Florence/Pisa (Livorno), Italy
    • Cannes, France
    • Provence (Marseille), France
    • Barcelona, Spain
    • Naples, Italy
    Daisypath Anniversary tickers
  • hoffsehoffse member
    Sixth Anniversary 2500 Comments 500 Love Its Name Dropper
    edited June 2016
    @jtmh I know you didn't ask about excursions, but I can't help myself after seeing your itinerary :)

    For Naples, you almost have to do Pompeii if you have never been there.  It's amazing.  Beats the pants off the Colosseum IMO, but that's just me.  I'm a ruins nut though.  Can't get enough of them.

    For Provence/Marseille... personally, I would go to Arles if you have the option.  It's about 20-30 minutes from Marseille by train and beautiful.  The entire town is a UNESCO world heritage site, but it's not touristy at all.  Van Gogh lived there.  H and I only had a few hours here, and we really regretted it.  If we ever go back to Provence, we will revisit Arles and spend more time there.

    H and I also really liked Avignon, but it's farther away.  It still has the Papal palace.

    We also really like Les Baux de Provence - it's kind of touristy, but it's basically a perched village with a really cool old castle.  You kind of feel on top of the world there - amazing views.

    Marseille itself is pretty gritty.  It's one of those places people really love or really hate.  If you like some grit (I do), it's awesome.  But it really doesn't have the small-village, rustic, cobblestone thing going on.  It's the second largest city in France, behind Paris.


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  • jtmh2012 said:
    moneymom said:
    jtmh2012 said:
    moneymom said:

    You are so brave to take your little one.  I want to hear how it goes.  We have 5 kids and we want to take them there too.
    We are taking them to the Banff this year so we see how that goes.   
    I'll definitely come back and report.  We still need to figure out our excursions for all the ports.

    Where are you going the whole time?
    How exciting.  I can't wait to hear about it.
    • Rome (Civitavecchia), Italy
    • Florence/Pisa (Livorno), Italy
    • Cannes, France
    • Provence (Marseille), France
    • Barcelona, Spain
    • Naples, Italy

    Sounds great! Can't wait for the full report. I think it's awesome you're bringing your LO. I really want to believe that travel with the little guys is possible!
  • Which cruise line are you on?
    HeartlandHustle | Personal Finance and Betterment Blog  
  • jtmh2012 said:
    moneymom said:
    jtmh2012 said:
    moneymom said:

    You are so brave to take your little one.  I want to hear how it goes.  We have 5 kids and we want to take them there too.
    We are taking them to the Banff this year so we see how that goes.   
    I'll definitely come back and report.  We still need to figure out our excursions for all the ports.

    Where are you going the whole time?
    How exciting.  I can't wait to hear about it.
    • Rome (Civitavecchia), Italy
    • Florence/Pisa (Livorno), Italy
    • Cannes, France
    • Provence (Marseille), France
    • Barcelona, Spain
    • Naples, Italy


    Amazing!
    What cruise line are you going on?
  • moneymom said:
    Amazing!
    What cruise line are you going on?
    Norwegian Cruise Line on the Epic.
    Daisypath Anniversary tickers
  • Sounds great! Can't wait for the full report. I think it's awesome you're bringing your LO. I really want to believe that travel with the little guys is possible!
    Well, so far he's well behaved when traveling.  We'll see how this one works out.  I'm hoping good because the wife wants to go home next year and that's a much longer flight.
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  • jtmh2012jtmh2012 mod
    Moderator Eighth Anniversary 2500 Comments 500 Love Its
    edited June 2016
    hoffse said:
    @jtmh I know you didn't ask about excursions, but I can't help myself after seeing your itinerary :)

    All opinions welcome. :)  We could actually use suggestions.


    hoffse said:

    For Naples, you almost have to do Pompeii if you have never been there.  It's amazing.  Beats the pants off the Colosseum IMO, but that's just me.  I'm a ruins nut though.  Can't get enough of them.

    Oh definitely Pompeii!  The only bad thing is I have distant relatives on the Isle of Capri which is also the Naples port stop.  Need to figure out if it's possible to do both?  Although, I think I'd choose Pompeii if I had to choose between the two.


    hoffse said:

    For Provence/Marseille... personally, I would go to Arles if you have the option.  It's about 20-30 minutes from Marseille by train and beautiful.  The entire town is a UNESCO world heritage site, but it's not touristy at all.  Van Gogh lived there.  H and I only had a few hours here, and we really regretted it.  If we ever go back to Provence, we will revisit Arles and spend more time there.

    H and I also really liked Avignon, but it's farther away.  It still has the Papal palace.

    We also really like Les Baux de Provence - it's kind of touristy, but it's basically a perched village with a really cool old castle.  You kind of feel on top of the world there - amazing views.

    Marseille itself is pretty gritty.  It's one of those places people really love or really hate.  If you like some grit (I do), it's awesome.  But it really doesn't have the small-village, rustic, cobblestone thing going on.  It's the second largest city in France, behind Paris.

    These were the ones we didn't really have any thoughts on.  Will have to check these out and see what we think.  Any thoughts on Barcelona?

    Also planning to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa when we hit Livorno although we know they won't let anybody under 8 go up the tower.  So we'd have to come up with a plan for one of us going up and then the other.

    Daisypath Anniversary tickers
  • hoffsehoffse member
    Sixth Anniversary 2500 Comments 500 Love Its Name Dropper
    I haven't been to Barcelona yet, but I have already started looking at it for our trip to Spain next March.

    If I had only 1 day there, I would probably do a bit of a "Gaudi tour," because his architecture is unique to Barcelona.  I would definitely prioritize La Sagrada Familia and Parc Guell for the little one.  Then I would try to see either Casa Mila or Casa Batllo if there was time. 

    If you don't like modernist architecture, then I think I would still do Sagrada Familia because it looks crazy, and it's going to be one of the modern wonders of the world when it's finished.  And then maybe have a wander around the gothic quarter or head to the beach.

    I know others on this board have spent a lot of time in Barcelona though, so they might be able to answer better than I can.

    On the Pompeii vs. Capri thing... not going to lie, I would probably pick Pompeii.  That said, another option would be to do Pompeii as a day-trip from Rome if you are going to be there for a few days on either end.  It's not a bad day trip at all, and well worth the effort to get there.  The high-speed train from Rome to Naples is about 1 hr, and then you spend about 30 minutes on a regional train that circles Mt. Vesuvias to get to the Pompeii stop.
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  • hoffsehoffse member
    Sixth Anniversary 2500 Comments 500 Love Its Name Dropper
    One other idea for the Marseille stop is the Pont du Gard.  It's the largest surviving Roman aqueduct in the world, and it's extraordinary.  The location is also excellent for some light hiking, etc.  There is not a great way to get to it by public transport, but if you take an organized tour it would be an excellent choice.

    I think that was easily the most impressive thing we saw on our trip last summer.  The scale of it blew me away.  It's not in a town though, so I would try to pair it with a town like Arles or Les Baux for some variety.

    I should emphasize again though that I'm a huge fan of ruins.  My H is too.  We tend to go out of our way to visit them, and we don't get bored by them.  The French ruins are generally better preserved than the Italian ones, because they didn't see as much war or population growth.  The major exception is Pompeii and Herculaneum, since they were preserved in ash/lava for 2,000 years.
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  • jtmh2012 said:
    hoffse said:
    @jtmh I know you didn't ask about excursions, but I can't help myself after seeing your itinerary :)

    All opinions welcome. :)  We could actually use suggestions.


    hoffse said:

    For Naples, you almost have to do Pompeii if you have never been there.  It's amazing.  Beats the pants off the Colosseum IMO, but that's just me.  I'm a ruins nut though.  Can't get enough of them.

    Oh definitely Pompeii!  The only bad thing is I have distant relatives on the Isle of Capri which is also the Naples port stop.  Need to figure out if it's possible to do both?  Although, I think I'd choose Pompeii if I had to choose between the two.


    hoffse said:

    For Provence/Marseille... personally, I would go to Arles if you have the option.  It's about 20-30 minutes from Marseille by train and beautiful.  The entire town is a UNESCO world heritage site, but it's not touristy at all.  Van Gogh lived there.  H and I only had a few hours here, and we really regretted it.  If we ever go back to Provence, we will revisit Arles and spend more time there.

    H and I also really liked Avignon, but it's farther away.  It still has the Papal palace.

    We also really like Les Baux de Provence - it's kind of touristy, but it's basically a perched village with a really cool old castle.  You kind of feel on top of the world there - amazing views.

    Marseille itself is pretty gritty.  It's one of those places people really love or really hate.  If you like some grit (I do), it's awesome.  But it really doesn't have the small-village, rustic, cobblestone thing going on.  It's the second largest city in France, behind Paris.

    These were the ones we didn't really have any thoughts on.  Will have to check these out and see what we think.  Any thoughts on Barcelona?

    Also planning to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa when we hit Livorno although we know they won't let anybody under 8 go up the tower.  So we'd have to come up with a plan for one of us going up and then the other.


    Frankly, I wouldn't waste your time at Pisa. It's a drive from the port and once you get there it's pretty much just a 5 minute photo op. I'm Barcelona, I'd probably just spend the day walking the city. The beach is about 1 mile from the cruise ship dock. Normally I'd suggest just walking into the city, but maybe not with a baby or toddler. Just grab a cab, there will be lots waiting. There are tons of great restaurants by the pier and beach. With only one day, I'd just spend it walking La Rambla (a main thoroughfare) checking out the architecture and experiencing the culture. We love the Boqueria!! Don't bother with the Olympic Village. I've been to Barcelona 3 times and have never cared to go inside Segrada Familia, but if that's your thing, I think it would be a good use of an hour or so.
    HeartlandHustle | Personal Finance and Betterment Blog  
  • I'm not sure if you're a sports fan but the Camp Nou tour is pretty cool. Whenever we travel, H always tries to tour the local soccer stadium (sometimes he just calls or shows up and a guard or staff person will show him around!)
    HeartlandHustle | Personal Finance and Betterment Blog  
  • hoffsehoffse member
    Sixth Anniversary 2500 Comments 500 Love Its Name Dropper
    Yeah I think Sagrada Familia or not depends on whether you like architecture and churches.  H and I both love architecture, and we visit lots of churches to see the vaulting and stuff.   I've visited more than 40 churches in Europe.  They all look different to me, and I have my favorites.

    Sagrada Familia will be wildly different than anything I've seen before.  It's really in a category of its own, because there is literally no other building in the world like it. 

    But I mean, my must-sees and your must-sees could be totally different. 

    I don't think @als1982 and I have ever agreed on any travel thing, ever :)  But that's totally fine - each to his own, as long as we all enjoy the travel experience :)
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  • jtmh2012 said:
    moneymom said:
    Amazing!
    What cruise line are you going on?
    Norwegian Cruise Line on the Epic.

    Have you guys cruised before?  I want to try it, but I am so nervous about it.  I get motion sickness very easily. 


  • moneymom said:
    jtmh2012 said:
    moneymom said:
    Amazing!
    What cruise line are you going on?
    Norwegian Cruise Line on the Epic.

    Have you guys cruised before?  I want to try it, but I am so nervous about it.  I get motion sickness very easily.
    This will be number 6 for us....my wife has motion sickness issues.  She's taken Bonnine for all of them and we only had issues once due to a storm that even had the crew feeling sick.
    Daisypath Anniversary tickers
  • moneymom said:
    jtmh2012 said:
    moneymom said:
    Amazing!
    What cruise line are you going on?
    Norwegian Cruise Line on the Epic.

    Have you guys cruised before?  I want to try it, but I am so nervous about it.  I get motion sickness very easily. 


    Cruise ships don't move/sway NEARLY as much as passenger boats, simply because of their size.  I've been on two cruises.  The first one was smooth waters.  Never felt the boat move at all.

    The second was rough waters.  I could feel the boat move sometimes, but not most of the time.  I was fine for two days and then I think it built up on me.  I had slight nausea for about a day and then was fine after I took a sea sick pill.  My H was fine the entire time.  With that said, neither of us normally suffer from seasickness.

  • Good to hear.

    I need to take the plunge
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