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Old 14 Apr 13, 10:08 AM  
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CreakingStool
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Join Date: May 11

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Conboys in Crete - 10th Anniversary Special - PreTrip

Hi there,

This is my first attempt at a trip report, I love reading them so I hope I can make a good go at my own.

Introductions first.

My name is Juliet. I'm 36 and live in Manchester with my husband and 2 children. I'm the forum geek, I'm the planner, I'm organiser!

On this trip will be the 4 of us and also my mum and dad. Here are some pictures,

Me, Gav (35), Zach (6) and Imogen (3) taken at the Santa Express in Bury.


Sandra and David


Now some background to this holiday. 10 years ago (070603) we got married in Santorini, Greece. We have always loved Greece and have visited a few islands in our almost 20 years together. We had initially wanted to go back to Santorini with the children but prices were quite steep and we were limited to 7 or 14 day holidays due to flights, its also not got the sandy beaches out kids love so we decided on Crete instead.

We've not been to Crete before but the flights from the UK were of a good selection and its close to Santorini and could enable a trip although I don't think this will happen now. I also really want to visit the Palace of Knossos.

Last year, once we had decided that Santorini was out, I began stalking Easyjet. Every day I would check for flights, I was also on the mailing list and had the phone app installed. We are on a tight budget, isn't everyone these days but also I like to get a bargain. We like to travel independantly but with the Euro the way it is the actual holiday price needs to be as cheap as possible so that we can have plenty of spends.
The magic day arrived when I checked my phone app and the flights were released, I already knew when we wanted to go and this was the end of May into June so as to catch the school holidays. A bit of research on dates and I had my prices, contacted mum and she was happy too and so I booked

So on the 6th September I paid £763.48 for 6 flights, Manchester to Heraklion. Subsequently I have added £36 for seat booking and £140.00 for bag allowance.

Price per person is £156.58, this is for a 12 night holiday with only 2 days out of the school holidays for the children (all authorised)

Next job was to book the accommodation. We were after self catering rooms in a resort not too far from the airport. It needed to be family friendly and have a nice gently shelving beach into the sea. After some research we chose Stalis and we booked to stay at the Dias apartments.

dias-stalis.gr/

We booked through Travel Republic and paid £402 for 2 x 1 bedroom apartments.

Next research was on car hire companies, we like to have a car for the airport transfer and also so we can go out and explore a bit. I checked the tripadviser forums for some names and emailed a few, we were after a larger vehicle for the 6 of us with room for the luggage, not bothered what it looks like as long as has room for the cases and aircon!

We settled on Europeo Cars with a price of 390 Euros, quite expensive but it will be split between us and obviously saves 2 return taxi fares plus gives us flexibility for going to the waterpark and exploring and its convenient.

So, total price is approx £1691.48 for the 6 of us. For our family of 4 it has cost us approx £1002.32 for 12 nights which I think is quite a bargain when comparing it to a package holiday price, especially considering the inclusion of a car.

We can't wait to get there now. Its a busy time of year for us, both the children have birthdays this month and we are off to Blackpool next weekend for an overnight stay and the Pleasure Beach. Then they have birthday parties and finally its DHs birthday the weekend before our holiday. All of this means, or course, that the time will fly and we'll soon be getting up at some crazy hour to get our 7am flight to Crete!

Thanks for reading
__________________
Xx Juliet xX

A long awaited Disney Fix. DLP June 2023, me and my girl

CreakingStool is offline Girl Mouse Click to view Members Trip Plans Add Member to Ignore List
Old 30 Apr 13, 09:43 PM  
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CreakingStool
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Join Date: May 11

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Little Update.

I printed off our boarding passes today from Easyjet so I have them all ready to go now. I also applied for E111 cards for us all as we don't have them currently. I emailed the apartments too to confirm everything as we booked through Travel Republic rather than directly.

We are getting really excited now for our holiday, especially the kids who can't wait to get on the beach We are just looking forward to stepping onto Greek soil and enjoying feta cheese, tsatsiki, Beef stifado and Lamb kleftico. Mmmmmmmmm.

While on our holiday I'm hoping we will visit the palace at Knossos and also go to a water park (its been a long time since we've done that) and also get out and about a bit as we have a hire car.
__________________
Xx Juliet xX

A long awaited Disney Fix. DLP June 2023, me and my girl

CreakingStool is offline Girl Mouse Click to view Members Trip Plans Add Member to Ignore List
Old 16 May 13, 10:15 AM  
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CreakingStool
Thread Starter
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Join Date: May 11

theDIBB Guidebook
Guidebook Reviews: 3
An update with a week to go

I have done most of the things on my list now, bought most items we needed for the children. This weekend is cleaning and packing and I'm getting so excited, particularly with this cold, dreary weather - Greece is very appealing

Todays equivalent of our flight is delayed and it appears to be Greek air traffic on strike, hopefully we'll be OK next week.

Travel money is on the list this weekend and I need a list to tick off, I'm a listaholic!
__________________
Xx Juliet xX

A long awaited Disney Fix. DLP June 2023, me and my girl

CreakingStool is offline Girl Mouse Click to view Members Trip Plans Add Member to Ignore List
Old 16 May 13, 10:15 AM  
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