Birthday Baltic Boating June 2010 - Pre-Trip Report *Update 28/11/09* - The DIS Discussion Forums

wickesy · 11-15-2009, 11:07 AM

Cast:
Me: David – 38
Dad: Ray – 62

Since Dad and I got bitten by the Disney bug in 2007 I have always wanted to do a Disney cruise but neither of us really fancied the Caribbean and I have always been put off by the short length of the three, four and even seven day itineraries. That together with the high cost of flying out to Florida just for a short cruise, or a land-sea tour meant that it was something that we have never got around to.

Everything changed in October 2008 when I found out that the Disney Magic was going to be sailing from Dover for a cruise to the Baltic ports and once I checked the dates and found that the first cruise was on my birthday I knew that we had to take the opportunity to take our first Disney cruise.

Bookings opened on 14th October 2008 and I put in a request a few days before with Dreams Unlimited for them to give me a quote. I got home from work on the 14th and because I hadn’t heard anything from Dreams Unlimited I made a direct reservation with Disney and, although I couldn’t choose a specific stateroom number, I did manage to get a guaranteed Category 6 stateroom so at least I knew we had a place on the cruise.

The following day I had an e-mail from Dreams Unlimited giving me a quote also for a guaranteed Category 6 so I ended up transferring my direct reservation with DCL over to Dreams Unlimited to get the benefit of the onboard stateroom credit of $600 they were offering. So the reservation was secured for the following itinerary:

June 12th – Depart Dover
June 13th – At Sea
June 14th – Oslo
June 15th – Copenhagen
June 16th – Warnemunde (for Berlin)
June 17th – At Sea
June 18th – St Petersburg
June 19th – St Petersburg
June 20th – Helsinki
June 21st – Stockholm
June 22nd – At Sea
June 23rd – At Sea (my birthday)
June 24th – Dover

Fast-forward from October 2008 to this weekend and it was time to get some planning done. A fellow DISer (TammyAlphabet) posted on our Cruise Meets thread that she was looking for people to share a private tour of St Petersburg that she had arranged – the only way to tour St Petersburg without having to get a visa is to do a tour arranged by the cruise line or with an officially approved tour company. Tammy and I swapped a couple of PMs and e-mails in which she sent me a sample itinerary that the tour company had sent her and as it looked good to us Dad and I will be joining her for the tour.

When I was looking at details of the ports I found that the journey from Warnemunde to Berlin is about three hours each way and as neither Dad nor I wanted to make that sort of trip I looked into staying closer to the port. While I was looking on the Cruise Critic message boards I found a recommendation for Friends of Dave tours, which is a company that does guided tours of Warnemunde and the surrounding area. The first person to book for a specific date gets to choose which tour Dave will do so, as I was first for June 16th I decided to book the tour which takes in Warnemunde plus a train ride to Wismar and a tour of that city. Although it’s only Dad and me booked on that tour for now I have put an open invitation up for others to join us so there might be a few others joining us on that one in due course.

At the moment we intend to just do the other cities ourselves so that we can just have a general wander around and see what we fancy seeing on the day but any suggestions of ‘must-dos’ will be welcome.

Our parking is arranged - £110.50 for 12 days parking at the cruise terminal itself so the only thing we’re left wondering about at the moment is formal night – do we go for the full Dinner Jacket or just a suit and do we rent or buy?

I’m really looking forward to this cruise – not least because I have always wanted to do a cruise to the ‘Land of the Midnight Sun’ and, although we don’t quite make it on this cruise (the latest sunset time is 11:25pm), there’s no better way of doing it than on the Disney Magic.

I’ll update as and when plans change but in the meantime, roll on June 2010!

natalielongstaff · 11-15-2009, 12:34 PM

FAB !!! Really looking forward to this one.

Chilly · 11-15-2009, 01:02 PM

Sounds like a great trip

jns · 11-15-2009, 01:44 PM

great start

jackieleanne · 11-16-2009, 11:31 AM

Great start and great plans David.

SusanEllen · 11-17-2009, 12:40 PM

Clever guys you are, seeing the world and having good Disney fun at the same time. For such a long trip (with so much cruise food!!) you might want to take clothes in two sizes--a set that fits at the beginning of the cruise and another that fits at the end of the cruise!! I know you're going to have fun.

Claire L · 11-17-2009, 12:45 PM

Oh sounds like you have it all planned out so well

Sorry I am now longer able to make it and meet everyone

Claire

wickesy · 11-17-2009, 01:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SusanEllen

For such a long trip (with so much cruise food!!) you might want to take clothes in two sizes--a set that fits at the beginning of the cruise and another that fits at the end of the cruise!!

Great idea, especially as we don't have to worry about airline baggage restrictions.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Claire L

Sorry I am now longer able to make it and meet everyone

Sorry we won't get to meet you too Claire.

natalielongstaff · 11-17-2009, 01:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SusanEllen

Clever guys you are, seeing the world and having good Disney fun at the same time. For such a long trip (with so much cruise food!!) you might want to take clothes in two sizes--a set that fits at the beginning of the cruise and another that fits at the end of the cruise!! I know you're going to have fun.

clever plan Susan !

CustardTart · 11-17-2009, 01:53 PM

Lovely pre-trippie, David!!! I know you and Ray will have a great time as it's such a fab itinerary. That private tour of St. Petersburg will be amazing, I'm sure! I'm just sorry not be joining you after all - tho' feel free to raise a glass on my birthday (June 22nd).

Naturally, I'll reciprocate on yours..

And can I vote for the dinner jacket option for the Formal night - I'm sure I'm not alone in wanting to see you both looking like James Bond in your formal photos...

Can't wait to hear all about it...

TotallyAngelic · 11-18-2009, 04:03 PM

Ooooooohhhh- looking forward to this one too - we were thinking about doing this cruise at one point but then decided to opt for the Transtlantic. I am really interested to hear all about your experiences.

wicket2005 · 11-19-2009, 12:04 PM

Lovely start.

mandymouse · 11-21-2009, 07:45 AM

It sounds like you've got a great Cruise planned David ~ you're going to love it

wickesy · 11-21-2009, 12:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CustardTart

I'm just sorry not be joining you after all - tho' feel free to raise a glass on my birthday (June 22nd).

Naturally, I'll reciprocate on yours..

And can I vote for the dinner jacket option for the Formal night - I'm sure I'm not alone in wanting to see you both looking like James Bond in your formal photos...

Oh just because we won't be on the same continent I don't see any reason why we can't still both do the 48 hour birthday celebration.

We'll probably end up looking more like Brook Bond and Basildon Bond.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mandymouse

It sounds like you've got a great Cruise planned David ~ you're going to love it

Thanks Mandy I'm sure we will. I've read and seen so much about the Magic over the past couple of years and I can't wait to see it for myself.

T16GEM · 11-21-2009, 02:13 PM

It sounds like a great trip!! Can't wait to hear more!

11-15-2009, 11:07 AM	#1
wickesy Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love you tomorrow, you're always a day...closer to our next Disney trip I will be opening a sack full of cards and fighting off the advances of lots of lovely ladies Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Sydenham, London Posts: 2,653	Birthday Baltic Boating June 2010 - Pre-Trip Report Update 28/11/09 Cast: Me: David – 38 Dad: Ray – 62 Since Dad and I got bitten by the Disney bug in 2007 I have always wanted to do a Disney cruise but neither of us really fancied the Caribbean and I have always been put off by the short length of the three, four and even seven day itineraries. That together with the high cost of flying out to Florida just for a short cruise, or a land-sea tour meant that it was something that we have never got around to. Everything changed in October 2008 when I found out that the Disney Magic was going to be sailing from Dover for a cruise to the Baltic ports and once I checked the dates and found that the first cruise was on my birthday I knew that we had to take the opportunity to take our first Disney cruise. Bookings opened on 14th October 2008 and I put in a request a few days before with Dreams Unlimited for them to give me a quote. I got home from work on the 14th and because I hadn’t heard anything from Dreams Unlimited I made a direct reservation with Disney and, although I couldn’t choose a specific stateroom number, I did manage to get a guaranteed Category 6 stateroom so at least I knew we had a place on the cruise. The following day I had an e-mail from Dreams Unlimited giving me a quote also for a guaranteed Category 6 so I ended up transferring my direct reservation with DCL over to Dreams Unlimited to get the benefit of the onboard stateroom credit of $600 they were offering. So the reservation was secured for the following itinerary: June 12th – Depart Dover June 13th – At Sea June 14th – Oslo June 15th – Copenhagen June 16th – Warnemunde (for Berlin) June 17th – At Sea June 18th – St Petersburg June 19th – St Petersburg June 20th – Helsinki June 21st – Stockholm June 22nd – At Sea June 23rd – At Sea (my birthday) June 24th – Dover Fast-forward from October 2008 to this weekend and it was time to get some planning done. A fellow DISer (TammyAlphabet) posted on our Cruise Meets thread that she was looking for people to share a private tour of St Petersburg that she had arranged – the only way to tour St Petersburg without having to get a visa is to do a tour arranged by the cruise line or with an officially approved tour company. Tammy and I swapped a couple of PMs and e-mails in which she sent me a sample itinerary that the tour company had sent her and as it looked good to us Dad and I will be joining her for the tour. When I was looking at details of the ports I found that the journey from Warnemunde to Berlin is about three hours each way and as neither Dad nor I wanted to make that sort of trip I looked into staying closer to the port. While I was looking on the Cruise Critic message boards I found a recommendation for Friends of Dave tours, which is a company that does guided tours of Warnemunde and the surrounding area. The first person to book for a specific date gets to choose which tour Dave will do so, as I was first for June 16th I decided to book the tour which takes in Warnemunde plus a train ride to Wismar and a tour of that city. Although it’s only Dad and me booked on that tour for now I have put an open invitation up for others to join us so there might be a few others joining us on that one in due course. At the moment we intend to just do the other cities ourselves so that we can just have a general wander around and see what we fancy seeing on the day but any suggestions of ‘must-dos’ will be welcome. Our parking is arranged - £110.50 for 12 days parking at the cruise terminal itself so the only thing we’re left wondering about at the moment is formal night – do we go for the full Dinner Jacket or just a suit and do we rent or buy? I’m really looking forward to this cruise – not least because I have always wanted to do a cruise to the ‘Land of the Midnight Sun’ and, although we don’t quite make it on this cruise (the latest sunset time is 11:25pm), there’s no better way of doing it than on the Disney Magic. I’ll update as and when plans change but in the meantime, roll on June 2010! __________________ David Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love you tomorrow, you're always a day...closer to our next Disney trip. Sep '92, Apr '07 - Contemporary Resort ~ Apr '08 - Animal Kingdom Lodge ~ Aug '08 - Grand Californian ~ Mar '09 - Saratoga Springs Trip Reports: WDW April '07 ~ Canada August '07 ~ WDW April '08 ~ SF & Disneyland August '08 ~ WDW March '09 ~ Smokies August '09 Last edited by wickesy; 11-28-2009 at 06:24 AM.

11-15-2009, 12:34 PM	#2
natalielongstaff I need a cup of tea and a big bar of free chocolate nowI will be back later too stalk some more Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: leicestershire,england Posts: 71,490	FAB !!! Really looking forward to this one. __________________ April 2003 DLRP, November 2004 WDW and Barbados, September 2005 WDW, September 2007 WDW,October 2009 WDW

11-15-2009, 01:02 PM	#3
Chilly I was having a bit of a blonde moment D'oh! Married my prince at WDW Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Reading, England Posts: 7,897	Sounds like a great trip __________________ Claire Claire & Mikes Planning Journel & Trip Report for their Disney Wedding DIS Buddy I.C.E DisneyJo 2009 Dec /2010 Jan DFTW WDW Onsite @ GF, Poly & AKL Plus DCL on the Wonder 2008 July Engaged DLRP Onsite @ Santa Fe 2007 September WDW Onsite @ Pop 2006 September WDW Offsite 2005 May Disneyland Offsite

11-15-2009, 01:44 PM	#4
jns Tries hard to get the jelly off Jaffa Cakes without breaking it!!!! Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Donegal Ireland Posts: 9,155	great start __________________ 1997 Dixie Landing and St Petes beach 1999 All Stars Sports 2002 Amerisuites and Beach Club 2004 Port Orleans Riverside and All Star Sports 2005 Port Orleans Riverside and The Contemporary 2006 New York , Pop Century, Disney Wonder and Port Orleans Riverside 2007 Animal Kingdom , Disney Magic , Saratoga Springs and New York 2008 DLRP Santa Fa , Beachclub Villas, Wilderness Lodge ,Disney Magic and New York 2009 BayLake Towers, Beachclub Villas and Disney Wonder *We now know the secert* too!! Trip report 2006 Trip Report 2008 WDW / DCL**

11-16-2009, 11:31 AM	#5
jackieleanne DIS Veteran Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Manchester, England Posts: 1,076	Great start and great plans David. __________________

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11-17-2009, 12:40 PM	#6
SusanEllen DIS Veteran Join Date: May 2004 Location: Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S.A. Posts: 1,515	Clever guys you are, seeing the world and having good Disney fun at the same time. For such a long trip (with so much cruise food!!) you might want to take clothes in two sizes--a set that fits at the beginning of the cruise and another that fits at the end of the cruise!! I know you're going to have fun. __________________ A few words about the place where the Magic began: Yet Another Happiest Place on Earth Report Disneyland, June, 2008 Pre-trip w/index to the entire report

11-17-2009, 12:45 PM	#7
Claire L Enjoys a good broadway show Likes a nice cold glass of White Zinfandel Has been known to have a blonde moment now and then Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Too far from the Magic in England Posts: 10,226	Oh sounds like you have it all planned out so well Sorry I am now longer able to make it and meet everyone Claire __________________ Owner since 08/07 Aug 90 to Mar 98 - 6 visits to US and 20 states visited, inc 2 trips to WDW and 2 trips to DL June 01 - WDW Grosvenor DTD 14nts + TIG St Pete Beach 7nts June 02 - WDW - WL for 2wks Feb 03 - NY 4nts June 03 - West Coast 3wks SF to LA & DL for 3 days Oct 04 - WDW AKL 10nts + RPR 2nts June 05 - WDW YC 10nts + HRH 4nts + TIG St Pete Beach 7nts! June 06 - SF to LV inc Lake Tahoe, Yosemite + the Grand Canyon 3wks Dec 06 - NYE at WDW POFQ 11nts inc RPR 1nt Oct 07 - WDW 14nts at SSR inc 1nt at PBH May 08 - WDW AKV 15nts inc PBH 1nt + VB 4nts Feb 2009 - WDW SSR 7nts + BWI 7nts June 09 - Washington DC for a week Dec 2009 - New York for 6 nts Oct 2010 - WDW AKV 12nts

11-17-2009, 01:53 PM	#10
CustardTart I am sooo proud, happy, relieved and impressed - it's a great day... Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: South East London... Posts: 14,117	Lovely pre-trippie, David!!! I know you and Ray will have a great time as it's such a fab itinerary. That private tour of St. Petersburg will be amazing, I'm sure! I'm just sorry not be joining you after all - tho' feel free to raise a glass on my birthday (June 22nd). Naturally, I'll reciprocate on yours.. And can I vote for the dinner jacket option for the Formal night - I'm sure I'm not alone in wanting to see you both looking like James Bond in your formal photos... Can't wait to hear all about it... __________________ Grand Floridian Resort & Spa - Christmas 1998 * Dolphin/Vero Beach - Easter 2000 * Polynesian - August 2001 * Grand Floridian Resort & Spa - August 2004 * Beach Club/DCL Wonder - May 2005 * Grand Californian Hotel - NYE 2005 * Polynesian - August 2006 * DCL Magic Western Caribbean - September 2007 * Yacht Club - October 2007 * Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa - December 2007 * Villas at Wilderness Lodge/DCL Wonder Double Dip - May 2008 * DCL Magic Mexican Riviera/Disneyland Hotel - August 2008 * Boardwalk Villas - October 2008 * Animal Kingdom Villas/Hard Rock Hotel Club - Easter 2009 * Bay Lake Tower/DCL Magic Eastern Caribbean & Tortola/Villas at Wilderness Lodge - September 2009 * Bay Lake Tower - June 2010 * DCL Magic Mediterranean Cruise - August 2010 * Old Key West - October 2010 * Villas at Wilderness Lodge/DCL Dream Inaugural/Maiden Cruise B2B - January 2011 * Villas at Grand Californian/DCL Wonder West Coast Repositioning Cruise - Easter 2011 * DCL Wonder Alaska Cruise - August 2011...

11-18-2009, 04:03 PM	#11
TotallyAngelic DIS Veteran Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Wales, UK Posts: 3,065	Ooooooohhhh- looking forward to this one too - we were thinking about doing this cruise at one point but then decided to opt for the Transtlantic. I am really interested to hear all about your experiences. __________________ Sarah xxx 32 WEEKS UNTIL NEXT DISNEY CRUISE Our WDW adventures and "Magical" Happy Halloween Double Dip Disney Cruise Trip Report: Updated 01/2010 - Magical Happy Halloween Cruise Day 7: Double Dipping in Castaway Cay finally completed

11-19-2009, 12:04 PM	#12
wicket2005 Hasn't got a clue what a tag is Christmassyfyed, yes I have had a glass of wine judging by that spelling Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: North East England Posts: 5,830	Lovely start. __________________ [/url] [/url] 1996, 1998, 2000, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008x2, 2009

11-21-2009, 07:45 AM	#13
mandymouse If It's Not A Bahama Mama Then I'm Not Interested Can I put my Christmas Tree up yet ? Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Nuneaton U.K. Posts: 57,821	It sounds like you've got a great Cruise planned David ~ you're going to love it __________________ Mandy xx Needs a new 2010 ticker, and wants one NOW !!!!!

11-21-2009, 02:13 PM	#15
T16GEM I must have a funnel cake when I'm in Florida! Confucious say: Friends don't let friends do AOL Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: England- United Kingdom Posts: 5,109	It sounds like a great trip!! Can't wait to hear more! __________________ My Dis Buddies are SaratogaGirl and Goofysmate

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