6/29/15 Magic to Norway & Iceland

[tfc3rid]

Very easy! There's now a high speed train link that connects Dover to London St Pancras, with stops in Folkestone Central (my stop!), Folkestone West, Ashford, Ebsfleet, Stratford (where the Olympic park is) and St Pancras. From Dover it takes about an hour (uses the Eurostar line). It's not cheap (off-peak one-way is about £40, I think; on-peak, 10am and earlier is considerably more), but the "slow train" adds about an hour to your journey. The cruise terminal to Dover Priory station is pretty close. A taxi would cost about £5-10, I would think.

That's how we are going to be getting into London this time. We used DCL bus last time but the train is a lovely option.

 

[JenKatt]

We booked yesterday morning after 2 hours on hold! I am so excited.... I never thought we would go to Iceland!

It will be me, my husband Geoff, and our 9 year old and 5 year old.

So excited to see someone else with youngish kids. Our boys will be almost 4 and 8 at sailing.

Hey, I'm Julia and My dad and I booked this cruise yesterday. We don't know for sure we are doing it, will know for sure most likely December 2014-Paid In Full Date. We were going to book a med cruise, but then my Mom and her mother or my nannie, decided they finally wanted to go to Japan, so giving up the Med this year and doing Japan in November. We do have a 3 night on Magic booked April 11th this year though. This cruise worked good with time and Dad wants to get back to Copenhagen, so didn't need to talk him into this

Julia - saw you're in Andover. My family is from Fredom

Welcome to all--so fun to see such a big group.


Suites were gone right away yesterday morning, before my TA even got through. Secret port hole rooms, too, and 7As within a few hours. My TA said yesterday was the craziest she's seen in it since she started working (10 years).



Hugs! I'm so sorry to hear this. That really sucks. I talked with my TA in advance about this kind of thing. The problem is that if you double book a room (have the TA do one and you do the other), prices can rise from that. It's so hard to know what to do.

Cat R this morning was 60K for a family of 5.... insane

 

[DMMarla07860]

aboard Julia! I hope you end up sticking with us.

I'm hoping we do to, as long as we have the money, we should be.

Julia - saw you're in Andover. My family is from Fredom

awesome, that's not far from me. Back in Middle School played a basketball game or two against the town

 

[DL1957]

I'm so glad we were able to book yesterday -
I checked prices today compared with yesterday
5A's (booked yesterday) was about 12k, this am, like 14k already...

Checking on flights.. roundtrip London + one way LON->CPH, seems near/close to a 'multi-city' x->CPH and LON->x. For us, seems to be about ~1600/pp.. but something to keep an eye on and consider.

If anyone has any tips, feel free to post - I've started a tips thread on the main board and we already have one person on that thread who lives in CPH also..

I'm personally going to be curious to ask how easy it is to get from Dover->London, and maybe throw in a round of Golf (dreamy, to play at the Old Course)

Where is VA are you? We are in Williamsburg.

 

[Shelby109]

Hello! We just booked this morning!!! So excited. I have been sitting at work beaming all day - so hard to concentrate.

It will be myself, my husband and our daughter (who will be 5 when we cruise). yea - let the research begin!!!

 

[booger73]

Where is VA are you? We are in Williamsburg.

Just below you in hampton roads (suffolk)

 

[Janis]

Booked yesterday. Really looking forward to this one and sailing again with my 2005 PC friends and the Fantasy Maiden voyage!

 

[NAG]

FYI for sports fans:

Wimbledon ends on July 12 in 2015, so it may be an option for post cruise touring. It is within walking distance of a tube stop. We watched the mens final from the hill outside the stadium a couple years ago.

Also the British F1 stop may or may not be an option depending on scheduling in 2015. It is on the schedule for 7/6/14 this year.

 

[Janis]

Looks like a reunion for alot of previous DCL/ABD'ers... we're seeing names for the original '05 WB PC cruise (birth place of the fish extender - the creator is cruising again with us!)

I was one of those '05 WB PC cruisers! Look forward to seeing you and Jeff again!

 

[JenKatt]

I was one of those '05 WB PC cruisers! Look forward to seeing you and Jeff again!

We've expand the family a bit (I'm certain Jeff was cloned in our oldest son)...
speaking of Jeff, if there is interest, I am certain I can get him to create a website for this cruise. For the '10 WBPC cruise he made a pretty interactive one, complete with deckplans were everyone is. I'll nudge him over to this thread....

 

[Scropsey81]

I'm new on here but excited to be joining along with you guys! This will be our second cruise on DCL (first was just a 3 night Bahamas). It will be me, my husband and our 3 kids who will be 6, 4, and 2. We will be celebrating our 10th wedding anniversary! It's always been one of my dreams to visit Norway and Iceland and the timing just happened to coincide without 10th anniversary, yay! We were lucky to get one of the last 4a's this morning before they sold out. Finding a room that fits all 5 of us can be tricky!

Can't wait to research the ports, excursions, airfare, etc with you guys. Glad to see there are a few others with younger kids too!

Thinking about adding a couple of days on at the end to explore London. Another place I'd love to visit.

 

[lgajohnson]

We are in! We booked yesterday, but just made some final decisions today to do this cruise and not the 12 night St. Petersburg.

Along with me are my DD who will be almost 14 by then and my DD who will be almost 9. This will be our 9th cruise on DCL. We are doing the Double Dip on the Dream in October 2014. We did the 12 night Med last summer.

We are so looking forward to Norway and Iceland. The plan is to spend a few days in Copenhagen before and a bit longer in London after.

Can't wait to start planning…love to hear any and all tips about this FROZEN adventure we are all about to take! We will see you on the FB page too!

 

[lolainkent]

I'm new on here but excited to be joining along with you guys! This will be our second cruise on DCL (first was just a 3 night Bahamas). It will be me, my husband and our 3 kids who will be 6, 4, and 2. We will be celebrating our 10th wedding anniversary! It's always been one of my dreams to visit Norway and Iceland and the timing just happened to coincide without 10th anniversary, yay! We were lucky to get one of the last 4a's this morning before they sold out. Finding a room that fits all 5 of us can be tricky! Can't wait to research the ports, excursions, airfare, etc with you guys. Glad to see there are a few others with younger kids too! Thinking about adding a couple of days on at the end to explore London. Another place I'd love to visit.

DH and I will be celebrating our 10 year wedding anniversary too! (Though it's not until Oct.) Nice treat for the 10 year mark, huh?

 

[JenKatt]

I'm excited to see so many with younger kids. Our oldest is quite the social butterfly (both with girls and boys) and gets tired of his little brother, so he'll be happy to know he won't be the only under 10.
We're not celebrating an anniversary, but this is Jeff's (DH) 40th birthday trip. We were going to do Alaska, but when this came on the radar, (surprisingly) he wanted to switch. How many other folks are local to WDW?

 

[fundulidae]

How many other folks are local to WDW?

We aren't local, but we are down there 3-5 times a year. (I love my DVC!)

 

[Silverfox97]

Dropped Alaska and booked this today instead. Missed out on platinum pricing, but that's ok.

Just wanted to say hi!

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[JenKatt]

We aren't local, but we are down there 3-5 times a year. (I love my DVC!)

same thing!

Dropped Alaska and booked this today instead. Missed out on platinum pricing, but that's ok.

Just wanted to say hi!

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

HI!!!! (I'm writing this from my desk in Tampa)

 

[Tigfanjeff]

I'm excited for our proximity to the Arctic Circle when we are in Iceland. Back in 2010, we had a night with 20 minutes of complete darkness... I'm figuring we will have someone around a 2 or 3 minute night when we up in Icleand!

Here you go - http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/astronomy.html?n=2136&month=7&year=2015&obj=sun&afl=-11&day=1

90 minutes or so between sunset and sunrise.

 

[luvavacation]

Ok, sweater shopping will be on my list, because the sweater I saw at Epcot was around $500, and if I am spending that much on a sweater, then I am going to get it from the source!

They really are made in Norway, right? Not in China? I really feel badly when I want to buy something that I think is local and then the little tag on the bottom says, "Made in China". When I vacation, I seem inclined to do a bit of supporting of the local economy, so I like to make my spending count!

I figure I saved money anyway, so I shall justify any spending this way. We were looking at booking a concierge class room, but 3 hours after the phone lines first were available on opening day, they were already gone. Good thing, because looking at the prices, there is no way I could justify it. I mean, I love concierge, but I can't see spending the price of a new car to be in it, at least not for my family.

For those that live out there or have been there before, how is the temperature? Will we be able to leave the winter coats at home (did Alaska a few years ago, and definitely needed the coats on the water)? Those baggage fees are going to be killer, as I don't pack lightly, no matter how hard I try, and wearing my winter coat through Chicago in June is just not going to be comfortable.

Wow, I really do start planning early!

Fundulidae, I am sorry for you; that would make me feel awful, too. It certainly does put a damper on the excitement, but hopefully as time goes on the excitement will build and lessen the pain of the cost? One can hope!

 

[tfc3rid]

Here you go - http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/astronomy.html?n=2136&month=7&year=2015&obj=sun&afl=-11&day=1

90 minutes or so between sunset and sunrise.

Which means constant twilight, 24 hours.