7/18/10 Mickey's Baltic Ballyhoo Part 6

[drleblanc]

Not sure if anyone is still out there, but we are still at home, finishing packing to drive today. Here are some 10 day forecasts for the cities we are going to be in....

Oslo: High of 65, chance of rain on Tuesday
Copenhagen: High of 79, partly sunny on Wednesday
Warnemunde: High of 79, light rain on Thursday (Berlin, 84 and same)
St. Petersburg: Sunny, highs of 69-73 for Saturday and Sunday
Tallinn: Sunny, high of 75 on Monday

Living in Europe for last 1.5 years I know one thing, you cannot trust a weather forecast for more than 30 minutes. Hope to see you all tomorrow afternoon and the days after.

 

[ladyvet]

We also did the Tower of London and the London Eye yesterday. We walked to the London Eye from our hotel. The weather was nice, although the breeze was chilly at times.

Today we are taking a train to Liverpool for our trip to see the homeplace of the Beatles. A fun and relaxing day for all I hope.
Beth

 

[Celestine]

Wow it has been pretty slow on the boards caught up in 2 minutes,

DW & kids did not want to get up early so they slept in & we missed the free breakfast!

So we went across the street to starbaucks for coffee for us & the convenience store for Choclate/Strawberry/ milk & OJ with croisants for the kids!

Then took the 1+ hour bus ride to the tower of London than cruised back to to the London Eye where we caught the bus back to Kensington but the bus driver suggested we wait to the next stop to get off as better restaurant choices for dinner, he also commented on the fact I was not wearing shorts (something about very unamerican) on the way back to the hotel we walked down the side of Kensington park where the exclusive residents are including the back of Kensington palace, very posh & nice.

Tommorow we head to Potabello Rd for the flea markets & maybe Harrods!

Oh well getting the right change ready for Celestine have to use a coin as no paper pounds!

OK, so now I have to visit the post office for a set of money bags just incase you really do decide to give me your fare in coins We used to have £1 notes but they disappeared in 1984.

Celestine

 

[Furrocious]

We've had a great few days in London. We rode the sight-seeing bus today and saw the crown jewels at the Tower of London. It was fun. The kids are dying to get on Mickey's ship. Every morning they have been asking if today is the day!

See you all tomorrow!!!!

 

[CastawayClubCruisers]

Posting because the hotel waved the 20 pound a day internet charge because theycould not give us connecting rooms

Our London hotel couldn't even get us on the same floor, nevermind the adjoining we had requested when we booked!!

 

[Doingitagain]

Our London hotel couldn't even get us on the same floor, nevermind the adjoining we had requested when we booked!!

We had two hotels and both got us one room away but not adjoining. Worked great to buy one Internet subscription and use my travel router. We had three ipads and two laptops on it at the same time!

 

[Doingitagain]

Wow it has been pretty slow on the boards caught up in 2 minutes,

DW & kids did not want to get up early so they slept in & we missed the free breakfast!

So we went across the street to starbaucks for coffee for us & the convenience store for Choclate/Strawberry/ milk & OJ with croisants for the kids!

Then took the 1+ hour bus ride to the tower of London than cruised back to to the London Eye where we caught the bus back to Kensington but the bus driver suggested we wait to the next stop to get off as better restaurant choices for dinner, he also commented on the fact I was not wearing shorts (something about very unamerican) on the way back to the hotel we walked down the side of Kensington park where the exclusive residents are including the back of Kensington palace, very posh & nice.


Oh well getting the right change ready for Celestine have to use a coin as no paper pounds!

We stayed at the Royal Garden Hotel as well, very nice. DD21 loved having the Australian cricket team at the free breakfast!

Used the Big Bus tour to get around and see sites. And did a lot of walking so now am ready for all the cruise food!

Staying at the Royal Chancery now and checked in for the cruise. Have our stateroom keys, we are PLA rotation second seating. They were very organized. The DCL manager said they are pre checking 611 guests of the 2000 on board, so the port checkin is much more efficient for everyone. He said they haven't had any lines at the port. He also said they are going to introduce this in Florida for all Disney hotel pre stays, not just land and sea packages.

 

[GOS]

For those of you that set sail today on the Disney Magic from Dover....here's a few photos I took of you all from the White Cliffs.

Have a safe trip.

 

[Caropooh]

For those of you that set sail today on the Disney Magic from Dover....here's a few photos I took of you all from the White Cliffs.

Have a safe trip.

Thanks for the pictures! I think I see myself waving!
So far so good! The dining staff was very accomadating to Kathryn and needing gluten-free! They showed her the menu for tomorrows dinner and had her pre-order. That way everything can be gluten-free and no worries about cross-contamination. She also ordered breakfast and lunch! They'll do this every day for her!

 

[Thistle]

If someone on the Baltic could contact me I would sure appreciate it. I left a mug that my DD got me in the Cove and am hoping that someone could go get it and then mail it to me. Please, please, please!!!

 

[lawelch]

I'll second that - if anyone currently on the Baltic cruise could contact me I would appreciate it too.

We sailed on the 6/24 Baltic cruise and now that we're home I wish I had purchased the Northern Capitals Baltic Cruise scrapbook. I've tried e-bay, the WDW merchandise contact, and DCL, but they can't help. The WDW merchandise (mail order) response was:
Unfortunately, Disney Cruise Line merchandise is sold only onboard the Disney Cruise Line ships or at Castaway Cay and not imported for sale in the United States. I am sorry we are unable to assist you and apologize for any disappointment this may cause.

I understand their response but just hoping someone on the cruise can help me.

Thanks!!!

 

[Flora Fan]

Post Cruise Debriefing:

Just sitting in Heathrow BORED OUT OF MY MIND... Thought I would check the boards and see if anyone else was out there.

What did you think? What was the best excursion, the best meal, the best anything? Disappointed in anything?

Did anyone else hear that Disney will not be going back to the Baltics anytime soon? What do you think about this.

We had a great cruise. Being our first cruise ever, we were very impressed with everything. Our best excursion was the Berlin Discovery. We had Ruth as a tour guide and enjoyed her very much. Best meal....well I have a food allergy and ever night they would give me the menu for the next dinner so I could select and they could accommodate my allergy. Every night I asked the pastry chefs to surprise me with dessert. This was my favorite part of every meal. To have that decadent surprise every night was wonderful. And every night was better than the night before.
Can't say we were disappointed in too much, but we did leave the Tallinn Walking Tour early. We couldn't hear the tour guide and after a while just gave up. We had a delightful time though walking through the town with our table mates. It ended up being one of the highlights of the trip for us.

By the by...what did you guys think of Russia?

Look forward to hearing from you all.

 

[Cousin Orville]

Had a great time on the cruise. Sitting right now in the Park Plaza Westminster lobby wishing I was already home. We fly out tomorrow morning.

Favorite excursions were in Berlin and the Princess Ball at Catherine's palace. We didn't hear that they were not thinking of going back, I'm sure glad we did it just in case. We booked the may 28th med cruise for next yr while on board. I asked and apparentlyna lot of people booked a med cruise for next yr. I was also in the Viking lecture when our lecturer said he hoped Disney will go to the Eastern Med soon and the audience applauded. That was great. Hope everyone had a good time. Sorry I missed the meet but we did have a nice spa appt. Glad I got a chance to meet some of you. And the postcards from Houston are from Kate and I. Forgot to address them - so absent minded. Anyway it was a great first DCL cruise for us.

 

[mstinson14]

Our favorite excursion was the ice bar in Stockholm. I so wish I was still on the ship!

 

[Caropooh]

Not sure if anyone is still out there, but we are still at home, finishing packing to drive today. Here are some 10 day forecasts for the cities we are going to be in....

Oslo: High of 65, chance of rain on Tuesday
Copenhagen: High of 79, partly sunny on Wednesday
Warnemunde: High of 79, light rain on Thursday (Berlin, 84 and same)
St. Petersburg: Sunny, highs of 69-73 for Saturday and Sunday
Tallinn: Sunny, high of 75 on Monday

Living in Europe for last 1.5 years I know one thing, you cannot trust a weather forecast for more than 30 minutes. Hope to see you all tomorrow afternoon and the days after.

Well, we now know how WRONG weather forecasts can be! It was at least a zillion degrees in a couple of ports!

Post Cruise Debriefing:

Just sitting in Heathrow BORED OUT OF MY MIND... Thought I would check the boards and see if anyone else was out there.

What did you think? What was the best excursion, the best meal, the best anything? Disappointed in anything?

Did anyone else hear that Disney will not be going back to the Baltics anytime soon? What do you think about this.

We had a great cruise. Being our first cruise ever, we were very impressed with everything. Our best excursion was the Berlin Discovery. We had Ruth as a tour guide and enjoyed her very much. Best meal....well I have a food allergy and ever night they would give me the menu for the next dinner so I could select and they could accommodate my allergy. Every night I asked the pastry chefs to surprise me with dessert. This was my favorite part of every meal. To have that decadent surprise every night was wonderful. And every night was better than the night before.
Can't say we were disappointed in too much, but we did leave the Tallinn Walking Tour early. We couldn't hear the tour guide and after a while just gave up. We had a delightful time though walking through the town with our table mates. It ended up being one of the highlights of the trip for us.

By the by...what did you guys think of Russia?

Look forward to hearing from you all.

We asked on board and were told it will be at least a couple years before they could go back to the Baltic. You have to apply 2 years ahead of time for port space.

 

[buck4568]

Our favorite excursion was the ice bar in Stockholm. I so wish I was still on the ship!

We got off on July 6th and still feel that way!

 

[Madisonznana]

We had a wonderful time and wish we could have stayed on longer. But it is great to be home in my own bed. Madison said next time she goes her Mom has to come along, it was a long trip for her!
I really would have loved St. Petersburg if it wasn't for the heat. My family loved Sweden. We had a great waiter team, Ivan and Jimson, they kept the kids so well taken care of and entertained.
The 10 hour flight home was fairly miserable, a 1 year old screamed and cried 9 1/2 hours of the flight.
It was fun to meet ballyhooers and missed several I would have liked to meet!

 

[Caropooh]

I need my Rainforest Room! I'm going through withdrawals!

 

[Vactime]

Post Cruise Debriefing:

Just sitting in Heathrow BORED OUT OF MY MIND... Thought I would check the boards and see if anyone else was out there.

What did you think? What was the best excursion, the best meal, the best anything? Disappointed in anything?

Did anyone else hear that Disney will not be going back to the Baltics anytime soon? What do you think about this.

We had a great cruise. Being our first cruise ever, we were very impressed with everything. Our best excursion was the Berlin Discovery. We had Ruth as a tour guide and enjoyed her very much. Best meal....well I have a food allergy and ever night they would give me the menu for the next dinner so I could select and they could accommodate my allergy. Every night I asked the pastry chefs to surprise me with dessert. This was my favorite part of every meal. To have that decadent surprise every night was wonderful. And every night was better than the night before.
Can't say we were disappointed in too much, but we did leave the Tallinn Walking Tour early. We couldn't hear the tour guide and after a while just gave up. We had a delightful time though walking through the town with our table mates. It ended up being one of the highlights of the trip for us.

By the by...what did you guys think of Russia?

Look forward to hearing from you all.

Just got home and finished unpacking. Now the laundry starts. Favorite tours: Sweden, Vasa Royal armoury.Would have loved to have more time in Sweden. Berlin we had a great tour guide, Jens.

The best meal is hard, to many to pick from.

Our Waiters did tell us that they heard that Disney is not planning on going back to the Baltics. Many of the crew we talked to were glad it was the last cruise there. I think they like the warmer weather and ports where more people stay on the ship, think these cruises cut into their pay with the days at sea being cold, many people not out buying drinks and tipping.

 

[DisneyDoc1895]

Our Waiters did tell us that they heard that Disney is not planning on going back to the Baltics. Many of the crew we talked to were glad it was the last cruise there. I think they like the warmer weather and ports where more people stay on the ship, think these cruises cut into their pay with the days at sea being cold, many people not out buying drinks and tipping.

I think this makes sense. We did stay on until lunch a few days and it was a ghost ship. Saw many, many crew members sitting around on deck 9, no one drinking or eating. Ports are interesting but lets face it guys, we don't necessarily do DCL for the ports - if we are going to be off the ship all day and night we might as well do that "other" cruise line (you pick which one!).

Weather was difficult too.

Anyway, I started to put my TR with pics up, if anyone is interested:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2522646

Ken

(Food and Wine in less than 3 months!)