June 5, 2016 - Magic Goes to England, Ireland, Scotland and France

[nzdisneymom]

Cam - do you want to add a Roll Call listing in the first post of this thread? We've found that's been helpful in the past , especially when there is as much time between booking and sailing as we have with this itinerary. It looks like there are seven families here already! Here's who I see (hopefully I didn't overlook someone who posted a hello):

keenercam (Cam)
nzdisneymom (Cindy D)
gydell (Gydell)
MandJHuff (Mike and Janet)
2littlestitches
MPS516
Terapin

 

[keenercam]

A roll call is an excellent idea, Cindy! I added it to the first post. I'll also put links in that post as time goes on, directing people to posts in this thread that have information that we want to be readily accessible.

Did you guys notice that the Disney Cruise Line website already has some Port Adventures for a couple of our ports?

 

[MandJHuff]

I wanted to mention to everyone, in case you don't already know, that the exchange rate for Dollars to Euros is very good right now. It is so much better than it was when we were purchasing Euros for our 2014 DCL trip to the Mediterranean. We have purchased some already and put them in a safe, and we'll keep an eye on the rate. If it goes down more, we'll buy more Euros. We used them in Europe to pay private tour operators, a resort where we did a day pass, taxis, etc.

Just as an FYI, please remember that most of the British Isles uses GBP/Great British Pounds..and not Euros. Big difference in the exchange rate between the two, as the pound is almost 1.5 per USD.

 

[keenercam]

Just as an FYI, please remember that most of the British Isles uses GBP/Great British Pounds..and not Euros. Big difference in the exchange rate between the two, as the pound is almost 1.5 per USD.

That is very good to know. Thank you.

 

[nzdisneymom]

Just as an FYI, please remember that most of the British Isles uses GBP/Great British Pounds..and not Euros. Big difference in the exchange rate between the two, as the pound is almost 1.5 per USD.

I knew England was the GBP and thought Scotland too, but found out that Ireland is on the Euro and of course France, too. We had some Euro leftover from 2013 that I never did anything with - I think it will be enough for these two ports unless we book something privately and need additional Euro for them. I kept them as "seed money" for another adventure! We will order some GBP before we leave home but get the rest of what we need from an ATM in London or exchange on board. We found the on board rates were relatively comparable and the nice thing was that they would buy back your unused currency at the same rate they exchanged with you - just keep your receipts from them.

 

[MandJHuff]

I knew England was the GBP and thought Scotland too, but found out that Ireland is on the Euro and of course France, too. We had some Euro leftover from 2013 that I never did anything with - I think it will be enough for these two ports unless we book something privately and need additional Euro for them. I kept them as "seed money" for another adventure! We will order some GBP before we leave home but get the rest of what we need from an ATM in London or exchange on board. We found the on board rates were relatively comparable and the nice thing was that they would buy back your unused currency at the same rate they exchanged with you - just keep your receipts from them.

That is good to know about exchanging on board and getting the same rate back. Thanks for sharing!

 

[nzdisneymom]

A roll call is an excellent idea, Cindy! I added it to the first post. I'll also put links in that post as time goes on, directing people to posts in this thread that have information that we want to be readily accessible.
Did you guys notice that the Disney Cruise Line website already has some Port Adventures for a couple of our ports?

Cam, that will be very helpful to have links in the first post! Because with 437 more days before we sail, I suspect this thread will get quite lengthy! I didn't expect they would have any Port Adventures up yet - maybe because there are Adventures by Disney offerings in some of the areas we are going, they will be versions of those activities...

 

[MPS516]

In the MED and Greece we did mostly private tours and will be doing the same on our Baltic Curse in July. It really works well when people combine to do private excursions, drives the price way down. When in Rome, in addition to our regular guide/driver, we had private guide at the Vatican, jumped the line and got into places our dinner mates only heard about on their DCL tour. We did a meet up in Barcelona at the Magic Fountain of Montjuïc for the show the night before the cruise and got to meet most everyone from the meet thread. In Venice Cam arranged a pre cruise dinner meet which also gave us a chance to meet several from our thread and made our on ship exchanges that much better.

Our daughters are already bubbling over this cruise and we haven't even packed to go on our Baltic Cruise, something about Ireland. We have not been there since 2005 and plan to spend a few days pre cruise in Northern Ireland having traveled throughout the Republic before.

 

[keenercam]

In 2011, we did the same as Mike - private drivers and private tour guides. In 2014, we had a private driver in Athens (he was absolutely wonderful) and shared private drivers and/or tours in 3 Greek ports. We also found a resort for a day pass in one of our Greek ports, which was wonderful.

I want to check to see the distance between the port in France and Disneyland Paris. That is a late all-aboard time and I am wondering whether a day trip to DLP is a possibility. Does anyone here know?

 

[Alohagirl73]

Just jumping in to say we are booked for this cruise. There will be 4 of us. Besides myself, DH, DD who will be 5 at the time of sailing, and DS who will be 1.

British Isles cruise is what we have wanted to do for awhile!!! Beyond excited including my husband!

 

[EpcotKilterFan]

Me and my mom are on this cruise! But I need to get through the Norway/Iceland cruise this June first! The port adventure that is up is for Kirkwall, which we are visiting on the Iceland cruise. So we will be able to bring back reports on that port! I am very excited for the British Isles. I don't have a bucket list of places... but if I did this would be on it.

Debbie

 

[MJ]

Me and my mom are on this cruise! But I need to get through the Norway/Iceland cruise this June first! The port adventure that is up is for Kirkwall, which we are visiting on the Iceland cruise. So we will be able to bring back reports on that port! I am very excited for the British Isles. I don't have a bucket list of places... but if I did this would be on it.

Debbie

My DH, Jack and myself are scheduled to go too. Thanks, Debbie, for the heads up through a mutual friend. You must have posted pre-booking on Facebook. Looking forward to seeing you and Mom again.

Mary Jo

 

[nzdisneymom]

In the MED and Greece we did mostly private tours and will be doing the same on our Baltic Curse in July. It really works well when people combine to do private excursions, drives the price way down. When in Rome, in addition to our regular guide/driver, we had private guide at the Vatican, jumped the line and got into places our dinner mates only heard about on their DCL tour. We did a meet up in Barcelona at the Magic Fountain of Montjuïc for the show the night before the cruise and got to meet most everyone from the meet thread. In Venice Cam arranged a pre cruise dinner meet which also gave us a chance to meet several from our thread and made our on ship exchanges that much better.

We have done more private tours or on-our-own exploration as we've gained confidence over time. And we've had a chance to combine tours with other guests that we have met online pre-cruise. One of my favorite things to do is to have a pre-sailing meet the day/night before sailing so we get a chance to put names and faces together, and also to have a sailing day meet on board the ship. So as time gets closer to sailing, if someone wants to "host" a pre-sailing or day of sailing meet, that would be great. It really makes a cruise more fun when you know some of the people ahead of time - online or in real life. I'm excited about this one because we have sailed with some folks before and are looking forward to meeting so many more!

I want to check to see the distance between the port in France and Disneyland Paris. That is a late all-aboard time and I am wondering whether a day trip to DLP is a possibility. Does anyone here know?

The one thing we HAVE to do in Paris is the Eiffel Tower. When DH was 13, he was about to go up with his brother when a storm came in and they could not go. We may actually splurge on a DCL excursion for Paris to be sure to get this experience - of course we'll wait and see what's available and what private options might also be open. But I will have a disappointed DH and DS(s) if we don't get to do it. They want to save DLP for a time when we can be in Paris for more than a day.

Just jumping in to say we are booked for this cruise. There will be 4 of us. Besides myself, DH, DD who will be 5 at the time of sailing, and DS who will be 1.
British Isles cruise is what we have wanted to do for awhile!!! Beyond excited including my husband!

Welcome Alohagirl!

Me and my mom are on this cruise! But I need to get through the Norway/Iceland cruise this June first! The port adventure that is up is for Kirkwall, which we are visiting on the Iceland cruise. So we will be able to bring back reports on that port! I am very excited for the British Isles. I don't have a bucket list of places... but if I did this would be on it.

Welcome Debbie! I didn't realize the Iceland cruise was stopping in Kirkwall - that makes sense about why there are Port Adventures posted already! I print out the ones that I think we might be interested in, put them in a stack and have DH and the boys go through them independently to mark which ones they might be interested in and then we select based on that. So DH looked at Kirkwall last night and because we aren't familiar with the area, he googled a lot of the places and narrowed things down. We like to see what DCL has selected as "highlights" of an area so we have a starting point for planning.

My DH, Jack and myself are scheduled to go too.

Welcome, Mary Jo!

 

[keenercam]

Is the roll call in the first post okay? or too much information?

 

[MPS516]

For thread roll call looks fine to me. For detailed roll call we can do the separate excel sheet again with more info.

Us ? DH - Mike DW - Donna DD - Jessi & Megan

Deck 2 early dining

 

[cali cruiser]

Hi everyone!! My name is Michelle and will be traveling with DH (John), DD (Megan-13) and DS (Jacob-17). We booked Wednesday morning and I was on hold for 2 hours and 20 min. but am so happy it all worked out. We will be staying on deck 5 and have Main Dining. I recognize a couple of you from last year's Venice to Barcelona....Cam I think we did an excursion together. This will be our 9th cruise (8 of them on the Magic). We are doing the double dip on the Dream this July so I'm trying to focus on that cruise first, but this is so much more exciting! Looking forward to getting to know you all

 

[EpcotKilterFan]

My DH, Jack and myself are scheduled to go too. Thanks, Debbie, for the heads up through a mutual friend. You must have posted pre-booking on Facebook. Looking forward to seeing you and Mom again.

Mary Jo

Hi Mary Jo! It will be good to see you again as well.

Debbie

 

[nzdisneymom]

Hi everyone!! My name is Michelle and will be traveling with DH (John), DD (Megan-13) and DS (Jacob-17). We booked Wednesday morning and I was on hold for 2 hours and 20 min. but am so happy it all worked out. We will be staying on deck 5 and have Main Dining. I recognize a couple of you from last year's Venice to Barcelona....Cam I think we did an excursion together. This will be our 9th cruise (8 of them on the Magic). We are doing the double dip on the Dream this July so I'm trying to focus on that cruise first, but this is so much more exciting! Looking forward to getting to know you all

Welcome, Michelle! The Magic is our favorite ship but we haven't sailed on her since 2013, pre upgrades, so we are especially excited to see what's new.

 

[nzdisneymom]

It's not too early to check your passport expiration dates. I pulled ours out this morning and found the boys expire today and ours expire in November. Guess we are adding passport renewals to our list of things to do this week!

 

[Mickey&JoshNut]

My Mom (Margaret) and I are booked on this cruise as well...I am super excited to be able to take my Mom to Scotland as her parents (my grandparents) were born in Buckie and Portknockie....