The 2010 Baltic Thread--Cruise Tips and Planning

[Andrew DEREK UK]

quick question....is palo dinner offered on the nights that we are in st. Petersburg?

Thanks.
Bridget

Yes


(Quick answer)

 

[carolmb]

Firstly the minimum travelcard is for 7 nights, ( in a row), they also have them monthly and other increasing amounts. You cannot split it 3.5 days before and after, it runs one week.

Yes you can add them to the oyster card, I do, because I work in London, so its a consistent amount to pay.

But unless you are there say six days and plus, I cannot see the benefit of having a travelcard, but 'pay as you go'

You can use Pay as you go, generally on Train, bus and tube and some boats on the Thames, anywhere within the M25 area.

Hampton court is inside the Oyster zone so you can 'pay as you go' Windsor is outside so you must buy a train return ticket at Paddington or Waterloo.

Get the kids photocard, you cant really travel without it, except for the young kids. 11 needs it, 9 can get mistaken for the line for having a card, travle is cheap or free for our kids till 16. Or in education above that.

Dover will require a train ticket to be purchased at Victoria or London bridge, a sinlge as you are not coming back that day.

Hilton docklands is closest to Canada Water on jubilee, and also East London line when it reopens.

Andrew,
How difficult do you think it would be to take the train or underground from heathrow to the Canada Water station? Thanks.

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

Andrew,
How difficult do you think it would be to take the train or underground from heathrow to the Canada Water station? Thanks.

The journey is easy, with cruise luggage is the harder part.

Firstly, the route:-

Piccadilly line serves all of the Heathrow terminals, you have to go down to it in the tube. By escalators.
-these trains have luggage space.
Then stay on that, would say 45 mins, to Green Park.

Swap to the Jubilee line. This will require an interchange by escalator, one flight.

Get a 'Stratford' train (Eastbound), to Canada Water.

As well as Escalators, that station does have lifts, for people with disabilities, I have used that station, and its got big escalators and two sets of lifts so not too bad.

There is a bus station above it, might go to the local hotels.

Try to avoid weekday rush hours to/from work.

 

[mardonna]

I am traveling on the June 24th cuise......but just trying to get some answers in regards to pre booking that has started on June 12th cruise.

The Disney Concierge has not been very helpful......I asked them flat out for excursions times and they told me to look at my reservations and the time would show up....I'm sure they have a list of travel times for all excursions somewhere...whats the big deal....frustrating.

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

I am traveling on the June 24th cuise......but just trying to get some answers in regards to pre booking that has started on June 12th cruise.

The Disney Concierge has not been very helpful......I asked them flat out for excursions times and they told me to look at my reservations and the time would show up....I'm sure they have a list of travel times for all excursions somewhere...whats the big deal....frustrating.

It is difficult getting an answer out of them, but from your post, I think they are confused and think maybe you are on the first cruise somehow.

As the times of the shore trips will not appear on your reservation or 'may cruise plans' until you book them.

I think we can gather from the limited posts on shore trip times is that full day trips are meeting promptly at port arrival time, or within 15 mins of it, and half day tours are having two slots am on arrival and after lunch.

 

[carolmb]

The journey is easy, with cruise luggage is the harder part.

Firstly, the route:-

Piccadilly line serves all of the Heathrow terminals, you have to go down to it in the tube. By escalators.
-these trains have luggage space.
Then stay on that, would say 45 mins, to Green Park.

Swap to the Jubilee line. This will require an interchange by escalator, one flight.

Get a 'Stratford' train (Eastbound), to Canada Water.

As well as Escalators, that station does have lifts, for people with disabilities, I have used that station, and its got big escalators and two sets of lifts so not too bad.

There is a bus station above it, might go to the local hotels.

Try to avoid weekday rush hours to/from work.

Thanks. Rush hour could be a problem as our flight arrives around 8am on a Tuesday but by time we finally make it to the tube it could be around 9am. The Hilton does offer a shuttle from the hotel to the Canada Water station so that is an option.

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

Thanks. Rush hour could be a problem as our flight arrives around 8am on a Tuesday but by time we finally make it to the tube it could be around 9am. The Hilton does offer a shuttle from the hotel to the Canada Water station so that is an option.

You will miss it then.

8am arrival.
30 mins immigration and luggage retrieval.
45 mins up to London on Piccadilly line. You get on at the terminus, so have a seat.
you will get to Central London, no earlier than 9.15am, most likely a bit later.

Rush hour is actually two hours in the morning, 7am>9am, and then 4pm>7pm.

Commuters in Heathrow or Hounslow who work in London would need to leave about 8am.

 

[sshaw10060]

That seems ambitious to me. I'm guessing you are talking about catching the train into London from Potters Bar? I don't recommend driving - that train will be quick and frequent.

Ok, so your second day you want to visit Windsor castle, STonehenge & Winchester, but spend the night in Windsor? That is feasible, but would mean you drive past Windsor to come back to it, only to drive away from it again the next morning. Potters Bar - Windsor is about 40 miles, but you use the notorious M25 so I would allow 1.5hours for that trip. Much of the parking in Windsor is pay & display, so have plenty of change! You can easily spend a full day in Windsor with the castle, changing of the guard, shopping, river cruise & the Windsor wheel. Windsor - Stonehenge is about 70 miles so again allow an hour and a half (the road to Stonehenge is single carriageway & often frequented by tractors). Stonehenge - Winchester is about 35 miles & will take around 45 minutes. Winchester is actually a very nice city with plenty of places to stay & see (if you have any energy left!)

Day 3 is from here to Portsmouth which is a short 30 miles and will probably take about 30 mins. It is mostly motorway, so depending on the time of day you leave Winchester you'll be fine (from Windsor this would have been about 75 miles and considerably longer). Portsmouth - Dover is about 140 miles and will take around 2.5 hours as it is not a "straight line route", so you will get half a day at most in Dover to visit. The castle closes at 6pm, and whilst I've not been personally, friends of mine who have say it is a good day out and less than that you probably won't do it justice.

It is do-able, but I think you may be very tired before you get on the ship!

Celestine

Thanks for the advice. We decided we will head to Windsor first thing in the morning then out to Stonehenge. From there we will be off to Portsmouth for the night. I was able to get the Premier Inn from 29 pounds that night (best bargain of the trip so far.)

 

[jilljill]

Thanks for posting this! I sent what you posted to the tour company and asked what gives! Yeah, $15 pp add on would be worth it.

~Mike

I'm curious to hear what you find out from the tour company for their reasoning on the flat rate pricing.

 

[din]

Note

For all care on booking flights home.


Due to tidal issues, debarkation in Dover on July 6th (for the June 24th voyage) will not begin until 10:30am. It is recommended that your flight departure time should be no earlier than 4:00pm.

Guest ashore times and onboard times are subject to change without notice.

Hi Andrew: Did you get this from DCL? Do you know if we can find out about the tides at Dover? We are trying to arrange for flights out of LHR and looking at a 2PM flight but based on what you posted.. that may not work for us. BTW we are on the July 6th cruise so boarding for us will latter than usual.

 

[cindy18]

I'm on the June 24th cruise. We got a letter from DCL letting us know that we would be pulling into port in Dover at 10:30 instead of at 8, as previously indicated. Our flight home isn't until 4:45, so it's not a problem for us (and means debarkation morning won't be so miserably early) but I can see where it would be a problem for anyone that booked an earlier flight. I also wonder what it will mean to boarding for the July 6th cruise.

 

[buck4568]

Anyone using Red October Tours? A friend used them several years ago in Russia and says they were great.

 

[markmyboy]

Yes


(Quick answer)

Perfect. Thank You!
-Bridget

 

[Yensidfan]

As of now they are not taking any reservations for Palo on the two nights they are in St. Petersburg. I am on the June 12th cruise and it skips from Day 6 to Day 9 on the Palo reservation page.

So as of now it is no. I think they haven't decided what to do about dinner times and shows while in St. Petersburg.

Yes


(Quick answer)

 

[sunshine state kim]

Do any of you have information on where we will actually be berthing at the various ports? I was able to find information for Stockholm; looks like we'll be docking at Frihamen, which means I need to figure out how to take a bus instead of the ferry. I am wondering about Oslo and Copenhagen as we're planning to do those places on our own.

 

[buck4568]

With over 74 pages I am sure this may have been discussed so apologies for being repetative.

We are on the June 24th sailing, a family of four with DD 17, and DS 14 and looking at the costs of DCL excursions vs. Red October Tours or SPD Tours it would be saving money if we did Red October/SPD since you visit more places in total. With DCL you would have to go on multiple excursions and end up paying more.

If any others want to team up we can get a better rate per person. We just need to decide what to see in St Petersburg. We might do the same for Germany also. Anyone wanting to explore this option?

Or, If you have a group and would consider four more people let me know.

 

[mardonna]

We decided to use SPB Tours over Red October.......we are a family of 6.......3 adults and 3 kids.....we are going to do our tour without sharing because with 3 kids we have no idea how they will be and don't want to worry about other people on tour.....we are looking to share a SPB Tours in Berlin....we will only be a party of 3 there....2 adults and 1 9 year old......any interest?

 

[buck4568]

We decided to use SPB Tours over Red October.......we are a family of 6.......3 adults and 3 kids.....we are going to do our tour without sharing because with 3 kids we have no idea how they will be and don't want to worry about other people on tour.....we are looking to share a SPB Tours in Berlin....we will only be a party of 3 there....2 adults and 1 9 year old......any interest?

I wonder how much the rate would change if you had 10 people? I did send you an email and if you don't mind, can you let me know how much per person for the adults with SPB?

You have a 9 yr. old, and the ages of the other two?

Thanks,

 

[markmyboy]

As of now they are not taking any reservations for Palo on the two nights they are in St. Petersburg. I am on the June 12th cruise and it skips from Day 6 to Day 9 on the Palo reservation page.

So as of now it is no. I think they haven't decided what to do about dinner times and shows while in St. Petersburg.

Thanks,
We are trying to figure out which night to have Palo dinner, One of the St. Petersburg nights would be ideal. Hmm, maybe by the time the July 18th cruise can book our reservations, Disney will have this all figured out!

Bridget

 

[buck4568]

I was looking at the DCL itinerary for the Baltic sailings and they show us arriving at St. Petersburg at 12:30pm! Has anyone confirmed that we would be there early morning to do these two day tours which start at 7:30am?

Update: I did call DCL and confirmed that we would not be in port early morning! So as of right now it looks like any two day tours with SPB or other company would have to be a one day tour. Most ships arrive early morning and with a day at sea prior to St. Petersburg I would have thought we could get in to port earlier than 12:30PM.