The 2010 Baltic Thread--Cruise Tips and Planning

[Celestine]

Trying to figure out the process for the Oyster photo card for my kids.

Anyone know if there is a substantial advantage to getting this online versus in person
Since it is not mailed to our home and we have to pick it up anyway-just wondering if we should wait until we get to London

Also, what have people used as the photo if they did it online-I was thinking of scanning in the kid's passports and using the passport picture-but our passports are two years old and the kids look way different now-so then wondered if I could just crop a picture I had taken at home to the proper size. How strict are they about the picture??

You will need to apply in advance. The £5 admin fee is then put onto the Oyster as a credit to use against travel. You need to allow at least 3 weeks for processing & when you collect it you need to have a passport so show identity & prove the card is for some-one of the correct age. I doubt there are specific issues about the photos as long as they look roughly like the picture you submit. It says a "digital passport photo type" photo.

Hope this helps!

Celestine

 

[MrsScooby]

You will need to apply in advance. The £5 admin fee is then put onto the Oyster as a credit to use against travel. You need to allow at least 3 weeks for processing & when you collect it you need to have a passport so show identity & prove the card is for some-one of the correct age. I doubt there are specific issues about the photos as long as they look roughly like the picture you submit. It says a "digital passport photo type" photo.

Hope this helps!

Celestine

Just what I needed. I'll try to find appropriate pics tonight.
Thanks

 

[gydell]

Another wacko here


Good question-looking to see what the other cruises have had



We're bringing pounds
Just seems easier.
Your bank may need some time to get them for you so if you want pounds you would need to order them real soon-like now

Not sure about the London cabs, but DH usually just hits an ATM at the airport to pickup some pounds.

Many London cabs do take debit or credit cards, but they tack on an extra charge for doing so. Therefore, we just hit an ATM in the airport and pay with cash.

Thanks!

 

[sbell111]

Trying to figure out the process for the Oyster photo card for my kids.

Anyone know if there is a substantial advantage to getting this online versus in person
Since it is not mailed to our home and we have to pick it up anyway-just wondering if we should wait until we get to London

Also, what have people used as the photo if they did it online-I was thinking of scanning in the kid's passports and using the passport picture-but our passports are two years old and the kids look way different now-so then wondered if I could just crop a picture I had taken at home to the proper size. How strict are they about the picture??

For our daughter's picture, we just plopped her onto a grey background and started taking pics until we got one that met the Sate Department's requirements. It took something like 75 pics to get one that worked.

We then uploaded the pic to epassportphoto.com and it formatted the pic to the official requirements.

If I were you, I'd take a pic of your kids standing in front of a white/grey/beige wall and format the pic as described above.

 

[MrsScooby]

For our daughter's picture, we just plopped her onto a grey background and started taking pics until we got one that met the Sate Department's requirements. It took something like 75 pics to get one that worked.

We then uploaded the pic to epassportphoto.com and it formatted the pic to the official requirements.

If I were you, I'd take a pic of your kids standing in front of a white/grey/beige wall and format the pic as described above.

Thanks! Figured with a digital camera we should be able to do it with little problem. Mine are old enough that it shouldn't be too hard. Although one of them got the giggles when we went to get the passport photos taken...oh, wait that was my DH So we should be fine as we don't need a photo for him this time.

 

[has]

Yummy!

Does anyone have a "final list" as of today of course of the special nights? Trying to plan my secret mickey exchanges and FE gifts.

I know it was posted, but 2,000 + posts is just too many to look through at the moment.

Thank you !
Heidi

 

[xangav]

Trying to figure out the process for the Oyster photo card for my kids.

Anyone know if there is a substantial advantage to getting this online versus in person
Since it is not mailed to our home and we have to pick it up anyway-just wondering if we should wait until we get to London

Also, what have people used as the photo if they did it online-I was thinking of scanning in the kid's passports and using the passport picture-but our passports are two years old and the kids look way different now-so then wondered if I could just crop a picture I had taken at home to the proper size. How strict are they about the picture??

They don't seem to be extremely strict about the picture. I took one pic much as you would for a passport. I have taken our passport photos before and they are much stricter but they did accept them.

It took less than a week to get confirmation that they accepted the picture and that we could pick it up at Heathrow.

 

[carolmb]

Trying to figure out the process for the Oyster photo card for my kids.

Anyone know if there is a substantial advantage to getting this online versus in person
Since it is not mailed to our home and we have to pick it up anyway-just wondering if we should wait until we get to London

Also, what have people used as the photo if they did it online-I was thinking of scanning in the kid's passports and using the passport picture-but our passports are two years old and the kids look way different now-so then wondered if I could just crop a picture I had taken at home to the proper size. How strict are they about the picture??

It was very easy. I just took a photo of my kids and uploaded to my computer. When you get to the part of the form to upload the photo you can crop and view the picture you submit. Then you will get an email saying that they need to approve the photo which took a couple of days. I was stressing trying to take a passport type photo which not really necessary. We pick up the kids cards at Heathrow when we arrive in 2 weeks and will just purchase our Oyster cards then. I did not preorder them.
Carol

 

[CarolAnnC]

With all the questions being discussed and opinions on the carry on baggage allowances I decided to go straight to the source. I "googled" London Heathrow baggage allowance and found the website http://www.heathrow-airport-guide.co.uk/security.html and looked up "security". Under that search the following is what I found.

"Passengers are now permitted to carry more than one item of hand luggage through security. You will, however, need to check with your airline before arrival at the airport. Some airlines will only allow you to carry one item of hand baggage, and the weight and size allowances differ between airlines."

Hope that helps...as always and as it states, individual airlines may have other guidelines but at least for the airport itself it appears they allow more than one carry on.

The problem is that the individual airlines have written their own policies. As posted a few days ago, Virgin just recently denied a personal item with a carryon resulting in the person trying to stuff the purse into the carry bag.

This, plus the fact that the flights specifically to the U.S. are the ones that the London airports are not permitting the personal item plus carryone - flights to other countries are now allowed to do this.

So, there are so many variables, the policy can be different for many different scenarios.

DH is flying United so I will update everyone when he returns on Friday..

 

[MrsScooby]

They don't seem to be extremely strict about the picture. I took one pic much as you would for a passport. I have taken our passport photos before and they are much stricter but they did accept them.

It took less than a week to get confirmation that they accepted the picture and that we could pick it up at Heathrow.

It was very easy. I just took a photo of my kids and uploaded to my computer. When you get to the part of the form to upload the photo you can crop and view the picture you submit. Then you will get an email saying that they need to approve the photo which took a couple of days. I was stressing trying to take a passport type photo which not really necessary. We pick up the kids cards at Heathrow when we arrive in 2 weeks and will just purchase our Oyster cards then. I did not preorder them.
Carol

Thanks
Just waiting on my email now.

 

[macassi]

Will there be any problem bringing bottles of wine onto the ship in Dover? I know you can generally do it in Florida, but I wasn't sure if the same rules apply for the Baltic Cruises.

Is there a limit to how much they allow?

 

[dylan'smom]

I know this has been answered already but PLEASE one more time. Do the cabs at LHR take US dollars or credit cards or do I need to get pounds before we leave(next week)?

Our LHR taxi experience was that he would not accept a CC but wanted pounds.... or Euros!

We picked up the pounds ahead of time, but I noticed a pretty good exchange rate in the airport & no fees if it was a couple hundred, I think.

A funny thing in baggage - there were lots of carts available & we needed one, but they only took a sterling coin!! Luckily there was a change machine nearby as well, because my euro got stuck!

I wish they had that system at LAX - instead of paying for a cart, you deposit a coin to get your cart free, and if you return it, it will spit the coin back -- too cool! But I digress....lol

bev

 

[dylan'smom]

...Naples, Italy... we went to a pizza place in Naples for for "authentic pizza". It was disgusting! It was stone-oven baked and it was charred black in places, very little cheese or sauce....ugh. Of course we choked it down. Now that has become a favorite family laugh. Everytime we order pizza and someone complains about something, someone will say, "Hey, at least it's not as bad as that pizza we had in Italy!" and we all laugh.

Ahaha too funny! We did the DCL one that included another stop & had a wonderful Italian lunch, with water & wine bottles on the table - loved it! But no pizza..lol

I have to say, as pricey as they were, our DCL excursions were the best in the Med in 07!!! In one we took an after hours (NOT crowded) tour of the Sistine Chapel - OMGosh - and we had amazing 5 course meals along the way. So I'm inclined to try them again -- hopefully they're as good.

 

[denise]

Has anyone heard how much the internet will be on the Baltic cruise?
I have to be able to pay my mom's bills (she's in a nursing home right now)

I have always gone without having the net while on a cruise, but it will be the fastest way for my sister to get ahold of me too.

How good is the wifi?

thanks

 

[MJGirl]

Has anyone heard how much the internet will be on the Baltic cruise?
I have to be able to pay my mom's bills (she's in a nursing home right now)

I have always gone without having the net while on a cruise, but it will be the fastest way for my sister to get ahold of me too.

How good is the wifi?

thanks

Hi Denise ... If my memory serves me its $150 for 500 minutes, plus there are smaller packages as well. Also, I remember the service being slow, and it dropped alot. If it does drop on you, be sure to call them to make sure you are logged off. On the Med cruise, the first time it dropped on us, we were still logged on and lost over an hour. DCL refunded the time for us, but we were lucky we noticed!

 

[dflyer]

Hi Everyone, any ideas as to what movies may be played on the July 6 cruise? I'm thinking possibly Toy Story and Prince of Persia. What do you think?

 

[Deb T.]

Hi Everyone, any ideas as to what movies may be played on the July 6 cruise? I'm thinking possibly Toy Story and Prince of Persia. What do you think?

Here are my predictions, based on my 4-1-10 cruise and new releases:

Toy Story 3 in 3-D
When in Rome
Alice in Wonderland
Old Dogs
G-Force
Toy Story 1 & 2 in 3-D
Princess and the Frog
Xmas Carol in 3-D
The Sorcerer's Apprentice is set for a 7/16 release date

But, we can call DCL about 2 weeks prior to sailing for a more complete list.

 

[Deb T.]

Hi Everyone, any ideas as to what movies may be played on the July 6 cruise? I'm thinking possibly Toy Story and Prince of Persia. What do you think?

dflyer - please come and join us on the July 6th "Meets" thread:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1975441

 

[MJGirl]

Here is the list someone on the June 12th cruise was given for ours:

I wrote to DCL May 6 about movies on board and here's what they said:

Regarding the movies that are showing onboard, we are pleased to offer first run films in the Buena Vista Theatre for you and your family to enjoy during your cruise. Here is the list of our current offerings:
-Up (3D)
-Surrogates
-Toy Story 1 & 2 (3D)
-Old Dogs
-Princess & The Frog
-When in Rome
-Alice in Wonderland (3D)
-Last Song
-Oceans
-The Prince of Persia PremEAR 5/28
-Toy Story 3 (3D) PremEAR 6/18

 

[CarolAnnC]

DH just arrived home from his United flight boarded at London Heathrow and bound for Chicago O'Hare. He confirms United does now allow one personal item (such as a purse) along with an approved carry on item. This is great news as I can now relax and know my purse won't have to fit into my bag, lol.

But keep in mind, this is airline specific information. As reported earlier in this thread Virgin was still recently prohibited this and limiting to one single carry on for flights out of London.