7/18/2010 Mickey's Baltic Ballyhoo!! Part 4

[jilljill]

jilljill:

Was it easy to find the bus? Did you prebook? Does it regularly sell out? I hate to prebook as what happens if the plane is delayed?

I think the bus sounds more relaxing, just recline and look out the window. Is there only one connection?

Sorry to ask so many questions, I'm just so undecided about whether we do bus or something like silverline. We are a family of 5 and we are wanting to stay in London after the cruise as long as possible, so we want to economize every way we can without it being a complete disaster.

If you can fill me in to the details on the procedure and whether you would do it again with 3 kids, I'd much appreciate!

We're thinking of taking the train back to London as our b+b is in bayswater and very close to paddington station. Sounds easier than the other way.

Any thoughts on that would also be much appreciated.

Just to clarify, we only have the 1 daughter and there was only 3 of us that traveled last summer. The extra kids we had in London are my friend's who will be joining us on this cruise but they will be driving to the port.

We did prebook the bus and I will book it at 12 weeks out to get the cheaper price. We paid about $60. for the 3 of us for a 1 way transfer to Dover. the bus may or may not have seats since it's a regular Greyhound type bus that has stops along the way.
Are you thinking of flying in the day of the cruise? If so I would not recommend that at all. If you are spending that much money on the cruise please fly in the day before and spend the night, even if it's at the airport. We've experienced more than 1 delay, by an entire day 2 different times, that I wouldn't risk starting out my vacation by flying all that way the day of the cruise. I wouldn't do it Also, since most flights arrive in the morning you will have time to get some sightseeing in the day you arrive and it won't be a wasted day flying in early.

Also, it takes anywhere from 15 minutes to 1 hour to get into London, depending if you take one of the express trains or the tube. Once you got to the city you would then need to transfer to the Victoria Coach station or one of the train stations to get to Dover. There may be an easier way to get to Dover from Gatwick, but coming into Heathrow you have to get into London to transfer to Dover if using public transport.

We stayed 3 blocks from the Victoria coach station and across the street from the Victoria train station so we had no problems finding it. But we had a huge help in that my friend drove our luggage to the coach station and we walked over, otherwise we would have taken a taxi.

For our bus ride we didn't have any transfers. If we had been dropped off at the Dover Priory station we would have needed a taxi. I don't call that a transfer, just needing to find another form of transport and having to pay for it separately.


If you are taking public transport back into London you will need to get a taxi back into Dover to catch the train or the bus.
We took the cruiseline transfers to Heathrow after the cruise just for convenience.

Hope this helps some.

 

[jilljill]

We should try to get a disser count & set up an early bus to the ship it has to be cheaper then what DCL wants for transfers we could go right to the ship gauranteed!

How long was the bus trip Barb?

I was thinking this myself as I was looking at the Silverline website and the different size busses they offer.
I have no clue how much the DCL transfers are since I wasn't even considering them to get to the port. We still have no clue how we will get to the airport after the cruise, but I'm still deciding if we will stay a night post-cruise.

The ride was 2 hours 15 minutes, and that included many stops along the way since it was public transport. Otherwise, I would say a direct ride would take a little under 2 hours. Our cruise left on a Sunday just like this one will, so traffic should be less than on other days.

 

[jilljill]

I was wondering about getting a bus or something with other Dis folks from London area to the port. Something like what was done last August from the Disneyland hotels to the port
I'm sure there will be plenty of Dis people interested



Good Morning

The major hurdle with trying to set this up is we would all have to decide on where to catch the bus that would be central to everyone since we won't all be staying in the same area of the city. Or wonder if the company could recommend a place for everyone to meet and catch the bus.

It would be easy to set up something like that at D'land or WDW since everyone is basically in the same area and not spread out over a city.

 

[MrsG]

I think getting a DIS bus is a great idea!!!!

We have never been to the UK and are planning on spending a day or two before the cruise in London. We're all going in the same direction so this makes a lot of sense (especially for us newbies!) We haven't booked our hotel yet and want to see the touristy things in London so a bus leaving from the London area would be great for us. I'm guessing that a cab or the tube from our hotel to the bus meeting place would be less hassel than doing that anyway to a bus station and then figuring out how to get from the Dover stop to the terminal. It also would probably get us there faster overall. If a central London stop is not convenient for all, maybe the company will set up 2 stops in the area. It still has to be better than a Greyhound type bus.

I have no idea where to start with this. Robert, Julie, Andrew, Barb, Celestine, does this make sense to do???????

 

[jlawall]

We're talking pre-cruise, cruise talk should be coming soon!!!:banana:

I'm still in the throes of pre-engagement speculation.......more details to follow..........

 

[jlawall]

howdy

busy few weeks here will try to catch up later

graduation is tonight, part of the family came in yesterday and the balance arrives this morning

Congrats!!

 

[jilljill]

I think getting a DIS bus is a great idea!!!!

We have never been to the UK and are planning on spending a day or two before the cruise in London. We're all going in the same direction so this makes a lot of sense (especially for us newbies!) We haven't booked our hotel yet and want to see the touristy things in London so a bus leaving from the London area would be great for us. I'm guessing that a cab or the tube from our hotel to the bus meeting place would be less hassel than doing that anyway to a bus station and then figuring out how to get from the Dover stop to the terminal. It also would probably get us there faster overall. If a central London stop is not convenient for all, maybe the company will set up 2 stops in the area. It still has to be better than a Greyhound type bus.

I have no idea where to start with this. Robert, Julie, Andrew, Barb, Celestine, does this make sense to do???????

I'll contact Silverline and see what they say and report back.

 

[jilljill]

I'm still in the throes of pre-engagement speculation.......more details to follow..........

How exciting. A wedding on the Baltics cruise would be so much fun.

 

[jilljill]

Happy Birthday Caro!!!

 

[slg]

JillJill:

Did you take the National Express? We are going to go to Dover for 3 or 4 days before the cruise, but we want to go straight there from the airport. I thought there was a National Express right from the airport that went straight to Victoria Station ,and then it was direct to Dover.

Since I haven't done it myself, I was wondering how complicated it was.

But i don't think we want to stay in London one night first. The travel time to a hotel (and expense) and then to Dover is something I want to avoid.

Is the national express considered public transport? I'm pretty confused by all the options.

Will have to check out Silverline as well.

 

[jilljill]

JillJill:

Did you take the National Express? We are going to go to Dover for 3 or 4 days before the cruise, but we want to go straight there from the airport. I thought there was a National Express right from the airport that went straight to Victoria Station ,and then it was direct to Dover.

Since I haven't done it myself, I was wondering how complicated it was.

But i don't think we want to stay in London one night first. The travel time to a hotel (and expense) and then to Dover is something I want to avoid.

Is the national express considered public transport? I'm pretty confused by all the options.

Will have to check out Silverline as well.

Yes we took National Express and that's what I'm calling public transport since it makes many stops. It is direct to Dover, but you will still make stops along the way just like you were taking a Greyhound bus here. (But the buses are much nicer than Greyhound, they are more like DCL or ME tranport.)
I don't know about taking NE from Heathrow to Victoria Coach Station since I've only taken NE up north and always use the tube anymore to get into the city.

Once you get to the Dover Priory station how are you getting to your Dover hotel? I didn't realize you were going straight to Dover for a couple of days and thought you were going straight to the port.

 

[Celestine]

I was wondering about getting a bus or something with other Dis folks from London area to the port. Something like what was done last August from the Disneyland hotels to the port
I'm sure there will be plenty of Dis people interested



Good Morning

DH has got me some coach prices, but he is at night school at the moment so will have to post them later. If there is enough interest, I am happy to co-ordinate (yes, I saw the stress first hand that Julie went through last year) & I'm still willing to give it a go. I note some-one asked about picking up - our contacts say it should not be diff=icult to pick people up from their hotels as long as you are all in London (Bayswater, Paddington, London eye etc.) rather than Outer London. I'll do a proper post later & ask for a rough idea of numbers. Logistically it may be easier with a couple of smaller mini coaches rather than 1 large coach.

Celestine

 

[slg]

We'll take a taxi from the bus station to the hotel,which is near the port.

Still in the throws of planning...

 

[jilljill]

DH has got me some coach prices, but he is at night school at the moment so will have to post them later. If there is enough interest, I am happy to co-ordinate (yes, I saw the stress first hand that Julie went through last year) & I'm still willing to give it a go

Celestine

No clue what stress Julie went thru last year, but at least you are in the same time zone and calling zone as the companies you can get the info from so that has to be a huge help.
That would be so great of you to be able to get us some info, especially where they can pick us all up from. I'm sure to save £'s we would all be willing to get to a central point.

 

[bellelinus]

DH has got me some coach prices, but he is at night school at the moment so will have to post them later. If there is enough interest, I am happy to co-ordinate (yes, I saw the stress first hand that Julie went through last year) & I'm still willing to give it a go. I note some-one asked about picking up - our contacts say it should not be diff=icult to pick people up from their hotels as long as you are all in London (Bayswater, Paddington, London eye etc.) rather than Outer London. I'll do a proper post later & ask for a rough idea of numbers. Logistically it may be easier with a couple of smaller mini coaches rather than 1 large coach.

Celestine

Yes, Celestine, you did see how badly arranging coach service privately can be last year when I did it I have been holding off on commenting because I know my girls would go crazy if I suggested that we do a variation on the "pirate bus" again this time . . . logically I know that it is a very different situation in London, and with your husband's expertise, Celestine but I will have to wait and see how things look before committing to this again. And you are a saint for looking into it!

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

I dont know if I should post that in 2010, all I need to do is either drive to the cruise port or get a taxi and be there in one hour!!!!! Mint.

 

[danfromca]

I think getting a DIS bus is a great idea!!!!

We have never been to the UK and are planning on spending a day or two before the cruise in London. We're all going in the same direction so this makes a lot of sense (especially for us newbies!) We haven't booked our hotel yet and want to see the touristy things in London so a bus leaving from the London area would be great for us. I'm guessing that a cab or the tube from our hotel to the bus meeting place would be less hassel than doing that anyway to a bus station and then figuring out how to get from the Dover stop to the terminal. It also would probably get us there faster overall. If a central London stop is not convenient for all, maybe the company will set up 2 stops in the area. It still has to be better than a Greyhound type bus.

I have no idea where to start with this. Robert, Julie, Andrew, Barb, Celestine, does this make sense to do???????

We would also be interested in this. Also have not yet booked a hotel.

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

I think getting a DIS bus is a great idea!!!!

We have never been to the UK and are planning on spending a day or two before the cruise in London. We're all going in the same direction so this makes a lot of sense (especially for us newbies!) We haven't booked our hotel yet and want to see the touristy things in London so a bus leaving from the London area would be great for us. I'm guessing that a cab or the tube from our hotel to the bus meeting place would be less hassel than doing that anyway to a bus station and then figuring out how to get from the Dover stop to the terminal. It also would probably get us there faster overall. If a central London stop is not convenient for all, maybe the company will set up 2 stops in the area. It still has to be better than a Greyhound type bus.

I have no idea where to start with this. Robert, Julie, Andrew, Barb, Celestine, does this make sense to do???????

Being honest it has lots of logisital issues as Julie knows from last year, there people were only at the DIsneyland resort area and thats compact and there were issues, london is a big place so unelss you all book hotels very near each other picking up all over the palce could be a cost. As its a weekend no congestion charge and traffic is lighter.

Now as said if you are in the London Bridge, or Charing Cross areas the rail service to Dover Priory will be good. Our rail is generally better than USA, Sunday traffic on the trains will be lighter.

Or
Private van/ car hire for a familiy of four will be quite enconomical agaisnt coash or DCL transfers.

Hire car to the port from London is an option.

Personally I feel the private coach will be an issue unless you all book a hotel at the same place.

 

[bellelinus]

I dont know if I should post that in 2010, all I need to do is either drive to the cruise port or get a taxi and be there in one hour!!!!! Mint.

Mint indeed:

Are you on the south side of London, Andrew?

You deserve a little convenience after all your super-long distance trips, so gloat away

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

An example Sunday Summer trains from London Bridge to Dover priory.


Dep 08:38 09:08 10:08 11:08 every 30 mins
Arriv 10:30 10:49 11:49 12:49

Time 1:52 1:41 1:41 1:41


or Victoria

London Victoria (VIC) to Dover Priory (DVP)
Journey Summary Details -
Dep 08:03 and every hour same time.
Arr 09:58
time 1:55