7/18/2010 Mickey's Baltic Ballyhoo!! Part 5

[Madisonznana]

Finally getting some sun here. Supposed to be high 60s/low 70s for the first part of the week at least. Finally got to break out the shorts!

I suppose you don't want to hear about here..Today is supposed to be high of 78. Tomorrow it is going down to 68.

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

We did a Baltics cruise out of Dover in 2008 and we did not have to go thru customs/immigration at the Dover port. I'm speaking from experience at Dover, I've never done a Med cruise and I didn't mention that in my post so I don't know why you brought that up in your post.

To explain:-

DCL so far has only cruised in Europe in the Med, in 2007, that was our only yardstick, and comparison point so far.

I was showing on that, you would be ''correct,'' (Referencing 2007) and that there was no immigration after the cruise as all ports were in Europe, and all Europeans didn't require border control and all non Europeans had gone through it.

In your post you stated to the poster that there will not be any immigration or customs, they are on a very tight schedule which if we do debark at 8am, is difficult even if everything goes to plan.

Currently the UK is at a security level threat of one below the highest level, therefore things are different to 2008, and maybe considering events today, we will have border checks.

In addition we are leaving the European community, and personally I have experienced border controls at a heightened level in the last months.

Things can and do change.

I personally feel I have valued input on this as I reside in the UK,

I also did start ''Not too sure about this, '' so somewhat surprised by the abrupt response.

 

[Caropooh]

To explain:-

DCL so far has only cruised in Europe in the Med, in 2007, that was our only yardstick, and comparison point so far.
I was showing on that, you would be ''correct,'' (Referencing 2007) and that there was no immigration after the cruise as all ports were in Europe, and all Europeans didn't require border control and all non Europeans had gone through it.

In your post you stated to the poster that there will not be any immigration or customs, they are on a very tight schedule which if we do debark at 8am, is difficult even if everything goes to plan.

Currently the UK is at a security level threat of one below the highest level, therefore things are different to 2008, and maybe considering events today, we will have border checks.

In addition we are leaving the European community, and personally I have experienced border controls at a heightened level in the last months.

Things can and do change.

I personally feel I have valued input on this as I reside in the UK,

I also did start ''Not too sure about this, '' so somewhat surprised by the abrupt response.

I'm curious...
How can you say that, our only yardstick, and comparison point so far is DCL cruising in the Med in 2007? The Med is neither the Baltics nor did it cruise out of Dover. I would think that someone who has cruised both the Baltic AND out of Dover (on the same cruise) would be a yardstick and certainly a comparision point. You are comparing apples to oranges and she is comparing apples to apples. Her only difference would be the cruise line she was on.

 

[caven553]

Is it nap time yet?

 

[Caropooh]

Is it nap time yet?

Another hour and 37 minutes of work and then a short drive home and then it can be nap time for me!

 

[jilljill]

Not too sure about this, as this cruise is different from the Med ones from Barcelona.

In 2007 they were all in Europe, and where there isn't any border controls.

UK Has boarder controls with the rest of Europe, we have chosen to keep them.

Considering we leave Europe as well, I am not sure that it will be such a formality, there are two parts customs and immigration, our customs are very strong as well and considering the stuff you could buy on our cruise might also be active.

If you travel London<> Paris by Eurostar, you go through immigration and customs at least once, normally on entry.

Not saying you are wrong but in my experience, I personally expect Customs and immigration however it will be fairly quick.

To explain:-

DCL so far has only cruised in Europe in the Med, in 2007, that was our only yardstick, and comparison point so far.

I was showing on that, you would be ''correct,'' (Referencing 2007) and that there was no immigration after the cruise as all ports were in Europe, and all Europeans didn't require border control and all non Europeans had gone through it.

In your post you stated to the poster that there will not be any immigration or customs, they are on a very tight schedule which if we do debark at 8am, is difficult even if everything goes to plan.

Currently the UK is at a security level threat of one below the highest level, therefore things are different to 2008, and maybe considering events today, we will have border checks.

In addition we are leaving the European community, and personally I have experienced border controls at a heightened level in the last months.

Things can and do change.

I personally feel I have valued input on this as I reside in the UK,

I also did start ''Not too sure about this, '' so somewhat surprised by the abrupt response.

If you read your response back to me you are only talking about going on a Med cruise which is totally different than going on a Baltics cruise - that we can all agree on. There was no reason for you to mention the Med cruises since it has nothing at all to do with the Baltics cruise, that's why I was abrupt in my response. If you wanted to doubt my response you should have just stated that and not mentioned the Med cruises at all, it has absolutely nothing to do with this cruise.

I guess if we all want a 'real' answer to this question then maybe you can contact the Port of Dover, ask them and then let all of us know their response. That's the only way to get a true answer if things have changed or not in the last 2 years.

But as I stated, twice, my response was based on personal experience. We didn't have customs/immigration at the Port of Dover in 2008.

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

If you read your response back to me you are only talking about going on a Med cruise which is totally different than going on a Baltics cruise - that we can all agree on. There was no reason for you to mention the Med cruises since it has nothing at all to do with the Baltics cruise, that's why I was abrupt in my response. If you wanted to doubt my response you should have just stated that and not mentioned the Med cruises at all, it has absolutely nothing to do with this cruise.

I guess if we all want a 'real' answer to this question then maybe you can contact the Port of Dover, ask them and then let all of us know their response. That's the only way to get a true answer if things have changed or not in the last 2 years.

But as I stated, twice, my response was based on personal experience. We didn't have customs/immigration at the Port of Dover in 2008.

I have had a few PM's telling me/advising me to bite my lip,(Sorry guys)

As you may recall me posting my sister cruised the Baltic recently,

Phoned her.

They had immigration and boarder control on their return, now it was Harwich, but I would guess its the same, but heck we are from the UK so it doesnt count.

Can I respectfully post,

I recent weeks there have been a number of posts about us British, translations of English to American, and telling everyone what is happening here and our transport, etc, I found those condesending to us Brits.

Now I and others who post on this thread live in the UK, we are here all the time. We live here, but when our input is given -you have confirmed in your last I get *abrupt* answers.

We might disagree, I am not a lover of National express and personally feel advice given out on this is wrong (imho), and will effect cruisers on this thread. I would like everyone here to have a fantastic cruise and wonderful experience in London.

I bet this post will get edited.

But its a shame is come to this, I noted a few snipes at my posts last night, and history is repeating it itself yet again.

To everyone here have a nice cruise, its my family's vacation and if I can request one final curtsey, please leave us to enjoy lour cruise and vacation on our own. The ship is big enough, i have paid a lot for a good vacation.

THANKS.

 

[justmestace]

Wow. Wrong time for me to check in, I guess.

I REALLY REALLY wanted to be on this cruise, have been following along in order to live vicariously through you all....but we have a DCL wedding to attend at the same time....so I've been interested in the goings on here and excited for the pictures and trip reports to come along too.

But wow. What whining and silliness. People taking their box of crayons and going home. Golly goodness.

 

[Cptjackandcrew]

I had Milliepie make one for us....

[/IMG]

This picture is just beautiful. Last cruise we printed a coloring page for our door and asked Mickey to autograph it. It is still hanging on the door into the garage. Well anyways, could you please how we could get one of these? (Hopefully I'm replying to the post from Madisonznana.)Thank you in advance.

 

[MrsScooby]

Wow. Wrong time for me to check in, I guess.

I REALLY REALLY wanted to be on this cruise, have been following along in order to live vicariously through you all....but we have a DCL wedding to attend at the same time....so I've been interested in the goings on here and excited for the pictures and trip reports to come along too.

It has been mostly fun Stace

Too bad you can't come along-but a DCL wedding will be wonderful too

We'll have some great pics when we come back

 

[MrsScooby]

This picture is just beautiful. Last cruise we printed a coloring page for our door and asked Mickey to autograph it. It is still hanging on the door into the garage. Well anyways, could you please how we could get one of these? (Hopefully I'm replying to the post from Madisonznana.)Thank you in advance.

It is beautiful isn't it

There is a thread on the main DCL forum where they make the door magnets/signs. You go to that thread and go to the last page-then start going back until you find one like this (I think this might be the easiest way for a newbie to manage this:confused)
This should not take long as I noticed alot of people requesting this only lately. Quote one of them and ask Milliepie to make one for you with your name on it or with what you want it to say. When she posts it (it might take a day or so for her to get it posted depending on how busy she is)-you just need to click (once or twice) on it to open it-then right click to save it to your computer.

When you are ready to make it into a door magnet-let us know.There are several ways you can do this.

Let us know if you need more help or want one of us to request it for you.
I can go check on that thread and see if I can find one of these to give you an idea of what page it is on.

 

[mca]

Hi

Two travel options

Eurostar train (best).
Ferry and then car hire or train in France.

Eurostar,

Firstly keeping your luggage imho slows you down there re long lines at disembarkation and you will not be able to walk fast, and will often have to travel down elevators only, not escalators, DCL is very organized on luggage and ignore reports on the main forum its 100% efficient.

Next, it is very tight.

Ashford is quite doable by Taxi but many people will be after them.

We are supposed to disembark from 8am, if you get luggage etc in say 30 mins, and a taxi you can get there by 9.30am.

I would get the train times from Dover priory station on that morning as well and dependent on when you get a taxi consider routing via that station instead.

The issue is that Eurostar have a strict 30 mins rule, to check you in and your passports etc, so its very tight.

The good news is if you get the direct Eurostar train to MARNE LA VALLEE-CHESSY, the station is under the Disneyland Paris resort between the parks and the Disney village.

You can also do it in direct via Lille Europe station, and get a TGV train from there. IE Brusells train at Ashford then change and TGV.

More Eurostar options are at Ebbsfleet station further up towards London, from Dover priory.

Thanks Andrew

On your advice I checked the Ebbsfleet schedule and found a Eurotrain at 12:45pm to Paris and will then take the RER directly to Disney. This will give me a lot more breathing room to make the connection and will end up costing me 30% less. I will be taking Silver Line to get from the ship to Ebbsfleet for 65 pounds.

Believe it or not this will be my families first trip on a train. Here in northern Ontario Canada train travel is almost non existent, we use them mostly for moving freight. Trying to figure my way around has been a learning experience but I'm glad to say it's done and after I book my excursions this weekend with Disney I will be counting down the days.

Cheers

Moe

 

[MrsScooby]

Thanks Andrew

On your advice I checked the Ebbsfleet schedule and found a Eurotrain at 12:45pm to Paris and will then take the RER directly to Disney. This will give me a lot more breathing room to make the connection and will end up costing me 30% less. I will be taking Silver Line to get from the ship to Ebbsfleet for 65 pounds.

Believe it or not this will be my families first trip on a train. Here in northern Ontario Canada train travel is almost non existent, we use them mostly for moving freight. Trying to figure my way around has been a learning experience but I'm glad to say it's done and after I book my excursions this weekend with Disney I will be counting down the days.

Cheers

Moe

What a great experience for your first train ride

 

[MrsScooby]

This picture is just beautiful. Last cruise we printed a coloring page for our door and asked Mickey to autograph it. It is still hanging on the door into the garage. Well anyways, could you please how we could get one of these? (Hopefully I'm replying to the post from Madisonznana.)Thank you in advance.

Ok, found it.
Page 286, post #4286

On the cruise magnets and graphics thread.
Be careful...that thread is addicting
Every time I look I see more pics that I want

 

[MrsScooby]

Is it nap time yet?

yes

 

[MrsScooby]

anyone else freaked out by what happened in Moscow

 

[mstinson14]

anyone else freaked out by what happened in Moscow

What happended in Moscow?

 

[MrsScooby]

What happended in Moscow?

2 suicide bombers in their metro station
-last time I heard there were 37 reported dead

Just very sheltered here, I guess
I know this happens, just gotta make sure we are careful.

 

[MrsScooby]

Also saw that they cut the time in port for Stockholm for one of the June cruises. That has got to be a pain for anyone that bought their Stockholm card.

Anyway to predict or place to check to see if the tides would affect other cruises

Any navy people out there

 

[Madisonznana]

This picture is just beautiful. Last cruise we printed a coloring page for our door and asked Mickey to autograph it. It is still hanging on the door into the garage. Well anyways, could you please how we could get one of these? (Hopefully I'm replying to the post from Madisonznana.)Thank you in advance.

Millipie has her own thread. http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=36030567#post36030567 She designed it and I am sure it would be easy to change the names~!