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

[RJAYL]

Good Morning All
SNOW IN OCTOBER​

 

[alanapapa]

Good Morning All
SNOW IN OCTOBER​

Good Morning.
Keep your snow in Boston please. And any other type of precipitation.

 

[alanapapa]

You can find some cheaper, check the Comfort Inn London Victoria that's in my other post.
It's that 4th person in your party that's making rooms hard to find in the city. I don't think Andrew will want to stay home while you and the girls go on this cruise.

I definitely would not like to stay home, especially since this will be on MY Sabbatical. I don't know what I will be doing the other 4 weeks.

It is looking like we will be staying at the Comfort Inn London Victoria; this place looks good. Some of the other places we looked at online were scary

 

[jilljill]

I definitely would not like to stay home, especially since this will be on MY Sabbatical. I don't know what I will be doing the other 4 weeks.

It is looking like we will be staying at the Comfort Inn London Victoria; this place looks good. Some of the other places we looked at online were scary

I had a feeling you would like to go with them.

We'll be staying in the same area, it is a good one and easy for getting around. Hopefully we'll be able to meet up in London for a pint or 2.

 

[jilljill]

Good Morning All
SNOW IN OCTOBER​

Good Morning.
Keep your snow in Boston please. And any other type of precipitation.

'Morning...oops it's 'Afternoon now.


I agree with Andrew, keep the snow up north even tho we shared the rain with you.

 

[MrsG]

I guess it's good it's just DH & I. We were able to book the Royal Garden Hotel in Kensington. It looks like a good location. What do you think, Andrew?

 

[MrsScooby]

DH had a jetski for years so he's looking forward to going, but is worried they won't go fast enough for him. He used to take DD a lot when she was little.

Too funny you mentioned Segways in Tallin. The day we were there the Segway place was having their press day as they were just about to open. From the brochure we were able to get from them it seemed they were going to start out selling them more than doing tours, but I'm sure by now they are doing tours.
I'll see if we can find the brochure, if we didn't give it to my brother, and see if they have a website. Keep in mind the town is mostly cobblestone streets, alleys, and hills so it will be a bit of a challenge on the Segway at first.
My brother has 2 or 3 Segways and the last one he just got has the bigger tires that are made for going off road and uneven surfaces and he said it takes a little bit to get used to it after using the regular ones on smooth surfaces. But if you've been on the one in Nassau, they probably use that kind so you would probably already know how to ride it.

Oh your DH and DD will have fun It may not be as fast as he is used to, but the waves can make for some interesting movement

I've been on a segway twice actually-once at Epcot and the second time in Nassau. Yes, the ones in Nassau were the off-road type but seemed easier as I had more room to learn-not worried about plowing into a crowd of people Plus they had someone's grandma go first. Nothing like watching grandma master the segway to give you confidence that it is doable
I was thinking of getting the kids to try a segway tour of DC to get used to them maybe, next spring.

 

[MrsScooby]

If Darren likes quiet, the John's on 64th would be best -- it's in an entirely residential area and not touristy at all . . . Lombardi's is just too well known and often has lines. I will call closer to time to be sure they are open the day after Thanksgiving, but they probably will be, and we can finalize plans. I'll PM you my cell phone number as well.

I'll ask the girls about the Empire State building -- as native New Yorkers, of course they have never been

So funny I asked to go to the empire state building when I was a kid and yes my parents thought I was strange for wanting to go (mom-queens, dad-brooklyn, me-Long Island). The new percy jackson movie (Lightening Thief) comes out next year so the empire state building will probably get more visitors because of that.

Congrats, Laurie!!!!!!!!!

Thanks

Does anyone know anything about the ''Molli train'' from Rostock in Germany.

Looking at the port, Berlin is at least three hours away, so a standard 12 hour trip there from port will include over 6 hours travel, and breaks en route.

So I was looking at alternatives and the Steam railway Molli train through the lime groves looks a good alternative. Goes through a lot of old German towns, regular service. When I say through I mean it, down the roads.

http://www.molli-bahn.de/Home.5.0.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1-9h4ajnTw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-c35HN_Gu0&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSzEtYEVCLE&feature=related

Do you think they will get accross in time?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1XEZdPHwGI&feature=related

http://www.germany-tourism.co.uk/EG...steam_railways_steam_railways_mecklenburg.htm

The big debate about Germany is whether or not to try for Berlin
My first thought was yes, but then losing 6 hours to travel just seemed so much given how short a time we are there. I found a good tour company for Berlin, but I'm just not sure if pushing my family to go is the right thing to do
Plus the big scare is somehow not making it back to port in time and the next port being St. Petersburg-how do you meet the ship if you can't enter without a visa?
Yes I tend to worry alot

Yes we are at the Park Plaza London Victoria. We stayed there last year and loved the location and the hotel is nice too.
I see they have Executive Studio rooms that sleep 4 people. I booked us a king Executive room. I went thru the goldpointsplus.com website rather than the hotels website directly, but they may be the same rate.


Hotels rooms that sleep 4 people in London are hard to come by that don't cost an arm and a leg.

Yes, I was having a time of it trying to find a hotel in London to sleep the 4 of us
At a price that DH was willing to pay
He doesn't want to listen to reviews and thinks that since it is such a short stay for us that we should pay as little as possible
Meanwhile I've been burned in the past bargain shopping for hotel rooms

We finally compromised with Parkwood at the Marble Arch.

http://www.parkwoodhotel.com/

No elevator, no air conditioning, but good location, fans in the rooms, breakfast, good reviews and a decent price.
We are on the 3rd floor so DH complains about the lack of elevator-remind me to remind him that he said that this was fine a year prior

 

[jilljill]

The big debate about Germany is whether or not to try for Berlin
My first thought was yes, but then losing 6 hours to travel just seemed so much given how short a time we are there. I found a good tour company for Berlin, but I'm just not sure if pushing my family to go is the right thing to do
Plus the big scare is somehow not making it back to port in time and the next port being St. Petersburg-how do you meet the ship if you can't enter without a visa?
Yes I tend to worry alot
Not a worry, a very valid concern. We had a couple miss the ship in Warnemunde and they had to drive 5 hours to Munich, spend 2 nights in Germany and then fly to meet us at the next port which good for them was not StP. They didn't go to Berlin, they had a rental car and broke down on the way back and they were cutting it too close as it was. They broke down at 9:00pm about ½ hour from port and we were scheduled to leave at 10:30. They also almost missed the ship in Copenhagen, which was our first stop. Needless to say, their honeymoon was memorable for many bad reasons.


Yes, I was having a time of it trying to find a hotel in London to sleep the 4 of us
At a price that DH was willing to pay
He doesn't want to listen to reviews and thinks that since it is such a short stay for us that we should pay as little as possible
Meanwhile I've been burned in the past bargain shopping for hotel rooms

We finally compromised with Parkwood at the Marble Arch.

http://www.parkwoodhotel.com/

No elevator, no air conditioning, but good location, fans in the rooms, breakfast, good reviews and a decent price.
We are on the 3rd floor so DH complains about the lack of elevator-remind me to remind him that he said that this was fine a year prior

We stayed in that area one time and also had a place that didn't have an elevator, but we were on the 5th floor. DH counted how many steep steps we had to go up and down each day but I've long forgotten. When the webstie descriptions says it's a small hotel just remember that the rooms will be even smaller than you think they will. At least it looks like you will have 2 connecting small rooms, which was better than our 1 tiny room for 3. The room was so small it made a cat. 5-10 on DCL look like a very spacious suite. Our bathroom was so tiny, we barely had room to turn around and taking a shower was almost a joke. I'm just glad we were only there 3 or 4 days and were gone most of the time. Although I was sick in the room 1 day. It was winter so we didn't have to worry about lack of a/c, just glad the place had heat.

 

[Doingitagain]

I guess it's good it's just DH & I. We were able to book the Royal Garden Hotel in Kensington. It looks like a good location. What do you think, Andrew?

We stayed at the Royal Garden Hotel after our 2007 Med cruise and loved it! It is a very, very nice hotel (love concierge service!). We walked to a lot of places, but there is also a stop across the street where you can catch the "hop on hop off" bus to tour the attractions. We did that and really enjoyed being able to see all of the sites. Especially when tired, we used it to just ride around, then the next day we got off more.

We are going to stay there for a couple of nights before our cruise this time as well, using our DVC points. It is the only DVC option in London, and it is a way to use our points since we won't have time to go to WDW because this cruise is a long vacation for us.

 

[RJAYL]

We stayed at the Royal Garden Hotel after our 2007 Med cruise and loved it! It is a very, very nice hotel (love concierge service!). We walked to a lot of places, but there is also a stop across the street where you can catch the "hop on hop off" bus to tour the attractions. We did that and really enjoyed being able to see all of the sites. Especially when tired, we used it to just ride around, then the next day we got off more.

We are going to stay there for a couple of nights before our cruise this time as well, using our DVC points. It is the only DVC option in London, and it is a way to use our points since we won't have time to go to WDW because this cruise is a long vacation for us.

Thanx for the feedback on the Hotel & the info that the Hop on Hop off bus stop.

Here is some feedback info for touring we received from the Blue Badge guide we used the last time in London!

Anyway, on to your tour. Saturday is the day on which you want to be doing Portabello Road. In the evening of that day, you might want to go to the theatre. Why not consider the Unicorn theatre, http://www.unicorntheatre.com/about_us, which runs shows for Kids or, the Polka dot Theatre http://www.polkatheatre.com/. That leaves 15th & 16th for touring. For the 15th, I would suggest 10:30hrs-12:15hrs, Changing of the guard, http://www.army.mod.uk/events/ceremonial/1068.aspx, 12:30hrs-13:15hrs, lunch from the self-service counter in St. James Park, http://www.innthepark.com/index.asp, 13: 45hrs-14:15hrs, the London eye, http://www.londoneye.com/, 14:30hrs-15:00hrs,Thames river cruise to the Tower of London, http://www.citycruises.com/, 15:00hrs-17:00hrs, Tower of London, http://www.hrp.org.uk/TowerOfLondon/, 17:00-17:30hrs Transfer to Leicester Square and buy tickets from The Half Price Theatre Ticket box office, http://www.tkts.co.uk/. 17:50-18:40hrs dinner then walk to theatre. If you wan to buy tickets in advance, I can get them from the box office before you get here at face value.

For the 16th you have an option of doing an out of town excursion or spending more time in central London. You might want to think about Windsor, Hampton Court, Stonehenge, Bath, Oxford & Stratford for out of town destinations, or we could put something together for central London, as I have said.

Any of you Brits have any feedback on his ideas?

 

[jilljill]

You didn't ask my opinion but I'll give it to you.
You don't need that long for the Changing of the Guards, you will get bored and so will the kids. The Change is at noon so arriving about 20 minutes early is enough time and you will still get a good spot.
The only way you will be able to do the Eye in that time frame is if you book your tickets ahead of time and pay for a reserved spot. I prebooked last year and had a timed entrance but we still stood in line for about 30 minutes. The ride on the Eye is 30 minutes.
Never did a river cruise.
We spent way more than 2 hours at the Tower, DD loves it. If you do the Royal Jewels room there is a separate charge for that and there's usually a line and with that will take about 30-45 minutes to go thru there alone.
If I was buying tickets from the half price place I would get there earlier in the day especially when needing to get 6 tickets.
I would definately want more time than 50 minutes for dinner and walking time to the theater, especially if you are going somewhere that is not in the immediate area of the half price box office.


BTW, can you tell I'm not a fan of an organized tour. Really you have 2 days you can do all that on your own and save the expense of the tour guide and driver. Plus that doesn't build in shopping time which I know your DW & DD's will have to have.

 

[flower91882]

Haven't been on in a while, but here's an update.

We booked airfare awhile back. Virgin Atlantic Roundtrip Dulles-Heathrow (non-stop)
We also booked our hotel for one night before and two nights after the cruise in London. We're staying at the Grosvenor House Hotel. This is one of the hotels Disney is booking, but we booked on our own for Much cheaper. But, since it's one of Disney's hotels we were able to add on the transfers to and from the port. I know they may not be the Most cost effective, but it seems to be the least stressful which is what I need on vacation! I do have to find transportation to/from the airport since I didn't book directly through Disney, however I don't think this should be a problem.
We're also planning on pre-purchasing Oyster cards so we can easily navigate the city in our few days there.
Now if only Disney would announce the Shore Excursions!!!

 

[jilljill]

Danielle you can easily get into the city on your own by tube or coach. We take the tube into the city and then depending where our hotel is we will either walk to it or take a cab from the nearest tube station. There's a link in the first post so you look at a tube map ahead of time to get your bearrings on which lines you need to take from Heathrow. It's very easy to do.

 

[Celestine]

Thanx for the feedback on the Hotel & the info that the Hop on Hop off bus stop.

Here is some feedback info for touring we received from the Blue Badge guide we used the last time in London!

Anyway, on to your tour. Saturday is the day on which you want to be doing Portabello Road. In the evening of that day, you might want to go to the theatre. Why not consider the Unicorn theatre, http://www.unicorntheatre.com/about_us, which runs shows for Kids or, the Polka dot Theatre http://www.polkatheatre.com/. That leaves 15th & 16th for touring. For the 15th, I would suggest 10:30hrs-12:15hrs, Changing of the guard, http://www.army.mod.uk/events/ceremonial/1068.aspx, 12:30hrs-13:15hrs, lunch from the self-service counter in St. James Park, http://www.innthepark.com/index.asp, 13: 45hrs-14:15hrs, the London eye, http://www.londoneye.com/, 14:30hrs-15:00hrs,Thames river cruise to the Tower of London, http://www.citycruises.com/, 15:00hrs-17:00hrs, Tower of London, http://www.hrp.org.uk/TowerOfLondon/, 17:00-17:30hrs Transfer to Leicester Square and buy tickets from The Half Price Theatre Ticket box office, http://www.tkts.co.uk/. 17:50-18:40hrs dinner then walk to theatre. If you wan to buy tickets in advance, I can get them from the box office before you get here at face value.

For the 16th you have an option of doing an out of town excursion or spending more time in central London. You might want to think about Windsor, Hampton Court, Stonehenge, Bath, Oxford & Stratford for out of town destinations, or we could put something together for central London, as I have said.

Any of you Brits have any feedback on his ideas?

Wow!! After a day like that you would need some serious R&R on the cruise, especially with kids in tow. If you want cheap theatre tickets you need to be in the queue early & not all shows are available from the cheap ticket booths, e.g. for Hairspray they go on sale at the theatre only at 10am for that evening performance. The other alternative would be to check out the show pairs website closer to the time when you can usually pick up half price tickets with or without a meal. I've used them a couple of times and they are great, but it is a very limited selection of shows & usually is only booking 6-8 weeks in advance.

His lunch suggestion is not a cheap option. Usually when we're in London we grab sandwiches in the Tesco and eat a picnic in the park - same location but with more change in my pocket!

Changing of the guard is pretty cool and worth seeing, but I think it's a bit overkill on time unless you're planning on an early stake out of a spot!

You have kids so I would highly recommend the Natural History and/or the science museum - lots of hands on cool stuff which is free to enter (although some exhibits may have a charge)

Celestine

 

[jilljill]

Wow!! After a day like that you would need some serious R&R on the cruise, especially with kids in tow. If you want cheap theatre tickets you need to be in the queue early & not all shows are available from the cheap ticket booths, e.g. for Hairspray they go on sale at the theatre only at 10am for that evening performance. The other alternative would be to check out the show pairs website closer to the time when you can usually pick up half price tickets with or without a meal. I've used them a couple of times and they are great, but it is a very limited selection of shows & usually is only booking 6-8 weeks in advance.

His lunch suggestion is not a cheap option. Usually when we're in London we grab sandwiches in the Tesco and eat a picnic in the park - same location but with more change in my pocket!

Changing of the guard is pretty cool and worth seeing, but I think it's a bit overkill on time unless you're planning on an early stake out of a spot!

You have kids so I would highly recommend the Natural History and/or the science museum - lots of hands on cool stuff which is free to enter (although some exhibits may have a charge)

Celestine

Please tell me more about this website for show tickets. I've never heard of it and it sounds like a better option than standing in line at the half price ticket booth in July.

Nice to see someone else that was thinking Robert's plan was a bit much in some places and not enough in others.

 

[Doingitagain]

Does anyone have an opinion between the DCL hotels Grosvenor House London and Renaissance Chancery Court for location? I presume we can book these hotels on our own and still use DCL transportation.

 

[Caropooh]

I just booked our room! We're staying at the Comfort Inn Victoria. http://www.comfortinnvictoria.co.uk/ Arriving July 15.
Thanks Barb!

 

[flower91882]

Does anyone have an opinion between the DCL hotels Grosvenor House London and Renaissance Chancery Court for location? I presume we can book these hotels on our own and still use DCL transportation.

I'm not an expert on London, but we chose the Grosvenor House. I liked the idea of the Hyde Park location. I also got a great rate (I think).

We booked on our own and were able to get DCL transportation hotel to port and port to hotel but NOT airport to hotel and hotel to airport. That's the easy bit though.

HTH

 

[flower91882]

I just booked our room! We're staying at the Comfort Inn Victoria. http://www.comfortinnvictoria.co.uk/ Arriving July 15.
Thanks Barb!

We really considered that location. I'm sure you'll love it. It seems like a great location and a great price. We stay at a similar comfort inn when we go up to NYC and it's just what you need.