DCL Europe Summer 2022 approaching - what are you doing?

[brentm77]

Maybe I should be worried, but it’s out of my control. We’re flying in a week ahead of our cruise to explore London and Paris, so we have lots of buffer. Yes, we have lots of neat things planned in that time, but not the end of the world. Just have to keep our fingers crossed.

I’m much more worried about testing positive at the port. Still out of my control, but much more disruptive.

Positive thoughts for all!!

We had a week in Rome first, so I wasn't worried about making is to the cruise on time, but more about getting stuck in a connecting airport for an absurd amount of time. Luckily it all worked out.

The testing for the cruise was the worst part of the whole trip. Most of our Facebook group seems to have been fine. But we know of a few lovely families who weren't as lucky. I will welcome the day when this step is gone and people can board without worry. It was one of the few bad parts of an otherwise absolutely fabulous trip.

We all took a covid test the night before boarding day and the morning of. I wanted to travel to the ship with a high level of confidence we wouldn't be disappointed. It took a lot of stress out of boarding for us, because we thought we were likely in the clear. It also meant we would avoid dealing with Disney and their reportedly bad and very long handling of positive cases if we were indeed positive. I highly recommend it. If you don't want to pack the tests, they are readily available in European pharmacies.

The day we boarded, we all got the news that we wouldn't need to test again to return to the US. That was fantastic news and relieved the only remaining area of concern for us, so we could relax and enjoy the cruise. That feeling when you are cleared to sail and on the ship the first day is like nothing else.

Good luck, and enjoy!

 

[bobbiwoz]

I wound up canceling the TA in September, sadly, because of having to be tested for Bermuda, and I’ve been reading about on board cases. We’ll do the two smaller cruises in July.

Have already received the refundable air cost!

 

[mousefan73]

Yes testing is definately a damper. I and scared to admit on how much the pre-cruise testing stress took away the joy of finally doing our Hawaii cruise in April. It really did impact the experience.. When I compare the joy of preparing for vacations that dont require testing vs. cruising. Now we are putting our selves in this position again. Booked last week the 11 night on Aug. 17th from copenhagen.. And cases are going up again here in the EU. It's like murphy's law with us.. We book a cruise and then cases go up.

I am also wondering about logistics to CPH.. Either we fly from FRA or take the train It is so bad, I am nervous about luggage for that short flight.

 

[Karin1984]

Also tip for those travelling to Europe or flying back from Europe: look up how your airport is doing.

More than one airport in Europe has staffing problems. Transfers are usually not an issue, but departing flights can be. Amsterdam is a mess (especially at customs), several in the UK are no doing well.

Look up the name of the airport in the news section on Google.

Extra time at check in might be neccesary

 

[brentm77]

Yes testing is definately a damper. I and scared to admit on how much the pre-cruise testing stress took away the joy of finally doing our Hawaii cruise in April. It really did impact the experience.. When I compare the joy of preparing for vacations that dont require testing vs. cruising. Now we are putting our selves in this position again. Booked last week the 11 night on Aug. 17th from copenhagen.. And cases are going up again here in the EU. It's like murphy's law with us.. We book a cruise and then cases go up.

I am also wondering about logistics to CPH.. Either we fly from FRA or take the train It is so bad, I am nervous about luggage for that short flight.

The worst part, is you try not to let yourself get too excited or picture yourself cruising, because you are too worried about the potential disappointment. And anticipation is a big part of the enjoyment of travel. I hope it can end soon.

 

[mousefan73]

Also tip for those travelling to Europe or flying back from Europe: look up how your airport is doing.

More than one airport in Europe has staffing problems. Transfers are usually not an issue, but departing flights can be. Amsterdam is a mess (especially at customs), several in the UK are no doing well.

Look up the name of the airport in the news section on Google.

Extra time at check in might be neccesary

Security lines is not the worst if it. Worse case show up 5 hrs before (a bit too much). Worse is plans landing and bags are not getting offloaded- Plane goes back with bags.

 

[Karin1984]

Security lines is not the worst if it. Worse case show up 5 hrs before (a bit too much). Worse is plans landing and bags are not getting offloaded- Plane goes back with bags.

Yeah, that's pretty bad as well. I just saw some pictures of a huge mountain of bags at London Heathrow. With us in Amsterdam the problem is security, not really heard anything about bags.

Here in Amsterdam they do not allow in you to get earlier than 4 hours prior. Because of the extreme lines, at the worst time it was 1-2 hours at check in, 1 hour or more at security, people showed up extremely early. Which doesn't really help.
There are now party tents set up to cover the outside line in case of bad weather.

Currently the plan is: in July we need 13.000 passengers less per day to depart from Amsterdam airport.
Partially this is done by moving flights to regional airports like Rotterdam or Maastricht, but also by cancelling flights. Mainly within Europe.

 

[DCLMP]

I was very nervous before our cruise two weeks ago. But I used flightaware to watch my flights for a couple of weeks leading up and had a good idea of what my odds of being canceled/delayed were. I knew there was a good chance we would be ok, and we were. If your flights don't have a good track record, I would look at possible changes.

Also, I highly recommend traveling carry on only. On our cruise, we ran into three families, on three separate flights, who had lost their luggage. It is extremely common, particularly when flying to Europe right now. Delta promised to have the bags delivered to a port, but never did.

It's very possible to do carry on. We did two weeks in Europe, including the cruise, without any issues. It just takes some planning, reuse of outfits, and doing some wash on the ship. You can even wash clothes in your hotel sink in a bind.

If you can't do carryon only, pack a few key outfits, medicine, and everything important in a carryon at least, and be mentally prepared to cruise with only that stuff if needed.

I’m flying non stop on AA to lhr so I’m not worried about getting there or luggage. AA has dozens of flights to LRH. I’m concerned about getting home though.

 

[DCLMP]

Security lines is not the worst if it. Worse case show up 5 hrs before (a bit too much). Worse is plans landing and bags are not getting offloaded- Plane goes back with bags.

Ick. Just an FY Flyer talk is a good forum for air travel.

 

[Sykes]

Hah, this post from The Points Guy is pretty amazing: https://thepointsguy.com/news/summer-strikes-travel-disruptions-2022-dates/

June 23-25: Brussels Airlines strike
June 24-July 2: Ryanair Europe staff strike
June 25: Italian pilot and crew strikes and Air France-KLM pilot walkout
July 1–Aug. 31: London Gatwick flight cap
July 1-31: Spanish EasyJet staff strike
July 1-30: Lufthansa to ax up to 1,000 flights
July 15-17: Spanish EasyJet staff strike part 2
July 29-31: Spanish EasyJet staff strike part 3
Late July-August: British Airways check-in staff strikes at Heathrow

 

[Flossbolna]

Either we fly from FRA or take the train

Train takes 10 hours. There are connections with only one change of train in Hamburg. I find the German railways website quite useful for checking times and prices and it is available in English: https://www.bahn.com/en

Flight would be more comfortable for sure! But Frankfurt appears to be affected by luggage issues as friends lost their luggage there on a connection recently, something that never has happened to me there even with tight connections.

 

[holula]

Train takes 10 hours. There are connections with only one change of train in Hamburg. I find the German railways website quite useful for checking times and prices and it is available in English: https://www.bahn.com/en

Flight would be more comfortable for sure! But Frankfurt appears to be affected by luggage issues as friends lost their luggage there on a connection recently, something that never has happened to me there even with tight connections.

I would totally do the train and spend an overnight in Hamburg. Loved Hamburg!

 

[Flossbolna]

I would totally do the train and spend an overnight in Hamburg. Loved Hamburg!

Yes, that might be a good way to split the trip up!

@mousefan73 if you need any help booking train tickets from German Railways, you are welcome to send me a DM, I would be happy to help!

 

[DCLMP]

I would totally do the train and spend an overnight in Hamburg. Loved Hamburg!

I thought train workers in Europe were striking too.

 

[mab2012]

Hah, this post from The Points Guy is pretty amazing: https://thepointsguy.com/news/summer-strikes-travel-disruptions-2022-dates/

Ugh. Thanks for the heads-up. We are scheduled to fly BCN -> LTN on July 18. In theory we should be okay, but I won't count on it.

 

[DCLMP]

Ugh. Thanks for the heads-up. We are scheduled to fly BCN -> LTN on July 18. In theory we should be okay, but I won't count on it.

What airline?

 

[Flossbolna]

I thought train workers in Europe were striking too.

Appears to be a strike in the UK. This would not affect a trip from Frankfurt to Copenhagen. Strikes are always country specific. There might be a slight effect on neighboring countries. But a UK strike could only affect the Eurostar within France and no other country. I am positive that there is no rail strike on the horizon for Germany.

 

[Flossbolna]

Also, anyone traveling with Europe being part of the itinerary should get informed about your air passenger rights. The EU rules apply to any flight operated by a carrier with its seat within the European Union as well as to any flight departing the EU regardless of carrier.

https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/travel/passenger-rights/air/index_en.htm

The UK is not part of the EU and those rules don’t apply to UK carriers or flights departing from there by non-EU carriers. However, the rules also apply to Switzerland, Norway and Iceland as if they were EU countries.

 

[mousefan73]

I would totally do the train and spend an overnight in Hamburg. Loved Hamburg!

I am seriously looking at that. Either we do two nights in Copenhagen or we break it up Hamburg Copenhagen. Unfortunately it just gives us less time in Copenhagen but might ease some of the stress. AND We save a poo load of money because hotels are half the price in Hamburg than Copenhagen. I’m also looking at Flensburg. That gives us more time in Copenhagen as we’ve been to Hamburg before

Either way we will get to the port because worst case we just get in our car and drive. Then have to deal with somehow getting our car after the cruise.

 

[Flossbolna]

I am seriously looking at that. Either we do two nights in Copenhagen or we break it up Hamburg Copenhagen. Unfortunately it just gives us less time in Copenhagen but might ease some of the stress. AND We save a poo load of money because hotels are half the price in Hamburg than Copenhagen. I’m also looking at Flensburg. That gives us more time in Copenhagen as we’ve been to Hamburg before

Either way we will get to the port because worst case we just get in our car and drive. Then have to deal with somehow getting our car after the cruise.

I just realized that you are German, too. Sorry, should have read your tag line. Always great to meet other Germans on here!