Disney Magic - 11 Night Northern Europe - July 25th 2020

StuartMcK

Mouseketeer
Joined
Aug 28, 2016
Didn't see a link for this cruise as of yet so thought i'd start one up.
Is anyone else looking to book this when it opens on Monday? We've not done a European Cruise as of yet, so real looking forward to it.
Also have a Facebook group, so look us up on there too.
Looking forward to making some new friends over the next 16 months before we sail.
 
We’ve started looking at the best way to see St. Petersburg. Torn at the moment between getting our own tourist visas & taking an organised 2 day tour (likely not booked through the ship).

What’s everyone else thinking of doing?

Has anyone who’s been before got any advice?
 


Hello everyone! We have booked this cruise .. family of 4 (and will be celebrating a college and a high school graduation!!). We are all very excited about the itinerary!!

We have also booked the ABD add on. We did this for our Med cruise in 2013 and loved it. Seems the best way to see the most, especially with limited time at the ports.
 
One very important tip.

You can’t just get off and go DIY in St Petersburg, but you can book with authorised Russian agencies.

Many prior cruisers have enhanced their experience in St Petersburg 200% by booking a tour with
https://anastasia.travel/
Anastasia looks after you, tailor makes your itinerary to your needs, gets you immigration passes to get through border control in seconds.

Do not spend 8 hours looking at the inside of a bus!
 


One very important tip.

You can’t just get off and go DIY in St Petersburg, but you can book with authorised Russian agencies.

Many prior cruisers have enhanced their experience in St Petersburg 200% by booking a tour with
https://anastasia.travel/
Anastasia looks after you, tailor makes your itinerary to your needs, gets you immigration passes to get through border control in seconds.

Do not spend 8 hours looking at the inside of a bus!

My understanding is that you CAN explore St. Petersburg on your own, but you need to arrange a tourist visa in advance.
 
Didn't see a link for this cruise as of yet so thought i'd start one up.
Is anyone else looking to book this when it opens on Monday? We've not done a European Cruise as of yet, so real looking forward to it.
Also have a Facebook group, so look us up on there too.
Looking forward to making some new friends over the next 16 months before we sail.

Can you provide a clue for the Facebook group :magnify:
 
Over in Europe, you will be better off using an independent travel guide. Not only are they less expensive (a lot) than Disney, but they offer a better tour. We used Anastasia's Travel, as others above have. They were extremely knowledgeable, very friendly, and eager to help in any way they could. We got to skip some of the lines (because of our smaller group) - this was huge in St. Petersburg, as sometimes the tour ships have to stand in lines for hours because of the size of the group.
They are also very kid-friendly. They work with kids all the time and understand that sometimes they need to go at the pace of the kids, and not just rush rush rush to the next place. Best experience I've ever had.

Oh, and contrary to popular belief, you do get back to your ship on time. If these independent tour groups didn't get you back, they would be out of a job. You don't have to worry about missing the ship, as the cruise lines like to tell you :)
 
Looking forward to this cruise DH and I are traveling with my DSIS and brother in-law. The 4 of us did the first Baltic in 2010. We are doing B2B starting on the Barcelona to Dover cruise. It will be cruise #21 for DH and me.
 
We are very excited for this cruise. It will me, DH, DD (20), and DD (10).
I hope to find the perfect tour for St Petersburg that will meet all our needs.
I can’t wait to hear about what everyone else plans on doing.
 
We’ve started looking at the best way to see St. Petersburg. Torn at the moment between getting our own tourist visas & taking an organised 2 day tour (likely not booked through the ship).

What’s everyone else thinking of doing?

Has anyone who’s been before got any advice?


We just booked a 2-day tour with Anastasia too! I'm am so excited about the tour because they let us customize the itinerary and gave us the freedom to include all the places we want to visit and see. We were initially planning to just book with the cruise but we didn't want to tour around with a big group. We wanted a private tour so we could really enjoy and go around on our own pace. Anastasia will also take care of our Visa-free disembarkation so we don't have to get our own visas. We didn't want to go through the hassle and the whole process of getting a tourist visa for just a 2-day visit. Everything is set and we can't wait for the cruise!!!
 
We just booked a 2-day tour with Anastasia too! I'm am so excited about the tour because they let us customize the itinerary and gave us the freedom to include all the places we want to visit and see. We were initially planning to just book with the cruise but we didn't want to tour around with a big group. We wanted a private tour so we could really enjoy and go around on our own pace. Anastasia will also take care of our Visa-free disembarkation so we don't have to get our own visas. We didn't want to go through the hassle and the whole process of getting a tourist visa for just a 2-day visit. Everything is set and we can't wait for the cruise!!!


I would love to hear what you have planned for your tour.
 
You won't go wrong booking a local tour operator for your excursions in St. Petersburg. We used Anastasia's Travel
as our guide for St.Petersburg, Stockholm and Berlin. St.Petersburg is magical and you will love it! Make sure you are in a small group, no more than 8 if you want to get everywhere faster and save from 1-3 hours of your time. We customized our tour and the Anastasia team made sure everyone got what they wanted. Highly recommend them if you are planning on booking a tour for St.Petersburg that is not from the ship.
 
I would love to hear what you have planned for your tour.

We wanted to see as many places as we can so we booked an all-inclusive tour. We will be visiting the Peterhoff, Hermitage Museum, Catherine's Palace, St. Isaac's Cathedral, Savior on the Spilled Blood and Faberge Museum. Generally, the must-visit and must-see places in St. Petersburg. We are also thinking of watching a Ballet show on the evening of the first night. I'm so excited!
 
We wanted to see as many places as we can so we booked an all-inclusive tour. We will be visiting the Peterhoff, Hermitage Museum, Catherine's Palace, St. Isaac's Cathedral, Savior on the Spilled Blood and Faberge Museum. Generally, the must-visit and must-see places in St. Petersburg. We are also thinking of watching a Ballet show on the evening of the first night. I'm so excited!

Sounds amazing. We are still trying to decide what we want. Thanks for sharing.
 
Sounds amazing. We are still trying to decide what we want. Thanks for sharing.

Sure, it's my pleasure! I'd love to hear the places you plan on visiting in St. Petersburg too. If you need some local tour operator suggestions, I'd love to recommend the tour company we used to book our tour. Happy planning!
 
The cruise before this one does not have a group yet. We are doing B2B is anyone else doing this? When we booked there were 4 of us now we have added a friend of my DSIS so we are up to 5. There is another couple we are trying to convince so we would be 7.
Sue
 
Hi,
We've been booked!
I'm not sure if I missed a facebook link (though I'm not really on social media). Is someone starting a Fish Extender's list?
Thank you so much.
Looking forward to this.
Thank you, Elaine
 

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