DisneyDoc and Family's July 18th Baltic Cruise

[DisneyDoc1895]

Introduction

Hello all. This is a trip report/blog of our big vacation to London and on the Disney Cruise Line (DCL) Northern European Capitals 12 night cruise. Some readers will be Disney peeps on the DisBoards, but some will be family and friends that are not, so I will try to explain some terms and locations with which the Dis people may already be familiar, so bear with me.

Most Disney-philes know quite a bit about Walt Disney World and the Orlando area. We can tell you where every out of the way bathroom is located and the best places to watch each parade. We shake our heads when a newbie does not know what a 'fastpass' is or how to get from place to place on a Disney Transit Bus.

But this cruise is different for us. It is all new countries and cities. DW (which means Disney or Darling Wife) in particular did a ton of planning for over a year in preparation. That is what we (and many others) do, because it kinda lets us live out vacation in advance through this planning.

I will add pictures to the blog when I get home as it would take too much time overseas searching for free internet. There is internet onboard the ship, but we have heard that it is very slow and we have decided not to purchase it. I will also do a formal trip report on the Dis as well (Which is now - I will post about once a day for the next couple weeks to keep everyone is suspense!)

Enjoy.

 

[DisneyDoc1895]

July 13th

Slept til 2pm and then got up for final packing. We left our house at 2pm anticipating rush hour traffic through Philadelphia to Philadelphia International. Surprisingly, there was none. Perhaps because it was a Tuesday, but I think alot of people are on vacation right now. We parked off site at our regular place and got on the bus for the 10 min ride to the terminal. Check in at the British Airways gate was easy, although it was surprising (although now understandable) when I put our bags up on the scale and it read "17" - kilograms instead of pounds. Security was quick, no line. The agent engaged me in chit chat, not sure if he was bored or doing so as part of screening - probably a little of both.

When we got to the gate the BA flight that was scheduled to leave 3 hours before ours was boarding. We had some pizza (not very good) and then settled in for the wait for our flight. The plane that will be ours is about 15 min late at this point, not sure how this will effect our departure. Southwest can turn a plan around faster than an Indy pit crew, I wonder how much extra time BA builds in.

The flight was scheduled to take off at 915pm, ended up taking off at 937pm. Not too bad. Not much of a wait on the tarmac, very much unusual for Philly. The video on demand system is pretty good on the plane. DD8 is sitting next to me.
Here is a conversation between us:

DD8: "What are you watching?"
Me: "A Daddy movie"
DD8: "Glee?" (Now I like Glee, but it really is not a 'Daddy Movie'!)
Me: "No, a war movie." (I'm watching Green Zone)
DD8: "Titantic?"

Where do kids get this stuff?

Tried to nap a bit, but at 530am London time (1230am Philly time, 3 hours into the flight) the sun started to come up. Very weird.

 

[DisneyDoc1895]

July 14th

Plane landed around 930am after flying in cycles for about 20 minutes. The video system had a map that would show where the plane had gone, I guess we were in line because we literally flew in circles 3 times around Heathrow. When we landed we went to.... a parking spot. We had to take a bus to the terminal. DW joked that we pay so much less on Southwest to go from Philly to MCO (Orlando's airport code) and always go gate to gate! They announced the local temp was 20 which freaked out the kids. Of course it was in celsius.

We went to Terminal 5 which was very new and nice. The UK Border crossing was simple and then we headed to get our luggage. It was waiting for us. A trip to the bathroom and then out to meet our driver for the ride to the hotel. With 6 of us, luggage for over 15 days and 2 kids, we opted to pay for a car service rather than use the tube (London's subway system). It probably would have been easy to take the tube, though. The driver was not there yet, but we were a bit early - they planned to meet us 1 hour after we landed and it had only been 40 min or so. We went to the ATM to get pounds (GBP). We had notified our bank ahead of time that we would be doing so in other countries, and using the ATM card was very easy - maybe even faster than in the US. Our driver arrived and we made the brief 20 min ride to the Hotel. Weather was fine, cloudy but not raining (yet).

We are staying at the Holiday Inn Express Earls's Court. Good price, free breakfast, which saves times and money in the morning. It is in the West Kensington area. Only real downside is no free internet. Our room was available even though it was only 1130am, however the MIL/FIL (in laws' who are traveling with us) room was not. The room is a little small, about the size of the Disney Cruise Line cabins, but we expected that in London. We put all the luggage in one room and then went out for lunch.

We went to a nearby pub called The **** and the Hen - their website indicated childrens portions were available, so we gave it a try. Ended up being a bad choice. We were the only ones there, service was slow. Food was OK once we got it, but the selection ended up not being very good. We were all tired so we headed back to the room and took a nap.

Good thing we set an alarm for 2 hours because we all passed out cold. Woke up at 430pm, unpacked a bit for our 3 days in London. Went downstairs and met FIL/MIL and went to dinner at a Mediterrainean restaurant called Tad Mangal, mostly Turkish food. It was great - good clean place with plentiful portions. I definately recommend it. We then recon'd the area and the tube stop at West Kensington, and we got our Oyster Cards. These are pay-as-you-go cards for the Tube, that permits a maximum daily fee to be charged - it automatically determines when this maximum has been reached so you don't have to pay anymore. There is a 3 GBP fee for the card that you can get back at the end of your stay. You can add money to it at any time. Kids under 11 travel free wuth adults so they did not need any.

Some observations: most pubs don't allow kids after 5 or 7pm. Understandable, although DW and I like to visit nice pubs for a drink and the ambiance. Oh well, something to do when we are empty-nesters! We are trying to avoid the fast food chains and try local or non-American cuisine. Everyone has been very pleasant, although there was a guy with mental illness outside the hotel cursing at a red postal box. I won't pass judgement, those postal boxes have always made me mad too.

Then back to the room for preparation for a full day tomorrow. All in all a pretty nice day one of vacation in the UK.

 

[DisneyDoc1895]

July 15th

We woke up around 7-730. Interesting bathroom in the hotel. There is no bar of soap, only a dispenser of "Shampoo and Shower gel." Not sure if that is the norm in England/Europe or not. Water pressure and temperature were ok. The breakfast in the hotel was very good - nice selection including hot choices. We headed out to the Tower of London using the tube and the Oyster cards. It was raining hard but we heard that the weather was supposed to improve throughout the day. We'll see.

Toured the Tower until Lunch. I always find it interesting that amongst all the historical weaponry and costumed staff, there are also several modern soldiers with assault rifles. I guess if I had that much jewelry in one place I would too.

We had some difficulty finding a lunch place with a children's menu, but eventually went to Garfunkels on Strand Street near the Charing Cross station. Very nice, I do recommend it, although the kids pizza was very thin and the cheese on it was skimpy. I have to get used to the fact that the tax is included in everything. Then it was off to meet the in laws for our Big Bus tour.

There are 2 main bus tours - The Original and the Big Bus. I think both are fine and I really don't think one is any better than the other. It was fun to watch the representatives from both companies try to get customers at the same location. In any event, it was good to take and see the different sights and neighborhoods. It did end up getting stuck in alot of traffic, but the weather was getting nicer by the hour. By 5pm it was mostly sunny and the temps were probably in the upper 60s. We took the full circuit and then went to the London Eye.

We had read quite a bit about what to do at the Eye re tickets. It seems that lines are often long. But we didn't want to buy advance tickets and have it be a rainy day. So we decided to wait until we were sure what the weather was like to deicde which day to go. They have a 'flex' ticket, but that is just flex for what time of the day - you still have to nail down which day. So we decided to go today as the weather was improving.

We got to the ticket office which is adjacent to the Eye itself. We waited about 10 minutes to buy tickets and then were directed to watch a 4 minute movie. It was dumb - hit the bathroom instead. Then into the line to get on the ride. We expected a 30 minute wait. We got through security easily (bag check was pitiful even by Disney standards!) and then had to wait..... 30 seconds. I have no idea how that happened - they did open an extra line and send us down it, maybe that was it. Everyone had less than 10 minute waits though.

We got done (It was very enjoyable, good views, plenty of room - they did not pack us in tight) and went in search of dinner. FIL still couldn't remember that kids were not allowed in most pubs after 6-7pm. He kept seeing pubs with a ton of people outside and our conversation went like this:

FIL: "Wow, the wait is really long for dinner."
Me: "How do you know that?"
FIL: "Look at all the people outside in line."
Me: "They're not in line, they're drinking." (Just your typical outside a busy bar crowd)
FIL: "But they are just standing there."
Me: "That's what you do when you are drinking with friends."
FIL "Why?" (Really? Is it that difficult of a concept?)

Finally we found a place near Trafalgar called Little Frankies on Whitehall. It bills itself as an Italian-American place, and it was real nice. Only problems were more humerous and minor - the waitress confused lemonade and Sprite for one of my girls for example. (We will return to this issue later, stay tuned.) But the menu was extensive and and prices very reasonable. Another go-to place with kids.

We then headed back to the hotel.

One nice thing about London, there are many little shops that sell beer by the individual can or bottle. DW and I like trying new beers from around the world and for 1 GBP for each can, we can pick up a couple cans to try in the hotel each night. Certainly cheaper than a pub, which won't let us in with the kids anyway. Since the Disney Cruise Line allows passengers to bring their own alcohol on board, we can pick the best of what we try and bring a few on board as well. (Most cruise lines don't allow this. Others usually charge for soda, have a casino and not much of a kids camp. So this is why DCL is so much more expensive than other cruises.)

Spent the day looking for free wi-fi, and only found one place while on the bus stopped at a light for a minute. Was able to update the weather on the IPhone and download mail headers, but that was it. We aren't really going out of our way, but I do 'sniff' whenever I am not busy and doing anything.

 

[TaniaU]

London is one of my favourite places to visit, but I've never gone with kids. I would like to though, so your TR is helpful Can't wait to read more

 

[DisneyDoc1895]

We slept a bit later today. MIL and FIL are upset that they do not have a washcloth. Doesn't seem a big deal to me, but, hey, whatever. We got on the tube to Westminster to take our boat ride on City Cruises which is included in the bus tour price. Hey - they boat dock has free wifi! Blog posted and email downloaded. We got on and the Captain was great - a better comedian than most Disney Shows! Took the 30 min ride to Tower Pier.

In the AM it was sunny - I got up early and went to the McDonalds only to find they DO NOT have free internet (We had read that many McDonalds do). But on the way I found a free unsecured wifi on the street so got some emails. It seems the Brits are more savvy than the Americans - many Americans leave their wireless unlocked, but most of the Brit accounts are locked down. Good for them. Bad for me trying to get online.

By the time I got back to the hotel for breakfast at 9am, the sun was obscured by clouds and it rained a short time later. It is true in London - if you don't like the weather, wait 5 minutes. This is more the case than in the States.

After the Boat Ride we went to the National Gallery for a bit mainly to kill time, then went to a prescheduled Afternoon Tea. After the Tea (The Radisson has free wifi - are you seeing a trend, its kinda like a treasure hunt!) we split ways with the inlaws. Walked around Trafalger and Westminster for a bit then headed back to the hotel. On the way back from one of the stops we found a pub (Lillie Langtree) that was very empty, so asked if we could sit outside and have a drink with the kids present. They said sure they could stay all night. Great!

(Get this - kids can go in a gift shop with pornographic cartoon images on T-shirts and the mother of all curse words on buttons and that is not regulated, but if we want to have fish and chips at a local pub (that is non-smoking mind you) we can't go in with the kids, but have to sit outside in the smoking area. Really? No one was smoking at the one we stopped at so it didn't matter to us.)

We had a drink and DW and I looked at all the car styles, commenting on the lack of mini-vans and SUVs. Tons of cyclist commuters. Then we headed to dinner at a Kabob place near the Fulham Broadway stop. We looked around for a dinner spot for awhile, and as always, had trouble finding a place with a kids menu. Really, where to Londoners go out to eat with their kids??? Anyway, it was very nice, DD8 and I had Chicken kabobs, DD10 had chicken nuggets and DW had falafal. We walked back to the hotel and loaded up on various supplies for the cruise. Tomorrow we head to Dover for a one night overnight stay before the cruise leaves on Sunday.

 

[DisneyDoc1895]

Today is Saturday, we will be checking out and heading to Dover. We went to breakfast and someone actually took DW's toast while it was in the toaster! When she said something the guy shrugged and indicated he did not speak English. We finished packing and checked out around 9am. In retrospect, there were some issues with the hotel. There were no washcloths as mentioned before and the in-laws really wanted them. They also wanted a bath mat, but were told the front desk had no access to any of them at night until housekeeping came in in the morning - weird. Then when we were checking our room we looked under the pull out bed and found an old Evian water bottle, empty. Problem is, we don't drink Evian. It was the size of a 2-L soda bottle. So that means they never even cleaned or checked the room before us! Yuk.

Anyway, we stored the luggage and headed out. We planned to go to the Natural History and Science Museums. These are fairly close to the hotel, so could get back more easily to meet the driver who will take us to Dover. We went to the Science Museum first. Both of these are free and very nice. We think we could have spent a whole day at them.

This is an early CT Scanner. Many people do not know that we have the Beatles to thank for CT technology. Their record label invested in the company that developed it.

At about noon we left and we wanted to find a good pub lunch - we had not had one yet. We stopped at one pub, the Zetland Arms and checked the menu. MIL wanted "mushy peas." I had never heard of them. They had them, and a pretty good menu so we went in.

The way it worked is you order food at the bar and they bring it out to you - no real waitress service, which was fine. We noted that the menu here was the same as another nearby pub - I think they are owned by some corporate entity. The wait staff were all Eastern European and they had a hard time understanding me, a little. We got 4 orders of Fish and Chips and the kids got a plate of nachos and chips to share. We also discovered that if you order a "lemonade" you get a Sierra Mist like beverage. Evidently that is what they call it. Not sure if they even have what we in the US would call lemonade.

We got done around 130pm and headed to the Natural History museum. The front entrance was very bust with a huge line, so we headed around to the right of the building to recon the side entrance and we could go right in. The museum was very busy. We looked around until 3pm and then headed back to the hotel. Our driver was there waiting for us, about 15 minutes early. We loaded up and started for Dover, for an anticipated 2 hour (or a little less) trip.

However, even on this Saturday afternoon, traffic was horrible. I wonder if it is always like that - probably. It took an hour to get out of London. Then we got on the highway and hit more traffic before a toll booth after a bridge. Then things went smoothly. We got to the hotel in Dover around 7pm. We were at the Ramada. DW and I would have preferred to be closer to the port and the town, but FIL insisted on having air conditioning and the closer hotel did not have any. Did I mention it was a high of 68 F? I don't think I did. Needless to say, no AC was used. It was a family room and was huge by all standards.

A wedding was going on and it was very busy. The main restaurant was very expensive, so we ate off the lounge/bar menu instead. Service was slow, but I think the whole hotel was short staffed. We checked the Dis for any new updates or anticipated late arrival of the ship, but no info was posted. (There is internet wifi here.) So we set up the car service for the next day and went back to the room for kid baths. The wedding reception was going strong. I stopped out in the lobby and there was the expected drunk woman crying about something. The reception broke up by 1130pm so it really wasn't a problem for sleeping. Unfortunately while we had brought travel adapters, I did not bring a 3 prong to 2 prong US adapter so I could not plug in my netbook. At the London hotel we were able to borrow one, but not here - they were all being used. Bummer.

We had one issue with the hotel (so far). We get email alerts for any credit card charges overseas, and we were notified that the hotel had charged us almost double of what they were supposed to. When we went to complain they kept telling us they only put in a hold/pre-auth but not a charge. But the credit card thinks otherwise - since it came through as a charge. Maybe they only charge foreign accounts, or maybe most people don't get email alerts so they just don't know about it. But I would have preferred that this did not happen.

Off to sleep.

 

[DisneyDoc1895]

We woke up around 830am to head to the lobby to meet the inlaws for breakfast. The breakfast at the hotel was 10 GBP each so we were feeling cheap, knowing that in 4 hours we would be on a floating buffet, so we did not want to pay. Instead we had some breakfast bars and got a muffin from the coffee shop there. We went to pack up and check out - the car was scheduled to pick us up at 1030. MIL told us later that they checked on the car that morning and found that none was in the book! (That's why I hate to allow other people to make reservations - I would rather do it myself. But at least FIL followed up to make sure we could get to the port.) So they had them get another service. It arrived on time and the driver was very nice. The 10 minute ride to the port was easy.

We came around a bend and there was the Magic! The town of Dover actually looked a little run down. Lots of boarded up buildings.

But for me who likes military history, it was an experience to look across the channel to see France. (From the top of the ship - or so I thought. We found out later it was not France, but some closer islands. I'm not so sure.) It must have really sucked for Brits to look across and see German occupied territory.

Check in was easy, and within about 20 minutes we were in the main waiting area. DW checked the kids into the camp and they got their bracelets. They now have an RF finder in them because the kids can go to any of the kids activities regardless of age. Previously, they stayed in their age group. So now, in order to find your kid (if you really want them back) they have to look it up on the computer to track them. Kinda cool, we'll see how well it works.

By 1130 am they started embarkation. We were in group 4. We got on the ship and headed to Topsiders for lunch. DD8 as usual jumped in with a vengence, eating shrimp, pasta, a sandwich and 2 deserts. We took a few pictures from the top of the ship and then headed to our rooms, which were ready at 130pm. We found our Castaway Club gifts (bag, 2 water bottles, key chain) there and a few items from our travel agent. We unpacked what we could and settle in to wait for our luggage. We like to get all unpacked early so we don't have to worry about it. DW has gotten very good about being organized to fit the 4 of us in a small room for a long cruise.

The movie list for the first week includes Toy Story 1 and 2, Up, Narnia and a bunch of others. Since Disney has their own movies, they can show first run movies on the ship in the movie theatre. We plan to see Toy Story 3 next week.

Two out of 4 of our bags arrived before the safety drill. Unlike most other cruise ships which do the safety drill as you sail away, Disney makes a party of the sail away, so they do it an hour earlier. It is quick and to the point, then we went back to he room to get ready for the party. A third bag arrived before we left. The party was nice, there was good weather, sunny and upper 60s for temps.

We had great views of the cliffs of Dover during the party and as we left. The Captain took a route near the cliffs so we could get some good photos.

It was now 5:30 so we went back to the room to get ready for dinner. I took DD10 back to the camp to replace her bracelet - it was broken on one side and we didn't want it to get lost so we went for a new one. When we got back to the room the 4th bag had arrived.

Our first night's dinner was in Parrot Cay. I like it there the best, it is relaxing. Disney has 3 main restaurants and 2 seatings, one at 6pm and one at 830pm. At our first Disney cruise we had the late seating. The main problem was this was a long and special cruise, a Panama Canal crossing, so there were a lot of late night parties. Because dinner was late we were not hungry for any of these. We like the 6pm better.

Our servers are Wemick from India and Sergio from Spain. Both are good, at least from one night's experience. DW and I tend to just go with the menu and not ask for anything too special. I know you can, but we don't like to. FIL on the other hand has no problem asking for anything. For example, he did not like any of the deserts so he asked for a plate of fresh fruit. Wemick, stuttered a bit and said he had to go make it himself. That alone would have mortified me. He has also wanted a chopped salad every night. For me, all I want is a diet coke every night!

After dinner we went to the show which was "All Aboard - Let the Magic Begin!" Get the reference? We are on the Disney Magic. It included an illusionist, Jason Bishop and a commedian, Heath Hyche. Both were just OK. We sat in our regular seats, the front of the back section so lots of leg room. After the show we went to Diversions for a bit. Diversions is the ship pub. While we were there in the back the college mixer/meet and great. We were wondering how many people would go. It actually was well attended and there was a cruise staff peson there to break the ice. Then we moved next door to a different bar called the Rockin Bar D. Here there was a game called "Match your Mate."

It was awesome. They asked for people that had "been together" for less than 5 years. Two couples got up and one was picked. They seemed to really want to get picked. Then the guy mentioned they had been together 6 years but were living on different continents. But it was more than 5 years so they were disqualified. They got so mad (I think she was mad at him) they left! They probably would have been picked for the next group. Wow. The 3 couples were one that was married for a few years, another for 24 years and a third for 39 years. They then asked them questions while the spouse was out of the room. Kinda like the Newlywed Game. Anyway it was hilarious. Then we went to pick up the kids and go to sleep. We lose an hour of sleep tonight. A nice first day on the ship.

Some additional notes - I love being on the ship. Looking out from the deck and seeing the ocean I find relaxing and awesome. The cruise director is Peter (or Petr?) from Switzerland. He is Ok, just doesn't seem to have that spark like Christian or Brent.

 

[Cousin Orville]

Thanks for posting your photo blog. Great memories. We were at your same dinner seating (early, starting with parrot cay). It was our first DCL cruise, and we had a wonderful time, but I was a little surprised that Peter was the cruise director. I was expecting someone a bit more energetic I guess. Anyway I'll be following your blog. Thanks again!

 

[SCDizneyDawn]

Great report! Looking forward to the next installment!

 

[Marla Hellwig]

We were on this cruise too, had late dining

My daughter had a great time, and she is in your pictures

The one with red short sleeve t shirt and plaid shorts

 

[DisneyDoc1895]

Thanks for posting your photo blog. Great memories. We were at your same dinner seating (early, starting with parrot cay). It was our first DCL cruise, and we had a wonderful time, but I was a little surprised that Peter was the cruise director. I was expecting someone a bit more energetic I guess. Anyway I'll be following your blog. Thanks again!

You are right regarding Peter. We had Christian for 2 prior cruises and he probably just sets the bar very high.

 

[DisneyDoc1895]

We were on this cruise too, had late dining

My daughter had a great time, and she is in your pictures

The one with red short sleeve t shirt and plaid shorts

Wow, how cool is that, that you could spot her!

I started doing better with pictures as the cruise went on, realizing I would be blogging it. Also looking back, I talk alot about finding internet access - we run a business from home and while we scaled it back quite a bit, we were anxious to make sure all was ok. Also, there were bad storms around the Philly area, and were following them.

Anyway, I realized it made us sound odd - but it was like a fun treasure hunt!

Ken

 

[DMMarla07860]

awesome report so far

 

[Meg'n'walt]

You are right regarding Peter. We had Christian for 2 prior cruises and he probably just sets the bar very high.

IMHO It's a matter of taste. We had Rachel and Brent as CD's before, but we like Peter more. He's very good with the kids.
Rachel & Brent run like on speed the whole day.

 

[kbmo4444]

Love the trip report so far I agree about CD's we have had Clayton,Ray,Christian and Peter. Peter being our least favorite IMHO

 

[pixie08]

Love the report

 

[Zidane]

That is AWESOME!!!! Sounds like you had a wonderful time, but then again with the DCL is there any other kind???

Thanks for the lovely pictures too!!

 

[mstinson14]

We were on this cruise too! Hi

 

[TheThomsLuvDisney]

Subbing in, great TR, can't wait for more!