Dover to Barcelona

[mkmommy]

We just got back from the girls first trip to Europe and we had a great time, and hopefully DCL will do this cruise again as I would book in a heartbeat.

We left dad at home again and it was me and the girls 7 and 9. This was my 5th DCL cruise and the girls 4.

If you want the version with pictures you can see them here.

http://magictrip0314.blogspot.com/

I booked this cruise strictly on that it was the only 1 that fit my work schedule, lots of ports and it was Disney so it should be ok. Well the more I researched and read other trip blogs the more excited I got as it looked like a great introduction to Europe for the girls.

Tuesday July 27 arrived, but there was a tons of last minute work that needed to be done. I think I talked to about 6 different people that I had not talked to in the last 6 months and they all needed something urgently before I left. I ended up having to take my laptop home and working right till we were about to leave, but it all got done.

We almost did not make the flight. We were flying Air Canada and did on line check in and got to the airport at 9:00 for and 11:30 flight and the line to drop bags off was snaking all the way through the International departure area to the US. People were not happy as the line was not moving. They had 4 people working and there were 5 international flights leaving at the same time. Luckily they called for all people on the flight to London and we got to drop our bags off, as we were no where near the front and would never had made it. A supervisor came out to try and calm people down and was arguing with a man that he should know it is summer and you need to be in line more than their posted recommended time. I kept thinking you know it is summer and that you have 5 flights leaving why do you have 10 terminals but only 4 of them manned.

Luckily there was no line for security and we made it just as the flight was about to board. The flight was not full and we ended up with an empty seat beside us. Sydney got the extra space and she got the most sleep, but none of got much sleep.

We arrived in London and were off the plane by 11:45 AM London time, it took about an hour to get our luggage and get through customs. I had originally planed to take the tube into London, but I decided to book a car service, Simply Airports was on time and we were off to our hotel, the Park Plaza Victoria Station, which we arrived at by 2:00.

The hotel was very nice and the lobby was full of legs, we later found a torso in the elevator lobby but we never found the head. Our room was ready and we were able to drop our bags off. Lauren really wanted to have a nap as she was tired, but we kept going. It was a beautiful day in London sunny but not too warm.

Our first stop was lunch, we decided on McDonalds in the train station, it was fast and girls ate and were perked up and ready to head to the Mew at Buckingham Palace. I wish I had chosen the Palace, but the last admission was 3:00 and I did not think we would make it so I prebooked tickets to the Mews instead. The Mews are the stables where all the Queen’s horses and carriage are stored. It was interesting and Sydney was thrilled that the Queen has a horse with her name.

We spent about an hour there and then headed out through the gift shop. Lauren decided that she was going to collect coins and got one of Buckingham Palace and Sydney was going to collect book marks, so she got hers.

We walked around to the front of the Palace and took some pictures of the Guards, but we were fading fast and decided to head back. There was a restaurant we had passed that had been recommended to me, but there was no way the girls would stay awake for dinner so we found a grocery store and picked up some bread, salads and fruit and also some pink marshmellow cookies that were way too sweet.

Lauren lasted till 6:30 and she was out until 8:00 the next morning. Sydney and I stayed up till about 9:00, but we all slept through the night.

 

[mkmommy]

Thursday July 28.

Today we were taking the train to Dover, so after breakfast we walked the short 2 minutes to Victoria Station and were able to get our tickets and find out where the train was leaving from.

After 2 hours on the train we arrived in Dover and it was still sunny, but pretty windy. We took a taxi to the hotel the Premier Inn Dover Ferry Docks. The room was not ready so we stowed our luggage and went for lunch. After lunch we headed for a walk down the beach. I was hoping to convince the girls that we should walk up to Dover Castle but they just wanted to stay on the beach, so Dover Castle will have to wait for another trip.

We had dinner at the hotel restaurant and it was so slow, but there was nothing else within walking distance. After dinner we headed back to the room and watched a couple of old episodes of Murder She Wrote, which the girls enjoyed. We were all pretty tired and asleep by 9:00.

 

[mkmommy]

Friday July 30.

We all slept through the night again and did not get up till 8:00. Sydney had wanted to get up at 5:00 to watch the Magic come into port but luckily she did not wake up. We did rush out and the Magic was right there waiting for us.

We had breakfast and took another walk down the beach, lots of neat rocks but no sand on this beach.

About 11:00 we checked out and got a taxi to the Port. I though we had arrived late, but we got boarding card #7 so we would not have too long of a wait as they were going to start boarding at 11:45. I noticed DCL was touring a huge group of British Travel Agents so I think they are planning on more cruises out on the UK in the future.

Minnie arrived and of course Sydney was in line to get the first of many pictures. By the end of the cruise the photographers knew us by name without even looking at our key cards. Lauren of course does not want anything to do with the characters but was willing to fool around with some old English Gentlemen.

#7 was called and we were announced and welcomed back. The girls wanted to head straight for the pool so that was were we headed. Having always sailed in March which can be cold and dark by 6:00 the girls really took advantage of the warmth and extra day light. It was breezy up on the pool deck but the pools were warm.

4:00 PM was the Safety drill and you sure could tell there were a lot of first time cruisers on board. They kept asking people to line up smallest to largest with a row for each cabin but people kept going in front of all the kids and the staff could not find all the cabins, but they finally located everyone and we were finally allowed to leave.

We headed up to Deck 10 for the sail away and Sydney got into the dance mood. It was very impressive sailing out of Dover with the Castle in the background and also the White Cliffs of Dover.

We once again had early dinner and this cruise that was at 6:00. Dinners were slow once again, and the girls were still not very adventuresome in there choices . We were at a table with a girls Lauren’s age and they had lots of fun.

 

[Zidane]

Wonder what happened to the rest of her report? is it maybe on her blog? Keep us posted!

 

[mkmommy]

Saturday July 31.

Cherbourg France

We woke up this morning to an early morning room service call. We had to meet at 8:15 in the Promenade Lounge for the tour to Tatihou Island.

It was hard to get the girls up and moving but room service arrived and we did make it on time.

There was a bus ride of about 40 minutes through some wonderful small French Villages, with lovely churches, graveyards and lots of lovely flowers. It was pretty early still so the villages were pretty quite but lots of people setting up the outdoor cafes beside the bakeries.

It was a gray cool day but no rain. We arrived at a small port where we got onto an amphibian boat, being low tide we would be driving out around the oyster fields, at first it looked like they were for seaweed, but the tour guide said that they were for cultivating oysters. It was a short ride to the island and then we had a short walk through the gardens. There was a maritime museum that we were supposed to visit but we just walked past. The gardens were lovely, lots of interesting plants.

There was an Adventure by Disney Guide with us also on the tour and they did try to make it more child friendly with a bird search when we got to the bird sanctuary but I felt bad for the guide as the only birds around were sea gulls. People were getting bored at this point so people started wandering off to the Vauban Tower. This was neat, a real drawbridge and we were able to walk up the 4 or 5 stories and explore the tower.

After this was a bit of a waste. Looking back I am assuming this was the free time that was listed on the tour description but the tour guide did not say anything and people just stood around waiting for something to happen. We finally decided to head back and we got to check out the gardens and Lauren found a lovely coin of the Tower.

We met back at 11:30 to board the boat back to the port. The tide had come in so it was a boat ride to the bus.

The girls enjoyed the tower but the local tour guide was really hard to understand and he admitted that he did not normally go to this area, so I don’t think he knew that much about the tower, as looking at the tour description we missed a lot.

We got back to the ship about 1:00 and had lunch. I was hoping the girls would go to the clubs so I could head back into the town of Cherbourg and look around but the sun had come out and the girls wanted to go swimming.

The afternoon was spent on the pool deck and dinner was a rush as there was face painting in the clubs and the girls chill party was going on in the club later on.

 

[mkmommy]

Wonder what happened to the rest of her report? is it maybe on her blog? Keep us posted!

It is a work in progress and work is getting in the way.

 

[HermanTriplets+1]

Work has a way of getting in the way but do keep at it! I'm enjoying! Doesn't matter if it comes in bits and pieces! THANKS!

 

[mkmommy]

Sunday August 1.

Today was a sea day, with an early Character breakfast, but we slept in, 4 th cruise for the girls and we have never made it to the Character breakfast. The weather is warming up, and the seas are pretty calm. I have heard that it can get pretty rough sailing through the Bay of Biscay but we have a lovely day.


There was lots going on, first up was the Princess Gathering, so lots of pictures, Lauren skipped that and went to the kids lab.

After lunch we went and Saw Toy Story 3, what a great movie.

We went swimming after but it was pretty busy so it was a short swim.

Next up was Tea with Alice, Lauren did not want to go so she went back to the Lab, of course Sydney enjoyed the Tea, the Mad Hatter was pretty funny.

Another rushed dinner as the girls wanted to get a swim in before the show, which became the normal after dinner routine. It was great swimming after dinner as the pools were pretty much empty.

We made it to the Theater and got to watch Twice Charmed. It was as great as usual and the girls enjoyed seeing it again.

With sunset so late we were able to catch it after the show.

 

[mkmommy]

August 2

Vigo.

I had not read much about Vigo as not a lot of North American Ships go there, so I booked a DCL excursion “Boarder Country” which went to a fortified city of Valenca .

Vigo is defiantly a port you can do on your own, the ship docks right in the middle of the city.

Meeting time was a little later today, and we have some official tour helpers today.

The bus ride was about 40 minutes and the landscape reminded me of the Okanagan in the spring. The local tour guide this time was much better and very knowledgeable about the area and gave us some great information on the battles for the land in this area, during the 16 and 1700’s .

Valenca is actually in Portugal, just across the river from Spain.

It was impressive and my pictures do not do it justice.

We got spent about an hour being shown around and then we had an hour of free time.

On the way back we stopped at a couple of more view stops, one was a quick picture break and the other one was about 30 minutes at another old palace.

We got back to the ship about 2 and the girls had lunch up on the pool deck and of course went swimming.

We then headed down to deck 4. The gangplank in Vigo was from deck 3 with a steep staircase and we were hoping to see the crane remove it, so we were just hanging out reading. It was not quiet as normal on deck 4 as there was quite a crowd of kids on the dock chanting for Mickey. Well about 10 minutes before departure Mickey shows up, it is pretty much him and the girls and he just fooled around with the girls, more people show up, but Mickey stays and just waves to all the kids. Pluto then shows and Lauren who has pretty much outgrown the characters gave in to the Disney Magic and had so much fun just fooling around with them. Wish I was on the dock as it was hard to get pictures of the girls and Mickey as they were always facing towards shore.

 

[mkmommy]

August 3

Lisbon.

I was at a loss on what to do in Lisbon, the only DCL excursion that looked promising had an 8:00 AM meet time and that would be pushing my luck, so I decided we would go into the city centre and go to St George’s Castle or maybe take the #28 tram through the old section on Lisbon.


I got up early to watch the sail into Lisbon as I had read that sailing under the April 25 Bridge was beautiful.

The April 25 Bridge is a suspension bridge similar in design to the Golden Gate Bridge. It was a beautiful morning and sailing under the bridge was neat, the sound the ship made sailing under the bridge with car on it was neat and I hoped to make it back that evening.

Since we were on our own this morning the girls slept in and we did not rush off the ship. We got off about 10:00 and we just wandered towards the big dome on the hill. We found a flee market and Lauren searched for some coins, and Sydney found a lovely hat, it was her first attempt at bargaining and she got it for 3 eurors.

We found the 28 tram but it was hot and the girls did not want to go on it.
Lisbon is full of lovely neat narrow roads and alleys so we just spent the morning exploring. We found a lovely bakery and tried a Portuguese pastry. Lisbon appeared to very inexpensive and we got 3 drinks and 1 pastry, and 1 huge gummy fish for less than 3 Euros. Lauren liked the pastry but Sydney was glad she had gone for the gummy fish.

We had found our way back to the port and it was hot, the girls had not complained once so I decided we should go back on before everyone got too tired. The girls had lots of things they wanted to do in the clubs, but the call of the empty pool was too strong and they spent another afternoon in the pool.



We did take some time out to visit a few characters.



Tried to rush through dinner so we could made it up to watch the sail under the April 25 bridge, but we were about 5 minutes too slow.

The evening show was Villains a new one we have not seen. I was not impressed but the girls who know Yzma and Kronk from the Emperors New Groove really enjoyed the show and Lauren mentioned that she wished that she had gone to all 3 performances.

 

[mkmommy]

August 4


Cadiz

Looks like another nice day this time we are in Southern Spain and the City of Cadiz.

The plan today was take the Hop On Hop Off bus to the Victoria Beach, spend some time there and then take the bus around the rest of the loop getting off in the old town at seawall and walking back to the ship.

There was a long line waiting to board the bus, and it took quite a while to board and I think we had to wait for 3 busses, but it was a beautiful day and not too hot yet.

We made it to the beach, and the ocean was so warm.

After some time in the ocean we decided to hop on the bus, lots of Moorish style buildings. We missed the stop at the seawall so we ended up back near the port. We did some shopping, found a Euro store and Sydney got some modeling clay, but Lauren was not able to find any coins.

We went back on the ship about 2:00 and brought lunch down to deck 4, for some reading, shuffleboard, and creating with the modeling

Tonight was Pirate night and the girls got dressed up.

After dinner we headed up to the pool, but as set up for pirate party was going on the girls had to go to the Mickey pool, it was empty too so the girls had fun.

We did head back to the room and watched almost the whole Spy next door and then rushed up stairs to catch Mickey saving the day and the fireworks.

 

[tigger2on]

Great reports! I read both!
I wanted to do this with my kiddies... we are in hamilton but the airfare was insane!!!
Glad you got the opportunity!

 

[mkmommy]

Work has a way of getting in the way but do keep at it! I'm enjoying! Doesn't matter if it comes in bits and pieces! THANKS!

Great reports! I read both!
I wanted to do this with my kiddies... we are in hamilton but the airfare was insane!!!
Glad you got the opportunity!

Thanks for reading it was a fun trip.

I got a good deal on airfare. I tracked the airfare from the time I booked and it was always around $1300 per person then 1 day in October it came up for less than $800 per person so I booked it right away.

DCL then opened up CAT 12's in December and total final cost of this 12 day trip ended up being less than our first 7 day Western Caribbean cruise.

 

[scottishwee35]

Hi Lisa

It is great report and I cannot believe it is over now

I will put my photoslides later...

Scottishwee35

 

[Melcatfish]

Enjoying your trip report so far Lisa, it was lovely to chat a couple of times and to have Dis neighbours!

Got back today from the B2B and will post my report soon!

Mel
x

 

[2littlegirls]

Great trip report! I can't wait to take my girls on a trip like this.

 

[mkmommy]

Hi Lisa

It is great report and I cannot believe it is over now

I will put my photoslides later...

Scottishwee35

You must, it was your pictures from your first med cruise that made me interested in doing one.

Enjoying your trip report so far Lisa, it was lovely to chat a couple of times and to have Dis neighbours!

Got back today from the B2B and will post my report soon!

Mel
x

I hope you had a good time and I will be reading your report, as everyone does such different things. I am trying to figure out how I can do the Med next year.

I was jealous of you when we left and you got to stay. I should have put deposits down on 2 rooms so I could move it to a back to back for 2012.

Great trip report! I can't wait to take my girls on a trip like this.

You will have so much fun

 

[mkmommy]

August 5


(I do have more pictures on my blog it is just so slow to download them to photobucket)

Gibraltar

Woke up and it was a gray and foggy day in Gibraltar but the fog would break up and by 10:00 it was another lovely day.

Gibraltar was the port that Lauren was looking forward to the most and the Barbary Apes.

After breakfast we headed off the ship and found a taxi to do the Rock Tour with. The Magic was the only ship in port this morning so there was no lines for the Rock Tours which are right when you got off the ship, but when we returned in the afternoon there was another large ship in port and there were huge line ups.

The tour basically takes you up the switchback road (just like Giants Head but with the Atlantic Ocean/Mediterranean Sea) on the side of the Rock of Gibraltar with a couple of stops at viewpoints, the St Michael Caves, the Barbary Apes and then your choice of the Great Siege tunnels or the Moorish Palace. We were with another family and they wanted to see the tunnels and that was fine with us.

The taxi driver gets your tickets and then meets you at the exit. The St Michael’s caves were amazing and I have never seen stalagmites and stalactites like this. There was a DCL tour going through at the same time and I wished we had taken the tour as the guide was giving some great information. Concerts are held in the caves as the acoustics are supposed to be very good.

We emerged from the caves and Lauren was able to find a machine that was selling Rock of Gibraltar coins so she was thrilled.

Next stop was the Apes.


I knew Lauren would be in heaven and Sydney would be scared. The Apes are everywhere and we got to see old ones that would not move out of your way, and young ones that would not sit still, we even saw a mother with a brand new one that barely had it eyes open.

Lauren was in awe and probably could have spent all day there. One approached her, which she was hopping for , but this of course freaked out Sydney. The vans are just sitting on the road waiting for the traffic ahead, so Sydney was able to get in our van and be protected and Lauren got every possible minute watching the Apes.

The finally stop was the tunnels. It is hard to believe that men carved these tunnels out in the late 1770’s. They are 1 mile deep, we did not go all the way as it was only a short stop.

The view was amazing.

The airport has a road that goes through the middle of the runway and you can see people walking on a sidewalk.

We did not have the greatest taxi driver, and it was rushed, he was hoping to get in 2 more tours today before the ships left, but it was still one of the highlights.

We got dropped off in the centre of the old town and walked around.

It was getting hot to we headed back to the ship, but not before getting lost.

The afternoon routine continued and we hit the pool, we also went to a family craft and painted some mosiac tiles

I finally convinced the girls to skip dinner and go to TopSiders for dinner. It was probably the best meal of the cruise, it is so quiet and relaxing up there. The waiter was not great but he actually had time to talk to us, I find the main dinning rooms so busy and noisy that you hate to ask the servers for anything.

We then went back to the pool of course, and went and saw the Stage show, The Dream does on.

Lauren was hoping to hit the club as they were having a late night drive in movie night, but she fell asleep. I tried to wake her up at 10:30 when it was starting but said she did not want to get up.

 

[mkmommy]

Friday Aug 6

Last Sea Day.



How could it be the last day already, the first couple of days seemed to go by at a normal pace, but the last several days just flew by.

Today was a lazy day, but I do think we hit the pool 3 times.

First time was after breakfast, then after dinner and then a late night swim (after bathing suits packed)

In between we just hung out on deck 4, we did go down to the promenade lounge to play some board games and also the family craft time which was decorate a Frisbee.

I did all the packing in the afternoon, why does there seem to be so much stuff, next time I am just bringing bathing suites and a couple of pairs of shorts.

We did go the Dreams, the final stage show and it was just as amazing as ever, I don’t think we will get tired of watching it.

It was a beautiful night so Lauren wanted 1 more swim to end the cruise off. In March when we went on the Wonder we did go swimming once they sure made up for it this time.

Saturday Aug 7.

Barcelona

We were in no rush to get off the ship, and it was about 9:00 AM when we walked out of the cruise terminal and got in line for a taxi, and probably 9:45 when we got to the Novetel City Centre Hotel. It was a zoo there, but we found someone to store our bags.

The hotel was close to the Metro so we were off and our destination was Parc Guell. The Metro was clean and easy to figure out our way around, Sydney was the navigator. We got off and there were even signs directing us to Parc Guell. It was hot in Barcelona but luckily the stop we got off at , the roads were shaded and there were outdoor escalators in the middle of the street to take us up. And it was up, and steep, it took about 20 minutes to get there.

The Parc was beautiful and being Saturday there were lots of people around. I could have spent hours looking around but the girls were getting bored as it was too hot to go run around the park, so we headed back. I wish I had retraced our steps, but I saw signs to a Metro so I just followed them, but it was through busy non shaded streets and it took forever, probably close to an hour.

We made it back to the Metro and the hotel. Right across from hotel is a large Mall so we spend some time shopping and having lunch.

It was then off to the hotel to see if our room was ready and you guessed it hit the swimming pool. The pool was on the roof of the hotel and the view of the ocean and city was breathtaking.

It was hard getting the girls out of the pool but they were getting hungry so they finally got out. We headed back to the Mall across the street and had dinner at Subway. After that we hit the grocery store to pick up snacks for the flight home. It is always neat to go to grocery stores in new places, the meat aisle was interesting they seemed to have sides of beef hanging and someone cuts what you want, but I think it was all cooked meat.

One last swim and that was our day in Barcelona, everyone was pretty tired.

Sunday we had to get up early and we took a taxi to the airport. There was not much of a lineup for check in so it was not a mad rush like when we left.

We flew to Montreal and that was ok, but the flight Montreal to Toronto, there was a baby who screamed a lot of the flight and it was not fun, I can’t imagine having that for the whole flight.

We made it home without any problems.

It was an amazing trip, we seem to have a better time each cruise. Loved being on deck 5. I was surprised how little Lauren was in the clubs. She said they no longer leave the lab so they can't do all her favorite things. I guess I should have put her in the out and about age group, for sure next time.

People always say going to Europe it is the ports the ship does not matter and I do not agree. Yes the ports did make it, but I don't think the girls would have been so willing to go out if they did not have the ship to come back to. I was surprised how much the girls enjoyed the ports, I would have loved to go back into them by myself for a little while, but these vacations are about doing things with the girls and we lots of fun.

I was not blown away by the staff like I have been in the past, a couple of little issues that needed follow up and there was none, but I attribute that to having so much new staff, I can just imagine the headaches trying to train that many people, but it did not put a damper on our trip.

Would love if they did this trip again, and add it to a Med Cruise.

 

[living20057]

I love your blog. It was very informative.