July 22, 2015 * 12-night Northern European Cruise!

[DISNEY FANTASY]

Bonus, only on blog and here not on main forum thread..

 

[Karen727]

PVDude and 3bubs: I have a question about your GLUTEN-FREE and/or DAIRY FREE, is it your entire cabin or just one person? For us it's just my 27 year old daughter, not the younger ones.

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

So what did I learn today at Dover?

Well whilst general reports said 'Operation stack' had ended, it clearly had not, however it may be (1) an overnight thing, (2) Extra checks being made by border officers. it clearly wasn't the weather.

Roundabouts were blocked along the seafront making turning quite hard, however you can do it, and good news, it cleared by mid morning with no trucks waiting. I assume at the moment this is an on.off thing but I hadn't read anything in the news today. The first thing I knew about it was overhead gantry signals on the M25 saying the M20 was closed, and to use the M2. M2 was good and clerk, and only two small sections of roadworks.

So early= bad, late morning =good.

The Magic was in before 5am today, I didn't get there until just post 5am and it was docked up and loading from tankers and trucks the food for the next cruise.

Port restrictions are high. Man at the gate was stopping all non cruise traffic, have your ID and Cruise documents.
The pier next to the Magic where I normally walk to view it closer was closed and only closed on the cruise day, it said it would re open at 6pm.

I saw people in taxis and a few small coaches from 7.30am, not sure if express walk off, or cruise staff, as there wasn't a flood of them, most likely they skipped breakfast, 7am for Main and 8.15am for late.

I saw a high volume of taxis and coaches going in from 7.20am, with a peak of coaches arriving at 7.30am.

New cruisers were not allowed in before 10.30am, I saw many in town, with their matching t shirts on saying Baltic cruise.

Do not arrive before 10.30am!!!! (Stick to your PAT or if you have a late one, arrive post 11.30am).

Car Park had a lot of capacity, I think maybe as the incoming cruise didn't start at Dover. More coming in for this 7/10 cruise.

I was wrong side of the ship to see the cruise terminal and embarkation start. I would guess it started after 11.30, maybe 11.40, 11.45am. Later than Port Canaveral.

I could see the windows on deck 9 being cleaned and no cruisers on board.

Dartford river crossing has serious construction works where the old tolls are being removed, I knew of issues but not that bad.

People seemed to get away quick, I have friends in London posting, but saying eventually, so the truck issues might have slowed them down.

Most DCL coaches looked rather nice, executive style.

Those staying at the Premier inn it looks nice a photo or two on my blog.

Those wanting booze, Marks and Spencer is best, 9am to 5pm, Costcutter as well in town centre, Morrisons to the north, Tesco's would be cheaper but out of town to the North a taxi ride, near the Ramada. Not a lot of good places to eat in town some Indian takeaways to the north, KFC, Mcdonalds, Subway, looks poor on restaurants. There are real ale pubs.

Not limited hours, 9am to 5pm strict, not like in London.

Be prepared to go the long way around if getting a taxi from Dover Priory to the port or back, loads of taxis waiting outside the station, photo in my blog.

Dover was hot, not a cloud in the blue skies but still a breeze which may make you think your cool, -the sun is very strong even if you feel cool, wear sunscreen and maybe a hat.

Near Cliffs and in the exposed port there was a strong wind. Hold on to everything.

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

The rail strike on Southern, serving Gatwick has been called off.

 

[Celestine]

So in tonights Evening Standard the following was in an article: "Londoners will be able to hail a black taxi in central London for a flat £10 rate. Mobile app Gett, which works solely with black cab drivers & is available on iOS and Android, is offering fixed-fare rides for the whole of July. The special rate is available 10am - 10pm, Monday to Friday, for customers who are picked up and dropped off in a designated central London zone". I have never used it so have no personal experience, but thought I'd share incase it helps anyone out pre-cruise

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

So in tonights Evening Standard the following was in an article: "Londoners will be able to hail a black taxi in central London for a flat £10 rate. Mobile app Gett, which works solely with black cab drivers & is available on iOS and Android, is offering fixed-fare rides for the whole of July. The special rate is available 10am - 10pm, Monday to Friday, for customers who are picked up and dropped off in a designated central London zone". I have never used it so have no personal experience, but thought I'd share incase it helps anyone out pre-cruise

Very nice! If it's a fixed rate, maybe they will go direct!

 

[Karen727]

Your information is so great! Very informative. Thanks so much!

 

[Karen727]

Deb T., are we going to have a meet and greet on the first day, or sometime soon?

 

[Deb T.]

Deb T., are we going to have a meet and greet on the first day, or sometime soon?

Yes, we are! On embarkation day, 2:30-3:45pm, in the Promenade Lounge, Deck 3 aft.
I think mousemom11 is the one who set it up.

 

[tink too]

I have a question for the folks who have visited the Baltics previously - specifically for the ladies and maybe more about St Petersburg really.

When visiting churches as part of a tour, did you have to stick to a certain dress code (for example, covered shoulders and/or head, must be wearing a skirt below the knee length). That's just some of the ones we've encountered over the years on our travels in Europe, there may be others. My DD and I are trying to work out what to pack and don't want to be denied entry to any sites due to casual/touristy wear, and certainly don't want to offend any worshippers attending church while we are there. I'm not sure how strict Russian Orthodox churches are regarding dress code, maybe someone who has been there/done that can advise please.

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

Your information is so great! Very informative. Thanks so much!

thank you, pleased to help.

I have a question for the folks who have visited the Baltics previously - specifically for the ladies and maybe more about St Petersburg really.

When visiting churches as part of a tour, did you have to stick to a certain dress code (for example, covered shoulders and/or head, must be wearing a skirt below the knee length). That's just some of the ones we've encountered over the years on our travels in Europe, there may be others. My DD and I are trying to work out what to pack and don't want to be denied entry to any sites due to casual/touristy wear, and certainly don't want to offend any worshippers attending church while we are there. I'm not sure how strict Russian Orthodox churches are regarding dress code, maybe someone who has been there/done that can advise please.

Yes in St Petes they require ladies to be modestly dressed in some places, our guide informed us, it was just the high churches and our guide supplied a scarf or something to cover up. No bare shoulders or legs above the knee.

 

[abayaflowers]

we have 6 days left before we leave.

We are very excited.

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

we have 6 days left before we leave.

We are very excited.

 

[ICEMANPAD]

Thank you for the Dover updates!

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

Thank you for the Dover updates!

My pleasure hope they helped or gave a bit more anticipation to our up coming cruise.

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

For everyone starting to travel this week and next, May I wish you all safe travels, delay free flights, good weather, free upgrades, and nice staff at check ins.

I am getting this in Now, as I know some of you will either be pre staying in London, or packing and not gave time to read the Internet.

For all contributors, thank you, and for everyone who has organised anything from coaches to tastings to FE a bit thank you, often there are unsung hero's on each cruise meet and It's nice to acknowledge everyone's contribution, is most welcome.

We can leave it to the last moment, last year we had a three day pre stay in Barcelona, and in the USA we often have a week or two in WDW. Here I can drive down, and ( officially) be down there in 90 mins, - if you stick to the speed limits.

We will however be driving down Tuesday to avoid rush hour traffic, and staying in Dover at a hotel to the North part of Dover, that way my children get a lay in Wednesday.

Train wise I think everyone is safe now up to the cruise, it would have had to be declared by now, but the queuing on the M20 seems on/off, if you see my photos you will see the lorries and the Dover video pans down to the entrance roundabout and you can see the cones blocking a right turn. I hope it's resolved in the week.

See you all soon.



And if you missed this post on the Dover live thread.......

 

[ICEMANPAD]

We are definitely excited and looking forward to this vacation! We originally booked and cancelled in 2010. Now five years later our dream vacation is becoming a reality!! We wish everyone good health and safe travels! We will be spending a few days in London and then will be in Dover the Tuesday evening before the cruise. We will see you all a week from Wednesday!

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

We are definitely excited and looking forward to this vacation! We originally booked and cancelled in 2010. Now five years later our dream vacation is becoming a reality!! We wish everyone good health and safe travels! We will be spending a few days in London and then will be in Dover the Tuesday evening before the cruise. We will see you all a week from Wednesday!

Have a good trip. London is collet than last week, we may have rain this week. But it's better than the heatwave of the last week or so. Better sightseeing weather.

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

Currently at Kings Cross, here is Harry Potters platform.

 

[tink too]

Yes in St Petes they require ladies to be modestly dressed in some places, our guide informed us, it was just the high churches and our guide supplied a scarf or something to cover up. No bare shoulders or legs above the knee.

Thank you for your reply - as always, you've been very helpful. Not sure why I didn't think of this before, but glad I remembered to ask before we'd finished packing!

I also appreciate the updates about Dover & London trains as although we're in the UK, we've never visited either location before. So looking forward to this cruise - only 5 more working days for me now.