July 6, 2010 - 7/6/2010 ~ Pounds to Rubles ~ Mickey invades the Baltic Sea

[Deb T.]

Aw, you're so sweet. We always enjoy these ... but not the kind with the chocolate on them - just the plain ones - which they usually have plenty of because lots of other people like them with the chocolate

Personally I am looking fwd to the creme brulee cheesecake from Parrot Cay on restaurant-specific nights... what's great is that means I have three times I can get it (gotta love the server who will run fetch it for me when I'm in Lumiere's or A.P.). mmmmm....

I totally remember your love for the creme brulee cheesecake from our '08 spring break cruise together!

Last April, there were two "sandal" rice krispy treats (one with a hard-candy red icing and one with blue icing) in my CC gift. If we get them again, I'll be sure to drop them into your FE for the boys!

 

[Deb T.]

We got our documents in the mail today. When I pulled them out of the mailbox, I kissed them and then danced (literally) up the driveway. Gary was in the garage wondering what I was doing so I showed him and told him that it is tradition and good luck to dance (literally) when you get your DCL documents. So he danced a little dance, too.

Sure wish I could have seen that! haha

Loved getting them. One thing inside it said was for us to put our DCL tags on our luggage before we fly - but then of course we're picking up our bags ourselves at the airport in London and getting them to where we meet our transfers person outside baggage / customs at Gatwick. So I'm thinking we don't really need to put them on until we're at the hotel and ready for DCL to pick up our luggage to transfer to the port.

Our luggage was lost for 5 days of our 11-night Med cruise. I often wonder if having the DCL luggage tags on them would have helped expedite us being reunited with them? (For that cruise, we were advised to put the tags on after arriving in Spain.) So, I definitely plan to attach DCL's luggage tags to them this time, especially since the cruise docs recommend it. (Maybe DCL also learned that having the tags on would help locate lost luggage??)

Busy week ahead - thank goodness we have Monday off. Kids are finishing school this week and of course Gary has to go to Orlando for work overnight midweek (on short days where the boys have to be picked up at different times and none coordinate with my work day - guess I'll tell the boss I need to telecommute for the afternoon). Nathan has his 8th grade promotion ceremony on Friday.

Congratulations, Nathan! Woohoo!!

Our schools aren't out until June 11th.

I'm ordering currency this week coming up and hoping we get decent exchange rate - don't want to wait too long and not get it in time to go. I got our laundry sheets (with the detergent and fabric softener in them) and also a box of hand sanitizer wipes so we'll have them for the plane and easy clean-up while in London and on excursions. Oh, I wonder if I have my travel t.p. still.... I haven't been reading the other threads about travel conditions in the various ports - we only needed it once on the Med cruise and that was in Pisa.

I think we'll go ahead and order Pounds this week. We'll pick up other currency in each port.

Got a few more of the F.E. gifts to make and then I'm ready to package and label them, so I'm looking fwd to getting the final list this week coming up. I already put our F.E. in the packing box along with the binoculars and sunscreen

We just bought a brand new pair of binoculars just for the trip!!

We didn't need seasick meds in the Med but I'm going to get some for this cruise just in case. Anyone have any idea about the sea conditions? The Med when we sailed was like being on a lake (compared to the Atlantic / Caribbean), but I don't know about the North / Baltic sea.

The last night of our Med cruise was extremely rocky - to the point that DD was sick to her stomach from all the motion. It was difficult to walk. I don't want to take any chances, so I'll be taking one Bonine each evening.

 

[nzdisneymom]

Deb - good point about if our luggage is separated from us between ATL and London and the hotel. I definitely plan to put our hotel information inside each bag and also the ship contact information. And we're doing the whole pack some of everyone's stuff in each bag thing so no one gets to London and has nothing to wear. Of course being in London for a couple of days ahead of time would allow for some shopping should that be necessary unlike if we were arriving the day-of the cruise.

Here's to everyone getting all their luggage to the ship on sailing day! (or with you on the day you get off the plane). I'm glad we're on a direct flight so we don't have to worry about connections.

 

[Morgey24]

Hi Everyone! What do you mean they are already out of Mickey Bars? I had read in posts that they ran out in previous year's transatlantics which I can almost understand given the number of days at sea and no opportunity for resupplying, but now?? Wowza!

 

[goingsouth]

We were on the 2007 Transatlantic and remember the pirate bars they replaced the mickey bars with (blech)..Oh well, probably wont miss the calories.

joanne

 

[Deb T.]

Deb - good point about if our luggage is separated from us between ATL and London and the hotel. I definitely plan to put our hotel information inside each bag and also the ship contact information. And we're doing the whole pack some of everyone's stuff in each bag thing so no one gets to London and has nothing to wear. Of course being in London for a couple of days ahead of time would allow for some shopping should that be necessary unlike if we were arriving the day-of the cruise.

Here's to everyone getting all their luggage to the ship on sailing day! (or with you on the day you get off the plane). I'm glad we're on a direct flight so we don't have to worry about connections.

The funny thing is that I had put our entire itinerary plus a list of contact information (DCL phone numbers, our email addresses, stateside family phone numbers and emails, etc.) inside, but the luggage arrived unopened! In fact, someone had completely wired it shut and we had a difficult time getting it open. The good news was that nothing was missing, but the bad news is that it still was AWOL for 5 looooooooong days.

My goal this time is to pack everything we need into carry-ons (1 roll-aboard and 1 duffel each) and just do laundry a couple of times while on the ship. We are pretty light packers and were able to do this on our 9-day China trip last October. Of course, we didn't have formal nights and FE gifts on that trip, so if I end up having to check a suitcase for the cruise I'll just have to keep my fingers crossed and hope for the best.

I second the wish that everyone has their luggage at all their destinations!

 

[aurorafan65]

just popping in to say hi - still no docs yet, hopefully Tues

This is our crazy time of year - we're doing Jimmy's b-day tomorrow (my baby turned 12 on the 25th), this week are b-ball & LAX playoffs along with Bryce's big 8th grade 21st century project. Then his b-day is the 9th (he truns 14) .

We're not done with school till the 18th - once that hits then I'm starting to pack

I am hoping to get some currency this week - one of the banks actually has pounds & euros right in their bank so it doens't have to be ordered. Any other currency we'll get at the port.

see you guys real soon!

 

[nzdisneymom]

This is our crazy time of year - we're doing Jimmy's b-day tomorrow (my baby turned 12 on the 25th), this week are b-ball & LAX playoffs along with Bryce's big 8th grade 21st century project. Then his b-day is the 9th (he truns 14) .

Nathan turns 14 on the 16th.


Deb, I hadn't thought about no one looking inside the bag to find out where it needs to go. We have three larger rolling bags that we're using plus a backpack for each boy to carry and then I'll use a Castaway Club bag I have and Gary has another bag he'll use for our one carry on per person. We will pack a change of clothes for each of us amongst the four bags we take with us on the plane. We do plan to do laundry onboard twice and we're not bringing formal-wear.

 

[denise]

Got our DOC yesterday
Didn't open them till today...like them way better then the old ones!

Off to our 3rd day at the Greek Festival at church....
then tomorrow back to fine tuning this vacation....

 

[CarolAnnC]

Sorry, have not been keeping up here like I should. Denise, best wishes on your retirement, sometimes things are not always what we planned it seems. The Baltic Cruise is a great way to kick it off!

Congrats to Nathan! Growing up so fast...

And to everyone, hope you are all having a great holiday weekend!

John has some more British Pounds for us, and we have just a few loose Euros leftover from the 07 Med cruise. I think we will pickup the other currencies once we arrive in those ports.

No docs here yet, I am jealous of everyone else, lol.

 

[dflyer]

Hey Folks, we are booking TJ Tours for St. Petersburg. Is anyone using them?

 

[babybear42]

Hi Everyone.

I thought I'd write to DCL to see if I could get a refund of our fuel surcharge seeing as we booked on the very first day that the cruise became available and here's the answer that I got:-

"Thank you for choosing a Disney Cruise Line vacation!

I am happy to assist you with information regarding the criteria for the
Fuel Supplement refund policy.

For already booked cruises, the criteria for refund will be determined
on a quarterly basis by the market price of the New York Mercantile
Exchange (NYMEX). If the closing price on the New York Mercantile
Exchange of West Texas Intermediate fuel is below $70.00 a barrel two
weeks prior to the beginning of the calendar quarter, the company will
refund fuel surcharges. These will be paid in the form of an onboard
credit.

For those sailing in the third quarter of 2010 (July 1 - September 30),
the fuel price determination date is: June 17, 2010

I hope this information has been helpful. If you require further
assistance in planning your visit, please feel free to contact us.

We look forward to sailing with you!

Have a Magical Day!

Adrienne
Reservations Department
Disney Cruise Line

Now what are the chances of that happening with the way markets are at the moment. Doesn't look like we'll be getting anthing back which is really annoying seeing as some people have already.

 

[babybear42]

The funny thing is that I had put our entire itinerary plus a list of contact information (DCL phone numbers, our email addresses, stateside family phone numbers and emails, etc.) inside, but the luggage arrived unopened! In fact, someone had completely wired it shut and we had a difficult time getting it open. The good news was that nothing was missing, but the bad news is that it still was AWOL for 5 looooooooong days.

My goal this time is to pack everything we need into carry-ons (1 roll-aboard and 1 duffel each) and just do laundry a couple of times while on the ship. We are pretty light packers and were able to do this on our 9-day China trip last October. Of course, we didn't have formal nights and FE gifts on that trip, so if I end up having to check a suitcase for the cruise I'll just have to keep my fingers crossed and hope for the best.

I second the wish that everyone has their luggage at all their destinations!

We had our luggage delayed once for 5 days. I'd packed both clothes in each case so that if one went missing then at least we'd both have something to get changed into, but no, both went M.I.A. Well technically they weren't M.I.A, they were sat on the tarmac at Heathrow airport where that bagage handlers had left them as they'd gone on strike. Ah the best laid plans of mice and men.

 

[dflyer]

Hi All,

New to DisBoards, you have all been very helpful in your suggestions and ideas. Quick question, does anyone know if we will be able to see The Soceror's Apprentice on board? It comes out on the 16th.

 

[Deb T.]

Hi All,

New to DisBoards, you have all been very helpful in your suggestions and ideas. Quick question, does anyone know if we will be able to see The Soceror's Apprentice on board? It comes out on the 16th.

I would guess yes... that they would have a midnight PremEAR showing on the 15th and then run it several times the rest of the cruise.

 

[buzzdad100]

Hey Folks, we are booking TJ Tours for St. Petersburg. Is anyone using them?

Have not heard of them. American Express travel recommended ShoreTrips and I think we are going with them. We had lots of recommendations, and it is confusing. The key is to make sure they are licensed and can get you tourist tickets in advance so you can leave the ship without a tourist visa

 

[Stimpy]

No docs yet..hopefully tomorrow!

I forgot about the carry-on changes! Does Virgin Atlantic allow a carry on at all?

Also, I'm so used to booking air on my own on Southwest! I have our info for the flights on Virgin Atlantic thru DCL and it has our seats and "confirmed". Do I still have to check-in online prior to going to airport? I'm also hoping I can maybe change our seats since they are 6 all in a row while we prefer 3 and 3 so the kids each get a window. I also have anxiety attacks if I am in a middle seat..ugh!

No Mickey bars??? DH, DF and DD will not be happy to hear that I'm another plain Mickey Rice Crispie treat lover....don't like the chocolate ones at all

Our kids are in school until 6/25 which is good because I am so behind in getting things ready for this cruise. This way I won't have to worry about dragging them to stores to get most of the clothes etc.

 

[Deb T.]

No docs yet..hopefully tomorrow!

I forgot about the carry-on changes! Does Virgin Atlantic allow a carry on at all?

Also, I'm so used to booking air on my own on Southwest! I have our info for the flights on Virgin Atlantic thru DCL and it has our seats and "confirmed". Do I still have to check-in online prior to going to airport? I'm also hoping I can maybe change our seats since they are 6 all in a row while we prefer 3 and 3 so the kids each get a window. I also have anxiety attacks if I am in a middle seat..ugh!

I'm right there with ya on those dreaded middle section seats! If I were you, I'd go ahead and call Virgin Atlantic Customer Service at 1-800-821-5438 ASAP to request your seat preferences since the side seats tend to fill up very early.

My experience has been that we can't check in online for International flights because the airlines needs to see our passports.

Can you believe we'll be on The Magic in just 5 weeks from tomorrow?!?!

 

[LisaTex]

just popping in to say hi - still no docs yet, hopefully Tues

This is our crazy time of year - we're doing Jimmy's b-day tomorrow (my baby turned 12 on the 25th), this week are b-ball & LAX playoffs along with Bryce's big 8th grade 21st century project. Then his b-day is the 9th (he truns 14) .

Happy birthday to your kiddos - there sure are a lot of 10-15 y/o boys on this cruise

Hey Folks, we are booking TJ Tours for St. Petersburg. Is anyone using them?

we finally decided to use red october - i'm sure TJ will be fine - we are all using different ones and all by recs so will be fine i'm sure

just a suggestion, but re-check all your flight itineraries - delta totally changed one of our flights - actually cancelled one which made us have an overnight layover - no warning or anything - thankfully we were able to change things around but only because i checked -

hope everyone is having a nice 3 dy weekend

received our docs today - guess it's real

 

[Deb T.]

just a suggestion, but re-check all your flight itineraries - delta totally changed one of our flights - actually cancelled one which made us have an overnight layover - no warning or anything - thankfully we were able to change things around but only because i checked -

That is great advice!

We booked through Orbitz last November and they have notified us about flight changes three times so far. The biggest change came last week when we learned that our first flight was moved from departing at 7:30pm to now leaving at 2:30pm, which means we'll also have a much longer 7-hour layover. Worst part is that is my birthday, so instead of spending some fun time with family, DH and I'll be stuck sitting around in the Washington Dulles airport all day. Oh well, I can't really complain... I'm going to be on a Baltic cruise!!!