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

[Fivepin]

OK, who can give me the cliff notes for the past few months I missed?

Our TA looked into rates pre-cruise for London and the cheapest was $1500 per night through Disney?? Is that really the going rate?

We are so excited for this cruise! Unlike the cruise we are going on next week for...ahem... a different kids tv channel. My son won the cruise which is awesome but the customer service is so much different than DCL! We have late dining, were told we can switch it on-line after we got documents to either waitlist Main or their dining My Time Dining program. Nope, since it's a charter cruise, can't do it so have to try to beg & plead, wait on long lines to have it hopefully changed on board. Also, can't prebook any spa appointments.

I really HATE complaining since it's "free" (although we're already paying alot more than we would have for our summer vacation this year LOL...we paid to upgrade to a balcony, had to get passports this year instead of next, excursions etc) but I really miss DCL!!! Such a difference! And it's not just us, others who have paid for the cruise are complaining too (I'm on a meet board on another board for this particular cruise) Cruise is next Sunday, some people don't have their documents and/or luggage tags still. I definately would not pay for this cruise nor use thiscruise line again.

Anyway, I can't wait to come back here and work on THIS cruise as soon as we're back!

I haven't been on that long, but people have just been talking about pre & post cruise plans, where they staying and starting to reserve plane and such. We're all just starting to get excited. That's what I have seen, others have been on more that may be able to fill you in more.

As far as hotels, we are using points and rewards for Marriott. When I clicked on various different Marriott for prices they weren't $1500. Did that include transfers. How many is your party? There are 3 of us, and when I was researching on our own transfers, they were very expensive-around 170 pounds each way. (hotel to Dover and back again). I'm now looking into taking the train. There are a couple where you don't have to change trains at all. The downside, you have to handle your own luggage-getting it on and off, which is fine with us because we aren't traveling with kids this time.
We are heading to Dover on the 5th. We get into London on 7/3 (which the 3rd was just added on yesterday) and are trying to see into going to Paris for one day. We have one night post cruise. Those are our plans so far, hotels booked, but can't do the air yet.

That cruise you were talking about, we actually looked into it because my middle son is a Spongebob fanatic and my youngest watches their Jr. shows. I saw the price and said forget it, I'll stick with DCL. We had never cruised on that cruise line before. I guess we won't now. I'm sorry you had a bad experience. DCL really impressed me when we got the wrong type of room on a prior cruise. We had adjoining rooms, but needed one to have the bunk. We got to our room around 2pm to unpack and such. Guess what? No bunk in either room. I believe this was our second cruise, so I was more naive and didn't double check the cabin and type of room my TA had booked. I just knew it was an adjoining cabin. We went to guest services, and they could help us until have dinner when everybody had checked in. I was upset because I usually like to have everything unpacked, but i understood. After dinner, they found us another adjoining cabin, same deck but other side. They had somebody help us with the luggage, and I was happy. The next day Maria from guest services (the one who had helped us) sent each of the boys a wrapped plush apologizing for the inconvenience. I thought that was just above and beyond. Just had to share that story

 

[Stimpy]

Thanks! That's a great story about DCL service! I miss it already. Forunately, the kids don't know the PITA this other cruise has been so they're really excited still.

I think I better stop reading this thread soon. I'm getting really stressed that I screwed this whole cruise up but not paying attention to details already. I'm actually getting tears in my eyes about it I really want to kick myself HARD right now!

We were really hoping to stay at the very least 1 night prior to the cruise in London, ideally 2-3 nights. We have 4 that we requested quotes for, 2 adults (myself & DH) and our 2 kids (DS-10 & DD-6 cruise time). My parents are also going on the cruise with us on their own reservation. (We're linked) They're kind of just waiting for us to decide what we wanted to do so they didn't request any hotel info.

Maybe I'll try looking into Dover for the night prior. Unfortunately, we can't add on any nights post-cruise.

Does anyone know if it's possible to use DCL for air but add our own nights at a hotel still?

 

[Fivepin]

Thanks! That's a great story about DCL service! I miss it already. Forunately, the kids don't know the PITA this other cruise has been so they're really excited still.

I think I better stop reading this thread soon. I'm getting really stressed that I screwed this whole cruise up but not paying attention to details already. I'm actually getting tears in my eyes about it I really want to kick myself HARD right now!

We were really hoping to stay at the very least 1 night prior to the cruise in London, ideally 2-3 nights. We have 4 that we requested quotes for, 2 adults (myself & DH) and our 2 kids (DS-10 & DD-6 cruise time). My parents are also going on the cruise with us on their own reservation. (We're linked) They're kind of just waiting for us to decide what we wanted to do so they didn't request any hotel info.

Maybe I'll try looking into Dover for the night prior. Unfortunately, we can't add on any nights post-cruise.

Does anyone know if it's possible to use DCL for air but add our own nights at a hotel still?

Don't kick yourself...I really got everything done in the last couple of weeks. Marriott had just released those block of dates within the last week. I haven't researched much of anything else for the pre and post night stays and which airline we're going to take.

You can do the air without the hotel, but you can't do the transfer via DCL without doing the hotel thru them. Our reservations still have the air, hotel, & transfer on there so I could reference prices.

 

[Stimpy]

Stupid question, how early do we find out what flights DCL books for us? I've been playing on some of the airline sites to get an idea of prices but I'm really not too sure how much extra we are paying to DCL for our flights/transfers.

I'm calming down now and getting to work...just need to play catch up now!

 

[Fivepin]

Stupid question, how early do we find out what flights DCL books for us? I've been playing on some of the airline sites to get an idea of prices but I'm really not too sure how much extra we are paying to DCL for our flights/transfers.

I'm calming down now and getting to work...just need to play catch up now!

I forget how early, but when we did the Med in 2007, I did the air on my own (same airline and schedule DCL had me booked on) to Barcelona and saved around $500 a person. I'm looking at my quote now from DCL and the air is $1,662/person from Orlando. There are not offering flights from Tampa, and Orlando airport is around 2 1/2 hrs away from me. I was looking at American Airlines (can only go out thru June 2010) and they are quoting $1100. DCL quoted me 344/person for a one night pre cruise stay at the Chancery (that price I believe includes the transfer). On the Med we did hotel via DCL, and it was nice not having to setup my own transfers, plus getting to check in early for the cruise at the table setup at the hotel. This time we have points to use, so extra money saved.
Anyone know how early they post excursion details?

 

[denise]

Last week I called into the DisUnplugged podcast call in show and got on! I asked about trip insurance.
We have always booked our own trips and have never ever got insurance. Last big trip for the Med cruise on 07 our luggage was missing for 4 days on our pre-cruise stay in Greece. We did get all our luggage but it was hard for a few days. It was over 110 there and most places have no air! When we got on the cruise so many had no luggage for the entire cruise. It was so sad. So I am thinking this time we might check into things.

John suggested I check out http://www.insuremytrip.com/

Anybody have any suggestions? Does my credit card cover anything I wonder? I do know our medical insurance covers us as I called them They just said we pay for whatever and they will reimburse us.
Does anyone have thoughts about this? Is it a waste of money?

 

[DW2DH&DS]

Last week I called into the DisUnplugged podcast call in show and got on! I asked about trip insurance.
We have always booked our own trips and have never ever got insurance. Last big trip for the Med cruise on 07 our luggage was missing for 4 days on our pre-cruise stay in Greece. We did get all our luggage but it was hard for a few days. It was over 110 there and most places have no air! When we got on the cruise so many had no luggage for the entire cruise. It was so sad. So I am thinking this time we might check into things.

John suggested I check out http://www.insuremytrip.com/

Anybody have any suggestions? Does my credit card cover anything I wonder? I do know our medical insurance covers us as I called them They just said we pay for whatever and they will reimburse us.
Does anyone have thoughts about this? Is it a waste of money?

All I have to say about trip insurance is...

Better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it. Yes it is worth it!!!!! spend the few extra $$$$ especially when abroad!!!

 

[nzdisneymom]

Wow - lots of questions!

I just checked the Chancery and they do not have any availability for a 4-person room now, so we're definitely going to just stay with DCL for hotel since that is where we are booked. FWIW, our per-night cost is $758 scared1 there through DCL, but when we factor in the cost of the transfers (a value of $225/person for airport to hotel to port to hotel to airport), that helps a bit for four travelers.

Excursions opened for booking for the Med the same as they do for other DCL cruises -- super-early for concierge, 90-days for Castaway Club, and 75-days for first-timers.

For the Med, we called about 30-days in advance of the trip to get our flight information / seat assignments using DCL air. They sent us the info by email after telling us on the phone. Our TA got the information several days later "officially" from DCL, so if you're just waiting for them to contact you, it's closer to 3 weeks out.

You'll know your airport (should be listed on your itinerary) as well as if you're red-eyeing it, so you can check air fare and flights and get a general idea of what flight DCL will be booking you on so you can watch the price and decide if you want to book on your own. You are right that you can cancel the air portion of your flight. I would say for the poster who said her TA is pretty much leaving it up to her to find a cheaper flight then your TA is lacking a bit in customer service.

Regarding that "other" cruise - we're doing a Royal Caribbean in October - but there is no way I'd do it with the Nick group becaue of how overrun it will be! But if I *won* a cruise - you bet we'd go and just enjoy it! Hope it turns out to be a wonderful time for you and your family!

Well, gotta go off to work - got a Baltic cruise to pay for (LOL)

 

[Fivepin]

Wow - lots of questions!

I just checked the Chancery and they do not have any availability for a 4-person room now, so we're definitely going to just stay with DCL for hotel since that is where we are booked. FWIW, our per-night cost is $758 scared1 there through DCL, but when we factor in the cost of the transfers (a value of $225/person for airport to hotel to port to hotel to airport), that helps a bit for four travelers.

You'll know your airport (should be listed on your itinerary) as well as if you're red-eyeing it, so you can check air fare and flights and get a general idea of what flight DCL will be booking you on so you can watch the price and decide if you want to book on your own. You are right that you can cancel the air portion of your flight. I would say for the poster who said her TA is pretty much leaving it up to her to find a cheaper flight then your TA is lacking a bit in customer service.

When I looked at the Chancery for one room for 3 people it said there were none. I got a hold of someone on the phone and told him the situation. He said there were still 2 double beds available and he booked it for me. Now I have pulled up the reservations via my DH Marriott acct and it says 2 people, but guarantees the 2 double beds. I told the person there were 3 of us, must have been his work around the system, but it does show 2 double beds in the reservation. What to do? He told me he doesn't trust the website and that we should always call. This person was thru Marriott Silver Elite line. Did you try calling?

I think you were talking about my post. I just wanted to explain further. I love my lady, she got fuel surcharges reversed for us last week for our November cruise, and has gotten us many time free upgrades to a balcony, and have they have sent gifts to our cabins. (Maybe it's because we have gone so many times with the exception of our first 2 cruises, they have been thru her) She works for AAA and only handle cruises. I guess I should just call her my cruise lady. I would have had to have another employee look into for me that handles air. There is also another area that handles hotel reservations. Plus I don't like the fact that AAA charges a "fee"for booking air thru them. It's just the way this office is setup because of all the traffic going in and out of there. So, I usually just keep track myself since we use points. I have nothing else to do with my time right?

 

[Stimpy]

Wow - lots of questions!

I just checked the Chancery and they do not have any availability for a 4-person room now, so we're definitely going to just stay with DCL for hotel since that is where we are booked. FWIW, our per-night cost is $758 scared1 there through DCL, but when we factor in the cost of the transfers (a value of $225/person for airport to hotel to port to hotel to airport), that helps a bit for four travelers.

Excursions opened for booking for the Med the same as they do for other DCL cruises -- super-early for concierge, 90-days for Castaway Club, and 75-days for first-timers.

For the Med, we called about 30-days in advance of the trip to get our flight information / seat assignments using DCL air. They sent us the info by email after telling us on the phone. Our TA got the information several days later "officially" from DCL, so if you're just waiting for them to contact you, it's closer to 3 weeks out.

You'll know your airport (should be listed on your itinerary) as well as if you're red-eyeing it, so you can check air fare and flights and get a general idea of what flight DCL will be booking you on so you can watch the price and decide if you want to book on your own. You are right that you can cancel the air portion of your flight. I would say for the poster who said her TA is pretty much leaving it up to her to find a cheaper flight then your TA is lacking a bit in customer service.

Regarding that "other" cruise - we're doing a Royal Caribbean in October - but there is no way I'd do it with the Nick group becaue of how overrun it will be! But if I *won* a cruise - you bet we'd go and just enjoy it! Hope it turns out to be a wonderful time for you and your family!

Well, gotta go off to work - got a Baltic cruise to pay for (LOL)

So the $758 for the hotel also included transfer from airport to hotel, and then to the port? We have transfers included with our air from the airport ( a red-eye from JFK which I'm not thrilled about coming in the morning of the cruise). UGH the TA did not tell me that part! She lead me to believe that the $758 was just for the hotel itself only. We were quoted about that also I believe but we would have needed to get 2 rooms for the 4 of us. Again, I thought it was $758 each room. The other rate we got for 1 room for all 4 at a different hotel was about $1500 for one night. I deleted the email since we couldn't do that for only 1 night! It just seemed way to high.

Am I right that with air and transportation included, that gets us from the airport to the port & back again through DCL? So the additional transfers added into the hotel rate would basically just be for airport to hotel?

I am so disappointed right now in the TA. I usually do all our travel arrangements myself but for some reason thought it would be more convenient to go through a TA this time since I'm clueless about European travel. My fault! I did email her yesterday with a bunch of questions and she emailed me back with only the cost we are paying for air through DCL. Yesterday I was upset, today I'm just getting angry at myself & TA.

Trip insurance...I would do it. We've done it in the past, but we don't use DCL's insurance. We never used to do it but the first cruise my parents decided to add it, THAT was the cruise they needed it! They have used it since, and we never have but like DW2DH&DS said, better to have it than not!

 

[Stimpy]

I wonder if Disney would let us split up the kids for the hotel? If there are no rooms for 4 available but say they had rooms for 3....could we keep one kid with my DH and me and register the other kid with my parents in their room? But we would still want to keep them on our reservation for the cruise itself.

Hmmm....

I would ask my TA but you all are much more helpful!

 

[sshaw10060]

Last week I called into the DisUnplugged podcast call in show and got on! I asked about trip insurance.
We have always booked our own trips and have never ever got insurance. Last big trip for the Med cruise on 07 our luggage was missing for 4 days on our pre-cruise stay in Greece. We did get all our luggage but it was hard for a few days. It was over 110 there and most places have no air! When we got on the cruise so many had no luggage for the entire cruise. It was so sad. So I am thinking this time we might check into things.

John suggested I check out http://www.insuremytrip.com/

Anybody have any suggestions? Does my credit card cover anything I wonder? I do know our medical insurance covers us as I called them They just said we pay for whatever and they will reimburse us.
Does anyone have thoughts about this? Is it a waste of money?

Denise, I was listening to you on the podcast about 5 minutes before reading your post.I would definitely go with insuremytrip.com. I used them for our cruise last year and when a bag was lost for 4 days I was paid promptly. I does take a while to compare all the policies. I would suggest paying attention to the lost baggage section since the policies are quite different. The medical side depends a bit on what your own health insurance will cover. Better policies cover medical evacuation while most don't.

 

[tinkerbell_29]

We will definitely have trip insurance for this cruise which will be a first for us. Everybody suggested insuremytrip.com I've checked them out and they seem to have policies to fit all needs and budgets. I'm pretty sure we are going to book our airfare ourselves. We've got enough F.F. miles to cover at least two people so that will be cheaper than Disney but we are going to leave the hotel with them. Still up in the air about stateroom cat and whether or not to pay with our DVC points. I hate to use 2 years worth of points for one trip but freeing up cash for other things is a big plus. Got to decide about that soon.

Lissa

 

[denise]

Denise, I was listening to you on the podcast about 5 minutes before reading your post.I would definitely go with insuremytrip.com. I used them for our cruise last year and when a bag was lost for 4 days I was paid promptly. I does take a while to compare all the policies. I would suggest paying attention to the lost baggage section since the policies are quite different. The medical side depends a bit on what your own health insurance will cover. Better policies cover medical evacuation while most don't.

Hope I didn't sound like a dork!! I didn't even know what I said until I heard it...
There are so many polices to look at but I think we must do this. we have Kaiser Medical Ins. I don't know if they pay for evacuation? I will have to call them and ask. Thanks for your input!!

We will definitely have trip insurance for this cruise which will be a first for us. Everybody suggested insuremytrip.com I've checked them out and they seem to have policies to fit all needs and budgets. I'm pretty sure we are going to book our airfare ourselves. We've got enough F.F. miles to cover at least two people so that will be cheaper than Disney but we are going to leave the hotel with them. Still up in the air about stateroom cat and whether or not to pay with our DVC points. I hate to use 2 years worth of points for one trip but freeing up cash for other things is a big plus. Got to decide about that soon.

Lissa

Thanks for your thoughts too! I used DVC points for two of us and paid for the 3rd and 4th. The 4th is not going to go now so I still have to cancel her. They said I will get a refund less a fee. It was a lot of points for sure. We want to go on a maiden cruise on one of the new ships but who knows if we will have enough points by then??? I looked and our cruise would have been $10,000 to $12,000 for the 4 of us!!! So glad we have points.
We used AA miles for our flights.

 

[nzdisneymom]

It's hard for me to know how to explain what things break out for air, hotel, and transfers because we're doing it all through DCL. The TA did tell me that the room was equivalent to $758/night but also that if we were to purchase transfers on our own from DCL, it would be $225. We can only stay two nights post-cruise to still use DCL transfer from hotel back to airport. But we don't have a separate charge for transfers because they are "comped" as part of the package (which really means they don't break it out for us because I'm certain we're "paying" for it somewhere).

We're just going to leave our hotel portion through DCL and also our air. We didn't have any troubles when we went to Barcelona using them, and since we won't be on the first cruise out of Dover for DCL, then hopefully whatever logistics will be taken care of. I think, too, because Adventures by Disney is doing more European trips, that helps because they are learning the ropes.

The airfare is about $1500 from ATL to London through DCL, per person (adult). It's redeye, so we're leaving July 2nd and arriving July 3rd. We learned from the trip to Barcelona that the first afternoon is pretty wasted because of how exhausted we were. We plan to do a bit of sight-seeing in the immediate hotel area and then hit the beds at "bed time" London-time to get us started on getting through jet lag.

 

[goingsouth]

It's so exciting finally being in a time frame to book hotels and flights.
We were able to secure our flights from Boston (AA miles) on the 29th.
We used Marriott points for 2 nights at the Grosvenor Sq in London. Then we're going to Edinbugh and York (booked!) and then to a Dover B&B for the night before the cruise (also booked!).
I know it's crazy early to being booking all this but it's Wimbledon time in London and peak travel time (especially weekends) in the rest of the country. It's also a challenge to find rooms to fit all 4 of us- with the exchange rate I don't want to pay for 2 rooms. We'll buy a britrail pass in a few months. I love the planning............

Joanne

 

[Fivepin]

It's so exciting finally being in a time frame to book hotels and flights.
We were able to secure our flights from Boston (AA miles) on the 29th.
We used Marriott points for 2 nights at the Grosvenor Sq in London. Then we're going to Edinbugh and York (booked!) and then to a Dover B&B for the night before the cruise (also booked!).
I know it's crazy early to being booking all this but it's Wimbledon time in London and peak travel time (especially weekends) in the rest of the country. It's also a challenge to find rooms to fit all 4 of us- with the exchange rate I don't want to pay for 2 rooms. We'll buy a britrail pass in a few months. I love the planning............

Joanne

Which B&B in Dover did you get? Right now I have a room at the Ramada in Dover and room at The bulington hotel, next town over (about 7 miles), trying to decide which one, The burlington was significantly cheaper than the Ramada by about 60 pounds. I haven't been able to book the air yet. We are leaving 7/2.

We are going to be taking the rail over to Dover. Now apparently I have to look into rail over to Paris for a day. I'm not complaining though.

 

[goingsouth]

Which B&B in Dover did you get? Right now I have a room at the Ramada in Dover and room at The bulington hotel, next town over (about 7 miles), trying to decide which one, The burlington was significantly cheaper than the Ramada by about 60 pounds. I haven't been able to book the air yet. We are leaving 7/2.

We are going to be taking the rail over to Dover. Now apparently I have to look into rail over to Paris for a day. I'm not complaining though.

We are confirmed at the Hubert House. It received wonderful reviews on trip advisor and they were so quick in responding. I think the rate is reasonable, especially for a family room. I really wanted to be in town. I like waking up early in the morning and watching the ship come in.

 

[Stimpy]

DCL is not offering anywhere in Dover as a pre-cruise hotel option, correct?

Also, does anyone think that they will offer a post-cruise optional trip to Disneyland Paris?

 

[sshaw10060]

I just booked our outbound flight from Boston to Heathrow using miles on AA. The trip seems much more real now.