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

[denise]

Yes... It will make the trip a little bit more affordable!

Are you going to fly in and out of SAC?
For the Med we were but American changed it all a couple of days before. We had to rent a car and drive to SF. Then of course nothing went right the whole way there. 4+ hour delay leaving..missed flights after missed flights. We also missed out on our hotel ressie in London...got there a day late!! No refund either.....and then lost luggage for 4 days when it was 115 in Athens!! They found our luggage!!!
We flew back into SAC but delays there to so we got bumped to 1st class. At least it was all miles
This is why I like to do other stuff before the cruise..gives time for the suitcases to catch up if they need too. I certainly learned new packing tricks...

 

[OurDogCisco]

Are you going to fly in and out of SAC?
For the Med we were but American changed it all a couple of days before. We had to rent a car and drive to SF. Then of course nothing went right the whole way there. 4+ hour delay leaving..missed flights after missed flights. We also missed out on our hotel ressie in London...got there a day late!! No refund either.....and then lost luggage for 4 days when it was 115 in Athens!! They found our luggage!!!
We flew back into SAC but delays there to so we got bumped to 1st class. At least it was all miles
This is why I like to do other stuff before the cruise..gives time for the suitcases to catch up if they need too. I certainly learned new packing tricks...

Yes... we are. For the med cruise we flew out of SFO which I'll never do again. We flew Air France. When we went to check-in their luggage tag thing was broken so, they had to hand write the tags (I should have known something would go wrong). They flew direct from SFO to Paris (we had a 40 minute layover which we barely made--even though I asked to be put on a later flight but the rep argued with me that it was plentity of time). Plus, they kept misspelling my dds 1st name so, it didn't match the passport. So, we kept having to ask them to reprint the tickets. It was very frustrating to deal with. So, of course, since there was a luggage strike in Paris we didn't get all our luggage in Barcelona. At first we only had 3 of the 5 pieces. Luckily, we were staying near by so, we could travel back and forth. The next day the 4th piece arrived but we couldn't wait for the 5th piece as we were leaving to board the ship. We didn't see the 5th piece until a month later. So, my lesson I learned is to make sure you have a connection in the US and plan for 2 to 3 hour layover or have a non-stop flight. We were without all our formal clothes. So, I had to buy a black dress and dh had to buy slacks and shirts. The girls had a few causual sundresses that worked for dinner. But all my themed picture ideas went out the window. Then, on the way home we had the same 40 minute connection time except they delayed the plane in Paris because all the luggage was not on board (geez why didn't they do that the 1st time--- you should have seen the lost luggage line for Air France in Barcelona--we stood in it for 2 hours). So, we waited 2 hours on the plane with no air, food or water. It was horrible. So, finally we leave but that put us at SFO at 2 pm instead of noon as originally planned. So, by time we got our luggage and car it was 4:00 pm and we hit the traffic going home. We sat in traffic for 4 hours. We were exhausted and frustrated so, for us it wasn't worth the saving a few $100 bucks to fly out of SFO. NEVER again.... So, I'm hoping the flight we get this time on United flies from SMF to SFO with a 4 hour layover and then, direct to London. The way home is from LHR to IAD (DC, I think) and the, IAD to SMF.

Also, this time we'll only be taking one piece of luggage each. I'm gonna go with the simple black dress for dinners and sundresses. It worked well last time.

I'm hoping this time around it will be easier but I'm not holding my breath. We did have insurance so, I was reimbursed for my additional purchases. You could survive with the clothes on the Disney ship. They had everything from underwear to socks to swimsuits to shorts to sleepwear to shoes, etc...

 

[denise]

When we did get our luggage in Athens it was one suitcase a day! Of course DD got hers first! Mine came the last day....I have since learned to pack a little clothes of each in each suitcase now, not all of one person in one suitcase...our suitcases never left New York. Seems while we were running to catch our connection in New York the suitcases where not....
Then when we got to London they tried to put us on a plane to Amsterdam when we were supposed to be going to Athens! Well at least it started with an A!!
I remember how horrible it was for you on the cruise. So many families had nothing at all...
We have never bought insurance...maybe we should think about it for this trip....????

 

[OurDogCisco]

When we did get our luggage in Athens it was one suitcase a day! Of course DD got hers first! Mine came the last day....I have since learned to pack a little clothes of each in each suitcase now, not all of one person in one suitcase...our suitcases never left New York. Seems while we were running to catch our connection in New York the suitcases where not....
Then when we got to London they tried to put us on a plane to Amsterdam when we were supposed to be going to Athens! Well at least it started with an A!!
I remember how horrible it was for you on the cruise. So many families had nothing at all...
We have never bought insurance...maybe we should think about it for this trip....????

I agree definitely pack a little of everyone's stuff in each bag. The bag we were missing was our garment bag where I put all the formal clothes. But I was okay with that as I could live without my formal clothes. I would have been more upset if it was my everyday clothes. There were lots of people on our cruise with no luggage at all. I felt bad for them because I'm sure it didn't make for a memorable cruise.

So, did you have a short connection flight time in NYC?

 

[denise]

So, did you have a short connection flight time in NYC?

The original flight from SFO got delayed because of rain in NY. We left SFO 4+ hours late. After about 2 hours of waiting I went up to the desk and said that it looks like we are going to miss our connecting flight to London from NY. They agreed. Think it was an hour layover. They booked us on the next flight out and we got boarding passes. When we finally left SFO we knew we had then missed the new ticketed flight. When we landed they announced that if you had tickets on the connection to London (the new one we had) you need to run!! Not walk but run! and you might make it on board as they are boarding now!!! So the three of us RAN as fast as we could and we were one of the last to get on. We were allowed on only because we had the boarding passes. Others who didn't were told, sorry..... It seems the plane leaving for London was delayed too. Some of the people on the plane had been waiting over 8 hours for a plane to get there to take them to London.
Because we changed flights for London our luggage didn't follow. Funny how they just couldn't punch in the numbers on the tags and see what flight we took. In London our flight was changed from British Air to Olympic for Athens. (BA wanted to send us to Amsterdam) So even though it was American who messed everything up it was now Olympic that had to hunt down the luggage!!

 

[CarolAnnC]

Well we made one final decision here today, lol. We decided to go with the Rennaissance Chancery Court for our pre-cruise stay in London..we will have two rooms - one with a king and the other with two doubles. Saving a bundle over booking with DCL for this one.

 

[Fivepin]

Well... I've tried to get ahold of these people as a previous poster suggested but I don't get a response: http://www.silverlinetravel.co.uk/airportTransfers.htm

Who have you contacted so far if you don't mind sharing your websites?

I wanted to hire a car service as we are flying out the day we dock for home. So, I didn't want to rely on the bus. I'm hoping to get on the United Flight that leaves at 3:20 pm. I'm hoping that gives us plentity of time.

I'm waiting on air as well.

Nice to get everything going on this trip. Now, maybe the price will go down.

Tina

I have tried contacting silverlinetravel with no luck either.

I have heard from the following:
www.bookyourtransfer.com
heathrow to renaissance chancery in london-64.41 pounds
chancery to dover-184.81 pounds This was for 1-4 seater

www.riversidecarslondon.com
heathrow to dover 152 pounds (before I decided to do an extra day in London)
dover to renaissance chancery 110 pounds
hotel to heathrow 40 pounds

www.londonheathrowcars.com
heathrow to dover and back to heathrow 169 pounds each way

Hope that helps. They all responded rather quickly. I had just done a google. I hadn't really researched any of the individual companies yet. I think we are leaning to the rails to get to Dover because of the cost right now. I did find out each person can take 2 pieces of luggage and a carryon with no additional charge. The only company I looked up was southeastern rails because it was mentioned on the Port of Dover site.

 

[Fivepin]

Well we made one final decision here today, lol. We decided to go with the Rennaissance Chancery Court for our pre-cruise stay in London..we will have two rooms - one with a king and the other with two doubles. Saving a bundle over booking with DCL for this one.

I agree. We are there 2 days prior and 1 day after. We used Amex points, because via Amex points we would get 2 adults breakfasts. We wouldn't have gotten breakfast if we used Marriott points. Have you figured out transfers yet? The day before we'll be heading over to Dover so we'll be close to the port the day of.

 

[OurDogCisco]

I have tried contacting silverlinetravel with no luck either.

I have heard from the following:
www.bookyourtransfer.com
heathrow to renaissance chancery in london-64.41 pounds
chancery to dover-184.81 pounds This was for 1-4 seater

www.riversidecarslondon.com
heathrow to dover 152 pounds (before I decided to do an extra day in London)
dover to renaissance chancery 110 pounds
hotel to heathrow 40 pounds

www.londonheathrowcars.com
heathrow to dover and back to heathrow 169 pounds each way

Hope that helps. They all responded rather quickly. I had just done a google. I hadn't really researched any of the individual companies yet. I think we are leaning to the rails to get to Dover because of the cost right now. I did find out each person can take 2 pieces of luggage and a carryon with no additional charge. The only company I looked up was southeastern rails because it was mentioned on the Port of Dover site.

Thanks, Judy.... I'll have to research those. I'm a little nervous taking the train since our youngest will be 9 and I think it might be difficult with the luggage.

 

[nzdisneymom]

Well we made one final decision here today, lol. We decided to go with the Rennaissance Chancery Court for our pre-cruise stay in London..we will have two rooms - one with a king and the other with two doubles. Saving a bundle over booking with DCL for this one.

Sounds like quite a few of us will be staying at the Rennaissance Chancery Court. Are you going to do DCL transfers from the hotel to the port?

I looked last night to see what the cost would be to book the hotel on our own, and I've asked our TA to break it out for us from our reservation as we have air and hotel and ground transportation through DCL to see what difference it will be. Of course we're just doing one room as we'll be just two adults and two young teens. I couldn't get a quote for our post-cruise stay - not til tomorrow, I think, for being able to check the pricing for it.

I am curious, though, about air fare and whether the DCL price will adjust (downward) if air fare continues to drop. It's nearly time to check air fare on our own, but I think DH is more comfortable leaving it with DCL. Although we do have trip insurance

 

[Fivepin]

Sounds like quite a few of us will be staying at the Rennaissance Chancery Court. Are you going to do DCL transfers from the hotel to the port?

I looked last night to see what the cost would be to book the hotel on our own, and I've asked our TA to break it out for us from our reservation as we have air and hotel and ground transportation through DCL to see what difference it will be. Of course we're just doing one room as we'll be just two adults and two young teens. I couldn't get a quote for our post-cruise stay - not til tomorrow, I think, for being able to check the pricing for it.

I am curious, though, about air fare and whether the DCL price will adjust (downward) if air fare continues to drop. It's nearly time to check air fare on our own, but I think DH is more comfortable leaving it with DCL. Although we do have trip insurance

I already found out that if you don't do the hotel thru DCL you can't get the transfer thru them. I was going to pay the $165 pp just to make it easier. The website wasn't very clear. I had my TA check into it for me. We are doing both nites at the Chancery via rewards.

I still have book the post night as well.
As far as the air, I'm not sure sure. When we did the Med cruise the exact same flight we did on our own to Barcelona was $500 cheaper per person. We are planning to go on American this time. We looked into air thru DCL, but they aren't offering flights from Tampa, only Orlando for our area. We just have to change planes in Miami, and then it's a direct flight to Heathrow from there. I'm using points for one ticket.

I'm glad to see there are several of us at the Chancery.

 

[goingsouth]

Sounds as if lots of people have pre-cruise plans but might be heading home right after the cruise.

I would be willing to try and organize a larger bus if there were enough interested...

so, who's heading home on the 18th and wants to share the sad ride back to Heathrow????

Joanne

 

[DW2DH&DS]

Sounds as if lots of people have pre-cruise plans but might be heading home right after the cruise.

I would be willing to try and organize a larger bus if there were enough interested...

so, who's heading home on the 18th and wants to share the sad ride back to Heathrow????

Joanne

we are headed back on the 18th as well and may very well be interested. also...

was planning on an excursion to Stonehenge during London prestay...anyone else interested? we will be in London from 6/30-7/5. not sure if we are doing dover on the 5th or day trip into paris. either way not spending the night of the 5th in london.

 

[Fivepin]

we are headed back on the 18th as well and may very well be interested. also...

was planning on an excursion to Stonehenge during London prestay...anyone else interested? we will be in London from 6/30-7/5. not sure if we are doing dover on the 5th or day trip into paris. either way not spending the night of the 5th in london.

Maybe...don't have plans yet. We arrive in London on 7/4 at 6:35am (assuming they still have that schedule when I book the flight). We are heading to Dover on 7/5 via rail. We are staying an extra day after the cruise.

 

[nzdisneymom]

We're doing three nights pre-cruise and two nights post-cruise all at the Renaissance Chancery Court. The most we could get post-cruise and still use DCL transfers was the two nights. So we'll fly out on July 2nd, arrive in London on July 3rd, spend three nights (3rd, 4th, and 5th) in London and then take DCL transfers to the port in Dover. When we get back to Dover on the 18th, we'll take DCL transfers back to London and spend the night of the 18th and 19th there and fly home on July 20th.

My TA quoted me $225 per person for DCL transfers that includes airport to hotel to port to hotel to airport.

 

[Fivepin]

We're doing three nights pre-cruise and two nights post-cruise all at the Renaissance Chancery Court. The most we could get post-cruise and still use DCL transfers was the two nights. So we'll fly out on July 2nd, arrive in London on July 3rd, spend three nights (3rd, 4th, and 5th) in London and then take DCL transfers to the port in Dover. When we get back to Dover on the 18th, we'll take DCL transfers back to London and spend the night of the 18th and 19th there and fly home on July 20th.

My TA quoted me $225 per person for DCL transfers that includes airport to hotel to port to hotel to airport.

Are you doing the hotel thru DCL?

 

[CarolAnnC]

Sounds like quite a few of us will be staying at the Rennaissance Chancery Court. Are you going to do DCL transfers from the hotel to the port?

I looked last night to see what the cost would be to book the hotel on our own, and I've asked our TA to break it out for us from our reservation as we have air and hotel and ground transportation through DCL to see what difference it will be. Of course we're just doing one room as we'll be just two adults and two young teens. I couldn't get a quote for our post-cruise stay - not til tomorrow, I think, for being able to check the pricing for it.

I am curious, though, about air fare and whether the DCL price will adjust (downward) if air fare continues to drop. It's nearly time to check air fare on our own, but I think DH is more comfortable leaving it with DCL. Although we do have trip insurance

Not sure about the DCL transport yet. DH found a very nice car and driver on his last business trip to London, so we probably will at least get a quote from them.

Almost time to start on the air fares...wheeeeee

 

[Fivepin]

Hi Everyone-

Quick question-received a text from my DH who is in San Jose, CA on business. He knows some of the people there and they are from London. The had said that the Marriott Marble Arch is a better location than the Chancery. Does anyone know anything about the Marble Arch. I just know it's in the next lower award category when we were looking to using points.

Thanks

 

[DW2DH&DS]

Hi Everyone-

Quick question-received a text from my DH who is in San Jose, CA on business. He knows some of the people there and they are from London. The had said that the Marriott Marble Arch is a better location than the Chancery. Does anyone know anything about the Marble Arch. I just know it's in the next lower award category when we were looking to using points.

Thanks

don't know much about marble arch...i believe we ruled it out due to location (distance form underground). we chose marriott county hall across the river from big ben!!! chose that over the chancery court due to scenery. i have an american friend living in london for the past 9 years, and he told me that both chancery court and county hall were good choices but steared me towards county hall as was more scenic than chancery!!! i know this doesn't help you directly but maybe food for thought. also....a lot of cruisers will most likely be at the chancery!!


On another note...we booked half our fare today...woohoo...now need to wait 3 weeks to book return flight!! arriving june 30th!!! now i'm getting really excited!!

 

[Fivepin]

don't know much about marble arch...i believe we ruled it out due to location (distance form underground). we chose marriott county hall across the river from big ben!!! chose that over the chancery court due to scenery. i have an american friend living in london for the past 9 years, and he told me that both chancery court and county hall were good choices but steared me towards county hall as was more scenic than chancery!!! i know this doesn't help you directly but maybe food for thought. also....a lot of cruisers will most likely be at the chancery!!


On another note...we booked half our fare today...woohoo...now need to wait 3 weeks to book return flight!! arriving june 30th!!! now i'm getting really excited!!

I did see that one and was interested when I first started researching, but when I went to go redeem Amex points that hotel was not listed as a participating hotel. I remember I did like that it was on the river. I guess I'm not going to complain. I don't have to pay for my 2 nights in London.