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

[CarolAnnC]

Denise, our deepest sympathies on the loss of your beloved mom. No matter the age, health or circumstances, it is never easy. I will keep you all in my prayers.

 

[BTKTropea]

Tara, welcome! (My DD is a "Tara" also. She's can occassionally be a little terror so if you constantly hear someone calling your name. it's probably one of us yelling at her for something .)

I'll keep that in mind if I hear my name being yelled! Hahahaha!

 

[BTKTropea]

Feeling really good about being prepared for this trip!

Yesterday, I packed everything except clothing!

One carry-on duffel has soft neck pillows, headphones, snacks, gum, mints, a thin travel blanket, magazines, a book, camera, video camera, medicines (Advil, Bonine, Ginger, antibiotics, etc.), tour guide books, passports, and all of our travel documents (flights, hotel, cruise, tours, and transportation).

The other carry-on duffel has all the FE gifts, the FE participant list, our FE, zip ties, door magnets, all the chargers (cell phones, camera, video camera, iPod), an extra pair of glasses, umbrellas, toiletries, Tide and Bounce, and shoes.

DH ordered British Pounds yesterday. We plan to use our credit card most of the time and ATMs whenever we need local currency.

I typed up emergency information to leave with our two adult children and a neighbor. It has our itinerary and all travel information, confirmations, and contact info for our flights, hotel, cruise, and transportation. I also listed phone numbers of people to contact in case of an emergency: travel agent, doctor, insurance agent, lawyer, house alarm company, neighbors, and family members. We'll leave an extra key and a temporary alarm code with the neighbor.

All that's left to do is pack our clothes, notify the credit card company, transfer our Disney Dream Dollars to our Rewards Card, stop the mail and paper, stay updated on the DIS Boards, and count down the days!

Can't wait!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wow! You've done great and thought of so much! I feel sooo behind now! I will have to pull out the luggage this weekend and start making my different piles to get organized! I think it will help make this trip seem more real!

 

[babybear42]

Hi All

Just got this from DCL regarding the dining rotation. Unfortunately they didn't put in which restaurants we'd be in but at least it gives us all an idea about what to pack. I notice there's only one formal and one semi formal night, so only one set of posh clothes needed.

12-Night Northern European Cruise:
*Nights 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 12: cruise casual
*Night 2: "formal night" - formal wear for men: tuxedo or suit; for
women: gown or dress
*Night 9: pirate night with deck party - cruise casual or bring your
best pirate outfit!
*Nights 11: "semi-formal night" - semi-formal wear for men: suit/jacket;
for women: dress or pantsuit.

 

[Deb T.]

Hi all... I hate to do this but I have to bow out of the FE exchange. I just don't have the time I thought I would. Too many things to do before the trip and I won't have time to make my gifts. So, if it is alright that Team McNeese take our family's place. Sorry... I wish I would participate. Tina

Tina ~ Just a thought... how about letting your girls make your FE gifts? I would be more than happy to pm you some ideas that your girls could easily do. I would hate for them to miss out on all the fun. Even if you do end up dropping out of the FE, keep a lookout for FE surprises from DH and me, anyway.

 

[Deb T.]

Wow! You've done great and thought of so much! I feel sooo behind now! I will have to pull out the luggage this weekend and start making my different piles to get organized! I think it will help make this trip seem more real!

Well, to be fair, I've been thinking about and mentally preparing for this cruise for well over a year now ~ and you just booked it last week.

 

[Deb T.]

Hi All

Just got this from DCL regarding the dining rotation. Unfortunately they didn't put in which restaurants we'd be in but at least it gives us all an idea about what to pack. I notice there's only one formal and one semi formal night, so only one set of posh clothes needed.

12-Night Northern European Cruise:
*Nights 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 12: cruise casual
*Night 2: "formal night" - formal wear for men: tuxedo or suit; for
women: gown or dress
*Night 9: pirate night with deck party - cruise casual or bring your
best pirate outfit!
*Nights 11: "semi-formal night" - semi-formal wear for men: suit/jacket;
for women: dress or pantsuit.

Thanks for the update! Looks like they eliminated the semi-formal night on Day 6 (sea day), which I believe is the Villians theme night.

 

[aurorafan65]

Denise - so sorry about your loss, when my dad died I also felt he was in a better place with no suffering, but it's never easy. Your family is in our prayers

 

[aurorafan65]

we are done with school!!!
I do have to go in on Mon & Tues but I still feel free

This weekend I'm making my lists (dh cracks up because I will have lists of lists)
But, here are my Public Service Announcements:

Don't forget to get any Disney Visa dollars put on a card - if you need a new card it can take a week for it to show up so try to do that now (I'm not sure if they'll have a desk at the port like they do in PC to do this)

LL Bean has rolling duffles on sale this weekend 20% off, so a large is running $72, I think I'm going to break down & get 2 of them since I think we either have broken handles or wheels on our other bags.

 

[OurDogCisco]

So, anyone else using Marriott Reward points for their stay in London? I logged in today to print out my confirmation and it says that I need to order and e-certificate. So, I call the awards center and they said that it was sent over electronically. Okay... then, why does it say I need order one. I don't know why it says that. Should I believe her?

 

[OurDogCisco]

I'm sure this has been asked a thousand times but has any one made meal reservations in London? I thought, we should do tea and I found one but the earliest seating I could get was at 5:15 pm on a Sunday. So, it looks like things are booking up. I booked it but will cancel if I find a better time. I wanted to make reservations near our hotel the first night so, that we wouldn't have to think about it. We are staying at the Reinaisssance Chancery Court Hotel.

 

[OurDogCisco]

Tina ~ Just a thought... how about letting your girls make your FE gifts? I would be more than happy to pm you some ideas that your girls could easily do. I would hate for them to miss out on all the fun. Even if you do end up dropping out of the FE, keep a lookout for FE surprises from DH and me, anyway.

Thanks Deb... you are really sweet. It would be too hard for them to make as it was a cross stitch thing. I don't know what I was thinking when I thought of it... Anyways... if I find something related to my city that I can buy that doesn't weigh a ton, I'll bring that. I just feel overwhelmed with all the final planning details. Too much to do and not enough time.

 

[nzdisneymom]

The movies onboard will be:
Up in 3D
Surrogate
Toy Story 1, 2, and 3 - all in 3D
Old Dogs
Princess and the Frog
When in Rome
Alice in Wonderland - in 3D
Last Song
Oceans
Prince of Persia

Sorceror's Apprentice will be premiering - she said on the 16th which is Friday and a Sea Day (so maybe a midnight premier??).

 

[Fivepin]

So, anyone else using Marriott Reward points for their stay in London? I logged in today to print out my confirmation and it says that I need to order and e-certificate. So, I call the awards center and they said that it was sent over electronically. Okay... then, why does it say I need order one. I don't know why it says that. Should I believe her?

We are...yes they are sent electronically to the hotel. That's what I read. I don't know if it was on my confirmation or not. We have 2 other nights booked on Amex points and those they actually sent me a cert. and i had to input the certificate number in my reservation.
You'll be fine. I have so many things printed up, flight info and eticket locator, cruise docs and booked activites, hotel reservation, transfer confirmations and email correspondences with the companies, dinner menus, other reservation details for the ice bar,and the list goes on. I'l be organizing the binder this weekend.

 

[Fivepin]

I'm sure this has been asked a thousand times but has any one made meal reservations in London? I thought, we should do tea and I found one but the earliest seating I could get was at 5:15 pm on a Sunday. So, it looks like things are booking up. I booked it but will cancel if I find a better time. I wanted to make reservations near our hotel the first night so, that we wouldn't have to think about it. We are staying at the Reinaisssance Chancery Court Hotel.

We'll be there too. We don't have reservations for our first night-Saturday. We are going to wing it. We're think of going to the crepe place by the hotel Andrew had recommended. I think it's call Old Dutch. I have that menu printed up somewhere in my pile. Sunday we'll be in Paris for a day trip. We have reservations for Porters Pub in Covent Gardens for the 18th when we return. We leave on the 19th.

 

[aurorafan65]

I'm sure this has been asked a thousand times but has any one made meal reservations in London? I thought, we should do tea and I found one but the earliest seating I could get was at 5:15 pm on a Sunday. So, it looks like things are booking up. I booked it but will cancel if I find a better time. I wanted to make reservations near our hotel the first night so, that we wouldn't have to think about it. We are staying at the Reinaisssance Chancery Court Hotel.

we haven't made any meal reservations, I figured we'd wing it

for tea though try this site - they have all kinds of options (you can look in the different areas in London) I'm usually seeing the tea seatings between 11am & 3pm, I haven't looked on Sundays so I don't know if that might be why
http://www.afternoontea.co.uk/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1

 

[aurorafan65]

The movies onboard will be:
Up in 3D
Surrogate
Toy Story 1, 2, and 3 - all in 3D
Old Dogs
Princess and the Frog
When in Rome
Alice in Wonderland - in 3D
Last Song
Oceans
Prince of Persia

Sorceror's Apprentice will be premiering - she said on the 16th which is Friday and a Sea Day (so maybe a midnight premier??).

thank you for finding these out - Bryce has been dying to see Prince of Persia & I was sooooo hoping they'd show it on-board. I personally can't wait for Toy Story

 

[goingsouth]

We are also using Marriott points- they sent the certificate electronically to the County Hall a couple of days ago. Poor account was practically wiped clean! It will be lovely not to have a bill tho.

We did make some dining reservations, for a couple of reasons. I reckon London will be packed. The tennis tournament, gay pride weekend, big (rap) concert in Hyde Park-along with the regular tourist crowds. It was pretty easy to make reservations online and there's no penalty for cancellation.

We also booked the Medieval banquet Sunday night - it includes the meal and looks like great cheesy fun! We plan to bring an American flag (it's the 4th!) and use it as a center piece. Hope we don't get kicked out! I also love the idea (can't remember who said it) of heading to Ben Franklin's house that day.

I really plan on packing this weekend, at least for the kids. I have no idea how to pack for this trip. swimming? sweatshirts? rain gear? dressy clothes? There are so many variations and not enough luggage space.

joanne

 

[goingsouth]

The movies onboard will be:
Up in 3D
Surrogate
Toy Story 1, 2, and 3 - all in 3D
Old Dogs
Princess and the Frog
When in Rome
Alice in Wonderland - in 3D
Last Song
Oceans
Prince of Persia

Sorceror's Apprentice will be premiering - she said on the 16th which is Friday and a Sea Day (so maybe a midnight premier??).

All great except old dogs Amanda's birthday is the 16th so she is super excited for a "premear" to celebrate! I just hope it's a good movie.
thanks for posting the info!

joanne

 

[OurDogCisco]

The movies onboard will be:
Up in 3D
Surrogate
Toy Story 1, 2, and 3 - all in 3D
Old Dogs
Princess and the Frog
When in Rome
Alice in Wonderland - in 3D
Last Song
Oceans
Prince of Persia

Sorceror's Apprentice will be premiering - she said on the 16th which is Friday and a Sea Day (so maybe a midnight premier??).

So, I take it they won't show the new Harry Potter movie onboard on July 15th? I definitely want to see Toy Story 3 and I think it would be fun to see 1 and 2 again.