June 5, 2016 - Magic Goes to England, Ireland, Scotland and France

[nzdisneymom]

Hoping to pay more of the cruise off with the paid in full day quickly approaching!

Also plan the ports better

What about you?

We are pouring most of our holiday money into the trip The PIF day is looming... I send our TA an email every week with how much to pay on our balance - it could be from the handfuls of change we've collected or the grocery money we've saved from coupons or just what we had already budgeted to send. She gets a kick out of the random amounts.

We've cruised often enough that I can't think of anything special we need to get for the trip but I'm sure something will turn up on my list in the spring!

 

[nanaguide]

We are pouring most of our holiday money into the trip The PIF day is looming... I send our TA an email every week with how much to pay on our balance - it could be from the handfuls of change we've collected or the grocery money we've saved from coupons or just what we had already budgeted to send. She gets a kick out of the random amounts.

We've cruised often enough that I can't think of anything special we need to get for the trip but I'm sure something will turn up on my list in the spring!

 

[nanaguide]

When is the PIF date?

 

[Alohagirl73]

Just 24 weeks!!!

Paid in full at beginning of February.

 

[VA Mickey Pals]

Hello to all! We just signed up for this cruise. We had a great time on the Disney Fantasy during the first week of Dec! Anyone know if a FE group has started for this cruise yet? We participated in the FE for the first time on our last cruise and our kids really enjoyed it.

 

[Alohagirl73]

Merry Christmas!

Welcome VA Mickey Pals!

 

[lllpath]

I thought this might be a fun way to get to know your fellow passengers. Please answer the following questions and feel free to add your own.

1. Favorite character(s) - Eeyore and Pluto; DH - Jiminy
2. Ever cruised in Europe? - yes - on the 1st DCL Medi; 1st DCL Medi/Greece; 1st DCL Baltic and last year Norway
3. Number of Disney Cruises - this will be 15
4. Port you are looking forward to the most - Le Havre - Normandy
5. Early to bed or Early to rise? - early to rise
6. AquaDunk or Quiet Cove? - both
7. Palo for brunch? tea? dinner? - all! Wish they would bring back Tea

 

[Alohagirl73]

In just 23 short weeks, we will be on the Magic!!!

 

[DL1957]

I thought this might be a fun way to get to know your fellow passengers. Please answer the following questions and feel free to add your own.

1. Favorite character(s) Mickey Mouse
2. Ever cruised in Europe? 4 times all on the Magic
3. Number of Disney Cruises 14 this will be #15
4. Port you are looking forward to the most Dublin
5. Early to bed or Early to rise? Early to rise
6. AquaDunk or Quiet Cove? Quiet Cover but like the Aqua Duck
7. Palo for brunch? tea? dinner?

Brunch by the way they do not have tea any more.

 

[DL1957]

1. Favorite character(s) Mickey of course for me and Uncle Scrooge for hubby
2. Ever cruised in Europe? Nope
3. Number of Disney Cruises This will be number 9 for both of us on Disney
4. Port you are looking forward to the most I think I am looking forward to Kirkwall (Jan) and hubby is looking forward to Le Havre
5. Early to bed or Early to rise? Depends on the day
6. AquaDunk or Quiet Cove? Quiet Cove
7. Palo for brunch? tea? dinner? All of the above

We sailed into Kirkwell last summer it is a great port we really enjoyed it. Sue

 

[Terapin]

Hello!

We are Adam and Carolynn. We are traveling with our daughter Gwendolyn who will be 8 months old on the cruise. We have five other children who are staying with family and their other parent during the trip.
I've only been to Munich, Barcelona, and Gibraltar in Europe, but Adam has traveled extensively and lived in France prior.

1. My favourite characters are Wall-E and Alice, but of classic Disney characters, I'd pick Mickey and Adam would pick Donald.
2. I have sailed from Barcelona on the WBTA in 2010.
3. This is my 5th Disney cruise, Adam's first.
4. I'm not too sure of my most anticipated port as I haven't been researching them yet.
5. Early to bed, and a leisurely wake up.
6. Quiet Cove. With a latte.
7. Palo for brunch! The chicken parmesan is amazing! Dinner is pretty darn good, too. Planning on both

 

[BadPinkTink]

Hi @Terapin Im not on the cruise but I live in one of the ports , Dublin. I pop in every so often and help people plan their their Dublin port stop. I have also created this thread about Dublin http://disboards.com/threads/disney-magic-dublin-ireland-port-information.3456357 Feel free to ask me any questions about Ireland. I have also lived in the UK so I may be able to help with other ports too

 

[Alohagirl73]

Happy New Year!!!! Our cruise is this year.

You may want to double check those passports and make sure they are up to date and don't expire during to the cruise or too far after the end of our cruise. I think the passport needs yo still be good 6 months after the cruise.

 

[gydell]

We are getting so excited!! We are flying into Heathrow and staying 3 days prior to the cruise and will be flying out the next day. It will be my first time in Europe so I am so excited! It is almost here!!!

I sent you a pm.

 

[Alohagirl73]

Just 22 weeks from now we will be beginning our cruise!!!

 

[Schiffy]

Booked this cruise back in October and just began the planning process. Should have started earlier now I have to move quickly. These posts have been very helpful in addition to the research I have done this week end. If anyone can add to my observations or has comments I would appreciate it.

Looks like if I what a direct flight from Orland it will have to be into Gatwick. Anyone else going out of Orland and found this to be true? The least painful is 1 Stop WestJet going thru Toronto but the trip is twice as long each way. Have not ruled that out yet since it is 1/2 the cost of direct.

It appears that the private transportation from Gatwick to London is less expensive than taking the express train. I know the express train is high but that does not seem to be logical.

Trying to book one of the DCL pre-cruise hotels to get the DCL transfers to Dover but need confirmation on the specific hotel names. I understand from my agent that if I stay at one of these hotels I can get the transfers. Anyone know this to be true? I got a quote from Costal Cars London to Dover that seems reasonable verses what I expect DCL to charge.

Can anyone give advice on tipping polices in GB? Would you normally tip a private car transfer driver in GB? If so what is standard in GB. My first time in GB.

Thanks in advance. This trip looks to be wonderful but the planning is stressful. Would like to do the back to back to Iceland but I can't that the additional planning. We have friends that are doing that and I expect they are not alone.

 

[chip&dale&fun]

Time to seriously get planning.

 

[chip&dale&fun]

We noticed the double pirate night listing, too. When you log into your DCL reservation, it's listed in the Custom Pre-Arrival Guide under the My Cruise Activities page:

Day 9 - Mon, Jun 13 Dublin, Ireland
9:45 PM (Until 10:30 PM) Top Deck, Mid Ship Pirate Deck Party (Ship Activity) Pirate Night is a Disney Cruise Line deck party featuring pirate-themed festivities. Crew Members and some favorite Disney Characters join in the fun.

Day 10 - Tue, Jun 14 At Sea
9:45 PM (Until 10:30 PM) Top Deck, Mid Ship Pirate Deck Party (Ship Activity) Pirate Night is a Disney Cruise Line deck party featuring pirate-themed festivities. Crew Members and some favorite Disney Characters join in the fun.

Since we are not paid in full, I cannot pull up the Cruise Activities Page, at least I think that is the reason....is there still a Pirate Night? And/or a Frozen Night? anyone know???? thanks.

 

[hygienist999]

Hello, I can't remember if I joined this roll call when we booked, and that is too many messages to go through. So, in case I haven't... It will be myself and my DH Roddy going on this fabulous cruise. I've not had time to think about it or look into any of the ports. Hopefully in the next few weeks I will start researching a bit.

1. My favorite characters are the Classic Characters, Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald, & Pluto.
2. I have traveled several times to Europe. Our first European cruise was in 2011, we did an 11 night Med. Cruise on the Disney Magic. My husband and I took a 2 week trip to Europe in 2013 on our own, visiting Antwerp, Amsterdam, Paris, Giverny, Disneyland Paris. Then last June, we took a back to back cruise on the Magic visiting Norway and Northern Europe. The Norway cruise was the highlight of the B2B.
3. This is our 9th Disney cruise.
4. I'm not too sure of my most anticipated port as I haven't been researching them yet.
5. We usually go to bed about 11pm and get up early.
6. Quiet Cove.
7. Palo's is a must. Brunch and Dinner. Hope to do both on this cruise.

 

[MeeskaMooska13]

Booked this cruise back in October and just began the planning process. Should have started earlier now I have to move quickly. These posts have been very helpful in addition to the research I have done this week end. If anyone can add to my observations or has comments I would appreciate it.

Looks like if I what a direct flight from Orland it will have to be into Gatwick. Anyone else going out of Orland and found this to be true? The least painful is 1 Stop WestJet going thru Toronto but the trip is twice as long each way. Have not ruled that out yet since it is 1/2 the cost of direct.

It appears that the private transportation from Gatwick to London is less expensive than taking the express train. I know the express train is high but that does not seem to be logical.

Trying to book one of the DCL pre-cruise hotels to get the DCL transfers to Dover but need confirmation on the specific hotel names. I understand from my agent that if I stay at one of these hotels I can get the transfers. Anyone know this to be true? I got a quote from Costal Cars London to Dover that seems reasonable verses what I expect DCL to charge.

Can anyone give advice on tipping polices in GB? Would you normally tip a private car transfer driver in GB? If so what is standard in GB. My first time in GB.

Thanks in advance. This trip looks to be wonderful but the planning is stressful. Would like to do the back to back to Iceland but I can't that the additional planning. We have friends that are doing that and I expect they are not alone.

I am not on this cruise (6/17 out of Dover to Iceland/Norway), but I booked Coastal Cars to get to Dover. My TA quoted $75 per person for the transfer to Dover through DCL. Coastal Cars (for 3 of us) was 175 pounds (around $40 more??). I don't remember the names of the DCL preferred hotels but they were CRAZY expensive.

What private transport from the airport are you using? I haven't done that yet!

I, too, would like to know what tipping policies are for the UK!