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

[tink1970]

DH and I will be joining y'all...we'll be somewhere in a cat 9. Hoping for 6th or 7th deck but we'll see...this is what you get when you procrastinate This will be my 12th cruise and his um,5th?

Excited!

Shay

 

[nzdisneymom]

Shay, welcome to the group!

 

[nyck]

When are the excursions usually announced?

 

[MPS516]

Cam,

Sorry to hear you will not be part of the cruise. I don't blame you for not missing the special Olympics, what a wonderful event. DW may actually have to miss this as well depending on how things play out at work for her. They will be up against a critical labor deadline which may cause all management to cancel any leaves. Keeping our fingers crossed though.

 

[MPS516]

Cindy,

Thanks for stepping in and running with the roll call and meets.

 

[nzdisneymom]

When are the excursions usually announced?

There are Port Adventures posted for Kirkwall, Scotland, already since they are stopping there this year: http://disneycruise.disney.go.com/cruises-destinations/shore-excursions/ but the rest will probably not be available until late fall I would guess.

Cam,

DW may actually have to miss this as well depending on how things play out at work for her. They will be up against a critical labor deadline which may cause all management to cancel any leaves. Keeping our fingers crossed though.

Oh, I certainly hope things will work out for her to be able to go. We will definitely cross our fingers with y'all! I've already put my leave request in - I'm fortunate that June is a less-busy time for our office (March - May, not so much) and my boss is great about approving leave over a year out. DH is excited because he won't have to ask for leave - he retires May 31st, 2016

Cindy,

Thanks for stepping in and running with the roll call and meets.

No problem - as you know, Roll Call / Meets are a group effort - I just happen to have Post #2 so it's a logical place to put the info. Anything y'all think that should be included in the Info post, just let me know and I'll add it.

 

[nzdisneymom]

Woo-hoo! The boys' passports arrived today, so we are now all set documentation-wise! I don't know if y'all are like me, but I feel like I should be doing something each week towards trip-planning. Of course for me, half the fun of a trip is the planning!

Which port are you most looking forward to?

 

[EpcotKilterFan]

When are the excursions usually announced?

For this years Iceland/Norway cruise they did not announce all of the excursions until a few days prior to Platinum being able to book. So it will probably not be until January or February when we will see them for the new ports.

 

[DL1957]

When are the excursions usually announced?

For this years cruise Cophengan to Dover the shore excursions did not show up until about a week before the 120 bookding date for conceir level and platimum. So I would not expect them until after the first of the year at the earliest since many are first time ports.
Sue

 

[nzdisneymom]

Are any of our ports ones that Adventures by Disney go to?

 

[MandJHuff]

We have already booked a private excursion for Orkney, as doing some research at this small port, there aren't a lot of private tour operators, and they book up rather quickly. We booked with Pat Stone of Orkney aspects.

 

[nzdisneymom]

Our wait list for Grosvenor pre-cruise came through at $1214 per room per night. No thank you.

 

[Leslie Hand]

Wow that a bit costly. Would like to book a after stay but not for that cost.

 

[nzdisneymom]

Wow that a bit costly. Would like to book a after stay but not for that cost.

We have a post-stay at the Sofitel at Gatwick through DCL that's $200+ per room per night - much more affordable than Grosvenor pre-cruise. The DCL rate for the Sofitel is comparable to what we would be able to book on our own.

We are planning to stay in Dover pre-cruise anyway. But wanted to see what DCL might offer in London. Here's a link to the Grosvenor that DCL is using:
http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/longh-grosvenor-house-a-jw-marriott-hotel/

 

[Alohagirl73]

That price is ridiculous. We are looking at a Novotel for a precruise stay. Can't remember which one!

 

[Leslie Hand]

We have already booked a private excursion for Orkney, as doing some research at this small port, there aren't a lot of private tour operators, and they book up rather quickly. We booked with Pat Stone of Orkney aspects.

I just emailed Pat Stone and she said they are booked. Hard to believe that it is possible with13 months to go. Anyone have any other Tour operators they have been dealing with?

 

[MandJHuff]

I just emailed Pat Stone and she said they are booked. Hard to believe that it is possible with13 months to go. Anyone have any other Tour operators they have been dealing with?

That's the reason I went ahead and booked her. She only does one tour per day. I know if you google "private tours orkney" a couple of different ones come up. I chose Pat because she seemed the most flexible and her reviews were outstanding on Trip Advisor. I know while going back and forth, she had mentioned she had just been booked for the next cruise for Jun 20th (I believe that is the date), so she does book up rather quickly.

 

[nzdisneymom]

We have already booked a private excursion for Orkney, as doing some research at this small port, there aren't a lot of private tour operators, and they book up rather quickly. We booked with Pat Stone of Orkney aspects.

Can you share what things you'll be seeing / doing in Orkney? We haven't started researching ports yet.

 

[MandJHuff]

Can you share what things you'll be seeing / doing in Orkney? We haven't started researching ports yet.

Here are the things Pat has suggested as a general guideline:

Travel along the shore of Scapa Flow to the Stone of Stenness and Ring Of Brodgar, two magnificent 5000 year old stone circles

Visit Skara Brae, a neolithic village on the shores of the Atlantic

Skaill House, 17th centuray laird's house.

Maeshowe Tomb

Guided tour of St Magnus Cathedral

Drive through the countryside, hoping to spot some wildlife and potential seals basking along the coast.

There are also a couple of Scotch distlleries, for those of us who would like to sample the local drinks.

 

[nzdisneymom]

Here are the things Pat has suggested as a general guideline:

Travel along the shore of Scapa Flow to the Stone of Stenness and Ring Of Brodgar, two magnificent 5000 year old stone circles
Visit Skara Brae, a neolithic village on the shores of the Atlantic
Skaill House, 17th centuray laird's house.
Maeshowe Tomb
Guided tour of St Magnus Cathedral

Thanks - these all sound interesting!