My Disney Magic May 30th Northern Europe Cruise Trip Report

[mmouse37]

Nice report. We were off the EBTA on the 30th and walked all over Copenhagen that day. We also stayed overnight in a hotel and flew back to the states on the 31st. We did the Hop on/hop off bus the last day as our feet were sore from all the walking the two days before. We stayed near Tivoli Gardens at the First Mayfair Hotel. Nice boutique hotel but right out our window was a gentlemen's club and at night on the corner the ladies of the evening were around looking for business!!! We really liked the TA cruise. Had great weather on the crossing. Same as you with temps..low to mid 60's and mostly sunny. Stavanger (overcast) and Oslo (rainly) with temps in the 50's. We were 6 adults and a baby and took two taxis from the port to our Copenhagen hotel and then one large van from the hotel to Copenhagen airport. Taxis were readily available at the port.

Enjoy your cruise!!!

MJ

 

[Cousin Orville]

Nice report. We were off the EBTA on the 30th and walked all over Copenhagen that day. We also stayed overnight in a hotel and flew back to the states on the 31st. We did the Hop on/hop off bus the last day as our feet were sore from all the walking the two days before. We stayed near Tivoli Gardens at the First Mayfair Hotel. Nice boutique hotel but right out our window was a gentlemen's club and at night on the corner the ladies of the evening were around looking for business!!! We really liked the TA cruise. Had great weather on the crossing. Same as you with temps..low to mid 60's and mostly sunny. Stavanger (overcast) and Oslo (rainly) with temps in the 50's. We were 6 adults and a baby and took a taxi from the port to our Copenhagen hotel and then one large van from the hotel to Copenhagen airport.

Enjoy your cruise!!!

MJ

Do you happen to remember if DCL offered any port adventures for Copenhagen (the day of disembarkation)?

 

[mmouse37]

Do you happen to remember if DCL offered any port adventures for Copenhagen (the day of disembarkation)?

I believe they did. I overheard some pax saying they were taking a DCL port adventure and then heading to the airport.

Sorry I do not know what they offered.

MJ

 

[Saamh]

Do you happen to remember if DCL offered any port adventures for Copenhagen (the day of disembarkation)?

We were also on the EBTA and were envious of all of you sailing on May 30th as we were leaving. DCL offered this tour upon disembarkation with transfer either to the airport or a hotel. We had a 12:30pm flight so we couldn't take this tour but it looked like a good option for those with later flights or those staying overnight in Copenhagen.

http://disneycruise.disney.go.com/c...sfer-debarkation-day-tour-onboard-sales-only/

 

[Cousin Orville]

We were also on the EBTA and were envious of all of you sailing on May 30th as we were leaving. DCL offered this tour upon disembarkation with transfer either to the airport or a hotel. We had a 12:30pm flight so we couldn't take this tour but it looked like a good option for those with later flights or those staying overnight in Copenhagen.

http://disneycruise.disney.go.com/c...sfer-debarkation-day-tour-onboard-sales-only/

Thanks! That's very helpful. We couldn't find a flight out late enough so we're staying at the Hilton by they airport one night. This will be a nice way to transition from the ship to there.

 

[WvT3rd]

Somebody asked what the Castaway Club gift was this summer. This is what I found awaiting me. Messenger bag and umbrella. The Gold looks nice, no?

 

[gismo1554]

Thanks for the pic!

 

[awaghorn]

Thanks for sharing, do you happen to know what silver CC members got?

 

[WvT3rd]

This was the Castaway gift I found waiting for me. Messenger bag with an umbrella! I've seen them Ina silvery color as well, but I like the gold : h

 

[Calfan]

Wonderful Copenhagen!

It's sailing day! 30 May 2015. We arrived 2 days ago, Thursday afternoon, after flying non stop from San Franciso sitting on a thinly padded seat. Thank you SAS. Once past passport control and into baggage claim the first thing we spot is Sarah holding the Disney Cruise line clipboard. We check in, having bought transfers. I've hardly slept in the past 16 hours, but did grab a quick hour without two hours let before touch down. I believe transfers are the way to go. No worries, that' my mantra.

there were six of us arriving at this time for transers. We gathered our luggage and walked to the van. Nice large van that could sit six of us and all our luggage. Most were staying at the Tivoli Hotel, but the DGF and I were staying at the Radisson Blu Royal. Lovely hotel, right across from the Tivoli Gardens.
So exciting. Lovely room on the 11th floor. Overlooking the Gardens to the left. Went properly to sleep.
Woke up around seven p.m. local time. Still light out -- sun would not set for another couple hours. Walked around a couple of hours, grabbed a burger. Stayed up for a bit then went back to sleep. Exciting first day. zzzzzzzzz

Got up Friday morning at 4:30. breakfast at 6:30. Went out for a nice walk. There was a walking tour that I had read about that I knew started at 9

We are on the June 29 Iceland/Norway cruise followed by the July 10 Baltics cruise. We arrive in Copenhagen on June 27 and will be spending two nights at the Radisson Blu Royal Copenhagen. So glad to see your positive feedback about the hotel!

 

[WvT3rd]

Tallin, Estonia

One of the prettiest of towns we visited, I almost immediately fell in love with this port of call.
We had the Old Town walking tour, which met in Fathoms at 9:45am. Our group was the first off the ship, I believe even before the official 10 a.m. disembarking time. We walked over to where Liissa, our tour guide, was waiting for us by a bus. We turned in our tickets (and unlike other ports, did not get part of the tour ticket back) and boarded. About 32 in the group I believe. Also, nobody gave Liissa the tour paddle, so we followed her skinny black umbrella through the tour. Liissa is a university student, and was the youngest of the tour guides we would have during our voyage. This is not to say she wasn't knowledgeable, just to say she was young.
Now I'm not going to give you a blow by blow (or maybe church by church would fit better) description of what we did. But here are some of the highlights: we started the tour near the Stout Margaret tower, in a small park behind the yellow government building where in front many other tours were gathering. Then the first lovely church, then a walk through the high old town, which finally led down and through a tower gate (which had a 'murder hole' now being used as the location of an overhead lamp). A bit further on we arrived at the town square. There was a large covered stage set up and the youth orchestra was performing. The wind had picked up, but the skies remained dry. The best part was when Liissa said that we would meet in one hour one the side of the stage with the large aerial picture of Tallin. We could go shop, have a bite or some coffee, explore, whatever. Just be back in a hour. The DGF and I went down one street and then another, sometimes ducking into shops...we found a lovely used bookstore (a weakness of mine ever since I found one across from the train station in Canterbury, England, many years ago), and also the tourist information place then across from that a small open air market. We arrived back in the square with minutes to spare and proceed to do a little more walking in the lower town before coming to one of the remaining town gates. Lovely photo opportunity as long as you were able to block out that outdoor cafe table with the umbrella bearing a large golden M....yes, McDonalds has invaded Tallin. No Starbucks. And if you want to start one up please remit a 10% finders fee to me.
Soon it was back to the bus and the very short ride to the dock. It would have been only about a 15 minute walk if that long.
Not much to report for this day after that. We did win a Disney trivia contest, many thanks to the 2 out of 3 paper-rock-scissors, saw the show, had dinner (one of the couples from the first night has already deserted us to sit with people they dined with on the EBTA). A lot of people are doing the back to back tour, with some even doing back to back to back! Lucky them....

 

[WvT3rd]

View attachment 101617 St. Petersberg, Russia.

We knew this was going to be a long day. For some it would be longer, but we knew ours was going to be long.

Let me now bring up a subject that is very, very important, especially when doing European towns and old towns.
We walked over seven miles the day before in Tallin. We would end up walking over eight miles in St. Petersburg.
In Tallin we walked over cobblestones and tiles dating from the Middle Ages forward.

So please keep one thing in mind when taking a cruise that visits cities like these:
Wear comfortable shoe Shoes!
For Ladies, that means low to no heels. I had bought a pair of nice black shoes with the black athletic tennis shoe type non slip soles. Supplanted with memory foam inner sole replacements I had no problem trudging through whatever the cruise was going to throw at me. So please, wear comfy shoes!

 

[WvT3rd]

So, more about the Port of St. Petersburg. Our tour guide was Irene, a native of the city. It was interesting to hear her thoughts on Mr. Putin, also a native. The day long tour we were on comprised of both the Palace at Peterhof and the magnificent Hermitage. One thing I suspected early and was confirmed, at least to me later, was that she received kickbacks from certain merchants. Early on at the first stop she said not to bother with the guidebook at Peterhof, as we would be stopping later at a place that had it cheaper. She also steered us towards a man selling the Hermitage guidebook from a pillar in the exit area rather than one of the shops there.
On the good side, she managed to get us in past a few other groups at Peterhof, leaving us enough time to enjoy the lower gardens. We took a high speed transport boat to the Hermitage from Peterhof, which we arrived at via Bus, and had lunch at a nearby Restaurant. Awaiting us at the table was a glass of sparkling wine and a shot of vodka. Since neither I or the DGF drink, our table mates, two brothers from Utah, benefitted.
Hermitage was crowded, as it had been closed the day before, and we had a short wait in line. Got in, toured this beautiful Musuem for about two hours, then headed to our final stop. A large souvenir shop for the cheaper guidebook. Yes, that particular book was cheaper. Not sure about all the other items.....we spent a good half hour there, and then back to the ship. We were to tired by this time to await our late dinner (and we knew our table mates had a canal tour late as well), so it was Cabanas for dinner and we called it a very early night!

 

[linetbo]

View attachment 101617 St. Petersberg, Russia.

We knew this was going to be a long day. For some it would be longer, but we knew ours was going to be long.

Let me now bring up a subject that is very, very important, especially when doing European towns and old towns.
We walked over seven miles the day before in Tallin. We would end up walking over eight miles in St. Petersburg.
In Tallin we walked over cobblestones and tiles dating from the Middle Ages forward.

So please keep one thing in mind when taking a cruise that visits cities like these:
Wear comfortable shoe Shoes!
For Ladies, that means low to no heels. I had bought a pair of nice black shoes with the black athletic tennis shoe type non slip soles. Supplanted with memory foam inner sole replacements I had no problem trudging through whatever the cruise was going to throw at me. So please, wear comfy shoes!

I cant see the attachment

 

[linetbo]

24250784076

So, more about the Port of St. Petersburg. Our tour guide was Irene, a native of the city. It was interesting to hear her thoughts on Mr. Putin, also a native. The day long tour we were on comprised of both the Palace at Peterhof and the magnificent Hermitage. One thing I suspected early and was confirmed, at least to me later, was that she received kickbacks from certain merchants. Early on at the first stop she said not to bother with the guidebook at Peterhof, as we would be stopping later at a place that had it cheaper. She also steered us towards a man selling the Hermitage guidebook from a pillar in the exit area rather than one of the shops there.
On the good side, she managed to get us in past a few other groups at Peterhof, leaving us enough time to enjoy the lower gardens. We took a high speed transport boat to the Hermitage from Peterhof, which we arrived at via Bus, and had lunch at a nearby Restaurant. Awaiting us at the table was a glass of sparkling wine and a shot of vodka. Since neither I or the DGF drink, our table mates, two brothers from Utah, benefitted.
Hermitage was crowded, as it had been closed the day before, and we had a short wait in line. Got in, toured this beautiful Musuem for about two hours, then headed to our final stop. A large souvenir shop for the cheaper guidebook. Yes, that particular book was cheaper. Not sure about all the other items.....we spent a good half hour there, and then back to the ship. We were to tired by this time to await our late dinner (and we knew our table mates had a canal tour late as well), so it was Cabanas for dinner and we called it a very early night!

Which tour was that one?

 

[WvT3rd]

The tour was Peterhof & Hermitage.

 

[WvT3rd]

Last thoughts on St. Petersburg

We were given a sheet of paper the night before relating to the fact that a passport is a MUST, and that unless you had booked a tour - whether with Disney or an outside operator you would need a Visa, and if you didn't have one of those, you were not allowed off the ship.
Unlike other ports of call, you went through Passport Control. It was fairly effortless, handing over your passport and tour docs (or if with a Disney tour, your tour ticket.).
Unlike our fears onboard, they had plenty of control points to go through. Your passport was stamped, ticket or docs returned, and you were given a slip of paper.
DO NOT LOSE THE PAPER. You need to turn it back in when you return and they stamp your passport again.
I believe it is in the memoir "84 Charing Cross Road" where the author, Helene Hanff relates being told about London: "Whichever London you are looking for, you'll find it."
I felt the same about Russia.
In spite of seeing two lovely sites, and having lunch in a nice restaurant, I couldn't help but notice the difference in the apartment blocks, where some were crumbling in places, the large amount of construction, the grayness of the place. And the subtle corruption in place. But then it's the Russia I expected to find, and did.

 

[WvT3rd]

Photos


Just wanted to tell you I will be posting a selection of the photos I took. I usually left the my IPad behind and took my camera, along with my phone. Once I get to my main computer I promise to put up some gems.

 

[WvT3rd]

Helsinki, Finland

We awoke this morning early as usual. But we had reason. The tour we wished to take, the tour Of Helsinki and Old Town Parvoo (which I can never pronounce without thinking of W.C. Fields) had cancelled the afternoon tour and we were switched to the morning. So back down after breakfast and such to Fathoms, where we dutifully queued to be checked in and get our tour numbers.
Our tour director this time was Riita, about the same age as our Russin tour director of the day before. Except Riita was more strict. We drove from the pier to the Cathedral.
"You have 10 minutes here." (Ok, it might have been 15, but you get the drift). And this was before the bus had even parked.
Hardly enough time to climb the steps, view the church, and get back.
The drive to Parvoo was pleasant, it was nice to be out of the City and into the countryside. We made a stop at a beautiful farm estate where the Brewery had been turned into a restaurant. There we were treated to cake and coffee or a soft drink.
Then onto Parvoo. It was a charming City which we had an hour before. Now I should tell you that when we first boarded there was a handy map of the town with a walking tour that you could do on your own, which the DGF and I did the majority of. My only mistake was not going into the chocolate store when we got to that part. By the time we came back after investigating other stores it was packed. My bad. We did find a store that would be the dream of anyone who has doll houses, however.
Drive back to the ship, with only a few minutes to spare before we were due back on for my to run into the terminal and buy a magnet ( I try and get magnets of the different places I've been. My fridge front is nearly full. ) and a book about the City.

Most of the stops have been almost "nine to five" hours, St. Petersburg being the exception. I do wish we could stayed a bit longer in a couple of the ports, but time and tide, I suppose....

 

[Crisi83]

View attachment 101617 St. Petersberg, Russia.

We knew this was going to be a long day. For some it would be longer, but we knew ours was going to be long.
!

I can't see the attachment either, but what company did you end up using?