Northern Sights and Mickey's MAGICal Delights-1st Baltic Cruise-June 12,2010-Pt 2

[cquick]

I have a question: Does anyone know what the cost is for the roundtrip DCL transfers from the airport to the ship and back again. My original reservation has them doing the airfare w/transfers and they didn't break down how much is for each. I checked airfares last night and we can use our FF miles for an economy trip on one of the flights so I'd like to grab that while I can.

Also, for the return trip......what time is DCL saying is the earliest we can reasonably make?

Thanks so much for your advice!

I'm not sure for this trip, since it will be in a different country and everything...

BUT Transfers are $69 each for round trip to the port from either the airport or the resorts here at WDW.
I would think the price would be online by now, but to be sure, just phone them up......call the reservation number and ask. Then you can compare the costs.

 

[sunshine state kim]

Do we really not get into St. Petersburg until 12:30? I have started looking at the logistics of what we can actually do in these places (and as usual starting to stress out!) and there are several companies which offer 2 day tours in St. Petersburg, but they look like they all start bright and early in the morning. (like 7:30am).

We're also planning on participating in the FEs and plan to be in London 2 nights before the cruise and probably 1 night post-cruise. At this point we're staying at the Blades hotel before. Maybe the Luna & Simone after. I sure hope the airfare improves!

 

[cquick]

I looked at Virgin Airways flights.....we have used them before. They fly out of Orlando direct into Gatwick. Then if you want to get to downtown London, there's the Gatwick express train.....very easy. Also, there is a very nice hotel at Gatwick Airport....one time we wanted to go to Bristol, but there was a huge IT conference going on there, and all the hotels were full. Since we had Patrick with us, we needed something accessible, so we stayed 4 nights in the hotel at Gatwick Airport and it worked out just fine.

I think the distance to the port at Dover is easy from Gatwick, too, either with a one way car rental or a hired driver and car.

I looked at Premium economy and they look very comfortable!

Connie

 

[WVMD]

Do we really not get into St. Petersburg until 12:30? I have started looking at the logistics of what we can actually do in these places (and as usual starting to stress out!) and there are several companies which offer 2 day tours in St. Petersburg, but they look like they all start bright and early in the morning. (like 7:30am).

We're also planning on participating in the FEs and plan to be in London 2 nights before the cruise and probably 1 night post-cruise. At this point we're staying at the Blades hotel before. Maybe the Luna & Simone after. I sure hope the airfare improves!

Yes - but we stay overnight and don't leave until the next night at 1130pm. I figure that most of the long St. Petersburg tours will start late on the first day and early on the second day.

Virgil

 

[gydell]

The tour we have set up in St Petersburg starts at 12pm the first day. They will be waiting for us as soon as we dock.

 

[WVMD]

Well - I booked our flights today. We are flying out of Pittsburgh on June 9 to London Gatwick via Charlotte. I booked the Hilton Gatwick for 2 nights using points for the 3 of us. After the cruise we're staying again at the Hilton Gatwick for 1 night and flying back the next morning to Pittsburgh via Charlotte. Gotta love USAirways points for the Envoy class and Hilton points for the rooms. It's funny that the room I booked is a triple single - meaning that there are 3 twin beds... I wish the rest of the trip would be as cheap as this was....

Virgil

 

[WVMD]

I somebody wants to split a vehicle to and from Gatwick please let me know.... Of course we'll need a van as I'm sure that Frances and Lauren will need 2 bags each....

Virgil

 

[kittb]

Bit off topic but I'm excited so had to share! We've just booked 3 days in Disneyland Paris next month to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary I hope I can manage it with a baby bump and toddler! If theres anything anyone wants us to try to check out if they're planning on going let me know and if I've got any energy I'll do my best!

And its got us all fired up for the cruise again too, had a lottery win of £5 (8USD lol) so bought another ticket for next weeks roll over, feeling lucky

Kittb

 

[gydell]

Bit off topic but I'm excited so had to share! We've just booked 3 days in Disneyland Paris next month to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary I hope I can manage it with a baby bump and toddler! If theres anything anyone wants us to try to check out if they're planning on going let me know and if I've got any energy I'll do my best!

And its got us all fired up for the cruise again too, had a lottery win of £5 (8USD lol) so bought another ticket for next weeks roll over, feeling lucky

Kittb

Have fun! I still haven't decided whether to go to DLP or not.

When you win the big $$$ remember your friends on the disboards - starting with me!

 

[Lynn G]

Good Morning Cruisers!

It is a nice day here - need to get out and enjoy the sunshine before it gets too hot!

Have a great day all!

 

[cquick]

The tour we have set up in St Petersburg starts at 12pm the first day. They will be waiting for us as soon as we dock.

What tour are you taking, Gydell? Is it with an independent tour company? Do they procure the visas for you?

 

[cquick]

I somebody wants to split a vehicle to and from Gatwick please let me know.... Of course we'll need a van as I'm sure that Frances and Lauren will need 2 bags each....

Virgil

Yes, we might be interested, but I can't make any plans like that until much closer to the trip......I don't even know how long we will be staying in the UK, and I don't know if it'll be before or after!

 

[cquick]

Well - I booked our flights today. We are flying out of Pittsburgh on June 9 to London Gatwick via Charlotte. I booked the Hilton Gatwick for 2 nights using points for the 3 of us. After the cruise we're staying again at the Hilton Gatwick for 1 night and flying back the next morning to Pittsburgh via Charlotte. Gotta love USAirways points for the Envoy class and Hilton points for the rooms. It's funny that the room I booked is a triple single - meaning that there are 3 twin beds... I wish the rest of the trip would be as cheap as this was....

Virgil

I wish I had points!!! I am saving our cash back rewards AND all my paychecks from DCL for our airfare, and hotels....not sure if I have enough yet, but it's growing......

 

[cquick]

I wonder if this dancing will be on our shore excursion when we go to Sweden?

 

[cquick]

whoops! forgot to post the site!!!!!!

http://vodpod.com/watch/1548742-sweden-got-talent-naked-guys-dancing

 

[cquick]

whoops, Disboards wouldn't allow the whole address......it might not show!
pm me with your email and I can send it to you.

 

[cquick]

here's an article that was in the Orlando Sentinel Travel section yesterday about a firstimer's visit to London....with kids evern! A good article!
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/travel/destinations/chi-tc-trav-london-0721-0726jul26,0,1370591.story

 

[ishmael]

Our (ArizonaRita, the kids, and I) flights are now booked. We're flying out June 8 on US Air from Phoenix through Philly to Heathrow, and flying back June 28 from Paris through Philly to Phoenix. The dog and the housesitter probably won't recognize us by the time we get back!

We had miles with US Air, although nowhere close enough to cover everyone. Originally, I planned to fly on miles and take everyone else on cash, but as I looked, I found that US Air has a special running through August 15 where you get double miles for the same cost, and with that special, it was cheaper to boost everyone to the required miles for our booking. There are blackout dates from June 24-28, but those are waived at some levels (e.g., my Silver got around that). With ticketing fees for reward travel booking to Europe, you have to do the math pretty carefully, but for us, this combo saved us a fair amount over anything else I could find.

Air
Pre-stay hotel
Cruise
Post-stay DLP

(I really wish DLP opened reservations further out.)

Chris

 

[WVMD]

Our (ArizonaRita, the kids, and I) flights are now booked. We're flying out June 8 on US Air from Phoenix through Philly to Heathrow, and flying back June 28 from Paris through Philly to Phoenix. The dog and the housesitter probably won't recognize us by the time we get back!

We had miles with US Air, although nowhere close enough to cover everyone. Originally, I planned to fly on miles and take everyone else on cash, but as I looked, I found that US Air has a special running through August 15 where you get double miles for the same cost, and with that special, it was cheaper to boost everyone to the required miles for our booking. There are blackout dates from June 24-28, but those are waived at some levels (e.g., my Silver got around that). With ticketing fees for reward travel booking to Europe, you have to do the math pretty carefully, but for us, this combo saved us a fair amount over anything else I could find.

Air
Pre-stay hotel
Cruise
Post-stay DLP

(I really wish DLP opened reservations further out.)

Chris

I almost had to buy some extra miles and was glad that this promotion was there - but I used the transfer miles with 30% extra. Lauren and Frances had enough to get me to 480k miles - the transfer cost came out to $0.01 per mile. The cost to purchase was $0.015 per mile. Would definitely have been cheaper to purchase 240k miles and get the bonus than to purchase miles outright. I'm Platinum this year with USAirways so that eliminated the blackout dates..... Total cost for 3 business class tickets was under $2000. Even if I had to purchase all of the miles - it would have been under $6000 which is a whole lot cheaper than the $9000 the fare is listed for using cash. Definitely the way to go as long as you have Dividend Miles Preferred status (Silver or above) to get around the blackout dates.

Virgil

 

[cquick]

nobody's talking to me! Everybody must be watching TV