Northern Sights & Mickey's MAGICal Delights - 1st Baltic cruise - June 12,2010

[MJGirl]

Thanks for the info Kitt .. I was thinking about taking the bus from Heathrow to Dover. We are hoping to arrive Thursday D morning and spend some time at Dover Castle!

 

[LITTLEKID58]

GM

Presently 54 going up to 78 here in Sunny Central Florida.

Happy Birthday and Anniversary to all who are celebrating..

eo everyone who is going to need it

Have a great Saturday

 

[gydell]

Thanks for the info Kitt .. I was thinking about taking the bus from Heathrow to Dover. We are hoping to arrive Thursday D morning and spend some time at Dover Castle!

We're planning on gettting to Dover on Thursday too. Sightsee on Friday.

 

[granmaz]

Dover Castle is a great place, both for the medieval history and the world war 2 command tunnels. They have a fab tea room too!!!!

 

[Scott H]

Thanks Bob and Lee, Lurk away, would be great if you guys made this cruise. Might be tough making a CD but then again not that hard for the Master.

I think our plans will be determined with airfare and where we fly into, LGW - CDG - FRA are on the list but that depends on which airline we use. The I think we will rail to Barcelona, bring the Magic to Dover, then after the cruises rail to where ever we flew into.

Will avoid DLP as it ewill be summer.

If I don't get the required time off from work I will just retire.

 

[Lynn G]

Good Morning Cruisers!

I have finally caught up here on this thread, I have been neglecting the computer lately!

Happy New Year to all!

Thanks for the info on Dover - although we will probably be asking for it again much closer to the trip

Have a great weekend everyone!

 

[mishoe01]

Think thats the way the conversation ran earlier in the thread lol

Here's some info my dh put together for a different board - hope its of interest .....

If anybody wants any tips of what to do in Dover or nearby for a day or two either side of the cruise I'd be happy to help.

For starters I'd recommend a trip to Canterbury with loads of old buildings, city walls and a fantastic cathedral, but a better choice if you have a few hours to spare might be a trip to Dover castle. It's huge and has things to see spanning from a Roman lighthouse, though medieval keep and castle to a secret World War II base.

If you want to visit DLP as well, a good travel option, as already mentioned, would be Eurostar. You can catch it from Ashford direct to the gates DLP, and the station in Ashford is only a 20 minute or so drive up the M20 from Dover. Or you can get a train direct to Asford from Dover that takes about 30 mins. Then it's 2 hours or so to the gates of DLP, and MUCH less hastle than getting a flight from the UK to France.

When we were on the Med. cruise I could never understand why the 'Home' port was Barcelona and not Marseilles as there is a direct TGV service from Marseilles to DLP that takes about 4 hours. It would have been really easy for DCL to organise joint Park and Cruise packages similar to the way they do in Florida.

It's quite a way [London to Dover], I'd be prepared for a couple of hours on the transfer coach, but you might get lucky with the traffic and it could be a lot less. The fastest train connection I can find from Gatwick is a little over 2 hours, and from Heathrow is about 2 hours and 40 mins. From central London to Dover is about 1 hour 30 mins by train.

If you are going directly from the flight to the cruise and are driving or getting on a coach, then I'd recommend coming in to Gatwick rather than Heathrow, Gatwick is much closer to Dover and the drive from Heathrow takes you through the worst bit of the M25 (The London Orbital motorway).

The only other thing that I can suggest is that you avoid going straight from the airport to the ship on the train, The transfer from Paddington to Victoria or Charing Cross if flying into Heathrow, or the change(s) involved going via Tonbridge if flying in to Gatwick would, in my opinion, be quite awkward and stressful, especially for a family with lots of luggage.

If you are having a night, or more in London before getting on the ship, I don't think it really matters which airport you come into, and getting the train isn't as bad an option as it is from an airport to Dover as it is direct from central London.

I guess it looks like I'm following DCL's advice and suggesting that a night in London before the cruise is a good idea.

If you want to find out about train times here is a good site to check out.

National Rail Enquiries - Official source for rail information, UK train times and timetables

Although by the time the cruise comes around there will (allegedly) be a high speed train service from central London to Dover. And the high speed trains will depart from St. Pancras station, which is worth a visit in its own right.

Links removed here *** I'm not allowed as I haven't posted often enough

Now any more questions He's much more thorough than I am!

Kittb

This is great! THank you! I'm thinking of staying at the Marriott Marble Arch in London, then taking a cab to 1 of the train stations (not sure if it matters which one) for the train ride to Dover.

Do you know anything about The Churchill Hotel?

 

[MJGirl]

This may be old news, but if there are any Dr. Who fans out there, check out this link. Can't wait for the new season!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/impossible_princess_barbie/3163981524/

 

[LITTLEKID58]

GM

Presently 60 going up to 79 here in Sunny Central Florida.

Happy Birthday and Anniversary to all who are celebrating.

to eeryone who is going to need it today.

Have a great Sunday

 

[gydell]

Another rainy day here but at least it's warm!

 

[CustardTart]

Giving us a little *bump* as were languishing down the bottom of page 2!!!

Morning all! We woke to snow this morning which was a bit of a shock - just don't ever expect any weather extremes in South East London... Anyway, I was due back at Uni today but the icy conditions meant my windscreen wipers had seized up and whatever I tried they wouldn't thaw so I took the day off - great start, huh??!!

Ah well, there's always tomorrow plus I have an essay to get on with...

Hope you're all well and I'll catch up later...

 

[Claire L]

Had a dusting of snow overnight here as well on the South Coast All gone now though

Claire

 

[Lynn G]

Good Morning Cruisers!

No snow here, just cold and wind! Wind chill right now is 9 degrees below 0, guess I will wait a bit to walk the dogs!

Have a great day!

 

[gydell]

Rain, rain and more rain here!

 

[LITTLEKID58]

GM

Presently 57 going up to 82 here in Sunny Central Florida

Happy Birthday and Anniversary to all who are celebrating

everyone who is celebrating

Have a great Tuesday

 

[gydell]

Still raining here!

 

[Lynn G]

Still windy here!

We are headed out to WDW tonight, I will not be posting for awhile, but Scott will have his computer, so you might see something from him.

Have a great day everyone!

 

[gydell]

Still windy here!

We are headed out to WDW tonight, I will not be posting for awhile, but Scott will have his computer, so you might see something from him.

Have a great day everyone!

Have a great trip! It's nice and warm there!

 

[rotary2808]

Still raining here!

Same here and it doesn't look like it's going to stop anytime soon.

Still windy here!

We are headed out to WDW tonight, I will not be posting for awhile, but Scott will have his computer, so you might see something from him.

Have a great day everyone!

Have a safe trip and a great trip at WDW!!!!

 

[mishoe01]

I'm going to be cancelling this cruise.....

I just got confirmed for a TA discount on Norwegian Cruise Lines for the BALTICS this April (4/28-5/10)......can't pass it up....put it this way (comparing it to DCL) I have an oceanview room for 2 people for 1/4th of the DCL cost for an inside..... it's less that 1/2 of MY 1/2 (for both of us).

I'll do research though for you.....please don't be mad at me