The 2010 Baltic Thread--Cruise Tips and Planning

[mardonna]

I have been off the boards since March 1st.....my husband had a mass in his stomach lining and it literally put my entire life on hold....I was consumed with worry....anyway all is good now....it was a hematoma, no tumor, no maligancy.....now moving forward with plans but I am behind a bit and I was so on top of it.....anyway we have ST. Petersburg booked with SPB and Berlin as well......I booked all Palo and babysitting......what I need to know is what to do in other ports? My diellema is we are 3 adults and 4 kids...ages 9,5,5 and 2.....the cards seem the best bet but really not liking the idea of public transport with kiddos...think they would be better off on Ho HO buses.....also thinking we should cards on top of this to cover admission everywhere....I saw that some of the hohos have family tickets....would really love thoughts on this so can move forward with planning.....also wondering if I should pre pay for all of this before we go.....if so when should I buy we leave for London on June 15th.....also when do I need to purchase our 7 days London cards......please help me decide......or send links with the answers....i know purchasing both seems redundant but don't think I want to navigate public transport with 4 young kids.....

 

[gydell]

Had I know it was gonna be "controversal",

~Mike

I hope you're not gonna cause problems like this on our cruise!!!

 

[Rogillio]

I hope you're not gonna cause problems like this on our cruise!!!

Vewry funny.

~Mike

 

[sbell111]

... anyway we have ST. Petersburg booked with SPB and Berlin as well......I booked all Palo and babysitting......what I need to know is what to do in other ports? My diellema is we are 3 adults and 4 kids...ages 9,5,5 and 2.....the cards seem the best bet but really not liking the idea of public transport with kiddos...think they would be better off on Ho HO buses.....also thinking we should cards on top of this to cover admission everywhere....I saw that some of the hohos have family tickets....would really love thoughts on this so can move forward with planning.....also wondering if I should pre pay for all of this before we go.....if so when should I buy we leave for London on June 15th.....also when do I need to purchase our 7 days London cards......please help me decide......or send links with the answers....i know purchasing both seems redundant but don't think I want to navigate public transport with 4 young kids.....

My wife and I will be hitting the ports with our seven month old girl. I didn't want to have to worry about making our own way around in strange cities with a baby but I also didn't want to pay a bunch of money for private tours (except in St Pete, but that was actually cheaper than DCL) nor did I want to use DCLs expensive excursions that really limited you to just seeing a few things. Therefore, we decided on HoHos in every port (except St Pete).

We haven't prepurchased them as we may end up deciding that HoHos with a baby are too hard and to revert to making our own way. Alternatively, we want the flexibility to blow off an extensive touring day if we need to.

We are only in London for a day and a half before the cruise. We haven't really settled on a plan of attack. Since we have been there numerous times before, we don't really need to see everything, but there are many sites that we've either overlooked or didn't give enough time to. We may end up utilizing the HoHo there, also, just because it makes transport so convenient. In fact, London could be our 'trial run' to see if we are going to be able to easily HoHo with the baby. If not, we'll have a little bit of time to map our attacks of the ports before we get on the ship.

We are renting a car to drive from London to Dover. This was a pretty inexpensive option and will allow us to easily stop at a grocery and some touristy spots such as Leeds Castle.

 

[zencrew]

I used lastminute.com to purchase my theatre tickets and it appears that they are slightly cheaper than the site you question. I posted a question on the UK boards about this booking agent and received positive response.

 

[kaseyC]

I used lastminute.com to purchase my theatre tickets and it appears that they are slightly cheaper than the site you question. I posted a question on the UK boards about this booking agent and received positive response.

Thanks but for the date and show I want, lastminute.com's price is higher than the Telegraph site.

 

[Rogillio]

We are renting a car to drive from London to Dover. This was a pretty inexpensive option and will allow us to easily stop at a grocery and some touristy spots such as Leeds Castle.

We are too. I asked a guy a work who spent some time over there if he had any problems driving on the left side of the road. He said, "No, no problems at all...till I had a head-on collision." He had pulled out of a parking lot at a scenic overlook area and "forgot" and was on the wrong side of the road going around a corner and BLAM!

I told my wife I was not sure I'd be able to use the manual shifter with my left hand so we might have to drive as a team with her shifting and me clutching. LOL I'm sure that would work.

We too will be stopping at Leeds Castle on the way down to Dover. After the cruise, our flight is not till 6 pm so we might do Dover Castle and maybe Canterbury Cathedral on the way back to Heathrow.

~Mike

 

[xangav]

You pick where you want to pick it up and it gives you the choices during the application process. I think there were 3 different options. We are picking ours up at Heathrow Terminal 3 the morning we fly in.
Carol

Thanks Carol. Picking up at Heathrow sounds like a good option for us as well.

 

[jilljill]

We are too. I asked a guy a work who spent some time over there if he had any problems driving on the left side of the road. He said, "No, no problems at all...till I had a head-on collision." He had pulled out of a parking lot at a scenic overlook area and "forgot" and was on the wrong side of the road going around a corner and BLAM!

I told my wife I was not sure I'd be able to use the manual shifter with my left hand so we might have to drive as a team with her shifting and me clutching. LOL I'm sure that would work.

We too will be stopping at Leeds Castle on the way down to Dover. After the cruise, our flight is not till 6 pm so we might do Dover Castle and maybe Canterbury Cathedral on the way back to Heathrow.

~Mike

DH had no problems driving on the 'other side' of the road in a manual. He drove all around the southern portion of Ireland and even back across the country in a heavy fog. It took him a few miles to get used to shifting with the left hand, but then it became easy.
Although his first encounter with a manual on the other side of the road had him driving back roads and ending up in Stratford Upon Avon on a very busy Saturday and then having to parallel park, that was an experience.
He's also driven in Australia with no problems.

 

[justmestace]

We've stayed on islands in the Caribbean where they drive on the "wrong side" of the road.
It seemed to us that the one time we had to be especially careful was when making turns. We caught ourselves a few times, turning into the wrong lane.

 

[mehaul]

I have been off the boards since March 1st.....my husband had a mass in his stomach lining and it literally put my entire life on hold....I was consumed with worry....anyway all is good now....it was a hematoma, no tumor, no maligancy.....now moving forward with plans but I am behind a bit and I was so on top of it.....anyway we have ST. Petersburg booked with SPB and Berlin as well......I booked all Palo and babysitting......what I need to know is what to do in other ports? My diellema is we are 3 adults and 4 kids...ages 9,5,5 and 2.....the cards seem the best bet but really not liking the idea of public transport with kiddos...think they would be better off on Ho HO buses.....also thinking we should cards on top of this to cover admission everywhere....I saw that some of the hohos have family tickets....would really love thoughts on this so can move forward with planning.....also wondering if I should pre pay for all of this before we go.....if so when should I buy we leave for London on June 15th.....also when do I need to purchase our 7 days London cards......please help me decide......or send links with the answers....i know purchasing both seems redundant but

don't think I want to navigate public transport with 4 young kids.....

glad to hear everything worked out. I would suggest 2 double strollers. We just got a new collapsable one for the 6 and 9 yr old. It's especially helpful in early mornings and later in the day when kids are tired. We've always been able to cover much more ground when the kids can walk less.

 

[kittb]

Here are my pics....if anyone would care to see....we were in London for 3 nights then 5 nights all around the countryside with stops in Oxford, York, the Cotswolds, Dover, Ramsgate, Cantebury, Brighton and probably a few more I forgot!!!

http://travel.webshots.com/album/577247450fsmvss?vhost=travel

MJ

Thanks for sharing ... I just viewed the whole album til I got to my neck of the woods. We used to live in Ramsgate and work in Canterbury and visit Dover Casle all the time!

Kit

 

[scrapycruiser]

Has anyone heard if DCL will have the nice leather-bound journals for the kids like they did in the Med '07 ?

Do you remember them ? They were so neat ! Every night they received new pages to add to their book about the upcoming port. I was so impressed with them !

 

[Sailingpartyof10]

Has anyone heard if DCL will have the nice leather-bound journals for the kids like they did in the Med '07 ?

Do you remember them ? They were so neat ! Every night they received new pages to add to their book about the upcoming port. I was so impressed with them !

Oh, I would love this! I have been thinking I should do something for my kids along the lines of the port "dossiers" made up by a cruiser on another board for her DD, but I am afraid I may not have a chance to get them done with all the other things going on before our trip. Does anyone have a photo of one of the Med journals or more information about what was included?

 

[MickeyWatch]

Oh, I would love this! I have been thinking I should do something for my kids along the lines of the port "dossiers" made up by a cruiser on another board for her DD, but I am afraid I may not have a chance to get them done with all the other things going on before our trip. Does anyone have a photo of one of the Med journals or more information about what was included?

I don't have a photo available but they were very deluxe, faux leather binders. Each day my daughter got a new series of pages that corresponded to our port adventure that day. For example, in Pompeii they gave some basic information on the artifacts we were going to see and Mt. Vesuvious. I believe they gave us the port adventure pages when we met to leave for our excursion. Other pages were left in the room each night with activities like "learn to speak Italian" and word search games that were port specific. There is also space in the back to insert your own photos or momentos as well as pages for autogaphs. The kids also had to get a stamp from a CM for each port and at the end of the cruise they got a small prize. I think it was a "gold" coin.

 

[mmouse37]

Thanks for sharing ... I just viewed the whole album til I got to my neck of the woods. We used to live in Ramsgate and work in Canterbury and visit Dover Casle all the time!

Kit

Small world!!! Dover was one of my favorites visits.....and Ramsgate reminded me of Gloucester, MA, where my mom grew up!!

MJ

 

[MrsScooby]

Has anyone heard if DCL will have the nice leather-bound journals for the kids like they did in the Med '07 ?

Do you remember them ? They were so neat ! Every night they received new pages to add to their book about the upcoming port. I was so impressed with them !

Oh, I would love this! I have been thinking I should do something for my kids along the lines of the port "dossiers" made up by a cruiser on another board for her DD, but I am afraid I may not have a chance to get them done with all the other things going on before our trip. Does anyone have a photo of one of the Med journals or more information about what was included?

I don't have a photo available but they were very deluxe, faux leather binders. Each day my daughter got a new series of pages that corresponded to our port adventure that day. For example, in Pompeii they gave some basic information on the artifacts we were going to see and Mt. Vesuvious. I believe they gave us the port adventure pages when we met to leave for our excursion. Other pages were left in the room each night with activities like "learn to speak Italian" and word search games that were port specific. There is also space in the back to insert your own photos or momentos as well as pages for autogaphs. The kids also had to get a stamp from a CM for each port and at the end of the cruise they got a small prize. I think it was a "gold" coin.

It would be great if they did this again and for the Baltic as well. Were these binders for sale in the shops?
I could see my DD13 doing this, but probably not my DS16 (he hates to write)

 

[MickeyWatch]

It would be great if they did this again and for the Baltic as well. Were these binders for sale in the shops?
I could see my DD13 doing this, but probably not my DS16 (he hates to write)

The binders were free; they showed up on our beds at turndown either the first or second night. I'm not sure of the age cut off. I could see a 13 year doing it; maybe not the 16 y.o.

 

[MickeyWatch]

Does anyone know what time we can get off the ship in Dover? Also, what time do they kick us out of our staterooms? I am trying to set up my transportation back to London. We only have that day to explore London because we are doing Wimbledon the next day before flying home on the 26. I want to maximize my time in London since there is so much to see and so little time.

 

[wickesy]

Does anyone know what time we can get off the ship in Dover? Also, what time do they kick us out of our staterooms? I am trying to set up my transportation back to London. We only have that day to explore London because we are doing Wimbledon the next day before flying home on the 26. I want to maximize my time in London since there is so much to see and so little time.

Our cruise docs say that disembarkation will begin at 8:00 and everybody must be off by 9:00. This is for the June 12th cruise but I know there is one cruise that is not getting back to Dover until late so those times will change.