The 2010 Baltic Thread--Cruise Tips and Planning

[cindy18]

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.

It's the 2nd Baltic that is getting back in later. I think all the others are due in early.

 

[Caropooh]

A good tip I read in Reader's Digest.....
Make sure you have a phone number for your insurance company that will work overseas. I would think this would be for both your personal medical insurance and travel insurance.

 

[Cptjackandcrew]

I know that this has been discussed mulitple times, but now I'm in final hour countdown panic mode. The London Pass (and with travel) are 10% off through this evening (Monday May 3, 2010). We will be in London for a week, so we are looking at the 6 day pass. My daughters qualify for the free kids oyster card, although I need to finish ordering this. Is this the same transportation as the London Pass with travel, or do I need both? We are big walkers, and are staying at a location on Rowan Road in London. Rowan Road is near a tube, although I don't remember which one right now. Does the London Pass with travel work for this and would you recommend we purchase it? Thank you.

 

[xangav]

Here's an example of the binder/album we got. You also got plastic sleeves to insert photos or whatever into the binder. Unfortunately, our kids didn't feel like taking them on excursions. It was hot and we already had enough to carry. They are nice keepsakes though. Oh, and I put the pictures my daughter took with her camera into the plastic sleeves.

The medallion in the middle of the cover is what they got at the end of the cruise.

 

[Madisonznana]

Here's an example of the binder/album we got. You also got plastic sleeves to insert photos or whatever into the binder. Unfortunately, our kids didn't feel like taking them on excursions. It was hot and we already had enough to carry. They are nice keepsakes though. Oh, and I put the pictures my daughter took with her camera into the plastic sleeves.

The medallion in the middle of the cover is what they got at the end of the cruise.

This is really awesome. I hope we get something like this!!

 

[gydell]

Here's an example of the binder/album we got. You also got plastic sleeves to insert photos or whatever into the binder. Unfortunately, our kids didn't feel like taking them on excursions. It was hot and we already had enough to carry. They are nice keepsakes though. Oh, and I put the pictures my daughter took with her camera into the plastic sleeves.

The medallion in the middle of the cover is what they got at the end of the cruise.

I want one!!!

 

[Deb T.]

I want one, too!!! Too bad we're not traveling with any kids.

 

[MrsScooby]

I know that this has been discussed mulitple times, but now I'm in final hour countdown panic mode. The London Pass (and with travel) are 10% off through this evening (Monday May 3, 2010). We will be in London for a week, so we are looking at the 6 day pass. My daughters qualify for the free kids oyster card, although I need to finish ordering this. Is this the same transportation as the London Pass with travel, or do I need both? We are big walkers, and are staying at a location on Rowan Road in London. Rowan Road is near a tube, although I don't remember which one right now. Does the London Pass with travel work for this and would you recommend we purchase it? Thank you.

I was looking at this for my family too, but we are only in London for a day and a half. For a one day pass, it was cheaper to get just the London pass and then get the travelcard separate
Not sure if that works out for 6 days or not.

Anyway, I wound up getting just the London Pass for one day for us

If you are mostly walking and using the cards for a few longer trips-maybe stick with the Oyster card You won't be charged more than a travel card and any extra left over is refundable

I think this is how it works

Maybe someone who has toured London with the cards can advise better

Good luck

 

[MJGirl]

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.

My daughter was 16 on our Med cruise in 2007 and I'm pretty sure she got one! She didn't use it, but I did keep the pages.

 

[xangav]

I want one, too!!! Too bad we're not traveling with any kids.

They were really lost on our kids. Our son was 15 and barely
looked at. I told them I would take it and of course they wouldn't
let me have them!

 

[MrsScooby]

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.

See the sad thing is that DS wouldn't have wanted to do this when he was younger either. He hates to write. Plus of course when he is forced to write something for school he actually writes very well

A good tip I read in Reader's Digest.....
Make sure you have a phone number for your insurance company that will work overseas. I would think this would be for both your personal medical insurance and travel insurance.

My travel insurance company (Travelex) sent me a phone number to use if needed on vacation Now I just have to remember to take it with me

Here's an example of the binder/album we got. You also got plastic sleeves to insert photos or whatever into the binder. Unfortunately, our kids didn't feel like taking them on excursions. It was hot and we already had enough to carry. They are nice keepsakes though. Oh, and I put the pictures my daughter took with her camera into the plastic sleeves.

The medallion in the middle of the cover is what they got at the end of the cruise.

Nice

This is really awesome. I hope we get something like this!!

I want one!!!

I want one, too!!! Too bad we're not traveling with any kids.

My daughter was 16 on our Med cruise in 2007 and I'm pretty sure she got one! She didn't use it, but I did keep the pages.

They were really lost on our kids. Our son was 15 and barely
looked at. I told them I would take it and of course they wouldn't
let me have them!

I want one too
How wasted is this on the kids

Ok, I'm sure there are some kids out there that will have a great time with this, just not sure if my DD will be up for it
I may have an extra one if she doesn't want it.

 

[aurorafan65]

I know that this has been discussed mulitple times, but now I'm in final hour countdown panic mode. The London Pass (and with travel) are 10% off through this evening (Monday May 3, 2010). We will be in London for a week, so we are looking at the 6 day pass. My daughters qualify for the free kids oyster card, although I need to finish ordering this. Is this the same transportation as the London Pass with travel, or do I need both? We are big walkers, and are staying at a location on Rowan Road in London. Rowan Road is near a tube, although I don't remember which one right now. Does the London Pass with travel work for this and would you recommend we purchase it? Thank you.

I have been looking at this the last 2 days & don't think I'm any closer to a decision

the london pass with travel includes both your travel cost on buses/tube plus free admission to 35(?) different attractions
The oyster card is simply a card used for travel on the buses/tube

To figure out which one is best for us, I wrote down all the places we want to visit & if there are admission fees. Then I looked at the places to see if they are on the London pass list of 'free' admission. (The other thing I did was realistically figure we'll only get to half of those places )
Then I looked at what 4 London Pass with transportation would cost for our family versus what the admission would be to our top 5 places & I added on an extra 20 for bus/tube travel. I think for us the oyster cards at the way to go

 

[Cptjackandcrew]

I have been looking at this the last 2 days & don't think I'm any closer to a decision

the london pass with travel includes both your travel cost on buses/tube plus free admission to 35(?) different attractions
The oyster card is simply a card used for travel on the buses/tube

To figure out which one is best for us, I wrote down all the places we want to visit & if there are admission fees. Then I looked at the places to see if they are on the London pass list of 'free' admission. (The other thing I did was realistically figure we'll only get to half of those places )
Then I looked at what 4 London Pass with transportation would cost for our family versus what the admission would be to our top 5 places & I added on an extra 20 for bus/tube travel. I think for us the oyster cards at the way to go

Thank you Aurorafan65 and Mrs. Scooby. (I don't know if I got both of your messages in this reply.)
I did it. With an hour and a half to spare I made the midnight order deadline. I ordered the London Pass only. I think that the Oyster card will meet our transportation needs. Thank you again for your advice.

 

[Rogillio]

I have been looking at this the last 2 days & don't think I'm any closer to a decision

the london pass with travel includes both your travel cost on buses/tube plus free admission to 35(?) different attractions
The oyster card is simply a card used for travel on the buses/tube

To figure out which one is best for us, I wrote down all the places we want to visit & if there are admission fees. Then I looked at the places to see if they are on the London pass list of 'free' admission. (The other thing I did was realistically figure we'll only get to half of those places )
Then I looked at what 4 London Pass with transportation would cost for our family versus what the admission would be to our top 5 places & I added on an extra 20 for bus/tube travel. I think for us the oyster cards at the way to go

We did a similar calculation yesterday and decided against the London Pass. Like you said, it you add up the cost of what we plan to see/do vs the cost of the Pass (and given the cap of 30 lbs/day), it looks like either the Oyster Card or the Travelcard is the way to go for us. And it looks like the Oyster pay as you go is the better option.

~Mike

 

[Cptjackandcrew]

We did a similar calculation yesterday and decided against the London Pass. Like you said, it you add up the cost of what we plan to see/do vs the cost of the Pass (and given the cap of 30 lbs/day), it looks like either the Oyster Card or the Travelcard is the way to go for us. And it looks like the Oyster pay as you go is the better option.

~Mike

Hi Mike,
I hope I didn't make a mistake! What did you mean by the cap of 30 lbs/day? Does that mean we can only visit attractions up to a total of 30 pounds or was this in regards to the travel card?
Thank you.

 

[Rogillio]

Hi Mike,
I hope I didn't make a mistake! What did you mean by the cap of 30 lbs/day? Does that mean we can only visit attractions up to a total of 30 pounds or was this in regards to the travel card?
Thank you.

I read something on the London Pass that says you can get free admittance UP TO 30 pounds a day. So, the card does not give your unlimited access to everything. Put another way, if you pay 55 pounds for the 2 day card, the most you can possibly save would be 15 lbs (30 + 30 = 60 lbs). And if you don't us it for at least 27.50 per day, you actually lose money. At least that was our read on it.

~Mike

 

[ktkspider]

I read something on the London Pass that says you can get free admittance UP TO 30 pounds a day. So, the card does not give your unlimited access to everything. Put another way, if you pay 55 pounds for the 2 day card, the most you can possibly save would be 15 lbs (30 + 30 = 60 lbs). And if you don't us it for at least 27.50 per day, you actually lose money. At least that was our read on it.

~Mike

this is from their site.. hope it helps clarify....
PASS DURATION , adult cap , child cap
1 Day ; £70 , £40
2 Days ; £140 , £80
3 Days ; £210 , £120
6 Days ; £420 , £240

for us, we got a one day cost = £35 (ordered from VisitBritainShop.. saves a little bit more) so it will save a bit and get us on the fast track for Tower of London. The cap is a bummer and something to look into to make sure you are actually saving money. We are fitting everything we are wanting to do included on the pass onto one day. It will be a busy day but I think we will be fine.

 

[Rogillio]

Rental car info in Germany

It has taken numerous emails to various car companies in Germany but here is what I found. Avis, Enterprise and Hertz all provide rental cars in Rostock. Getting from the port in Warenmunde is about 12 miles and, if you went there youself, you'd take a train from the port to Rostock, then a tram in Rostock to get closer to the car place and then finally walk the rest of the way. Or you can arrange pick-up directly with the car companies.

We ended up settling on Enterprise. Somebody from Enterprise will be waiting for us in the cruise terminal. We have a VW Touran booked for 54 EUR plus another 5 EUR for the Garmin. They will pick us up at the port at 0800 and take us to our car. If we return to Rostock NLT 5:45, they will take us back to the port, otherwise, we can leave the car at the port for another 25 EUR. So that is our plan, we will get the rental car and Garmin and plan on leaving the car at the port at about 8 pm. Cost will be about 85 EUR plus gas.

Our plan is to see Rostock and then drive south and/or east and see what we can see. We'll buy a Frommer's travel guide for Germany and seek out the hidden gems off the beaten path. I doubt we'll try to go to Berlin but we'll keep that option open....really depends on what we find closer in.

~Mike

 

[OurDogCisco]

How wasted is this on the kids

Ok, I'm sure there are some kids out there that will have a great time with this, just not sure if my DD will be up for it
I may have an extra one if she doesn't want it.

Does your child like to do the restaurant puzzles on menus? Actually, the book was a puzzle so, that you could earn the mediallion in the center. You had to complete the activities. I thought some were hard for my 5 year old. I'd say the ideal range was 7 to 10 years olds. Even though it was a great keepsake and had interesting facts about the different ports we visited. I thought it was great and not a waste.

 

[Cptjackandcrew]

RUN AWAY FROM THE COMPUTER WHEN YOU HIT LATE NIGHT PANIC MODE! I'm not sure if there is or isn't a cap or if this was worth it. I do know the London Pass website on sale was more expensive than visitbritainshop is. I keep calling the listed phone number and it says the line is busy, call back later. I'm disappointed in myself, but I need to move on. Thank you again for everyone's help and sorry about the whining. If you are in London the week before the cruise, you will know it is us as we will be the crazy family running from activity to activity.