The 2010 Baltic Thread--Cruise Tips and Planning

[MJGirl]

In 2007, I did what Cindy suggested and pushed my daughter and I to stay up as long as possible. We were on an ABD and had a meet and greet from 5 to 8. Almost fell asleep in my dinner, but managed to stay awake. When we got to the room, we were both out by 9 pm and slept through to 6 am. We were fine then for the rest of the trip. I'll be doing the same this trip, but hope to get some rest on the flight. Didn't work out so well last time, due to some unhappy 2 year old twins. I felt sorry for the mom, as she tried so hard to quiet them down. When she finally got them both to sleep at the same time, the flight attendant made her wake them up to put their seat belt on due to turbulents. If looks could kill, I felt sorry for the flight attendant!

 

[wickesy]

Those who are flying with BA soon will be pleased to hear that our High Court have granted an injunction preventing the cabin crews from going on strike for the moment.

BBC News

British Airways has won a High Court injunction to stop the latest strikes by its cabin staff.

The decision was based on a technicality and whether Unite followed rules in contacting its members with strike result details.

The first of four five-day walkouts had been due to begin at midnight, but will not go ahead following Mr Justice McCombe's decision.

The union had previously said it would appeal if BA was successful in court.

 

[MickeyWatch]

When we flew into Barcelona in July 2007 for the Med Cruise we just dropped off our luggage at the hotel and went for a long walk to explore Barcelona. My 7 year old daughter slept for a few hours on the plane, as did I and DH. We did go back to our hotel in the afternoon for a short nap/relaxation time before heading out again for dinner in Barcelona. I have found that the best way to avoid jet lag is to time shift right away and we plan on doing the same next month. None of us had any problems with the time shifting schedule. We did sleep very well the first night of the Med Cruise.

This time we arrive in London at about 8:00 a.m. and have a driver/guide picking us up to drive to Windsor for a 3 hour tour and lunch. Then we go to our hotel (part way to Dover), will take a short nap/rest break and then have dinner and explore the area.

 

[Celestine]

I just booked the Barcelona to Dover cruise on Saturday, and am leaving in a few days for the May 26th Med cruise, so have little time to plan. I have a few questions about getting from Dover to London. Are advance tickets needed for the train or can I purchase them that morning? Does anyone know if the white cliffs of Dover can be seen from the port where the ship is going to dock? DS really wants to see them, but we would also like to get to London to see the queen's birthday celabration on June 12th. I booked a 3 night stay at a hotel near Paddington Station. Planning to take a cab from Victoria station there.
Thanks in advance!

You can buy train tickets on the day - buying in advance may save you money & will allow you to prebook your seats.

You should be able to see the white cliffs from the ship (although they are probably more grey now than white!)

If you are going to see the Trooping of the Colour, be early - it is always busy especially if the weather is good.

Cab to Paddington from Victoria is best - they should be in plentiful supply as you exit the main station.

Celestine

 

[Traveling Tinkerbell]

I agree with Cindy and MLGirl. When we fly to Europe, China, Australia or where ever, we don't sleep after we land. The minute we get on the plane we are on the "new" time zone! I won't let them drink any caffeine the day we fly but then let them have it after we land. We are usually so excited that we keep going! My DDs are teenagers now but they know the drill!

 

[gydell]

We found a day flight leaving Atlanta at 6:30am and arriving at 10:45pm in London. After several trips with a child we've found it's easier to start the trip off rested!

 

[sbell111]

Traditionally, our plan has been to get plenty of rest the night before, try to sleep on the overnight flight to europe, and then not take a nap once we've arrived. We just enjoy the day and get to bed around 9pm.

However, now we are toting Princess Wigglypants along and are trying out something new. We have an 'all-day' connection that gets us into LHR at 10:45pm. We'll go immediately to our nearby hotel and go to bed, attacking the next day. The plan is to screw around with the Princess' sleep cycle a little bit prior to the trip, pushing her bed time later to allow her to get aclimated to the new time zone easier. It is going to be a hellish 13 hour trip, however.

 

[abacab]

Need some help planning for the London Eye.

For a family of four (two adults, two kids) it's 39.44 pounds to do the "standard flight", or 41.44 for the "flexi standard".

"Flexi fast track" comes to about 101 pounds.

We like the "flexi" idea, because then we can try to go when the weather is nicer.

Anyone have any advice between the flexi standard and the flexi fast? That's a big difference in price (101 vs 41); how long is the wait really, if we go with the standard?

 

[cindy18]

I'm generally a fan of the day flight to London, and if you don't land until 10:45, you won't get through customs, baggage claim and to your hotel until after midnight, so it should be a good plan. The only thing to be careful about is that often you're so wired from the travel and the airport stuff that it takes awhile to calm down and relax and sleep once you're at the hotel and settled in. So you might wind up being up later than you think.

 

[sbell111]

We found a day flight leaving Atlanta at 6:30am and arriving at 10:45pm in London. After several trips with a child we've found it's easier to start the trip off rested!

Are you on AA90 ORD-LHR on 6/10?

 

[gydell]

Traditionally, our plan has been to get plenty of rest the night before, try to sleep on the overnight flight to europe, and then not take a nap once we've arrived. We just enjoy the day and get to bed around 9pm.

However, now we are toting Princess Wigglypants along and are trying out something new. We have an 'all-day' connection that gets us into LHR at 10:45pm. We'll go immediately to our nearby hotel and go to bed, attacking the next day. The plan is to screw around with the Princess' sleep cycle a little bit prior to the trip, pushing her bed time later to allow her to get aclimated to the new time zone easier. It is going to be a hellish 13 hour trip, however.

What day are you going? Sounds like we have the same plan!

 

[gydell]

Are you on AA90 ORD-LHR on 6/10?

On the 6th!

 

[kawigrl]

I hope one of you can help me with this.
We are hiring someone to pick us up at the port on July 18th after our cruise. I have no idea what time to schedule our pick up.
Could someone give me an idea of what time we would be ready to be picked up if we got off the ship as early as possible?

thanks

 

[kawigrl]

thank you for the pm your help is appreciated

 

[denise]

Need some help/advice from the Brits or others that might know this!!!

Our plans have changed. We are staying at DLP the week prior to the cruise. We are now going to take the train from France to England. We are staying in Dover 2 nights before the cruise.
Since I thought we were driving and taking a ferry, I got rid of all my notes on the train.
What is the closest drop off to Dover? I heard there is a train that leaves DLP and goes to London, without having to go into Paris, but does it stop before London?
Any suggestions. We will be traveling on a Sunday. Thanks

 

[sshaw10060]

Need some help/advice from the Brits or others that might know this!!!

Our plans have changed. We are staying at DLP the week prior to the cruise. We are now going to take the train from France to England. We are staying in Dover 2 nights before the cruise.
Since I thought we were driving and taking a ferry, I got rid of all my notes on the train.
What is the closest drop off to Dover? I heard there is a train that leaves DLP and goes to London, without having to go into Paris, but does it stop before London?
Any suggestions. We will be traveling on a Sunday. Thanks

Denise,

Ashford is closest to Dover (about 20mi). On Sunday the 3rd there is a non-stop that leaves at about 7:30 and is a two hour journey but you gain an hour and arrive at 8:30. There may be more options if you're willing to change trains Lille France (very easy).

 

[denise]

Denise,

Ashford is closest to Dover (about 20mi). On Sunday the 3rd there is a non-stop that leaves at about 7:30 and is a two hour journey but you gain an hour and arrive at 8:30. There may be more options if you're willing to change trains Lille France (very easy).

Thanks Scott,
I found the Eurostar web site and played with that. The direct one gets in so late. I also found a Rail Europe site which has a earlier train ride that changes at Lille to Ashford. Then we can take a taxi, I think, to Dover.
Wish there was someone I could just talk to....oh well more computer time I guess....

 

[scrapycruiser]

Is anyone doing the Catherine's Palace Ball ?

Wondering what people are wearing ?

 

[LisaTex]

Good question - I'm very curious of what the interest is going to be for this. We are all in - going dressy!

 

[slg]

I'm confused now...I thought there was one formal and two semi-formals. Where can we get official notification of this in order to plan my outfits.

12 nights is tough. 7 night cruises I've worn a different outfit every night, but there is no way I'm packing 12 different dresses!

I'm afraid I'm going to have to wear some outfits twice of thrice as we're trying to cut down on luggage.

I'm pretty overwhelmed though because we are going to be in London 12 days post cruise and I don't want to do laundry. Its different doing laundry on the boat as you are just around the corner, but I'm not wasting vacation time in one of the most expensive cities in the world sitting in a laundromat.

So, we'll have to wear not so clean clothes and wash some undies in our bathroom. Sigh.

Plus with a family of 5, the amount of shoes needed is overwhelming! A dress shoe, a casual shoe, a sandal and a sneaker are the minimum for the boys and a couple of dress shoes, sandals, flip flops, sneakers. Grand total a minimum of at least 22 pairs of shoes.