The 2010 Baltic Thread--Cruise Tips and Planning

[ktkspider]

We leave tomorrow for the june 24th sailing!!!!

one BIG Glitch. We emailed to confirm our 2 night stay in Canterbury (reservations we made forever ago) and they got our reservation mixed up with another!!! ie... no place to stay!!!

I have gotten rid of all of my research of places to stay in the Canterbury/dover area. Lesson learned!! Can anyone share any places they have researched that look decent? you can pm me if needed.
There are 7 of us and we are traveling by train.
Thanks for any help you may be able to give.

Kellie

 

[lzj21428]

Kellie, I don't really have any info on places to stay in Dover, but MJGirl who is blogging her trip stayed at Maison Dieu B & B. Said it was nice. So maybe it's a start. Good Luck in finding someplace. Sorry I'm not more help here.

 

[Fivepin]

We leave tomorrow for the june 24th sailing!!!!

one BIG Glitch. We emailed to confirm our 2 night stay in Canterbury (reservations we made forever ago) and they got our reservation mixed up with another!!! ie... no place to stay!!!

I have gotten rid of all of my research of places to stay in the Canterbury/dover area. Lesson learned!! Can anyone share any places they have researched that look decent? you can pm me if needed.
There are 7 of us and we are traveling by train.
Thanks for any help you may be able to give.

Kellie

We're going to be staying at the Ramada in Dover. I believe there are a couple from our cruise thread that are staying at Hubert House

 

[RJAYL]

Okay you world traveler's for connecting flights what has been your experience for times getting from terminal 3 to terminal 5 in Heathrow?

 

[TDC Nala]

For anyone else planning to do Stockholm on your own, there is a review on cruisecritic today that says you can purchase the 100 SEK all-day transport card (not the Stockholm card that includes museum admission, this is just for public transportation) at the info center at Frihamnen. From there it is easy to find the bus stop where you can catch the 76 bus or whatever bus you want going into town.

They say to get there early to avoid long lines of folks asking questions.

The reviewer used cash to purchase the card so did not have definite knowledge about using a credit card.

 

[aurorafan65]

We leave tomorrow for the june 24th sailing!!!!

one BIG Glitch. We emailed to confirm our 2 night stay in Canterbury (reservations we made forever ago) and they got our reservation mixed up with another!!! ie... no place to stay!!!

I have gotten rid of all of my research of places to stay in the Canterbury/dover area. Lesson learned!! Can anyone share any places they have researched that look decent? you can pm me if needed.
There are 7 of us and we are traveling by train.
Thanks for any help you may be able to give.

Kellie

We're staying in the Premier Inn in Dover -all the reviews say it's a nice no frills hotel.

 

[aurorafan65]

Found out that if you have a verizon phone-they will give you a loaner phone that works in Europe for free. You do have to pay by minute if you use it of course, but it is perfect for emergency use (which is what we are looking for).
But this only works if you have a verizon plan to start with

thanks for this tid-bit, I'm going to have dh look into this today since he was trying to figure out what to do phone-wise (heaven forbid he goes without one)

 

[flower91882]

Hello!

Few Questions for Andrew and others:

(You all have been very helpful, thanks for taking the time to help us.)

1) We will be traveling with the inlaws. We would like to buy a couple pay as you go cell phones that will work in most of Europe, so we can stay in touch with them in case of emergencies in ports, etc. Is this feasible, and where/what carrier would you recommend? I think it won't work in Russia.

2) How prevalent is free wi-fi in Europe? My DW and I each have an ipod touch and would like to use it for email, etc. Are the systems (US ipod touch wifi and Europe) compatible? I heard many McDonalds have wifi, I think Andrew used it in Dover to upload pics?

Thanks in advance

Ken

I found this site: http://www.wififreespot.com/europe.html
It gives a listing of free wifi spots.

 

[CarolAnnC]

We leave tomorrow for the june 24th sailing!!!!

one BIG Glitch. We emailed to confirm our 2 night stay in Canterbury (reservations we made forever ago) and they got our reservation mixed up with another!!! ie... no place to stay!!!

I have gotten rid of all of my research of places to stay in the Canterbury/dover area. Lesson learned!! Can anyone share any places they have researched that look decent? you can pm me if needed.
There are 7 of us and we are traveling by train.
Thanks for any help you may be able to give.

Kellie

We are at the Clifton Hotel in Folkestone as our original hotel in Dover (a Best Western) closed up a number of months back. We plan on using taxi cabs to the Port, and to dinner the night before our cruise departs.

 

[Madisonznana]

Found out that if you have a verizon phone-they will give you a loaner phone that works in Europe for free. You do have to pay by minute if you use it of course, but it is perfect for emergency use (which is what we are looking for).
But this only works if you have a verizon plan to start with

I just found this out last night too. I also found out dh is due for an upgrade and I can upgrade him to a phone that will work in Europe for $50 and then get a $50 rebate. Just deciding what to do.

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

Hello!

Few Questions for Andrew and others:

(You all have been very helpful, thanks for taking the time to help us.)

1) We will be traveling with the inlaws. We would like to buy a couple pay as you go cell phones that will work in most of Europe, so we can stay in touch with them in case of emergencies in ports, etc. Is this feasible, and where/what carrier would you recommend? I think it won't work in Russia.

2) How prevalent is free wi-fi in Europe? My DW and I each have an ipod touch and would like to use it for email, etc. Are the systems (US ipod touch wifi and Europe) compatible? I heard many McDonalds have wifi, I think Andrew used it in Dover to upload pics?

Thanks in advance

Ken

Ken yes McDonalds have free Wiifi for 24 hours, in one go on an email address, Starbucks have it in most sotres, there are lots of internet cafes around, and yes uploaded my photos at McD's in Dover, (the first set).

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

Andrew, where are you getting this map and track? Thanks!

Ken

Could be from here: http://marinetraffic.com/ais/

more specifically: http://marinetraffic.com/ais/datash...=&menuid=&datasource=SHIPS_CURRENT&app=&mode=

Yes

http://www.marinetraffic.com/ais/

Zoom in on Baltic and then select DISNEY MAGIC.

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

I have asked this before a few months ago, but I can't remember or find the answer. Can someone give me the link to the train schedules? We're traveling to Liverpool from London for a day trip before the cruise. I know we have to depart from Euston Station, but I cannot find the schedule for the life of me!

Thank you,
Beth

PS: We're sailing on the July 18th cruise

National train line

or Virgin trains

Okay you world traveler's for connecting flights what has been your experience for times getting from terminal 3 to terminal 5 in Heathrow?

Its bus by them they are in different places 1/2/3 is in the middle of two runways, T5, is on the West side a few miles away, Tube is an option apart from airport connections.

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

For those in Hotels the Waterloo area (County Court Plaza etc).

The is a nice red single bus numbered RV1, it runs from Waterloo, along Southbank, tate, Globe, Tower Bridge, London Experience, Tower of London. Also does a loop the other way to Covent Garden.

Regular service and as the Waterloo area is poor for restaurants easy to get to Covent garden and a nice scenic route.

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

BERLIN DCL FACEBOOK REPORT

http://www.facebook-disneycruiseline.com/photos/PostBlog6-17-10Berlin.htm

 

[sinnika]

Okay you world traveler's for connecting flights what has been your experience for times getting from terminal 3 to terminal 5 in Heathrow?

I don't know if this helps but we just got back from the 10 night med and repo cruise, and stayed in London for 3 nights post cruise. We took the Heathrow express from Paddington station to terminal 5. It made its first stop at terminals 1 and 3 and it was 5 minutes by train between the 2 terminals on the Heathrow express train. People got on the train between terminals so I guess its not just for people traveling from London but for the airport too?? The express trains run every 15 min.
Also, if anyone is still considering transportation from Dover to London, it was only 33 pounds total ($50) for me and 2 kids ages 13 and 14 to get from Dover to St Pancreas station in London by train on Saturday morning. We caught the 8:44am express train. Got tickets when we arrived at the station. They actually sold me round trip same day tickets which I think were the same price but we did not need to go back to Dover. The express was 1 hour and 10 min, and the taxi to the Dover train station cost 8 pounds with the 3 of us, 3 large suitcases and 3 carry ons. We did not spend any time in Dover as we wanted to see the Queen's birthday celebration, and we were at Buckingham palace by 10:45 after taking a taxi from St Pancreas, dropping off our luggage at our hotel near Paddington station, then going on to the palace. That taxi from St Pancreas with the luggage stop was 20 pounds.

 

[cindy18]

BERLIN DCL FACEBOOK REPORT

http://www.facebook-disneycruiseline.com/photos/PostBlog6-17-10Berlin.htm

Saw that! Did you notice the 6:30 am departure time for the train to Berlin????

 

[cindy18]

Yes

http://www.marinetraffic.com/ais/

Zoom in on Baltic and then select DISNEY MAGIC.

This is so cool!!!! The Magic is going by Tallin as I sit here typing. Very neat website!!!!

 

[tfc3rid]

Was trying to decide between that tour and Berlin's Turbulent History. We are doing the turbulent history tour... Basically views the same sights but also goes to the Armed Forces Museum and Allied Museum after lunch.

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

Saw that! Did you notice the 6:30 am departure time for the train to Berlin????

Yes, I think the words are meet time 6.30am, have to be on the train at 7.15am.

This is so cool!!!! The Magic is going by Tallin as I sit here typing. Very neat website!!!!

Yes saw that, on her way to St P