You Are Not The First To Pass This Way: 2nd Magic Baltic Cruise, 6/24/2010

[ch10dad]

We're in 2114 - or at least that's our cabin. We're usually not there...

Welcome to the group! I have you down for the FE... let me know of your room number when you know it. You make cabin number 12... Looks like girls are far out numbering boys on this cruise!!

 

[ch10dad]

Anyone got any idea what the weather is like at the various ports in mid summer?

We're from FL so I don't think my idea of late June will be quite the same.

Does anyone know when the CC stop is?

Ray

 

[cindy18]

Welcome Ray and family! We have a DD 14 as well (our other DD is 12). We're flying in right before the cruise (we've been to London and England twice in the past few years) but I think most people are doing London before or after and trying to squeeze in Paris. Weather looks like upper 60s/maybe low 70s for highs. Definitely not hot.

In terms of midnight booking this evening, we're in. Our travel agent said 12:01, actually. I'm a little worried about computer crashing or the website overloading. We're not planning to book any Disney tours, though. I thought I'd give Palo a shot (we want dinner, and there's only one or two evenings where DH is willing to skip the planned dinner) and then head straight to spa bookings and see what's available. Worth a shot.

We're actually at Disney's Hilton Head Island Resort this week and having a super time. Maybe being on Disney property will send good booking karma!

 

[ch10dad]

What!


They didn't give you a "time stretcher" ????

We've come to realize that some time ago. In the Carrabean it's not as much of a problem as you can return from time to time, for us this is a "big one" and we're not likley to return over and over as we have the other cruise iten's.


Ray

With the time you have on a cruise, it's not possible to see everything in port. You need to choose what's most important to you.

 

[ch10dad]

Anyone got any idea what the "recomended" tips are for this trip?

Trying to work out the budget...

Ray

 

[TDC Nala]

Maybe they could hand out those Harry Potter time things. Ray, if you're looking for CC that's a really long swim.. or you can borrow the Kon Tiki from the museum in Oslo maybe.

Have heard to bring layers for dressing, as it will not be like Florida in June. Rain gear too.

I lived in London for awhile when I was going to school so I am not spending any time there either.

Well, I've seen the recommended gratuities for a 7 night cruise, and they are around $30 for the server, $20 for assistant server, $10 for head server, $30 for stateroom steward. That's per passenger, so multiply that by however many passengers you have. On a 12 night cruise they are obviously going to be higher than that.

Cindy, the site says there is Palo availabilty for all three options for parties of 1-2. But it may just be showing me that because there are only two persons in our stateroom - don't know what the deal is for larger parties since we're already booked and I didn't run a reservation request through.

 

[cindy18]

Cindy, the site says there is Palo availabilty for all three options for parties of 1-2. But it may just be showing me that because there are only two persons in our stateroom - don't know what the deal is for larger parties since we're already booked and I didn't run a reservation request through.

Thanks! Getting close to midnight EDT, so we'll see. There are only 2 of us for Palo (the DDs aren't old enough) so maybe we'll get a table. I'm already tired so I'm hoping I don't get booted out for 20 minutes. I think I'll be down for the count at that point!!

 

[ktkspider]

anyone having trouble with the site? trying to figure out if it is the site or my computer...

 

[lzj21428]

Had no trouble with the site. Got everything I wanted and Palo Brunch. Took about 15 mins. total. The only thing I couldn't get were any afternoon excursions.

 

[cindy18]

Did it! Whew! Got Palo on the Copenhagen night, a bunch of spa treatments (including a couples massage, which is what happens when DH doesn't stay up to keep me company) and a Copenhagen excursion, which I booked because it's the city I'm the least certain we can do on our own and because it leaves us the afternoon if we want it. Interesting that there were no afternoon excursions. Wonder if that's the way Disney set up most of the tours? But if you do an excursion in the morning and there were things in the port you wanted to see more of, that leaves you the afternoon to go back out, right?

 

[mehaul]

Fairly painless booking process. Maybe our boat is empty. Booked Palo, excursions and Spa no problem.

 

[ktkspider]

YEAH!! Done!! Got everything we wanted.. except the afternoon ones.. almost seems like a glitch in the system - kept saying there was a schedule conflict. Had to get my Mom and Dad's taken care of too.. Cindy, What time did you get for Palo. We will be there at 7. Maybe our girls could have dinner together?
Now to go to bed. and hopefully when I wake up I did everything I was suppose to do!

 

[grizbuzz]

Was up at 5am here in Switzerland to make reservations. Got everything I wanted but Palo high tea. I was in the middle of booking and then wouldn't confirm. Guess I was just a few seconds too late. I'm hopeful I can get a reservation once on board. On our Mediterranean cruise in 2007 we joined after the 75 day mark and I don't think we managed a single online Palo reservation. But we still were able to get a reservation for both lunch and dinner once we were on the ship.

Hope everyone is successful in getting their desired reservations!

 

[macassi]

Also up at 5am here in Switzerland! I got everything booked, but I would have preferred Palo dinner earlier in the cruise and got it pretty late on the Stockholm day. Couldn't get a brunch for 4, but was able to get 2 at 11 and 2 at 11:30 on the last day. I figure we can combine onboard.

Oh, and I couldn't book a pedicure, but I figure I'll either stomach the Swiss prices and do it before the cruise or figure something out onboard.

 

[grizbuzz]

macassi: Know anywhere in the Baden area where I can get a pedicure?

 

[macassi]

macassi: Know anywhere in the Baden area where I can get a pedicure?

Unfortunately, I've never even been to Baden! I have a friend who knows someone in Zurich, but I've never had a pedicure here either. Hard to get over the sticker price.

 

[grizbuzz]

Unfortunately, I've never even been to Baden! I have a friend who knows someone in Zurich, but I've never had a pedicure here either. Hard to get over the sticker price.

You know things are expensive in Switzerland when a $60 pedicure on a cruise seems a good deal.

So what is the going rate for a pedicure in Switzerland? I'm thinking I won't be able to get a pedicure with little Mickey drawings on the toes for $40 including tip. The good ol' days in California when my feet were pampered.

BTW...how are you getting to Dover?

 

[macassi]

I've heard that pedicures run about 80 here! Ugh.

We are flying from Zurich to Heathrow and then hiring a van to take us to Dover. Originally, I thought we would take the train but it ended up being too difficult to figure out and too long of a trip. We are flying British as we needed to coordinate with others and fly into Heathrow, but if you haven't bought your tickets yet you should check out easyjet. They had great prices on flights to Gatwick and the van we booked would pick up from there as well.

 

[cindy18]

YEAH!! Done!! Got everything we wanted.. except the afternoon ones.. almost seems like a glitch in the system - kept saying there was a schedule conflict. Had to get my Mom and Dad's taken care of too.. Cindy, What time did you get for Palo. We will be there at 7. Maybe our girls could have dinner together?
Now to go to bed. and hopefully when I wake up I did everything I was suppose to do!

Well, it looks like we did pretty well on the bookings. I'm a little sleepy this morning, but it was worth it. We made an 8 pm reservation at Palo on night 4 (we're late seating, so that seemed like it would give us enough time to go to whatever the show is and then get ready). Last time we did Palo, the girls ate alone in the dining room of our regular rotation (I think it was the regular menu at Lumieres), and our servers spoiled them rotten. I think they got a big kick out of it...

 

[cindy18]

Fairly painless booking process. Maybe our boat is empty. Booked Palo, excursions and Spa no problem.

Doubt the boat is empty! If you try to book a verandah cabin, it's guarantee status only. It's probably that we're the only die-hards who appreciate the value of booking immediately!