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

[sarahgirl]

It looks like my parents will be on this cruise with you guys. They just sent in the request from the TA and it should be all booked up by tomorrow. I am sailing on the 5/15 Med cruise, and my parents just decided that they wanted to see Europe too. They are especially looking forward to Sweden as my mother grew up in a Swedish American household and always wanted to see what it looks like.

They are not travel or technology savvy so it looks like I'm booking the tours through DCL so they don't have to worry about that. My mother gets especially nervous in new places so it is important that she be a group with people who knows what they are doing.

My Mother's birthday is June 30th and I would love to get them booked for Palo on that day, can anyone check for me to see if they have any openings if not they will just have to wait until they are onboard.

 

[ktkspider]

It looks like my parents will be on this cruise with you guys. They just sent in the request from the TA and it should be all booked up by tomorrow. I am sailing on the 5/15 Med cruise, and my parents just decided that they wanted to see Europe too. They are especially looking forward to Sweden as my mother grew up in a Swedish American household and always wanted to see what it looks like.

They are not travel or technology savvy so it looks like I'm booking the tours through DCL so they don't have to worry about that. My mother gets especially nervous in new places so it is important that she be a group with people who knows what they are doing.

My Mother's birthday is June 30th and I would love to get them booked for Palo on that day, can anyone check for me to see if they have any openings if not they will just have to wait until they are onboard.

Tell your parents welcome!

As for palo.. there are still lots of openings for almost every day except the days we are in St. Petersburg (June 30, July 1). For some reason those 2 days have never been open for bookings. Maybe they will open them up later? Make sure you have them check when they board to see if anything opens up.

 

[ktkspider]

I cannot simply cannot get my brain around the fact that we're under 2 months and counting. For some reason the only thing I've brainstormed about this week in terms of planning is what kind of gifts to do for the FE participants. How goofy is that??

Anyway, do we have a master list of participants so we can start thinking about grown-ups vs. kids, etc?? Thanks!

here is the list. I will keep it open for another week. I will let everyone know of any changes as they happen. I am not expecting too many more so this will give us a good idea.

I am not going to assign days.. just deliver whenever you have some extra time... LOL...

Please let me know if there are any corrections or added info..

Also anyone is welcome to join.. just get me your info.

6634-ktkspider Kellie, Tom, Katie-12
6632- JoAnn, Doyle
6630- SallyAnn, Bob
6543- Grizzbuzz Jen, John , boy-5, boy-7
6072- cindy 18 Cindy, Matt, girl -12, girl -14
? macassi Marci, John, CJ - boy-12, Brendan - boy-9, Abbie-6
? macassi Hugh, Rose
6050- mehaul Michael, Lisa, Emma-9, Mia-6
? newgeneb Cheryl
8040-jarudinski Julie, Chris, Samantha -11, Allison-6, Jim-adult
5024-ldconley lorie, Mike, Breanna-14
2114-ch10dad Ray, DW, DD-14, dd-10

Today is a big day for us!!! We are leaving in 49days!! YIKES!!

 

[nfowife]

Hi everyone!! So excited to be here!! We are booking tonight, just waiting on some final info from our TA at DU. The military discount on this cruise was too good to pass up for us!
I'm Margaret and am travelling with my husband Dan and our 2 kids Allison (5) and Ethan (3). Also my in-laws will be coming along as well, Michelle and Richard. This is our first cruise and we are so excited!! I have a lot of researching to do but it will have to wait a bit as we are leaving Sunday for a week-long tour of Ireland . We live in Europe with the military and are heading back to the states shortly after the cruise; trying to fit in all the places we haven't gotten to before we leave!!

Look forward to getting to know you!

 

[ktkspider]

Hi everyone!! So excited to be here!! We are booking tonight, just waiting on some final info from our TA at DU. The military discount on this cruise was too good to pass up for us!
I'm Margaret and am travelling with my husband Dan and our 2 kids Allison (5) and Ethan (3). Also my in-laws will be coming along as well, Michelle and Richard. This is our first cruise and we are so excited!! I have a lot of researching to do but it will have to wait a bit as we are leaving Sunday for a week-long tour of Ireland . We live in Europe with the military and are heading back to the states shortly after the cruise; trying to fit in all the places we haven't gotten to before we leave!!

Look forward to getting to know you!

Welcome to our very quiet group. What a great opportunity with the military rate. We looked at it but decided to stick with what we had.. we would have saved some $$ but would have lost alot to rebook. Congrats to all of you!
let me know if you are interested in participating in the FE exchange and I will add you to the list..

Make sure and check out the links on the first page that some wonderful people have put together... so much info! Have fun planning!

 

[TDC Nala]

I have a few Euros, probably enough to buy a beer in Germany.

There was another thread somewhere that said you do not have to rebook to apply the military discount. That and Florida resident discounts could still be applied without rebooking. If you are eligible and don't mind downgrading cabins you might still think about it.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2453051

This thread has some info on it

 

[sarahgirl]

My parent's cruise is officially booked and airfare is done. So they are all yours for 2 weeks.

One question: Has the Cat 12's been assigned yet or has DCL not gotten to your cruise yet?

 

[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.....

 

[grizbuzz]

ktkspider: We downgraded from our Cat 11 room to a Cat 12 room this week and saved over a couple thousand dollars. And I was able to rebook Palo, spa and the one excursion I have. So I think it was a good deal for us. I don't, however, have a room number yet. My TA says I may not have one until I arrive at port. Hopefully, I'll know before then. At our Med cruise, we actually handed out the list of people at room numbers for fish extender exchange at our DIS meet, so we could account for people who didn't get rooms until last minute or changed rooms. Just an idea... We are having a DIS meet, aren't we??

nfowife: Welcome! We too are an American family living in Europe, in Switzerland to be precise. But we won't be returning to the states quite yet after our cruise. We'll still have another year here.

mardonna: Welcome back! So glad to hear that your DH is OK. Sounds like quite the scare. I too need a cheat sheet on all of the transport/touring cards I need for each city. I have plans for St Pete with private tour company (though I need to contact Masha yet to firm up plans) and then meeting some Danish friends in Copenhagen. But otherwise, I'm at a lose.

I did get my plane tickets on easyjet to London. Arriving June 23. Need to figure out how to get to Dover and whether to overnight in London or near port. Any advice?

Hope everyone is getting excited!

-Jen

 

[ktkspider]

ktkspider: We downgraded from our Cat 11 room to a Cat 12 room this week and saved over a couple thousand dollars. And I was able to rebook Palo, spa and the one excursion I have. So I think it was a good deal for us. I don't, however, have a room number yet. My TA says I may not have one until I arrive at port. Hopefully, I'll know before then. At our Med cruise, we actually handed out the list of people at room numbers for fish extender exchange at our DIS meet, so we could account for people who didn't get rooms until last minute or changed rooms. Just an idea... We are having a DIS meet, aren't we??

Hi Jen, Not sure that there has been a dis meet scheduled/planned.. Anyone wanting to set that up?

That is great about getting the discounted fare. We thought about it for a while and decided that we really liked our room (secret verandah) and didn't want to loose all of our on board credit. between that and the penalty we would have lost quite a bit.

We are flying into Paris and then heading over to Canterbury a couple of days before the cruise.

I keep dreaming about this trip. Last night I dreamed that we had an exhausting day of touring and I came back to our room and said... Wow we still have 3 weeks of this! I was exhausted!!

 

[cindy18]

here is the list. I will keep it open for another week. I will let everyone know of any changes as they happen. I am not expecting too many more so this will give us a good idea.

I am not going to assign days.. just deliver whenever you have some extra time... LOL...

Please let me know if there are any corrections or added info..

Also anyone is welcome to join.. just get me your info.

6634-ktkspider Kellie, Tom, Katie-12
6632- JoAnn, Doyle
6630- SallyAnn, Bob
6543- Grizzbuzz Jen, John , boy-5, boy-7
6072- cindy 18 Cindy, Matt, girl -12, girl -14
? macassi Marci, John, CJ - boy-12, Brendan - boy-9, Abbie-6
? macassi Hugh, Rose
6050- mehaul Michael, Lisa, Emma-9, Mia-6
? newgeneb Cheryl
8040-jarudinski Julie, Chris, Samantha -11, Allison-6, Jim-adult
5024-ldconley lorie, Mike, Breanna-14
2114-ch10dad Ray, DW, DD-14, dd-10

Today is a big day for us!!! We are leaving in 49days!! YIKES!!

Thanks for posting this list. There are really a lot of us on Deck 6! For the record, we have 6072 and 6074 -- we're putting the girls in 6074, but I only have 1 fish extender, so I figured I'd just hang it outside 6072. I have one gift idea so far. Are people thinking to leave stuff more than once?

 

[MadHatterMom2]

We are brand-new to the DCL experience, but the FE thing sounds like a ton of fun. We have not been assigned a cabin yet, so I'm not sure how you handle that. So, I guess it looks like this: Me (Julie), DH (James), Anneliese (11) and Alex (7).

Any basic review of how the process works would be great, Thanks!

 

[ktkspider]

We are brand-new to the DCL experience, but the FE thing sounds like a ton of fun. We have not been assigned a cabin yet, so I'm not sure how you handle that. So, I guess it looks like this: Me (Julie), DH (James), Anneliese (11) and Alex (7).

Any basic review of how the process works would be great, Thanks!

Welcome to the group! I will add you to the FE exchange.
Look under this sticky on the Disney Cruise main board. look for FE exchange..
*** DIS DCL FAQ - New Alphabetical Listing of DCL Information ***
Let me know if you have any questions.

We are keeping it simple. You can either do 1 gift per person, 1 per family, 1 per child, or any combo of. We are doing 1 per child and 1 per family. As for a fish extender, you can use anything to hang on the fish outside your door. Just make sure to bring a ziptie to secure it so it doesn't disappear..

Any ideas on how to get the last min. cabin assignments to everyone? How has this been done in the past? Should we meet up somewhere? ideas anyone? I could post outside my cabin and you could stop by and add your number and check the others? Not sure how schedules will be for a meet up. Anyone want to plan that? It would be nice to meet, especially the kids. Wow we are getting close!

 

[cindy18]

First, happy mother's day to all the moms out there! Hope it's been a great day.

Second, I am FINALLY starting to clear out my brain to focus on making plans in the ports we're doing on our own. Today was Oslo day. I think I know what we want to do, where those things are and how to navigate. Not sure about lunch yet, but other than that, I feel a little more in control. What were people's conclusions on the Oslo Pass? My quick math is that it's worth it to get, but I'm a little hesitant because it seems like the only way to get it is to pick it up at one of the tourist info spots (I assume for us that will be the one in the cruise terminal) and I'm anticipating huge lines in doing that. Anyone have any thoughts on that?

 

[nfowife]

Is anyone still looking for more people on their st. petersburg tour? My family is interested...we are 4 adults and 2 kids. Please pm me or email me and give me the details! Thank you so much!

 

[mehaul]

First, happy mother's day to all the moms out there! Hope it's been a great day.

Second, I am FINALLY starting to clear out my brain to focus on making plans in the ports we're doing on our own. Today was Oslo day. I think I know what we want to do, where those things are and how to navigate. Not sure about lunch yet, but other than that, I feel a little more in control. What were people's conclusions on the Oslo Pass? My quick math is that it's worth it to get, but I'm a little hesitant because it seems like the only way to get it is to pick it up at one of the tourist info spots (I assume for us that will be the one in the cruise terminal) and I'm anticipating huge lines in doing that. Anyone have any thoughts on that?

It's unfortunate they won't mail the OsloPass. I got my Stockholm cards in the mail last week.

Also had Millipie make this pic for our cruise

http://www.4shared.com/photo/irQtB01c/BalticJune24-July62010.html

 

[cindy18]

It's unfortunate they won't mail the OsloPass. I got my Stockholm cards in the mail last week.

Also had Millipie make this pic for our cruise

http://www.4shared.com/photo/irQtB01c/BalticJune24-July62010.html

That's a great pic! Thanks for sharing.

I am worried about the lines to pick up the Oslo Pass, but it does seem worth the money. How long did it take for your Stockholm cards to come? Maybe I should turn to Stockholm next and get that taken care of.

 

[MadHatterMom2]

My family is also interested in doing a St. Petersburg tour. We are 2 adults and 2 children. Would welcome any suggestions or tips.

 

[ktkspider]

That's a great pic! Thanks for sharing.

I am worried about the lines to pick up the Oslo Pass, but it does seem worth the money. How long did it take for your Stockholm cards to come? Maybe I should turn to Stockholm next and get that taken care of.

We received our Stockhom cards very quickly.. I want to say in less than a week! As for Oslo, I have been worried about the same. .. Long lines... I have scoped out a second TI office just a short ways from the cruise line one (near the square) I am hoping to jump over there if the line is really long at the closer one. My other concern is how crowded the first few ferries will be to get across the the museums. That is where I guess we need to just go with the flow...

We are still waiting for the Copenhagen cards. They seem to be taking a while.

My family is also interested in doing a St. Petersburg tour. We are 2 adults and 2 children. Would welcome any suggestions or tips.

We are using Anastasia. There is a lot of great info about the different tour guides on cruisecritic. They all seem great and very easy to work with. I would think you would want to get that scheduled fairly quickly. Good luck.

 

[3bebe]

Hi Everyone! My husband just booked this cruise earlier tonight! We would love to participate in the Fish Extender if it is still open. I have been reading and cramming all night since I am just beginning to plan this cruise! The prices were too good to pass up, but we will definitely not be as prepared as most of you! We have 3 children
DD Caroline (14, will turn 15 in August!)
DS Daniel (13)
DD Emma (11)
My husband's parents are also cruising with us. We have 3 rooms booked, but since it is 2:30 a.m. here, my husband is asleep so I will have to get the room numbers from him tomorrow! I'm pretty positive we are on Deck 7 though! I probably won't get any sleep from now until the cruise as I have so much to do and plan in so little time! I'm so thankful to have found this board and all of the wonderful information!!!

Thanks everyone for all of your wealth of information! Any advice/tips appreciated!

Sincerely,
Emily(my huband is Dan!)