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

[ktkspider]

Haven't heard anything specific, but I think there's an assumption of fireworks...

Unfortunatly, Disney said no fireworks on the Baltic cruises.. probably has to do with how late it gets dark or something?

But then again there will probably be many that aren't from US... So it will be interesting to see if they are going to do anything. I hope they do something fun!

 

[TDC Nala]

http://maps.google.se/maps/ms?clien...2353,18.080277&spn=0.012086,0.028753&t=h&z=15

This is the map of the Stockholm transportation routes - the bus route is in red. You can see where Frihamnen is, in proportion to the sites you want to see. You can find Vasa under "Vasamuseet." They mention that you walk across a bridge to Vasa and it is not a very long walk. The Djurgarden ferry route (Vasa to Gamla Stan) is in teal.

 

[grizbuzz]

I have a question regarding THEME NIGHTS.

Does anyone know when is the formal night, pirates, night, etc?

Also, do we have times for arrivals and departures at ports?

THANKS SO MUCH!

 

[ktkspider]

plus the path of the HOHO boat which is not really available for us to use because of where we will dock.

here is a map of the hOHO bus tour... we are not using it but it does show a shuttle that takes you to and from the cruise ships to the loops of the HOHO tour.

http://www.stromma.se/en/Sightseeing/Stockholm/Land-tours/Hop-on-Hop-of-bus---Combi/

Just so some know that is an option..

 

[ktkspider]

I have a question regarding THEME NIGHTS.

Does anyone know when is the formal night, pirates, night, etc?

Also, do we have times for arrivals and departures at ports?

THANKS SO MUCH!

I sure wish the Disney site was easier to navigate.. here is where the port times are...
http://disneycruise.disney.go.com/reservations/customize?execution=e1s3

check under iteneray.

Also it doesn't say this on that list but we don't dock until 10:30 back to Dover.. that is going to be very strange not to get up at crack of dawn to get off the Ship... we get several extra hours !!

as for theme nights.. this is what someone posted several months ago. Not sure how accurate it is but it is what I am planning..


Special shows are listed as of now as:
Night 1. Let the Magic begin
Night 2. Prince and Princess- Formal
Night 3 Rotational dining
Night 4 Rotational dining
Night 5 Rotational dining
Night 6. Villians- Semi Formal
Night 7 and 8. Are still listed as pending.
Night 8
Night 9. Pirates
Night 10. Flavors of Scandinavia
Night 11. Captains Gala- Semi Formal
Night 12. Till We Meet Again

 

[TDC Nala]

I was on the Magic in the Mediterranean over 4th of July 2007 (we were in France that day). There was free champagne at dinner in 4th of July commemorative glasses you could keep (plastic), a big flag hung in the atrium, more decorations on deck and special 4th of July pins on sale. There were fireworks, but another person says Disney has announced no fireworks on the Baltic cruises.

 

[grizbuzz]

I sure wish the Disney site was easier to navigate.. here is where the port times are...
http://disneycruise.disney.go.com/reservations/customize?execution=e1s3

check under iteneray.

Also it doesn't say this on that list but we don't dock until 10:30 back to Dover.. that is going to be very strange not to get up at crack of dawn to get off the Ship... we get several extra hours !!

as for theme nights.. this is what someone posted several months ago. Not sure how accurate it is but it is what I am planning..


Special shows are listed as of now as:
Night 1. Let the Magic begin
Night 2. Prince and Princess- Formal
Night 3 Rotational dining
Night 4 Rotational dining
Night 5 Rotational dining
Night 6. Villians- Semi Formal
Night 7 and 8. Are still listed as pending.
Night 8
Night 9. Pirates
Night 10. Flavors of Scandinavia
Night 11. Captains Gala- Semi Formal
Night 12. Till We Meet Again

Thanks!!

 

[cindy18]

This is the map of the Stockholm transportation routes - the bus route is in red. You can see where Frihamnen is, in proportion to the sites you want to see. You can find Vasa under "Vasamuseet." They mention that you walk across a bridge to Vasa and it is not a very long walk. The Djurgarden ferry route (Vasa to Gamla Stan) is in teal.

That's terrific. Thanks so much!

I note that on the Vasa Museum's website, they have a list of ways to get to the Vasa. One of the things they mention is that the walk from Central Station to the Vasa is only 30 minutes. Depending on the weather, we were thinking about taking the bus or whatever to someplace and then walking, as I gather there is a harbor promenade to the bridge to Djurgarden that is lovely.

 

[mehaul]

So DH just nixed the Stockholm Pass. He said that there's no way that we are going to do all the things on my list. When we stepped back and thought about it, I think he's right. I think we're going to wind up spending the morning at Vasa and Skansen and having lunch there, then taking the ferry over to Gamla Stan. Even if we do the Nobel Museum and a few of the churches, given the kids, it won't pay for itself. And I suspect that's all we'll do besides stroll the streets of the Old Town before we need to head back to the ship.

What's sinking in a bit is that we really don't have a lot of time in port....

I had put together this table to evaluate the cost savings of buying the cards.

www.magicalbalticcruise.com/stockholm-card-analysis.html

If you just do Vasa and Skansen it's not worth it, but if you're going to do a few other additonal things it is. The card also covers your transport costs as well (ferry and bus).

Children under 7 don't need a card. Transport is free for them as well.

 

[grizbuzz]

I had put together this table to evaluate the cost savings of buying the cards.

www.magicalbalticcruise.com/stockholm-card-analysis.html

If you just do Vasa and Skansen it's not worth it, but if you're going to do a few other additonal things it is. The card also covers your transport costs as well (ferry and bus).

Children under 7 don't need a card. Transport is free for them as well.

Wow! Your website is very helpful. Thanks!

Putting together my itinerary right now with www.tripit.com. Pretty useful free app, but unfortunately DCL isn't one of the cruises that automatically populates.

 

[TDC Nala]

According to Cruise Critic the Stockholm card covers the buses but not the Djurgarden ferry.

And here is the info from a site called Virtual Tourist:

The 72 h Stockholm card gives you free fares on metro and buses and free fares with the ferry to Djurgården from Nybroplan. The other ferry to Djurgården, from Slussen, is not included in this card, something that from time to time causes a bit of discussion.

I believe it is the Slussen ferry that I want to take from Djurgarden to Gamla Stan, which is one of the reasons why I decided not to buy a Stockholm card.

 

[cindy18]

I had put together this table to evaluate the cost savings of buying the cards.

www.magicalbalticcruise.com/stockholm-card-analysis.html

If you just do Vasa and Skansen it's not worth it, but if you're going to do a few other additonal things it is. The card also covers your transport costs as well (ferry and bus).

Children under 7 don't need a card. Transport is free for them as well.

Mehaul, I love your website and refer to it often. For us, the issue with the Stockholm Card is the kids. We want to do Vasa, Skansen, the Nobel Museum and probably a few churches, plus transport. With those things, the card is a good value for DH and me, but we lose more money on the girls, because a lot of the places we want to go are free for them. So that's why we're going to pass.

 

[cindy18]

Just got home to a somewhat fancier than usual spiral bound book with cruise documents, including our luggage tags, personalized info on our baggage allowance (we're flying American, so it had a chart with American's bag allowance, which just confirmed that we are checking no more than 4 bags!), the precise arrival and departure information for each port and other stuff, including the contract, a tipping chart, etc. VERY EXCITING!!!!!

 

[mehaul]

Mehaul, I love your website and refer to it often. For us, the issue with the Stockholm Card is the kids. We want to do Vasa, Skansen, the Nobel Museum and probably a few churches, plus transport. With those things, the card is a good value for DH and me, but we lose more money on the girls, because a lot of the places we want to go are free for them. So that's why we're going to pass.

Cool that you obtained your cruise docs.

The "Card" Math does get a little "Goofy" after a while. I opted for the cards because our youngest doesn't need a card. If that makes any sense. It is nice that alot of the museums are free for kids (even big kids).

Also if anyone is going to London pre or post cruise I found a nice restaurant review site (zagat-like) www.Hardens.com

 

[grlzmom]

We are still debating what to do in Germany. We have already booked SPB Tours for St. P and considering them for Berlin vs. Disney Tour.

Has anyone else booked SPB Tours for Berlin? I'm so stuck on this part. Kids are 16, 14, 9, 7 and 7 and well traveled but thinking that Berlin would be too much in a day for the 7 year olds.

The little kids would be fine staying the day in Oceaneers Lab but then I would opt for a DCL excursion vs. SPB and it looks as though the DCL excursions don't cover nearly as much in Berlin.

Sometimes I think to skip the Berlin part entirely and find a beach for the day in Warmunde.

Would love to hear what others are planning, especially those who are bringing little ones

Has anyone else booked SPB for Berlin?

 

[grlzmom]

Just got home to a somewhat fancier than usual spiral bound book with cruise documents, including our luggage tags, personalized info on our baggage allowance (we're flying American, so it had a chart with American's bag allowance, which just confirmed that we are checking no more than 4 bags!), the precise arrival and departure information for each port and other stuff, including the contract, a tipping chart, etc. VERY EXCITING!!!!!

Yeah for getting your documents!

 

[cindy18]

We are still debating what to do in Germany. We have already booked SPB Tours for St. P and considering them for Berlin vs. Disney Tour.

Has anyone else booked SPB Tours for Berlin? I'm so stuck on this part. Kids are 16, 14, 9, 7 and 7 and well traveled but thinking that Berlin would be too much in a day for the 7 year olds.

The little kids would be fine staying the day in Oceaneers Lab but then I would opt for a DCL excursion vs. SPB and it looks as though the DCL excursions don't cover nearly as much in Berlin.

Sometimes I think to skip the Berlin part entirely and find a beach for the day in Warmunde.

Would love to hear what others are planning, especially those who are bringing little ones

Has anyone else booked SPB for Berlin?

We went back and forth on Berlin for awhile, with 2 of us wanting to go and 2 of us not wanting to go. On balance, we decided that Berlin was too important a city to miss, even though it would make for a very long day and the third port in a row. (thank goodness for the day at sea afterwards.) We were stunned by how expensive the Disney tours of Berlin are, even though I appreciate that they are chartering a train to get everyone into Berlin, which of course costs money. We ultimately booked with Original Berlin Walks rather than SPB Tours, even though SPB Tours was less expensive. We liked going with a strictly German company and we found their website very appealing. They are picking us up at the port and have designed a tour for us that covers as much as we asked for in the time alloted, and we've built in a cushion on our return to the ship. We also looked at Humboldt Tours, and they were very accommodating but a little too pricey for us.

Hope that helps.

 

[grlzmom]

We went back and forth on Berlin for awhile, with 2 of us wanting to go and 2 of us not wanting to go. On balance, we decided that Berlin was too important a city to miss, even though it would make for a very long day and the third port in a row. (thank goodness for the day at sea afterwards.) We were stunned by how expensive the Disney tours of Berlin are, even though I appreciate that they are chartering a train to get everyone into Berlin, which of course costs money. We ultimately booked with Original Berlin Walks rather than SPB Tours, even though SPB Tours was less expensive. We liked going with a strictly German company and we found their website very appealing. They are picking us up at the port and have designed a tour for us that covers as much as we asked for in the time alloted, and we've built in a cushion on our return to the ship. We also looked at Humboldt Tours, and they were very accommodating but a little too pricey for us.

Hope that helps.

Thanks, it does help Do you know what our port times are in Warmunde?

I keep thinking about the 3 port days in a row and comparing it to the MED with 3 Italy ports in a row and it was exhausting, even for the adults. We loved it, but so tiring and I think this will be more exhausting with the addition of evening tours in St. P.

Sounds like you have a great tour planned in Berlin!

The DCL tours are expensive. Generally we do better on our own, see more and pay less (however we did a couple DCL on the MED that were wonderful).

Thanks again!

 

[cindy18]

Thanks, it does help Do you know what our port times are in Warmunde?

I keep thinking about the 3 port days in a row and comparing it to the MED with 3 Italy ports in a row and it was exhausting, even for the adults. We loved it, but so tiring and I think this will be more exhausting with the addition of evening tours in St. P.

Sounds like you have a great tour planned in Berlin!

The DCL tours are expensive. Generally we do better on our own, see more and pay less (however we did a couple DCL on the MED that were wonderful).

Thanks again!

I think debarkation time in Warnemunde is 7:15, give or take. There's some uncertainty as to how they will get people off the boat who haven't signed up for a Disney excursion to Berlin, with an expectation that those who haven't will have to wait. We're hoping to meet our guide at around 8 and get to Berlin at 10:30 with an estimated departure time from Berlin of 4:30 or so. I think the train back from Berlin to Warnemunde is due in at around 8 pm, and we definitely want to get back before all those people start to try to get back on board the ship!

 

[newgeneb]

Just got our cruise documents and it is a Great book of important things and very well done Disney does it the bestwe finally got our room # 6624Can't wait to start the cruiseand meet everone