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

[grlzmom]

Like everybody else, we are getting excited too! All new ports for us and the kids and lots to do and little time.

Will take Euros for Germany and British pounds to pay for our transfers to and from port and miscellaneous stuff and exchange for anything else we need on the ship. In May the exchange rate was not bad on the Magic and no extra fees.

Our ATM cards did NOT work many places on the MED due to not having a "chip" in them so when we were delayed for volcanic ash, cash on hand did become important. Hoping we won't have the same ATM problems in the Baltic but prepared just in case.

Hope everyone is enjoying a great weekend!

 

[TDC Nala]

What is this "chip" and does that apply to a debit card? All my currency is going to be from ATMs using a travel debit card.

 

[grlzmom]

What is this "chip" and does that apply to a debit card? All my currency is going to be from ATMs using a travel debit card.

While I don't have a thorough understanding, apparently alot of the countries in Europe now use a "chip and pin" system. The cards are embedded with a chip. Some places, including ATM and merchants can't/don't take the cards without the chip.

Ours just had pin so we were inconvenienced somewhat but had luckily bought plenty of cash to convert.

We did have a prepaid travel debit visa from our bank (Regions) and we had trouble with it and were unable to use it at ATM or to purchase new airline tickets when our return flights were cancelled.

I think if you read up on Rick Steve's site there is some chip and pin info. There were several people on my cruise that I know of who had problems with lack of chip and/or other ATM issues.

On the flip side, many people had no trouble and were able to get money from the ATM machines at every port

 

[TDC Nala]

I don't mess with Rick Steves. Will have to ask at AAA but not sure they will know anything. Have used such a debit card in France, Italy, Australia and New Zealand without any issues.

 

[grlzmom]

I don't mess with Rick Steves. Will have to ask at AAA but not sure they will know anything. Have used such a debit card in France, Italy, Australia and New Zealand without any issues.

You have a better bank than ours because we were a no go in France so I'm betting you are fine but safer to check just in case We did fine but if we hadn't decided to bring alot of cash with us would have been stuck.

 

[TDC Nala]

Yes, from reading up on it it SHOULD work. They should be able to swipe the card as well, and it has a PIN.

Too late for me to get cash anywhere but the ship, although I could probably swing some Euros. They'll exchange all currency on the ship but I wonder if you have to give them cash or if I can use a credit card.

Will have to consider taking the Disney excursion in Stockholm rather than doing it on my own, though, if I will be unable to use a credit card there.

 

[grlzmom]

Yes, from reading up on it it SHOULD work. They should be able to swipe the card as well, and it has a PIN.

Too late for me to get cash anywhere but the ship, although I could probably swing some Euros. They'll exchange all currency on the ship but I wonder if you have to give them cash or if I can use a credit card.

Will have to consider taking the Disney excursion in Stockholm rather than doing it on my own, though, if I will be unable to use a credit card there.

In May there were problems with people at guest services wanting currency back using their credit cards and also wanting currency back from having prepaid their onboard accounts. I think the outcome for all of this was NO but could be I'm wrong . People who planning on doing excursions on their own did book some with DCL last minute due to lack of cash or inability to get any.

DCL was great about exchanging money and exchange rate at time was very competitive but lines got long for those who waited til last minute. Also they had an exchange limit one day for euros as their supply had run low.

After our volcano delays and ATM issues I'm glad I took extra cash even though dh was uncomfortable doing it at the time.

This time we are more experienced and have (hopefully) covered our bases in the credit card/ATM department.

Finally got our SPB tour tickets for St. P and that made me realize how quickly this trip is approaching!

 

[lzj21428]

TDC, why can't you get currency from your bank? It shouldn't take more than a couple of days to get it. Bank of America had it for me in 3 days. Or how about a foreign exchange place in DC (think you mentioned working in DC) I think you still have time to get currency.

I also read on another thread (can't remember which one) that the exchange rate on the ship was a company rate (don't know what that means). Sounds like it is higher than elsewhere.

Hope you can get it figured out.

 

[ktkspider]

Wow! Watching the video of the Magic at/leaving Dover really is exciting.. just thinking next time it pulls into Dover.. We are getting on. I can barely contain my excitement!

We are going shopping for some last minute stuff.. camera memory cards, printer (mine broke yesterday and I have a ton left to print before I leave), first aide kit stuff...

Hope to be mostly packed by tonight. We will see if that actually happens. Hope so! Weather is looking a bit chilly I was thinking a taking out a couple of my cooler weather clothes and then checked out the weather reports.. It is hard to think it will be so much cooler than here... after all if it is 95* here it should be everywhere.. right

We leave in 5Days!!!

 

[lzj21428]

Ktk, I agree, that video was awesome. And all the pics posted were great too.

Diser MJGirl has a blog. She said their cruise is only 2/3 full with only 200 kids!! Wonder what ours will be like. I wouldn't mind not having a full ship.

And I'm looking forward to the cooler temps over there. Yesterdays heat was oppressive.

 

[TDC Nala]

TDC, why can't you get currency from your bank? It shouldn't take more than a couple of days to get it. Bank of America had it for me in 3 days. Or how about a foreign exchange place in DC (think you mentioned working in DC) I think you still have time to get currency.

I also read on another thread (can't remember which one) that the exchange rate on the ship was a company rate (don't know what that means). Sounds like it is higher than elsewhere.

Hope you can get it figured out.

I use a credit union. They do not exchange currency. There are places I can go in DC but they won't stock anything we need other than pounds and euros, they'd have to be ordered. And if you must carry cash to exchange onboard I don't like that either.

Going to follow the original plan - credit card, get the debit card tomorrow, stick with bank ATMs and maybe bring enough US cash to exchange for some Swedish krona so I can still do Stockholm on my own even if I can't use an ATM there.

 

[lzj21428]

TDC, I'm sure you will be fine and you won't have any problems. 2yrs ago in London, I had no problems using my debit card or my credit cards. Even in Egypt, we have had no trouble using credit cards. And as someone said on another thread, these are all tourist areas, so they should be able to handle all these different credit and debit card issues.

 

[TDC Nala]

Thanks, Russia I am certainly not worried about, as I don't think they've switched over and we'll have a tour guide watching out for our every move - Estonia too, don't think they've switched. Am told I shouldn't have trouble getting a few pounds from ATM in the airport either. And sticking to tourist areas could help. If I get stuck in London will probably have to look for a major hotel chain.

 

[ch10dad]

We have booked the "Classical Berlin Tour" with SPB tours and have room for up to 5 more. The tour is scheduled for 8:30a to 7:30p

http://www.spb-tours.com/germany/en

Prices are based on total in group and are currently 165 eu/adult & 155 eu/student (and would go down with additional members).

Is anyone interested in joining?

Ray

 

[ktkspider]

I use a credit union. They do not exchange currency. There are places I can go in DC but they won't stock anything we need other than pounds and euros, they'd have to be ordered. And if you must carry cash to exchange onboard I don't like that either.

Going to follow the original plan - credit card, get the debit card tomorrow, stick with bank ATMs and maybe bring enough US cash to exchange for some Swedish krona so I can still do Stockholm on my own even if I can't use an ATM there.

FYI did call and found out you can write a personal check for up to $200 per account per cruise. I would assume this would work for $$ exchange. From a poster on 1st cruise the exchage rates were pretty good exept for Pounds and Euros. Probably because of their recent downturn. Hope this might help.

 

[TDC Nala]

It does help me, was just talking with my friend about Denmark, Sweden and Norway and we can get something worked out. I'll look into maybe grabbing some cash somewhere this week, or getting enough on the ship to tip tour guides, buy lunch and some museum admissions. Not really worried about the other ports.

 

[cindy18]

Ktk, I agree, that video was awesome. And all the pics posted were great too.

Diser MJGirl has a blog. She said their cruise is only 2/3 full with only 200 kids!! Wonder what ours will be like. I wouldn't mind not having a full ship.

And I'm looking forward to the cooler temps over there. Yesterdays heat was oppressive.

I've been tracking MJ Girl's blog. I was really surprised that the first Baltic is only 2/3rds full. Less surprised about the kid count, given school schedules. I had always assumed that the first cruise was more crowded than our cruise because when we booked the cruise, we told our DU travel agent that either the first or second cruise would be fine, and she said there was better availability on ours. So I guess we'll see. I assume (based only on the number of kids on our meet thread) that there will be more than 200 kids though.

On currency, I really do think the ATMs will work. We've been in some very small towns in Europe and never had trouble getting cash from the ATM machines. It may be that our credit cards may not work in some small restaurants and shops, but most of the areas where we are going to be are used to dealing with tourists, and I'd be surprised if they didn't have a fairly straightforward way to get at our money! We're still planning to take small amounts of local currency (other than the large amounts of pounds and euros we need) and assume we'll either charge everything else or pull stuff from an ATM.

 

[TDC Nala]

maybe all the kids onboard are on this thread...I did get a pretty decent upgrade from 11 GTY to 9. Understand they're also offering discounts for the July cruises now.

I think the ATMS will work too (in some of what I read there was some confusion between ATM machines and vending machines, there has been trouble with vending machines), but will look into arranging for a bit of cash to carry off the ship in case they don't.

Will only be in England long enough to transition to and from the airport, so I will get a few pounds in the airport.

 

[cindy18]

maybe all the kids onboard are on this thread...I did get a pretty decent upgrade from 11 GTY to 9. Understand they're also offering discounts for the July cruises now.

Well, I can't argue with the proposition that all the kids taking the cruise are connected to our meet thread, but I kind of doubt it. Also, there are a lot more schools that will be done by June 24th than by June 12th. But it would be nice if the ship weren't full. Wonder how Disney is reacting to less than full ships, given how much they are used to the ships being full out of Port Canaveral.

 

[lzj21428]

In my quest to occupy myself today, I went on Disney's site and fooled around putting in different guest configurations. There was a lot of empty cabins. I found at least 10 cat. 5's. I saw all categories except for cat. 4.

I think that schools may be out, but parents don't want to jump right from end of school to vacation, so our cruise may not be as full as the ones after us. Just my theory. We get out the 16th of June and then I have a week to get everything together. And the price is still not cheap, maybe even a bit more than what I paid.