The 2010 Baltic Thread--Cruise Tips and Planning

[TammyAlphabet]

Hey everyone, back from vacation. Hope we can get this thread going again!

 

[TammyAlphabet]

I am starting to freak out over purchasing airfare. I was all set on taking atlanta to Barcelona and then London to atlanta, then the air france crash made me squirmish. I guess I still have awhile until I need to purchase it.

 

[ladyvet]

Bumping us up in honor of our trip now being ONLY a year away

We just returned from this year's vacation, so now it's on to the next one. I think we will fly to London two days before our cruise (July 18) and do some sightseeing.

If sightseeing is our primary interest, which Disney-offered hotel is best?

Beth

 

[bevgray]

Glad to see this thread. I'm booked on the 24 June sailing (2nd Baltic). I'm traveling solo so wanted to make things as easy on myself as possible. I went ahead and booked the Park Plaza County Hall through Disney with all transfers. Pricier option, I know, but I want to enjoy the vacation and did not want to deal with strange city/strange country issues on my own. If my fellah was coming, it would be an adventure. Since he can't come too, I'm taking the lazy way out. There is something very comforting knowing that DCL reps will guide me from airport to bus to hotel to Dover and back to London airport. I'm on limited time but have been able to allow three nights in London pre-Cruise. Not long enough but enough to give me a nibble of this city I have always wanted to visit.

 

[TammyAlphabet]

I got my air. I booked BA roundtrip ATL to LHR in premium economy. These seats are limited and I need the extra room. Now I still have to get the second leg a one way LHR to Barcelona, but I am planning on waiting to see if BA changes my flight in anyway.

 

[jilljill]

I got my air. I booked BA roundtrip ATL to LHR in premium economy. These seats are limited and I need the extra room. Now I still have to get the second leg a one way LHR to Barcelona, but I am planning on waiting to see if BA changes my flight in anyway.

Make sure you read what the luggage limits are on the LHR - Barcelona leg, they will be less than your transatlantic flight allowance.

 

[TammyAlphabet]

Make sure you read what the luggage limits are on the LHR - Barcelona leg, they will be less than your transatlantic flight allowance.

Thanks for the heads up. I will make sure to comply. I want to travel with as little as possible anyway so hopefully it won't be a problem. But that is a disadvantage of purchasing the legs separately.

 

[grizbuzz]

Wow! Already booked your airfare?? I didn't even know you could book airfare this far in advance!

Congrats!

 

[jilljill]

Wow! Already booked your airfare?? I didn't even know you could book airfare this far in advance!

Congrats!

Airfare can be booked as far out as 11 months depending on the airline.


I have my pre-cruise London stay already booked.

 

[Celestine]

Celestine:

So my family can hail a black cab and all 5 of us will fit into it? Is there room for luggage as well?

Apologies for the delay in responding. There is very little luggage space - usually either in the back with you or where the front passenger seat would be, so if it is 5 plus 12-14 nights of luggage, I'd say book a private cab that can provide a people carrier. This would probably be cheaper than hailing 2 cabs which would be your only other alternative.

Celestine

 

[Madisonznana]

Hi, I am a Ballyhoo'er counting down the days until our July 18th cruise.

As of today it is going to be tight just taking the cruise, so I am not making any plans for a stay in London before or after. So I will just have to live vicariously through all of you going the extra mile! I so miss my dh's overtime.

 

[gydell]

Does anyone know anything about the Marriott Regents Park?

 

[Madisonznana]

Just bumping us back up to place that can be seen!

 

[randc]

Does anyone know of a company in London that will do a pickup at a certain hotel and take us to the port; then pick us up at the port when we return and take us to Heathrow? I've looked at some of the ones that people have posted but they don't pickup at a hotel. There are four of us traveling so we're looking at four adults plus luggage.

 

[jilljill]

Does anyone know of a company in London that will do a pickup at a certain hotel and take us to the port; then pick us up at the port when we return and take us to Heathrow? I've looked at some of the ones that people have posted but they don't pickup at a hotel. There are four of us traveling so we're looking at four adults plus luggage.

Hopefully these links will work for what you are looking for:

I've found some links for transfers:

http://www.acxtransfers.com/dover.htm
http://www.adlg.co.uk/dover.htm
http://portcullis-uk.com/11.html
http://www.nationalexpress.com/coach/index.cfm
http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/
http://www.landflight.co.uk/ (Silverline are a private taxi service)


Also, if you look at the first page of any of the July 18, 2010 Baltic Ballyhoo threads you will find lots of link for info. As of now Part 4 has the newest links posted.

Hope this helps you.


p.s. I just looked at the links and not all are for private transfers, they are quite expensive over there since it's around a 2 hour drive to the port.

 

[CarolAnnC]

I cancelled my Park Plaza County Hall ressie and have the Renaissance Chancery Court booked prior to the cruise.

I kept checking into the County Hall and discovered that the reservation price we had would be for a smaller double bed. DH and I would never sleep comfortably in something small, and we prefer a king size if possible. To upgrade at that hotel was raising the price considerably.

The Chancery Court does have king (albeit smaller than a U.S. king I am sure) so we have switched over to that hotel. I have made my reservations directly, not through DCL in order to save on the cost there as well.

Now on to checking air fares...

 

[mehaul]

Get an iphone. It will work everywhere including Japan (which is very rare). International phone packages are pretty inexpensive. What you need to be careful is using the phone on the cruise ship. While on the Magic in the Med in 2007 my phone switched to roaming via Disney's carrier which gets very expensive. THe other thing to be wary is international data plans (your Itouch can be more pricey)

We used the Disney transfer with two small kids for the Med cruise and it was very smooth.

 

[Crissup]

Apologies for any broken clip art links. My home Internet connection is currently down, and they're stored on the web server in my basement. I'm working with Comcast to try and get a guy out here ASAP. They think they might be able to get a guy out today, otherwise, it won't be until tomorrow (Wednesday). I'll have the Baltic Ports Clipart and the banner clipart back online as soon as the connection comes back up.

 

[Scott H]

Subscribing

 

[Yensidfan]

joining in