July 6, 2010 - 7/6/2010 ~ Pounds to Rubles ~ Mickey invades the Baltic Sea

[sharper_fin]

Still so sad to be back. Just ploughing through our photos.... <sigh>

Stimpy, what was wrong with Virgin Atlantic? We've always found them to be the best airline we've flown with?

And, like many others here, our fridge is groaning under the weight of magnets!

 

[fabumouse]

justhat also had a horrible time with Virgin Atlantic this trip. My DH has flown with them many times and has loved them - but something is going on with their company.

 

[Stimpy]

I had problems with VA prior to the cruise with their customer service. After 30 minutes of going back and forth with the rep about the same issue, it just left a bad taste. Plus both DCL & our TA said DCL would check us in 24 hrs prior so we could get our seats. Fortunately, I saw here on the DIS that it was not the case & I had to do it myself both times.

We weren't prepared for Heathrow and not being able to wait at the gate until right before the flight boarded. Last time I was there was over 20 yrs ago. There was no where to sit for all 6 of us for quite a while and we were there from about 11:30 am until our flight that night at 5:00.

Onboard they were amazing! My kids may never fly Southwest again We did get stuck on the flight home for 2 hours on the plane on the ground waiting for repairs...but obviously we would rather them take their time & get it done right so we understood. The flight crew was great handing out juice & water, brownies & cookies for the kids, turning on the in-flight tvs etc. We finally started to leave about 7:30 PM that night. We were laughing that we should have stayed on the cruise, at least we would have had dinner already by then

The part that really got me though was when we landed. My son got sick during the landing and threw up....I had nothing handy except the pillows...believe me, they do NOT hold liquids well Understandably, the flight crew couldn't do anything during the landing. But once we were on the ground, they would not come over to help at all. I had our service light on, people around us did also. We were right by the galley where they were all walking around and doing stuff. They saw us but wouldn't come over or even pass over some paper towels. I got more help from the people around us. I realize certain things need to be done to prepare for getting to the gate but it literally would have taken about a minute to grab some towels for him. If anyone has been to JFK, you know it can take a quite a while to get anywhere. They never did come over even at the gate. So I put everything into a bag another passenger was nice enough to give me and handed it to the flight crew manager as we left the plane. Told him no one else would come over to tell me what to do with it, so it was all his....and kept walking.

Believe me, I am NOT a demanding person and am usually accused of being too nice. I think it was just an unfortunately thing and hope that a different crew would have helped. I may be reluctant to fly with them again but wouldn't completely rule them out.

 

[nzdisneymom]

A Week. Can you believe it has already been a week since we left the Magic? Does this mean she is arriving in St. Petersburg today? Or would this be her second day there?

 

[njdisneyfans]

We returned home to NJ this Friday morning after spending several wonderful days in Blackpool (7 hours bus ride north from London on National Express.) We can highly recommend the Natl Express coach service since we took them from Victoria Coach Station round-trip to Dover, then round-trip to Blackpool. Very economical too!

Thanks very much for all the creative and thoughtful FE gifts!

We've already booked our July 12th Alaska cruise for next year. For those heading to Alaska, check out www.cruisecritic.com and search for their article, "Top 10 Must-Pack Items for Alaska."

Like Peter Hofer the cruise director said on the parting evening, I am indeed missing my "twelve meals a day!"

Thanks again and it was a pleasure bumping into this thread's participants at the various on-board venues, such as the laundry room!

 

[slg]

We are still in London and we still have another 5 days! Although London is exciting and there is so much to do, it's exhausting. We
miss the magic so much. My kids really loved this cruise and my 14 year old made some really great friends and misses them and the freedo
freedom. Sigh it's so much work finding where to eat...that's the hard part. We've seen 3 musicals: Wicked, Oliver and Lion king and plan on 3
more. It was great meeting everyone and see some of you onthe July 12 Alaska cruise.

Sandra

 

[nzdisneymom]

As I mentioned to some of you onboard, I'm doing a trip report here on the DIS and you are welcome to "chime in" and add to it. In fact, I've titled it "a group effort"...

Here's the direct link:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=37536856#post37536856

 

[denise]

Anybody else get a email asking them to do the Disney Cruise Line survey? We did but it says the link will be available on August 2nd....weird you would think it would work now....
DH back to work today....poor guy....
I'm still trying to find places for all the things we bought!

 

[kawigrl]

Anybody else get a email asking them to do the Disney Cruise Line survey? We did but it says the link will be available on August 2nd....weird you would think it would work now....
DH back to work today....poor guy....
I'm still trying to find places for all the things we bought!

read it again ours says it is available until aug 2nd you may have miss read yours

 

[aurorafan65]

hi everyone - finally stopping in after getting home this week. We stayed in Dover for a couple days & only left London on Wed. I still keep wondering where Cornwall & Eric are with my dinner

We had a great time - it was wonderful to meet everyone after chatting for so long. Thanks Lisa for setting up brunch it was yummy!

We had a really good trip - I'm still kicking myself over not taking the upgrade (cat 9 - to whatever cat is on Deck 7 with a balcony for $750) they only had adjoining rooms which I find really noisy - although after hearing the Sessions piano player every night I'm not so sure they're that noisy!!! We did love Danny our stateroom attendent, although funny you guys mentioned soap - I was wondering if they were running short on bars, since he replaced the green bar once & never again.

The ship looked great IMO & I loved that it wasn't tooooo crowded. The only thing I would have wished for was a sea day between Russia & Helsinki/Sweden. I think we were all a little crabby by the time we got to Stockholm.

I'm sorry to hear about issues with excursions etc. All of ours were good for the most part. I know even Disney can't control the weather, but those boat rides where there were no windows were crazy hot & very miserable.
I am super glad we did the private tour in St. Pete - I feel we got to see so much more than we would have with DCL. I would have skipped the evening boat ride - it really didn't 'fit' what I had in mind as shopping & boat ride. The guide showed us an apartment complex yard with a Wizard of Oz theme & some guy's place who is trying to start a Beatles museum. We then walked back to Nevsky & he took us to 1 shop. Like I said a little odd, but the next day our guide took us to a nice souvenier palce & Bryce got his real Russian hat (muskrat) I have to say my little one drove me nuts because after we were back on the ship he decided he wanted a Russian hat - luckily we got one at the DCL Russian bazzar.

My only other thing, as someone else mentioned is there were alot of not so nice teens on-board (maybe rowdy is a better word?) Bryce got frustrated in the Stack because they'd try doing an activity & so many of the kids weren't listening they couldn't get anything done. I also ran into a few in the Rainforest room. I went in & there were 4 teens taking up 3 of the stone loungers. They were very loud yakking & laughing - very UN-relaxing experience. I said something to the lady at the desk & she made a comment about how they had been told several times to quiet down. Then she looked at my card & said at least you still have another day to come in (I was on day 2 of a 3 day pass). I'm sorry but if they had to be told several times to quiet down then they should have been asked to leave.

Also - yes there was a character breakfast - ours was Fri morning. I'm assuming they were Fri & Sat (the last 2 at sea days) Our dining room team Cornwall & Eric love: they were excellent) made sure we knew when it was, they were good about telling us when there were dining changes & made suggestions on what to do for our St. Pete days.

One more thing - loved the movies, really enjoyed Prince of Persia & Sorcerer's Apprentice. Thought TS3 was OK - so many people said how good it was & I personally thought TS2 was better. Scary thing talking about slipping - some woman slipped down the stairs & reallt turned her ankle.

Ok - really the last thing - the guy doing the talks on Russia, Germany, Stockholm was very interesting. His talks were very informational - I thought he should have been in the WD theater instead of the BV since there were so many people there. He did a special talk for the teens in the Stack on Germany & the wall - Bryce enjoyed it immensly

Sadly we couldn't make a decision on our next cruise so we didn't rebook on-board - I know that will come back to haunt us! But hopefully when we do sail again we'll meet up with some of you again.

 

[aurorafan65]

I think it was fabumouse that mentioned those booties - we saw a lady in a wheelchair & they made her put on booties - I thought that was a little extreme!

 

[fabumouse]

I think it was fabumouse that mentioned those booties - we saw a lady in a wheelchair & they made her put on booties - I thought that was a little extreme!

OMG and it was probably me who fell up the stairs at Prince of Persia. I couldn't see at all and really wanted to leave b/c I was so bored... forgot there was a lip on the stairs and went flying.

 

[fabumouse]

Aurora - I'm sure you know this - but you can make, and then carry a dummy cruise as long as you want to. You don't have to pick a date, you just need to put a deposit down. And you can call DCL and say "move it back as far as you can" and they make a new dummy reservation.

And the Rainforest staff were wrong. They should have dealt with it or extended your visit.

DH watched 3 talks by the history guy - and loved them. Except for the fact he talks in a monotone. His information is great. But his voice is.. um.. too calming....

 

[nzdisneymom]

We skipped the history guy on tv until after Stockholm because we didn't think he'd be very interesting - but we were talking to a guy we'd met on the flight over who had been watching and was telling us about it, so we watched the last few days it was on - it was interesting to listen after we'd been to the various ports but now I'm wishing we'd watched ahead of time. Next time we'll know better.

Stimpy - ugh about your son being sick on the plane and getting no help from the flight attendants.

I think we're about caught up on our timechanges... at least I'm still awake and it's after midnight - that hasn't happened in ages. Of course I was mostly sorting pictures and posting on our blog and facebook, etc. and then I had to come over here to the DIS Just not enough time in the day to do everything with a job and all (LOL).

I had bought some candy in Helsinki and also had gotten some from one of the souvenir shopkeepers in Russia so my coworkers have been glad to have a treat these last few work days.

We have Alaska booked for June 14th.

 

[babybear42]

Anybody else get a email asking them to do the Disney Cruise Line survey? We did but it says the link will be available on August 2nd....weird you would think it would work now....
DH back to work today....poor guy....
I'm still trying to find places for all the things we bought!

We haven't had one. Must be just a select few. Well I've finally finished doing all the cruise laundry and ironing. Still not use to doing the cooking though, the local fish and chip shop has been doing really well out of us since we got back. It well within walking distance, 5 mins there and 5 mins back.

 

[Stimpy]

We got the survey too. Not sure why but I seem to get them every trip we take with Disney...DCL, DVC, Disney resorts. They love us for some reason

I agree about the teens. Some of them were a bit out of control. I was really surprised since we have never seen a problem in all our previous cruises. On my way to the laundry one night, I almost went over to a bunch of them I passed on deck 6 midship (that little sitting area). They were really loud, which wasn't a big deal but the conversation they were having was really inappropriate! I'm pretty hard to shock...work with kids of all ages all the time. They were talking about how one boy wanted to "rape" a girl he met in the Stack The girls in the group were laughing and talking about who they wish would say that about them! I swung my head around so fast to face them, was going to say something but didn't. Just gave them that "are you kidding me???" look instead. I regret not saying something though.

We did also meet some really great teenagers this trip! Very mature & friendly. It's too bad the bad ones are the ones that stick out though.

My DD & I also took a spill! We left some blood behind in St Petersburg We got our legs tangled somehow walking to the buses. Thank you to anyone who helped us I think I will have a permenant scar on my finger as a reminder from our trip

We enjoyed the history guy. My whole family is really into history (well maybe not the 6 yr old yet LOL) and we watched his lectures several times on the tv. DH & DF went to 2 of them in person. My DS wanted to go (the kid is obsessed with history!) but couldn't b/c it was 18+. Agree about his tone though...so glad he wasn't one of my history professors! I probably would have slept through most of his classes

I'm almost done with our laundry...just have DD's princess dresses to do seperately. The kids finally adjusted back to our time yesterday morning....right before DS had to start his acting camp Every morning since we got back they were up at 5 AM. Yesterday I had to drag him out of bed at 7:45.

We booked a dummy date for 12/01/11...it's 3 day Wonder but we're definitely not doing it. I almost think 7 days is too short now after this cruise! I loved how long it was!

 

[aurorafan65]

OMG and it was probably me who fell up the stairs at Prince of Persia. I couldn't see at all and really wanted to leave b/c I was so bored... forgot there was a lip on the stairs and went flying.

No it wasn't you - it was a lady coming into the theater - she slid down a couple steps & the CM selling popcorn came running in to take her to medical, I saw her later in the cruise luckily she wasn't limping because by the look of it I thought she really hurt her ankle.

& yeah I know we could have done a dummy date & like the upgrade I'm still kicking myself over not booking something - what was I thinking!

I think we're about caught up on our timechanges... at least I'm still awake and it's after midnight - that hasn't happened in ages. Of course I was mostly sorting pictures and posting on our blog and facebook, etc. and then I had to come over here to the DIS Just not enough time in the day to do everything with a job and all (LOL).

The time thing is so nuts. The boys finally have stayed up past 9pm & aren't getting up at 5am
Did you do the wake-up call on the ship. Tim taped Mickey telling us to get up & face the day

We haven't had one. Must be just a select few. Well I've finally finished doing all the cruise laundry and ironing. Still not use to doing the cooking though, the local fish and chip shop has been doing really well out of us since we got back. It well within walking distance, 5 mins there and 5 mins back.

Bryce would be so jealous if I told him this - every chance he got he had fish & chips. One of our favorites was a place in Canterbury - it was a stand type place (I'm sure typical of the local scene) in addition to fish & chips, they had a deep fried hamburger & chips - Jimmy LOVED that one. The other day I asked the boys if they wanted chips & they asked English or American

 

[wintergreen]

Part I of my blog is up:

http://land.allears.net/blogs/guestblog/2010/07/european_capitals_of_the_north.html

 

[nzdisneymom]

Alice - I'll have to read your blog - I love reading trip reports! Thanks for the link. I really enjoyed getting to meet you and your DH.

Andrea - we did get the wakeup call from Mickey - every morning except the sea days (except the first one) because while I would get up earlier than necessary, it was MICKEY telling the boys it was time to get up and moving, not me Seriously, we figured that we needed 1 1/2 hours before our excursion meet time for the four of us to get up and be ready without anyone having to rush. I was usually up first, usually up way before the wake-up call because I'm always so anxious to look out the verandah to see the new country we're in each day! Or to see the sun rise or what the day looks like! And with the various time changes, who knows what time I was really getting up - but never before I'd had enough sleep I'd get up and get ready and then go sit on the verandah and write in my notebook or work on my blog posts until DH was up and ready for breakfast. Or I might go have breakfast by myself (as some of you saw!). On the 2nd sea day, it was a Lumiere's day for me - I had breakfast, lunch, and dinner there (I'm such a collector that if I have one I have to have them all so I decided to 'collect' my meals at Lumiere's that day - much like I was collecting photos of Minnie Mouse in all her outfits - I only missed her princess one). Anyway, we also learned that the best thing was for Zachary to get up after DH and get ready and have breakfast and then once he was out the door, Nathan would get up - I was usually out at that point and would come back with a box of fruit loops, a banana, and a glass of oj for him. It sure cut out any grumpies from any of us by falling into that routine. We'll share a cabin again next summer in Alaska but after that, we'll be booking two cabins for future cruises.

 

[fabumouse]

it was interesting to listen after we'd been to the various ports but now I'm wishing we'd watched ahead of time. Next time we'll know better.


I think we're about caught up on our timechanges...
We have Alaska booked for June 14th.

Although it won't be as detailed, I have made a vow to know more about Alaska than I did about many of the countries we visited this trip! We just discovered that about half the population lives in Anchorage. It will be interesting to figure out where the other half of the population lives, given the size of Alaska. Alaska was purchased from Russia for 2 cents an acre.

See! I'm a wellspring of knowledge already.

We are also caught up on our time changes - finally. DH mocks us b/c he has to just adjust immediately, there's not a lot of time in his occupation to fuss about jet lag.. but it really did take us awhile to quit falling asleep at 8pm and waking up at 4am.

Stimpy - I have so many upset thoughts about the kids in the stairwells & halls during this trip that I don't even know what to say except that the DCL staff will absolutely not say anything to these kids unless another guest complains. And re the history guy - I think you could have easily snuck in your son, as nobody was paying any attention except "where can I find a seat"? LOL - me too!! 7 days is too short! I'm thinking of trying to get my BFF to do a WDW trip and then a cruise with our DHs & kids. So then a four day cruise wouldn't be so awful.