NeesieOnaBoat

Quick Question on Chairs...

Are there enough for all guest, or do you need to rent some form of lounge?

Thanks for the report!

We are doing a DCL Stockholm tour, for the reasons you stated. It just seemed easier, and really didn't see a lot of alternative. I have the Rick Steves guide, but honestly I didn't read anything on tours. Helsinki is also DCL, only because we got the last few Reindeer sanctuary spots. Reindeer! (insert gleefully clapping hands and jumping up and down.)

 

Talinn and SPB seem to be easier to book privately, which we are doing.

You are on the June 6th DCL Magic cruise? Kids will LOVE the reindeer, lol.

Your options depend on where you are docking. If you are at stadsgarden and will be visiting vasa, I would recommend taking a one stop hoho boat that is available right next to the port. Stromma offers one stop tickets that are affordable and go directly to vassa early before all the other attractions open. You need to get to vasa early, before it gets crowded. The nice thing is that it opens early during the summer season. Public transportation was very simple in stockholm - we went to the information desk or ticket desk at each attraction and asked them how to get to the next one. They gave us directions and we were fine.

 

Please post your ships date and name if you have trouble finding the dock and we can help you.

Thanks... Disney Magic (June 13th out of Copenhagen) and we'll be docking at Frihamnen on June 18th, 2015. Just found a useful site showing all the vessel calls: http://www.portsofstockholm.com/vessel-calls/

It looks like we can either Taxi (being careful to select a valid and will priced one) or Bus. Also sounds like going to the Vassa works best if you are with a tour because you can get it earlier or jump the line? Did you find that to be the case?

The 11 night Baltic cruise out of Dover this summer is currently 25K for a verandah with 4 people. I almost spit my coffee on my screen when I saw that last night!

 

I'm willing to pay DCL prices, not so much for the characters, etc, but because Disney does customer service so well. But I draw the line at 25K! Actually, I draw the line well before 25K. :)

LOL, no matter when you look at the cost of a DCL cruise, it's always higher to 'coffee spitting' higher. Clearly the old price vs. demand works for them better than most. Glad I'm not the only one willing to pay for DCL, and we don't have little kids ... but I think everyone has a limit.

We booked on the Disney Magic and we booked it in January. It was getting very full then so prices were not the best. But honestly I didn't even look to see how much more I'm paying, but I'm sure I could have saved at least 2K going with someone else. Thing is, I wanted to go with DCL and it wasn't at my draw the line price .... but it was close! Since this is a milestone cruise for us, celebrating hubby's 50th and son's college graduation, a bit of over indulgence seemed acceptable this time, but 25K, that's coffee spitting for sure!

Next time I book with DCL I'll plan better to get a better price.

However, DCL excursions priced over budget with 4 adults. I have a couple booked, but I did them just as place holders because geez... people book those things like mad and they get sold out! Think I'll use them on the shorter 1/2 day stop just to take away the brain damage and not have to convince 3 others that we will not miss the ship. But boy am I glad to hear others are DIY on the other ports, even with kids. I did notice that DCL has 'adult only' excursions and some are the same as the ones that allow kids, just a adult only departure. The port I'm looking at now is Stockholm. Seems like the biggest hurdle there is figuring out transportation to/from the port. My eyes are crossing trying to figure out whether to trust a taxi or use somewhat confusing public transportation. I don't mind confusing if I'm not on a timeline... but getting back to the ship is what always makes me take notice when I can't just walk.

Any advice on Stockholm with 8-9 hours? Tripadvisor isn't showing too many private tour companies and most seem very small independents which you have to prepay. It may become a DIY as well if I can figure out the transportation to/from the port. What say ya'll?

Maybe it's just me, but I'd much rather do laundry in a laundry room with a machine (and relax in my cabin or in a lounge while waiting for it to be done) than hand wash in the sink! I'd consider hand-washing far more work!

Can I share the trick to hand washing, lol... you only do one or two items of your own pieces and can do them while you are in the shower, or take 5 minutes before you go to bed. You can use the body wash or shampoo, don't have to carry detergent. I spent year's traveling for business and learned the value of 'less is more'. "Take half as many clothes as you think you need and twice as much money". Try it sometime, there is nothing stressful or 'work' at all. It doesn't work with jeans, heavy cotton or anything that you suspect needs to flop in a dryer. I have a 'travel' wardrobe for this reason. Make's my flights easier, transport easier and I always have room for any shopping. I'm either out enjoying my day or sleeping when my clothes are drying. Just a different way of doing things, but if you have kids, forget it till they are grown, you are going to the laundry, lol!

To answer the DCL excursion question... They might be hard to get because of the way DCL allows access 90/75 days in advance to past cruisers. However, I've booked a private tour with SPG tours in St. Petersburg because they are half the cost of DCL private tours and easier to customize. Plus they are rated much higher than the company the cruise lines use. You can't customize the DCL tour until you are on the boat and even then you go through the tour desk instead of speaking to your tour operator directly.

All in all, I think that's par for the course on most cruise lines, there tours are more expensive and more limited. They hook you with with the fear of missing the ship!

Yep, know about the ships laundry and I get the "I'm on VACATiON" attitude and don't want to spend any time there, lol.

With young kids or big families, my attitude might not work, but mine is 21 now and has learned to pack light as well. In fact, it runs in the family. We had 5 people travel to Australia for three weeks in a roll aboards and backpacks and most laundry was done in the sinks. I think we did 4 loads via machine's the whole trip. I enjoy the challenge of finding things that look great, dry quick and avoid the laundry hassle, and I still manage to have something for formal night. My biggest hurdle is shoes!!!

When I'm at WDW instead of the ships, are on DVC properties and it's easy, the laundry is in the room! I tend to let down my pack light standard a bit. But when I have multiple fights (which is often coming from Colorado) or multiple stops on holiday, it's either wash it in the shower/sink and hang to dry, or pay someone to do it. Of course if the Hubby and adult kids wanta take up the task, that's a different story...

Those are amazing stories.

Four years ago we witnessed a Helicopter Medical Evac on a Carnival Cruise. I was amazed at the skill of the Coast Guard pilot flying diagonal, matching the ships cruising speed while holding steady enough to lift a passenger into the Helicopter.

From that day forward I've always considered how blessed we are each time we step off a ship with our own power. While we all hate to get off the ship, we are lucky to have sailed safely and blessed to have those skilled and willing in rescue.

I've only cruised once (so far) on DCL and after we discovered something other than the buffet, we were happier! Something about carrying around a tray looking for a spot to sit down stresses me out, I love having service and meeting another cast member!

Haven't yet tried room service, next time!

It's a treat to sail with DCL. I'd only done Carnival and enjoyed it, but now that I've sailed with DCL, I'm afraid my standards have gone up. Headed to Europe June 13 to sail with the Disney Magic so thanks for that pack list Ducklite, lol. I also travel with one roll on bag and it does take planning!

Good news is, they have fun things in the ships store if I get bored with what I packed!

I've discovered these brands that I like for easy washing in the room... Kuhl, Toad&Co, REI and Edie Bauer. All have great pieces that dry quickly and don't all look like they were designed for a 20 something backpackers!

So, bottom line, there are reasons to pay more IF those reasons are in line with your values. DCL's are in line with mine.

I'm starting to wonder who's going on our Disney cruise in Northern Europe, I started and Roll Call and it's crickets, lol. So I question if the all adult area will be packed. I've seen most forum activity on the Disney cruise's related to people organizing Fish Extenders.

And yep, it is crazy crazy expensive, at least double what we could have done on another cruise line, but we were so impressed with the Disney Wonder that we wanted to go with Disney Magic. Oh well, you only live once!

My husband and I booked a cruise last minute. We didn't care where it was going, just wanted to try DCL. We loved it and we experienced bad weather and a few problems, yet DCL did all the right things to address them all!

The rooms are being updated because they were working on the room above us and it made the balcony loud during the day so they moved us to a larger room on the other side of the ship. No idea what the navigator balconys are like, but I know you can not see the water when you sitting down. If this is a concern, I'm sure you can upgrade your room, or move elsewhere.

The ship itself is due for remodel, but honestly, it didn't seem old at all to me and was nicer than the three Carnival ships I've sailed on.

The kids didn't bother me at all, and I have a low tolerance for screaming children, lol. They were so happy, as were the parents. Seemed like the parents paid more attention to the kids because there is so much for them to do that the parents get breaks so often!

Entertainment was excellent, Service was excellent, Food a higher quality and variety. No lobster night, I sorta missed that... but I loved being able to have a Mickey Ice cream bar (ask for it, not on menus) and stuffed pretzels like they have in the park. Palo's was amazing - such rich food, so beware of how fully you'll be! Drinks expensive, tips higher, but expected that.

The spa is wonderful...consider a couples pass for the Rainforest. They actually had a problem with the rainforest and a few of the features caught on fire (not great on a ship) and they were so quick to reslove the electrical short that the spa was only down for 5-6 hours. They refunded our money and allowed us to still use the features that were working.

No casino, but I don't gamble, so that's not a loss. No special shopping like on other lines, just the two Disney stores. They are very nice, but I did miss the 'junk' shopping just a little. Loved being able to go the movies all hours of the day, not just the movie playing on the outside deck, but in the theather. No drink holders, that was odd, but it was still comforatble. They played first run movies. For example, we saw: "Into the Woods", "Guardians of the Galaxy" and "Big Hero Six".

Word of warning about Castaway Cay - if the weather is bad and currents or high sea's are present, you may not be able to dock. This happened to us as well, so while we were disappointed, it was very clear the captain made the right choice in keeping us safe. Speaking of safe, it was very clean as well and they handed out sanitation wipes as you walked into every resturant and had wet wipes and hand sanitation in many locations.

Bottom line, we loved it so much that we booked a 7 day European cruise for 4 in June out of Copenhagen to celebrate our sons college graduation! Again, an all adult event. I am certain we could have sailed much cheaper with another cruise line, but DCL will be hard to top!

Good luck to you!