A European Dream - Disney Dream Med 2023 5/20-5/27 - update 11/21

[Flossbolna]

So, I have high hopes of finally writing a trip report again. My previous attempts got kind of stuck, but I feel this will work better as a cruise is a more confined trip! As much as I love to add loads of information that is useful for those who might want to take a similar trip, I will concentrate more on our experience and add less general information. But, if you want to know details on something specific, please just ask and I will explain!

Here we go again. Much like a big event coming in the fall of 2024, one that looks like 2020 (if someone isn't in jail first), we're attempting a trip report. Why you are reading, I can't answer. Boredom. Penance. Some sort of heretofore undiagnosed mental illness. Anyway, the German M wanted very much to do a trip report. You might recall that we have three incomplete reports on here from 2017 Florida, 2017 Asia (SDL, TDR, Tokyo and Kyoto) and 2021 Pandemic Freedom with the Crazy Neighbors to Europa Park. They might someday get finished. And Disney might cut its prices by 40% to make them only crazy and not obscene. In other words, be happy if we can entertain, educate and make you wonder. Again, if this doesn't get finished, blame the blonde.

A brief introduction to who we are:
Me, Flossbolna on the DIS, Magdalene in real life, and Michael, the guy whose comments will appear in this maroon color, my husband. I am German, he is American and we life (mostly) in a „provincial village“ (according to Michael, in reality our town is among the 20 biggest cities in Germany, which he informs me isn’t saying much) in Germany, in Nuremberg. Famous for gingerbread, toys, sausages, bad Nazi history, but also the Nuremberg Trials which is the birthplace of the idea that one can prosecute war crimes. We have no kids, but a plush bear called Big Sugar D. Do not mention his estranged cousin called Duffy, he really can’t stand that guy! You might see him now and then in a few pictures. If you want to know more about us, there is a library of previous trip reports (some of them actually completed) in my signature.

This trip was long planned even though we weren’t sure whether we would take it when we originally booked it. When Disney released the summer 2023 cruises in May 2022 we really wanted to put a deposit down for a cruise as we hadn’t cruised since 2016 for a variety of reasons (going to Japan and Hawaii and some virus amongst others). But we couldn’t make up our minds between the first Mediterranean cruise on the Dream or an Alaska cruise in August. In the end we booked both with the idea we would make that decision later. We never did. And now we are going to go on two cruises in 2023.

M thinks that this was my intent all along. It wasn't. I only wanted one originally, especially since I took my mom for a seven-night Halloween on the High Seas Western Caribbean cruise on the Fantasy in October to kickstart my cruising juices. That was a been there, done that and repeat deal for me. This Med cruise was going to take me to ports I had never been to and Alaska ... well, I went once 20 years ago on a 12-day land trip with my brother and fell in love with the place and can't wait to return.

Between the original booking and May 2023 the trip also got extended with all kind of add-ons.

The first add-on was something that was in our calendar well before the cruise was booked. In September of 2019 Michael read that Elton John had just added more concerts in Germany to his farewell tour. So, we looked at cities and dates and decided that September 2020 in Cologne would be a good fit for us. Well, you know why we didn’t see Elton in 2020. The concert was first moved to September 2021. Then relatively close to that date Germany was still not allowing big events at full capacity and it was moved again - to May. 2023. So 32 months later than the original date!!!

It is insane to contemplate that we had friends who had seen the Farewell Yellowbrick Road Tour as long ago as 2018 when it kicked off. And friends that had seen him after the world restarted and that we waited so long. I had wanted to see him originally, but before I could get tickets or plan anything for dates in Germany, Florida and California they were all sold out. I couldn't believe my luck when he added these dates in 2019 for 2020. ... How I never could have foreseen the insanity that was about to envelop the world (most especially the USA!)

We quickly realized that it made more sense to go to Cologne for the concert and then travel to Barcelona from there than to go home for a couple of nights.

The other add-on was when we were researching on how to travel to and from Barcelona and Michael asked - mainly out of curiosity I think - whether one could go via train. I looked into that and saw that indeed one could travel with just changing trains twice all the way from Barcelona to Nuremberg. However, it would require a layover in Marseille or Avignon. I lured Michael into agreeing to the train by promising a few nights in Avignon to see a bit of Provence. And then we invited my father to come and join us in Avignon.

It was presented to me as two nights. I demanded three. Then, M's dad decided to join us and it became five ... not that things went anything close to planned.

So the hard facts of the trip are now as follows:

5/14 -5/17: Cologne, Hyatt Regency Köln, Phantasialand, Elton John concert on 5/16
5/17-5/20: Barcelona, Renaissance Fira Barcelona. Port Aventura World
5/20-5/27: DCL cruise on the Dream with stops in Toulon (France), Livorno, Civitavecchia, Naples (all three Italy) and Palma de Mallorca (Spain) and one Day at Sea
5/27-6/1: Avignon, Hotel Cloître Saint Louis
6/1: Train Home to Nuremberg

To get you started I am going to post a little picture preview of the things we saw and did.

 

[dizneeat]

I am here! Gonna be a fun read for sure! Glad to see you back here and doing another trip report.

 

[franandaj]

Subbing in. Will come back to read!

ETA - Sounds like a great trip! Can't wait to hear more! Loved the photo synopsis!

 

[jedijill]

Thanks for the bat signal…I’m here! Hey I might have seen Elton a time or two or three or Four since 2018!

Jill in CO

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Can't wait to read more.

 

[Disneyland_emily]

Well that didn’t cause me to sleep like someone said it would

 

[Flossbolna]

I am here! Gonna be a fun read for sure! Glad to see you back here and doing another trip report.

Hi Karin! It was great to finally meet you on that cruise!

Subbing in. Will come back to read!

Happy to have you here!

Thanks for the bat signal…I’m here! Hey I might have seen Elton a time or two or three or Four since 2018!

Jill in CO

Yes, I think you might have been one of the people referenced by Michael!

Can't wait to read more.

Great to have you onboard!

Well that didn’t cause me to sleep like someone said it would

I am sorry if it didn't live up to Michael's promises...

 

[Flossbolna]

So, after I had to get this thread moved because I accidentally put in on the main cruise board let's get started with the first travel day. (I am still embarrassed... After being on here for over 12 years and more than 12,000 posts I go and post a thread on the wrong board... ).

 

[Flossbolna]

May 14: Travelling to Cologne

Somehow, we were very prepared for this trip. We had printed out all travel confirmations and put them in order days before. We had brought our things together to be packed the weekend before. We weren’t leaving until Sunday, so with Saturday as a work free day it should have all been easy.

But then on Thursday my back started to hurt and just kept getting worse as the day progressed to the point that I started to lose mobility in my lower spine and couldn’t turn left nor right. Strangely, she could dance around in circles, though. I decided to cancel my work meetings for Friday morning and instead go and see my orthopedic doctor. And afterwards work from home.

After an x-ray which resulted in the doctor complimenting my very “young” lumbar spine he popped the affected vertebra back in position. It was still painful, but I could move my back again! He said ibuprofen should do the trick to calm down the muscles. And it did. After a couple of days, it was all good!

Work, despite the cancelled meetings, turned out to have a few surprises up its sleeve and was far more stressful than expected.

And then Saturday was mainly taken up by an intensive unit of my Japanese course. Four hours in the afternoon. By the time I was done I was pretty exhausted, but luckily, I was mostly already packed. We had our traditional pre-vacation dinner of take away Thai. We both tried something different than the usual order and it was as tasty as always.

Then we finished the suitcases and were all done without rushing.

Or so I thought.

Of course, I found a million things to do the morning before we left. The train left at 11 am and we had to get out of the house by 10:20 am as we wanted to grab some lunch to eat on the train. So, I took out all garbage, cleaned the toilets, tried to pick up the house as much as possible so we wouldn’t come home to chaos.

And we were off to the train station in time.

This train trip had been a bit of an emotional roller coaster. There is a big contract dispute between German railways and the rail union and there had been the threat of a rail strike looming over us. So much that I had contemplated booking a one-way car rental just in case. And then a rail strike was announced on the Wednesday before we left. BUT it wasn’t supposed to start until Sunday evening. Well after we would have arrived in Cologne. But with the expected disruptions I was afraid the train would be really full. Then on Saturday morning the big news was that the strike was called off at the last moment. We were very relieved, but didn’t know that there were more surprises (and even a strike) going to come with all the train travel we had planned to do during that trip!

Some REALLY good advice: don't ever count on German rail to get you anywhere on time and comfortable. Just don't.

We picked up sandwiches for our lunch later on the train at the Le Crobag - a chain on German railway stations that sells French inspired baked good. We decided that it would fit the theme of the trip.

Then on to our platform. There we got a nasty shock. We had seat reservations in coach 38 but the electronic sign only showed the locations for the coaches 21-28. The other half of the train with the coaches 31-38 was missing on the sign and it turned out that indeed our coach did not arrive.

Yes, sometimes, DB will simply opt to send a train missing a third of its cars. What if your seat is in one of them? Well, you're the idiot who booked with them, so isn't it really your fault? (Please see the SNL brutal sketch commercial on Southwest Airlines from earlier this year to fully appreciate my statement above.)


We managed to get seats in an area that was for last minute reservations and once on the train the conductor confirmed that the seats would be free all the way to Cologne and blocked them for us so that no one else could reserve them anymore.

We kind of were lucky that two days before the trip we had gotten an offer to upgrade to first class for 19€ and I had decided that would be nice for the start of the vacation. First class is not that much of an upgrade, the seats are wider and you have more leg room, but there is no food included like on an airplane. In hindsight I think it was much easier to squeeze into the first-class coaches with all of our luggage on that train that was missing half of its coaches!

But what is nice in first class is that they come through and you can order food and drink from the dining car to be brought to your seat. When it was lunch time, we did order drinks and were served nice glass bottles and glasses for our Cokes. I had brought ice cubes in my fancy new insulated cup that I had gotten especially for this trip. They do not have ice cubes on the train! The sandwiches were good, I had a vegetarian one with avocado and feta cheese, Michael’s was spicy salami (I think).

The trip to Cologne is a little over three hours and for the last hour (after Frankfurt) the train got really crowded. The seats behind us were then occupied by a mother travelling with a four-year-old and a baby who had booked the special small children compartment in the missing coaches, so the conductor tried to help out with giving her the more spacious first-class seats. I started talking to her when I noticed that a baby was trying to crawl under my seat. Not at all close to the top 100 unusual things witnessed on a DB train. A little while later she was suddenly standing next to me and held out the baby asking if I could hold her for a little while she quickly went to the bathroom. I agreed and Michael had the shock of his life that I would agree to hold someone else’s germ factory at the start of our trip. But all went well, mom was back quickly and we stayed healthy!

Our train did not stop at the main train station of Cologne, but one they added specifically for the high-speed line. That was great for us as our hotel was more or less next to this station. But it is a very strange station. To get from the platform where you arrive from the south, you need to go down a set of stairs and then up again on the other side. Usually, long distance train stations have escalators or elevators as people travel with luggage. We searched for one, but it turns out there is none. We had far too much luggage for stairs! However, there was an exit to the other side of the station. Since we had stayed in that area last year in July we knew that there was a way to cross the tracks by going through the underground station entrance behind the station. So, we went down a tunnel and then up a tunnel and it took us 15 minutes to go a 300-yard distance.

But we made it to the hotel, the Hyatt Regency, without issue and checked in. We got a very nice upgrade to a Rhine River view room since Michael has status with Hyatt. We also got lounge access certificates from our travels last year and had decided to apply one to this stay. This totally paid off! Not only did we have 24/7 access to free soft drinks at the lounge, a huge thing in Germany, but they also have a nice afternoon cake hour and appetizers and drinks in the evening. And best of all, it also included the hotel breakfast buffet in the restaurant which would have been 37€ per person!

We had stayed at the Hyatt last year so we knew that the rooms were a bit dated. But still nice and large with a great bathroom. But we were happy to see that they had signs up advertising their upcoming renovations.

All in all the Hyatt Regency Cologne is a lovely hotel. The location is perfect as it is just a brief walk across the bridge to the cathedral and the city center.

Cologne isn't a great hotel market, but is a great city and I can't speak highly enough about the Hyatt and its staff. And the rooms will be all new starting later this year.

After dropping off our luggage we headed up to the lounge as cake hour was going to end soon. We got some cake and coffee and enjoyed the view from up there.

Afterwards we went for a stroll along the river before we returned to the lounge for appetizers before dinner.

We had to pace ourselves to not eat too much as we were going to have dinner at one of the hotel restaurants with my godchild and her boyfriend, we call them V&A for this. She has grown up into a very accomplished young lady, currently writing her master thesis in theoretical physics and getting head hunted for various PhD programs. Her boyfriend has been around for years, but this was the first time we had met him. He turned out to be very nice and we had fun chatting with them!

The food was also very good. It is an Italian restaurant with emphasis on freshly made pasta and a seasonal menu. Michael and I ended up sharing a pasta dish and each got a salad as well. We had eaten there last year as well and it was equally good this time.

It was very good. But we only went to spend time with V&A. If they hadn't have been there, we would have simply had more at the lounge.

We walked with them back across the river for getting a little more exercise. I think this was one of the few days where we did not end up with loads of steps.

Up Next: A Visit to Phantasialand

 

[Magical_Suitcase]

Oh my goodness! You are back! Thank you!!!

 

[Flossbolna]

Oh my goodness! You are back! Thank you!!!

Hi there! Great to see you!

 

[dolphingirl47]

Checking in. Thanks for the bat signal. I have to come back to this once I am back from my Med cruise. Somehow this crept up on me and I am nowhere near ready.

I am glad that you made it to Cologne OK even with a few stops and starts. This is such a great city. I do however wonder who in their right mind designed a high speed train station without lifts or escalator.

The hotel and dinner sound lovely.

Corinna

 

[glennbo123]

Thank you for the Bat Signal Magdalene. I confess that I would not have found this without it...I'm not on here much anymore, sadly. (If you're on Instagram, I'm on there with a very similar screen name as on here. )

When I got to that picture of you holding a baby, I had to screech to a halt -- "Does she have more news to share than I realized?!!" But no, it was somebody else's germ factory.

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

Hi Magdalene (and Michael)! I'm here! Thanks for the heads up.

So, I have high hopes of finally writing a trip report again.

Uh huh.

My previous attempts got kind of stuck, but I feel this will work better as a cruise is a more confined trip!

Uh huh.

Why you are reading, I can't answer. Boredom. Penance. Some sort of heretofore undiagnosed mental illness.

Well, you guys have been such faithful readers on my TR's, with all the comments and...oh.

Yeah, I don't know, either.

You might recall that we have three incomplete reports on here from 2017 Florida, 2017 Asia (SDL, TDR, Tokyo and Kyoto) and 2021 Pandemic Freedom with the Crazy Neighbors to Europa Park. They might someday get finished.

Fourth time's the charm!

We never did. And now we are going to go on two cruises in 2023.

Well, that's a nice problem to have.

M thinks that this was my intent all along. It wasn't.

Uh huh.

After an x-ray which resulted in the doctor complimenting my very “young” lumbar spine he popped the affected vertebra back in position. It was still painful, but I could move my back again! He said ibuprofen should do the trick to calm down the muscles. And it did. After a couple of days, it was all good!

I'm glad he could get you fixed up for the trip! That sounds painful.

Some REALLY good advice: don't ever count on German rail to get you anywhere on time and comfortable. Just don't.

Now that's surprising. I thought if anyone would be on schedule, it would be the Germans.

Then on to our platform. There we got a nasty shock. We had seat reservations in coach 38 but the electronic sign only showed the locations for the coaches 21-28. The other half of the train with the coaches 31-38 was missing on the sign and it turned out that indeed our coach did not arrive.

Yes, sometimes, DB will simply opt to send a train missing a third of its cars. What if your seat is in one of them? Well, you're the idiot who booked with them, so isn't it really your fault?

I guess we don't have a monopoly on terrible customer service after all.

I started talking to her when I noticed that a baby was trying to crawl under my seat.

I agreed and Michael had the shock of his life that I would agree to hold someone else’s germ factory at the start of our trip. But all went well, mom was back quickly and we stayed healthy!

Parenthood is mostly a never-ending state of desperation.

We also got lounge access certificates from our travels last year and had decided to apply one to this stay. This totally paid off! Not only did we have 24/7 access to free soft drinks at the lounge, a huge thing in Germany, but they also have a nice afternoon cake hour and appetizers and drinks in the evening. And best of all, it also included the hotel breakfast buffet in the restaurant which would have been 37€ per person!

Those are some very nice perks!

we call them V&A for this.

Victoria & Albert?

 

[jedijill]

Ooh, back pain is not a good way to start a trip. Glad the doctor got your fixed up. DB is so challenging! I'm glad you got to Cologne! I've only sped by on the train on my way to Dusseldorf!

Glad you didn't get sick from the germ factory of a baby! LOL

Jill in CO

 

[Flossbolna]

Checking in. Thanks for the bat signal. I have to come back to this once I am back from my Med cruise. Somehow this crept up on me and I am nowhere near ready.

I am glad that you made it to Cologne OK even with a few stops and starts. This is such a great city. I do however wonder who in their right mind designed a high speed train station without lifts or escalator.

The hotel and dinner sound lovely.

Corinna

Hi Corinna, great to see you here! Hope you are more ready for your cruise now! The train station is Köln Deutz and they shoehorned it in so that the ICE doesn't go across the Hohenzollernbrücke into the Hauptbahnhof. There is some strange lift for wheel chairs, but even a family with a stroller was really baffled what they were supposed to do...

Thank you for the Bat Signal Magdalene. I confess that I would not have found this without it...I'm not on here much anymore, sadly. (If you're on Instagram, I'm on there with a very similar screen name as on here. )

When I got to that picture of you holding a baby, I had to screech to a halt -- "Does she have more news to share than I realized?!!" But no, it was somebody else's germ factory.

Welcome! I have to admit that I am following you on Instagram, I will send you a PM there. Don't get surprised if it is from someone with a bizarre username.

And talking about babies: Congratulations on your grand baby!

 

[Flossbolna]

Hi Magdalene (and Michael)! I'm here!

Hello! Thanks for being here!

Well, you guys have been such faithful readers on my TR's, with all the comments and...oh.

Yes, thanks for being a better friend than us!

Fourth time's the charm!

Exactly!!

Uh huh.

Ok, this is third time now, I am not sure it's a sign of confidence in me...

Now that's surprising. I thought if anyone would be on schedule, it would be the Germans.

Nah, that was in the 1980s... It's the Swiss that can run a train on schedule.

I guess we don't have a monopoly on terrible customer service after all.

Haha, that's a joke, isn't it?? In Germany the USA are considered customer service heaven!

Parenthood is mostly a never-ending state of desperation.

A good thing we avoided that then...

Those are some very nice perks!

Yes, we are going to Berlin this weekend and I am already moping about now being able to go to the lounge for snacks and drinks...

Victoria & Albert?

50% correct.

 

[Flossbolna]

Ooh, back pain is not a good way to start a trip. Glad the doctor got your fixed up. DB is so challenging! I'm glad you got to Cologne! I've only sped by on the train on my way to Dusseldorf!

Glad you didn't get sick from the germ factory of a baby! LOL

Jill in CO

To be fair, I grew up in a train traveling family and in my early teens loved mapping out train trips everywhere with the big printed schedule book. I know my way around trains so usually I can handle these situations quite well. But for someone who doesn't have that in depth knowledge it can be so challenging!

Michael was very sceptical of my good deed, but mom came back quickly and I never had any doubt about it. That would have made for a hell of a story to get stranded with an abandoned baby on a train!!

 

[franandaj]

After an x-ray which resulted in the doctor complimenting my very “young” lumbar spine he popped the affected vertebra back in position. It was still painful, but I could move my back again! He said ibuprofen should do the trick to calm down the muscles. And it did. After a couple of days, it was all good!

Very good that it got all fixed!

We had our traditional pre-vacation dinner of take away Thai. We both tried something different than the usual order and it was as tasty as always.

That's an interesting takeout container, and it looks very spicy!

We had seat reservations

OK, thanks for confirming this. I will need to make sure and do that for my visit.

it turned out that indeed our coach did not arrive.

Yikes! That's crazy!

We kind of were lucky that two days before the trip we had gotten an offer to upgrade to first class for 19€ and I had decided that would be nice for the start of the vacation.

I'm just going to book 1st class anyways!

I agreed and Michael had the shock of his life that I would agree to hold someone else’s germ factory at the start of our trip.

I would be afraid that there would be a diaper breach!

And best of all, it also included the hotel breakfast buffet in the restaurant which would have been 37€ per person!

Nice! All my perks are with Hilton.

We had to pace ourselves to not eat too much as we were going to have dinner at one of the hotel restaurants

That looks like it could have made a full meal!

 

[dolphingirl47]

Hi Corinna, great to see you here! Hope you are more ready for your cruise now! The train station is Köln Deutz and they shoehorned it in so that the ICE doesn't go across the Hohenzollernbrücke into the Hauptbahnhof. There is some strange lift for wheel chairs, but even a family with a stroller was really baffled what they were supposed to do...

I definitely made progress. Pretty much everything is done apart from the packing and that is about 80% complete. I just need to add a couple of things to the suitcase and sort out the hand luggage and personal item. I think this should be doable in about 10 hours.

I think we had to change at Köln Deutz, when we came back from Nürnberg on our pandemic tour of Germany in 2020.

Corinna