Disney Magic 12 nt. British Isles Cruise 2017

Great start-I'd love to go on this cruise but DH is sticking with "7 days or less" until he isn't working full time anymore. Boo. We got on the ship at Dover after you left so thanks for leaving it in such good shape :) Really loved the Magic!
 
Awesome! We were on this cruise too and LOVED it! Flew British Airways as well for a great price for a direct flight from Ft. Lauderdale to Gatwick in London. We did the red eye, but arrived two days before the cruise on the 7th. Planned a light day for the first day since we knew we would be groggy. But caught up by the 8th and were feeling fantastic by the time of embarkation on the 9th! I'm so excited to read about your impressions! I wish we were just starting this trip all over again!
 
Clayton was a fantastic cruise director! I just finished the west-med cruise and had a fabulous time.
 


We are also doing our first Disney Cruise and first trip to Europe this September. You are right, booking the cruise was the easy part. If all goes well, we will consider a British Isles cruise in the future. These cruises, with the airfare, hotels, excursions can get a little pricey. Just wondering if you have a final total for what the whole adventure cost?
 
Cool! I will post "quicky" insights as I see fit.... thanks you!

We met the DCL reps right outside baggage claim. They have their "paddle of power" in the air and we greeted them and they immediately took care of us.... can't say enough about those people! We boarded the bus (I'm guessing) around 11am local time. We had plenty of time to get to the port, board the ship, have a nice lunch in Cabanas and walk around the ship to take photos of the scenery... we we're beat needless to say.

We flew to Philadelphia due to no connections via JFK from Bradley (Hartford, CT). We booked this trip in Feb. and had few choices on flights. There is an Air Lingus flight that leaves Bradley and goes to Dublin, but then all the other connections we would have to make..... we weren't into it. So with just one connection in Philly.... it made sense for us...... BTW, not driving to NY. You guys are brave!!

Thanks for posting this.

Isn't it funny how the local airports sometimes wind up better serving non-locals? We fly out of NY and CT flies from PHL.

I think we lucked out with securing flights first week in January. It's right after the holidays and airlines do tend to barter a little for sales around then. I remember booking Air Canada for Alaska out of Vancouver at 12:01 am black Friday morning. They posted a special 15 or 20% off shopping code that day and we never saw the PHL fares that low again.

Love that the Disney reps are there to greet you right at baggage claim with their paddles in the air! Can't miss them which is awesome. Do they collect your luggage from you right at the conveyor belts and proceed with you through customs?

We weren't sure if the Sofitel was bussing just its hotel guests or grouping us with same day airport arrivals. (we had 3 full bus loads that morning)

From what you're describing, it appears the DCL works two separate Dover transfer operations out of Heathrow - one inside the terminals for same day arrivals and one exclusive to the guests staying at the Sofitel.
 


Great start! Looking forward to reading about your cruise. :goodvibes:

Thanks so much! next post is on it's way.

Great beginning. Looking forward to your report.

Thank you. Hope you continue to enjoy it.

When we were planning this outbound leg I was a bit Leary about driving into the JFK area. The saving grace was knowing there would be optimum traffic conditions so early in the morning. It went very well but I wouldn't do it any other time of day.

True. I completely agree. (now get back to crossing off our next bucket list item) Italy? Croatia? Game of thrones film sites? Skellig Michael? Hello? is this thing on???

We are also doing our first Disney Cruise and first trip to Europe this September. You are right, booking the cruise was the easy part. If all goes well, we will consider a British Isles cruise in the future. These cruises, with the airfare, hotels, excursions can get a little pricey. Just wondering if you have a final total for what the whole adventure cost?

Wow! Sept is fast approaching. Have a great trip! Yes these cruises are crazy expensive and they don't announce them far enough in advance IMO, which makes it difficult to afford and budget for. I'll have to see what our final number was. We had a unique situation to begin with. We had cancelled a concierge cruise 3 years ago w/a non-refundable deposit of close to 2000.00 on it. Disney informed us that we could not get the money back. It was restricted and could only be used on a future sailing in any category.

It was enough of a deposit to actually take a short cruise off peak for free, but we decided to hold it for something better. We finally took the plunge and applied it to this 12nt British Isles cruise. It almost felt like a nice discount even though it was our money to begin with. From there we booked and paid for the airfare to get that out of the way, and began to cover the excursions by prepaying a number of private tours in advance 1 by 1.

Also, even though the costs escalated when our son jumped onboard, he's late 20's and pays his own way.

Bucket list here too

Excellent bucket list choice.
 
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following

Thanks and welcome.

Great start-I'd love to go on this cruise but DH is sticking with "7 days or less" until he isn't working full time anymore. Boo. We got on the ship at Dover after you left so thanks for leaving it in such good shape :) Really loved the Magic!

Wow you sailed Dover down to Barcelona. That must have been fun. I think it was the first time they hosted a repo in that direction. I hear you with the 7 days or less. It's so hard to commit the time for longer cruises. We needed 2 full weeks to do this. It never seemed to be a good month for us to carve out this much time away either. Hopefully he'll change his mind sometime down the road. We did.

Awesome! We were on this cruise too and LOVED it! Flew British Airways as well for a great price for a direct flight from Ft. Lauderdale to Gatwick in London. We did the red eye, but arrived two days before the cruise on the 7th. Planned a light day for the first day since we knew we would be groggy. But caught up by the 8th and were feeling fantastic by the time of embarkation on the 9th! I'm so excited to read about your impressions! I wish we were just starting this trip all over again!

We saw the Ft. Lauderdale crowd flying out of Gatwick since we used that airport for our return. You had an earlier flight home which would have been ideal for us.

After we chose that morning flight on the 7th, we second guessed ourselves and debated switching to a redeye on the 6th and having the entire day to relax and keep things light. But it was way too costly to change flights at that point. So we justified it with several excuses: we wouldn't have a room ready anyway.....we'd have a bad drive to NYC to deal with....we'd be sleep deprived...... cranky.....tired...... moody; etc. if things didn't go smoothly once we landed.

Where did you stay precruise? and was your room ready when you arrived?

Clayton was a fantastic cruise director! I just finished the west-med cruise and had a fabulous time.

He's the best. I would watch his morning show every day to update us on what's happening. He kept encouraging everyone to find him and post selfies.
Did you manage to snap one?
 
We stayed at The Thistle in Trafalgar Square. It was a great hotel and very centrally located (although the streets around the hotel were closed to traffic for much of our 2 days, first for the Pride celebration, and then for the Marathon, but we picked it because we could walk everywhere anyways)! But as you said, and as we expected, our room was not ready when we arrived at 8am on the 7th. We tired and a little light headed, so I planned for us to walk to Hyde Park, which we did. We walked around there, then shopped a little on Oxford Street, got brunch, and then got back to our hotel at 2pm. To be honest, we were a little light headed and felt rough around the edges, but we pushed through. No one was really grumpy and we were running on adrenaline. Our room was ready by 2pm and we took showers and slept for 2 hours (I set the alarm). This nap greatly refreshed us ... we could have slept more, but I wouldn't let us so we could get on London time. We went out that evening for a quick dinner and the London Eye, then to bed before 8pm! By the next morning, we were feeling good and well rested!
I think your schedule sounds good as well!
 
Travel Day 1 cont….. July 7, 2017

Heathrow Arrival / Sofitel London Heathrow Hotel (2nt. stay)


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That early flight out of NY at 7:55 am worked out really well for us. The 2:30 am drive to JFK was traffic free, and both the airtrain and airport were practically deserted. We moved very quickly. Better to spend those last 2 hrs. in the US relaxing at the gate than stressed out sitting in some bad NJ/NY construction traffic mess and having to deal with long lines at the airport.

We’re 5 hrs in with a 7 hr flight ahead. This was going to be a very long day.

A few airline shots.

British Airways has several classes of passengers. We were coach. First class is directed upstairs on a 747, well shielded from us minions.

You get to walk past these great looking business class beds on your way to the cheap seats.

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Well, apparently looks can be deceiving, according to this traveler.


BA wanted quite a bit more per seat to upgrade to Business Class but after watching that video, I’m glad we didn’t. (seemed everywhere we turned someone was trying to take back that $750 we saved )

Our seats provided a blanket, pillow, free earbuds, a side adjustable headrest and a slight recline.

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Plus, this 747 was equipped with a really nice in flight entertainment system. (much better than the 777 we flew home) Larger screen, decent video games (incl. bejeweled), good selection of complimentary in flight movies, tv shows, tutorials etc. We were set.

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They constantly serve drinks, plus a meal and snacks – breakfast options this morning were: the full English or a frittata.

We’re here for the experience, the full English it is.

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Tough to say no, when your awesome Flight Attendant pitches it all with such enthusiasm!

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“you have to hydrate, love”

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sure, we’ll try the Malt Loaf Bar.

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If your final destination is Heathrow, the attendants hand out immigration forms to complete (1 per family). You give this to an agent when you go through passport control at the airport. Don’t worry if you happen to be asleep, or didn’t get one or misplaced it somewhere. They have them right at the immigration entry point.

continued in the next post...
 
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Travel Day 1 continues - July 7, 2017
Heathrow Arrival / Sofitel London Heathrow Hotel (2nt. stay)


Navigating Heathrow was a complete mystery and somehow we quickly got separated from the pack. (typical) Not everyone was at their final destination and quite a few disappeared toward their connections.

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So we walked

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and walked

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following yellow signs in hopes of reconnecting with our luggage.

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We took the lift down

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We rode an empty shuttle. “I hope we’re going the right way”

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We walked some more

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We went up escalators

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Continued again…………….
 
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I had to chuckle at your photo of "Heathrow isn't in London it's in Heathrow." In Edinburgh this summer I saw several billboards announcing "London is in London. London is 4 1/2 hours away. Fly to Edinburgh." I think there may be some intra UK airport bashing??
 
Travel Day 1 continues - July 7, 2017
Heathrow Arrival / Sofitel London Heathrow Hotel (2nt. stay)

Those escalators lead you to Passport Control (which was completely empty)

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There's a separate queue for non-EU passengers marked "all other travelers" - use this line for US citizens.

This is where you present your passport and immigration form (travel card) to an immigration officer. Be prepared to answer a few candid questions: What brings you to London? Are you headed anywhere else? Where are you staying? How long do you plan to be in the country?

Immigration stamped our passport, gave the all clear and waved us through.

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we proceed on – again following the yellow signs.

Down more escalators

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Until we finally arrive at the baggage reclaim area.

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Which in hindsight, may have been unavoidable. It appears all the “yellow” signage for arrivals and baggage reclaim are moving passengers in the same general direction. So all the foot traffic was ultimately being lead this way.

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We grab a cart, collect our bags and exit through the Green Door - Nothing to declare

This leads you to customs.

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"Nothing to declare" basically requires walking past a customs agent with all your luggage in tow, who will either stop you or wave you thru.

We emerged on the other side. Welcome to Heathrow Terminal 5!

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As you can see it’s confusing and practically impossible to photograph.

But here’s a great video that walks the entire process at Terminal 5 – from the moment they land at the gate - through passport control – on to baggage reclaim – through customs and finally to purchasing an Oyster card inside the terminal and boarding the Underground at Heathrow enroute to London.


Hope it proves helpful

next:

JQ: “Let’s just find the Sofitel and get rid of these bags”
 
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love the Heathrow photos, reminds me of the first time I fly into that airport. The long long walks along endless corridors to get to baggage reclaim are not just something special for transatlantic. We used to have the same in the old Terminal 1 for the Dublin route

This is where you present your passport, customs form and passport control receipt to an agent. Be prepared to answer a few candid questions: What brings you to London? Are you headed anywhere else? Where are you staying? How long do you plan to be in the country?

LOL, us Europeans get far far worse from USA Homelands Security. We have to do eye scans and fingerprints and especially as a solo female traveller to the USA, I get sooo many questions.
 
Love that the Disney reps are there to greet you right at baggage claim with their paddles in the air! Can't miss them which is awesome. Do they collect your luggage from you right at the conveyor belts and proceed with you through customs?

We weren't sure if the Sofitel was bussing just its hotel guests or grouping us with same day airport arrivals. (we had 3 full bus loads that morning)

From what you're describing, it appears the DCL works two separate Dover transfer operations out of Heathrow - one inside the terminals for same day arrivals and one exclusive to the guests staying at the Sofitel.


We had to get our bags and head to the exit.... the DCL reps were just before you get to the door. Very easy to spot. We were bused from airport to port.... no stopping at any hotels for other passengers.
 
Wow! Airport was empty like you said.... we were with millions of others people on Sunday morning, lol.
 
When we were planning this outbound leg I was a bit Leary about driving into the JFK area. The saving grace was knowing there would be optimum traffic conditions so early in the morning. It went very well but I wouldn't do it any other time of day.
Same here in LA - i will book 6a.m. Flights to avoid the major traffic mess going to or by LAX as soon as the sun comes up. :car:
 
Travel Day 1 continues - July 7, 2017
Heathrow Arrival / Sofitel London Heathrow Hotel (2nt. stay)


Navigating Heathrow was a complete mystery and somehow we quickly got separated from the pack. (typical) Not everyone was at their final destination and quite a few disappeared toward their connections.

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View attachment 259942


So we walked

View attachment 259943

and walked

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following yellow signs in hopes of reconnecting with our luggage.

View attachment 259945

We took the lift down

We rode an empty shuttle. “I hope we’re going the right way”

We went up escalators


Continued again…………….
I'm so sorry, but this post has me laughing so hard I'm crying. Oh my, what an adventure to start your London visit. Can't wait to read the next one to see how this ends LOL
 
We stayed at The Thistle in Trafalgar Square. It was a great hotel and very centrally located (although the streets around the hotel were closed to traffic for much of our 2 days, first for the Pride celebration, and then for the Marathon, but we picked it because we could walk everywhere anyways)! But as you said, and as we expected, our room was not ready when we arrived at 8am on the 7th. We tired and a little light headed, so I planned for us to walk to Hyde Park, which we did. We walked around there, then shopped a little on Oxford Street, got brunch, and then got back to our hotel at 2pm. To be honest, we were a little light headed and felt rough around the edges, but we pushed through. No one was really grumpy and we were running on adrenaline. Our room was ready by 2pm and we took showers and slept for 2 hours (I set the alarm). This nap greatly refreshed us ... we could have slept more, but I wouldn't let us so we could get on London time. We went out that evening for a quick dinner and the London Eye, then to bed before 8pm! By the next morning, we were feeling good and well rested!
I think your schedule sounds good as well!

JenTen, I know you flew home from Gatwick but which airport did you fly in to? and how did you get to The Thistle @ Trafalgar Square?

I think you planned your arrival day well. I'm impressed that you got the family moving after that 2hr powernap.
As I said, you have to know your family, and with the men in my life, I can almost guarantee they would have started to drop after the first few hrs. waiting on their room. I would have been sitting in a lobby watching them nap in a chair. Brunch sounds like a smart way to try and break it up.

The Sofitel has a nice club lounge if you book that tier, which I will say would have been the best solution had we taken that redeye the night before. JQ and Iron Man would have opted to just camp out there & catch up on some sleep surrounded by refreshments. That's where the priorities are focused these days. Too funny.

I think the term lightheaded to describe the feeling trying to adjust to the time difference is a good one. Our biggest hurdle on the night we arrived was at dinner. We were not 100% and didn't have the energy to perk up the table. It was a really nice meal but we were forcing ourselves to enjoy it.
 
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