A Magical voyage across the pond LIVE UPDATE 9/30 - Page 3 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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This sounds like a very interesting adventure. Think I will tag a long. It has been a very long time since I have been through any of the airports in NYC. I really do not remember any really good times there. I only went into the city one time and decided that I did not need to go back. Of course, things can change over a period of 20 plus years. With all of your cruise experience, are you guys looking to join a crew when you retire from your regular jobs. Being a cruise director on a Disney ship could prove to be very interesting.
Oh, SORRY, that would mean that you would have to work instead of having FUN. Forget I mentioned that option. Good luck with the rest of your planning.
This cruise sounds perfect for you two, except for flying in to NYC LaGuardia. I remember your description and will not use that airport unless it's absolutely necessary. That taxi driver was a piece of work, too.
This sounds like a very interesting adventure. Think I will tag a long.
Welcome aboard!
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It has been a very long time since I have been through any of the airports in NYC. I really do not remember any really good times there. I only went into the city one time and decided that I did not need to go back. Of course, things can change over a period of 20 plus years.
They certainly can and I know New York City has changed hugely in the 30 years I've been visiting it - I'd say for the better.
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With all of your cruise experience, are you guys looking to join a crew when you retire from your regular jobs. Being a cruise director on a Disney ship could prove to be very interesting.
Oh, SORRY, that would mean that you would have to work instead of having FUN. Forget I mentioned that option.
Yes, that would be a huge amount of work. We've often marvelled at the energy and enthusiasm of the cruise directors and they do that, day in day out, for a couple of months at a time. How they do it, I do not know.
This cruise sounds perfect for you two, except for flying in to NYC LaGuardia. I remember your description and will not use that airport unless it's absolutely necessary. That taxi driver was a piece of work, too.
Pre-trip report – part three: another possibility presents itself…
So having booked our New York City to Quebec City seven night cruise, we were left contemplating the unpleasant prospect of flying into NYC, after a not-so-great experience in 2016. However, we looked closely at the itinerary of the Disney Cruise Line, and there was another possibility that presented itself…
Immediately before the cruise we’d just booked, the Disney Magic would be making its way over from Dover to New York City. Hmm… we had talked before about doing a transatlantic crossing, admittedly going westbound, as then we wouldn’t have to deal with jetlag and a red eye flight home, but this was a possibility…
Now I mentioned earlier in this pre-trip report about some of our previous experiences with our cruises, and some of the bad weather we’d encountered. This is what’s always put us off doing a transatlantic crossing, as I’m only too well aware that the weather can be a little variable, shall we say?
We are both a lot better with bad weather than we used to be, but even so, I didn’t want half of our cruise to be a nightmare, with us confined to our rooms. I had a look at the itinerary, and out of the 11 nights, only four of those would actually be spent at sea crossing the ocean. Ok, that’s not too terrible. We discussed it, and figured we’d go into it, expecting those four at sea days to be a complete nightmare, and if they were any better, then bonus – we win!
The other stops were also intriguing. The first was for Portland, where I imagine everyone will disappear off to see Stonehenge (been there, done that on many occasions now… ), but we could go to one of my favourite places, the Donkey Sanctuary, and the second stop was Cork in Ireland, somewhere we’ve never been. When the Magic gets stateside, there are various stops in Canada, and I have to confess that they didn’t mean much to either of us – Sydney and Halifax in Nova Scotia, and St. John in New Brunswick.
We decided to give it a go, and just in case we do encounter a lot of rough seas out in the middle of the Transatlantic, we also decided to use our Disney Vacation Club points. At least in this way, we wouldn’t be wasting money, just points… and yes, of course they cost money originally, but I’m sure you understand where I’m coming from. Paying out thousands to be buffeted around in rough waters and high winds isn’t exactly a good use of your money…
I called up the Disney Vacation Club to see if we could make the booking. Usually you can, although on occasions, it isn’t always possible. We ended up having to pay cash for our first trip on the Disney Dream during their inaugural season, as they stopped DVC members from using their points, such was the demand.
No such issue with this cruise, but I didn’t know how many points it would take, as remember, we were still booking this before sales started to the general public. Thankfully, we had enough points, so we went ahead and booked!
My instant reaction, I must confess, was “what have I done?” I know, I know – perhaps not the reaction you’d expect, but there are reasons I say that.
The first was that I couldn’t actually book the time off work for another four months, as you can only book up to a year ahead, so that was a bit scary.
The second was just as scary – we’d be on board a Disney cruise ship for a total of 20 nights! Wow, the longest cruise we’ve ever done was 11 nights around the Mediterranean in 2007, and don’t get me wrong, I loved that cruise, but would two cruises back to back be a bit too much for us?
And then of course the third reason was the one neither of us can control – that pesky weather…
So, with 15 months to go before this trip, we were all booked on two cruises, feeling slightly punch drunk and like we were crazy, and of course, there wasn’t much more we could do at that stage. My plan was to use our Virgin Atlantic points to fly home Upper Class, as one-way flights are just hideously (and by hideously I mean extortionate!) expensive, but that was something to worry about another day.
What to do in the meantime? This is the problem with cruising, you get to book so early, and then there’s not much else you can do…
There was one thing I managed to do quite early on. While I’m perfectly happy at the idea of cruising just the two of us, I do prefer cruising with friends, so I dropped a couple of people we’ve cruised with in the past emails to see if they fancied joining us on either of our two cruises.
Almost immediately, one person came back and said and she went ahead and booked straightaway, because she was on the Disney Magic at the time, cruising across the Transatlantic to Europe. That was our friend Mari and her husband Raleigh.
We have quite the history of cruising with them in the past. In fact, that’s how we met them on that inaugural Mediterranean cruise in 2007. We happened to bump into Deb Wills from All Ears Net on that cruise. It turned out she was staying in the room just opposite us, and we knew she was on board, but I had no idea she was that close! We got chatting to them, and then some of their many travel buddies, as they had a big group with them. In that group were Mari and Raleigh, and we just clicked immediately.
They live near Disneyland and when we next visited in October 2008, we arranged to meet up with them, and once again, we had a ball. That continued on further visits to Disneyland in August 2011, December 2012, and September 2015. When we told them that we were looking to book a cruise out of Venice around the Eastern Mediterranean in July 2014 on the Magic, they were instantly in, and when we went on to mention that we were planning on doing a road trip around Northern Italy when the cruise was over, they asked if we wanted some company. Well of course we did!
Oh my goodness, that trip the first thing that always comes into my mind was the intense heat at just about every destination we stopped at. I think most places were over 100°F – it was horrendous. We made the best of it, and we laugh about it now.
Our most recent trip with them was a two week road trip around Scotland in summer 2017. We covered so much of the country, and once again, we had an absolute ball with them, and made so many more great memories like:
• sitting in the rain waiting for the Jacobite train to cross the Glenfiddich viaduct (otherwise known as the “Harry Potter train”
• taking a private cruise on Loch Ness, as no-one else turned up for the boat tour we were booked on
• having a hotel on a loch almost completely to ourselves as well and enjoying the peace and quiet and amazing views from there
• meeting up with our friends Hazel and Graeme at the stunning Lodge on Loch Lomond
• staying in a real life castle and having the most amazing meal there
• seeing red squirrels (very rare over here now) and puffins, and perhaps best of all,
• introducing Mari to Highland coos, and watching her fall in love with them!
So they’ll be our companions as we journey from New York City to Quebec City, and I can’t wait to enjoy our third cruise with them. I’m going to take a punt and say that the temperatures hopefully shouldn’t be that hot on this cruise…
Your plans sound wonderful!
Our daughter and her husband took a similar Canada/New England cruise on their honeymoon. I remember them talking about the Reversing Falls in St. John, which was quite an intriguing place.
By now I’m sure you’ve researched to see that Nova Scotia and New Brunswick will be charming!
I do think it’s funny that they’re starting by sailing only from Dover to Portland. But I guess for those who don’t live in the UK, it does give a chance to see Stonehenge. And how fun that you’ll get to spend time with your donkeys!
Edit: I just looked at the map, as I was curious, and Stonehenge is almost 2 hours from Portland! : jawdrop: seems they would’ve been better off embarking from Southampton, and having Stonehenge as a pre-cruise option....
I’m also assuming by now you’ve found the other Canadian ports should be quite interesting stops! Those destinations have been on my list to visit for years!! So awesome you get to do these two cruises back to back, and to meet up with good friends makes it even better.
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yay! Ready to read your newest PTR! Dave and I did a TA (going opposite way) in 2015 and had the greatest time. Hoping you get good weather for yours! Your itinerary sounds amazing! Can't wait to read all about it!
I'm so excited that you started your PTR for this adventure!!! I loved reading the history of all your cruises, and I have to say that you're both quite brave doing a cruise for this long of a period, but I know how much you love cruising. I remember your experience into La Guardia Airport and how awful the whole entry to NYC was for you. Being from N.J,. which is quite close to NYC, it really was embarrassing to read about your experience, but hopefully, once the renovations are completed, it will create a more welcoming environment. I loved reading your recap to the wonderful memories shared with friends in Scotland. It truly is such a breathtaking country. This cruise sounds like it will be quite the adventure and I'll look forward to hearing all your plans in detail!
How great that Mari and Raleigh will join you for part of the cruise! I will say that I found Saint John and the Reversing Falls underwhelming. I hope you're doing an excursion to Hopewell Rocks or something interesting along the Bay of Fundy. I wrote an (unfinished) TR about my travels in that area a few years ago, but unfortunately the pictures are probably gone now due to darn Photobucket.
Your plans sound wonderful!
Our daughter and her husband took a similar Canada/New England cruise on their honeymoon. I remember them talking about the Reversing Falls in St. John, which was quite an intriguing place.
By now I’m sure you’ve researched to see that Nova Scotia and New Brunswick will be charming!
I've researched as much as I can, but it's hard, as every book I've found over here covers all of Canada, rather than specific parts, which is frustrating.
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I do think it’s funny that they’re starting by sailing only from Dover to Portland. But I guess for those who don’t live in the UK, it does give a chance to see Stonehenge. And how fun that you’ll get to spend time with your donkeys!
I think it's aimed mainly at the Americans, as they know a lot of people will want to visit Stonehenge. For us, been there, done that!
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Edit: I just looked at the map, as I was curious, and Stonehenge is almost 2 hours from Portland! : jawdrop: seems they would’ve been better off embarking from Southampton, and having Stonehenge as a pre-cruise option....
Yes, it is a long drive from there. Personally, I think you're crazy to head there, but a lot of people will. It's no different to Warnemunde in Germany for Berlin and nearly all of our cruise emptied off with people heading there. I guess if it's your only option... I'd have flown in a day or two early and done a day trip from London, but that's just me.
I'm so excited that you started your PTR for this adventure!!! I loved reading the history of all your cruises, and I have to say that you're both quite brave doing a cruise for this long of a period, but I know how much you love cruising.
We do love our cruising and we never feel like we get long enough on board, so hopefully we will this time!
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I remember your experience into La Guardia Airport and how awful the whole entry to NYC was for you. Being from N.J,. which is quite close to NYC, it really was embarrassing to read about your experience, but hopefully, once the renovations are completed, it will create a more welcoming environment.
Well, let's put it this way, it couldn't be any worse...
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I loved reading your recap to the wonderful memories shared with friends in Scotland.
Aw thanks!
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It truly is such a breathtaking country.
It is!
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This cruise sounds like it will be quite the adventure and I'll look forward to hearing all your plans in detail!
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That taxi driver was a piece of work, too.
Paying out thousands to be buffeted around in rough waters and high winds isn’t exactly a good use of your money… 
I know, I know – perhaps not the reaction you’d expect, but there are reasons I say that. 
and she went ahead and booked straightaway, because she was on the Disney Magic at the time, cruising across the Transatlantic to Europe. That was our friend Mari and her husband Raleigh. 
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