A Trip of Firsts ~ WBTA 2018 Trip Planning - 7/24/18 Update

Amunet

DIS Veteran
Joined
May 31, 2011
:welcome:
To my WBTA 2018 PTR!

I'm extremely excited to be planning for this trip :D I'm hoping to use this thread as a place to keep some of my planning to keep track of what I want to do. When the trip looms closer, sometimes it's hard to keep track of everything because it's just so exciting!

Be warned: I adore filling my posts with photos :rolleyes1

The Who ...

Richard - Boyfriend
tdV5Bh.jpg


Rich is a Journeyman Automotive Technician that has recently found his adoration for Disney, particularly DCL. His first ever Cruise was DCL EB Panama Canal of 2016. He fell in love! Afterwards, we went to WDW! I have definitely converted him :goodvibes
Favorite Disney Character: Olaf
Favorite DCL Ship: The Wonder
Favorite WDW Ride: Rockin' Roller Coaster​

Kristal - Me
7fMLkC.jpg


I am a Grad Student that is finishing up my Master's Degree at the University of Chicago (at the time of writing this). I fell in love with Disney vacationing in 2008 when my previous partner and I first went to WDW. My first Disney cruise was on the Wonder, to the Mexican Riviera in 2012.
Favorite Disney Character: Elsa
Favorite DCL Ship: The Wonder
Favorite WDW Ride: Frozen Ever After​

ZPCus5.jpg


Together, we have been together for just over 2 years. Rich moved down to the Chicago area from Minneapolis to be with me (romantic, no?) :lovestruc We've been living together ever since! Our traveling together has included ...


  • A 'Traincation' from Portland, OR to Chicago, IL via Amtrak in a sleeper roommette
  • Eastbound Panama Canal on DCL
  • Disney World, will be 2 times by the WBTA
  • Many roadtrips between Chicagoland and Minneapolis suburbs
The What ...
Westbound Transatlantic on the Disney Magic!! :jumping1:
Cabin: 6511 - Sideways room! :goodvibes

The Where ...
London/England Pre-cruise
Dover, England - Southport, England - Cork, Ireland - Sydney, Canada - Halifax, Canada - St. John, Canada - NYC, USA

The When ...
September 2018
9/5 Departure from the US
9/6-9 London
9/9 - 20 Cruise

The Why ...
After our Panama Canal trip, we decided that we adored the sea days, thus, we needed much longer cruises! I've also always wanted to go on a Transatlantic :D
Both of us have interest in the northern European isles and found that this itinerary is perfect for discovering a few places that we are interested in. We are also keen on visiting the southeastern area of Canada so that we can determine if that area (and Northeastern US) is a place we may want to live in the future. I'm also partial to non-hot cruises, which most of DCL cruises are :( We've also found that the longer cruises definitely give us the biggest value for our money spent.

Trip of Firsts
zSPPzY.jpg

This trip really represents a lot of firsts, for both of us :) Since the title of this PTR highlights that fact, I thought you would be interested in learning exactly WHAT those firsts are :)

First for Both :chat:
  • Cruising on the Magic
  • Visiting Ireland
  • Taking a Transatlantic Cruise
  • Experiencing the inner circle of Stonehenge
  • Visiting the Universal Harry Potter Studios in England
  • Having tea in at the Ritz
  • Riding the Southeastern Railway
  • Visiting Dover
Firsts for Rich :tigger:
  • Flying on a flight longer then 4 hours
  • Going to Europe
  • Visiting England
  • Having a full 'English Breakfast'
  • Visiting Harrod's
  • Visiting Stonehenge
  • Eating in an authentic British Pub
  • Visiting Canada
Firsts for Me :woohoo:
  • Visiting the East coast of Canada
  • Touching NYC ground (only 'visited' NYC as a stop from a previous European trip)
 
Last edited:
The plans below lay out what we are planning on doing for our trip. The details will most likely change and will be updated with posts :)

Trip Plans

Wednesday, Sept. 5th
  • Fly out of MSP to LGA on Southwest
  • Transfer from LGA to JFK
  • Depart JFK on Norwegian Air, Premium Class to LGW.
Thursday, Sept. 6th
  • Arrive in London in the morning
  • Take a train to St. Pancras Station to check in to Alhambra Hotel
  • Harrods Food Court
Friday, Sept. 7th
  • Inner Circle Stonehenge Tour from London
Saturday, Sept. 8th
  • Harry Potter Studio Tour
    • Use train for transportation
    • Afternoon tea and Butterbeer at the studio
  • Afternoon Tea at the Ritz
Sunday, Sept. 9th
  • Check out
  • Early train from St. Pancras station to Dover Priory
  • Embark Disney Magic
  • Cruise!
Monday, Sept. 10
  • Portland, England
    • Authentic Fish & Chips at a local pub
    • Portland Castle
    • Stuart Wiltshire Glass Blowing studio
Tuesday, Sept. 11
  • Cobh, Ireland
    • Titanic Insight Tour
September 12 - 15
  • Sea Days
    • Sept 12 = Frozen Night - Frozen Meet & Greet @11:45am
    • Sept 13 = Character Breakfast @ 9:30am
    • Sept 14 = Palo Dinner @ 8:30pm
Sunday, Sept. 16th
  • Sydney, Canada
    • Explore port at our own leisure
Monday, Sept. 17th
  • Halifax, Canada
    • Titanic Cemetery via local cab
    • Halifax Public Gardens Tour via cab/walking
    • Maritime Museum via walking
Tuesday, Sept. 18th
  • St. John, Canada (New Brunswick)
Wednesday, Sept. 19th
  • Palo Brunch @ 10am
Thursday, Sept. 20th
  • Arrival in NYC
  • Debarkation
  • Take transport to airport
  • Fly from LGA to MSP
 
Last edited:
Check List
Most Important
  • Cruise Paid in Full
  • Hotel Booked
  • Airfare Booked
  • Check-In/PAT
  • Trip Insurance

The Rest

  • Currency exchange
  • Verizon International Plan
  • Cohb Excursion Ticket
  • Oyster card
  • Transportation
    • Between house and airport
    • Between LGA & JFK {Sept.}
    • From cruise terminal to LGA {Sept.}
    • Train from LGW to London
    • Train from London to Dover
  • Gratuities
  • Harry Potter Tour tickets
  • Ritz Tea reservation - pay later
  • Stonehenge tour booked
  • Frozen Meet & Greet reserved
  • Palo Brunch reserved
  • Palo Dinner reserved
  • Romance for 2 Package
  • Early Bird Check In
 
Last edited:


I'm excited to see how this plays out. My friend and I are considering a Transatlantic Cruise in 2019. How did you decide between WB and EB?
 
I'm excited to see how this plays out. My friend and I are considering a Transatlantic Cruise in 2019. How did you decide between WB and EB?
The notification didnt pop up that there was a post :(

It was the ports was how we decided. The northern isles, plus a new port in a Cork, and the southeast of Canada are all places we have been wanting to visit. Those plus we love double digit cruise days, it was just perfect for us :)
 


Make sure you get your tickets to the Harry Potter tour as soon as you can! We couldn't go before 2 (and our plan was to drive to Scotland after, we didn't make it...).
How early do you suggest we reserve? I know we are doing a shuttle package so the tickets aren't quite the same.

my sister said there now is a line which can get really long and they ask 10 pounds for it!
Really? Like, an official person from the station or a person taking advantage of tourists? Not allowed to use own camera?
I also took my photo just after the new renovations to the station ... so a slight line but free.
 
Update

So, a few things have happened since first posting the PTR ...
  1. Rich and I moved to Minnesota.
    • It was rather last minute but he was offered a better position with his old employer. In order to save for this trip, this boost in pay would be vital
  2. We are living with his parents
    • Unfortunately. My health is making it harder to move out sooner then we want, so we are here until enough has been saved for the trip.
  3. Changes made to outgoing leg of trip
    • We found out that IcelandAir has terrible reviews and a horrendous track record with losing luggage and being late, so we changed our plans!
    • Norwegian Air is a budget European airline but gets amazing reviews. They also have an affordable 'Premium' Class which is less than Business Class but better than economy. The biggest draw is the extra legroom for Rich (who's 6'4"!). However, Norwegian does not fly out of MSP.
    • Because we opted for Premium Class, we need to watch our budget for flying. Thus far, it seems to be cheaper to take Amtrak to Glenview, IL and take Lyft to an Ohare hotel, then fly out the next day. We did look into round trip flights MSP to New York Airports but it's rather crazy! We are still waiting for Southwest to release their pricing for our dates.
    • We cannot take our preferred airline (Southwest) round trip MSP to EWR because the pricing is much higher on Norwegian out of Newark and the transportation logistics from the port to EWR is too expensive. We also cannot roundtrip MSP to LGA because Norwegian only flies out of JFK, there is a shuttle between the two but pricing for the round trip flight seems to be more expensive then Amtrak+hotel & LGA to MSP one way on SW. If this changes, I'll definitely update.
 
I'm pretty sure it's the latter, I was there in 2006 of 2007 and there was nobody (I didn't even know there would be an actual sign and everything) and the 10 pounds is to take a picture with your own camera I believe, like I said, I didn't go last year because I already went and I heart this story
Well, I'll find out next year I suppose. Though, I can always ask those that live in the area (from our FE group) to see if they know what's going on with that.
 
Update

New Years Update! I hope everyone reading this has/had a wonderful New Years pixiedust:

  1. We had to cancel our trip in February. I was going to do the Princess 10k. I raised $800 to go to the Children's Miracle Network. Fortunately, the money still stays with the charity. I'm really sad about not doing the 10k, even after all that training, but we opted to keep the Transatlantic instead and I am okay with this choice now.
  2. Plans changed for the outbound again! Lol the catalyst was that the Chicago to London flight was sold out in Premium (cheaper tickets) on our date (9/5). So, we now have a solid plan that is a little less crazy, a smidge more money but keeps us on the timetable we wanted.
    • Southwest flight from MSP (Minneapolis) to LGA (New York Laguardia Airport) on 9/5
    • Norwegian Air - Premium class from JFK (New York) to LGW (London Gatwick Airport)
    • On return from the cruise, 9/20, we will fly from LGA to MSP on Southwest
  3. WE BOUGHT OUR INTERNATIONAL FLIGHT!! :jumping1: No turning back now!
  • With the seats being sold out from Chicago, we realized how important Premium class is to us and we did NOT want to lose the opportunity to fly in it. I don't normally buy the international tickets before paying in full, but it's worth the risk. So we will make the awkward transfer from LGA to JFK since Southwest doesn't fly into JFK. We will figure out that transfer later though
  • Now we are waiting for Southwest to release their flight dates, which won't be until early February. We love SWA and hope that the pricing stays low :)
 
UPDATE

Not sure if anyone is reading this except for me ... but these things are just for us to keep track of our plans anyways, right?

  1. We booked our hotel! We will be staying at the Alhambra Hotel near St. Pancras/Kings Cross.
    • I love B&Bs and this is a smaller one but it has great reviews and I'm excited for the breakfast options!
    • The location is perfect for us because it's right near the Euston station, which is the start for the line that will take us to the Harry Potter Studio Tour. We will also be leaving from St. Pancras for our train ride to Dover on embarkation day.
    • The pricing works well for us. I also was able to get money back by booking through a survey site :) We are working hard to make this trip happen and in order to have 'splurges' on the ship, we opted for a more modest hotel prior to the cruise.
  2. We have been narrowing down our itinerary. It is still up in the air but we have taken out the Wicked play because of expenses (we'd rather spend it on the cruise ship!). I'll just have to have him read the book instead :rolleyes1
  3. Southwest has finally released flights for the dates we will be traveling. The price is a bit more then I would like but it is still the cheapest option. There are some flights that work rather well with the schedule we have. Will not be buying the domestic flights until later though.

So that's all I have so far. If anyone is reading this, please feel free to chime in :) Just wave or if you have suggestions, I'd be open to hear! Especially for a 'traditional pub experience'.

- Back to Table of Contents -
 
Last edited:
Hey, just read through this after seeing you post in the WBTA FB group!

Friday, Sept. 7th
  • {Possible Fish & Chips at a genuine pub}
Saturday, Sept. 8th
  • {Possible Fish and Chips at a genuine pub}

Not sure if time will allow with you doing the Stonehenge excursion but if possible I'd save the fish & chips for the first port, you'll be in a coastal "seaside" town (Weymouth) and they always have the best fish & chip shops. You'll pay way more than needed if you go fish & chips in London and will be more a restaurant experience than "proper" fish & chips in my opinion.

Sunday, Sept. 9th
  • Early train from St. Pancras station to Dover Priory

We'll be getting the same train so we may see each other!! If you see a couple vlogging that'll be us haha, feel free to say hi!!


Especially for a 'traditional pub experience'.
Londons got a whole load of traditional pubs to choose from, check this link out https://www.timeout.com/london/bars-and-pubs/londons-best-historic-pubs I've been to & quite like the ten bells pub and it's links with Jack the ripper!
 
The plans below lay out what we are planning on doing for our trip. The details will most likely change and will be updated with posts :)

Trip Plans

Wednesday, Sept. 5th
  • Fly out of MSP to LGA on Southwest
  • Transfer from LGA to JFK
  • Depart JFK on Norwegian Air, Premium Class to LGW.
Thursday, Sept. 6th
  • Arrive in London in the morning
  • Take a train to St. Pancras Station to check in to Alhambra Hotel
  • Play Tourist
    • Harrod's Food Court
    • Science Museums
Friday, Sept. 7th
  • Proper English Breakfast
  • Harry Potter Studio Tour
    • Use train for transportation
    • Afternoon tea and Butterbeer at the studio
  • {Possible Afternoon Tea at the Ritz Carlton}
  • {Possible Fish & Chips at a genuine pub}
Saturday, Sept. 8th
  • Shakespeare Globe Theatre
    • Theatre & Exhibition tour
  • Play Tourist
  • {Possible Afternoon Tea at the Ritz Carlton}
  • {Possible Fish and Chips at a genuine pub}
Sunday, Sept. 9th
  • Check out
  • Early train from St. Pancras station to Dover Priory
  • Embark Disney Magic
  • Cruise!
Monday, Sept. 10
  • Southport, England
    • Excursion to Stonehenge
Tuesday, Sept. 11
  • Cobh, Ireland
    • Titanic Ticket Office Museum
September 12 - 15
  • Sea Days - activities/wishes tbd
Sunday, Sept. 16th
  • Sydney, Canada
    • ???
Monday, Sept. 17th
  • Halifax, Canada
    • Possible Penny's Cove & Hop on and Off bus
    • Visit Titanic Graveyard and museum (on own?)
Tuesday, Sept. 18th
  • St. John, Canada (New Brunswick)
    • Maple Sugar Shack and Brunch Port Excursion
Wednesday, Sept. 19th
  • Sea Day
Thursday, Sept. 20th
  • Arrival in NYC
  • Debarkation
  • Take transport to airport
  • Fly from LGA to MSP
Peggy’s Cove is a good drive from the port and usually a long tour. We did a private tour to see everything in Halifax a couple of years ago. It was so worth it.
 
Hi :wave2:. I'm reading along. Thank you for taking the time to write your pre trip report. We can't wait for this cruise!
 
Hey, just read through this after seeing you post in the WBTA FB group!
Hi! :wave2: I really appreciate you coming to read this :D

Not sure if time will allow with you doing the Stonehenge excursion but if possible I'd save the fish & chips for the first port, you'll be in a coastal "seaside" town (Weymouth) and they always have the best fish & chip shops. You'll pay way more than needed if you go fish & chips in London and will be more a restaurant experience than "proper" fish & chips in my opinion.
I would like to do that, if we have time, we definitely will do that. However, we have more time in London then we do Weymouth :( It's just to get kind of the top touristy things off his list :)
I would really like to try in port if we can though. Do you know if getting to Weymouth from the port is easy?

We'll be getting the same train so we may see each other!! If you see a couple vlogging that'll be us haha, feel free to say hi!!
YAS! Are you getting the first train out? We want to do one early enough so that if anything happens, we can still make it to the ship in time BUT also have time to eat breakfast at our B&B.

Londons got a whole load of traditional pubs to choose from, check this link out https://www.timeout.com/london/bars-and-pubs/londons-best-historic-pubs I've been to & quite like the ten bells pub and it's links with Jack the ripper!
AWESOME! Thank you! I will definitely show this to him so he can pick a pub :D

Peggy’s Cove is a good drive from the port and usually a long tour. We did a private tour to see everything in Halifax a couple of years ago. It was so worth it.
Thank you, I will look more into that. May I ask how much the private tour was and how many was in your group?

Hi :wave2:. I'm reading along. Thank you for taking the time to write your pre trip report. We can't wait for this cruise!
Hi! :wave2: Thank you for reading along, I truly appreciate it :) And no problem at all, this is helping me keep everything in one spot and to help deal with that excitement :goodvibes
I can't wait either! But at the same time I don't want it to go too fast because we need to still book/pay for things.
 
I would really like to try in port if we can though. Do you know if getting to Weymouth from the port is easy?
To be honest it depends where the ship docks - if it's the southern side of the port (which I suspect it will be) then Weymouth is a 10 min cab ride. If it's the nothern side then it's within walking distance.


YAS! Are you getting the first train out? We want to do one early enough so that if anything happens, we can still make it to the ship in time BUT also have time to eat breakfast at our B&B.
Won't be getting the first train out, our train will be around 1pm, which is the earliest we can do really - we get married the day before and then will be getting the train to London Sunday morning! Going to be a bit hectic haha!
 

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!





Top