August 9-16, 2018: The Northern European Cruise is MAGIC! (Completed!)

Tuesday 8/14/18: DCL Day 6: Stockholm, Sweden: “Yo-Ho? Heigh-Ho? HO-HO!” Part 1

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Today we were going ‘rogue’. Being unfamiliar with Europe, we wanted the ease of Disney excursions for most ports…but Stockholm had the ‘Stockholm Pass’ similar to Copenhagen’s—1 price gets you access to 60+ attractions. Stockholm’s didn’t include public transit…but it did include 2 out of the 3 HOHO (Hop on/Hop off) buses! (The Stromma ones were included.) Our only worry in Stockholm was the early all aboard time of 4:30PM—we knew we had to pay attention to the time, and finish our day on the earlier side as we were not in walking distance to port (Frihamnen). DH and I started the day by getting coffee on deck 9, then grabbing some pastries and free ‘smoothies’ in the Promenade lounge on deck 3, where we got to just sit and relax together. I had the Strawberry smoothie today! We also grabbed the kids some food and left it in the room for them, telling them to get up, we wanted to try to leave on the early side! I think we made it off the ship by 10AM. While there is a Disney shuttle into town…the HOHO buses were also just sitting there. I already had the Stockholm passes in my hand (from having them shipped to my home months before!) We went onto one of the buses…discovered they have (uncomfortable) earbuds that you plug into the wall, choose your language, and then you get to hear the tour!

Inspector Gadget, is that you?

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We got on at stop 14b…and planned to get off at 11…yep…that would mean almost a full tour (100 minutes!)…well, that was just too long for us as I had PLANS for the day! So, we got off at stop 1 and walked over to stop 9. We took some pics of the architecture in the area…I have no idea what the buildings are, lol.

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We waited about 10 minutes for the next HOHO bus to come along…luckily it was NOT the same one we got off of, lol. All the attractions I wanted to see today were on the island of Djurgarden. So , we got off at stop 11, Vasa Museum. It was probably around 10:45AM when we got here…later than I wanted, but we still beat the ‘big’ crowds. The Vasa Warship is the world’s only preserved 17th century ship. It was launched AND sank in Stockholm in 1628. 95% of the ship has been preserved. It spent 333 years on the sea bed…the polluted harbor water preserved it due to low oxygen levels in the water. Now that it has been out of the water for 47 years, they have been working to keep it from degrading. It was amazing to see how large the ship was, and how well preserved. We passed a few Disney excursions while in the building. We didn’t stay here too long. Long enough for a quick look around, then a quick stop in the shop—magnets, a T-shirt for DD18, and a book.

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Nice pictures of the warship! We were signed up for the "adult only" excursion to the Vasa Museum," but Disney canceled it pre-cruise. We then decided to just wander around the city on our own. Like you, I have pictures of some beautiful buildings and have no idea what they are.
 
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Nice pictures of the ship! We were signed up for the "adult only" excursion to the Vasa Museum," but Disney canceled it pre-cruise. We then decided to just wander around the city on our own. Like you, I have pictures of some beautiful buildings and have no idea what they are.
Thanks! Sorry Disney cancelled that excursion on you! Vasa and Skansen were 2 things I knew that I wanted to do in Stockholm. It was nice being able to do them on our own...and save a lot of money. While we loved all our DCL tours...it was great to have a day to do things at our own pace. (Although DH felt like he was on a tour, as I tried to keep us moving so we'd see everything I wanted to see that day, and make it back onto the ship in time!)

I try to look things up the names of buildings after the fact to post the info here...like I did for Helsinki...but it's easy when they're pics of churches...it's not so easy with random buildings...I can't even find the name of that sculpture, lol.
 
Tuesday 8/14/18: DCL Day 6: Stockholm, Sweden: “Yo-Ho? Heigh-Ho? HO-HO!” Part 5

I’m sure we had a snack when we got back, lol, likely more ice cream! We were really loving the waffle cones! DH likely got something 'more substantial', as he didn't eat lunch at Skansen.

Stockholm Cruise Terminal…note all the people still coming back. It is 4:25PM…all aboard is at 4:30PM. Yeah, we did not leave right at 4:30PM, lol.

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Tonight was semi-formal night. DD14 and I were dressed in time to get a pic with Daisy at 5:15PM.

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Everyone else met up with us by 5:45PM to get a pic with Formal Mickey before dinner.

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We saw Donald Duck in tails out on deck 4, while hurrying to dinner. (A duck in tails…our family just thought it was so funny.)

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Tonight was “Animation Magic” night in Animator’s Palate—and our first time with it! We had fun drawing our characters, and loved watching the show at the end! (We got our drawings back after dessert, with a sticker on them!)

My drawing:

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DH’s drawing:

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DD14 and I had the kids’ appetizer sampler platter (I didn’t like anything on the adult one…the kids’ one was all fruits and veggies, nice and healthy!)

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DH had the regular Appetizer Sampler Platter

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Tuesday 8/14/18: DCL Day 6: Stockholm, Sweden: “Yo-Ho? Heigh-Ho? HO-HO!” Part 6

I had the Beef Wellington.

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DH had the Roasted Scottish Salmon.

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DD18 had the Chicken Schnitzel.

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DD14 had the kids’ chicken tenders.

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DH and I had the Very Cherry Chocolate Sundae.

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DH also had the Cappucino Mousse.

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DD18 had the Chocolate Decadence. (Henry tried to move the ‘alcohol’ laden one away from her…but it’s dessert, we don’t mind if she has it…and she’s 18…and we’re in Europe…I could have signed a sheet allowing her to drink with me on the ship…she had no desire to drink…but alcohol IN foods, she’s fine with.)

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DD14 had the celebration cake.

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Tuesday 8/14/18: DCL Day 6: Stockholm, Sweden: “Yo-Ho? Heigh-Ho? HO-HO!” Part 7

After dinner, we sent the kids to the Officer Pin Trading at 7:30PM. I think I got changed into ‘warmer, comfier clothes.’ Then, DH and I went outside to enjoy the scenery of sailing through the Stockholm Archipelago. It takes 4 hrs to sail through it. (From a time stand point, I understand why Disney is docking in Nynashamn instead of Stockholm next summer…but it is so beautiful. It really should have been treated like the glacier cruising day they have in Alaska.)

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As much as we loved the views…we had plans for the evening. I stopped at the Promenade Lounge and got something from the ‘Sommelier’s Bin’ for $11. I asked for Sparkling…he offered me either Brut or Rose…they had 1 glass of Brut left and 2 glasses of Rose. I went for the Rose—and ended up with a glass of Tattinger Prestige Rose—a $20 glass! Score! I grabbed a plate of tortilla chips, salsa, and guacamole. Then I headed up to deck 5, Buena Vista Theater to see “Incredibles 2” at 8:30PM with the family! We stopped seeing Disney movies in April, knowing we’d have a chance to see them on the ship…and this was one we actually wanted to see. I found the kids in the theater, DH was buying them snacks—bottles of water, candy, and popcorn. (Lol, the candy never got opened and came home with us instead!) We enjoyed the movie (Jack Jack was the best part, lol), but felt it was longer than it needed to be.

Tonight’s towel animal was sweet…a bear for Simba and Marie to cuddle with!

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Too funny... we saw “Hobo” mickey leaving vasa and walking back to our HOHO bus. My 2 year old was not impressed by him at all. And fantastic idea about chips and guacamole to the movie theatre. We will have to this next time.
 
Wednesday 8/15/18: DCL Day 7: at sea: “A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes!” Part 1

The last full day is always a sad one…tomorrow we’ll be heading home. But…there is still MUCH to do today. At online check-in, I had booked a VIP Character Breakfast for 9:30AM for today. (It was also offered for the morning of the Tallinn day.)

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We each got a pastry and then the characters immediately came by.

Goofy

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Minnie

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Mickey.

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I had the Very Very French Toast with hash browns and a bowl of fruit.

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DH had a Denver Omelet, Pork sausage, hash brown, and baked beans.

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DD18 had Mickey waffles and hash browns.

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DD14 had Blueberry pancakes, hash browns and fruit.

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Wednesday 8/15/18: DCL Day 7: at sea: “A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes!” Part 2

Personal Navigator:

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After breakfast, DD18 and I went to the D Lounge for the adult only ‘Anyone Can Cook’ class for Apple Strudel. (I was very pleased to see cast members turning away the tween boys that came to the door…keeping it ‘mostly’ adult only…there was a teen girl that came in late with her mom that wasn’t 18.) We got a sample of strudel, and I had the tasting of wine with it (it was an Asti Spumanti). We were amazed by how the chef makes the strudel…especially stretching the pastry and how he seals it up! It was tablecloth magic! He makes it look so easy! DD18 and I thought it was so funny…yeah, we’re NEVER going to be able to do that!


After that we stayed in the D Lounge to do the Napkin Folding Class…which was also supposed to be adult only…but they let in a family with what looked like a 3 yr old…and they sat in the front row…while the girl behaved well enough…it just annoys me…we follow the rules and wait for our kids to turn 18 to go to the ‘adult only’ things! Anyway…we had fun trying to make things out of napkins and happily took home the instruction sheet to try them again at home!

Tuxedo:

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Corn:

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Candle:

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We had to leave a little early, as we had the Princess Gathering at 11:30AM! All the princesses loved the ‘mermaid’ leggings that our girls were wearing!

Ariel:

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Belle:

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Rapunzel:

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Cinderella:

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Tiana:

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Wednesday 8/15/18: DCL Day 7: at sea: “A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes!” Part 3

DD18 went up to Cabanas for lunch with the 1820 society. While she enjoyed the 1820 society for the first couple days…after that a big group of them formed a clique and they never asked for her chat number…kids will be kids…even when they’re 18-20. Brigid did love Taylor, the cast member facilitating the group, and she got friendly with a couple people early on…it was just that big group she had an issue with…oh well. It certainly didn’t spoil her cruise—she had a great time!

To do a future cruise booking on board, they have a screen you can tap with your keycard to get on the waiting list. DH did that, and had already filled out the placeholder form to give the cast member. Once it was our turn, we did that, but the cast member said we could have just left it, no need to wait. I did say, that I’d heard people have had issues with it not going through. He just stuck ours on a pile and said it would get done.

DH and I decided we’d try a sit down lunch at Lumieres…the menu looked interesting…spanakopita was listed, so I asked DD14 to join us as she loves spanakopita.

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Well…by the time Lumieres opened…they’d changed the menu…no spanakopita…so DD14 ditched us, lol. We weren’t too hungry…but the Nurnburger (sausage) sounded interesting.

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I got the Thai Chicken Lettuce Wraps (needed more thai flavor and a sauce of some type).

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DH got the Crispy Salmon Fish Cake.

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We both ordered the Nurnburger (sausage on a pretzel roll)…and received The Classic…a normal cheeseburger. DH and I don’t like to waste food…and as we’re not paying out of pocket for the meal and we do ‘eat’ burgers…we didn’t say anything. Oh well!

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For dessert I got the Warm Lemon Pudding...and was disappointed that it was the same dessert I had earlier in the week...which wasn't lemony or 'pudding' enough for me!

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and DH got the Berry Shortcake.

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Overall, I was not impressed with our lunch…maybe if we got what we actually ordered I’d have enjoyed it more...or if it was the original menu we saw, lol.

DH and I found the ship to be ‘crowded’ today…everyone seemed to be out and about…it was really the first time we felt that the ship was really full. We met up with DD18 at 1:15PM for the Animation Class in O’Gills. We drew Goofy. At some point today, we went shopping in Sea Treasures and actually bought a Matryoshka doll there (it has pics of the Firebird fairy tale). We got 10% off with our Disney Visa. DH and DD18 went to the 3D Mickey/Minnie crafts at 2:45PM in Promenade Lounge. Then the 3 of us did the “Art of the Theme Show tour” at 3:15PM, led by Erin. Once that ended DH and I packed and packed and packed. (I hate this part!) DD14 spent the day with her Vibe friend. At 5PM, DD18 and DD14 checked out the Oceaneer Club and Vibe during the open houses. (I knew DD18 would love to see the Iron Man statue in there!)

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Wednesday 8/15/18: DCL Day 7: at sea: “A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes!” Part 4

DH and I were packing right up until 6PM…driving our kids crazy as “we’re going to be late to dinner!”

Dinner tonight was the Lantern Menu in Rapunzel’s, celebrating the Lantern Festival.

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I had the drink of the day, 'High Tide'

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There were 3 minstrels playing music (the same group played in Promenade Lounge most evenings!). Then the show started with Rapunzel, the kings’ men, and Flynn entered!

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We had ‘wandering’ minstrels, as well as Rapunzel and Flynn coming by the tables.

Rapunzel

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Flynn gave my girls “the smolder.”

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Wednesday 8/15/18: DCL Day 7: at sea: “A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes!” Part 5

Dinner:
DD18 and I had the Maximus Salad,
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I also had the Potato Cream Soup,

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And the Flynn Rider Platter (that's more meat than I can eat!) Funny story...I asked DD18 if the 'Fried Potato Dumpling' on my plate was similar to what she kept getting in Germany...that she disliked...so she tried it, and said, yep, that's it. So, yes, the food is truly German...both good and bad, lol.

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DH had the Snuggly Duckling Platter,

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the Ahi Tuna Tartare,

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and the Spinach, Zucchini, Eggplant, and Ricotta filled Potato Crepes.

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DD18 also had the Ravioli ‘Tiroler’,

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And the Captain of the Guards Prime Rib of Beef.

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DD14 got the kids salad,

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And the kids' pizza.

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Wednesday 8/15/18: DCL Day 7: at sea: “A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes!” Part 6

Before dessert, it was time for the floating lanterns!

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Dessert!
DD18 and I had Rapunzel’s Fry Pan Sweet Bread,

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DD18 also had the Crème Brulee Cheesecake

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DD14 and I had the Gothel Blackforest Tower.

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DH and DD14 had the Apple Strudel.

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After dinner DH, hurried downstairs to put our luggage (5 bags) outside the room, and then we all went to the Walt Disney Theater for “Dreams”. We saw this show on the Wonder 2 yrs ago and loved it just as much this trip! When, we went back to the room, we ordered room service…last night room service seems to be our thing—french fries and 4 Mickey Ice Cream bars. Lol, when our food arrived, room service said, that’s all? Yep, that’s all! Then off to bed…with a very vibrating ship…they had us going 22.1 knots in an attempt to get us to Copenhagen on time!

Our final nightly turndown chocolates!

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Tonight’s towel animal: Peacock!

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Thursday 8/16/18: DCL Day 8: Copenhagen, Denmark: “I hate society.” Part 1

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Our full journey:

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That last morning is always so sad…and a rush! Luckily, we had managed to get all our staff their tip envelopes (with extra cash) the day before, so that was one less thing to worry about. DH got a couple sunrise pics from deck 4 as we were coming into Copenhagen.

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Thursday 8/16/18: DCL Day 8: Copenhagen, Denmark: “I hate society.” Part 2

Our ‘See Ya Real Soon’ breakfast was in Rapunzel’s at 7AM.

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I had the Denver omelet, hash browns,

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and a fruit bowl.

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DH had the Route 66.

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DD18 had pancakes and hash browns.

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DD14 had blueberry pancakes and hash browns.

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After breakfast, we sat down on the bench by the ‘internet café’ area to wait for “Orange Goofy” to be called so we could leave the ship and collect our bags. Eventually it was called…we actually found all 5 bags this time! Yay! Then we found the Disney Ground Transport. (Now I know what PA means on our keycards…port to airport ground transportation!) We took the bus to the Copenhagen airport…got there by 9:45AM. When we got into the airport, we did a lot of moving stuff around in our luggage to get ALL liquid/paste/gels into our checked bags. We checked into a kiosk and printed our boarding passes for Delta. Then we discovered we couldn’t check our bags until 10:30AM. So…we waited…then finally it opened up and we got in line with many many people. While in line a Delta employee checked our passports and put a Delta sticker on the back of them. Finally, it was our turn, and off the bags went! Then we went upstairs to the next line…first scanning the boarding passes, then another line for security. Once we got through that, we were in the ‘shopping’ part of the airport…a Delta employee had told us there was no food by our gate. We saw a line to get through passport control to go to our gate area, so we got our hungry kids some food here—cheesy focaccia bread and a chocolate pastry. Well…we should have taken the food with us like DH wanted instead of eating it there…my fault…the passport line was way longer than earlier…it was now past where we were eating! Finally, we got through it, got our passports stamped with the ‘out’ stamp from Copenhagen. We found our gate…had our passports and boarding passes checked again. (It seemed never ending.) Finally, we were there…to wait for our plane. DH checked his email on wifi—our placeholder booking went through (and the $250 deposit for it)! Yay!

Our flight was at 1:30PM. I still love all the services we got on the Delta Transatlantic flights! Water bottle, hot towelettes, snacks, meals, free drinks (I got a gin and tonic…got a nip of Bombay Sapphire and a cup of tonic…I used half the nip for that cup and got a second cup of tonic for the rest of it!), sleep mask, ear buds, blanket, pillow. It’s so nice! But…I still hate long flights! I ended up with a migraine/nausea about 2 hrs before we were supposed to land. (The movie I was watching just made it worse, "Bladerunner 2049"...so that's my own fault!). The plane was also a little bumpy. I felt really, really sick. I managed to calm myself down, sucked on a ginger drop, then took a ginger pill, then some Advil for the headache part…but I just couldn’t eat that last meal they gave us.

By the time we landed at JFK, I felt a little better, but still pretty rotten. DD18 needed to use a bathroom. Lol, yeah, right. It’s an 8 minute walk to the start of the customs area, and you’re now in a long line. Bathrooms mean leaving the line and walking much farther. Poor kid! DD14 had also had it with lines by this point. Take a line to another line, to another line. :confused: Go to a passport station…get yelled at by a Customs agent telling us to use a different station—without explaining ‘why’. She just said, "it doesn’t work! Can’t you see the tape?! That means you don’t go to it!" Well…the tape was BEHIND the machine…making it look like something to keep you in that area, NOT AWAY from it! I said that the tape needs to go in front of it then if it’s not working, because it’s not obvious. And well...the machine was working for us. :confused3 But okay...we'll move to another machine because the customs agent is so angry with us. But it turns out that the other machine ‘was’ indeed working…and after we moved, 2 of our receipts printed out! According to a nicer agent, the first machine we were at was finicky and didn’t always print. So, this delayed us further. And then we got into another line to actually show our passport to the customs agent! :faint: We finally got through it all! DD18 and I used a restroom while DH looked for our luggage…which was no longer on a carousel because we’ve been in customs for SOOOO long! He did find it all, we left that area, and went to the next area to check the bags again. Then we got in another line for SECURITY! Arghhh! :scared: I really, really, hate the TRAVEL part of vacation…I guess it’s good that going TO Copenhagen was a breeze…it’s the coming home that was horrid! I wasn’t in the best state mentally at this point…I forgot to take my shoes off, and a couple other things. I needed some reminders from the TSA agent. Luckily, other than that, we made it through fine. Found our gate number…took the shuttle to where it should be. Got off the shuttle…to find they MOVED our gate…so back ONTO the shuttle and FINALLY we find OUR gate!

I texted with our friends in MA, and my Dad, to let them know we were in JFK, safely in the US. DH got the kids some snacks, while I took a Bonine for the final flight, and tried to take a nap by putting one of those free sleep masks on. We boarded our flight…small plane—2 x 2 for the seating. The plane moved away from the gate…and it sat on the tarmac for an hour! :scared1: In the row behind DD14 and I, a woman was coughing non-stop. DD14 was getting really, really angry: “I hate society!” :furious: “I could walk home faster than this!” Yep, she’d had it. We all had…but she was the only one vocal about it. Finally, we took off! :worship: Amazingly, we landed in Boston on time…apparently, they add a LOT of 'extra' time to the JFK legs! I texted our friend when we landed, so he could come pick us up. We got our luggage, our friend got us, we got our car, then home and to bed, and much needed sleep! Home sweet home!
 
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Wednesday 8/15/18: DCL Day 7: at sea: “A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes!” Part 5

And the Flynn Rider Platter (that's more meat than I can eat!) Funny story...I asked DD18 if the 'Fried Potato Dumpling' on my plate was similar to what she kept getting in Germany...that she disliked...so she tried it, and said, yep, that's it. So, yes, the food is truly German...both good and bad, lol.

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I totally agree with both of those things. I had the Flynn Rider Platter and ended up giving DH a significant portion of my meat. (He just had the pasta and scallops so he had room.)

And those potato dumplings weren't any more appealing than the ones I disliked in Austria. So heavy!
 
I totally agree with both of those things. I had the Flynn Rider Platter and ended up giving DH a significant portion of my meat. (He just had the pasta and scallops so he had room.)

And those potato dumplings weren't any more appealing than the ones I disliked in Austria. So heavy!
Potato dumplings--Austria makes sense. DD18 was in the Bavaria area of Germany--they kept getting them with every meal...that and 'apple mousse' that she also couldn't stand--they were traveling with a 'bottomless pit' thin teen boy...he happily ate all their unwanted food! DD18 did come out of that trip with a love for curry ketchup though!
 
Potato dumplings--Austria makes sense. DD18 was in the Bavaria area of Germany--they kept getting them with every meal...that and 'apple mousse' that she also couldn't stand--they were traveling with a 'bottomless pit' thin teen boy...he happily ate all their unwanted food! DD18 did come out of that trip with a love for curry ketchup though!

I love curry ketchup too!
 
Wednesday 8/15/18: DCL Day 7: at sea: “A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes!” Part 2

Personal Navigator:

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After breakfast, DD18 and I went to the D Lounge for the adult only ‘Anyone Can Cook’ class for Apple Strudel. (I was very pleased to see cast members turning away the tween boys that came to the door…keeping it ‘mostly’ adult only…there was a teen girl that came in late with her mom that wasn’t 18.) We got a sample of strudel, and I had the tasting of wine with it (it was an Asti Spumanti). We were amazed by how the chef makes the strudel…especially stretching the pastry and how he seals it up! It was tablecloth magic! He makes it look so easy! DD18 and I thought it was so funny…yeah, we’re NEVER going to be able to do that!


After that we stayed in the D Lounge to do the Napkin Folding Class…which was also supposed to be adult only…but they let in a family with what looked like a 3 yr old…and they sat in the front row…while the girl behaved well enough…it just annoys me…we follow the rules and wait for our kids to turn 18 to go to the ‘adult only’ things! Anyway…we had fun trying to make things out of napkins and happily took home the instruction sheet to try them again at home!

Tuxedo:

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Corn:


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Candle:

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We had to leave a little early, as we had the Princess Gathering at 11:30AM! All the princesses loved the ‘mermaid’ leggings that our girls were wearing!

Ariel:

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Belle:

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Rapunzel:

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Cinderella:

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Tiana:

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This went in the wrong slot yesterday and not at the end of your post (sorry, Hubie). DW and I agree with you about the adult-only areas! One of the main reasons my DD and DS-in-law were able to convince us to even try our first DCL cruise back 2013 was that the ships have a number of adult-only areas. We enjoy kids, at least the well-behaved ones, but we also like the fact that when most of younger ones aren't engaged in their clubs or up at the under 18 pool area, we can still escape to the coffee shop or one of the other adult areas.
 
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Thursday 8/16/18: DCL Day 8: Copenhagen, Denmark: “I hate society.” Part 2

Our ‘See Ya Real Soon’ breakfast was in Rapunzel’s at 7AM.

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I had the Denver omelet, hash browns,

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and a fruit bowl.

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DH had the Route 66.

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DD18 had pancakes and hash browns.

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DD14 had blueberry pancakes and hash browns.

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After breakfast, we sat down on the bench by the ‘internet café’ area to wait for “Orange Goofy” to be called so we could leave the ship and collect our bags. Eventually it was called…we actually found all 5 bags this time! Yay! Then we found the Disney Ground Transport. (Now I know what PA means on our keycards…port to airport ground transportation!) We took the bus to the Copenhagen airport…got there by 9:45AM. When we got into the airport, we did a lot of moving stuff around in our luggage to get ALL liquid/paste/gels into our checked bags. We checked into a kiosk and printed our boarding passes for Delta. Then we discovered we couldn’t check our bags until 10:30AM. So…we waited…then finally it opened up and we got in line with many many people. While in line a Delta employee checked our passports and put a Delta sticker on the back of them. Finally, it was our turn, and off the bags went! Then we went upstairs to the next line…first scanning the boarding passes, then another line for security. Once we got through that, we were in the ‘shopping’ part of the airport…a Delta employee had told us there was no food by our gate. We saw a line to get through passport control to go to our gate area, so we got our hungry kids some food here—cheesy focaccia bread and a chocolate pastry. Well…we should have taken the food with us like DH wanted instead of eating it there…my fault…the passport line was way longer than earlier…it was now past where we were eating! Finally, we got through it, got our passports stamped with the ‘out’ stamp from Copenhagen. We found our gate…had our passports and boarding passes checked again. (It seemed never ending.) Finally, we were there…to wait for our plane. DH checked his email on wifi—our placeholder booking went through (and the $250 deposit for it)! Yay!

Our flight was at 1:30PM. I still love all the services we got on the Delta Transatlantic flights! Water bottle, hot towelettes, snacks, meals, free drinks (I got a gin and tonic…got a nip of Bombay Sapphire and a cup of tonic…I used half the nip for that cup and got a second cup of tonic for the rest of it!), sleep mask, ear buds, blanket, pillow. It’s so nice! But…I still hate long flights! I ended up with a migraine/nausea about 2 hrs before we were supposed to land. (The movie I was watching just made it worse, "Bladerunner 2049"...so that's my own fault!). The plane was also a little bumpy. I felt really, really sick. I managed to calm myself down, sucked on a ginger drop, then took a ginger pill, then some Advil for the headache part…but I just couldn’t eat that last meal they gave us.

By the time we landed at JFK, I felt a little better, but still pretty rotten. DD18 needed to use a bathroom. Lol, yeah, right. It’s an 8 minute walk to the start of the customs area, and you’re now in a long line. Bathrooms mean leaving the line and walking much farther. Poor kid! DD14 had also had it with lines by this point. Take a line to another line, to another line. :confused: Go to a passport station…get yelled at by a Customs agent telling us to use a different station—without explaining ‘why’. She just said, "it doesn’t work! Can’t you see the tape?! That means you don’t go to it!" Well…the tape was BEHIND the machine…making it look like something to keep you in that area, NOT AWAY from it! I said that the tape needs to go in front of it then if it’s not working, because it’s not obvious. And well...the machine was working for us. :confused3 But okay...we'll move to another machine because the customs agent is so angry with us. But it turns out that the other machine ‘was’ indeed working…and after we moved, 2 of our receipts printed out! According to a nicer agent, the first machine we were at was finicky and didn’t always print. So, this delayed us further. And then we got into another line to actually show our passport to the customs agent! :faint: We finally got through it all! DD18 and I used a restroom while DH looked for our luggage…which was no longer on a carousel because we’ve been in customs for SOOOO long! He did find it all, we left that area, and went to the next area to check the bags again. Then we got in another line for SECURITY! Arghhh! :scared: I really, really, hate the TRAVEL part of vacation…I guess it’s good that going TO Copenhagen was a breeze…it’s the coming home that was horrid! I wasn’t in the best state mentally at this point…I forgot to take my shoes off, and a couple other things. I needed some reminders from the TSA agent. Luckily, other than that, we made it through fine. Found our gate number…took the shuttle to where it should be. Got off the shuttle…to find they MOVED our gate…so back ONTO the shuttle and FINALLY we find OUR gate!

I texted with our friends in MA, and my Dad, to let them know we were in JFK, safely in the US. DH got the kids some snacks, while I took a Bonine for the final flight, and tried to take a nap by putting one of those free sleep masks on. We boarded our flight…small plane—2 x 2 for the seating. The plane moved away from the gate…and it sat on the tarmac for an hour! :scared1: In the row behind DD14 and I, a woman was coughing non-stop. DD14 was getting really, really angry: “I hate society!” :furious: “I could walk home faster than this!” Yep, she’d had it. We all had…but she was the only one vocal about it. Finally, we took off! :worship: Amazingly, we landed in Boston on time…apparently, they add a LOT of 'extra' time to the JFK legs! I texted our friend when we landed, so he could come pick us up. We got our luggage, our friend got us, we got our car, then home and to bed, and much needed sleep! Home sweet home!

We also had horrible experience with customs at ORD in Chicago. Missed our first bus back to Madison and barely made it to the next one. Flying was fun 20 years ago, now it's a necessary evil.
 
Final Northern European Cruise Notes:

  • Our Disney Magic Crew: Captain Fabian Dib; Cruise Director Lesley Dallas, Asst. Cruise Director: Anthony. Club Host: Matt. Bingo: Timmy (Shimmy with Timmy!). 1820 Society: Taylor. Other entertainment staff: Jay, Erin, and Omar (Omar was leaving the ship after our cruise.)
  • Soft Serve flavors: Vanilla, Chocolate, and a flavor of the day: strawberry, blueberry, mango, or mint! The flavor of the day was paired with vanilla in the machine. I would have loved to have the mint paired with chocolate. Lol, my 1 goal this trip was to try the blueberry flavor…in Alaska I discovered that they ‘had’ blueberry…when they were cleaning the machine out for the night! So, I did indeed get to try blueberry! They had it on 2 of the days.
  • European Food: Obviously, Disney uses local suppliers as needed. For ‘different’ fruits—we had seeded grapes (you can imagine how we discovered this, lol.), darker orange cantaloupes, and ‘donut’ peaches (I just looked it up to try and figure out what it was!). We loved the nice thin waffle cones…much better than the ‘normal’ cones we had on the Alaska cruise. We also had ‘regional inspirations’ for all the MDR menus.
  • Silver Castaway Gift: We had the DCL sling bag in our room! It’s a good size and I’m sure it’ll come in handy for day trips!
  • DVC Member gifts: Yeah…not as much for giveaways as when we did the Alaska trip. The DVC staff came aboard the same time as us, so they hadn’t unpacked anything yet. We did get the magnet on our door…saw lots of DVC magnets on deck 2! We never went back asking for lanyards…because we already had the silver ones…and how many lanyards do we need? We did go get our 4 hats a couple days later—which is great…I think it’s pretty much the only way to get ‘free’ DVC hats these days…we used to get hats at the Welcome Home Wednesdays at Disney…years ago! It’s also nice to get free drinks at the Member events.
  • Double Shows: Yes, I still hate them! Being forewarned by other DISers and the DisneyCruiseLineBlog helped us to ‘set expectations.’ We still had a great cruise, and worked around the double shows…but we would have preferred to go to the Walt Disney Theater every night after dinner to see a show. And, the double shows cause the ‘adult only areas’ to be kid friendly for a half hour longer, so the kids can go to a ‘fun for all ages’ show in Fathoms at 8:45PM.
  • Celebrations: Multiple cast members asked if we were celebrating anything. We said ‘no’…and said that DH’s birthday was the day before we flew out…and mine was 8 days after we got back from the trip. We did raise our hands in Rapunzels when asked who was celebrating a birthday ‘this’ month. Anyway…someone took notice…the next day, in our room, we had 2 cards from the spa that said ‘Celebrate your Magical Birthday Month with a $50 Spa gift certificate’…good off a 50 minute or longer face or body treatment on port days. Well…we appreciate the thought…but we were quite busy on port days…and neither of us are really ‘spa’ people…and I can only imagine how much more we would have had to spend to get a treatment done! Anyway…in hindsight we should have celebrated both our birthdays in the MDR one day of the cruise. With DH’s birthday the day before we left…with final packing, etc…it wasn’t much of a celebration. And my birthday…well we dropped DD18 off at college 2 days before it! If we’d celebrated on the ship, we would have all been together. So…if we cruise again in August—we will say, ‘yes’ we are celebrating 2 birthdays!
  • Northern European cruise: We loved it! They were all port cities—so all major sites were with 15-30 minutes of the ship. It was a great way for us to get a taste of all those places, and still feel safe when we went back to the ship each night. (And I love that for a cruise you unpack once and get transported while you’re dining/watching shows/sleeping…and wake up in a ‘whole new world.’) This was the right itinerary for us after the natural beauty of Alaska.
  • Ports: In all of the ports, residents were willing to speak English with us, and were very nice!
    • Copenhagen, Denmark:
      • Wakeup Copenhagen Carsten Niebuhrs Gade: Would I stay here again on a future trip to Copenhagen? If the price is right, yes. It was in a good central location (although it’s not ‘right’ next to anything, 10 minutes of walking takes care of that), it was clean, and the ‘family’ room worked well for our family of 4. In general, what am I using the room for—just sleeping/showering, etc. It was also worth it to us to add the breakfast plan, just to make sure we ate food before heading out on the day’s adventures. (And to get morning coffee for DH and I!) Lol, the other benefit to staying in a small hotel room is that our stateroom on the Magic seemed huge! Our shower was larger on the ship!
      • Copenhagen Card: Yes, I’d buy it again! If we’re ever in Copenhagen again, we’ll venture out of the city by train—to Roskilde to see the Viking Museum, and to Helsingor to visit Kronborg Castle (Hamlet’s castle!)
    • Tallinn, Estonia: We loved the old town area! It felt like stepping into a fairy tale. With the Marzipan workshop…it actually felt like a relaxing day…especially sitting and having coffee and a dessert! They also had the best shopping setup at the cruise port of all the ports we visited.
    • St. Petersburg, Russia: DH thought it was ‘sad’. The architecture from 150 years ago was beautiful…then you have the gray Soviet buildings…and the city just looked like it was past it’s glory days. “I” thought it was much better than I expected—I have the picture in my head of Russia in the 1980’s…so I was pleasantly surprised by the whimsy I saw here and there. New buildings with splashes of color on them, the paddleboard festival, the brides, and the living statues. The crowds in the Hermitage…I could have done without! I would not recommend the Hermitage on a summer afternoon…if you can go near opening or closing times…or do one of those ‘private museum’ port adventures…that would be great!
    • Helsinki, Finland: We loved our excursion, as it got us out into nature. The kids were ecstatic to feed reindeer. And the pastry was soooo yummy!
    • Stockholm, Sweden: Stockholm card—loved it! It made it so easy to do Stockholm on our own, and not worry about spending $ on a museum that we’d only spend an hour at! I loved the beauty of cruising through the archipelago…it reminded me of the “inside passage” on the Alaskan cruise.
  • Seasickness meds: We bought Bonine (active ingredient is Meclizine) off Amazon before the cruise, knowing from our last cruise that DD18 is susceptible. She took one every night of the cruise (starting the night before we boarded), as well as for the airplane rides and that worked for her! DD14 took it for the airplane rides—she’s absolutely fine on the ship…overnight flights…not so much! (Bonine is non-drowsy…at least at the 1 pill/day dose!) I also brought Dramamine Naturals (ginger pills) which I took the first 2 days. I brought some ginger hard candy to suck on as needed. The seas were definitely rougher than Alaska for the first couple days (saw some whitecaps on the waves). Once in the Gulf of Finland, the seas got a lot calmer.
  • Landsickness: So, yeah, when we got home, the stable earth was ‘moving’ for DH and I. Much worse than the first cruise. I felt it most after walking up/down stairs…we did a lot of stairs on the cruise…apparently my body was trying to compensate for waves that aren’t there! It’s not so bad that I felt ‘sick’…but I definitely felt like I was still on a ship.
  • Placeholder Booking: We have until 8/16/20 to use our placeholder booking. (They put it through on debarkation day!) In the spring, we’ll see what Disney offers for the summer 2020 cruises. DH and I want a good itinerary still. Maybe Norway/Iceland, or British Isles. I think something with more ‘nature’ and ‘scenery’ next time! And, we’re still tied to the school calendars…1 in high school, 1 in college…so that limits ‘when’ we can go. Lol…and with the type of itineraries we like…I wonder if we’ll ever have a Pirate night! Or if we’ll ever make it to Castaway Cay! Maybe someday…the Panama Canal cruise is on DH and my list…at least 4 years from now once DD14 graduates high school…if DCL is still doing Panama Canal cruises then!
 

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