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

Finished reading your TR now. Wow so beautiful pictures and such a detailed review.
It was also heart warming to read about you saying so beautiful things about Tallinn (and you wrote the name rightLol). I was born and raised in Tallinn and very proud of my home town and our little Estonia (now been living in Norway Oslo for 14 years but Tallinn still is ❤️ for me:). Lol @ that’s actually right what your guide said about learning the Estonian language (the language geeks and someone loving an estonian person learning it). My Norwegian husband was one of the latters - taking summer course in Estonian in Tallinn University one year.

This really is nice and respectful of you to try to learn some words of Danish. But don’t blame yourself, as I speak fluent Norwegian and Swedish but can only read Danish - one of the most difficult languages to understand when spoken

Your cruise on Magic seemed nice. We are booked a Med next year and I would like to know what the sommelier’s basket is?

And oh yeah, seems like your husband really likes his salmon (laks)! reminds me of my 12 year old - a breakfast without salmon cannot be called a breakfast according to him
Sommelier's Bin--it is on the Promenade Lounge Menu, on the 'wine' side. (The Promenade Lounge is on deck 3, aft) At the bottom it says 'Sommelier's Bin" $11/glass of wine "As we update the wine list, we always find 'unique' bottles. We would like to relay the value to you. The wine will remain a mystery until presented to you." You get to choose if you would like a white, red, or sparkling. From what I've read, it is always a glass that they would sell for more than $11--so it can be a bargain...and a complete surprise!

We loved our cruise on the Magic! I hope you love yours next year!

Lol, yes DH loves salmon. When we got home I went through the pics and counted how many times he had 'cooked' salmon vs. smoked/tartare salmon. We joke that he got his money's worth out of the cruise from eating salmon, especially with the caviar they had on top of some of the smoked ones!

We loved our time in Tallinn! The old town was so beautiful!

Our household finds languages interesting, and Duolingo makes it so easy to try to learn some. I took Spanish in high school...so that's pretty much the only foreign language I can speak 'correctly'. I mangle any other language I try to speak. If I try to pronounce a German word or city, DD18 winces and tells me to stop...I do it to French words as well. Oh well! At least I can pick up the 'written word' of languages easily enough. I had read that Danish has lots of silent letters making it difficult to speak/understand and that Danish and Swedish is very similar in the written form, but completely different for pronunciation, and Norwegian is also similar in the written form...but Finnish is completely different! DH got me a Nordic Europe phrase book that we brought with us...but never needed to use. It was interesting looking through it before the cruise!

Thanks again for reading my trip report!
 
Yeah, maybe they start near the end of passport books...but the US one was on the second to last set of pages...maybe due to the statue of liberty pics on the last couple pages...and the Alaskan bear/totem pole pics are less offensive or something.

They're reclaiming it...
 
The day 1 navigator you posted mentions that the connect at sea internet onboard is "improved" and they mention prices for purchasing internet packages, but they did not mention the free 50 Mb package on the first day. Did they still offer the free internet package?? We are planning for the EBTA in may and are hoping to get the free 50 Mb to keep in touch!! Thanks!
 


The day 1 navigator you posted mentions that the connect at sea internet onboard is "improved" and they mention prices for purchasing internet packages, but they did not mention the free 50 Mb package on the first day. Did they still offer the free internet package?? We are planning for the EBTA in may and are hoping to get the free 50 Mb to keep in touch!! Thanks!
I think it was available. DH says it let him sign up for it, but he wasn't actually able to use it...login/password issues, so he just gave up. We tend to disconnect from the real world during cruises, he was just trying to get it because it's free...of course the last time we got it free some background apps used it all up before he could actively use it, lol. Maybe check some more recent personal navigators on www.disneycruiselineblog.com and see if it's listed in those?
 
The day 1 navigator you posted mentions that the connect at sea internet onboard is "improved" and they mention prices for purchasing internet packages, but they did not mention the free 50 Mb package on the first day. Did they still offer the free internet package?? We are planning for the EBTA in may and are hoping to get the free 50 Mb to keep in touch!! Thanks!
They had it and DH and I logged on. We didn’t use all of it on the first day so it actually lasted us a couple of days.
 


Thanks for the great report. This is on my bucket list so I always look for these reports.
Thanks! I know the feeling--I read the Panama Canal reports as we'd love to do that...4 more years until my youngest is in college!
 
Im relieved that they still have the free 50 Mb internet package!! Its just enough to check for any emergency emails from home!! Thanks for answering!! I cant wait to cruise the Magic again!!
 
Thanks! I know the feeling--I read the Panama Canal reports as we'd love to do that...4 more years until my youngest is in college!

My in-laws have done the Panama Canal four times and my own folks are booked on one for this coming March, so it feels inevitable that we'll end up on one. We were actually supposed to go last year with my in-laws for their 5th trip through but health problems canceled it.
 
Thanks for a great trip report! Really enjoyed it as it was so beautifully put together. We are booked on the Magic early November 2019 out of NYC (NYC-Port Canaveral-Castaway Cay-NYC) so your menus, pics, and Magic information was very helpful and interesting.

We just sailed the 7 night Eastern Caribbean on the Fantasy in early September and loved it!
 
Thanks for a great trip report! Really enjoyed it as it was so beautifully put together. We are booked on the Magic early November 2019 out of NYC (NYC-Port Canaveral-Castaway Cay-NYC) so your menus, pics, and Magic information was very helpful and interesting.

We just sailed the 7 night Eastern Caribbean on the Fantasy in early September and loved it!
Thanks for reading it! I'm glad it was helpful! Enjoy your cruise next year.
 
Global Entry...not quite ready to spring for that yet...although after our experience at JFK, it's awfully tempting (as is the TSA Pre-Check part after travelling through MCO twice a year...) I just wish there was a closer interview location than BOS, especially with weekday only hours...last thing I want to do is travel into the city on a weekday. :eek:

I just found and finished your 2016 Alaska report and then saw you had this Europe one which I'll read next because like you, we're not interested in the Caribbean. (Not being snobs, we just both spent a lot of time in the Caribbean/Bahamas with our families as kids).

JFK customs - isn't it a treat? We finally got Global Entry for ourselves and our kids and it's 100% worth it. But if you don't want to hassle with that, download the Mobile Entry app and you can fill out your info right before you land and get in the much shorter Mobile Entry line. Last trip the Mobile Entry line was actually shorter than the Global Entry one because my impatient fellow New Yorkers have caught on to GE, LOL. And TSA Precheck is so worth it for MCO, that's one place where the tourists don't seem to have caught on yet and the TSA line is always much shorter than the normal one. Especially since we have two little kids and we don't check bags, not having to dump out our toiletries/electronics/remove shoes while keeping track of the kids makes life so much easier.

So what made you guys choose the Northern Europe itinerary over the Southern ones or Iceland/Norway? And how did you like the Magic compared to the Wonder? Our upcoming cruise to Alaska will be our first one ever, my DH is dreading it because he's not a Disneyphile, but I'm hoping the relatively small size of the ship and the DCL level of service converts him!

Thanks for your awesome trip reports!
 
I just found and finished your 2016 Alaska report and then saw you had this Europe one which I'll read next because like you, we're not interested in the Caribbean. (Not being snobs, we just both spent a lot of time in the Caribbean/Bahamas with our families as kids).

JFK customs - isn't it a treat? We finally got Global Entry for ourselves and our kids and it's 100% worth it. But if you don't want to hassle with that, download the Mobile Entry app and you can fill out your info right before you land and get in the much shorter Mobile Entry line. Last trip the Mobile Entry line was actually shorter than the Global Entry one because my impatient fellow New Yorkers have caught on to GE, LOL. And TSA Precheck is so worth it for MCO, that's one place where the tourists don't seem to have caught on yet and the TSA line is always much shorter than the normal one. Especially since we have two little kids and we don't check bags, not having to dump out our toiletries/electronics/remove shoes while keeping track of the kids makes life so much easier.

So what made you guys choose the Northern Europe itinerary over the Southern ones or Iceland/Norway? And how did you like the Magic compared to the Wonder? Our upcoming cruise to Alaska will be our first one ever, my DH is dreading it because he's not a Disneyphile, but I'm hoping the relatively small size of the ship and the DCL level of service converts him!

Thanks for your awesome trip reports!
Thanks for reading my trip reports! Enjoy your Alaskan cruise! We loved it. I think your DH will love the DCL level of service as well as all the Alaska parts--the beautiful views of the inside passage, the glaciers, etc. He should go to all the Alaska Naturalist talks--that's not Disney related at all. It was the combo of Disney AND Alaska that got us to cruise for the first time.

Why Northern Europe? The Mediterranean cruises held no appeal for us. We don't like the heat, and don't have a desire to visit Italy--especially with the main sites being so far from the ports (and all the things I've heard about pickpockets in Barcelona and Italy didn't make us want that to be our first European experience). Iceland/Norway was on our list (still is)...but the timing didn't work--our placeholder expired a day before the Iceland/Norway cruise...and we ended up having to move DD18 into college a couple days before that cruise ended (and DD14 started school 2 days after that cruise ended.) I actually was really tempted by the 10 nt Iceland/Norway...when I was booking my cruise, it was only $600 more than our 7 nt cruise. Norway was DD18's first choice...the Iceland part was what I was more interested in. The Baltic (Northern European) cruise was actually my first choice--having a chance to visit Russia without having to go through the hassle and cost of Visas for our party...as well as having the 'safety' of the ship to go back to at night was key. We LOVED visiting Tallinn, Estonia. We really just loved the whole trip--including our pre-cruise stay in Copenhagen, Denmark--we got to visit 5 countries! All the sites are close to the ports vs. travelling hrs to get to them. I'm glad we did the cruises in this order--we loved the nature of Alaska, loved seeing the architecture/sites in the Baltic (Northern European) cruise. I'm hoping the timing will work to do a more nature themed one next--Norway or maybe British Isles.

We liked the ships equally. We really like the size of the Magic/Wonder--easy to get around, but big enough to have enough stuff to keep us occupied. Everything is in the same location...just different names. The Wonder was reimagined shortly after our cruise...guess we'll have to go on it again someday to see all the new decor, Tiana's Place, and the Frozen show!

Thanks for the tips on JFK--we'll definitely do the Mobile Entry app next time!
 
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Thanks for reading my trip reports! Enjoy your Alaskan cruise! We loved it. I think your DH will love the DCL level of service as well as all the Alaska parts--the beautiful views of the inside passage, the glaciers, etc. He should go to all the Alaska Naturalist talks--that's not Disney related at all. It was the combo of Disney AND Alaska that got us to cruise for the first time.

Why Northern Europe? The Mediterranean cruises held no appeal for us. We don't like the heat, and don't have a desire to visit Italy--especially with the main sites being so far from the ports (and all the things I've heard about pickpockets in Barcelona and Italy didn't make us want that to be our first European experience). Iceland/Norway was on our list (still is)...but the timing didn't work--our placeholder expired a day before the Iceland/Norway cruise...and we ended up having to move DD18 into college a couple days before that cruise ended (and DD14 started school 2 days after that cruise ended.) I actually was really tempted by the 10 nt Iceland/Norway...when I was booking my cruise, it was only $600 more than our 7 nt cruise. Norway was DD18's first choice...the Iceland part was what I was more interested in. The Baltic (Northern European) cruise was actually my first choice--having a chance to visit Russia without having to go through the hassle and cost of Visas for our party...as well as having the 'safety' of the ship to go back to at night was key. We LOVED visiting Tallinn, Estonia. We really just loved the whole trip--including our pre-cruise stay in Copenhagen, Denmark--we got to visit 5 countries! All the sites are close to the ports vs. travelling hrs to get to them. I'm glad we did the cruises in this order--we loved the nature of Alaska, loved seeing the architecture/sites in the Baltic (Northern European) cruise. I'm hoping the timing will work to do a more nature themed one next--Norway or maybe British Isles.

We liked the ships equally. We really like the size of the Magic/Wonder--easy to get around, but big enough to have enough stuff to keep us occupied. Everything is in the same location...just different names. The Wonder was reimagined shortly after our cruise...guess we'll have to go on it again someday to see all the new decor, Tiana's Place, and the Frozen show!

Thanks for the tips on JFK--we'll definitely do the Mobile Entry app next time!

Thanks for the reply! We just got back from Barcelona and had no trouble with pickpockets - there was one shifty guy who go too close to my mom's bag who I gave a death stare to until he backed away and pretended to be window shopping, and a woman who asked us for money, both occurrences were inside five minutes by a stop for the hop-on hop-off tour bus, so that might be why they chose that spot. But we had nothing stolen. I did get a lecture from the lady at the handmade espadrille shop near Las Ramblas because she saw me put my phone in the outside pocket of my bag, but I had only done that for five seconds while fishing out my wallet to pay for the shoes, I wasn't going to leave it like that when I left the shop. But I appreciated the warning, it was sweet of her to care. Since we were traveling with 2 distracting kids and a stroller, I was surprised we weren't targeted more from the reports I had heard on the DIS and elsewhere. But we were also there in November so maybe it's not as bad when it's not the high season. My friend just got back from a tour of Southern Europe that she arranged on her own, taking cheap flights once in Europe to see as many places as possible. They went to Barcelona, Italy (Pisa, Florence, Cinque Terre, Rome and Venice), Austria, and Greece, with kids the same age as yours. Stayed mostly in Airbnbs, and probably spent less than a DCL cruise in Southern Europe but got to see more places and spend more time in them. A Med cruise appeals to me because it seems like an easy way to get around with two young kids, but I agree with your points about the ports.
 
Thank you so much for this wonderful trip report. We are taking this same cruise this August (2019), and it was so helpful with all of your pictures. I have been so overwhelmed with what to expect. We do WDW all the time, and my parents are DVC members, so I am used to feeling like I know what it happening. Your report makes me so much more comfortable. It will be my family of 4 (with DD13 and DD9), plus my parents, and none of us have done a cruise (Disney or otherwise) before. We've been to other parts of Europe with my parents, and DH and I have been to Copenhagen, but we figured this was probably the only way my parents were going to get to see Northern Europe. We will also be flying out of Boston, but skipping JFK (thankfully - I've done that before, and hate it). We are flying Iceland Air through Reykjavik, and I just signed us all up for Global entry (DH already has it since he travels internationally for work).

A couple questions:
- How much do you tip and who all do you tip? I've never done this before, so have absolutely no idea about it
- And I am sure this is a super silly questions, but I am trying to figure out what food is included and what you pay extra for.... for example - is the ice cream included but the smoothies are extra? What about getting items at the snack stations (pizza/hot dog)? Is alcohol always extra (since you mentioned the free drinks, I am assuming yes...)

Thanks so much!!!!
 
Thank you so much for this wonderful trip report. We are taking this same cruise this August (2019), and it was so helpful with all of your pictures. I have been so overwhelmed with what to expect. We do WDW all the time, and my parents are DVC members, so I am used to feeling like I know what it happening. Your report makes me so much more comfortable. It will be my family of 4 (with DD13 and DD9), plus my parents, and none of us have done a cruise (Disney or otherwise) before. We've been to other parts of Europe with my parents, and DH and I have been to Copenhagen, but we figured this was probably the only way my parents were going to get to see Northern Europe. We will also be flying out of Boston, but skipping JFK (thankfully - I've done that before, and hate it). We are flying Iceland Air through Reykjavik, and I just signed us all up for Global entry (DH already has it since he travels internationally for work).

A couple questions:
- How much do you tip and who all do you tip? I've never done this before, so have absolutely no idea about it
- And I am sure this is a super silly questions, but I am trying to figure out what food is included and what you pay extra for.... for example - is the ice cream included but the smoothies are extra? What about getting items at the snack stations (pizza/hot dog)? Is alcohol always extra (since you mentioned the free drinks, I am assuming yes...)

Thanks so much!!!!
Thanks for reading it! I'm glad you found it helpful! That's good that you already have the Europe experience...we had the cruise experience already from our Alaskan cruise, but had no Europe knowledge! It's great to be comfortable with some part of it!

Tipping--Disney will add a standard gratuity to your account that will be billed to your credit card (or whatever form of payment you have) at the end of your cruise. This gratuity is $12/day/person--so for 4 people, it will come to $336 for 7 nts. The $12 breaks down to $4 stateroom host, $4 server, $3 assistant server, $1 head server. You are given the tip receipts and envelopes towards the end of your cruise so you can give them to your staff--if you think they did a great job, you can add extra cash to the envelopes or go to guest services to have the tip amounts increased. Your waitstaff will be your waitstaff for all the main dining room dinners...they will also be helping out at various locations for breakfast and lunch...so you're not just tipping for 1 meal/day...the tips are meant to cover all your meals (doesn't matter who served you at other parts of the day.) For other tipping--we will tip the room service person $1/item in cash. Drinks will have a 15% gratuity already added to them and I believe spa services have an 18% gratuity already added in. You don't need to tip anyone else--and the only 'cash' tips you need are for room service.

Food--99% of it is included. The only 'pay' items are popcorn/candy outside the theaters, some upcharge items at O'Gills bar (there are still free snacks out around 11PM), the coffee drinks at Cove cafe (but the snacks there are FREE), alcoholic drinks (except for the freebies going around at the Captain's reception and at the DVC meetings), bottled water, canned sodas (so basically anything you would get at a bar/lounge would have a charge), and the smoothies/specialty drinks. Basically...if they ask for your room key, there's going to be a charge for that item!

Free: Soft serve ice cream machine, open from around 10AM-11PM; all the food on deck 9--pizza/salad/schwarma/burgers/chicken nuggets/fries/sandwiches/buffet/hard packed ice cream at the buffet (which I never actually looked for...so I've heard it exists but I haven't had it yet.), Snacks at Cove cafe (breakfast pastries in the AM, desserts in the afternoon, meat/cheese/olives/breadsticks in the evening.) 24 hr beverage station on deck 9--soda, coffee, tea, hot chocolate, milk, etc. Lumieres is open for a sit down breakfast/lunch most days (with limited hours)--all food and regular non-alcoholic beverages are free. Character breakfast is free (need to reserve tix in advance during your online check-in or try to get them when you board.) There are free breakfast and snack items in Promenade Lounge at various times of day as well as some free snacks at the buffet station at O'Gills late at night. Main Dining Rooms are all free for food and regular non-alcoholic drinks.

Enjoy your cruise!
 
Wow! Thank you so much! That is all sooooo helpful! I think my DD9's head will explode when I tell her about the soft serve.
 
Wow! Thank you so much! That is all sooooo helpful! I think my DD9's head will explode when I tell her about the soft serve.
You're welcome!

DD14 says she had 15 soft serve cones on our 1 week cruise. It's a self-serve machine and the cones were much better over in Europe than the Alaska ones we had. We all loved the special flavors offered during the cruise. Some nights DH and I would take disposable cups from the beverage station, fill them with ice cream, grab a couple spoons, and bring them down to our kids in the room as a late night snack.

We loved our Northern European cruise--it was a great way for us to see 5 countries in such a short time!
 

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