September 17, 2023 Disney Dream Transatlantic from Southampton, England - 11 Night Cruise

[FeliceDCL]

We're flying into Heathrow, picking up a car and heading to a hotel Newberry that we like. Close to Highclere Castle (Downton Abbey), it gives us time to visit Stonehenge Sunday morning on our way to the port.

We'll be at Highclere on September 13th! If you don't mind, we would appreciate if you might share the name of the hotel in Newberry that you enjoy.

 

[teenal100]

Hello,
We are from Northern Ontario and this will be our second WBTA cruise and 8th Disney cruise. We have also sailed with Holland America, Norwegian and Royal Caribbean.
We are staying at the Sofitel on the 16th and taking Disney transportation to the port. Completed online check-in and received a 11:15-11:30 arrival and boarding group 4.
Counting down the days to the cruise.

 

[Qball]

Hello everyone. We’re from Saskatchewan. We were booked on a DCL cruise back in 2021 for our whole family but it got canceled due to covid. So we booked this (my husband and I and our teenage son. Our daughter and her partner could not come due to other commitments). I’m celebrating my 55th bday when we board and my sons 17th when we debark n NYC. This is our 7th Disney cruise. We are very excited!!

 

[insureman]

Received our GTY stateroom number today very happy with the category 4B.

 

[insureman]

Hello everyone-
DW and I are platinum cruisers, this will be #20 (I think?) and our second on the Dream. We booked during the VGT sale , still awaiting our cabin assignment. We're from Sacramento, CA, flying SFO to LHR pre-cruise, arriving Saturday. We decided to skip London this time and stay in Newbury, we have a Doubletree there that we really like. We used free days with National to book a one way rental LHR to Southhampton and will turn the car in near the port. My wife is an educator, this is her first year working in a senior management position that is not tied to a school site/calendar so we jumped on this TA

Anyone have recommendations for non-DCL excursions in Vigo and Lisbon? Not thrilled with their options. I'll be interested to the what/when of stateroom assignments for folks with GT bookings.

Check the app. People getting assigned today.

 

[alongtimeblooming]

We got our cabin assignment today! VGT and ended up with a Category 4E and soooooo excited by how big the veranda looks.

 

[BalooHoo]

We also got our VGT assignment yesterday. We're in a 5C but very happy to be in connecting staterooms with our friends whose reservations are linked to ours.

 

[nvr2old]

Has anyone has had their check-in docs and photos approved yet? We checked in almost two weeks ago and are still pending. I know we may not hear anything for a bit yet, just curious

 

[Qball]

Has anyone has had their check-in docs and photos approved yet? We checked in almost two weeks ago and are still pending. I know we may not hear anything for a bit yet, just curious

We did ours almost two weeks ago too and still says it’s pending. We even had a hard time uploading decent pictures .

 

[EVMac7]

Has anyone has had their check-in docs and photos approved yet? We checked in almost two weeks ago and are still pending. I know we may not hear anything for a bit yet, just curious

Our check in documents and photos were approved/finalised a couple of days ago on Wed, 23rd August.

 

[nvr2old]

We did ours almost two weeks ago too and still says it’s pending. We even had a hard time uploading decent pictures .

Ya, I’m thinking we’ll probably have to resubmit my passport photo, the upper corner isn’t showing

 

[karmacats]

Just got our email today that our documents were accepted. Woo hoo!

Still no Palo brunch, though. We have a noon PAT so I'm hoping that's early enough to snag a reservation onboard. We're gold and checked in as soon as possible and that was the earliest available.

 

[Qball]

Ya, I’m thinking we’ll probably have to resubmit my passport photo, the upper corner isn’t showing

My DH and I got our documents approved today but my son’s passport needs to be resubmitted

 

[Qball]

Just got our email today that our documents were accepted. Woo hoo!

Still no Palo brunch, though. We have a noon PAT so I'm hoping that's early enough to snag a reservation onboard. We're gold and checked in as soon as possible and that was the earliest available.

We are hoping for a palo lunch too but we’re not able to book one either. We are gold and noon board time too .

 

[karmacats]

We are hoping for a palo lunch too but we’re not able to book one either. We are gold and noon board time too .

We'll see you in line!

 

[Qball]

How is everyone getting from London to Southhampton?
We leave Canada on sept 14th and arrive in London on sept 15th. We plan to spend one night in London then go to Southhampton by train with South Western Railway on sept 16th. I've noticed a few people staying in Newberry but no one has mentioned they are staying in South Hampton the night before the cruise.
We just got an email from South Western Railway regarding strike action right now. Hopefully it will be over by the time we travel.

 

[karmacats]

How is everyone getting from London to Southhampton?
We leave Canada on sept 14th and arrive in London on sept 15th. We plan to spend one night in London then go to Southhampton by train with South Western Railway on sept 16th. I've noticed a few people staying in Newberry but no one has mentioned they are staying in South Hampton the night before the cruise.
We just got an email from South Western Railway regarding strike action right now. Hopefully it will be over by the time we travel.

We heard about the rail strikes in the uk so decided to use a car service (Blackberry Cars). We're taking the eurail from paris the morning of the 16th, and the car will pick us up at St Pancras, we'll go sightseeing at Stonehenge, and then it will drop us at our hotel in southampton late afternoon.

 

[BalooHoo]

How is everyone getting from London to Southhampton?
We leave Canada on sept 14th and arrive in London on sept 15th. We plan to spend one night in London then go to Southhampton by train with South Western Railway on sept 16th. I've noticed a few people staying in Newberry but no one has mentioned they are staying in South Hampton the night before the cruise.
We just got an email from South Western Railway regarding strike action right now. Hopefully it will be over by the time we travel.

UK law requires the union to give 14 days' notice of any strike, so anyone traveling by train can be comfortable that there will not be a strike if it hasn't been announced in advance.

We are also taking the train from the Waterloo station in London to Southampton on Sep 16, so as long as no strike is announced for that date by tomorrow (Sep 2), we should be in the clear.

 

[nvr2old]

For those of us who will be in Southampton on Friday and Saturday…

 

[Bad Pink Tink 2.0]

I did the 4 night Spain Cruise from Southampton at the end of August and I'm in the middle of writing my trip report. I did pre and post cruise days in Southampton and arrived by train from Southampton airport. https://www.disboards.com/threads/s...pain-cruise-2023-updated-2nd-sea-day.3929341/

This is my embarkation experience at Queen Elizabeth II Terminal on Wednesday 30 August.

I stayed at IBIS Southampton Centre and my check out time was 11am. The DCL Health Questionnaire popped up about 10am.

I went down to the hotel lobby at 11.am and my taxi arrived at 11.10am. I had pre booked with Radio Taxis for 11.15am pickup. I paid cash for the journey but they do accept card. It was £10. I did not tip the taxi driver.

Arrival at Queen Elizabeth II Terminal was easy. The taxi was directed into a big covered warehouse area which was divided into different sections for taxi drop off and pick up.

The entrance building was at the the far end. There a big signs and lost of port staff so its organized and easy to find where to go. I was first directed to the luggage drop area. They checked I had the DCL luggage tag and then a porter took my bag. You do not tip the luggage porters in Southampton.

Then I was directed to the entrance queues. Port staff checked my PAT form and I was directed into the 12pm queue. It was now 11.35am.

At 11.40 our queue was allowed into the main check in hall and into the switch backs. It moved fast as there were alot of desks open. At the check in they checked my PAT form and my passport and that I had done the Health Questionnaire. I was given a wristband and then told to go up stairs. On the way to the next level was the DCL Embarkation Photo OP.

Up the escalator to the next level and I was in the final holding area before security and walking onto the ship. It was now about 11.50am and this area was crowded as they hadnt called Boarding Group 1 yet.

Boarding Group 1 was called at 11.55am and they moved quickly though and soon it was Group 11, my boarding group.
When the boarding group is called there a switchback to get to the security area. They have 3 security lanes, so they get through people fast. Just like at the airport, bags in the scanner, walk through the scanner.

And then finally I was walking through the glass walkway. Its a lot longer than in Dover, theres a few switchbacks.

I checked the time after the welcome announcement and it was 12.15pm.