John Bull

So the heathen culinary practices of Brum have reached the lakes & forests of Ontario. Oh dear !! 😏 😂😂😂 But, @SUESEABE I agree about mushy peas. And @Senga, yes I also agree with mayo - on fries, but not on chunky British chips. I wonder whether they have similar conversations in https://www.cordonbleu.edu/home/en 🤔 JB 🙂

............. as long as you like mayo on your "French fries" 😏. In the same vein, in British "fish & chip shop" chips ( not what you call "potato chips" but a much fatter version of the fries that you get in the US or Belgium) you choose whether to add salt & vinegar - but in Birmingham they come ready-doused in curry sauce unless you remember to say "no curry sauce please". I rarely visit Birmingham - and always forget.😧 JB 🙂

Ashore you'll need a pac-a-mac or light waterproof cape or somesuch that you can very easily carry in a handbag or pocket. It rarely rains for long periods, and we've only once ever experienced a full day of rain & overcast skies in the Caribbean. But from time to time you may get caught in a short sharp shower - not cold, actually quite refreshing, and 5 to 10 minutes after it's stopped everything including roads & sidewalks will be bone-dry again. Aboard the ship, in the evenings some folk find the aircon in public rooms like the dining room & theatre a little too cold. so take a pashmina or cardigan or similar. Folk on Princess(one of our favourite lines) tend to make a bit of an effort in the evenings - long pants & collared or polo-neck shirts, no sports shirts or baseball caps for the gents, and smart/casual skirts or pants for the ladies. Not a rule, certainly for most nights, just the way that folk fit in. Don't know Nassau, the rest of the itinerary is good, and varied. Have a good one JB 🙂

As per the response from @CruiserBruce the most reliable sources are the websites of the ports eg https://www.southamptonvts.co.uk/Live_Information/Shipping_Movements_and_Cruise_Ship_Schedule/Cruise_Ship_Schedule/ If you need total accuracy those are the sites to check. But some are difficult to find, and if you don't mind the occasional error, such as a ship being missed from a list, generic sites like those suggested above will do the job. The one I use is https://www.whatsinport.com/ mainly because of the other port information in there like maps, places of interest etc JB 🙂

There are two complications 1. Cabotage Laws. These are the EU and UK equivalents of the US Passenger Vessel Services Act, but not identical to those laws. They control who provides passenger travel within a country (I don't know if this treats the EU or the Schengen area or neither as a "country") and are designed to protect ferry and long-distance bus services. Brexit may not have made any difference, these may be Schengen rules rather than EU rules. I drove continental coach tours for many years, on a couple of occasions I had passengers who were taken ill and had to stay behind in continental Europe, and clearly there are dispensations for such occasions, but I never had any passenger choosing to do that. Complicated, and I don't know the ins & outs. But there are plenty of examples of folk on UK > EU > UK cruises who have disembarked, with permission, at Le Havre on the day before cruise-end in Southampton in order to spend time in Paris and fly home to the US or Aus or wherever from Paris 2. Permission of the cruise line is required, and best to do that in advance, you can't simply inform them of your decision. I know that Princess have allowed those Le Havre disembarkations, have charged a relatively small admin fee, and required them to disembark in the morning together with their luggage. I have heard of other cruise lines which have allowed that same disembarkation, tho' I don't recall any names. But NCL don't allow that disembarkation - there have been plenty of examples of that, and I've heard of the same NCL refusals elsewhere in the world. I guess the first thing to do is to ask the permission of the cruise line. If they refuse they might specify the appropriate Cabotage law. Or tell the passenger in question to do so - that sounds like the easiest way to stop your brain from frying 😏 JB 🙂

As previous posters have said, ID isn't required for run-of-the-mill purchases JB 🙂

All cruise lines offer (usually payable) shuttles to Pile / Pila gate. As per @edinburgher's post, local buses run to the same gate and it's also the most convenient place for taxis to drop you (there's a rank outside the gate) Last time we went to Dubrovnik we negotiated a taxi to take us from the port up the winding road to the cablecar station at the top of Mount Srd (don't remember the cost, but certainly more than direct to the city). Glorious views on the way up and at the top. A couple of lazy beers looking down on Dubrovnik from on high, then we took the cablecar down (one-way tickets from the souvenir shop in the cablecar station). This meant an easy 5-minute downhill walk from the bottom station to Buza Gate into the walled city. Or if you want a two-way cablecar trip, get a taxi from the port to drop you at the lower cablecar station, avoiding an uphill walk from Pile Gate. JB 🙂

I agree with everything in @gumshoe958's post. For a private transfer, what personal details are you being asked to provide? The operator will need to know the number of adults & the number and ages of the children. And the number of cases - usually the number of checked cases & cabin cases, and any other luggage, because with four passengers that will impact on whether an estate car (station wagon, if you still use that term) will suffice or you need a small minibus (don't say "van" because in the UK that's what you'd call a panel van 😵) . They will also want your e-mail address. And details of your flight so that they can track it's arrival. Payment with booking usually means card brand (Visa or M/C or - if accepted, Amex or Diner's), card-holder's name, the long number on the card, expiry date, and the last three numbers of the CVV on the reverse side of the card. The driver may want to see the card when you arrive A cell-phone number is also very useful (and you should carry their phone number with you) in case of difficulties in meeting). They shouldn't need your passport details, address, other names of passengers, etc., and certainly not your PIN. Current price range for a car is about £130 to £150, I'm not up-to-date on van prices. JB 🙂

There is a great deal of disinformation on Cruise Critic & elsewhere about power on cruise ships. Here are the definitive facts.............. Because ships sail at sea, electrical power cannot be grounded. And because of the distance from land, cables from power stations would be too long. So instead of electrical power, cruise ships use smoke power, fed by the ship's funnels. Instead of electric circuits there is a system of narrow smoke conduits. When there is a leak in the smoke system an appliance stops working, and the breakdown is usually accompanied by smoke from the appliance or wall socket. Hence the need for smoke alarms in cabins. Appliances like flat irons, tumble-driers, motorcycles and pizza ovens are particularly susceptible, which is why they're not permitted in cabins. Engineers can usually fix the problem by finding the source of the escaping smoke in the conduit or appliance, and applying insulating tape to seal it. When the source of the escape is sealed the smoke stops, & unless it is smoke-logged the appliance starts working again. Sometimes the escape of smoke is too large to be taped, in which case WW2 light-cruisers and destroyers will be deployed to provide enough smoke to keep essential systems working while repairs are carried out. Passengers will be sent to their muster stations - they are not permitted to use the elevators to get to their muster stations because of the danger of escaping smoke in confined spaces. I will give a more-comprehensive reply later, but nurse has told me that I must take my medication and go back to bed. JB 🙂 House-bound for the day - bored, so terribly terribly bored 😏.

As Bruce's post, plastic is widely-used in Europe even for the smallest transaction. But do carry some reserves of local shrapnel for the occasional market or street-purchase, or for un-manned outlets where sometimes machines often don't accept cash, or even a public toilet. Yes, €100 seems like a good starting point, perhaps just $50 in Turkish lire. You can always use an ATM to top-up, but beware the rip-offs. This website is for Brits, hence the examples in GBP but the same applies you https://www.which.co.uk/news/article/7-ways-to-avoid-being-ripped-off-at-the-cash-machine-on-holiday-aYL9I3s6e0Z0 If your ship's next cruise is a similar itinerary, you can use up your euros & lire by giving them to crew who have gone the extra mile - or pig-out on Baklava 😋 JB 🙂

The donkey path can barely be seen in that photo, it's further to the left. Here's a video of walking down it (there is a video of walking up it, but my health would probably suffer if I just watched it 😂). Take about 25 mins to walk down JB🙂

The Bay off Biscay has a reputation for being pretty bad-tempered. All a matter of luck, but in the summer months she's very much more likely to be benign. We've crossed on various occasions between May & September and she's been a sweetie. Worst BoB experiences on passenger ships tend to be on ferries - a lot of ferries cross BoB. You don't mention your ship but the vast majority of cruise ships are much bigger than ferries, and a good big-un is smoother than a good little-un. JB 🙂

Hi, Lew, At Southampton, different cruise-lines offer different excursions for B2B cruisers, anywhere between none and up to about 4 or 5. IIRC they have included Salisbury & Stonehenge, Bath, central London - and a Pullman-style steam train trip though that would be dependant on the date. I don't recall Winchester or Portsmouth although either would be simple & worthwhile. So you'll just have to wait until RCI publish their offerings. But compared with her sisters, Splendour is a small ship (about 2000 pax) so don't expect a wide choice, if any. For independent excursions or DIY you first need to check - arrival time in Southampton (7am disembarkation is usually possible since you won't be carrying luggage) - Back-on-board time for B2B'ers. This might be as late as 30 mins before advertised sailing time or as early as 90 - 120 minutes before sailing if you're obliged to go thro another registration and/or safety drill in Southampton. - If you have to change cabins, this is another complication which may affect your timing. Be warned - it can prove difficult to get this information from cruise-lines until you board or unless you can get the information via the ship. Booking seats-in-coach or seats-in-van for excursions in Southampton is nigh-on impossible. It's not a tourist city, the only regular excursions are for locals - the timings almost-certainly won't suit, and many destinations won't appeal to you. You can book a private car or shared van tour with a taxi / transfer operator, but that will be expensive. Finding a qualified guide for a particular destination would be difficult, but you can ask for a knowledgeable driver (https://westquaycars.com/ have a touring arm called Discover the South). For a van you'd need to accept responsibility for the cost and seek sharers thro your cruise RollCall. Suitable places would be The New Forest (starts 20 minutes away), the Jurassic Coast (starts around Corfe Castle, about an hour away), Highclere Castle aka "Downton Abbey" (about an hour away), Blenheim Palace (about 80 minutes away), the Weald & Downland Museum (about an hour away), Arundel Castle (about an hour away). In your limited time those places are impractical by public transport. Southampton Central station (no more than a 7 to 8 minute taxi ride from any cruise terminal) is a rail hub, so there are a lot of DIY options, including train to the ancient cathedral city of Winchester, about 15 minutes & £9 return, or Portsmouth, about an hour & £14.50 return (get off at the end of the line, Portsmouth harbour, for the Historic dockyard & ships) or the laid-back city of Salisbury about 30 minutes. Depending on your time in port, from Salisbury station you can take the Stonehenge hop-on bus to Stonehenge - total travel time from ship back to ship including waiting for trains etc would be about 3 hours, so you could have 60-90 minutes at Stonehenge and an hour or more in Salisbury. Monday to saturday trains on all these routes are half-hourly or better, less-frequent on sundays https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/ Or the hourly Red Funnel vehicle ferry across The Solent to East Cowes on the Isle of Wight, an hour and £14.90 return for foot-passengers. Then 10-min. local bus - 3 per hour - to Queen Victoria's favourite residence, Osborne House https://www.englishheritage.org.uk/visit/places/osborne/ designed in Italianate style by her husband, Prince Albert. https://www.redfunnel.co.uk/isle-of-wight-ferry/plan/timetables If all of that is too much for you, Southampton has enough to interest you for a day. Places like https://tudorhouseandgarden.com/ , https://seacitymuseum.co.uk/ and https://www.solentsky.org/ Self-guided walks like https://cruisesouthampton.com/walking-itineraries or guided walks on saturdays & sundays https://www.visit-hampshire.co.uk/dbimgs/Southampton Old Town Walk.pdf and plenty of shops, cafes, pubs Check out the highlighted places via google & the search box on CC's British Isles forum JB 🙂

Scheduled local bus services to Honfleur are infrequent, the timetables are complicated because they depend whether it's during school term time or school holidays etc, and you need to get to & back from the bus station (by the train station), about 1/2 hr walk from the cruise terminal. But this is a new shuttle service set up with the cruiser in mind, and resolves those problems, albeit at a "tour" price rather than a "local bus" price. https://beelehavre.com/en/circuits-en/le-havre-honfleur-tour/ JB 🙂

ATOL - or ABTA. If they quote an ATOL or ABTA registration, check it out - if it turns out to be fictitious it's almost-certainly a scam. In the meantime I'm still confused by the OP's post. Is @4380in Aus? Or the UK? Or elsewhere ? The terms of the contract must be in line with the law of the country from which the booking was made. "Chat" tells us nothing. Chat on a website? Whose website? "Yes via thier website" tells us nothing. Which cruise line is involved? Princess has been mentioned by one responder but not confirmed by the OP OP initially said "The problem seems to be the quote was per person not total price-but nowhere does it say this." But later says "the screenshot included fly cruise and pp prices so obviously I knew it would be double that ( for 2 passengers). Confirmation is double that figure ( so 4 times advertised)". So which is it? OP says "I was sent a link and paid a £500 deposit." How was that paid? Credit card? There are safeguards - dispute it with the card issuer (Visa or Matercard or whoever) Debit card. Fewer safeguards, but there are some. Dispute it with the bank. An intermediary like PayPal ? I don't know my stuff on them. Bank Transfer ? A big possibility this was a scam, probably with no cruise at all. Contact the bank & police but almost-certainly no recourse. This is @4380' s only contact with Cruise Critic, presumably just to seek advice. But we're going round in circles, we need full background in order to give any sort of worthwhile advice JB 🙂