Catchum

At the risk of lowering the tone of the discussion can I mention Weatherspoons. They are a chain of pubs which serve good beer at excellent prices. Not fancy but good beer at excellent prices. Certainly Portland, Cobh and Edinburgh have them. Please don't miss Edinburgh it is a city like no other you can catch the bus or train to the city easily. Portland is super easy you have to be bussed off the dock to the town, Weymouth which is a great seaside town. Dublin get of the ship walk to the station get the train to dublin and get yourselves to the Guinness brewery. Google - insert name - cruise port and you will be down the rabbit hole with the rest of us.

Agreed if you have a biometric us passport and no children under the age of 12 it is seamless. Except Heathrow is a huge place and it is often a long long long walk to get to passport control. Customs is a walk through and bags are a lottery but 45mins to 1hour to be on your way is not unrealistic.

We always stay at the Moxy using Marriott points. It is a good location to get an evening meal, parking at the nearby mall is reasonable and they now give a free drink on arrival- will report back on Thursday! There are always loads of people waiting for their taxi to the cruise port in reception so I'm sure it is not a problem. I would say it is a little above premier inn and the like.

Edinburgh is a small city easily walkable - unless you decide to go up to Arthur's seat which left us puffing - they also have trams if you need a ride. Last time we stayed at the Marriott Courtyard on points. there were issues as it was very soon after travel restrictions were lifted, but I would stay there again. It is a beautiful city and safe IMHO the castle is the must do lots of other things depending on what floats your boat.

I would take the train to Portsmouth historic docks. You could easily spend two days there and not see everything. Mary Rose (Henry VIII flagship) HMS victory (Nelson), harbour cruises to see modern warships in for servicing. Southampton is not really a tourist place though they do have an ikea!

No idea what you mean by Brits dressing to excess on Formal nights - I have just packed for our next UK cruise and have only packed one tiara (yes seriously). Honestly, wear what you are happy with within the minimum dress code, and I guarantee the only person who may remember what you wore with be you and possibly your traveling companion. Actually I struggle to remember what I wore yesterday.

It is more about luggage limits cruising out of Southampton lots of dressy clothes for me. Cruising out of LA a couple of nice summer dresses.

We also booked ahead - simply amazing to be in the presence of something so beautiful over 1000 years old. Also the library with the original Guinness harp is so cool.

If there are two of you in the cabin the total is effectively combined - I usually order the drinks so it looks like DH is teetotal and I'm alcoholic. We enjoy wine a lot when we cruise and even with doubles from Vines have yet to hit our limit though we may have come close once or twice.

We did the Dart last year without pre ordering very very easy to get tickets from the machines.

Only two rules in life 1. Be kind 2. Be splendid

As do postage stamps bank notes and coins. It will be many years before they are replaced. My local post box still has GR on it and works just fine.

If you are sailing from Southampton there are many ATMs in the city for pounds in Gurnsey similar for euros. Google maps are your friend. Most london airport ATMs have a choice of euros or pounds. The exchange rate may mot be the best but you are not dealing with huge transactions so you may loose a few cents on the dollar always choose the continue without conversion/pay in local currency button at ATMs or any other card reader reader whilst abroad.

No one on the cruise who lives in Europe will have a medallion beforehand. They have never been shipped here as far as I am aware. When you check in someone will ask you to wait a moment whilst they get your medallions out of a box. I am usually still putting away paperwork when they come back.

Living in Europe I have never had a medallion shipped only (available to US addresses). Have always picked up at the port, it literally adds 2 minutes to check in, some one goes to a box pulls out your medallion and hands it over to you.

never say never- we did TA from Barcelona to NYC leaving on 8th December 2022, spent a week cruising around Spain and Portugal then had a beautiful calm crossing. We took a more southerly route then originally planned did Madeira rather than Azores it was lovely and warm until we arrived in Florida!

They were at the same counter as the pizza and coffee and cones. Unless you are there when they are open you wouldn't know. I don't do desserts one oatmeal cookie a day was my treat but the IC cakes looked wonderful.

White underwear, gold wedding ring and LBD I'm good to go! Honestly I did wear white and gold on our last cruise as I was planning to anyway - dark gold silk pants and cream blouse ( a regular evening outfit) and no one else including the captain's wife was in white and gold. Next cruise I don't have to worry about flying and my formal wear will be full length goth dress, corset and tiara.

We normally sail inside on NCL always ask for bathrobes and a coffee maker always get them.

We have upgraded from an inside to a balcony - UK booking - you simply call Princess and pay the difference in price as of today. IMHO If he is paying for the cruise It would be up to him to decide which option to take - If you are paying it is your decision.

We were on the crown in April and once we found the juice be we used it a lot - only available until 1pm on port days and 2pm sea days I think. The sign is only there when it is open otherwise you would not know, and it can be a long wait as they juice the fruit whilst you wait - If you want one before an early excursion get it the day before in a to go cup - the sort they have for iced coffee and keep it in the fridge in your cabin.

We are on this itinerary and also have an inside marked no upgrade. I'm not giving up my mid ship deck 8 for a balcony by the anchor. Honestly this is quite port intensive and I wouldn't worry about not having a window. If there is a wonderful view from the ship snap a picture from the promenade deck and enjoy the savings you have made.

From the UK - Two days ago I was under the sunshade and slapping on factor 50 - today I have long woolly socks and a jumper. Also the difference in temperature between Cornwall and Scotland can be significant. You may be pleased you packed shorts - but also bring something wind proof. In the UK layers are the way forward and a back pack to carry the layers you don't need.

We have rather different feelings. DH is a Vietnam vet and has no desire to visit another place where so many young men lost their lives. As a brit I remember the horrendous loss of both world wars every time I travel through a tiny community and see the names on the war memorial, every villiage has one. We are surrounded by defenses (pillboxes) erected when invasion seemed inevitable. I am profoundly grateful for the US support in WW II but won't be taking the excursion.

We were invited into the lounge by elite cruisers on our last cruise and had no problems - we just said XXX invited us and went to join them. We were asked for our cabin number when we ordered a drink. I was a bit underwhelmed TBH and preferred the tapas at Vines.