Roundtop

We had an early flight out of LHR the day after our cruiseship docked in Southampton. We had arranged a guide/transport that I found online. He collected us at the dock and then we had a very full day touring---Salisbury, Stonehenge and Windsor Castle before dropping us at the Hilton at Heathrow.

I will admit we were exhausted at the end of the day, but it was a wonderful opportunity to see/tour sites we had missed on previous trips. He was a Blue Badge guide and retired British Army officer. It was a bit pricey since there was only the 2 of us, but a great way to end our trip.

We're from US and sailed on Britannia in Western Mediterranean in August, 2016. There were lots of children, but we never encountered any issues. We were amazed that the kids were so well-dressed and well-behaved in the dining rooms. Britannia is a beautiful ship. We thought the food in the main dining room was just fair, but the Sindhu Indian restaurant and the Epicurean were exceptional.

The $39/pax version was included in the shore excursion descriptions. I guess it is time to try to get a definitive answer from Celebrity.

Thanks for the input.

We will disembark Silhouette at PTA in Amsterdam and need to fill some time until we board Koningsdam at Waterland Pier at 2pm. I discovered that Celebrity offers opportunity ($39/pax) to stay on board up until 90 minutes prior to sailing, with access to public lounges, some dining, pool deck and spa services. We would need to vacate our cabins by 8:30am and our luggage would be stored until we leave to board next ship. This is new to me and I wondered if anyone has used this service. Chances are that Amsterdam weather might not be appropriate for long hours on the pool deck.

Denton 1, you certainly got a more prompt reply that I did to my queries to HAL. Thanks for sharing the info. We'll adapt----all a part of the adventure!

Jane and Mike

Ine, thank you for the information. I had originally envisioned strolling from one ship to the other, rolling our luggage. With the storage at PTA, we now will have more time to explore Amsterdam, prior to our 2pm boarding at Waterland Pier.

Denton 1, we experienced assigned boarding times when sailing with P&O out of Southampton last year. Weather didn't cooperate with the carefully orchestrated schedule, but eventually everyone boarded. We are from the Houston area and eager to enjoy some milder weather on the cruises.

Koningsdam sails from Waterland terminal in Amsterdam on July 30. I understand this terminal is in an industrial area. Has anyone sailed from Waterland? If so, are there any passenger facilities at Waterland? We will be disembarking from July 18-30 Silhouette cruise at Passenger Terminal Amsterdam on July 30, then transferring to Koningsdam for the 7-day July 30-Aug.6 sailing. We are trying to decide if we should store luggage at PTA, do some independent exploring in Amsterdam, reclaim luggage, then taxi to Waterland for boarding Koningsdam. All suggestions welcomed!

On a Pacific Princess cruise in 2008 we, along with 10 other passengers, disembarked in Alexandria, Egypt and toured Egypt for 2 days, overnighting in Cairo before re boarding in Port Said. We did the same in Israel, disembarking in Ashdod and re boarding in Haifa. I hope that is still possible because we maximized touring time in both countries. It is amazing how much the private tours can cover when passengers can have such long hours available. The passenger that had organized the private tours contacted Princess prior to the cruise. All members then contacted Princess before and during the cruise. It is definitely worth the additional costs and the long days!

Israeli authorities boarded the ship at sea to examine the passports of each of the ship's passengers because we were docking in Egypt, prior to docking in Israel. The process didn't take too long since that ship only carried 700 passengers. Who knows what protocol might be in effect now?

We used Global Entry in Ft. Lauderdale in February-----fast and easy.

We appreciate the reassurance!

Jane

We are from US and already traveling in Europe. Our cases each weigh 50 lbs/23k. Our Britannia cruise departs 8/20. Should we buy some sort of inexpensive bags in Southampton to redistribute our belongings? I didn't really pay attention to weight limit. Our boarding time is 15:00. Maybe they won't notice at that late time?

Thanks,

Jane from Texas

On a quick scan through the replies I have not noticed the following points.

Pricing on board is in £ sterling.

Also, there is British electric sockets in the cabin. There are American ones but the majority are the British three pin type.

Thanks for the socket reminder. As to pound sterling, that is a trickier conversion than for Euros these days. We'll need to be clear headed when we order from the bars!

We were just notified of a complimentary cabin upgrade yesterday, GD to GB---same size, just more midship and lower. Is this usual for P&O? We are happy as long as decks above and below are cabins.

We booked through the only US travel site that is allowed to book P&O. We are grateful for what we have learned about P&O and Britannia from Cruisecritic members. We have promised to give our travel agent a detailed report when we return, so that he can be more informed in the future. Thus far, the main difference seems that we will have to "up our game" for formal nights, which is fine with us. To our regret, the casual approach to everything seems prevalent.

Just counting down the days until our departure!

More good ideas! I'm intrigued with the "hole in the wall" for luggage. However, I think that the hotel does have ability to store our luggage after check out. The Seacity Museum sounds like a great way to entertain ourselves pre-cruise.

Thank you.

All comments have been very helpful to us.

Further questions: We will be flying into Heathrow one day prior to the cruise and have anticipated traveling to Southampton that same day, staying overnight at Premier Inn West Quay. We stayed at that same facility previously and liked that it was clean, though a trifle spartan, and well located for shopping and walking to restaurants. Because these boards indicate that we will be unable to board until our assigned time later in the afternoon, what are the facilities for passengers waiting to board at the pier? Should we consider a hotel with a comfortable lobby available to us after check out time?

We dined at Coriander previously which we really enjoyed. Any other suggestions for an evening meal in Southampton prior to our cruise?

Thank you for your responses. Regarding clothing, we definitely didn't want to miss formal nights, so we will try finding room for husband's dark suit and a dressy top for me. Also, we will probably follow the suggestion about utilizing the launderette!

Pictures of the ship really look beautiful, so we are eager to see Britannia.

We are open for more tips.

Jane

We are frequent cruisers but the Britannia 8/20-8/27 cruise will be our first on P&O. As all of our previous cruises have been geared toward US passengers (mainly Celebrity, Princess and Oceania), we are hoping to get help from the pros. We are not concerned that there will be differences, we would just like hints as to what we might expect.

Formal wear is an issue for us. When we board, we will have been traveling in Europe for 2+ weeks, so we really won't have luggage space for a tux and evening gown. Recommendations? (other than staying in our cabin!)

Thanks in advance for any advice that might enhance our experience.

Cruisers from Spring, Texas

Are there facilities, i.e. chairs, umbrellas, restrooms near the beach?

We will be there at end of January and the beach sounds wonderful.

Thanks

We were on the Equinox TA in Nov/Dec, 2013. The port is in a busy area with lots of traffic. The ship's departure was delayed because of passengers that had not boarded. It seems that there was a strike and protests that caused a major traffic jam. I was surprised and pleased that the ship waited, especially since the missing passengers were in taxis, not on Celebrity tours.

Can you be more specific about size of folding storage cubes for over bed. This will be our first cruise on S-class.

thanks