9265359

Or just use the Uber app when that obviously will take a card.

Each person will need to use a different card - there is no mechanism for two people to use the same card, other than buying paper tickets which I really don't recommend as they are a lot more expensive.

Theoretically you can use a card and the same card on Apple Wallet as the card in Apple Wallet has a different card number so the system see them as different cards - that's one of the reasons why you can't tap in with a card and out with your phone, as you would end up with two incomplete journeys.

If you do intend to use Apple Wallet on the tube then do set the card up for express travel (in the Wallet setting on the phone) as you then don't have to authenticate it when you tap in or out - don't worry it is safe as it is only for certain heavily regulated travel operators that it works like that and every other purchase needs authentication.

However, realistically I would just get another card (an additional card holder card is absolutely fine) or just get an Oyster card for the other person.

On 9/19/2024 at 6:34 PM, Deep68 said:

Does anyone know if you fly to Europe (spain) via Ireland (dublin) would EES be required.

Yes it will happen to you - EES is a system that records your entry and exit to and from the Schengen Area, it isn't something you apply for. The fingerprinting and photo on first entry of non-EU and other Schengen country citizens is to ensure that the person travelling with the passport is the actual holder of the passport.

On 9/19/2024 at 6:34 PM, Deep68 said:

Ireland is not using EES

And never will do because it is not part of the Schengen Area and whilst it remains in a Common Travel Area with the UK it cannot become part of the Schengen Area, and whilst Northern Ireland is part of the UK then that isn't going to change.

On 9/19/2024 at 6:34 PM, Deep68 said:

and my point of entry into EU will be in Ireland.

And you will show your passport there because you are neither an Irish citizen or a UK citizen, as they can travel between Ireland and the UK without passports because of the Common Travel Area.

On 9/19/2024 at 6:34 PM, Deep68 said:

Ireland to Spain is an inter EU flight.

It is an inter-EU flight, but it is also a flight into the Schengen Area so you will show your passport again, be fingerprinted and photographed if it is your first entry into Schengen, and your entry recorded into EES.

And then when you leave the Schengen Area your exit will also be recorded onto EES.

14 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

So that means it didn't happen?

Unless you have links to any reports it did, then I would say so.

14 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

I think we have beat this to death.

Probably.

51 minutes ago, bennybear said:

I also didn’t say arrested and jailed.   Fined is what I’ve read.

As before, someone being overcharged for an ice-cream makes the headlines around the world, but a tourist fined for not carrying a passport does not.

55 minutes ago, bennybear said:

You are welcome to do your own research.

Google News shows not a single report of a tourist being fined for not carrying a passport in Italy.

20 minutes ago, bennybear said:

Tourists 

Rather odd that such reports of tourists being arrested, fined and jailed haven't made it outside some specific forums into the general media, when someone being overcharged for an ice-cream makes headlines across the world.

15 hours ago, bennybear said:

I have read several on the Italian groups I’m in. 

Italians or non-Italian tourists?

11 hours ago, bennybear said:

and if you’re willing to be detained and or pay a hefty fine that’s your choice

That's assuming that is what would happen.

Strangely nobody on here, other travel forums, social media, news media, etc. seems to have ever reported that it has happened to them.

Now perhaps they are so embarrassed that they never mention it to anyone, or perhaps the police take a less extreme approach with tourists.

1 hour ago, cruisemom42 said:

While I think such stops are rare, I have read of them happening

But have you ever read of someone being arrested, taken to court, fined, imprisoned, etc. because they didn't have their passport with them.

16 hours ago, euro cruiser said:

We agree on the question but not your assumption.  You've decided what is best for you, based on evidence that you are comfortable with.  I'm simply pointing out that your evidence cannot be used to predict what will happen to you or anyone else.

And yet despite your claim of terrible fates awaiting those who do not carry their passports, despite the fact that virtually no tourists do, the press, the travel forums, social media, etc. are strangely quiet on anyone being arrested, taken to court, fined, imprisoned, etc.

Hmmm... I wonder why that is.

10 hours ago, klfrodo said:

It's not possible to meet up at a central location?

Yes it is, and that location is Victoria coach station but you dismissed that option because of the "crowds".

10 hours ago, klfrodo said:

It's not possible to have pick-ups at various hotels and then drop at a central location?

Possible and economically viable are two entirely different things.

Of course it is possible to have a service picking passengers up from lots of different hotels to take them to the ship, but is it economically viable - probably not.

That service would be competing against the train and coach service on cost, and it is pretty unlikely that it would be a cheaper option.

Then it would be competing against taxi / private hire services, which although are likely to be more expensive than a multi-pickup coach service, are likely to be much much quicker because they don't have to navigate the horrible London traffic to go round all those hotels picking people up.

At the end of the day if it did make sense to offer such a multi-pickup coach service then someone would have done it, and they haven't.

1 hour ago, euro cruiser said:

I have repeatedly mentioned the low probability of being stopped and asked for identification. 

Glad we agree on that.

1 hour ago, euro cruiser said:

What I have not done is quoted anecdotal evidence (what has happened to me or people I know or read about or heard about) and implied that such evidence could be projected to predict what will happen in the future.  Just because something happened to you or me, that does not mean it will happen to anyone else, much less to many others.  In the same vein, just because something has never happened to you or me, that does not mean it doesn't happen to others.

I am not quoting anecdotal evidence, I am quoting person experience.

I personally know of people who have lost or had their passport stolen because they had been carrying it, and that loss or theft caused them significant difficulty and cost.

I personally know of nobody who has been stopped by the police and as a result of not being able to provide passport ID has ended up being arrested, in court, fined, etc.

So the question is which is riskier - the low probability of being stopped (which we agree on) combined with an uncertain probability of the authorities actually taking any significant action, or a higher risk of the loss or theft of a passport and the certain difficulties and cost that would incur from that loss or theft.

And in factoring in whether a loss or theft of a passport is likely to occur, then it needs to be considered that unlike a European citizen carrying a credit card sized item in a wallet, a tourist will only have a full sized paper book passport, the size of which makes it far easier to lose or have stolen from a pocket.

On 9/22/2024 at 5:33 AM, bennybear said:

To add to the discussion we have been randomly stopped twice while driving in Italy and the carabinieri wanted passport and international driving permit.  We were glad we had both with us. An IDP is also mandatory in Italy.  So it can and does happen. 

Driving it does, walking around the streets it doesn't.

7 hours ago, euro cruiser said:

This is what my stats professors used to call an alpha/beta problem.  Which result are you most afraid of, saying "yes" when you should have said "no", or saying "no" when you should have said "yes".  In this case, is the consequence of not having the passport when you need it a better or worse outcome than having the passport when you don't need it, with the possible outcome of losing it.

Didn't your stats professors mention probability and impact?

The probability of being stopped whilst walking around and being asked for your passport is infinitesimally small (and then the probability of the police officer doing anything more than waive you on your way and accepting any old document or photo scan when they realise you are a tourist and they don't want the hassle of dealing with you is smaller again), but the impact of losing your passport whilst carrying around is incredibly high.

I know of a number of people who lost or had their passport stolen whilst carrying it, and yet I know (and have heard of not a single person) who was stopped by the police and action taken because they were not carrying a passport.

1 hour ago, TouchstoneFeste said:

Now add Ireland to the mix (for logistics reasons we often travel through Dublin, sometimes stay for a while between flights). It's in the EU but not Schengen and isn't (yet?) party to the ETIAS. It IS in the UK-Irish Common Travel Area, but the latest from the UK government suggests Ireland will not be party to ETA. Maybe they'll stay out of both ... 

Whilst the UK and Ireland are in a Common Travel Area, Ireland can never be part of Schengen.

The Schengen Area agreement requires border checks on non-Schengen Area citizens entering the Schengen Area, but the CTA allows UK and Irish citizens to travel, live, and work freely between the countries  - you don't even need a passport to travel between Ireland and the UK and there are no border checks on the land border between Ireland and Northern Ireland.

Thus it is completely incompatible for Ireland to be part of both the CTA and Schengen, and realistically with Northern Ireland (or the North of Ireland depending on your political viewpoint) then the CTA is more important than Schengen.

As an aside, a lot of people (even British people) don't realise that those born in Northern Ireland can choose to have either (or both) a UK or an Irish passport (and that right passes down to their children and potentially their grandchildren).

That Ireland isn't part of Schengen isn't an issue for Irish citizens as they have the right to a freedom of movement within the EU as they are EU citizens, and as such Irish citizens will not have to apply for ETIAS.

As for the ETA, that isn't an issue for Irish citizens because again the CTA gives that freedom to travel to the UK.

With regard to those tourists like yourself who transit through Ireland before heading to the UK, then you will need an ETA whether you fly onwards to London from Dublin or travel to Belfast from Dublin and take a UK domestic flight to London from there.

Will Ireland introduce its own travel authorisation scheme similar to the ETA and ETIAS - possibly, but there has been no indication they are thinking of doing so.

On 9/20/2024 at 2:41 PM, ijscheer said:

We are US citizens doing a B2B on Apex in June 2025. Sailing from Southampton to ports in the Baltic, Belgium, Scandinavia, with an overnight in Copenhagen.  Do we need ETIAS ?  We are not staying in any of the countries visited.

ETIAS does not have a launch date yet, but the indications are that applications will be accepted from May 2025, note applications, because the indication is that the requirement to actually have an ETIAS will not be implemented until six months later in November 2025 in order to allow for an easy start.

Once the requirement for travellers having an ETIAS has started then it will be needed for cruises that have stops in the Schengen Area, even if they start and end at non-Schengen Area ports.

Thus at the moment it does not seem likely that you will actually need one for June 2025 - although that is not to say that lots of people including travel agents are not going to get confused between the being able to apply for one and actually needing one.

The other system being introduced in November this year is EES, but that doesn't apply to cruises that start and end at non-Schengen Area ports, even if they do have stops in the Schengen Area.

On 9/20/2024 at 11:49 AM, 9265359 said:

 

But do they allocate an evac chair to those individuals with stored wheelchairs and mobility scooters?

 

If not, then that seems a pretty risky gamble.

On 9/20/2024 at 12:33 PM, nosapphire said:

Why?

It is - reasonably - assumed that anyone who needs to use a wheelchair/scooter on board will also be in need of an evacuation chair in an emergency, hence the automatic allocation.

People who do NOT need to use a wheelchair/scooter whilst on board are in exactly the same position as everybody else - they have to declare whether or not they think they will need assistance in the event of an emergency.

(Fortunately, the requirement is to be able to make your own way - nobody says "can you run?")

The stored wheelchairs/scooters are not available to be used at any time on board, and are not available to be used at embarkation or disembarkation.

In the main, it is scooters that get stored so that people who are mobile but cannot walk long distances ashore can enjoy independent strolls (wheels?) around the ports visited.

It is a risky gamble because Saga are ignoring the knowledge they have that the passenger does have a mobility issue, because if the passenger doesn't have a mobility issue then why have they got a mobility aid!

Now that doesn't mean that every passenger with a mobility aid will need an evac chair, but it would be a damn sensible idea for Saga to specifically ask each of those passengers that question and not pass the responsibility over to them to fill in a mobility form if they fancy it to determine if they need an evac chair

A sensible risk assessment uses all the knowledge you have, and doesn't completely rely on a separate declaration.

Whereas the Saga process (as it has been described) seems very much like they really don't want to hear the truth of the situation (could they deal with all the passengers if the passengers actually needing an evac chair told the truth?) so have designed a process with built in deniability of responsibility when things go wrong.

30 minutes ago, nosapphire said:

If it is any consolation, Saga (who must surely be a line that expects to have passengers with mobility issues) stipulate that if you need to use a wheelchair or mobility scooter on board (not just in the cabin) then you have to book an adapted cabin (which will automatically assign an evacuation chair).

No adapted cabin = no on board wheelchair/scooter (they do not differentiate between powered and non-powered wheelchairs).

If you only need it ashore, you still have to pre-book it, it gets taken from you pre-embarkation, stored below deck and brought out at ports. But no need for an adapted cabin.

But do they allocate an evac chair to those individuals with stored wheelchairs and mobility scooters?

If not, then that seems a pretty risky gamble.

16 hours ago, mrchips14 said:

Is it walkable?

From the cruise terminal itself - realistically no it isn't.

From where the cruise ship shuttle buses drop people (which tends to be the World Trade Centre) then it depends on your fitness as it is around 3 miles, but again for most it isn't going to be realistic. Either a taxi or the L2 from Parallel would be sensible - https://maps.app.goo.gl/ymvHV1CT27NEhe99A

On 9/16/2024 at 4:06 PM, GloriaF said:

My first thought was cold and rainy

Impossible to predict.

Take a look here for historical details for Cambridge back to 1995 - https://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/weather/index-period-graph.html

This year it averaged 8.5c but soaring to a high of 20c at 3.30pm on the 12th April and then crashing to a low of -3.6c a week later at 7pm on the 17th, with half a dozen days over the month when it rained.

Is that warm and sunny or cold and rainy - depends which day you were there.

7 hours ago, Tina80 said:

aren't you afraid cops will stop you and ask for it?

Unless you are driving, in any of the tourist parts of Europe you are likely visit then random stops of tourists by the police demanding to see documents is realistically never going to happen, with the exception of you being in a very wrong area at a very unusual time doing very dubious things.

Driving is a different matter, and in parts of Europe it isn't too unusual to encounter roadblocks with the police checking documents and you are expected to have them with you when driving. The exception to that is the UK, when there is no requirement to carry any paperwork such as a driving licence or insurance with you when driving and you have up to two weeks after any stop to take the documents into a police station.

8 minutes ago, Tina80 said:

Especially the tip regarding taking multiple credit cards with us.

And if you can, add one or more to your phone so you can pay contactlessly - everywhere in Europe takes contactless payments.

13 hours ago, Hlitner said:

The other issue is that you may find yourself at a shop or restaurant when their card reader fails.

My experience has always been that if you tell them you have no cash then the machine suddenly starts working again, and that it 'failed' in the first place is likely due to their preference for cash and how they are funding this - 

13 hours ago, Hlitner said:

and other places might offer a nice discount if you pay in Euros

1 hour ago, Selbourne said:

Exactly. It’s surprising how many people misunderstand this

It certainly is.

A Select fare comes with many benefits, but what it doesn't entitle someone to do (which some here seem to believe) is to demand that those on Saver fares are not entitled to request (request not demand) a different dining option once the preferences of the Select fare passengers have been dealt with.

11 hours ago, UKCruiser999 said:

If you want to choose your own dining arrangements then purchase the Select Fare that offers that service. The Saver Fare is lower price for a reason.

You have utterly misunderstood P&O's fares.

The Select fare is higher because it has a number of benefits including, to quote P&O, "First priority for dining style on ships offering both freedom and Club Dining, and first priority for seating time and table size for Club Dining".

"First priority" - a key phrase you seem to have completely overlooked.

Saver fares are not excluded from requesting a particular type of dining or time of dining, but those requests can only be done onboard and those requests obviously come after the process of meeting the first priority requests of Select fare passengers.

12 hours ago, checkitallout said:

do you have information on the bus? The site is in Italian and I can't read it or follow it. We will be in CIVITAVECCHIA and would like to go on our own.  

I just use Google maps - https://maps.app.goo.gl/qiqH3ZY5Y3TSsHNH7