Hawaiian Mongoose

Hi Patric,

 

The regular National Express coach is way cheaper, even including a taxi fare from DT to Victoria coach station & from Southampton coach station to ship.

 

Other than the door-to-door (which may include a change of vehicle in London, but luggage taken care of), the big advantage of the one on London Toolkit is that it includes a stop at Stonehenge.

Though their service in the opposite direction (ship to London hotels) offers more stops because its not constrained by the need to get to the pier on-time.

Operated by International Friends, a well-respected coach operator.

 

JB :)

Thanks for the tip. As I said, I have no experience in this, but we like to make transfers as simple as possible, as one or more of us may be a bit cranky! :)

What is a rough estimate for taxi fare from pier to Southampton coach station? And for taxi fare from DT to Victoria Station?

Thanks again. Patric

Looking for some recommendations for car service between our hotel (DT Westminster) to Southampton. Don't really want to do the train or a public bus due to schlepping of luggage.

 

Thanks in advance for any replies.....:):):)

 

Bob

Bob,

Are you looking for car service or would a coach do? The London Toolkit website has coach transfer that will pick up at the DT and take you to the pier. I have no experience with the company but have plans to use them in May from Southampton to DT. SB about 45 - 55 GBP each. Hope this helps. Patric

Try and do the open top tours to see Edinburgh. You can get a grand tour ticket from Edinburgh Bis Tours that covers all tour buses as there are several routes plus a boat tour from south queensferry around the Firth of Forth seeing the Bridges etc.

 

Hope this helps.

Hello gstewart,

We wil be in Edinburgh in May on Princess. The Princess website says we dock at South Queensferry. The bus tours sound like a great option for us. How do we get from the port to the city to catch the tours?

Also, do you have any advise re: Sandemans free walking tours?

Thanks in advance for your help. Patric :)

Merry Christmas (or whatever you celebrate - or don't!) to one and all!

 

Here's a link to next year's Beatles Week celebrations, which take place in August. Anyone in the city around that time is in for a treat.

 

http://us4.campaign-archive1.com/?u=267767a26177257cc2d9e39e8&id=313af3dc2f

 

See you next year in the world's friendliest city.

 

T:)

I just found your thread and am amazed at the breadth and depth of your information for fellow CCers. We will be in Liverpool just after the Beatles celebration on August 30 on the Ruby. Too bad! Thanks for your info though. I am sure to be back with specific questions later. Patric

Do you have any info on other tours? Did you feel safe @ this port?

Short answer, "yes". It is a safe port.

The immediate port area at the end of the passenger ramp has a "cruise" area with vendors etc. While the rest of the area accessible to cruisers is a marina and restaurant. The cruise port is adjacent to the commercial port. You would have to take a cab to get to the nearest town.

Everyone we have encountered in Guatemala has been very friendly. Excepting the boat ride we always felt comfortable.

A number of passengers on our cruise took a ship tour, "Antigua on your own". The down side is that Antigua and most sites in country are 2 to 2 1/2 hours in a bus from the cruise port.

Beyond the port area, the vendors are very, very aggressive. They do not seem to understand no in English or Spanish. :). A fellow passenger likened them to vendors in Tunisia.

We took the CEL tour to Guatemala Highland, Panajachel and Lake Atitlan (GQ14) in Puerto Quetzal,Guatemala on the November 7 Infinity cruise.

The bus ride was long but enjoyable. The lunch in Panajachel was excellent.

The boat portion of the tour was another story altogether. The dock was a floating contraption in many pieces and bounced worse than any tender landing we have ever seen. Several passengers nearly ended up in the shallows before getting on the boat. The boat was decrepit, with broken windows and missing guardrails throughout. It would not start so they brought in another battery and it still would not start. So they took the battery out of the tour bus!!. It started and we puttered across the lake and back. We and many of our fellow passengers, were anywhere from apprehensive to frightened the whole ride. At the end, the battery was reinstalled in the tour bus. Because of the 45 minutes of delay we were late heading down from the highlands. So we got caught in a tropical storm that had water, trees and rocks flowing down the hill sides and roads. No incidents thanks to the driver, but still more adventure than we would have preferred.

I gave a verbal report to the Infinity tour desk and waited 36 hours for a reply. When I didn't receive any reply I submitted a detailed written comment. I got a call from the director of marketing and a letter from the hotel director. They said they would not run the tour until the situation was fixed. However we were B2B on the next cruise on the Infinity and the tour was still offered.

Thus this cautionary tale to my fellow CCers.

__________________

We took the CEL tour to Guatemala Highland, Panajachel and Lake Atitlan (GQ14) in Puerto Quetzal,Guatemala on the November 7 Infinity cruise.

The bus ride was long but enjoyable. The lunch in Panajachel was excellent.

The boat portion of the tour was another story altogether. The dock was a floating contraption in many pieces and bounced worse than any tender landing we have ever seen. Several passengers nearly ended up in the shallows before getting on the boat. The boat was decrepit, with broken windows and missing guardrails throughout. It would not start so they brought in another battery and it still would not start. So they took the battery out of the tour bus!!. It started and we puttered across the lake and back. We and many of our fellow passengers, were anywhere from apprehensive to frightened the whole ride. At the end, the battery was reinstalled in the tour bus. Because of the 45 minutes of delay we were late heading down from the highlands. So we got caught in a tropical storm that had water, trees and rocks flowing down the hill sides and roads. No incidents thanks to the driver, but still more adventure than we would have preferred.

I gave a verbal report to the Infinity tour desk and waited 36 hours for a reply. When I didn't receive any reply I submitted a detailed written comment. I got a call from the director of marketing and a letter from the hotel director. They said they would not run the tour until the situation was fixed. However we were B2B on the next cruise on the Infinity and the tour was still offered.

Thus this cautionary tale to my fellow CCers. :(

Tom,

Thanks so much for the thorough coverage of the whole trip. What a great help for us and so many other CC members too. We hope to do the same itinerary next year twice on the Ruby Princess. Right now I have so many questions for you that I can't put them in any good order.

Hopefully, I'll get my thoughts organized and post some questions soon.

Thanks again for a wonderful collection of information.

Patric

I would actually ask the question in reverse. Since you are already in Rome, and the greatest distance between any of the sights in Rome is two miles, why have a car service? You can easily take cabs from place to place and use that money for guides so you have a greater understanding of what you are seeing. The driver can't provide that.

And do you also want to critique our plans for the balance of our time in Rome as well as the rest of the posters here on this thread that use & recommend RomeinLimo? With your point of view in your post why are you on this thread?

I don't see any need to justify my decision but I will respond. Several sources, including CC and family recommend a full day car service in Rome as the best way to see the most and to orient us for future follow up on our own.:(

I appreciate your insights.

 

By all means, prebook your Vatican and Colliseum tickets in advance, and I strongly suggest a private guide for thenVatican. RIL will arrange the private guide, and tell you how to book tickets on line in advance. No lines saves hours. Our Vatican guide was a PhD art history candidate, and extremely knowledgeable. There were so many people, it would have been impossible to get a meaningful experience on our own

 

We did not feel the need for private guide anywhere else

 

We are booked with RIL for October for a full day of Rome tour a few days before we take the Noordam cruise home. We are unsure about the value added of having the private guide at the Vatican. Can you tell me more about why adding the guide is a good idea? Many thanks.

The Viking brochure says "Hilton Prague (or similar).

We are thinking that though the price is high, it is a value for us as they will get us from Budapest to Prague and the price includes tours, lodging and breakfasts. Do you recall how Viking transported you to Prague? Thanks, Patric.

Hello,

We are taking the Amsterdam to Budapest cruise on Viking Freya next September. We are considering the post cruise stay in Prague. Has anyone ever done this? We are wondering if it is value for the price ($699 pp for 3 nights) and any tips or comments anyone has with this or very similar pre/post cruise extensions. Thanks in advance. Patric:)

What a great review. IMHO you have set a very high standard for all succeeding CC reviewers to meet. It was great to read, almost as if I was back there again. Like a serial book or show I couldn't wait for the next installment. Many thanks for sharing so much with us. Aloha!. :)