WanderingBrit

On embarkation day we sat down in the galley and were waited on.

It was very windy last night, and the breakers were pretty energetic. Looking forward to the Changing of The Guard today!

One of the benefits of status with BA that transfers to other OneWorld partners is that I was able to select our AA seats when I booked months ago. Of course it's also more expensive than SWA, but a direct flight is nice.

It seems to vary depending on what's available in the region they're sailing. In July/August of '23 on an itinerary from Iceland-Norway they had trouble finding English Breakfast Tea, and it was never available at the self-serve area of World Cafe - I had to ask someone to go find it each time. Perfectly decent once they found it. 2 years ago the EBT they carried was wonderful, though decidedly floral, and only ever came loose leaf. When I asked I was told it was Twinings.

We're looking forward to it - several firsts for us: - First VV Cruise - First time to the West Indies - First time scattering parent's ashes at sea! My parents met when my father was skippering a private yacht cruising the West Indies, and Mum was teaching on Bequia. Can't think of a better place to reunite him with the sea.

Valiant Lady is what I saw, with the suggestion it was fleet wide.

I spent my first 27 years in Southampton, so I'm biased, but I think it's a pretty good base for a few days. Easy access to Stonehenge, Winchester, The New Forest (Beaulieu, Buckler's Hard), Tudor House and Garden ... London's easy to navigate too, public transport is excellent, and there's almost endless history to explore there. On a work trip 5 years ago I lead colleagues on a pub crawl starting in Greenwich which included a pint in a pub older than the United States 🙂 Late September is a great time to visit - weather is still nice but the kids are back in school. You'll have a blast no matter what you do.

That's good advice, and flying in to Heathrow opens up many more direct flight options than going to Gatwick. Looks like the National Express 203 service is the one to use, it will take a bit longer than the train but probably a more relaxed experience. National Express Route 203, Heathrow Airport to Southsea — National Express Timetables

You'll find that platforms are at the same level as the train floor, so there's no climbing up from ground level as you've encountered with many American stations. It's tough to predict how busy the train will be, worst case scenario is that you're sitting on your case in a corridor area for 90 minutes because the carriages are all full. I haven't traveled on the Gatwick to Pompey service, so I don't know how modern the rolling stock is or how much luggage area there is - though given the route they have to assume people are bringing luggage. Personally I've almost always had a good response to asking "Excuse me, could you help me ... " with staff working on public transport or in stations. I think people can tell when you approach them assuming they're a decent human and willing to help!

By way of example: https://www.bbc.com/news/business-61634959?fbclid=IwAR2YHaQRlcWwP3HAfqu5sIFb0U7XbkVhJdGN8iUHLUmYZikaou4qOfNfDcg_aem_ARsQLkaShTQet1UQlSOP9Sqsy6tSFyZetR483zGKf66kQNQkuFhQXWYR2hyBtyRsPSE

Now when we say full English - is it a FULL English with Black Pudding?

None of the international airports used by flights from the USA are close to Portsmouth, so you'll have ground transport to figure out no matter what - but Gatwick is much easier. You probably can't fly direct to LGW from MIA, and will end up connecting in New York, or Madrid, or Lisbon, or Amsterdam ... Heathrow to Portsmouth (rome2rio.com) London Gatwick Airport (LGW) to Portsmouth (rome2rio.com) International flights from the US typically land early morning in the UK, so you'll have lots of time to get to Portsmouth if your plan is to stay in a hotel there the night before your cruise.

So speaks someone out of touch with rural America, where I can assure you that an egg yolk and peas with smoke would be considered outlandish. My in-laws from NW Ohio wanted the recipe for "sliced tomatoes with mozzarella and balsamic vinegar" the last time they visited us.

It's a fine Ecolab laundry detergent, dispensed by pushing the button on the numbered dispenser at the end of the machines. My views in no way influenced by the fact that I work for Ecolab 🙂 You'll also see Ecolab sanitizing wipes by sports equipment, and Ecolab cleaning "toolkits" used by the cabin staff.

Yes, the new dock area was nothing but bare dirt and unfinished roads, but we still docked there in July with no trouble. We had spectacular weather which was perfect for our kayaking around the fjord!

Another reminder that everyone should be at a Credit Union, where 2.5% interest is not uncommon - we don't even live in the same State as our Credit Union 🙂

From videos I think they have the Coke Freestyle dispensing machines in The Galley, which means you could mix your own adventure there 🙂

There are boards here at Cruise Critic for each of the islands, you’ll probably have better luck looking there since the question isn’t specific to Virgin. There are lots of discussions about tour operators and destinations there.

The policies aren't random; your daughter's booking has nothing to do with yours. You get to pay at 6 months because you already have a future booking, your daughter does not. The final payment deadline is different for you because you have different circumstances.

Is mobile roaming available from your cell provider at your ports of call? You'd be able to use cell data while in port at least, even if onboard Wi-Fi isn't great.

We're not planning to leave the ship in Guadeloupe - we're not "Death in Paradise" fans and the port area looks uninviting if not downright unsafe.

If you're looking for something more destination focused, with a more sedate onboard vibe that includes classical duos and is also adults only, you might consider Viking. You'll skew towards the lower end of the age demographic and shouldn't have any high culinary aspirations, but the small ship approach with understated but elegant Nordic decor has a lot going for it. We sailed "Iceland's Majestic Landscapes" this summer and would recommend it as a great way to see that part of the world, in a way that is relaxed and comfortable. It is more about the destination than the ship though.

Again, this is not possible. Advance passenger information cannot be entered with a passport that expires before disembarkation.

As I keep pointing out, MyVikingJourney will not allow you to enter and save a passport that expires before disembarkation. Entering your current information and later updating it is not an option.

As a slight clarification, the actual error message is "passport expiration is before cruise disembarkation". Purely in the interests of experimentation I added a year to both effective and expiration dates and everything was happy with that 😉