TMLAalum

Our cruise ends in Sydney on Feb. 2, 2016 and we plan on spending several nights there before we make a timeshare trade where we'll be in one resort for a week.

I am at a loss as to what areas to consider. We aren't lay-on the beach people, we enjoy natural beauty and will use the timeshare stay as a hub to "spoke" out from. We will have a rental car and will likely return to Sydney to fly back to the US.

Please advise! Thanks!

Thanks all!

I'm not averse to considering other options. The reason I am ruling out renting a car and driving to Thirsk (Sutton Hall timeshare is the base for our Yorkshire week) from Southampton at the end of our cruise is that DH is the ONLY driver! (I've tried, but am not adept at driving on the left, and our bro-in-law won't even consider it.)

We are staying near Penrith at Whitbarrow Village timeshare in the Lake District. From my Michelin England North & Midlands map, there appears to be motorway all the way from there to Manchester, but more local roads to Leeds. Regardless, I will check into Flybe flights into Leeds, and if the schedule is right, can deal with the rental car per the great suggestions here.

BiL and SiL are leaving for MAN from Thirsk and will be taking the train.

My only experiences with trains in Europe have been the Thalys from Paris to Brussels and a high-speed direct train from Florence to Venice. Both trips were fine...how do trains in Britain compare? I've been envisioning a relaxing journey watching the countryside go by.

You will be able to book right through to Manchester airport on the one ticket (not always the cheapest option). Trains from Manchester to the airport are very frequent and quick.

 

However, the train from Southampton to Manchetser is likely to be very busy especially if a few cruise ships are docked that day and luggage space is limited although you should in theory be able to book seats FOC.

 

Personally I would go with the Flybe option to Manchester, they often have sales which would make the journey cheaper just sign up for there email updates or if the fare is cheap now then you will be able to book now. Just watch that you only pay for the add ons you want though.

Thanks to your tip, Ellan, I did check out Flybe this morning.

Unfortunately, the flight times SOU-MAN don't work for the day we disembark in Southampton. The first is very early and it would be very questionable if we could make it; the second doesn't depart until nearly 5 pm, and once we pick up our rental car we still have a long drive (2hrs?) to Thirsk in Yorkshire.

Fortunately, I found that Flybe has a sale going on until November 25th and we have not yet booked our flights from CDG-SOU! Hopefully we will save a few dollars that can be spent in Paris!

I saw your post on the northern Europe forum, which is where you are likely to get more responses.

We are in Geiranger port the day prior to you. I've contacted Geiranger taxi company but not confirmed...another CC member indicated that this company wanted a wire transfer pre-payment in which case I'll pass.

Here is a link to a bus tour to Dalsnibba which will also link you to the HoHo bus: http://www.geirangerfjord.no/hop-on-hop-off-bus. Here is another link to the waterfall , but it's in Norwegian:http://www.visitmr.com/fossevandring-geiranger.

Happy planning!

Zoom77, I too was looking for a Baltic Cruise for summer 2015 for something a bit different to my usual holidays in the Med. I eventually settled for the 14 night cruise on Celebrity Eclipse leaving Southampton on 25 July (also 11 July). Two main reasons for choosing this option were the itinerary, which looks superb, and the consistently high scores given to the Eclipse on Cruise Critic. 90% 'I loved it' rating is about as good as it gets on here.

The ship offers 'Select Dining' which means you can dine anytime between 6pm and 9.30pm and are not restricted to the same table at the same time every night. How it compares to NCL's offering I can't really say as I've yet to sail with either line.

There are 3 formal nights during the cruise, which may not suit you, however from what I've read there are plenty of alternatives to the MDR on these nights if you don't want to get dressed up. Maybe worth a look.:)

Our first cruise with Celebrity was on the Eclipse Baltics out of Southampton, and after that wonderful experience, we've not considered other lines.

As far as formal nights, the more we've cruised, the less obliged DH has felt to bring a suit or sportscoat. He does wear dress shirt and tie for formal nights and the maitre'd will supply him a coat from the stash he has on hand. If you end up in AquaClass with it's designated dining room, BLU, the dress code there, and in specialty restaurants, is always "smart casual".

Don't know where the Eclipse will dock in Stockholm next year, but on our cruise she was right in the city harbor and just a few steps from the HoHo boat.

We will be sailing her again to the Fjords in May.

Enroute to Europe we will have 2 nights in Reykjavik at the Hotel Lotus, a bit away from the old harbor but not far from the Hilton where we can catch the HoHo bus on our arrival day. May do a puffin or whale watch cruise that day as well. Day 2 will be the Golden Circle in a Ford Galaxy "or similar" since we are 6.

Enroute back to the US it's just DH and me and we have another 24 hours in Iceland. I booked "Room with a View", a b&b in Borgarnes because looking at a map and reading lonely planet's ICELAND guide, I felt staying there would give us a different area to explore not too far from KEF where we pick up our rental car. We arrive at 3pm and our flight back to North America departs the following day at 5pm.

What are the thoughts of experienced Iceland travelers? Is there somewhere other than Borgarnes we should consider given our time limitation? Thanks.

Globaliser: Investigating off-airport car rental prices is a good idea! We saved beaucoup bucks last Christmas by renting at an Enterprise location about 2 miles from its airport site in Pensacola FL.

Alaskanb: Thanks for the tip about Arrow.

John Bull: Lots of food for thought from you...I can't find pricing for May using this site: http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/. But doing a dummy booking I did note the much lower price for the Birmingham connection option, although the direct train to Man Pic was running only at @50 GBP 3 months hence. I do like the idea of the small extra fee if we decide on the 8:15 and can't make it. We'll be using Flybe from CDG-SOU, could consider it to get to MAN, but like the idea of viewing the English countryside from the train.

Thanks again, everyone!

Some are quite a distance from the airport.... We find it easier to use an agency that is on-site at MAN.

We are with Alamo:

Manchester Airport Car Rental Centre

Ringway Road

I figure the setup at MAN is comparable to that in PHX or LAS, with a shuttle to take us from the airport to the center. Are there car hire services with counters/car pick-up right in the terminal? The price we got for an automatic Passat is the reason we chose Alamo.

Since we're taking the train from Southampton, it would save a step and lots of schlep to taxi or book a service direct to the Car Rental Centre, I'm starting to think...

Is it because you are flying out from Manchester and want to avoid one way hire charges?

Yes, we are flying home from MAN

There is also the New Metrolink service to the Airport, Piccadilly to Cornbrook, then Cornbrook to Manchester Airport.

I would find it easier on the Metrolink if I had a lot of Baggage rather than the Train even with the Change of Trams.

Hopefully not too much baggage, but there will be four of us, which would cut down the taxi cost if we go that route.

We will be taking the train from Southampton to Manchester airport where we will pick up a rental car for 2 weeks of travel in Yorkshire & the Lakes District. It's too soon to book for May, but hypothetically our options would be:

Depart 09:47/arrive 14:35 4h 48m total time change at Birmingham & Manchester Picadilly

Depart 08:15/arrive 13:20 5h 05m change at Manchester Picadilly (same itinerary available at 9:15)

Looks to be that it's a bus from Man Pic to the airport. If that 's the case, would it be better to take a cab from Manchester Picadilly direct to the car rental site which is off-airport? There are 4 of us with luggage post-cruise- what would be a ballpark figure for the cab?

The same option as the 8:15 is available at 9:15. If we self disembark from the Eclipse could we make the earlier train? How easy is it to get a cab from the cruise terminal upon disembarking? The two connection option appears to be cheaper, but I believe we won't be able to book until @ 12 weeks out-is that correct?

Thanks British CC experts!

Check out my avatar...perhaps you missed us in a Celebrity brochure;););)!!

How did you all cope with the smog or was that not an issue? I was in Beijing a week ago and had several hours layover between flights and the smog was horrible. I was wondering how those with allergies coped. We hope to cruise China sometime soon but I'm now having second thoughts due to allergy issues.

DH went online and ordered special masks with charcoal filters for us prior to our cruise that included 3 days/2 nights in Beijing followed by a 9-day land/Yangtze cruise tour of China. He wore his a couple of times, but not in Beijing. I never wore mine. I did have a nagging cough for about a month after our return from China but whether it can be attributed to their smog IDK...DH didn't have the cough as much as I did so maybe the mask was a help!

The worst city for smog was Xian! There was a pervasive odor that reminded me of Secaucus NJ back in the day. And the smog was fairly prevalent as we cruised the Yangtze. Our guides would say it wasn't smog but either fog or dust:rolleyes:.

I was just going to find your sailing and post the exact link and saw that you posted on your roll call!

You will find it an invaluable source of information and a great way to develop friendships.

BTW, our avatar photo was taken in a rickshaw in Beijing's hutong district. As a previously posted, our Beijing itinerary was jam-packed and the rickshaw ride included was one of the highlights for us

The 2 nighter is being advertised on the flyer you get from the Future Cruises on board, but when we asked last month, we were told it wasn't going ahead, and therefore wasn't for sale. We were interested, as we are on the 9th May Fjords cruise, and would have liked to add that on if possible.

 

I suppose nearer the time, they may decide to release these dates for a 2 nighter, depending on how the dry dock goes?

 

Lou

Hi Lou-

I can't believe that the 2-nighter is still listed in the onboard flier! It was there when we booked the Fjords cruise aboard the Millennium in mid-April and we'd have booked that mini-cruise in a heartbeat, but it was already off the table 6 months ago.

We've made Paris work for us by flying there from the US via Reykjavik and spending two nights in the city of light before boarding the Eclipse.

Your roll call for your sailing will probably have others on your cruise who are organizing private tours to Beijing.

We booked with Catherine Lu this past April and had a jam-packed time with her and our 21 roll call mates staying 2 nights in Beijing at the Park Plaza.

Hopefully you will be able to join in a private tour. Ours was wonderful. BTW we gathered early and were off the ship and through the lengthy Chinese immigration process before 10 am.

Glad you had a great trip to SW England and wonderful cruise. The excitement is building for us even more since I booked our Icelandair tix just yesterday (big sale = $250 savings pp for our itinerary!).

Just a little over 6 months til we depart!

Wanted to post this separately so that more may be aware of the bargain this airline offers in terms of flights to Europe! By connecting through Reykjavik, you can fly to just about any major European city. To add to your vacation, you can include a "free" stopover in Iceland which we are doing both ways.

The itinerary I'd been eyeing from YYZ-KEF-CDG with a 2 night stopover in Iceland with return from MAN-YYZ adding another 1 night stopover dropped $250 per person!! We paid $700 each for this itinerary! Includes seat selection and 2 free checked bags.

The itinerary I'd been eyeing from YYZ-KEF-CDG with a 2 night stopover in Iceland with return from MAN-YYZ adding another 1 night stopover dropped $250 per person!! We paid $700 each for this itinerary and adding the extra night on the return contributed to this bargain as without it the fare was $92 more pp. DH wanted that extra day in Iceland, and from what others on this thread have posted, the more time there the better!!

^ @UKcruise88

 

You were right - walking up the Stoltzekleiven trail was "totally worth it at the top". My husband (72) and I (62) made it to the peak and then walked to Fløyen, where we followed the trail back down to Bergen. The views from Stoltzekleiven are fantastic, so much better than the lookout at Fløyen, and the trail through the woods was beautiful.

Your photos are beautiful! We are in Bergen the 2nd week of May from noon-8pm and wonder if both time and weather conditions will allow us to hike this trail. How long did it take you?

We've booked the same itinerary for January 19, 2016 and are in a veranda cabin on the starboard side. If this is the cruise you plan on taking, come on over to our roll call!

The Vasa is probably the most popular attraction for visitors to Stockholm. We were on the first HOHO boat headed there which we boarded just steps away from where the Eclipse docked. It is a bit of a walk from where the HOHO stopped for the Vasa to the museum. For the first half-hour or so, we virtually had the place to ourselves, but by the time we left it was quite crowded. From there the HOHO boat took us to Gamla Stan, where we spent the rest of our time in port.

His favorite NA is Sagres dark which he enjoyed in Portugal but hasn't found here in the US. St. Pauli Girl, followed by Buckler's, are his current preferences. He'd rather be thirsty than drink an O'Doul's.

With the conversion of Cellar Masters into Gastropubs, it would be wonderful if Celebrity added a variety of non-alcoholic beer choices to be enjoyed in that venue even if not available elsewhere aboard. Are you reading this thread, Celebrity Cruises?

Hi there

I am considering a cruise to the Norweigan Fjords (first time cruise) next summer. The Celebrity Eclipse only has outdoor pools for children. They advise that the temperature of the pool is between 60 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit which seems very cool.

Does anyone have any comments on the use of outdoor pools on the Fjords cruise - ie does anyone actually use them? Also does anyone have any specific experience of this issue on celebrity Eclipse?

 

Thank you for any replies.

 

CJ

I have read on the Celebrity forum (where you might post this question) that on cold weather cruises children have been permitted to use the covered Solarium pool at specific times. This is not gospel, just sayin':confused:

As far as the temperature of the outdoor pool, those temps do seem frigid! Again, ask your question on the Celeb forum for more definitive responses. As far as using the pools on fjords cruises, I am sure that folks do- I know that on my Alaska cruise, the pool was occupied- mostly by kids who didn't mind the cold!

If like trawleroh (but not the OP) one is starting from Southampton then don't exclude the possibility of flying from Southampton.

 

Flybe have a flight which departs around 7am and arrives at Orly around 9.30 local with a return departing Orly at 9pm arriving back in Southampton around 21.30.

 

Fares vary considerably and you will need to either pick your day or monitor the website for prices, but I just tried a dummy booking for 15th October and it was around £150 return.

 

You can't use the tramway to get the central Paris, as Flybe use Orly Oeust and the tramway station is at Orly Sud, but most people use Orlybus which takes around 30mins to get to Denfert-Rochereau (near to Gare Montparnasse)and costs €7.50.

 

The best metro station for the Tour Eiffel is Bir-Hakeim and there is a direct service from Denfert-Rochereau on line 6 of the metro and I would estimate that you could easily be at the base of the tower by 11am (all of course subject to the plane being on time!!)

We have decided on the Flybe/Air France option vs. the Eurostar in getting from Paris to Southampton. Pricing is less as is time spent traveling. Logistics are far better, especially since we'll be booking a direct hotel-ORY transfer for our group of 6-8!

Queenl - have they told you that you can collect the tickets from a ticket machine at any station? I was able to do this by inserting the credit/debit card by which I paid for the tickets and then keying in the Booking Ref number. Hey presto!

 

And this was on any of the ticket machines on any of the railway stations, so you could easily do this before the day. There should certainly be no charge - and if there is a queue, it goes down fast. In your shoes, I would choose a relatively quiet time on the stations so you do not feel harrassed.

Do the UK ticket machines require a chip/pin credit card? We are still behind the 8-ball in the US in terms of this type of card. We've run into major issues on the continent at train stations, gas stations and toll roads in that our US-issued swipe/sign cards were unusable in these places.

Our first cruise experience was on the NCL Pearl to Alaska. On a 7 night cruise the theatre show had the same Neil Diamond impersonator for 2 of those nights with minimal variation in repertoire. IMO, that is pretty lame. Wonder if my experience should have me starting a thread with the same title as this one over on the NCL board:rolleyes:?