cyntil8ing

I admit that with this last cruise, my plan was to buy a local bottle of wine in port for dinner each night, then just pay per drink otherwise, but my husband insisted on getting Cheers. I get that Cheers is expensive, but it's such a convenience that I'll probably just factor it in to my cruise cost from now on. And since we usually choose between Celebrity and Carnival, it makes the cost comparison fairer anyway since it's included with most Celebrity rates (so are tips and wi-fi). When bringing on my own, I am responsible for shopping for it and lugging it on and going back to my cabin every time to get a new drink. But most importantly, I am stuck with that drink. To me, having a bottle of rum in my cabin would be like having to choose which chicken dish I wanted for dinner each night. With Cheers, I can walk up to any bar on the ship and order whatever I like. And most importantly, I get those great cocktail cherries Carnival has!

No.

JK Rowling tweeted that she has never been to the bookshop, though she did at one time live in Porto. https://twitter.com/jk_rowling/status/1263377779338481665?s=20&t=XqU9x8RbxkRQeF1-GNfzHA

Day 4 - Leixoes (Porto), Portugal Travel: The port is about 30 minutes from town. We took an Uber each way. To town, it was €9, but coming back due to high demand, it was €24. Port guide: https://www.whatsinport.com/Leixoes.htm In Porto, we had pre-booked a Tuk Tuk tour. If you have a Chase Sapphire card, either Preferred or Reserve, you can book Viator tours with points at a 25% discount using the Chase Travel site. It's rather clunky and cumbersome though. I would find a tour, then search Viator to find it so I could see details and read reviews, as details are limited on the Chase site. Our 90 minute tour, which was this one — https://www.viator.com/tours/Porto/Historic-Porto-1h30-Private-Tour-on-an-Electric-Tuk-Tuk/d26879-277252P1, cost 6,570 Ultimate Rewards points. Our driver/guide was wonderful, very personable and safety focused. We were driving in traffic, but I never felt uneasy. The tour was a "pass-by" tour, in that we simply drove past most of the sights, stopping only twice to get out for photos. As we were ending the tour, we passed by the Portuguese Centre of Photography, which is housed in a former prison. Our guide suggested we might be interested in the architecture and best of all, it was free! After ending the tuk tuk tour, we found a bakery for a snack. My daughter had to register for her next quarter's classes, so we hung out at bit while she took care of business. We then walked through a lovely park Jardim da Cordoaria, then headed to the museum. After the museum, we found a cafe for a drink and a snack, and then we called an Uber to take us back to the port. One of the highlights of Porto, which we did not visit because of a huge line, was Livraria Lello bookshop. I really regret not making the time to visit. See https://portoalities.com/en/discover-lello-bookstore-porto/ for details. The Leixões port building was unique Porto Registering for fall classes Jardim da Cordoaria Fun fact about this art. As soon as I saw the guy on the upper right, I said it looked like an art piece on the Celebrity Summit, the only ship we've been on more than Carnival Pride. Sure enough, some googling found more information about the art and the artist, Juan Muñoz. http://www.patrickcomerford.com/2019/02/13-laughing-men-without-age-in-time-and.html The statue on Celebrity Summit Portuguese Centre of Photography Sao Bento Railway Station We found a cafe for a drink and a snack Sail away Steps: 13k

It was waiting. When we exited the station, it was kind of a madhouse with people milling around. The bus was just to the left and there was a line to stow luggage before boarding. There was also a guy walking around telling folks about the shuttle. He took my bags from me and showed me to the line. The bus filled and we were on our way. My husband and daughter had to wait for the next bus. He said while they were waiting, the mad rush from the arriving train was over, and with another one not due for an hour, there were taxi drivers offering their services for £8. This may be a better option if you have less luggage. Because of being split between buses, we ended up accidentally not paying. Hubby thought I had paid, and I though he had, and no one noticed. I suppose it just as easily could have gone the other way and we both paid. The distance from the station to the port was less than five minutes. When we arrived, all the luggage was pulled off the bus. Tagged luggage was swept away and untagged sat next to the bus waiting to be claimed. We had tagged our luggage at the station while waiting to put it on the bus, so we didn't have to deal with it at the port.

Day 3 - La Coruna, Spain Travel: The port is downtown. You can get off the ship and walk. We walked in a large loop (about 5 miles) from the port around to the Tower of Hercules, then back through town, stopping for lunch at a restaurant that had the most awesome mussels I have ever had. If you're looking for a beach, this was a nice one. But the water was absolutely frigid and there were no services. We were not able to go up in the Tower. The next available tickets were for 3pm, which would have had us just hanging around for a few hours and missing out on time in town. There were beautiful views from the bottom of the tower, so we didn't miss it at all. Back to the town Sail away Steps: 18k

Day 1 - Embarkation Unlike the cruise before ours, we had no issues getting from London to the ship in Dover. Our 10:37 train from St Pancras to Dover was canceled, but we boarded the next one at 11:37 and arrived at 12:40. There was a shuttle bus to the port. There were also taxis available. Luggage-Palooza strikes again. We had to take two taxis to the train station! One for us and one for the luggage. Crazy! First view of the ship from the train: Cabins 8157 and 8159 (8K Extended Balcony) Balcony overhang Steps: 6k Day 2 - At sea Tea time Formal night Dad jokes about getting a call on his shell phone The kids react Late night comedy shows nearly every night. Nightcap at the Casino Bar. This would be our habit every night. Steps: 5k

I admit I drank a lot more than I normally would since I had the package. I wouldn't have had nearly as many had I been paying per drink. So, is it a value for me? No. Is it worth getting? I'd say yes. I would have a coffee in the morning, then a rum punch when we got back onboard, then a sail away frozen drink, a cocktail at the show, followed by two glasses of wine with dinner, a cappuccino with dessert, another cocktail at the comedy show, then a nightcap at the casino bar. I never got close to the 15 drink limit. In fact, one night when we arrived to the casino for our nightcap, the bartender remarked that our count was only four. That was the night we accidentally napped through dinner. Busy days!

Friday Our reservations today were for the Twickenham Stadium Tour and World Rugby Museum. My daughter discovered rugby this year at school. In the afternoon, we took the Architectural Tour of the Ben Franklin House. And finally, we had tickets for the View from the Shard. That evening, we met up with my husband's brother and his family for dinner at a nice Portuguese restaurant, Casa do Frango London Bridge . They've lived in London for ten years or so, and we haven't seen them but once since then. Steps: 19k Saturday This morning, we had reservations for a James Bond Walking Tour. Our guide took us to many sights featured in James Bond films. This was an awesome morning! Later in the afternoon, we rode the Uber Boats up and down the Thames, then arrived at the Tower of London just an hour and a half before closing. We went straight to the Crown Jewels exhibit and then had some time to explore the grounds a bit. We then spent the evening at my brother-in-law's house. Steps: 15k

I think I should call this trip Luggage-Palooza. We had SO many bags! It was crazy. Never again will I travel with so much stuff. Four days in London: Wednesday Arrival day, we made no plans for this day. We took an overnight flight from Dulles, arriving at Heathrow about noon. Customs and Immigration was a breeze — no lines and we simply scanned our passports to enter. Our luggage arrived fairly quickly and without incident. We had pre-arranged a transfer to our hotel. We used the Chase Ultimate Rewards Travel site to book with points. The provider ended up being London Travel In Limited (https://www.londontravelin.com). As we exited the airport, the driver was waiting for us with a sign with our names. My kids got quite the kick from this — thought we were so fancy! The driver took us to our hotel — The Clermont, Charing Cross (https://www.theclermont.co.uk/charing-cross). I dithered for months picking somewhere to stay in London. I considered AirBNBs, but just couldn't pull the trigger, and watched them disappear off my favorites list as they were booked up. I finally ended up using Priceline for the two rooms. The hotel was very nice, included a nice hot breakfast buffet that introduced my son to beans for breakfast, free mini-bar, and the location simply could not be beat. We were right in the middle of everything. We ate dinner at the hotel restaurant that evening. Afterward, my husband and daughter went out for a walk, while my son and I called it a night. We had an early tour the next day. Steps: 5k Thursday We had purchased 3-day London Passes and Oyster cards ahead of time, so we had a few reservations and a long list of places we wanted to visit. This day it was the 3 hour 30+ London Sights Tour. That evening, we had theater tickets for Come From Away. Before the theater, I used Tripadvisor to find a restaurant. The one we ended up reserving, J Sheekey (https://j-sheekey.co.uk) was simply amazing! Being a life-long Marylander, I consider myself a bit of a seafood snob, but everything was delicious! I had the Shellfish Platter and the oysters were the best I have ever had. We ended up getting an extra half dozen so everyone could try some. It was also my kids' first time enjoying wine with dinner. I think they enjoyed the experience more so than the actual wine. Steps: 17k

My kids, now 19 and 16, have been on about 10 Celebrity cruises since they started cruising at 5 and 3. They also have about 10 on Carnival and a couple on Royal Caribbean. They have never been made to feel unwanted or unwelcome on Celebrity. Based on Cruise Critic responses, I was a little worried before taking them the first time, but the onboard experience has always been wonderful. We just came off of a Northern European cruise on Carnival Pride that was awesome. The ship is old and dated, but the itinerary more than made up for it. Food and service were great. Entertainment was lacking, but we were so busy during the day it didn't really matter. I guess my point is that with a great itinerary, the rest doesn't matter as much.

We stayed in London and took the high speed train that morning. Very easy. Total transit time was about two hours. We took a taxi from the hotel to St Pancras Station, then a shuttle bus from Dover Priory to the ship.

Not true. We had Cheers last week on Carnival Pride.

My family flew in 7/28 and out 8/12 with 8, yes 8!, checked bags. No issues in either direction.

FWIW, I agree with you. But the hub wanted Cheers, so we got it. We also got the Premium Wi-Fi for all of us. After struggling with the Value Plan on our last cruise (Bahamas on Conquest), we went with the Premium. We had no trouble or lags all week. Definitely worth the upgrade in my mind. Kids used all their socials, FaceTime and Netflix. I didn't run any speed tests because I didn't have speed issues.

Sorry for the delays in getting more details. I'm still loading photos, and I am still on Europe time! I was asleep before 10pm last night. Still dealing with tons of laundry too! We ate in the dining room each night, except one where I took a "little" three hour nap and slept through it. We had anytime and usually went around 8:30. We used the Carnival Hub app to book our table and it worked perfectly. The estimated wait time was usually right on, or a little shorter, so we could plan when to check in. After the fourth or fifth night, we found a waiter we really liked, so we asked at the dining room reception desk to always be put in his section. That worked with the app. The menus, I am happy to report, were at least as many as 12, our number of days. I was concerned about repeats after day 7, but that didn't happen. While the food wasn't anything to rave over, it was fine. I'm watching calories and always found something, even ordering the Indian vegetarian twice. We had the Cheers package, and that worked well with dining. Our waiter, Lester, learned our preferences, and had my Prosecco and my husband's Sauvignon Blanc delivered as soon as we sat down, then we chose our main course wine when we ordered. Our cappuccinos always arrived promptly with dessert. And he made a fun game of presenting the $0 bar bill to someone at the table. By the end, my daughter was official secretary. We went to Sea Day Brunch (we had three sea days) and it seemed the same as it ever was. I had my favorites -- Huevos Rancheros and Broken Egg Sandwich. There was Tea Time on this ship. We were pleasantly surprised after hearing it had been canceled fleet-wide. My daughter and I went once and the other time, my son joined us. It was his first time ever attending. I think he was a bit overwhelmed by the ladies at our shared table. I think he was a bit taken aback by the "girl talk". We teased him about it and I doubt he will ever return. The snacks and treats weren't worth it to him. I had Guy's Burgers once or twice. Never made it to Blue Iguana or the Deli. The Pizza, as always, was very good. No meals at David's, though we thought about it for my daughter's birthday. We stuck with the dining room and Lester and crew sang to her. I can't think of much else to report about food. As I said earlier, I am watching calories and despite having Cheers and not watching at all on alcohol consumption, I ended the cruise up just 1.2 pounds from where I stated, an accomplishment for sure. My husband, on the other hand, was up 13 pounds, so obviously, the food was good.

The biggest key to success, I think, for this cruise was transportation planning. Many of these ports were some distance from the town, and for those like me who prefer to DIY over taking ship excursions, knowing ahead of time how you'd get there will save a lot of stress and headache. The port guides from https://www.whatsinport.com were invaluable for this. I highly advise not to just "wing it" like we often do at Caribbean ports. Two days before the cruise, Carnival sent the attached email. While our plans were set by that time, I hope other cruisers found it helpful.

In my experience, overwhelmingly Americans, with lots of English, and some others. This was posted on the itinerary FB group from a fellow cruiser.

Just off the 12-day Northern Europe 7/31/22 sailing of the Pride. In short, all went well and we had a fantastic time on our first ever trip to Europe. I would do it again in a heartbeat. We are a family of four, mom, dad and two older teens, one of whom celebrated a birthday onboard. We flew into London Heathrow four days ahead of boarding and stayed at the Clermont, Charing Cross. It was a great hotel in a fantastic central location. We pre-purchased London Passes and Oyster cards for our stay. There was a train strike scheduled the day before our transfer to Dover. We had purchased train tickets before this announcement, so wanted to have a backup plan, so I also purchased Carnival bus transfers. By two days beforehand, we decided to stick with the train. We tried to cancel the Carnival transfers, but it was already too late. I was going to fight that onboard, but then promptly forgot about it. Anyway, our train ended up being canceled because of a mechanical issue, and we briefly thought of a mad dash across London to get the bus, but instead waited an hour for the next train. That one ran as scheduled and we arrived in Dover about 12:30. There were shuttles running from the train station to the port for $5 or €5 or £5, whichever one you have. We had so much luggage for the four of us that it wouldn't all fit on the first bus. So, we split and two of us went on the bus with half of our luggage and the other two waited with the remaining luggage for the next bus. Since we tagged our bags while waiting in line for the bus, we didn't really have to do this. Our luggage was taken right off the shuttle and we didn't see it again until it arrived at our cabins. Embarkation, our first as new Platinum cruisers, was quick and painless. We had no issues with Verify and walked right onboard. This was our fourth time on the Pride. It's familiar and comfortable. I was annoyed with the automatic doors on deck 9 no longer working, but got used to it within a day. Our cabin door lock was temperamental and sometimes hard to open from inside the cabin, but it wasn't awful enough or consistent enough to mention it to anyone. We had to leave our bathroom light on all the time because it took 15 seconds or more to turn on after hitting the switch. All-in-all, inconveniences, not rising to the level of issues. We had an extended balcony and it was lovely, though this trip was so port-intensive we didn't make a lot of use of it. Debarkation was simple. We booked the Carnival transfers to Heathrow with a stop at Windsor Castle. The bus we were on didn't have enough compartment space to hold all the luggage, but there were only 27 of us on the excursion, so we just put the extra luggage on the bus itself. There was an initial a/c issue (and the day was hot!) but it was fixed while we took a break at a rest stop. We were delivered back to Heathrow in plenty of time for our flight. We didn't do a lot onboard. Our evenings were generally whatever was going on in the Taj Mahal at 7:30, then dinner, then the two adult comedy shows at 10:30 and 11:15. I was a bit disappointed that all the bars, except the Casino Bar, closed at midnight. All of our ports were docking ports, so other than a half hour delay with a ramp at our Amsterdam port, we never had any issues. I'll detail our port days later, but wanted to get the review started for questions.

I don’t think UK is changing requirements, but Europe is scheduled to implement ETIAS next year.

There are four of us, with luggage, so we would need an XL. Price-wise, that would be about the same as the Carnival transfer, so guaranteed arrival would be our choice. Or maybe I could find a helicopter! That would be fun. Nope, the luggage kills that idea.

We are on next week's sailing. We will be transferring from London on Sunday, the day of departure. We currently have tickets both for the train (1 hour) and the Carnival transfer (3 hours). There is a train strike planned for Saturday, so Sunday's trains may be delayed. I guess that's also important information for anyone debarking on Sunday hoping to get to London. Anyway, I'm not sure yet which way we'll travel. I know the Carnival transfer is the safer bet, but I was really looking forward to the high speed train.

Sorry to hear this. I hope things improve for you. We will be boarding next cruise.

Unless things have changed in the past three years, the connecting cabin, ie. Family Suite, only gets suite amenities if the occupants are under 12. I know this because we tried to book this way with my teenagers.

This is exactly what travel insurance is for. I would have been shopping in every port! Kudos for Celebrity for helping out.