John Bull

As per No 28's post, the ports' own websites are the most reliable, but sometimes they're difficult to track down or don't include the information. The other websites - several have been mentioned in posts above - are second-best because as per crystalspin's post they are less-accurate. Not all websites mention ships' hours in port - one which departs at 1pm isn't going to affect one which arrives at 2pm. For some cities, like Barcelona or Naples or Athens or Venice or La Spezia, the number and size of cruise ships is of no consequence because a few thousand cruise passengers are small compared to the tens of thousands of shore-based visitors. For some other ports, it's only for transfers from / back to the port where the numbers of cruise passengers can impact travel - examples are between Civitavecchia port and Rome where the trains can be over-whelmed at busy times, and on Santorini between the tender pier and the rest of the island can also be over-whelmed. The smaller Caribbean islands are where the numbers and sizes of cruise ships make a huge difference. Websites will give you an idea of how-crowded on the day of your visit, though there's little you can do to alleviate that other than stay on the ship & treat it as a sea-day. Staying aboard is a chance to enjoy a relatively peaceful ship, to take advantage of discounted spa etc prices on port days, or on large resort ships to enjoy the major attractions - flow-riders, ice-rinks, climbing walls and such - without lines as frustratingly long as at theme-parks Just MHO as always JB 🙂

Unassisted disembarkation usually from about 7am. scheduled disembarkation in tranches, the first at 7.30. Public transport won't get you to Heathrow in time. You are advised not to use ships' transfer coaches for that flight time A pre-booked private transfer should cost £120 to £140 Travel time depends which day of the week.... Assuming no unusual major delays 90 minutes is fine for saturdays & sundays Weekdays are difficult to predict - you're mixing it with commuters heading to London, and the heavy traffic can be problematic with a minor fender-bender or simple broken-down truck costing half an Allow 2 hrs 30, and on mondays add another 15 minutes for the weekly commuters. So on a weekend unassisted disembarkation and a car booked for 7.15am would get you to Heathrow before 9am. Since weekend traffic will be pretty light even a diversion shouldn't add much more time. On a weekday unassisted disembarkation and a car booked for 7.15 should get you to Heathrow around 10 am. Good enough, but not lot of wiggle-time. I'd want to have more wiggle-time - for the only flight of the day I'd run the small risk of cutting it fine. With a plane to the same city a couple of hours later I'd opt to play safe. But I'm not your hubby 😉 JB 🙂

I wondered about that. And the proportions are very different. MSC Seaside max 5200 pax., 16 lifeboats MSC Armonia max 2680 pax., 14 lifeboats RCI Oass of the Seas max 6699 pax., 18 lifeboats RCI Vision of the Seas max 2514 pax., 18 lifeboats I've counted lifeboats from photos, I've tried to quote max number of passengers, I've not taken into account the number of crew or the number / size of inflatable life-rafts, and of course bigger ships have bigger lifeboats. But its pretty clear that big ships have much more-crowded lifeboats. We prefer smaller ships but our up-coming cruise is on MSC Seaside, almost twice as big as anything we've sailed to date - can't resist a bargain 🙄. So I kinda wish I hadn't seen that video (though thanks to the cap'n for linking it). I wasn't expecting a choice of wines & entrees, but as well as barfing there's the small matter of other bodily functions - and not a john in sight. 😲 I just might stay on board with the captain as the band plays "Nearer my God to Thee"🥴 JB 🙂

I guess your screen name should have told me of your cruise line preference 🙄 But to carry on the theme, MSC is no Mickey-Mouse cruise line. 😉 Not too sure how D-Day sights will go down with an American/German family. The American cemetery at Colleville-sur-Mer, about 90 miles / 1 hr 40 mins from Le Havre contrasts starkly with the sombre German cemetery at La Cambe, about 10 miles / 20 minutes further on. November & early December is generally the cheapest time of year to cruise - folk saving or planning / preparing for Christmas - which is why we often cruise then. But that time of year we cruise the Caribbean or explore the southern hemisphere. A good cruise in most respects, and I wish you good luck with the weather. JB 🙂

The cruise line is far better than its English-language reviews suggest - check out the reviews in Italian . And it has the youngest, best-maintained and fashionable fleet in the business Unsurprisingly it offers an Italian experience but that seems to dismay those Brits and particularly Americans who were expecting the same experience as their home-country cruise lines. Don't go with American expectations, expect lots of pasta, lots of good-natured jostling (Italians don't do standing in line), lots of languages in tannoy announcements - go with the flow and you'll enjoy. We'll be sailing with them again in November - but in much warmer climes. Yes, Bruges is pleasant & historic, well worth visiting. Le Havre - reasonably convenient for the D-Day beaches, though public transport wont do the job - it needs either - a tour ( https://www.overlordtour.com/tours-from-cruise-ports-9/ gets rave reviews but there are others) - or renting a car - mebbe finding others on your cruise to share costs - and plan your own tour. Navigation and driving are easy - no city driving, its mainly A29 & A13 dual carriageways with no tolls other than the "Pont de Normandie" bridge over the Seine estuary, and rural & coastal lanes. At almost all of the sights the parking is free & easy, English-speaking staff, plenty of informative signage. Tell us your interests - American or Canadian or British or German, day-of-the-week and the hours in port (Le Havre is usually a mid-evening departure) and we can help with a route. Or if D-Day doesn't appeal, the little fishing & tourist harbour of Honfleur is just half-an-hour from the port for an easy and lazy day. Southampton. Well, I'm a local and can suggest what's to see in the city, or plenty of cities etc within an inexpensive and direct 30 minute to 90 minute train ride. But the big reservation, which hallasm's touched on and you're surely aware of, is the weather in November. Usually not as cold as your base somewhere near Hamburg, but often wet and miserably grey altho you might be lucky and get clear skies at the expense of colder weather. Because November's a risky month for storms, we've never cruised out of Southampton in winter, and if we visit mainland Europe by road we use the Channel Tunnel rather than ferries except in summer. When we take a 7-day break from Southampton in the winter we fly to Spain's Costa del Sol (best winter weather in mainland Europe) or fly to the Canaries (for land-based stay or cruise). Or the Red Sea is good in winter - Luxor or Cairo or a Nile cruise for history, or Sharm el Sheikh which is an unashamed modern vacation resort with desert buggies, excellent snorkelling, etc. Many of those options need 7 or 8 days, eg out on saturday, back the next saturday. All just MHO as always JB 🙂

Yes, singletons are heavily charged, I've even seen more than double ie singleton pays more than two people sharing a cabin. That's because only one is spending on drinks, excursions etc instead of two. A couple of suggestions........... NCL (Norwegian Cruise Lines, US-owned despite the name) has singles' studio-cabins on some of their ships. Cabins are of course smaller but same facilities & private bathroom plus a shared lounge for those singletons. And MSC (an Italian cruise line) are far less money-grabbing from singletons than most cruise lines. My partner & I have booked a 14-day MSC Caribbean fly-cruise together with a singleton friend. For an identical double cabin she's paying only about 12% more than each of us !!!!! So check out those two cruise lines. And I agree with the others that because you're a newbie, a good cruise-specialist t/a is worth their weight in gold. First cruises are always great - enjoy 🙂 JB 🙂

I'm just a little concerned that your cruise line might have mis-led you by listing "Granada" as the port-of-call. It's 90+ minutes from Malaga, or 60 minutes from the nearest port, Motril. So you'll need transportation or a tour. And tickets to the Alhambra - by far the most significant place in Granada - sell out early. So you need to book up in good time. JB 🙂

We've dined at Ennios, but not Sunday lunch. Very good. Ennios is Italian, so one might think that they wouldn't be a great venue for a roast Sunday lunch - but one of our favourites for a roast Sunday lunch is Italian - Reggina's, in Botley. But it's about 7 miles from Southampton city centre, so no good for your visit. I think Ennios will do you proud JB 🙂

I clicked on the contributor's name Some very strange posts 🙄 🥴 JB 🙂

In Southampton,: Just a ten-minute walk from the Ibis (albeit up a hill) https://seacitymuseum.co.uk/ is a council-run museum focussed on Titanic. Dioramas and personal stories (most of her crew were from Southampton) rather than artefacts. https://tudorhouseandgarden.com/ in old-town Southampton is a 15 minute walk (or short taxi hop) from Ibis & Ibis Budget. Only about 100 yards from the Tudor Merchant's House, https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/medieval-merchants-house/ is normally open on sundays only. City walls, Westgate Hall etc are in the same area. A further 15 minutes beyond, https://www.solentsky.org/exhibitions is a volunteer-run aircraft museum with the emphasis on aircraft with a local connection Sunday isn't sunday without a sunday roast lunch, though it's best to pre-book. In the same road as the Tudor Merchant's House are the Duke of Wellington pub https://www.dukesouthampton.co.uk/ and http://dancingmanbrewery.co.uk/. Both offer roast sunday pub lunches. Or the best but by far the most expensive is https://www.harbourhotels.co.uk/media/14595/18g-southampton-jetty-sundayset-a4-jun22-v1.pdf?1656420625 On sundays, city centre shops are open on limited hours, usually 10am to 4pm. Beyond Southampton The historic cathedral city of Salisbury is only 35 minutes by direct train (Southampton Central station is across the road from the Ibis). Much less crowded and more laid-back than Winchester, and a friendly rural atmosphere. Built in 1220 - 1255, the cathedral is younger than Winchester cathedral, but much more impressive, and has the tallest spire in the UK. And a hop-on bus to Stonehenge operates from Salisbury station. NB limitations on inside visits to the cathedral on sundays https://www.visitwiltshire.co.uk/salisbury https://www.londontoolkit.com/whattodo/salisbury.htm https://www.thestonehengetour.info/ https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/ Or take the little Hythe Ferry across Southampton Water, and a taxi from Hythe about 6 miles across a corner of the New Forest to the village of Beaulieu and https://www.beaulieu.co.uk/attractions/ Altho it majors on the National Motor Museum there's also the Bishop's Palace , the Abbey ruins (sacked during Henry V111's Dissolution of the Monasteries) etc. NB arrange with the taxi driver to collect you at an agreed time, there's no taxi rank at Beaulieu https://hytheferry.co.uk/ Or the car ferry across the Solent (about an hour) to East Cowes on the Isle of Wight, then local 10 minute bus ride to Queen Victoria's favourite home, Osborne House https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/osborne/ https://www.redfunnel.co.uk/en/isle-of-wight-ferry/terminal-facilities/terminal-1-southampton/ Or 60 minutes by direct train to Portsmouth Harbour station, just 200 yards from Portsmouth Historic Dockyard & Ships https://www.historicdockyard.co.uk/ It's a shame you've not planned to spend a week in Southampton 😉😀 JB 🙂

Yes. For Mayflower, Horizon, and City cruise terminals. For City go left at the roundabout just inside the dock gate. For City or Horizon Gate 8 is easier if coming from that side of the city. JB 🙂

Sorry, I don't know. But if there's no charge I would think it appropriate. Mebbe $5 or $10 (again, you won't be the only one tipping in a foreign currency) JB 🙂

So you're only concerned about tips between Heathrow and Southampton? Would that just be for a private transfer driver? £10 would be generous. And zilch if the driver is late or the car not up to standard etc. An airport-based driver would be used to getting tips in € or $ from time to time, and I wouldn't worry about changing dollars for the sake of one tip, so $10, or $15 at the most. Or your brother standing by with £ when you get to Southampton. Tips aren't the same big-deal in the UK (or indeed in most of the world) as they are in the States. No worries JB 🙂

Sorry, I have no idea, they're all heavy prices . Try the Southampton-based operators that I mentioned Or there are plenty of other operators out of Heathrow by googling "Heathrow private transfer". But do carefully check reviews and reputations, there are some fly-by-nights. JB 🙂

Ain't that just Murphy's Law.🙄 Now if you'd just mentioned you were travelling in August I just might have thought "uh-oh, Southampton International Boat Show." So that's me off the hook 😉 Although I thought that Herbert Walker Avenue (the Holiday Inn road) and Dock Gate 8 were a single island in a sea of boat show, so probably it wouldn't have occurred to me to forewarn you. I'm guessing you booked the Holiday Inn some time ago - it, and other nearby hotels, book-out early for the boat show. Happy sailing JB 🙂

Agreed, John - certainly in places like Russia and India. But there are places where it's commonplace for the cruise line to apply for visas, like Egypt, Vietnam, Jordan, Turkey. But that's perhaps because they may be restricted visas for cruisers only, rather than regular tourist visas. They're usually for all - or certainly almost all - nationalities Problem is that cruise line head offices aren't always up-to-speed or reluctant to guarantee on which countries they'll get visas for you. JB 🙂

£124 is very much in the ball-park for LHR to Southampton, you should be able to get that sort of price replicated by booking now with another operator West Quay quote a typical LHR to Southampton at £140 (£10 more than Southampton to LHR because of LHR parking) There must be a reason for the £178 to be out-of-sync. Three cruise ships are turning round in Southampton on 18th October, but that's not unusual and I'm not aware of any event or other factor in Southampton which might affect a very ordinary tuesday in mid-October. I can only surmise that either you have mis-read the price (did you accidentally click on West Quay's "executive car" panel ?) or more likely the operator who quoted £178 has limited availability on that day. Try https://www.aquacars.co.uk/ Recommended by Cruise Critic members, they're based in Portsmouth but have drivers in Southampton (as did Smiths for Airports, the most-frequently recommended on Cruise Critic until they went under during the pandemic) Or https://www.chasecars.co.uk/ Or https://www.southampton-taxis.co.uk/ Or https://www.dsairportcars.co.uk/ (those last three are all Southampton-based, but I have no experience of them) If you're finding that 18th October is expensive with all of them, there's gonna be something happening in Southampton that I'm not aware of - in which case trawl Heathrow-based operators. But your post makes me even more confident that book-on-arrival isn't normally cheaper, and may prove to be expensive or problematic or probably both 😲 JB 🙂

Yes, she'd crossed my mind, but I dismissed her because - for whatever reason - I'd always thought she was a giant and confined to good-sized ports. Not so, she's under 44,000 tonnes and capacity of just 200 passengers. Yes, I imagine she's a strong contender despite her comparative youth. They've actually been carrying passengers for 182 years. But none of their 19th century or even 20th century ships are still in service 😉 Competition for most ports visited will mainly be among ships that are decades older and/or much smaller. JB 🙂

That's a new one on me, mlj.🤔 Airport transfers don't make a great deal of profit on a one-way fare, they rely on tying in with a fare in the opposite direction to avoid 50% empty mileage. That's why airport runs are generally cheaper than most other destinations. Pre-book and the operator has a chance to tie your trip in with another booking - and for a Southampton operator your afternoon fare from Heathrow would tie in with taking folk to Heathrow earlier in the day. But that's much less-likely if you ask on-the-day, and if a Southampton operator agrees to collect you but doesn't already have a car there you'll have a minimum 90-minute wait. Pre pandemic and fuel price-hikes and 10% p.a. general inflation, prices between Heathrow and Southampton ranged upwards from about £70. So a saving of £50 on current prices of around £120 to £140 suggests that an operator would revert to those old & now-uneconomic prices for a booking on arrival, which I very much doubt. Asking for quotes by e-mail in advance is easy, and they'll all be looking for business. But by negotiating on-the-day you put yourself at a disadvantage - you can't get best price without a tedious round of phone calls and return calls, and the chances of matching a return fare on-the-day are slim. Private-hire taxis aren't permitted to tout for business, if you can't fix a booking by phone the only taxis you could take from the airport are the classic black London cabs on the rank. Their long-distance fares aren't fixed but they know how to charge and if you're asking them they'll know they're your only option - expect any willing to take you to look for £200+ I won't suggest that you use the train - there's no direct train between Heathrow & Southampton, so the train options are both slow and expensive. And if you were to use the bus you'd be well-advised to pre-book to avoid being stranded. Your trip, your decision. But I'd be interested to know where you heard that contacting the likes of Blackberry or West Quay on arrival would save you £50. JB 🙂

I don't think the Cowes chain ferry counts as a cruise ship 😜 JB 🙂

Unassisted disembarkation will be from about 7am, then the first tranche of regular assisted disembarkation 7.30. Cheapest option is by National Express, though you'll need an early disembarkation slot. You can be given an early slot by asking at Guest Relations & citing your onward transportation. An 8am (at the latest) slot should do the trick for you to catch the 9.00 am National Express coach. A taxi from your cruise terminal to Southampton National Express coach station will cost £10 or less, and take 10 mins or less. Current fares are showing about £21 per person, journey time 2 hours gets you to Heathrow at 11 am or earlier depending on your terminal. You're strongly advised to pre-book as coaches to LHR at that time of day do book out. Next NE coach is at 11 am, arrives LHR 12.55 - that's way too tight. https://book.nationalexpress.com/ Cruise lines normally offer their own sponsored transfer coaches from the ship to LHR (or LGW) The first usually depart from the quayside around 8am, each coach is allocated to a single airport terminal and there are usually several coaches for each terminal, except the last one of the day which leaves after 9am with stragglers for all LHR terminals. Cruise lines have tended to advise passengers not to use their transfers to LHR for flights which leave before 12.30 or 1.00 pm, so no problem for you. Transfer charges vary wildly, from about $65 pp with Princess to over $100 for RCI or Cunard. If your cruise line charges at the higher end, consider a private transfer - especially with the $ riding high against the £. A private transfer should cost in the region of £120 to £140 - seek quotes from https://westquaycars.com/ or https://www.aquacars.co.uk/ or https://www.blackberrycars.com/ Train travel to Heathrow from Southampton is complicated and expensive, not worthy of consideration. JB 🙂

To advise on whether you need a private transfer rather than ship's transfer bus or National Express coach we need to know your flight time (and LHR terminal if timing is tight). Also might depend on whether you're willing / able to disembark unassisted (haul your your bags from your cabin) in order to be off the ship early. And the number in your party also comes into it when figuring best value Come back with that detail and we'll do our best to advise JB 🙂

If you particularly want the same car service for both legs, you'd need to make it a service based in the Bath region. Bath doesn't get too any cruise ships 😉. so that means Cruise Critic isn't your best source. Here's a TripAdvisor thread on car services in Bath https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attractions-g186370-Activities-c59-t182-Bath_Somerset_England.html Or for just Heathrow to Bath try https://www.blackberrycars.com/ For just Bath to Southampton try https://westquaycars.com/ Both are recommended by Cruise Critic members JB 🙂

When the ship is berthed, "latest boarding time" is normally 30 minutes. For the comparatively few ports where the ship moors off-shore and passengers are ferried ashore by tender, "latest tender time" is normally 60 minutes before sailing. Note - that's when you must be at the tender pier, not when you have to be aboard the ship. If there's a queue for the tenders they'll keep operating after "last tender time" to mop up the queue JB 🙂

Number of ports visited depends on .......... - how long the ship is/was in service and two factors posted by Cruisemom - the size of the ship (smaller ones can visit many more ports) - and the ship's usual itinerary So it certainly won't be a Cunarder, which are relatively young, carry 2600+ passengers, and spend much of their time crossing the Atlantic between Southampton or Hamburg and New York. Certainly MS Prinsendam is a contender - that's the one built 1988 for Royal Viking , subsequently sailed by Cunard then Seabourn until sold to HAL in 2002. Retired from HAL in2019, I believe she continues in service with Phoenix Reisen under the name Amera. So apart from re-fits she's sailed continuously for 34 years and counting. She's a little lady (certainly by today's standards) with berths for some 800 passengers. For most of her owners she's sailed Grand Voyages across most of the world. But another contender is mv Discovery - built 1972 scrapped 2015 (43 years) Built for Flagship Cruises, sold after a couple of years to P&O 's Princess line and named Island Princess. She was the twin-sister and frequent stand-in for Pacific Princess on the TV series "The Love Boat", which gave a huge boost to the fledgling cruise industry. After retirement by Princess she sailed for four small cruise lines before old age caught up with her. Maximum 698 passengers. Certainly in her later years she roamed the seas like a hobo, passengers booking for anywhere between two weeks and a year. We sailed her 3 times over about 5 years. In the corridor behind her bridge she had an impressive array of plaques given to her by ports for her first visit. If ace2542 had asked this question a few years ago I'd have counted them 😉 (I've seen smaller examples of the same display on other ships) JB 🙂