John Bull

The Marriott isn't in the city, but it's handy to a couple of sights. Fort Nelson. Up on Portsdown Hill, one of the ring of forts protecting Portsmouth. Known as "Palmerston's follies". Palmerston was Prime Minister in the mid-1800's when as usual we weren't on good terms with our neighbours on the other side of the English Channel and he spent a fortune on the forts - but by the time they were built we'd kissed & made-up with the French and none of the forts fired a gun in anger. Fort Nelson now houses an excellent Royal Armoury museum, with artillery of all ages & calibres. No entry fee but donations appreciated. https://royalarmouries.org/fort-nelson From there, 3 1/2 miles east along the top of Portsdown Hill is a popular viewpoint (PO6 3LS or The Churchillian pub will find it on Sat-nav or googlemaps). Panoramic view of the city, the Solent & the Isle of Wight. I've shown them on the map from & to the Marriott, but en-route from home would be easier. https://maps.app.goo.gl/FMd6iZsewymA1ZN77 (BTW, when you sail out you'll pass two forts built off Portsmouth in the middle off the Solent) Alternatively, not a million miles from the Marriott, Portchester Castle at the head of Portsmouth Harbour is a ruined Norman castle within Roman walls. Admission £9,50 to £11.00 depending on date.(You could go there en-route to Southampton) https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/portchester-castle/ On that map I've also shown Port Solent, just a mile from the hotel - lots of waterfront restaurants for your evening meal) https://maps.app.goo.gl/WhUSa52FTULdojuf6 Or in the city head for Clarence Esplanade, Southsea. The D-Day museum https://theddaystory.com/ and the adjacent Southsea Castle (castle is small, but entry is by donation) https://southseacastle.co.uk/ JB 🙂

Hi, Babs,, The dockyard is expensive and yes, a bit of a waste for a short day. Will you have a car ? Not thinking of any great distance but there are worthwhile places just outside the city. Oh - and especially if you don't have a car - where is your hotel in Portsmouth? JB 🙂

That takes me back a good few years to when I researched my first visit to Ypres. Couldn't find "Ypres" on googlemaps, but knew it was somewhere near "Ieper" on their map. It took me a remarkably long time to figure that in googlemap's typeface at that time "I" was both a small L and a capital "i" , and that their Ieper (which I read as Leper) is the Belgian spelling of Ypres. Life would have been easier for me if they'd done what the British tommies did and called it "Wipers". 😃 JB 🙂

If you tell us from where from, we should be able to figure which station. For LHR, near Paddington station has direct train & tube connections to LHR and is probably the closest to the sights of central London JB 🙂

Yep, Joe Public is going to have more respect for a cruise line that is firm with free-loaders than one which allows them to freely enjoy the things that the rest of us pay for. JB 🙂

Hi, Sue, We've never rented in northern France, always crossed by ferry with our own car. The station is a 20 -30 minute walk, and an "8am" time is kinda awkward cos it could mean berthing at 8am or disembarkation from 8am. But at least you have the option of going for either of two trains depending when you disembark. We'll actually be there this coming sunday, our first time there on a cruise ship, so I'll check on the availability of taxis One thing that I've learned - it's impossible to rent a car there on a sunday 🙁. .So it'll probably be https://www.citedelamer.com/en/ for us, but no worries - it's right alongside the cruise berths, we've not been in there and we've heard great reports about the place. I'll get back to you when we return in a week or so. JB 🙂

Yes, Kings + was known for ladies of the night. But indeed it has changed, over the past decade or longer. Good point about travel. Where from, Diane, and where to ? JB 🙂

It's in South Kensington, on the western edge of what I deem to be central London - all the sights are to the east. But a decent area and has two big pluses..... It's in the museums quarter. A 10 minute walk to the Natural History Museum, behind that is the Science Museum and opposite it is the Victoria & Albert Museum. I'm 99% sure that all are free entry. Beyond (15 min walk from your hotel) is the Royal Albert Hall which faces the Albert Memorial in Kensington Gardens. (Prince Albert was Queen Vic's husband). Other sights are perhaps beyond walking distance (eg the nearest Hyde Park 25 minutes & Buckingham Palace 45 mins.) although Londoners might jump in with other suggestions in waking distance. But the other big plus is that it's a two-minute walk (one minute if the hotel has a back door) to Gloucester Road Tube station which serves three tube lines. You can get from one corner of central London to the opposite corner in about ten minutes on London's extensive Tube system. A 25 minute walk or local bus to the nearest stop for the "tourist" route of the ho-ho buses, which I'll hazard a guess is at Hyde Park Corner. One or more ho-ho operators may have a suitable "hotel feeder" route. London's ho-ho's give you a great overview and help your orientation. But because they run on a one-way contorted route they're too slow & long-winded for moving between inside visits. For that you need the Tube - the disadvantages of no view and easy dis-orientation, but the massive advantage of being quick. So don't waste your money on 48-hour ho-ho tickets - get 24-hour tickets & do a complete tourist circuit (and mebbe an included river cruise) on your first day, then get around the sights by tube. All tourist maps have a tube map, tourist sights give the names of their nearest tube stations, use the tube map only for your time underground. Daunting the first time, but you'll quickly get the hang of it. A number of restaurants just round the corner in Gloucester Road Detail about the sights, the Tube, the ho-hos etc at https://www.londontoolkit.com/ Your hotel is here https://maps.app.goo.gl/AgPuUddY7s8qwUum7 JB 🙂

Nowhere in central London is inexpensive, but some areas are less expensive than others. Safe and tolerably convenient areas include Paddington, Earl's Court and around King's Cross station, Just make sure it's a hotel handy to a tube (London's extensive metro system) station. Even further out can be OK if near a tube station. Tube trains are frequent & fast Find a few that seem to suit, we can then comment on their locations JB 🙂

The description of the Ypres trip is a pretty vague summary By coach it's about 1hr 15 e/w, so you'll have about 4 1/2 hrs in the area. Tyne Cot is pretty sobering, but will cost you no more than an hour. Ypres is a pleasant little town, plenty of watering holes, I'm sure you'll have free time there. Do be sure to visit the Menim Gate, where buglers have sounded Last Post every evening for almost 100 years (barring WW2 occupation years). "In Flanders Fields" is a museum in the meticulously re-built Cloth Hall - just a stump of that magnificent building had remained by the end of the war. Your tour bus will probably park close to it and the adjacent cathedral (also re-built to the original plans). Near Ypres are a number of remaining trenches, and half-a-dozen very interesting privately-run museums of WW1 artefacts - but the only one in the town is that govt-funded "In Flanders Fields" museum, and altho the building is magnificent we found the museum itself under-whelming. Like other modernist museums that we've seen in the world, there are few artefacts with lots of space between them. Mebbe I don't have an artistic mind but I prefer a lot more to see. The inspiration for the museum name is a poem by a Canadian soldier about the carnage on the Western Front https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Flanders_Fields BTW, unexploded WW1 shells which continue to appear in large numbers during ploughing seasons are known as "The Iron Harvest" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_harvest Sorry, can't help with the other trip JB 🙂

I think the reason why there are no excursions is because Portofino is for Portofino - if you get my drift. It's a little remote, nowhere nearby that's particularly interesting - people go to Portofino, not from Portofino. Portofino is a small harbour for soaking up the atmosphere and chilling-out - if not too crowded which sadly it often is. But a ten minute walk will give you some great views. Try a walk up to Castello Brown - the place is frequently closed for private functions, but worth the walk just for the views. JB 🙂

Southampton? Dover? Heathrow? central London? JB 🙂

It's a one-mile (20 minute) walk. Or a quick taxi hop, no more than about £6 - £7 https://maps.app.goo.gl/5DvdBxMApKfA8A1UA Turn right outside the terminal, walk past City cruise terminal & continue along the waterfront past the car-ferry entrance & turn right onto the Town Quay (ignore the T1 entrance on the corner, that's for foot passengers on the Red Funnel car ferry). The Red Jet passenger ferry terminal is about halfway along the Town Quay on the left Not sure what you mean by "how long to allocate for each trip" ? JB 🙂

We had no problems buying on the day, but that was a long time ago. But word is that on busy days the line for tickets can be long & slow, so you just might want to buy in advance. Price is £30 whether you buy on the day, or in advance on the official Royal Collection website, or with your tour tickets. Timing isn't significant unless you want to pay extra (£20?) to climb the tower - and you're unlikely to have time to do that. JB 🙂

Hmmmm, IMHO that's perhaps over-egging it a little. Cruise passengers on ships' tours are tendered to Athinios (it has a road leading down to it), whereas independents are tendered to Fira Old Port (that's the one with the cable-car, donkey path and ferries without timetables to Oia). In our experience the tenders to the two different places operate at the same time, so hold-ups caused by ships' tours are minimal - much better than at most other ports. Yes, locals (or more-accurately those vacationing on the island) use the cablecar - but they're going down for boat trips & back up at the end of the day. So they have little impact on the cable-car lines except around noon - early pm. And those arriving (or leaving) by ferry land (or depart) at Athinios - the same place as ships' tour tenders. So they have no affect whatsoever on the cable-car etc at Fira Old Port. Not saying Santorini doesn't have a big problem with too many cruisers and inadequate transportation from & back to Fira Old Port tenders. But the factors that you've mentioned have little or no impact Yes, hats and plenty to drink JB 🙂

Aurora is a favourite ship of ours. A proper cruise ship shape with tiered stern ideal for sailaways and just the right size - about 2000 pax, two large outside pools (one with retractable roof for cold / wet weather), cosy stern pool & bar. British , and overwhelmingly British passengers. But don't worry, their language is quite similar to yours although occasionally a regional accents is difficult even for us Brits 😃 Even in the MDR offerings includes pub favourites like fish & chips, steak pie, hot-pots and curries, but international dishes too. British bacon is properly cooked back-bacon - not incinerated streaky stuff. You probably won't like it. Crew are mainly Indian, polite & reserved which may incorrectly come over as unfriendly if you're used to "in-your-face" Like most other Brit cruise lines, drinks prices are lower than on US or It ships and no drinks or daily service charges I think Aurora is now adults-only --------------------- I don't know MSC Euribia but we've sailed 3 MSC ships. MSC has the youngest fleet in the business, stylish and immaculate - you'll be impressed. Language won't be a big problem with the crew, but sailing from Copenhagen pax will be a mix of nationalities so occasionally stilted conversations. If you prefer dinner on shared tables, ask to share with English-speakers. Unsurprisingly pasta figures strongly on menus, but there's always a reasonable choice. I'm not keen on pasta but never had a problem. Dinners do tend to be a long drawn-out affair - not poor service just the Italian way. If you insist on an American cruise experience you might be disappointed, but if you go with the flow you'll be fine. Note @CCJack's comment. If it concerns you, dig deeper. ........................................ I get the impression that you know your way round Celebrity better than I, and we've not sailed Apex. ................................... Something I'm not au-fait with, but might be important and worth researching (or getting answers from CC members who know their stuff). Norway is clamping down on cruise ships which harm the environment. (Size of ship apparently isn't relevant). Those which don't comply with their emission standards will be excluded from 3 major fjords. But I don't know what those standards are - I don't know when this comes into effect - I'm not even sure which three fjords are affected or which ports are in those fjords. Sailed the Norwegian fjords just once. Loved it 🙂 Norway is expensive, but apart form the easier travel & loooooong coastline views cruising has the financial advantage that all or most of your bed & board & drinks will be at ship's prices. JB 🙂

When I saw your heading I presumed Naples or Salerno - by land and sea is what I'd look for 🙂. But the coast around Civitavecchia & Fiumicino is pretty uninteresting altho I don't know what historical remains can be seen near the mouth of the Tiber at Rome's original port of Ostia - or even whether that can be reached by boat. What do NCL have to say about that trip ? BTW I agree with others that say Rome is easy - and much more fun & flexible to explore independently. But altho I'm generally a fan of ho-ho's for getting an over-view, don't bother with Rome's ho-ho. They have a route severely restricted because of road regulations so you'll see little more than the Colosseum and St Peter's. Oh - and Termini rail station, where they'll sit for mebbe 15 minutes waiting for more passengers 🙄 JB 🙂

I don't know about other Greek sites, but the Acropolis has for many years quite frequently closed in the afternoons due to the heat. Regardless of closure I and others have always suggested making the Acropolis the first place to go to avoid the afternoon heat - and crowds. Same at other places in the world - Ephesus, Pompeii (but not Herculaneum), and walking the walls in Dubrovnik spring to mind. All of them have no (or virtually no) shade. JB 🙂

Thanks for that, and for the link. Sounds fraught ..... - offered two jobs, both for more pax & luggage than my car can handle, sent to the back of the line? - offered two jobs, one to Wales & the other to Cornwall, both too far for me, sent to the back of the line? - do the drivers name their price, or does Uber dictate prices? - can the scheme handle 50 jobs in a minute? (that's just 12 per terminal) - can a driver circumvent the line by sitting in a hotel carpark or wherever, or does the app. only work in the allocated area? Glad I wasn't asked to organise this - and everyone else will be glad about that too 🤣 JB 🙂

Are we singing from the same song-sheet, my feathered friend? I was referring to waiting for on-spec trade from the airport terminals. Didn't know there was a dedicated area for them within the airport - is that for on-spec trade, or only for those who already have a booking? JB 🙂

Yes, I think it's coincidence that those fares are identical, and either avoiding wasted Stonehenge entry fee for those who are only interested in Salisbury and/or Windsor, or mebbe didn't want folk being put off by a headline fare of.£136 (an American ploy that I'm sure you're well-aware of 😏). The difference from the operator's point of view is lower mileage and shorter total hours. But 90 mins or 120 mins at Stonehenge is no big deal, 90mins is to get the whole trip done in a busy day. If you take the one which includes Windsor, at Stonehenge you can stay on the coach or - I think - have access to the Visitor Centre or at least the cafeteria. But you can't see the Stones from there, that needs a short land-train trip included in the admission. If you want to enter Stonehenge it's important to buy your admission tickets with your coach excursion tickets. Numbers in the site are capped - you won't be able to buy tickets at the gate for immediate admission if the cap has been reached, & that could royally screw-up your day. Those who pre-book independently (eg by car) have to quote an entry window of 30 minutes - if they're late they're in the same boat as those who plan to buy at the gate But tickets issued by coach operators are admission at any time. But don't buy Windsor Castle tickets. You can choose to buy at the gate or instead DIY wandering around this interesting town. And if there's a delay in arriving at Windsor the time lost is knocked off the free time in Windsor - which may mean that paying to go into the castle might be a lot less worth-while. Yes, that option is a bit rushed, but IMHO it's worthwhile & better value. But if you're prepared to lose a day in London there are direct train from London Waterloo to Windsor - inexpensive, frequent, about an hour each-way ----------------------------------------------- London's black cabs are expensive. The convenience & time saved in hailing one in the street or from a rank is worth the difference for a short hop of a mile or three. For a longer trip phoning for a "private hire" taxi like Uber would be a lot cheaper. But in London, for longer distances the tube (London's extensive metro system) is probably both quicker and cheaper altho no fun with luggage. JB 🙂

Use the drive to the castle to decide if you'd be happy to walk back. If not, fix with the driver for him or a colleague to collect you at an agreed time & place. JB 🙂

The only places en-route from the station to the cruise port where you might get a very limited selection and not-the-best prices are a couple of gas stations. Nearest supermarket (ASDA) where you'd get a decent selection and keen prices adds 10 minutes to the drive plus waiting time - which would negate the savings. Best to buy while you're in London JB 🙂.

No direct bus service. A fair walk to the main road, bus to town centre (Pencester Road) and another from there to near the castle. Then a steep uphill walk to the castle entrance. A taxi makes a great deal of sense JB 🙂

Heathrow, and possibly other airports, are a special case with Uber. They park as close as legally-possible to the airport, and the first to respond can take as little as 10 mins. That kinda makes a mockery out of their "Private Hire" licence being limited to booked trips whereas taxis on the rank at LHR must hold a Hackney Carriage licence. Bear in mind that Uber drivers will not respond if they don't want that long trip, so it's crossed-fingers that one agrees within a reasonable time. JB 🙂