ssawjo

1 hour ago, nini said:

 

As stated, these incidents were in Honfleur and Bayeux, not Normandy. This was our first ever visit to anywhere in France.

This was our experience and not YOURS! And you stated it was due to other people's comments. Not so. We had a complete open mind.

I guess you consider yourself omnipotent and can be a part of my experiences.

Honfleur and Bayeux are in Normandy.  Normandy is more than the beaches.  I don't consider myself "omnipotent", but you are the one who started the complaining about French rudeness and so on.  So, get off your high horse and deal with it.  Have a nice day!

1 hour ago, nini said:

Will you also invalidate my comment about loving the Regal?

No, why should I do that?

2 hours ago, gumshoe958 said:

They’re a big national chain, nothing wrong with them but definitely not the authentic British pub the OP desires.

Thanks, did not know that.  We'll go anyway!

I was looking at O'Neill's Pub (Irish Pub & Bar in Southampton | O'Neill's Southampton (oneills.co.uk).  Mainly because my last name is O'Neill.  Not far from the Premium West Quay, a short ten-minute walk, according to google maps.  I hope they sell t-shirts.  But this is in no way a recommendation because I have never been there.

23 hours ago, georgemoe said:

 

We are on the same sailing in August. We are not doing the bus to Paris or Normandy. We will most likely grab a Nomad car at the port and spend time in HonFleur. That's if we even get off the ship. We are hoping to do a Paris based river cruise in 2026 so we'll save a Normandy excursion for then.

I think your plan is a good one.  We did a river cruise to Normandy from Paris and loved it.  Honfleur is lovely and a great place for lunch and a bit of sightseeing.  

What is a Nomad car?  Is that like a taxi?  Interested because we will be stopping in LeHarve and have been there several times but would like to go back to Honfluer.  

Bill

22 hours ago, nini said:

 

We also toured with Overlord Tours in May 2022 and they were fantastic! However, the contempt for Americans was quite intense in Honfleur and Bayeux. We were quite taken aback, but encourage people to go with Overlord Tours.

That is very hard to believe.  In Paris, sure.  In Normandy, they fly the American flag along with their national flag.  I have a feeling you just didn't like France, or her people based on other comments.

After leaving Customs/Immigration in Terminal 3 (American Airlines), it appears that it will not take long to go through passport control but quite a bit of time to retrieve luggage.  Question:  After retrieving our luggage, how long is the walk to the National Express Bus and is there proper signage to the Bus Centre?  

Asking because our flight arrives at 1230 hours, and I am planning on taking the National Express Bus to Southampton.  The best time right now for bus departure would be 1345 hours.  Is this reasonable?

Thanks for your assistance.

Bill

56 minutes ago, TLCOhio said:

 

Hi, Bill!!  Did send earlier and then resent yesterday an email follow-up.  Maybe it went into your spam folder??  Might re-check if it went there by mistake.  Since the first part of my email is TLCOhio, that could have happened.  Look forward to seeing the details for your itinerary and connecting to learn more.  

 

 

Casey, try again.  It is ssawjo at cox dot net.  It should work. 

5 minutes ago, Lady Arwen said:

And, Canadian Juno beach Normandy, flanked on either side by the two British beaches.  Everyone seems to focus on just the American beaches, unless of course, you’re Canadian or European.

Agree with you.  While on a Seine River cruise we decided to visit the British/Canadian beaches since we had previously visited Omaha and Utah beaches.  We were the only Americans on the tour and are presence was surprising and appreciated by the mostly Canadians on the excursion.  The Canadian beach had an excellent visitor center and was a great visit.  Highly recommend a visit.  The British beaches, Sword and Gold, were not as developed for tourists but was an excellent visit.

13 hours ago, azbirdmom said:

So true!  We did Normandy with Overlord tours yesterday and it was fantastic. Felt safe everywhere and it was a wonderful mix of D-day historic sites and then visits to the charming towns of Honfleur and Bayeux. 

Stayed at the Lion d'Or Hotel in Bayeux.  Very quaint.  That is where Eisenhoward stayed.  Honfleur is also very nice but don't go on weekends, very crowded. I think very American should visit the D-day beaches in order to appreciate our soldiers' sacrifice and bravery and what America is all about.

TLCOhio (Casey),

I have been busy but would like to forward to you what our itinerary was for India.  My email is ssawjo at cox dot net.  Just email me with your email and I will get it to you asap.

BTW, it is NOT recommended to ride the elephants in Jaipur.  It is alleged that they are badly mistreated by their handlers (they are called something else but no matter).  When I was there, they did not look very happy.  

Bill

On 7/4/2023 at 5:54 AM, jhenry1 said:

Ssawjo what hotel did you stay in? We are in the Barbados Hilton. Wondering how far from the Hilton to Champers?

 

I don't know the distance from the Hilton to Champs.  We stayed south of Champs at a hotel, whose name I can't recall, that was about three blocks away.  You can always take a taxi if you wish.

10 hours ago, JRIH said:

You said it here.  EVisas are single entry.  You have to buy a new one every time you enter.  You can get a multiple entry visa from the Cambodian Embassy.  But you have to mail in your passport for that one.  Not worth the chance IMO.

Thanks for your response.  You confirmed my suspisions about the visas.  I guess I will wait and get a visa at the Siem Reap airport.  And, I totally agree, I will not send our passports to the Cambodian Embassy.  Not worth the risk.

54 minutes ago, KarmaCruisers said:

So, with this trip, is was literally a bus ride around Paris with a 1-hour stop at the Eiffel Tower.

We got to see the Arc De Triomphe, The Louvre, Notre Dame, and drove down Champs Elysse.

if I had it to do over again I’d of just went on my own (riding the train from Le Havre) to save money and reserve tickets to go up to the top of the Eiffel Tower…but I know another poster on here did that and he said his wife was attempted-mugged on the metro train (you’d have to take metro from the main train station, to get around the actual city of Paris)

Its odd because in NO OTHER ports did they warn us of pickpockets or did we even FEEL unsafe..and also; in all the other ports it felt like, as tourists, we were WANTED there.

Also (probably not a big surprise) but NO signage in France is in English AT ALL, so if you don’t understand French or are handy with Google Translate; you may be up a creek.

Other parts of France are not like that.  The towns in Normandy still like Americans.  Even other French hate Parisians.  You've been there, no reason to return to Paris.  

20 minutes ago, HaveDogWillTravel said:

Good Spirits menu

 

 

Do they still give you a Good Spirits t-shirt if you have a certain number of different drinks?

1 hour ago, jhenry1 said:

Thank you Port Royal for the suggestions. I believe we will choose Champers

Good choice.  We were there pre-pandemic and it was very nice.  Good food and service.  Make sure you get reservations.

We will be calling at the Port of Sihanoukville, Cambodia for one day and a visa is required.  Oceania is offering to obtain the visa for us for $89/pp.  This is a lot more than being able to get one from the Government of Cambodia.  Online, a single entry eVisa T is $36/pp and is good for 30 days.  There is also an eVisa E for $42 and I cannot see any difference between the two.  Would it be a good idea to get the eVisa beforehand and forgo Oceania's offer?

Another question:  We will be debarking in Bangkok a few days after visiting Sihanoukville and will be flying to Siem Reap, Cambodia, for a few days.  It looks like I will have to purchase new eVisas either online or at the airport.  Can the original eVisas we purchased be used for arriving at Siem Reap?  It will all be within the 30-day limit.  

Thank you for your responses and suggestions.

Bill

It would be nice if tips were added to the SimplyMore thingee. 

23 hours ago, golfguyhhi said:

Does anyone think the per capital alcohol consumption is markedly higher on Regent?  Does anyone think that non-drinkers are skipping Regent in significant numbers because alcohol is included in the fare?

Question:  Does the Wind Surf dock IN Venice at MARITTIMA / CRUISE TERMINAL VENEZIA?  Asking because I booked, under the latest promotion, a cruise from Venice to Athens.

Thanks, Bill

16 hours ago, lfplenore said:

I checked with the Vietnam Embassy regarding the e-visa. Be sure that your first port of call in Vietnam is on the list of approved entry ports. Our first stop is Phu My, which is NOT. The port of HCMC is not the same as Phu My, though NCL calls it HCMC.  For my cruise, I cannot do the e-visa😥.

So, if I read you correctly, if our first port of call in VN is Chang May (Hue), Nha Trang, and then HCMC (Saigon) (Oceania does not have Phu My on their itinerary), I will be eligible for an e-visa.  Or am I way off base?  I will check with embassy website to make sure we are eligible.

Thank you for dealing with this issue, which seems more complicated than it should be.

Bill

Terry, IMO, best to scrub the visit early so that you can make alternate plans.  Hard to do in the middle of the ocean.  

BTW, I found our itinerary for our India trip.  

India HK Cairo Tour.pdf

Fabulous time.  This was our whole trip that year.  Technically we went around the world.

Any questions, my email is ssawjo at cox dot net.

Terry, as I may have previously mentioned, we are booked on the Oceania Riviera and we are supposed to stop in Myanmar in January 2024.  Nothing has changed with Oceania yet.  However, we did plan to go to Yangon overnight to avoid the bad roads, etc.  But I do believe that it will eventually be cancelled.  

Bill

I am on the same cruise.  I don't have any tour suggestions.  We are just going to wing it, so to speak.  We are not planning to visit Blarney Castle.  

I also suggest you post your inquiry on the cruise's roll call:

Sept September 5, 2023 British Isles - Page 12 - Regal Princess Roll Calls - Cruise Critic Community

Welcome to Cruise Critic, BTW.

This is a great itinerary, TLCOhio.  We will be doing almost the exact same itinerary on the Oceania Riviera in January 2024 from Mumbai.  We already had the pleasure of visiting India for two weeks in April 2018.  Amazing place but the food, to me anyway, let something to be desired.  DW loved the food, however. 

I do not know what will happen with Myanmar.  Oceania's 2023 cruises have cancelled the port stop there due to the political instability of the country.  SS may have different plans.  Oceania has not cancelled our 3-day port stop for 2024 yet, but I expect that will happen.  

BTW, I like your map!

Bill

3 minutes ago, rafinmd said:

Actually, it was yesterday.  Still, please drink responsibly.

 

Rpy

I guess I didn't drink responsibly LOL.