irvingwml

On our first trip to La Havre we went on an Overlord Tour that included the American Cemetery, Omaha Beach, Bayeux and Honfleur. We will be there again next year and plan to walk around town especially to see the impressionist art museum and eat at Cafe Paul. Lots to see and do. https://www.avidcruiser.com/port-profiles/europe/mediterranean/france/le-havre/

https://traveltips.usatoday.com/stuff-le-havre-france-59659.html

https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2017/may/14/le-havre-concrete-modern-architecture-500th-city-anniversary

We are taking the same Overlord Tour this September. What did you think of the tour? How large was the group? How much time did you get in Honfleur?

Thanks for your reply. I won’t change my reservation!

We have reservations at the Doubletree Hilton Centraal Station in Amsterdam for a few days pre-cruise in August. I noticed the amount of Hilton points required for a reservation has decreased lately and was wondering if it was because of all the construction in the area. Has anybody stayed at the hotel recently and if so, can you tell me if it is difficult to get around there? Are we better off choosing a different hotel? We chose this one because I heard it was an ideal location, but now I am wondering if construction could be a problem. Thanks!

Thanks everyone for your input!

 

@irvingwml, please post here when you get back from your vacation about your experience with McCombs Coach tours. That might be the golden ticket!!! Have a wonderful trip!!

McCombs ship excursion that goes to the Titanic Museum and Giant Causeway was a perfect combination. The way they can get both of these places in during one day is by skipping some of the Antrim Coast. I loved the Titanic Museum. It is really well done. The Giant Causeway was interesting to see, but there were soooo many people there, that it detracted from the beauty. The tour guide was very interesting and provided a nice history of Belfast on the way back.

Best wishes for quick and complete recovery.

 

Were you treated onshore first with Princess medical after care or was the medical center able to xray, diagnosis and treat your ankle?

Did the Princess doctor set your bones and put you in a temporary cast? Just wondering if they do that on the ship.

The doctor did not set my bones. I need plates and screws! He gave me an air cast which I will use again after six weeks in a fiberglass cast.

Best wishes for quick and complete recovery.

 

Were you treated onshore first with Princess medical after care or was the medical center able to xray, diagnosis and treat your ankle?

The tour guide drove me directly to the ship and Princess took it from there. The medical center was closed and within 2 minutes they opened, I saw 2 nurses who x-rayed both feet, and then the doctor gave me the unfortunate news. They were nothing but professional and kind!

Thanks to all of you for your good wishes. I will let you know how insurance payment goes.

if you have Princess ins maybe you could let us know how that goes.

 

Good luck with your surgery.

We did not have Princess insurance, but rather Allianz insurance. I will let you know how that goes. Had to go home upper class on Virgin Atlantic because my foot had to be elevated. Medical center charged around $930. Also had about $500 in missed tours through private companies.

That wonderful.

Thanks for relating the great treatment you had from the Princess medical center.

 

Were you able to stay on for the entire cruise?

We stayed until the end as it was easier to fly home non-stop from London to Miami. We were unable to do anything off the ship, but the treatment on the ship was so great, I wish we didn't have to get off. Now that I am home, I am looking forward to surgery on Wednesday and maybe next year repeat the cruise!

Just want to let everyone know what great treatment I received while on the Caribbean Princess last week. We had a wonderful time the first 9 days of the 12 night British Isle cruise. While on a private tour, NOT through Princess, we were going to the Falls of Shin while in the port of Invergordon. I fell going down to the waterfall and broke a couple bones around my ankle. They got me back to the ship and saw the ship's Doctor. They were wonderful at the medical center. Everyone on the ship was wonderful. Princess sent me flowers and a get well card. They arranged for a private transfer to get back to Heathrow since I couldn't get on the coach. They went above and beyond! Cannot say enough about how kind everyone was!:):)

Thanks everyone for your input!

 

@irvingwml, please post here when you get back from your vacation about your experience with McCombs Coach tours. That might be the golden ticket!!! Have a wonderful trip!!

Thanks! We leave on Wednesday and get on the Caribbean Princess on Friday! Very excited for this intensive port itinerary! Won't get much rest, but will see so much!

We found a tour that includes both the Titanic Museum and the Giant Causeway. It is through McCombs Coach tours. We will be going in 2 weeks so I don't know yet how good it is, but I am hoping it will be great!

Hi again. Just found out that to disembark at Le Havre, you have to leave the ship in the morning. I had hoped to take the Normandy excursion and disembark after that but not allowed. Want to spend a day at Normandy. Could we check our bags at a hotel in Le Havre and find a trip to Normandy for the day, staying back in Le Havre that night? Or should we head to Paris and take a trip to Normandy from there the next day?

Thanks!

We are on the Caribbean Princess this August. We are disembarking in Le Havre with our bags in the morning, taking a tour to Normandy with Overlord Tours that takes us back to Le Havre around 6 PM. They will be holding our luggage on the coach all day. We then will take a train in early evening from Le Havre to Paris. At least that is our plan...hope it all works out well!

Ordinarily, I'd say to just book ahead using any cab company you can find on the internet. However, we were recently at Guernsey on Emerald Princess and the tendering process was so slow and chaotic (a mixture of fog and bad planning) that many passengers, including us, did not even manage to get off the ship and many of those that did were severely delayed. I think the best way to insure against this would be to bite the bullet and book a ship's tour rather than go DIY. At least that way you will get priority on the tenders. Just a thought :)

We will be on the Caribbean Princess and the ship's tour is on a wait list. I sure hope we make it over to see these sites. Thanks, everyone, for your help. I will try to pre book the taxi!

Does anybody know how difficult it is to get a cab in Guernsey? We have a short time there since it is a tender port and we want to go to the German Occupation Museum and the Underground Hospital. Do you have to reserve your cab in advance?

If both parties have iPhones FaceTime audio and video work perfectly over wifi. Turn on airplane mode to avoid cell phone charges. Purchase internet minutes and only log on when you want to talk. Remember to log off when you are done. The smallest package is 100 minutes + 10 extra if you sign up on day 1 for $69. If you are platinum or above you get 150 free minutes.

 

We have VZN and did look into the $40 package which seemed more economical but I am grandfathered on an old plan and could not get it with my phone plan.

If you and your husband are both platinum, do you each get 150 minutes free for a total of 300 minutes?

Thanks so much for your help!

When you are in Greenock, the temptation will be to go as far as Glasgow, but even as someone born in glasgow, I have to admit, there is more to see in Edinburgh.

 

However to get there from Greenock, you will have to catch a train from Greenock to Glasgow Central, walk about 8 minutes to Glasgow Queen Street and catch the Edinburgh train.

 

This will take approximately 2.5 hours each way, not including getting to the station in Greenock.

 

See http://www.trainline.com for times and ticket prices.

Scottie99, I saw a train from Greenock Central to Edinburgh Waverly that has one stop. Is that the correct one to get me close to the sites?

When you are in Greenock, the temptation will be to go as far as Glasgow, but even as someone born in glasgow, I have to admit, there is more to see in Edinburgh.

 

However to get there from Greenock, you will have to catch a train from Greenock to Glasgow Central, walk about 8 minutes to Glasgow Queen Street and catch the Edinburgh train.

 

This will take approximately 2.5 hours each way, not including getting to the station in Greenock.

 

See http://www.trainline.com for times and ticket prices.

Thank you so much for your reply. The older I get, the harder it is to make a decision! LOL.

First of all you are about 9 miles out of Edinburgh at Queensferry so transport isn't easy anyway.

 

As Scottie said, you can go by train:

 

Ship tender to shore - 15 minutes; Pier to Dalmeny station - 15 minutes; Dalmeny train departs 9.30, arrives Leuchars 10.34; leave Leuchars by bus 10:47, arrive St Andrews 10.58.

 

There is a bus which goes from nearby directly to St Andrews but unfortunately not early enough on a Sunday to get to St Andrews in time for your round.

 

Honestly the only way to get to St Andrews from Queensferry and back will be to arrange a car. I would probably try to pre-book and maybe negotiate on price. I also think you will have to decide whether the ladies go to St Andrews or Edinburgh because there really won't be enough time to do both. You could always have a lovely lunch, a bit of shopping and a wander round town if you decide don St Andrews.

 

See you on the ship. I'm doing a presentation on the evening of 28th and running a hospitality desk on the morning of 29th.

We will be on the Caribbean Princess in August. My husband wants to go to St. Andrews to see the golf course. I want to spend as much time in Edinburgh as possible. Right now we have an afternoon ship tour booked to St. Andrews while we are in South Queensferry. I was thinking that maybe we should take the train or a bus to Edinburgh while we are in Greenock a few days earlier. This would give us extra time in Edinburgh especially since the ship doesn't leave port until 2 AM. With so much to see and so little time in Scotland, it is hard to know how to best use one's time. We are doing a tour of the northern highlands from Invergordon that takes us to Dunrobin Castle, among other places. Are there any special "don't miss" sites we are giving up by going to Edinburgh from Greenock? If so, what do you suggest? If not, what is the best way to get to Edinburgh from Greenock, considering we have all day and night there? Thanks for any suggestions!

So, being a woman of a certain age/stage of life where I often find myself awake at night (visited not by the "bluebird of happiness" but rather the "vulture of insomnia")........I find myself mulling over various life issues both big and small while I "sweat it out".

 

I could and should get up and do something productive like work on daughters upcoming wedding plans, or at least sort through my only/lonely sock drawer in hopes of doing some match-making, but instead I find myself perusing cruise critic, partly because I've been a lurker/reader for many years before joining and enjoy it, and partly in anticipation of our Crown to Alaska cruise in 11 days (yes I am indeed counting). So back to my odd question/thought:

 

Having been born into a long line of worriers going back many generations (and being rather good at it if I do say so myself), I've accepted that certain things, like sushi and skydiving, and frankly circus clowns, will always create anxiety for me. Anywho, when we cruise, DH and I like sitting in the piazza having a drink and enjoying the entertainment, and also people watching. A recurring question that often comes up is "how is it that given the circular design of the stairwells, with traffic going both ways by folks often carrying a drink (or three) on slick marble.......we've (thankfully) never seen, nor experienced, nor heard of anyone having what could be a pretty disastrous fall?"

 

We've witnessed minor accidents just about on every cruise we've taken, but (again thankfully) never of that nature. DH and I both agree that there must be some engineering/design intelligence in the build that works in favor of PAX safety but can't quite see it ourselves.......thoughts??

You are a wonderful writer!

Any suggestions for a hotel in that area?