T-2

I really enjoyed those renderings, they're amazing. Not to print out and carry around, but being able to envision the layout is really pretty cool. I have a new appreciation for the genius it takes in setting up a station, just blows the mind. I spent some time enjoying some of the interchanges we will use the most over the 8 days we will be there. I know there have been some changes, doesn't matter, they're great to see for someone who struggles with a sense of direction. I know google maps is not going to be of any help below the surface 😄 but I believe I now remember that even stairwells had a signage lists on them indicating the platform belows destinations, and a good flashback image of stairs, sometimes a lot of stairs. It's going to be awesome. And if we get turned around at times, sometimes we've had our best accidental discoveries that way. Thanks Always for all the help you give!

You guessed right, we have bought tickets but didn't know the other would have been the better destination. I have already paid for them but had based the choice on reading that the Windsor & Eton Riverside should be avoided because it was then a steep hill up to Windsor Castle. At least this will help someone else avoid my mistake, I would have much rathered the direct train.

markeb- I want to say thank you on two counts- One that you explained it so well that it makes perfect sense to me and Two, that you were able to understand the question I struggled to even present in the first place - I was wishing they had 3D renderings of the stations and now I can envision it just fine- cannot thank you enough- I feel like we'll be fine and not just losing time wandering.

We were last in London some 20 years ago and my memory is failing me on reading these underground Tube maps, I'm hoping you won't mind adding a bit of info. When you look at a map it will sometimes shows a location like Waterloo with a white circle on Bakerloo, , then another white circle next to it might be for Jubilee, then the next 2 white circles might be for Northern or Waterloo & City, are these stations stacked on top of each other or are they connected by corridors without having to go out to street level? Trying to guess how you approximate how much time it might take going from one line to another. I hope that makes sense what I am trying to understand. Second part to the question please- does the tube station ever connect when there is a train station with the same name or do you need to know to go up to the surface to transfer to the train line- like to get from Waterloo to Windsor we change for the Elizabeth Line at Tottenham Court Rd, do we go above ground to do that? Maybe this will all seem more obvious once I am there 😄

We did the group lesson for our grandson and for him it worked out perfect. It seemed that kids who were good with a skateboard could pretty much self teach, he was pretty good on the boogie board tricks (criss cross with the sit spin both directions) BUT he did not ever skateboard and at 6' lanky he was not well suited to self learn. There were 8 in his class, the success rate was impressive, all 8 were able to do the standup part because as mentioned, in the class you get to hold only a rope plus he wasn't a big heavy guy, he's maybe 135 pounds, so the staff was able to stand out in the water next to him with an arm out just to let him get that first balance, after that he didn't need that, and the 2nd time up he was able to let go of the rope and just stay up about 90 seconds. So for a first timer I think its the step to getting there. Everyone gets 2 equal turns. Ours was on the last sea day and he still had to learn the self load onto the board, he was about 50/50 on that, but since it has been a while we are doing it on our upcoming cruise. We were so impressed with the teaching staff, they were able to get everyone up and surfing, but the skill does take practice and we do not have one where we live. The smiles on him were worth every penny for us. But there are a lot of kids who master it without the class. We have not run into their adding any extra classes, the flowrider is one of the busiest attractions on the ship. Hope this helps for anyone wondering.

We did the Everglades excursion at the end of our Icon voyage so the luggage traveled with us. In retrospect I wish I had looked to see if the bags could have been sent on ahead to the airport, we had a 5:15 flight out of Ft. Lauderdale and if you fly Alaska Airlines they do not open the counters until 3:30, we were dropped off at the airport just a bit past 1pm and it was a LONG time standing in that line. I wish I had thought to see if they offered the luggage service to Ft. Lauderdale and hopefully someone else did use it and will post. I know they had it for the Miami airport, just not sure on Ft. Lauderdale but it might have also been an option since it's fairly close. We filled an entire bus for the excursion and it took 2 more buses for all the passengers who opted to take it and be dropped off at the Miami airport.

Maybe someone would be willing to ask their room steward if its labeled when they change the sheets. I have tried several mattresses as my back suffers from a compressed disk, to avoid surgery I do physical therapy before getting into bed and on getting out of it. Not once during our week on the Icon did I need to do that, first day home, back to P.T. Wish I'd realized the magic of that mattress while I was onboard. I just thought after 2 years, it was finally improving- it was the mattress. You weren't imagining things.

We recieved our email link to the pictures on the same day we disembarked off the Odyssey on the 30th, hopefully yours are waiting for you.

I must have over read the steps, thanks for clarifying. I thought since they had to confirm his age from either his passport or birth certificate (with the parent being with him), that I had to go to one of their special TfL stations and that after they verified his age, then any staff at the station could take his Oyster card and set it for the Young Visitor Discount. I don't know what we travelers would do without kind people like you and JB!

JB's directions on buying the train tickets were amazing, it did take just a little time but everything was absolutely straight forward, no problems using my U.S. address or c.c., and I can pick up the tickets at the station, they give you a confirmation number. This advice was so worth while, as he said, same day tickets can run about £35 each way. I am at 2 months advance and I was able to buy Four tickets outbound for a total of about £47 for the 3 adults and 1 tween (11-15 yr olds are half price of adult fare). Added with the return and taxes it was only £120 for Four round trip tickets vs potentially £245 had I bought them on the day of. In dollars that's about $152 vs $315. Don't let booking train travel intimidate you, his help is unbelieveable! Thank You JB & Cotswald Eagle!!!

That's also a great idea for anyone who could use google/apply pay. For us the Young Visitor Discount on his Oyster card is perfect, and lets him have his own card since none of us link our phones to banking.

Piccadilly Circus has a very convenient TfL only a few stops away on the Bakerloo line- Perfect!

I hoped to include John Bulls message about taking the train to Bath but I will have to settle for just a Huge Thank You for your help to my question above in post 211. I can't wait to give the ticket purchases a try tomorrow, it's late in my time zone, but fingers crossed, with all that helpful info- I am anxious to give it a try. We're only about 8 weeks out, so I know I won't see the cheapest price- I missed that window. But maybe even 2 months is still a bit of an advanced ticket. BTW- I loved your helpful thread 'Clocks'. Over a decade ago we had a ride transfer to the Paris airport for our 9am flight, they were going to pick us up at 5:30am- imagine my shock when they called from the lobby wondering where we were- now we are Always on time- it was only 4:30 in the morning, the last of our group just out of the shower for the long transatlantic flight home and they're ready to leave without us right that minute. We made it downstairs in 5 minutes just mortified. While clocks had changed to spring ahead back in the U.S. weeks ago- apparently they change in Europe much later. You have saved a lot of people some very embarrassing moments or missed rides. Thank you from all of us and making planning our trips to England easier.

Thank you beyond words for clarifying that, I thought it was something I needed to purchase before we arrived in England since I got the 2 products mixed as one. I know so many others who read this thread down the road will appreciate immensely your sharing this. I had not stumbled on anything about it, but the tube is such a time saver as you move about London, that I know its going to be well worth its small cost. We're coming in by rail from Southampton post cruise & are staying near the Waterloo station so I'll see where a visitor centre is nearby- thanks so much for heading off my misconception and that the photocard is not the same thing. Thank you again for all your help!

Globaliser- that was astounding, I had no idea there was such a thing as a Young Visitor Discount and for different age groups. Your link even contained a video walkthrough of the process. Since we will be there for 8 days it seems especially worthwhile and solves the problem of a 14 year old junior high boy not having his own credit card. He would always be with the adults but saves having to keep track of yet another credit card. This is perfect, Cannot Thank You Enough!

I read that London is moving away from the Oyster card, we are 3 adults who can do the credit card scan to pass through the turnstiles, I assume you then use the same card to exit so that it knows how much to charge you. But how do you handle a 14 yr old, we do not have a credit card for him to use, but guessing he cannot tap/scan through using his moms same card at the same time? If your card gets cranky about being used abroad, can you still buy the Oyster card and just load cash on it, I know you don't get your deposit back, but as a backup, visiting in July, super thanks. We'd really hoping not use the phone for apple pay or android.

We are arriving in Southampton 2 days before the cruise, partly to recover from all the time zones but also to take the train up to Bath, wander about. Its been a Long time since we were last there (and it was by tour bus back then) but I remember it being lovely and wanting to show the rest of the family this trip. Then we'll take the train back the same day to Southampton, can I ask how you found the information on the train service please? I had seen it was an option by train and it was something you could do on your own, versus the organized tours to Stonehenge, etc. but I hadn't gotten any further with it yet.

I think there are going to be some variables here, depending on the ships size and age. As well as the packages themselves varying. We were on b2b but different ships, and the prices/option for prints were different even though I bought both on the same sale day. Depending on how soon you sail, the offers may also vary with different sales. It doesn't hurt to keep an eye out and watch to see if it says in smaller print- an option to chose prints instead of digital as long as you let them know the day you board, but I think all of ours have said in bigger print right at the top about the choice between digital or prints. I'm not sure if all ships are able to let you see the photos right on your app, hopefully others will chime in, we were able to see and select them right on our phone, prior to these last cruises we had to go to the photo kiosk screens to view them. The kiosks always had to be closed when the ship was in port so this was an exciting upgrade being able to see them right on the app.

They've made selecting your final choices much easier than the old days of sorting through walls of prints to find your pictures (does this ever say how long we've loved sailing RCCL). Now when you have one taken you can give them your stateroom number, we do try to make a mental note of the approx time we've done pictures (like right after dinner or dockside time, because there is still the very small chance of error). Cabin numbers are often now 4 or 5 digits, we knew we had one backdrop taken that didn't show up- so they looked up the backdrop and approx time and found ours right away- the photographer had swapped 2 of the numbers in reverse, instantly our images were in our app. Or on our kiosk screen depending on the age of the ship. One of our packages included both digital and prints- so I checked the download size- they are all between 1.2 and 1.8mb They look stunning even on my computer screen but I wouldn't make a wall print with them. The digital is perfect for most everyone, nothing to carry, But some packages still give us the option for prints, for those who go that route- I've made incredible photo books of memories this way- but I know I am in the minority- have fun whichever works best! PS- for photos taken when they don't get to ask your name like the bumper cars or the slides, they use facial recognition. The ones we got digital I believe we had the option to download them to our phone after they were paid for (without the watermarks) and then you get an email link so that you can download them to your computer about 48 hours after you leave the ship.

i'm not real app savvy, we've never had any problems with ordering the pictures from either the kiosk or the app, on the Icon it actually showed how many more pictures we could still select, you can still change any of your 'favorites' right up to submitting your final order. I think some people even buy a 2nd pkg or increase the size of their first one while onboard but preordering is by far the best deal. I just can't speak for every ship in the fleet, but I've been blown away by the ships we have sailed on. In the old days, the backdrops were pretty much the same for every ship and sailing, now its exploded into amazing new options. And the skill of the photographers in making everyone look great has eclipsed as well. I was really impressed and we had a lot of fun.

In our case we had 2 cabins linked (for dining/excursions/boarding), so it asked which passenger we wanted the photo pkg for, since the grandkid was the main focus and always in the pictures, he's the one we listed, rather than a cabin number, it asks if you have linked cabins. So as long as he was in the picture, it could be any picture he was in, including either cabin.

The 'rides' vary with what is offered on each ship, some have zip lines, flow riders, dry slide, some have the bumper cars and iFly and North Star, they were out on the Ovation in Alaska capturing any of those ride moments that people wanted, sometimes its a photo spot you might not even think of using- onshore or onship- you're not committed to anything, you pick which ones you want and can attach 'Likes' on the ones you want to most keep in mind, and then chose 'favorites' to more quickly track, you turn in your order on the last evening... it's an amazing process and a lot of fun. We didn't do any at the table because we like the 'activity ones' more than dining- but we had heard that the specialty restaurants are not included but that the main dining is - but we didn't actually have any like that taken so thankfully others were more experienced. We also quickly spotted the most talented photographers and watched for them about the ship, portside and ashore CoCo Cay, if we get Labadee again some of our best photos are from there.

I love the photo package deals and have bought it in many sizes over the years. Sometimes they will offer it in 'digital or prints', but you must go to the photo dept desk on departure day and tell them if you prefer to get prints if your purchase has that option. That lets them know how many they might be printing that last night at sea. We just did this on 2 different ships over spring break and they came out Gorgeous. The best price might be the Black Friday deal but if your sailing is before that time that doesn't help. You can also purchase it now, and if they offer it for a lower price you can purchase it again, then cancel your first purchase. Most people prefer the digital downloads but I'm old school and Love the photo prints of my grandchild and family. When you make the purchase you list the stateroom and person- I list the grandchild. RCCL has some of the most talented photographers I have ever encountered, we've had incredible shots on CoCo Cay and Labadee over the years, as well as around the ship- sometimes they are at the zip line, ship pool areas, flowrider, some of the backdrops now have props, props or characters in costume (like a pirate) when you are leaving the ship at port, various unique spots around the ship besides just the staircases. The first time I ever went for 100 was on the Icon and the opportunities were amazing, the talented staff on the Wonder and Odyssey also blew me away. On the Icon you can see them on your phone now, usually within 10 minutes, so you have an idea of how they turned out. We used to pay $20 to $25 for a single picture, their package deal is unbelievable but I think most people are more into social media so the more popular choice is digital.

That was what we hoped would happen but although everything in the store is only listed in US dollars, they ring your sale up in their converted rate of Mexican dollars, there is a sign on the counter letting you know that they will be charging you that way, but we were totally unprepared for the markup they had arranged. When he handed me the receipt to sign I was shocked at the $25 upcharge but he assured me it was entirely legal and I believe him- it is their right, I just wanted to let others know in case they would prefer to pay cash, I would have had I known. Just sharing to be helpful, as I hadn't known. It definitely persuaded us not to enjoy any other shopping. We had a really, really nice day so hoping this helps everyone else love it too.

I would not hesitate to visit Roatan even with 4 ships in port, we were there a few days ago on the Icon of the Seas, along with Mariner I believe, docked in Coxen Hole, there were a couple ships at Mahogany Bay, one was mid size Carnival and something else smaller but not Disney, NCL was supposed to also be in port that day but decided at the last minute to skip it as a port of call. I know from our excursion driver that many locals who thought they were going to work that day were suddenly given the day off. Coxen Hole looked like handling 3 ships would be easy, perhaps 4, we took up a bit more space and brought 7,002 passengers on the Icon. There were still vendors offering spaces on tours, ours went off flawlessly but I would add that if you are choosing any of the animal experiences like we did, we opted to be amongst the first off the ship to head to Daniel Johnsons slough and monkeys, and virtually had almost no wait. These places do watch how many reservations they take so that everyone can have an equally enjoyable experience as no one wants bad reviews. On a previous trip we did Anthonys Caye and it was awesome as well, love visiting Roatan, super nice people.