SadmanCruiser

TravelMadBrits - we were on the Liberty transatlantic in October 2013 and like you we had to clear immigration at the first US port - in our case San Juan. We have had the same in St Thomas on a previous cruise.The queues were horrible! Even though you were supposed to go down at the time your deck was allocated, many went down early. The queue stretched all around the dining room (where the US agents were), down the promenade all the way to the other end. As we have been to San Juan several times we waited till the queues died down around mid day.

They normally put a sticker on your seapass card and you cannot get off without it.

NIKII135 - You will not have immigration on the ship. You will do it on your first point of entry to the USA. The ESTA is the same one you have to do before flying to the US but on a transatlantic cruise the first point of entry can be one of the Islands. And hello from a fellow Lincolnite!

Pete

Thanks for the info Island - we are on the Independence in May and it good to know where I can smoke.

Harwich is a long way from Gatwick, over 100 miles (that's a long way this side of the pond!)

The easiest way to travel would be to take the train from Gatwick Airport to London Bridge Station, then the underground to Liverpool Street station and then train to Harwich.

Expect the journey to take around 2hrs and 45 minutes.

A taxi should be able to do the journey in around 2 hours (depends on the M25 traffic) and should cost around £180

The best value trains can normally be booked around 12 weeks before date of travel.

Have a look at thetrainline.com for trains or cabubble.co.uk for private transfers.

Pete

We recently did 30 nights on the Legend and loved it.

Park café for breakfast and lunch - perfect.

MDR did seem crowded with the number of tables close together.

Ship was clean - still in need of some varnish and paint here and there.

Would go back on tomorrow if the wife would let me!

Pete

I did this to my other half on our Suez cruise in May.

Went to ordinary check-in, the lines were no longer.

Just make sure you don't let her see the JS on the setsail pass.

JS seapass cards are silver, instead of blue, but if this is only her second cruise she probably won't realise, my other half didn't and we have done 30+ cruises.

The look on her face when entering the room will be priceless and earn you lots of brownie points. If she is anything like my other half she will love the closet (walk-in), bathtub and big balcony.

Pete

We have done many cruises in promenade rooms and enjoy them.

Make sure you check what is above the rooms you book on deck 8. We did experience noise from the whirlpools motors when we were below them.

Pete

Done a lot of cruises in a promenade and like them a lot. The only ones we would avoid are the ones on deck 6 directly above the pub or the ones on deck 8 directly under, or near, the hot tubs. Both of these locations can be more noisy than others.

The cabins do have thick net curtains which it is hard to see through into the cabin opposite and the stateroom attendant always closes the curtains at night.

Pete & Wifey

I leave on my 5th TA on the Adventure in 10 days and I'm 50.

Another one booked for November and then the Oasis east bound next year.

Pete

If you intend only to use your phone when really necessary don't bother with a local sim as it will probably cost more than an odd call on your current phone. We normally send texts to each other on the odd occasion when Wifey is onboard and I have gone for a wander onshore.

We found that the only time a local sim was useful was when we did a 2 month trip to Australia and needed to phone airlines, hotels, etc.

Pete & Wifey