gumshoe958

Assuming your hotel is close to Westminster tube station, Heathrow by tube with luggage is actually reasonably simple as there are elevators at both ends and a step-free, cross platform interchange between the District & Piccadilly lines at Barons Court. That’s the cheapest viable way and should take about an hour. Easiest would obviously be a taxi, Uber or private transfer but these days you’re looking at between £50 & £100 for that, and are at the mercy of London traffic. It could easily take an hour, maybe more, maybe less. @spirit rev if you tell us which hotel you’re staying at we can give you more accurate advice.

At some of those ports (Newhaven, Invergordon, Douglas, Dun Laoghaire, Cobh) you will dock within easy walking distance of local bars, cafes and restaurants. But in all cases except Douglas you would need to use local buses, trains or cabs to visit the actual city served - Edinburgh, Inverness, Dublin, Cork - where there are far more choices. The docks at Kirkwall, Belfast & Portland aren’t easily walkable to anywhere but in all cases the cruise line should provide a shuttle bus (maybe with a charge) that’ll take you into the nearest town centre.

It eliminates a venue and its associated costs such as tech support & bar staff. One big comedy show costs a lot less to put on than ten small ones. It potentially saves money by replacing a headliner show in the theatre. And it opens up the possibility of rotating one comedian across more than one ship if they’re only doing one show per cruise, thus reducing the overall number required.

Yes, as the OP noted. But their point was that the nightly shows in The Attic - always popular due to their intimate comedy club atmosphere - seem to have gone. Which looks ominously like yet another cut.

Yep, the app shows no sign of any comedy on Harmony this week apart from one night in the main theatre. Hopefully it’s just a glitch, but presumably entertainment isn’t immune from the cost savings we’ve already seen in housekeeping and dining so maybe comedy in The Attic is going the same way as Jazz on 4.

The Seagate Bus Station stop is closest, although it’s still a 15-20 minute walk. Or you can hop on a city bus, or try and find a cab.

Wow. Royal cancels Christmas. But don’t worry, you can celebrate in October or February instead. Seriously, that stinks. Not even offering an alternative Christmas cruise on another ship.

You’re looking at the wrong bus company. Stagecoach operates the main service from Dundee to St Andrews, the 99, up to every 10 minutes (20 on Sundays). Timetable: https://tiscon-maps-stagecoachbus.s3.amazonaws.com/Timetables/East Scotland/Fife/ESCOT_Special_Fife_99_99N.pdf

I guess the choice between cruise or land tour depends on how much of Ireland you want to see. That itinerary only includes two days in the Republic, so you’ll only be able to scratch the surface and won’t really get the chance to explore its beautiful coast and countryside. However two days in Belfast means you’ll get to see a good deal of Northern Ireland including plenty of time for a trip to the Giants Causeway, Derry~Londonderry and over the border to Donegal should you wish. So there are pros and cons to both and if the Princess cruise aligns with a QM2 crossing, that would make for a very special holiday.

It’s not something I’d worry about. A coach can only hold 50-60 people which is only a small proportion of passengers on the ship so it won’t make much of a dent on the check-in queues. And any cons are surely outweighed by the pros of the coach dropping you right outside the terminal, as opposed to the train or National Express which both involve a taxi or walk to the ship.

Ah: yes, I’m afraid the train strike will be a problem if it goes ahead. Details haven’t yet been published but on previous strike days there have been no trains at all between Southampton & Salisbury, and only limited services between Salisbury & London involving a change of train half way, at Basingstoke. There is an hourly bus, the X7, that would get you from Southampton to Salisbury in about 1 hour 20 mins, and the train from Salisbury to London should still be possible as above, so it’s still doable by public transport albeit not as simple as it would otherwise be. But note that the X7 is a normal city bus, not a coach, so luggage space will be limited. Otherwise yes, realistically you would need to book a private transfer OR try the International Friends tour mentioned by @John Bullif it’s available, which has been recommended by many on CC before.

Dundee sees very few cruise ships and doesn’t have the level of infrastructure seen at bigger ports. As such I would recommend pre-booking any transportation you may require. There will be some cabs, but not necessarily enough to meet demand.

I doubt they really care. The ship’s got to get from A to B regardless so if they can persuade anyone to pay to be on her, it’s just a bonus. Which they will.

Yes, I thought about £10. It’s less than two miles, a 7 minute journey. Then I looked at Uber. £23 😮 Could be surge pricing I guess, but that’s daylight robbery. Incidentally a black cab driver will hate you for that journey. They have to queue up, sometimes for a very long time, for what they hope will be a nice lucrative £100 fare into London. They may be allowed to jump the queue after a short hop to Bath Road, but they’ll still hate you.

It’s a very frequently asked question. See this thread for some suggestions:

No shortage of choice then!

The Russia/Ukraine situation has put paid to that. Many Americans won’t go near the Baltic now, and St Petersburg was the big draw for many on those itineraries.

I suspect the cruise line organises it, they just don’t tell you it exists until the last minute when they’ve sold as many shore excursions as they’re likely to. It’s the same in many European ports which are some distance from the nearest town. There’s invariably a free or low cost shuttle bus for independent travellers, but you won’t be told about it until the night before you arrive.

Of course you may still be disowned after he’s tasted it …

You were told wrong. No US flights use T4.

This. P&O are cheap for a reason …

Just go to any restaurant as soon as you board and make all your reservations for the week. Wonderland and Izumi tend to have shorter lines as most folks seem to head straight to Chops, 150 or Jamie’s. The earlier you do it, the better the availability. Best to go prepared with a Plan B (and C) just in case your preferred times are full. But as long as you’re flexible you should be fine.

In my experience cruise lines rarely advertise local port shuttle buses in advance as they want to sell you their own overpriced tours and have you believe they’re the only option. But there’s invariably a lower cost DIY shuttle option that you’ll be notified about in the on-board newsletter the day before arrival.

No, but be aware that Portland to Stonehenge is at least a 90 minute drive one way so you’ll be spending almost 4 hours on the road.

If you’re flying British Airways, you’ll arrive at Terminal 5. If you’re flying with any of the US airlines you’ll arrive at Terminal 2 or 3 (which are next to each other). Assuming you’re flying with either UA, AA or DL, have a look at the Hilton Garden Inn Terminals 2 & 3. That’s on-airport and doesn’t need a cab or bus to get to, unlike the Hyatt Place. Note that Heathrow doesn’t let hotels run their own airport shuttles. A stop at Winchester is entirely doable as it’s directly en route from Southampton to Heathrow. But if you’re doing that on the morning of your cruise make sure you allow enough time so you’re not late for check-in! Heathrow to Southampton non-stop is about 90 minutes so I’d plan for around 4 hours in total to give yourselves a couple of hours to sightsee. And don’t underestimate the time it takes to shepherd a large group around - there’s always one who needs the bathroom! Stonehenge involves quite a detour and considerably more time, cost and planning (including pre-booking a time slot). Probably not ideal if you need to be in Southampton by lunchtime.