gumshoe958

Ireland is the only European country that has U.S. Preclearance. Flying from Amsterdam you’ll clear immigration and customs at your port of entry into the U.S.

Yes, same here. Out of curiosity I went to the app only for it to automatically log me off and not let me sign back in. Royal IT at its best.

They can be interesting, if the right questions are asked. But there’s always someone who has to ask “who’s driving the boat?”

The most fun way to get into central London is to hop straight on to a Thames Clipper riverboat, westbound to Embankment Pier. They run every 15-30 mins and take about 40 mins. From there, you can transfer on to the Northern line tube to Tottenham Court Road from where it’s about a 10 minute walk to the British Museum. The boat will take you past many of London’s iconic sites including Tower Bridge, the Tower of London and St Paul’s Cathedral and is well worth the ride. Alternatively, from Greenwich Pier it’s a short walk to Cutty Sark station where you can catch the DLR (Docklands Light Railway) six stops to Canary Wharf, then transfer on to the new Elizabeth line to Tottenham Court Road. That’s quicker and cheaper but not as interesting. All of these train and boat options operate under the Transport for London (TfL) ticketing system, and you can pay simply by “touching in” and “touching out” on the yellow card readers with a credit or debit card - you don’t need to buy a paper ticket. https://www.thamesclippers.com/plan-your-journey/route-map

The easiest tube/train options to Heathrow from the Park Plaza would be: - walk across Westminster Bridge to Westminster station. Westbound District line tube to Barons Court, then easy cross-platform transfer to Piccadilly line to the airport. - or, also from Westminster station, westbound Circle line tube to Paddington, then Elizabeth line or Heathrow Express train to the airport.

I always enjoy Howies. https://www.howies.uk.com (You want the one in Victoria Street) Or, for high end Italian, Divino Enoteca. https://divinoedinburgh.com Both 5-10 minutes walk from the castle.

See my answers in red above.

Spot on. There is an hourly train from St Pancras to Dover which takes just over an hour. No need to book in advance, just buy tickets at the station. It’s £37 per person one way but if the four of you travel together ask for a ticket called Groupsave which gives you about a third off. From Heathrow to central London your daughters can either: - use the tube (cheapest but slowest, and runs direct to St Pancras) - use the Heathrow Express (fast but expensive, need to change on to the tube at Paddington) - use the new Elizabeth line (somewhere in the middle, need to change on to the tube at Farringdon) - take a cab/Uber For any of the rail options from Heathrow into London, your daughters don’t need to buy an actual ticket. It’s cheaper to use a credit or debit card to “touch in” and “touch out” at the ticket gates. The system will automatically charge them the correct fare. Buying a paper ticket is much more expensive.

It’s around 100 miles from Heathrow to Dover and takes just under 2 hours to drive if the traffic’s good, more if it’s not (and any journey that involves the M25 London orbital motorway is unpredictable!). An Uber will set you back between US$200-250. A local Dover cab company may do it a bit cheaper if you research online and pre-book. There are regular trains, but not direct so you’d have to change trains in London and use the tube to get to St Pancras, where the trains to Dover leave from. Journey time would be roughly the same. So for four of you I’d get a cab, it would be much simpler and probably roughly the same price. By the way Dover Castle (a must see) is in Dover, not Canterbury! So you can walk there from your hotel - it’s just under a mile although it’s a steepish climb up to the castle. Otherwise the hotel will find you a cab. If you want to visit Canterbury there’s an hourly train from Dover which takes just under half an hour.

Yes.

Yes. You’ll be absolutely fine. No need to check in any more than 2 hours before departure for a flight to Venice.

I guess they figure they can still fill a ship without a jazz club. And if it’s being replaced with a casino extension I have little doubt they’re right, if the number of people on here who use the casino is anything to go by. I hope they don’t go down the Carnival route and use a prerecorded track for production shows. Those orchestras can’t be cheap.

Entirely likely. We’ve already seen cost cutting this year in the MDR and housekeeping. Why would entertainment be immune? I imagine every department’s been given a target to cut costs and/or increase revenue. Like most businesses their costs have risen sharply and they’re still recovering from an 18 month enforced shutdown. Like it or hate it, this is the new normal.

No, the jazz club and music hall/Dazzles are totally separate.

That should be fine. It’s about a 15-20 minute cab ride to Rotterdam Centraal station and the train to Schiphol takes less than half an hour and they’re very frequent. So if you’re off the ship at 8am you should be at Schiphol by 9.30.

I’d guess they’ll wait to see how this one goes first …

BA does fly Southampton to Edinburgh - but only once a week, early on a Sunday morning, and not year-round. So for all intents and purposes that route is operated by Loganair, who codeshare with BA, up to five times a day (but fewer at weekends). For cruise passengers, there’s usually a flight somewhere between noon and 2pm Monday to Saturday. Sundays are trickier as there’s a big gap in departures in the middle of the day.

Time-wise the flight takes less than an hour and the Eurostar train takes about four hours. But the train is city centre to city centre while if you fly you’ll need to factor in travel time to/from the airport. So they work out roughly the same. Otherwise it’s really down to price and personal preference. There are only 4 direct trains a day to Amsterdam, and annoyingly none between 11am and 6pm, and on your travel day (4 May) the 11am is pretty expensive. But the 8.16am and 6.04pm are both pretty reasonable still, and I’d recommend upgrading to Standard Premier for more space. You must book in advance though, and prices only tend to go up so don’t hang around too long.

Monday May 1st is a public holiday in the UK (as it is in much of Europe) so many London tourist attractions may be very busy that day. The 2nd, 3rd and 4th should be fine. Sure, it won’t be quiet and preparations for the coronation will be in full swing, but they’re normal working days so I think you’ll be fine.

Most airlines close check in and bag drop an hour before departure. For international flights they recommend 2-3 hours. The nightmare queues at security that were widely reported last year are long gone. National Express, perhaps understandably, are playing it safe and recommending 4 hours in case of traffic delays. But for a 2pm flight I wouldn’t think twice about booking a coach that’s due to arrive at 11am. You’ve still got at least 90 minutes of wiggle room. YMMV though.

Ultimately, it’s not Royal’s decision to make.

I think that’s a US thing. Doesn’t tend to be available on European sailings either.

I suspect a 12yo used to O-class will find Jewel very dull. And if you like O-class for its choice of dining and entertainment, so might you. Jewel’s main advantage is she can reach ports that O-class ships can’t, so you’ll get more interesting destinations. She tends to attract an older crowd who appreciate her more traditional style and less frenetic atmosphere (although you’ll still find plenty of families). So if you’re sailing for the itinerary, go for it. If you’re sailing for the ship, I’d rethink.

This thread has plenty of good advice for taxi and limo services. London to Southampton is about 75 miles and should take 90 minutes to 2 hours depending on traffic.

How long is a piece of string? Last summer in the UK the temperature reached over 40C/100F. Equally, in June it’s perfectly possible for it to be nearer 15C/60F. And much cooler at night. And the temperature will vary around the country but as a general rule, as in the US, the further north you are the colder it’ll be. I’d say you’ve a decent chance of being able to sit out for at least some of your cruise - but layers are the answer as evenings may well be pretty chilly and rain is always a possibility. (Also note that on a British Isles cruise you won’t enjoy stunning views like in Alaska or the Norwegian fjords. You’ll be too far offshore most of the time and in any case the UK coast is not very spectacular apart from parts of Scotland.)