paddingtonbear

well, we will deal with such things as/if they happen. At least I have done the best I can to plan.. the rest is up to the 'vacation gods' . It will be the trip of a lifetime for us and whatever happens during those three weeks will be part of our memories!

Not a problem for you anyway because you are doing the Eurostar after the cruise!

Have a wonderful time.

The 2 for 1 is a better deal. Attractions take a lot longer than you think so it is difficult to fit in a lot of them in a few days.

London is very walkable or there is the tube. Travel and oyster cards make the tube very affordable so definitely don't by the London Pass with travel.

There are lots of free or very cheap things to do in London.

Be careful about booking early on things like the London Eye because it is not worth doing it at all if the weather is poor.

My mother has dementia and is in a nursing home now. She used to cruise a LOT.

She think's she's on a cruise most of the time.

She thought she got lost in Paris and was so pleased we found her and she was sorry we went to so much bother to come over to pick her up!! All the way from Australia.

She didn't like being lost and she's not going on another holiday unless it is on a cruise.

She said the shopping this time was poor and that's why she didn't bring anything back.

The Stewards (the nurses) are very good to her and so helpful. The current ship is good but "not as good as Cunard". : )

No, we are not on the Royal; we are in a suite on the Caribbean Princess.

Oh sorry. I got mixed up. You are doing some of our ports and I thought you were on the Royal.

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Good to know. I won't waste my time trying to utilize a non existent service!

But you are on the Royal and they do provide the concierge service for Suite passengers. Are you in a suite?

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So, are the mocktails made with the same mixers as the mixed cocktails?

Hi

We have hired a car. I'd like to go to Giverny. Has anyone been on a bus tour and can give me an idea of their schedule?

I was wondering if it would be a good idea to get there as early as we can to avoid the crowds or later in the day? Or is leaving it till later in the day too risky I case something happens to the car?

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One of the people on my roll call found this fantastic resource:

If you buy directly through Eurostar, you can log into their site and select the seat you want (immediately after initial purchase). Make sure to review this site for hints on seat selection. Roughly half the seats face the rear of the train and many seats have a piece of the train's framework which blocks the window and therefore obscures your view of the French Countryside.

http://www.seat61.com/London-to-Paris-by-train.htm#.VLYHQ***-yx

I have asked others the question about timing.

Most say you will be able to catch the 8:20 National Express Bus from Southampton arrives Victoria Coach Station 10:50 but if you want to take your time disembarking catch the 9:30 coach arrives 11:50.

The 8:20 gets in at 10:50 add 15 mins to get to the street and catch a taxi to St Pancras.

Add 15 mins to find the station and platform. Add 45 mins designated pre departure arrival time. So if you caught that bus and all goes well you should make a 12:30 Eurostar departure.

We are doing a similar thing but are allowing a bit of time at St Pancras to buy some food for the trip and for unforeseen circumstances.

Puli,

You can do this.

Catch a taxi to the National Express Coach Station 5GBP

Catch the National Express Bus from Southampton to Victoria Station 7GBP. Then catch a taxi to St Pancras - about 10 GBP. You need to arrive 45 mins before departure (I can't check that cos their website is down atm but it's about that.

On the return trip you get into St Pancras station and walk around to Kings Cross Station. Catch the lift down to the right level. There are maps on the web and I can give you detailed instructions if you choose this method. Catch the Piccadilly line (the blue line on the tube maps) directly to Heathrow.

You will be fine. It is cheap and easy.

Make sure you book your eurostar trip soon. They are open through to July now. The sooner you book the cheaper the tickets are. They start at 34.50GBP one way.

After you have rebooked your cruise you could organise your own land section of the trip.

There is lots of helpful advice on the Alaska Ports section on cruise critic.

There is still lots of time.

We stayed at the Premier Inn Kensington which was a short walk from Earl's Court Station.

It was on the Piccadilly line (Heathrow line) and the District line so was very convenient for all the places we wanted to go. The tube is fantastic to get around. The trains came every 3 minutes to get into town (a bit over a ten minute ride I think).

We took our luggage on the tube from Heathrow to the hotel at 8:30 am on a weekday and didn't have any trouble getting around on the tube. Just make sure you stand to the right on the escalators or the Londoners get very angry. There are a lot of signs to remind you. The tube's a bit daunting to start with but quickly becomes familiar.

Once in town you can walk to a lot of the attractions but no matter where you stay there will be something you want to see that will require a trip on the tube.

I hate to pile on...but being furious about not refunding a NON REFUNDABLE deposit id about as ridiculous as complaining the ocean isn't smooth....

The ocean isn't smooth??? : (

Threads like these are good reminders for the unwary.

We got the e-mail.

 

They know we are over 50. That's out.

 

They know our wedding date, month, day and year. That's out.

 

All they did was make us feel left out ... :(

I wonder if they give you $30 OBC for a 30th wedding anniversary? :)

Some will weigh you, and you will not get money back if you are overweight.

The ones that do have strict guidelines don't weigh everyone just the ones that look a bit chubby. So some groups never see the scales.

Agreed. For many people, it's simply an entitlement issue. I'm on vacation/I paid good money/it's my anniversary, therefore I'm entitled to get what I want. I am the customer and they are "the help," therefore they're obliged to do what I want. Not a good look... very self-centered and narcissistic.

I agree. Friends have sailed with Seabourne and there were objectionable people there too.

It's nice when you are waiting patiently in line when a server ignores the person who pushed in - it doesn't always happen though!

How much a porter or any other server makes per year has nothing to do with the amount of a tip. When we cruise we normally drive to the Florida port, drop the bags with a porter and then park the car. Believe me it is worth it to me to have someone else unload the bags from the car and get them into the trolley. To me that is worth at least 5 dollars a bag. When debarking, after finding our bags the sight of a porter coming to us is extremely welcome. When we debarked from the Regal in December we had 3 checked bags and wound up carrying 3 smaller but heavy bags. The porter took all 6 bags, stayed with us through a half hour long or so Customs, and took the bags all the way to our car and loaded them into the car neatly. He was also extremely pleasant. I don't care if he earns 500 K a year, his help was easily worth the 50 dollars I tipped him.

But I thought that was what the American tipping culture was all about-compensating people for poorly paid work?

Where does it stop?

Please don't bring this culture to Australia or spread it around the world. :(

Sorry you already had the patters I found.

If you got Noro the title of your post would be the same.

Such a shame to miss part of your short cruise but better to be safe than sorry, I think.

We get the Tattoo every year on TV in Australia and I watch it. 😃

No doubt the actual event is a great experience.

There is an area at the top right of the page to choose English. Choosing France or Uk from the drop down will not change the language and will give you a cheaper price. I was able to pay by credit card and print out the tickets. I live in Fl. USA.

I used "UK" as well. It charged me in GBP but I put it on my 28 degree card and it's fee free. It was easy to print out the tickets on line. It is always cheaper to let your own bank or credit card do the money conversions. When you let the retailer do it you lose out. Even do this when paying by Credit card overseas. They will ask you if you want them to convert and you should always say: "No, please charge me in the local currency".

There is a special number and a special person to ring in the UK when you are organising your Eurorail add on UK rail trip. Ring this Eurorail UK number and ask for "Bob" (with your country code in front) +44 1233 617 575. He works M-F 9-5 UK time.

Or email me and I will give you his direct number. I am not trying to be precious but I am not sure if I am supposed to give his direct number out publically.

Yes, I agree- but you do have to book early as my experience has been that the prices go up not down!

The cheapest standard Eurostar seat from London to Paris for a non senior one way is 34.50 GBP. The same seat one way is 154.50 GBP if you buy it at the last minute if there are none of the cheaper seats available.

Standard premier and First Class seats are more expensive.

Pretty big difference!

you could check the london toolkit website several tour options there

The London tool kit site uses the international friends but transfer from Southampton with same booking terms (free cancellation up to 42 days before departure) but is offering a 10 GBP discount at 69 GBP where from the International Friends website it's 79 GBP.

http://www.princess.com/excursion/exlistfordestination.page?portid=SOU&t=R&exType=S

Princess excursions/disembarkation trips are listed under London (Southampton) it's $129 for the same excursion + extra if currency conversion is unfavourable at the time.

There are a few buses for each cruise. Read details on the international friends website.

Pay no attention to the grumps.

It was very clear what you were trying to say. :rolleyes:

I agree.

Kruzin Karen,

So glad it all worked out for you and so nice to read a positive report. :)