paddingtonbear

Is it worth sailing on the Thames at all?

It's nice seeing the city from the water and it was great getting a commentary along the way of all the buildings and things of interest. Great view of the London Eye. We chose a sunny day and spent the day in Greenwich seeing the Greenwich Observatory, the GMT line, the National Maritime museum etc. We had a nice pub lunch.

You can now see the Cutty Sark which was closed when we were there.

I don't know if you would consider it worthwhile if you didn't go to Greenwich for the day.

I would do anything on water in preference to seeing the interior of buildings but I am a bit weird. : )

You don't have to go all the way to Greenwich. You can just do a cruise between the bridges.

We had the opportunity to use 2 for 1 tickets.

Group hug! :D

It's fantastic that I can live in an isolated country village on the other side of the world to most of you and still get detailed information about cruising. So far all I've done is booked and cancelled two cruises but hopefully, if the gods are smiling, I will be cruising for the first time in June this year!

Thank you everyone.

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We have a NAB platinum credit card and use the insurance when going overseas. Last time the insurance company was Charteris it is now QBE.

If you make a claim you will be dealing with the insurance company that holds the insurance.

I went into hospital in Italy and found Charteris was easy to contact and provided great support. We were covered by Italy's reciprocal agreements with Australia so we didn't end up paying anything so we didn't have to make a claim but the process seemed good.

I rang the insurance company before we left to check that we had met the requirements and check some of the wording to make sure we were covered for what we wanted.

With NAB you just have to put 50% of your costs on your card it doesn't matter if it's the principle or not. You can't use a debit card though.

I'd check the policy really carefully and ring and check as well.

10-15% is over the top in France where service is included in ALL prices.

 

if you leave a Euro or two at a restaurant when you have been pleased with the service that is OK. But please - NOT 10-15% - first this marks you as a tourist and second it is NOT local practice.

I agree with Hambagahle.

Even Rick Steves says:

https://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/money/tipping-in-europe

We had tips handed back in Italy where tips are considered offensive in a lot of places. Our Italian hosts says it puts people in a master servant situation.

A lot of Americans have actually changed the culture in Italy and France by spreading their tipping culture. This is very, very sad. Please consider before you tip in Europe.

 

We are booked into the K and K right by Earl Court tube station. Is that not a good area to be in? This is our first time on London, and it was recommended by friends.

 

We really liked Earls Court. It is on a combination of tube lines so can go anywhere from there. It was great to get to and from LHR and Kew Gardens. Also easy to get into the city centre - about 10 mins and trains come every 3 mins. Use this link to check times:

 

http://tfl.gov.uk/plan-a-journey

 

Lots of cheap eateries right on Earls Court Road. It was friendly and social and felt really safe.

It's also close to the Victoria and Albert museum and Tescos etc.

 

The hotel was a really great price too.

http://m.nationalrail.co.uk/pj/home

Use this site for train timetables and tickets.

The train line site is a third party ticket seller and they charge a fee. They also have horrific prices above and beyond the fee.

Lots of people do London to Bath day trips so the reverse is possible by train. It beats carting your luggage around! But, if you can organise your luggage I can see the advantage of doing London on the day you arrive.

The rail links from Bath to Salisbury are excellent. You can go there direct in under an hour and they are fairly frequent Le aving around every hour. At the Salisbury station catch a "Stonehenge tour" bus. Train tickets are cheaper if you buy early but less flexibility obviously.

Look into prebooking tickets to Stonehenge because prebooking is now required.

No one knows whether you will breeze through or not but the national express busses depart every 30 mins or so. We bought our tickets on the day and didn't have a problem getting on the next coach.

The little Chapel is easily accessible by bus but the route numbers have changed.

The day bus pass is 4.50 GBP and you can get on and off any bus as many times as you like. There are also family passes.

http://www.visitguernsey.com/-the-little-chapel

http://www.hctgroup.org/the_hct_group/ct_plus_guernsey

The 2015 summer timetables are not out yet.

This is the winter route map

http://hctgroup.org/uploaded/Guernsey/Timetables/Winter%202014/Winter%202014%20-%20Network%20Map.pdf

The Intransit private bus group does not do their regular tours or private tours when a ship is in port because they are fully booked with ship tours! True - I emailed them.

Can the oyster card be used for busses? Is it worthwhile to buy on line?

Yes the Oyster card can be used on buses. Do not buy it online. The guy at the ticket counter will give you the best deal.

See trip advisor for the latest info but we were there for 5 nights and the 7 day card was excellent for us. Unlimited travel in zones 1 & 2 and we got the 2 for 1 deal. The river cruise was 2 for 1 as well.

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Are you thinking about doing all that in a single day off a ship calling at Le Havre? I'll let the northern France experts weigh in, but I fear it will be too much, particularly since Giverny is pretty much in the opposite direction from Mont St. Michel. What about a stop in Rouen on the way back from Giverny?

Yes I think it would be too much, too. We aren't going to Mont Saint Michel

Rouen does not get glowing reviews.

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We visited D-Day beaches during a prior port call at LeHavre, so this past spring seven of us rented a van for a day trip to Giverny. The gardens were simply lovely. We also stopped for an hour at Honfleur on the return. A very enjoyable day.

Hi Northern Aurora,

I'd be very interested to know long it took you to get to Giverny and how long you stayed at Monet's gardens?

Did you have lunch at Honfleur?

Hi,

We have hired a car and we are going to drive to Giverny to see Monet's garden then driving back to Honfleur.

Mont Saint-Michel looks great but I am not sure about the amount of time we will have left after Monet's garden.

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.