OntarioCruiser38

We have found that the best way to understand a culture is though food. We did food tours in Da Nang and Saigon. If interested let me know I'll send our guile info upon request,

Happy Planning,Capt. Ron

Captain Ron,

I would very much like to hear more about food tours. I agree with your philosophy. Could you email me information Traverse64athotmaildotcom

Thank you

Jonathan

Hi Gillian,

Thanks for the links and the suggestions. This all helps.

I now do not feel so bad procrastinating, I can now call it watchful waiting :D

Jonathan

JB,

Thank you so very much. This is very much clearer and due to the extra work you did on our behalf.

I will look at the national site using the dates you described and then wait for the overtune moment to book.

Thank you so very much.

J

A question about cancelled routes as this seems to be a distinct possibility for a Sunday and Southern Railway. I saw the new timetable out for southern railway by the way.

If a train ticket is purchased as an any time of day use between Southampton and Gatwick and the original booked train is cancelled. The original train with a stop in Chichester, So Southampton Chichester, Chichester Gatwick.

If the next train is Southampton Brighton, Brighton Gatwick.

Can the ticket be used under the anytime of day use?

Thank you for your patience with all the questions.

Thank you for info and assistance.

I knew there was very little likelihood of making it from Southampton to Gatwick for a noon flight given that the check in time for international flights is 3 hours prior to the flight.

As such, I fly out the next day.

What I am attempting to do is make the most of the day by:

1. Getting to Gatwick to dump my luggage at the airport hotel

2. Then make the most of my day in London and meet up with some friends as early in afternoon as possible.

I looked into dumping my bags at the rail station in London. Two issues price and baggage claim closes before I want to go back to Gatwick.

Therefore all the questions about getting to Gatwick. Seems Gatwick to London is less of an issue.

Thank you.

I will keep my eye on the reductions in service over the next month or so. I don't think I need to immediately make a decision.

In the event that we do decide to risk the train, I will certainly purchase an "Any Time Day Single" ticket while being mindful of the exact route.

We will also look into other options like the bus transfer or if affordable the private car transfer.

Thank you both Hatters and Fairbourne!

If you get any news with regard to service improvements or further disruptions over the next weeks, please consider coming back for an update.

Thank you again!

Jonathan

Thank you so very much.

You have been extremely helpful.

I hope you are enjoying your stay in North America.

Hi JB.

Ok.. No worries about not being able to check what I am seeing.

I am on an iPad as well.

So another question if you would be so kind.

If I purchase the ticket, my understanding is that they will not mail it to Canada.

No worries as we are going to have a mail strike their anyway.

Will I have an issue purchasing the ticket from a Southwest website and getting the ticket from a Southern vending machine at Southampton. If I understand correctly the Southampton central station is a Southern train station.

I think the answer is that I can have the ticket kiosk at the station issue me the ticket as the vending machine will not do so.

Thank you so much

Jonathan

HI JB,

Thank you for responding. Ok this is what I am getting at.

I realize I will not make the 7:30 and I was planning on using the unassisted debarkation.

If I purchase the 7:30 rate at the "advanced single rate" it is 10 BPS for two people. When completing the translation there is an upgrade option to make the 10 BPS tickets "Anytime day single" tickets for an additional 21.80 for a total of 31.80 BPS.

However if I purchase the 7:55 a.m. ticket right now the cost of the ticket that only provides an "anytime day single" option a is total 67.20 BPS for the two tickets.

You can see what I mean if you go on the Southwestern ticketing site and punch in the dates and times between SOU and Gatwick airport for Sunday September 11th.

Again if the first ticket provides an "anytime day single" option for a total of 31.80 then why would I not just purchase this ticket with the upgrade included and if needed use it for the 7:55 a,m, then I save more than half the price (31.20 versus 67.20 BPS)?

Last question, if the ticket is an "anytime day single" and I do not make the train it was originally issued for, do I have to have the ticket reissued for the later train time that I am going to travel on? Or do I just use the earlier anytime day single ticket and jump on the later train without an updated ticket?

I hope my explaination is clearer.

Thank you again for your patience and help.

Jonathan

Train ticket question:

We are unsure how quickly we can get off the ship and through customs on October 2nd 2016 from the Independance of the Sea. As such this makes purchase of an advanced train ticket a challenge

For instance, if we order "advanced single" tickets on Southwest Railway from Southampton to Gatwick. At 7:30 a.m. the price of the ticket for two is $10 BPS. There is an option when purchasing this ticket to make it an "Anytime Day Single" ticket for an additional 21.80 BPS. For a total of 31.80 BPS.

Ok.. What does not make sense is if we were to purchase the ticket for 7:55 a.m. the total for the ticket for two is 67.20 BPS "Anytime Day Single".

What does not make sense is if I can use the tickets at $31.80 at 7:30 as it is now an "anytime day single" but miss the train, can I take the train at 7:55?

If this is the case and I really wanted the 7:55 train, then why would I not just book the 7:30 train and then say I missed it and take the 7:55 train.

Either my logic is totally off or the ticketing logic is off.

Are there any ideas of what I must be missing?

Jonathan

Unfortunately I am in a position where I booked my cruise using an online US agency.

Does anyone know the onboard exchange rate? If I take Canadian dollars will I be able to purchase USD at a better rate than the bank here?

We are on both in January, February 2016, so we will be able to compare first hand. The only reason we are coming off the Summit is to be able to have a different itinerary. Grenda is my favorit port while Barbados is France's favorite. Luckily both ships are at same pier in San Jaun so we will just wheel our luggage a few hundred meters down and have our third week on Adventure.

We sailed out of Civitavechia on Silhouette last September. We took the train from Rome and found it a very easy and inexpensive trip. We have also sailed into Civitavechia. You should be able to arrange getting off the boat early if need be by arranging with main desk. Just explain you have arranged private transfer. You could probably be off by 8:00 or 8:15 with this giving you plenty of time to get to the airport.

Hope this is helpful.

Jonathan

We sailed the Summit on back to back this year in January/February. We have booked Summit again for B2B but now want a third week and are considering RCCL Adventure of the Seas for the third week. We are only changing from the Summit because we want to change up itineraries. However we have the reverse concerns. We very much enjoy the Summit and Celebrity, and although RCCL and Celebrity are owned by same group, we are concerned that the food, ship and group will not be as good. So go figure :D