shofer

On 3/3/2024 at 8:59 PM, markeb said:

 

This thread was aimed at hotel questions, but briefly...

 

Most of what I've posted recently has been easily found on Google Maps or City Mapper, just informed a bit by personal experience. Before you go to London please download one or both. TFL has some amazing, practical, and easy to use information on traveling in London. Look at it as well. There's a YouTube channel that I have no affiliation with at all called "Love and London" that has a lot of short, excellent videos on visiting London for first timers. We're not first timers, but I still find her style and information very useful. And she has practical things like video showing her using her iPhone on the Tube...

 

I would generally support going to major timed and ticketed sites earlier. It's been a looong time since we went to the Tower. I mean we're talking using actual printed travel guides. At that time, the best piece of advise we got was go to the Tower early. As in get there when it opens. At that time, the buses tended to arrive a little later, maybe 10:00? and if you were there at 9:00, as we were, you had the run of the place. We literally entered the Tower grounds and went straight to the Crown Jewels and were able to walk back and forth a couple of times! I doubt that's as true today, but look on TripAdvisor and other sites for current recommendations. And today you can buy your tickets ahead of time and have them on your phone. But I believe they're now timed tickets, so early arrival may not be as important as a good timed ticket. Use your native roaming on your phone or get an eSIM. In 2024, do not navigate London without a smart phone with an international data package. You're spending THOUSANDS on this trip. Suck it up and spend a hundred bucks on data! I am deadly serious on that. There are too many people on Cruise Critic who just won't do that!

 

If you're going to Royal sites or the Imperial War Museum sites (Churchill War Rooms is an example), look at the price and rules for an annual pass. You may get front of line privileges (worth it's weight in gold on a short visit) and if you go to two sites you may well break even or come out ahead. Passes are a hidden secret in London! The same may apply to other museums; those are two I've looked at and the IWM pass paid for itself when we had it, in both money and time.

 

And above all else, enjoy yourself. There is so much to do in London that is not an A-list tourist attraction. Check out the Campaign for Real Ale for actual pubs that serve casked ale. Check out Michelin for 1-star restaurants if you love food. We've had incredible Indian at Michelin starred restaurants (lunch is affordable and casual). Go to China town. Walk down the South Bank. I can go on and I'm not a Londoner! And I'm now well away from hotel discussions...

 

Tower and Abbey in same day will be a stretch. The opening times are not really conducive, and they're not near each other. I'm sure it can be done, but if you're wanting to see the chambers where Anne Boleyn was imprisoned, for instance, at the Tower, and Poet's Corner at Westminster Abbey, you need to allow time. The Abbey services give some grace on time. I've not done them and I'm unsure whether you enter the Abbey and can wander a half hour before sitting down for the service or not. The Tower is a lot bigger than you think. Even just the White Tower can take time if you're interested. And you kind of have to see the ravens...

When Hubby & I were @ the Tower in 2018, I asked about Anne Boleyn's quarters and they told me that building had burned down.  Maybe because we were close to closing time?  But I will make that one of my major stops.

Thanks for all the info.  DH & I spent way too much time riding the HOHO bus.  It was the first nice (weather) day after 2 wks and London was mobbed.  We did get to the Tower of London and the whole experience was very nice.  Saw the Crown Jewels and had nice conversation with a Beefeater.  We did the London Eye but we were still jet-lagged.  It was a Friday night and of course every restaurant had lines.  We ended up eating Fish & Chips (yummy!) in the hotel snack bar with a beer and that put us right to bed.  The next day we walked to the Victoria Coach station and got on the National Express Bus to our ship in Southampton.

We are thinking about cancelling our UK cruise and just spend several days in London.  I have used the London Day Pass before but DH & I were really amateurs and did not use it correctly.  Wondering if you have to make a reservation for Westminster Abbey or if you have the pass, just go to the head of the line?   I know we skipped the ticket shop at Tower of London and had a tour with the guards/guides.  Our time was limited (this was 2018) because of needing to board our cruise ship.  

Any info is greatly appreciated.

8 hours ago, 1025cruise said:

Unfortunately, agricultural laws will prevent you from taking any food that is not prepackaged off the ship.

I took a Caribbean cruise in 2017 with my mom.  Before we got off the ship, she wanted to take an apple or orange on our excursion.  I made her leave it in the room.  When we got on the pier, there were 2 woman with giant garbage bags collecting any fresh fruit/food from the ship,  I had to do an "I told you so."

8 minutes ago, dog said:

Concerto is midship. Fine.  Food was good. Waiters excellent.

Sounds great.  Thanks for answering.

5 minutes ago, Astro Flyer said:

Regal has the same 3 main dining rooms as on Royal.

whoops!  I meant we were on RCCL.  I forgot there was a Royal Princess.  But I checked out the review on this board and that answered my questions.  Thanks anyway.

It has been several years since I sailed on Princess so I am having trouble understanding this new Dining Time.  It worked well on Royal although we weren't pleased with different tables/servers every night.  It appears that there seems to be multiple dining rooms on Regal?  Is there any difference between them?  Thanks for any help with this.

28 minutes ago, Thrak said:

 

The Medallion has zero cost. If you don't book with Princess Plus or Premier fare then it will cost $10 - total not per person - to have them shipped to your home. There is no requirement to pay this fee as you can simply wait and pick up the Medallions at the port in the same manner you previously picked up the Cruise Card at the port. There are no longer key cards.

Another question!  What is Medallion Class?  I wish the website was easier to navigate.

9 minutes ago, Thrak said:

 

The Medallion has zero cost. If you don't book with Princess Plus or Premier fare then it will cost $10 - total not per person - to have them shipped to your home. There is no requirement to pay this fee as you can simply wait and pick up the Medallions at the port in the same manner you previously picked up the Cruise Card at the port. There are no longer key cards.

There are no longer key cards.

I guess the videos I've been watching are old since they show people using a key card.  Thanks for the prompt answer.

I haven't been on Princess for several years and so new to this Medallion thing-y.  I saw on another thread that it $I0/pp.  Is it worth it?  Doesn't your key card still work? Or is this just another scam that Princess is using to generate more revenue?

My friend & I are booked for a British Isles cruise in September and really looking forward to it.

Sue

3 hours ago, Thunderbird19 said:

https://www.nationalexpress.com/en/airports/heathrow/southampton-to-heathrow
 

London friends recommend the National  Express bus service as super easy, frequent, inexpensive and convienient (as Jimmy mentioned above) 

We used them in 2018 after a pre-cruise stay in London.  5 BP/pp/senior with 1 BP tax.  So 11 British Pounds for both of us London to Southampton.  Five BP taxi to the ship.

21 hours ago, DallasGuy75219 said:

 

 

There's a difference in price between a nurse visit/consultation and a doctor visit/consultation.  I've been to the medical center on RC and Carnival but not Princess.

 

On RC in January it was $152 for a doctor visit and $107 for an outrageously marked up generic antibiotic that I probably could have bought for $15 in Cozumel if I could have diagnosed myself. 

From a previous cruise when I had a medical visit for conjunctivitis (pink eye).  I spoke with Medicare after I came home and they said if you were within 2 hours of an American port, they would cover your visit.  Unfortunately, it was a sea day but my charge was $78 which my cruise insurance did reimburse me.

On 1/23/2024 at 1:20 PM, PACrew said:

I hope everyone is completing the surveys after the cruise. 

The worst food I ever had on a cruise was on Vision of the Seas-2015 Med cruise.  Even the buffet had poor selection and taste.  That survey got a big, fat ZERO.  Everyone in our group did the same. Two years later, we were on Vision again for a Baltic cruise and the food was great!  So I guess they do pay attention to the survey.

On 1/21/2024 at 11:04 AM, gadaboutgal said:

Be careful in recommending Celebrity.  We are on Constellation for 30+ days right now and are extremely disappointed in the dining.  Case in point, last night's dinner offering was Meatloaf and a vegetarian pot pie with only mushrooms and potatoes.  We sail most of the cruise lines at least 100 or more days a year and find that Celebrity food at this point is no better than MSC or Royal-in fact their offerings are better than what we've found on Celebrity--such a decline, such a sad state of affairs!

Oh, that is so sad to hear.  DH & I always raved about X's food and I can only think of one time out of 7 cruises when I sent something back.  Our last trip with them was in 2018 for a 15 day Trans-Atlantic that they billed as Boston, Broadway & Bermuda.  That was the best new Itinerary I have been on in a while.

On 6/25/2023 at 2:43 PM, gnome12 said:

Most European hotels don’t provide washcloths; I believe Europeans don’t consider them hygienic. 

I was shocked by this when staying in Amsterdam.  I hated having to wash my face after removing my makeup using a towel.  Our London pre-cruise stay was at the Grosvenor (sp?) and they had wash cloths.  I had brought some, just in case.

On our TA (Southampton to Ft. Lauderdale) on Silhouette in 2018 was our 50th Anniversary cruise.  Our kids gave us a magnetic sign w/our wedding photos on it and we had it on our door.  No one took it but we did get a lot of attention because of it.  All the doors and walls on a cruise ship are metal.  We often used magnetic hooks on the inside walls.

We did a RT Barcelona for the Mediterranean cruise and there were a large number of Spaniards and Spanish families. I thought the entertainment content was geared to the Spaniards but it was in English.  This was in 2015 so there may be many changes since then.  Have to say that we were 12 hours in port, for the most part.  Our tours were all privately arranged and we did extensive and exhaustive sight-seeing.  I would go again in a heartbeat.

5 hours ago, firefly333 said:

I've read rome and greece have lots of mosquitoes. Pack some insect repellent. More so than islands in the Caribbean. 

We did Med-2015 and Baltic-2017, both in May and there were no mosquitos,

3 hours ago, cruiseguy1016 said:

 

As mentioned, the bar staff is not included in the daily gratuities. They get tips from the 18% added to each PURCHASED drink. Since the Diamond drinks are not purchased, they do not receive a tip for those drinks. That is why I thought we ought to be tipping more than $1 on the free drinks. An 18% tip on a $14 drink is $2.50.

Well I guess I was misinformed about the tip pool.  I always tip generously for service rendered so will do so on any future cruises.

On 2/2/2024 at 8:01 AM, cruiseguy1016 said:

I hate to turn this into a tipping thread but here goes. We (myself included) need to be tipping more than $1. If drinks now cost $14, then a $1 tip is less than 10%.

Since I always pre-pay gratuities, my understanding was the bar staff is included in this pot.  Also, I am Diamond for the 4 drinks/day that I am not charged, so I felt adding $1 was just a bonus.  I never exceed the 4 drinks/day since I prefer to chew my calories.

On 2/2/2024 at 9:45 AM, doghog said:

Never been handed a receipt for CAS drinks. 

There was some discussion of the receipts on this board so I was expecting it.  But it is a new thing from last year.

On 9/5/2022 at 8:48 AM, davekathy said:

No gratuity automatically charged. Tip what you want no matter the drink.  

There is a spot on the receipt where you can add a tip.  On my last cruise in October, I just added $1.00 as a tip for each drink.

21 hours ago, crookedhalo said:

Slightly different question but in same vein - we are looking at our first ' Diamond ' trip. What if you don't use your four coupons one day. Do they carry over? Next, are they limited in time for use? Like 6p to midnight or similar? TYIA for any info.

They do not carry over.  However, they used to re-up @ midnight and people who liked to party late at night were unhappy that they were using the next day's vouchers while they still had some from the day before.  Now they re-up @ 5 AM.

On 1/24/2024 at 4:09 PM, DaKahuna said:

 

 If you are not Elite or higher or do not have a drink package, you will be charged for the drink.  

 In days of old, they checked your Sea Pass card upon entering but that was when they used the entire Sky Lounge. 

 

My last cruise on Royal had a load of Diamond+ and Pinnacles and the Crown Lounge was restricted to those members per the Cruise Compass.  They even had someone posted at the door!

My friend (who enjoys riding my Diamond coat tails) & I wandered up there before dinner one night and I scanned my card which went green and the "bouncer" opened the door for us.  I scored a drink and we noshed on the snacks which were pretty good.  Better than most MDR food.  Unfortunately (don't know why) we never went back on a 12 day trip.

9 hours ago, doghog said:

Call the CAS at 1-800-526-9723 to verify her tier level.

I don't know if X awards the 4 drink voucher to Elite.  The last time I looked at the Elite benefits, it was free drinks in the Elite lounge between 5-7 PM.