British Isles Trip Review w/Pics: A Thesis :)

[pizzalady1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shogun

Hi There

 

Once upon a time Princess used to do night tenders after the tattoo in the Forth but the safety folks put an end to it,

 

the Forth has very strong tide and if running fast with strong wind would expect any large cruise ship to give it a miss,

 

good news is they are hoping to build a real deep water cruise terminal in the next few years,

 

glad you had a good day in Edinburgh she is a fine old city with much to offer,

 

yours Shogun

 

So, what do they do now in August when hoards of people are coming back from the Tattoo if they are not doing night tendors?

 

 

Duh--nevermind. I had a brain fart and forgot that the Tattoo excursion goes from Glasgow.

__________________

[Aussie Gal]

Emily,

 

I have just spent the last 90 minutes reading your wonderful travelogue. It brought back many memories of cities we have visited, and those that we haven't, your writing has made me want to get there as quickly as possible. eg. Belfast and Liverpool.

 

It is a pity that you didn't get to Honfleur as it is a beautiful French town. We caught a taxi with another couple and had him come back for us about 4 or so hours later. We didn't pay him until we arrived back at our ship. It was one of those memorable days that you remember forever.

 

I too am fascinated with anything to do with the Titanic and this year we will be visiting Halifax so of course we will be visiting the cemetary. A couple of years ago, we had the most amazing Titanic exhibit here in Melbourne at our Museum. You had to pre-purchase tickets which stated the exact time you would be visiting and it was extremely well done. There were cabins set up as First Class and Steerage and so much memorabilia. If you ever get the chance to see it, you will love it. It has only been to very few cities in the world.

 

Thanks again for a wonderful report and great photographs. You are a great writer with a fantastic sense of humour.

 

Jennie

Edited June 19, 2012 by Aussie Gal

[DeloreanGirl]

Emily,

 

I have just spent the last 90 minutes reading your wonderful travelogue. It brought back many memories of cities we have visited, and those that we haven't, your writing has made me want to get there as quickly as possible. eg. Belfast and Liverpool.

 

It is a pity that you didn't get to Honfleur as it is a beautiful French town. We caught a taxi with another couple and had him come back for us about 4 or so hours later. We didn't pay him until we arrived back at our ship. It was one of those memorable days that you remember forever.

 

I too am fascinated with anything to do with the Titanic and this year we will be visiting Halifax so of course we will be visiting the cemetary. A couple of years ago, we had the most amazing Titanic exhibit here in Melbourne at our Museum. You had to pre-purchase tickets which stated the exact time you would be visiting and it was extremely well done. There were cabins set up as First Class and Steerage and so much memorabilia. If you ever get the chance to see it, you will love it. It has only been to very few cities in the world.

 

Thanks again for a wonderful report and great photographs. You are a great writer with a fantastic sense of humour.

 

Jennie

 

Thank you, AussieGal!

 

I hope that I can bring a bit of spotlight and excitement to an itinerary that doesn't get a lot of hype. If it helps one person plan their vacation to the British Isles or re-take it again, then that's fantastic! (I would love to print this all out and staple it to my resume for Princess one day - ha!)

 

"I've been on six cruises, two were yours, and I've given you $14,000 in sales by talking four couples into sailing on this itinerary. Where do I sign?"

 

Mike and I have been to two big Titanic exhibits. One was a traveling one that was in Vegas for awhile and we saw it at the science center here in Los Angeles. It was a pretty big exhibit. They had lots of items recovered from the bottom. I want to say that they had the horn. I know they had hats and boots. They even had a giant chunk of the ship in one room under heavy security. It was fascinating. In fact, I think it's still in Vegas because Mike mentioned wanting to drive out there to see it again.

[DeloreanGirl]

*grabs Kleenex*

*dabs eyes*

 

Disembarkation (boo…hiss…) and Two Days in London (hurray!):

 

I love the second to last day on cruises, no matter what line, when you start getting the Disembarkation paperwork. It’s like they can’t prep you early enough to get your bootie off the ship. Granted, I know they have to kick you off. I’m glad they kicked the people before me off so that I could have a fantastic vacation in C218. But alas, it was our turn to leave this beautiful vessel.

 

It was a strange feeling, the whole disembarking part. I’ve been planning this trip for thirteen months. THIRTEEN MONTHS! I completely forgot that life goes on after you come home.The cruise was a giant beacon set in stone and I totally didn’t think of anything going on after it was over.

 

What message board posts would I read? What tour companies would I e-mail? What am I going to do with the work hours spent daydreaming? What about my digital countdown clock? What about the dog-eared pages in my Rick Steves London book (which I got autographed by him in person!) Does this mean I can’t listen to Riverdance or Bill Whelan or bagpipes anymore? And for God’s sake, what will I do without my trusty red binder?!?!

 

My lip quivers just thinking about it.

 

It was now time to put our clothes back in the suitcases. To clear off all the souvenirs from the writing desk. To pull the drapes closed one last night and sigh, knowing that when it’s dawn, the ship will be parked and there won’t be a gorgeous town outside my window in the morning. Instead, the clanking and beeping of working dock sounds and the smell of diesel fuel will remind us that we’ve come full circle (literally), and are back to our home port of Southampton.

 

Simple Debarkation:

 

Debarkation is pretty flawless. Princess has done a great job of color-coding everyone based on where they are going and what they are doing. A day before you debark, you will receive a Debarkation packet along with paper luggage tags that are a certain color with a number on them. Our luggage tags were “GREEN 2”. Everyone who was “GREEN 2” were people that were booked on the “Southampton To Victoria, London” coach. Others had other colors like: cream, blue, orange, red, purple, etc. Some decks got off the ship super early. Other decks (the lower ones, I think) didn’t have to debark until nearly 9am. They want you out of your room by 8am. We had a feeling this would mean that the buffet would be nuts, so we swiped some bananas and muffins the day before and ate those as breakfast to tide us over. It was the smartest choice we ever made. (Room service is never available on debarkation day.)

 

All lines have the rule of “leave your luggage out at night before you disembark”. I shouldn’t have to type this, but if you are new to cruising please set out an outfit to wear the following day and keep all medications and important documents on you. I would love to place bets on how many people wear their pajamas down the hall in the morning or frantically call the front desk hoping to retrieve their luggage from the cruise terminal down below. I’d drop a good $50 that it happens to more than a few people on every cruise.

 

There is a perforated tip at the end of the colored luggage tag. Tear it off and hang onto it. They say you’ll need it to debark but nobody ever asked for our tag tip for “proof”. We could’ve grabbed our luggage and used that coach as a free ride to London for all we knew by casually walking with the crowd.

 

Everyone is assigned to sit with others of that color/number in certain dining rooms at certain times. In our case, I think we had to be in the Island Dining Room at 8:30am. We got there and only had to sit for 5 minutes before they called “GREEN 2” and before we knew it, we were on our way alongside 40 others as they led us off the ship (insert sobbing noise here) and into the Southampton terminal where your luggage was nicely separated by color. We headed to the “GREEN” area and found our suitcases and rolled them out to the coach that was waiting for us alongside many, many other coaches. Each coach has a paper in the window that clearly marks which coach is for which color/number.

 

If you are taking care of your own post-cruise transportation, you will be in a color-coded area with others doing the same. If you have booked a Stonehenge/Bath tour, you will be in a color-coded area as well with the folks on your bus doing just that. I don’t remember the ship ever feeling “busy” on that last day. It wasn’t mayhem at all. For those who want to “self-disembark”, you are free to do so at the should-be-illegal hour of 6am.

 

We crawled onto our bus and I noticed that it was quite new. Nice seats with leather trim, modern lights, sound system and intercom buttons overhead similar to an airplane, and a bathroom in the back. The driver announced that it would be a 2-hour ride into London and he hoped there wouldn’t be much traffic.

 

“Psshh…..whatever. Two hours? That’s way overblown. It’s not two hours into London on a Thursday at 9am. We’ll be there in ninety minutes!” I scoffed.

 

It took two hours. On the dot.

 

Good thing I packed that snack bag!

 

Here is the fork-in-the-road part of the trip report finale’. I don’t know quite what to write about at this point because not everyone is going to London post-cruise. So I suppose I’ll talk about a few London tips:

Victoria train station and Victoria coach station are two different buildings. They are near each other, but luckily do not share one roof which is probably a good thing because Victoria train station alone is as busy as the center of Times Square. For those taking the bus from the ship back to Victoria Coach station in London, you will be dropped off at the Arrivals area of the coach station. From here, you are free to take a train, Tube or bus elsewhere, or explore London for awhile.

 

In our case, we had 2 days left to kill, so we wanted to see London. I booked a basic room at the Park Plaza Victoria and it was the most wonderful hotel ever. I highly, highly, highly recommend it! It is right next to Victoria Station (rail, Tube and coach) and we later learned Is central to lots of sights.

 

After dropping our bags off in the room, we looked at the map and realized that we should simply walk around and get our bearings. I knew we had to get a Travel Card if need be to ride the Tube should anything be far away.

 

It was pouring rain, mind you. But we didn’t care. This was London. It rains all the darn time. This was part of the ambience. We trekked outside and learned that the streets of London are much narrower than we thought, which meant that everything on the map was closer than we imagined. Within the hour, we had taken a tour inside Westminster Abbey and viewed Parliament and Big Ben. I’ll never forget the moment I looked up from my umbrella and saw the giant clock above me. It will forever be etched into my memory.

 

 

I had done it. I had created this vacation and here I am, at the foot of Big Ben in the rain, and it was glorious.

 

The rain continued and so did we. We fell in love with Pret A Manger, something we don’t have in California but need oh so much. It is the most brilliant invention of a store, ever. We refueled with a hot BBQ pork sandwich, diet soda, crisps and carrot cake and had all the energy in the world to take on the city. We went back to the room, took off our soaked jeans, socks and shoes and changed into dry outfits.

 

The rain had stopped. This was our moment! We ran all around the Westminster area. We saw Buckingham Palace (in shambles 48 hour after the Jubilee), The Mall, Admiralty Arch, Trafalgar Square and The National Gallery.

 

It was stunning. I was in love. Badly.

 

 

I spent the evening in the hotel watching BBC news. I loved everything about Britain. LOVED it. I marveled at their dry humor, their bluntness, their overly-cheery commercials. Everyone was so nice. The food was good. The city was so extremely pedestrian friendly. The cars stopped for you at crosswalks. Everyone said “cheers”. I was sold.

 

Around midnight, some team must have won some game because there was cheering and reveling in the streets. And like that – it was quiet again except for a random police siren driving by letting you know that you were in the heart of a big city.

 

The next morning, it was raining again but the cheery folks on BBC said it would clear up later. Luckily, it did. Mike and I had pre-purchased tickets for “The Original London Tour” HOHO bus plus tickets to The Tower of London. I am so glad we chose this particular bus company. We did the T1 line which stops at the major sights and has a live driver. It was a brilliant choice because the driver was able to warn us about traffic up ahead (we never encountered traffic at any other point of the ride) and by knowing this, we were able to get off the bus before hitting traffic in The City.

 

The views up top are great. It is open air which is wonderful as far as photography goes. No flashes in the window reflections! Apparently it was slow that day because we had nearly the entire top of the bus to ourselves. We were able to see Big Ben, Parliament, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, Royal Mews, London Eye, St. Paul’s Cathedral and The City with lots of great views in between. The bus is very zippy which I loved. It didn’t lag on in traffic that day. Mike was glued to the camcorder the entire time. We got off at St. Paul’s Cathedral and ate at “Ye Olde London Pub” which was (seemingly) authentic and excellent. We couldn’t go to London and not eat bangers & mash and fish & chips!

 

 

I really wanted to eat at the Sherlock Holmes pub or Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese but we didn’t have enough time and honestly forgot about where they were on the map. After lunch, we walked from St. Paul’s Cathedral across the London Bridge, alongside the Thames and some awesome outdoor shops and restaurants, up to the Tower Bridge, across the Tower Bridge, and over to the Tower of London. I could not get over how WALKABLE the city is. We hadn’t even used the Tube yet!

 

The Tower Bridge is simply stunning. Alongside Big Ben, it is the quintessential “Ohmygod I’m in London” moment. And having watched all of the Jubliee festivities on the ship, it made me appreciate it even more. The architecture is gorgeous and the bridge is truly as beautiful in person as it is in photos.

 

From there, we visited the Tower of London which was very amusing and fun. I didn’t see any Beefeater tours going on, but I did get my chance to take a photo with one. The weather was part drizzle and part sun. As mentioned earlier, the “four seasons in a day” theory is absolutely true.

 

We caught the 5:20pm Thames River Cruise which was included in our HOHO Original Tour bus tickets. It’s a great way to get from the far eastern edge where the Tower of London is , all the way back to the start, where Big Ben is. I say “all the way” as if it’s a long journey. I’m sure its 1-2 miles, max. The guy giving the live commentary on the river cruise did a great job. I would hate to repeat the same stories 50 times a day but he was quite funny! The sun stayed out and cast a beautiful light onto the river and city.

I couldn’t believe that we hadn’t ridden the Tube anywhere. We had walked nearly half the city on our own and took the HOHO and cruise for the other half. We HAD to ride the Tube! So we purchased tickets and rode it from Westminster to Victoria. A whole two stops. But hey, we did it. And no, there was no announcement saying “Mind The Gap!” Darn.

 

 

We spent our last night packing, once again. It was the first time ever in my life that I was sad to leave a vacation. On other trips, I have been thankful for seeing beautiful islands, crystal clear waters, white sandy beaches, or amazing geography. But this city was hard to leave. I was enthralled and in love with the black cabs, the accents, the streets, the buildings, the monuments, the history, the culture, the way of life. I was ready to give my 2-week’s notice via postcard and stay in London.

 

 

However, we had friends, family, jobs, and a beagle to get home to. And after a good nights sleep, we were ready to tackle the long flight home on Saturday, June 9th. The process heading westward couldn’t have gone more flawlessly:

 

The hotel hailed a cab which arrived seconds later. The cab ride took a whopping 10 minutes to Paddington Station. I pre-bought Heathrow Express tickets which I highly recommend as it was fantastic. The train was sitting there at the station, doors open, ready to go on Platforms 6 & 7. The seats were comfortable, the car was quiet, there was free WiFi and television, and we were at Terminal 3 only fifteen minutes after departing Paddington.

 

Heathrow was well laid out. Security was enforced but all officers were cheery and friendly. The employee at the American Airlines ticket counter had a vacation home only 2 hours away from us and we chatted about Southern California. The flight was on time. And T3 at Heathrow, by the way, basically looks like the inside of a Nordstrom’s department store with airline gates. Want to buy some perfume? How about a $300 scarf? What about expensive chocolates? Or a leather briefcase? Heathrow has it all. Incredible!

 

The 10-hour flight to Dallas was uneventful. We tried to sleep but failed. We watched TV shows and movies on the shared screens on the plane. We stretched our legs. It was nice still hearing the British accent on the flight home - a lingering reminder of the best vacation we’ve ever had.

 

Once on the ground in Dallas, our flight's passengers dispersed and we were hit in the face with Americana all over again: tank tops, flip flops, the Southern accent, Budweiser shirts, cowboy boots and restaurants in the terminal with fried chicken and chocolate shakes. Yep, hello America.

 

We ate lunch at TGI Fridays and I marveled at how large our portions are. I chuckled at how giant the plastic cup of Diet Coke was. It brought back memories of the day before when we had such a tiny glass with only 4 ice cubes. Mike took advantage of the free refills over and over. We ordered salads and I remembered how it was only yesterday that we did the same at a restaurant in London and learned that they don’t really have multiple salad dressings there – just vinaigrette.

 

Over at the bar, women chatted while waiting for flights. One lady had a camouflage hat on. It made me proud to still be American and proud of our troops, especially being in the South at the moment. When we left, a lady in a nearby gift shop commented on my hooded “London, England” sweatshirt. She must have thought we were from London. I laughed it off and said we were on our way home to Cali.

 

Four hours later, our half-empty flight back to California boarded. It was getting dark and the sun was nearly set on the far edge of the runway. I checked my watch and noticed that it would have been 4am in London. My eyes grew droopy and I fell asleep for the first time on an airplane as we hopped across a few states into Sothern California. Arriving late at night and the temperature being so hot was a wake-up call. So was driving on the right side of the road!

 

Like any amazing experience in life such as a graduation, wedding, or birth of a child, I wanted to remember this vacation. As a kid, we never traveled outside the state, so for me to break out of my shell and coordinate this giant trip was a huge step for me. If someone told me that I’d be visiting 4 countries in 2 weeks, I never would have believed them. I went from hating flying to flying nearly 12 hours each way with zero problems.

 

There were too many stories to tell. Too many pictures to upload. I didn’t even know where to start when people would ask, “How was your trip?”

 

So I wrote this report.

 

It has been of immense fun putting together this trip report over the last six days. Never in my wildest dreams did I think it would reach 12,268 views! I simply wanted to write a trip report because nobody really wrote one in the past to this extent about the British Isles (that I could find), and a lot of us had so many questions. I also wanted to shed light onto an itinerary that doesn’t get much love. If one person out there is able to have a smoothly executed British Isles cruise because of something myself or others on Cruise Critic have typed, that makes me happy.

 

This forum is so brilliant. To think that strangers from all over the world can come together with a common hobby or a common trip and learn from each other and go on to meet each other is so amazing. Cruising may get a bad rap for being catered to the “Newlywed or Nearly Dead”, but how else would I be able to see so many fascinating ports with such ease? Where else can you open your curtains in the morning to a different part of the world? Where else can you eat a 4-course meal every night for free, or watch theater shows just steps from your room?

 

For those of you who are interested in taking a British Isles cruise in the future – do it. It’s such a rare and well put together itinerary and nobody else can touch it right now except Princess. You’ll see unspoiled countryside, the way it was meant to look. You’ll see charm and culture and people who are proud of their history. There's something for every age group.

 

This was our sixth cruise and it was our best cruise. This was made up of a combination of things: itinerary, service of the Princess staff, dining room food, and value for your money. I would do it again in a heartbeat.

 

Thank you so much for reading this report. I hope you have found it to be helpful, insightful, amusing, or just plain obsessive as I have! I know there has to be others out there like me that crave information and perhaps there's a nugget or two in one of these chapters that aids you on your trip.

 

I’m always around, so if you have any questions about any part of this trip, feel free to e-mail me. I love to help!

 

Alas, it is 1am and I must hit the hay as I have work tomorrow. Work, you know, that place that pays me so that I can go on another cruise…..

 

 

To view all my London photos, you can visit:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.4069618586361.2168221.1459238567&type=3&l=5149112b46

 

To view ship pics and all of England: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.4050564310016.2167789.1459238567&type=3&l=9d7a299327

 

To view all of Ireland: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.4051161564947.2167803.1459238567&type=3&l=357c6bb250

 

To view all of Scotland: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.4057411241185.2167946.1459238567&type=3&l=49acf310c4

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next Chapter = I don’t know, what is the next chapter? That’s the best part. ;)

[sasmisjas]

Once again Emily, Thank you, thank you for keeping me enthralled and for all your hard work. Not long now until I board the Caribbean Princess and start my own adventure. Yvonne

[catsforkids]

Emily - thanks again for the most entertaining travelogue I have ever read! Loved all your pictures & so appreciated the Google directions on how to get to the train in Edinburgh! That will be so helpful next year!

 

And for all the helpful hints. Thanks so much!

[liverpoollad]

Emily, I agree with others that your travelogue is the best I have read on CC it is truly outstanding.

 

I also thank you for your wonderful review on Liverpool, I am ex Liverpool & live on the other side of the water on Wirral peninsular.( opposite from where you docked).

Scousers as we are called by the rest of the UK are as you say are very passionate about their City & I admit as an old man, reading your review brought tears to my eyes, as I am so proud of what said about our City.

 

If you had stayed longer you would also have found the wit of the scousers, because although famous for the Mersey Sound (the Beatles etc.,)we are renowned as the City of comedians.

 

I hope you don't mind me pointing this out, but on looking at your photos, you have named two of the photos as Cunard Buildings, these are The Mersey Docks & Harbour board the Cunard Buildings is the middle one of the "Three Graces".

 

Once again thank you so much for your wonderful reports.

[azrose]

Emily:

 

Thank you again for your inspiring review! I have painstakingly copied and pasted your entire review into a word document and you have now become a "tab" in my 3-ringed binder!! :D I can hardly wait until next year and our British Isles cruise!

[JanetAlice]

Thanks again Emily. Hey Princess I'm sure you're reading this thread. Hire her!

 

BTW did you see the British Isles video I posted last year?

[two hoots]

I have enjoyed your cruise review and hope you will be writing another very soon, please say you have another cruise booked for your worldwide fans :D

 

Karen

[Triport]

Enjoying your post. We are leaving Aug 1st for this same itinerary. I was wondering, why they would need to take your passport for a few days??? That makes me a bit uncomfortable. I don't like to be without it when traveling.

[Saruman]

Sigh! As an incurable Anglophobe, I read your marathon review(s) with great pleasure, especially the UK portions. Have to agree with you about London and Edinburgh being amazing. Now, you have to seriously consider seeing more of the inside of the UK, not just the ports and cities. Hire (rent) a car at the airport...any airport...and just take off into the heartland! There is so much to see beyond the major cities and, once you get over being on the left side of the road, driving is quite fun! It allows you access to the small villages, castles, abbeys, great houses and real village pubs! We've toured the entire island from Penzance to the Orkney Islands many times and long to return before I am too old to hire a car. (They don't trust us much after 70!) The cities are grand, but it hardly breaks the surface of a beautiful and fascinating trio of countries. Driving into Scotland and Wales isn't much harder than driving from CA to WA, after all. And the English, Scottish and Welsh are a friendly and welcoming bunch, as long as you don't wave your flag in their faces and constantly compare their country with your own. Most of the people we have met and gotten to know are pleased to hear how much we love their country, and you sound like someone they would appreciate as a guest! Hope you consider this. It really is do-able!! Thanks again for the review! Cheers!

Edited June 19, 2012 by Saruman

[OhioDogLover]

Terrific review. Enjoyed it all.

Ohiodoglover

[JanetAlice]

Enjoying your post. We are leaving Aug 1st for this same itinerary. I was wondering, why they would need to take your passport for a few days??? That makes me a bit uncomfortable. I don't like to be without it when traveling.

 

Passports are often collected on a cruise as they have to show them to local authorities. I wouldn't worry about it.

[4774Papa]

Interesting reviews and funny, but little or no details on the sites.

[WhereIBelong]

Emily,

 

Thanks for the offer to send your posts to me. I'll take them anyway you can send them. I laughed out loud at your assessment of LaHavre....

[4774Papa]

Sorry, I just noticed you broke up your review in to separate posts. Good work.

[JeffandMelissa]

Enjoying your post. We are leaving Aug 1st for this same itinerary. I was wondering, why they would need to take your passport for a few days??? That makes me a bit uncomfortable. I don't like to be without it when traveling.

 

Triport - as JanetAlice mentioned, passports are often collected. As Emily mentioned, they were collected upon check-in and given back after Dublin. We were told that the Ireland authorities needed to review them.

 

I thought I would post with a suggestion. Jeff and I have colored copies of the primary page, which we had laminated at an office supply store. While our passports were with the purser, the laminated copies went with us in our money belts. Our passports stay in the safe (or with the purser in this case).

 

I thought I should mention one thing for others reading this review. As with Emily, I hope this helps as it caused Jeff and I a bit of alarm.

If your intention is to disembark the ship at Le Harve, you will not get your passport back after Dublin. The purser will keep it and the French authorities need to review it. Unfortunately, this was not communicated well to us...so when the room steward was delivering passports after Dublin, she asked if we had our passports already..."uh, no". She didn't know where they were....we didn't think highly of that...but our room steward wasn't very with it at all. Anyway, off to the pursers desk right away, who told us that our passports were being retained for the French authorities and we will have instructions on when to pick them up the day before reaching Le Havre.

 

So in Liverpool, Northern Ireland and Scotland, as we usually do on any intinerary, we carried around our laminated copies in our money belts. The yellow tags that Emily spoke of...they were in the safe.

 

We ended up picking our passports up the morning of disembarkation at the Crown Grill, and then proceeded off the ship in Le Harve.

 

Hi back, Emily and Mike! Ultimate Ships Tour...tons of fun!

 

Melissa

[bobalink]

What a wonderful review!

 

Your creative and humorous style of writing with the great photos has provided helpful information. We are planning to do this same itinerary next year, so I have copied this thread and put it in my binder.

 

This quote from Pat Conroy is one of my favorites...

Once you have traveled, the voyage never ends, but is played out over and over again in the quietest chambers. The mind can never break off from the journey.

 

Thanks for taking us along on your journey!

[loma linda ca a & j]

almost as sad as you were to depart from london, we are to finish your review ! :o

 

i am advising everyone on our BI cruises next year to study this thoroughly - wish you could join ours !!!;)

 

you said you would be happy to help even one person,

it would not surprise me to know that hundreds of travelers will be

inspired, encouraged, and aided in soooo many ways

by reading your fantastic amazing travelogue !!:)

 

ann & jim in so calif

Edited June 19, 2012 by loma linda ca a & j
insert more

[Loonbeam]

Captain Manfuso is one of my favorites. We had him when we did the UST on the Coral, I think we were in his ready room for about an hour or more.

 

 

 

and a bucket-list moment for Mike and I as we soaked up as much alone time with Captain Manfuso as possible.

[traveler525]

Thanks Emily! We'll be doing this cruise in August and your report has helped me with the oh gosh I cannot wait part:)

[caripoo]

LOVE,LOVE, LOVE this review...We are doing this trip in August for the Tattoo..:p:p

[Grammyluvs]

Thanks Emily. Loved your humor, pictures and honest assessment. Will miss visiting with you thru your post. Hope you have already planned another wonderful cruise. I found it helps with post cruise depression. LOL

[nostalgiaguru]

*grabs Kleenex*

*dabs eyes*

 

Disembarkation (boo…hiss…) and Two Days in London (hurray!):

 

 

 

Next Chapter = I don’t know, what is the next chapter? That’s the best part. ;)

 

What, you didn't have them mush your peas?!

 

Let me say this as one of your virtual travel buddies before the trip who met you later - Kim and I were blessed to have met you and Mike, to have made use of your valuable information, especially at Inverness/Loch Ness, and to have spent a little time together. Your travelogue is top notch, as are you guys. Thanks so much for putting this together for us to enjoy - it will help us re-live it forever, and help remind us of the many new friends we made.

 

And, I will definitely be looking for more summaries in the future from you -- even if we are not fortunate enough to share them with you physically, we will definitely take part "virtually".

 

Greg Collins

Edited June 19, 2012 by nostalgiaguru