“Live From:” Z and TB’s Magical Mystery Tour of the British Isles

[ronrick1943]

Glad you got to London safe, sounds like the flight was good and you'll enjoy London.  Looking forward to your posting on the cruise-enjoy!

[flossie009]

@Zqueeze1,

Welcome to London   🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🇬🇧🇪🇺

Hope your transfer to Southampton tomorrow is more efficient than your car from Heathrow yesterday.

Looking at your itinerary, make sure you have Google Translate ready for Thursday 😉 (apologies to all Geordies).

 

Will be interested to hear what was spruced up on Navigator during the short refurbishment as we are back on board in about a month. She certainly wasn't looking too shabby when we were on board in March  🙂 

 

[HotRoot]

On ‎6‎/‎15‎/‎2019 at 9:52 AM, Sheltieluv said:

Z and TB,  please do me a favor and see if our favorite waiter, Mario, is still on board the Navigator.  Thank you, and have a wonderful trip!  This itinerary is a serious contender for one of our future cruises.  Have fun!

 

Mario should be there.  He was doing the drydock.

[Zqueeze1]

On 6/16/2019 at 10:44 AM, forgap said:

Just a tidbit about two prong plugs.  On a recent trip I discovered that if you insert the one prong Bose plug halfway into the two prong receptacle, you get sound to both ears. I’m not sure if this was an anomaly or if this is a workable hack each time, but it worked for me as I had forgotten the two prong adapter.  

I actually plugged in two different ear buds to see if I could replicate the two proved Bose system, but the audio still came out mono. 

Z and TB

[Zqueeze1]

On 6/16/2019 at 12:06 PM, Hambagahle said:

Those seats didn't look good to me -  was that the First class??   Didn't seem to be much room in them but then perhaps that was the camera angle.

 

We hate to fly on US carriers - service is appalling and food is hit or miss.   (Looks from the photo that this food would be better to be missed...).    Next cruise though we have a short flight (SJC/SAN) on Alaska.  In 1st class but I am not expecting anything...just hope we land in one piece in San Diego!

Hammie:  the seat itself was very roomy and gave one a feeling of total privacy. It was very comfortable and cozy. In contrast, I was not happy with service.l nor the meal. On the other hand, although, I was a night owl on my next flight, I service was excellent, breakfast was great, and I spent over an hour talking with the flight attendants. U.S. air carriers seem to be much better on international flights. 

Z and TB

[Zqueeze1]

1 hour ago, flossie009 said:

@Zqueeze1,

Welcome to London   🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🇬🇧🇪🇺

Hope your transfer to Southampton tomorrow is more efficient than your car from Heathrow yesterday.

Looking at your itinerary, make sure you have Google Translate ready for Thursday 😉 (apologies to all Geordies).

 

Will be interested to hear what was spruced up on Navigator during the short refurbishment as we are back on board in about a month. She certainly wasn't looking too shabby when we were on board in March  🙂 

 

Oh gosh, they may need Google translate to understand me. I’m a  Newyorican who has been accused of being a talking machine by my wife. I could probably sell the Pope dope given enough talk time.  Our oldest daughter is nicknamed Dino as in the family pet in the Flintstones cartoon because after a couple of drinks, she is a world class yakker:

This is is my oldest baby, Dino,  on a recent trip to Germany. She is a beautiful German-Sicilian- Puerto Rican with “sea green” eyes.

 

Z and TB

[Zqueeze1]

Ronrick:  thanks. We are loving London all bough our feet are feel as if they are on fire from walking. 

[Hambagahle]

22 minutes ago, Zqueeze1 said:

Hammie:  the seat itself was very roomy and gave one a feeling of total privacy. It was very comfortable and cozy. In contrast, I was not happy with service.l nor the meal. On the other hand, although, I was a night owl on my next flight, I service was excellent, breakfast was great, and I spent over an hour talking with the flight attendants. U.S. air carriers seem to be much better on international flights. 

Z and TB

Which is why we will not fly them on US domestic flights and on international flights we have more choice anyway...

Anyway - that said - great you got to London on schedule (in "local speak" shhedule...) and I can't wait to hear more about the cruise and the Navigator.  Your photos and reports are always great!  (Merci d'avance...)

 

[Mudhen]

Maybe I missed it, but can you tell us what hotel you're staying at in London?

Sounds like the good times are rolling!

Keep calm (haha!) and carry on!

[hockeyken]

She looks just like you, with that beer stein attached to her lip.

 

I can vouch for the "no" pajamas. Our esteemed friend Le Grande Z, had an accidental mishap one night when he crawled out of bed to answer nature"s call in his BirthDay suit,  and bumped the automatic door opener revealing Mr.Dinky in all his glory to anyone passing in the hallway ( aboard Brilliance OTS ). What kind of cabin has an auto opener you ask ? Why a handicapped cabin of course....just a co-incidence : I think not.

 

By the way, Z hides his rum in his sock & underwear drawer😝🍸

 

K

[Travelcat2]

2 hours ago, hockeyken said:

She looks just like you, with that beer stein attached to her lip.

 

I can vouch for the "no" pajamas. Our esteemed friend Le Grande Z, had an accidental mishap one night when he crawled out of bed to answer nature"s call in his BirthDay suit,  and bumped the automatic door opener revealing Mr.Dinky in all his glory to anyone passing in the hallway ( aboard Brilliance OTS ). What kind of cabin has an auto opener you ask ? Why a handicapped cabin of course....just a co-incidence : I think not.

 

By the way, Z hides his rum in his sock & underwear drawer😝🍸

 

K

 

This may be the best post that I have ever seen on CC.  Wish that you had a camera!

 

Please don't tell "Z" that we adore him and Pam because it would definitely go to his head and the next time he sees us he would likely suspect that we are asking for his autograph.😂

[Zqueeze1]

10 hours ago, Hambagahle said:

Which is why we will not fly them on US domestic flights and on international flights we have more choice anyway...

Anyway - that said - great you got to London on schedule (in "local speak" shhedule...) and I can't wait to hear more about the cruise and the Navigator.  Your photos and reports are always great!  (Merci d'avance...)

 

Mom Cheri ami, c’est mon plaisir

6 hours ago, hockeyken said:

She looks just like you, with that beer stein attached to her lip.

 

I can vouch for the "no" pajamas. Our esteemed friend Le Grande Z, had an accidental mishap one night when he crawled out of bed to answer nature"s call in his BirthDay suit,  and bumped the automatic door opener revealing Mr.Dinky in all his glory to anyone passing in the hallway ( aboard Brilliance OTS ). What kind of cabin has an auto opener you ask ? Why a handicapped cabin of course....just a co-incidence : I think not.

 

By the way, Z hides his rum in his sock & underwear drawer😝🍸

 

K

It’s a true story and to make it worse an older couple just happened to walk right in front of my door and caught me at my best. 

Z and TB

[Zqueeze1]

10 hours ago, Mudhen said:

Maybe I missed it, but can you tell us what hotel you're staying at in London?

Sounds like the good times are rolling!

Keep calm (haha!) and carry on!

Oops, I don’t think I mentioned it. It’s the Royal Garden Hotel in Kensington. It’s located at the southwest corner of Kensington Gardens. Very nice place with excellent, old world service. 

Z and TB

[Zqueeze1]

What a day!  The weather was perfect in the mid sixties, mostly sunny, and breezy with hardly any humidity. 

We had a great buffet breakfast at our hotel, then took a cab to Westminster Abbey. Love the cabs here. 

The Abbey is just beautiful and we had a wonderful tour detailing all the great historical figures and artists who are buried there. I focused on seeing the burial places of Charles Dickens, Winston Churchill, and the Unknown Soldier.  The architecture is breathtaking with intricate designs. 

Our plan for today was to walk past the central highlights then force march back to the hotel. So, we headed east from the Abbey and saw the statues in front of Parliament,

Then proceeded to cross the Thames river with a view of parliament which is under renovation and the London Eye:

We then decided to start walking back towards the hotel and have a late lunch. As we recrossed the river, we saw a charming scene of a gentleman playing bagpipes

And, of course, Pam had to do the tourist thing and pose in front of a phone booth. 

To be continued

[Zqueeze1]

As we headed west, we walked past Buckingham Palace 

then walked on Constitution Road towards Wellington Arch 

and past several of the war memorials. At this time, The Boss declares that she would not take another step without a break. So we sat on a bench and watched the world go by enjoying this wonderful weather. She has had surgery on both her feet as a result of spending so many hours on them as a nurse. After a while, we crossed a tunnel and popped out in Kensington Gardens where we walked the entire length to our hotel. 

This walk was a highlight among many on this day. Just like yesterday, the park was full of folks enjoying the weather. 

We decided to go back to the Britannia pub where we had lunch yesterday since it was excellent. It is about ten minutes past the hotel and all Pam could think of was “more walking.”  Anyways, one pint later, we had fish and chips 

And steak and ale pie with root mash and kale. 

We decided that a little dessert was needed so we walked back to a pub across the street from our hotel where  The Boss had three scoops of ice cream and I had a couple of pints of Guinness before heading back.

We were back at the hotel by about 1630 and Madame went to bed at 1800 where she still is as of 0730 today. She amazes me with her ability to sleep and lack of circadian rhythm.  I’ve been up since o dark thirty being tortured by the change in time zones and this damned bed that was built for Torquemada to torture infidels and blasphemers. This bed is hard as a rock. It’s like sleeping on the hard ground and has left me sore all over. 

Quick side note regarding double decker buses like this one:

We were in London several years ago and The Boss had half a pint of Stella Artois beer with lunch.  We hopped onto the top deck of a hop on and hop off bus where she proceeded to pass out (she claims the beer made her groggy) on my shoulder amid all the city noises and the wail of the tour guide.  She was so out of it, that I kept waving over other riders to take a pic of the sleeping tourist.  I bet you that to this day there are folks all over the world that crack a smile when they run into pics of my gal fast asleep on a tour bus. 

Today’s number of steps:  17020. 

Z and TB

[Zqueeze1]

I hope that I am not writing too much, but I am stuck at the hotel restaurant waiting on The Boss to make her presence. I am on my sixth coffee cup and will probably have a couple more before she shows up all bright eyed and bushy tailed. 

Today is the big day we’ve been planning for so long. It is another beautiful, sunny morning and I plan to get in an hour walk before checking out. We are departing for Southampton at 1100 via a car service.  We were recently notified by Regent that boarding time was changed to 1400 which immediately raises one important question: what about lunch?  Will they be serving it this late in the day?  Please don’t let me go to option B, liquid pork chops. 

Being retired military, we were taught to plan everything then throw it out the minute action starts. Therefore, here is a layout of our cruise plans:

Notice the tabs on top. Yeap, Uncle Sam taught us military guys to plan well.  If you are wondering what is our itinerary, this is it, along with our tours. 

Anyways, I hope to give a thorough description of changes/upgrades to the Nav after her dry dock and will pass on names of crew we run into. I can’t think of anything else, but please feel free to ask questions and we will try our best to answer them. 

Z and TB

[Floridiana]

Very funny! Does your BOSS read what you are writing? I would kill my husband, not literally of course. We are going to do a similar itinerary on a different ship in 2020.

[Mudhen]

1 hour ago, Floridiana said:

Very funny! Does your BOSS read what you are writing? I would kill my husband, not literally of course. We are going to do a similar itinerary on a different ship in 2020.

" not literally..." Are you kidding...can you spell murder? dismemberment? 5 hours of the shopping channel? (giggle!)?

It sounds like you kids are having a wonderful time...most beautiful weather!

Looking forward to all the details of the Navigator....she seems to have itineraries that appeal to us for next year....or your basic route around GB on the Explorer....

Keep us posted on your adventures...so enjoying the read!!

[LynnRuns]

Z, your plan looks exactly like mine! My family used to laugh at me when I would put together a workbook for the trip. Now my DH expects a spreadsheet and tells all of my friends to borrow my workbook when they are planning a big trip!

Looks like a great start. Enjoy the rest of your journey.

 

 

[Hambagahle]

9 hours ago, Zqueeze1 said:

Oops, I don’t think I mentioned it. It’s the Royal Garden Hotel in Kensington. It’s located at the southwest corner of Kensington Gardens. Very nice place with excellent, old world service. 

Z and TB

Stayed there a long time ago and loved it.   Great location and good service and food.  Good to hear it hasn't changed...

 

Edited June 18, 2019 by Hambagahle

[UUNetBill]

I am going to love this thread.  Every.  Single.  Post.

 

Thanks for taking the time to do this - I love the pics and commentary.  Your antics are exactly what I'd do to my wife, although I couldn't get away with posting half of it, I don't think.  Is that a military thing?  Who knows??

 

Have a great cruise and post when you can - I appreciate the chuckles when I ca read these at work.   

[RJ2002]

Zqueeze1, you guys are off to a terrific start, and you're not even onboard yet!  Wonderful pictures and narrative.  

 

Looking forward to your first impressions of the Navigator after her short refurb.

 

Enjoy the rest of your day and evening.

[ronrick1943]

Well your going to have a great trip.  However I thought I planned for our trips---I'm thinking you have too much time on your hands, looks good but😁WOW.  I understand the feet think, Ron's was an RN before retirement.  And your "not" writing too much, you have a great way of telling your story.  Looking forward to reading more---think you'll be OK for lunch.

[JC in CA]

7 hours ago, Zqueeze1 said:

I hope that I am not writing too much,

Absolutely not!  I am loving your posts!  We will be embarking on our 1st Regent Cruise in the fall, and I've been enjoying reading all about everyone's Regent experiences.  Thank you for taking the time to post all about your travels.

[hockeyken]

10 hours ago, Zqueeze1 said:

Mom Cheri ami, c’est mon plaisir

It’s a true story and to make it worse an older couple just happened to walk right in front of my door and caught me at my best. 

Z and TB

 

Indeed, the senior lady in question said to her husband " look, it"s a gerbil. "

 

K