Live - Emerald Princess - July 8-20 British Isles

[Tiki_Koro]

Day Three in London

 

We had our first major hiccup this morning, which I will get to in a moment. After breakfast at the hotel (with no further mention of the bathroom leaking), we headed out for King’s Cross Station in search of Platform 9 ¾. With all of the Harry Potter hype, a photo opportunity has been created for kids and kids-at-heart to pose like they are running into the wall of Platform 9 ¾. The line was long, so we did not wait to get a photo, but next to it is a gift shop selling Harry Potter souvenirs. We live in Orlando and have annual passes to Universal Orlando, so most of the merchandise was familiar to us as being the same as what is sold at the theme park. We found a few items that were created just for the London store, including a bottled butter beer. I bought it to see how it compared to the Universal beverage, and it was pretty gross! It tasted like cream soda with a sour finish; not at all like the magical elixir that put Universal’s Wizarding World of Harry Potter on the map!

 

 

 

 

Then, my mother came down ill and needed to return to the hotel. She does not travel well and typically suffers with minor sickness whenever we go someplace unfamiliar. We caught a taxi back to our room and decided to let her stay and rest while we continued our plans for the morning and afternoon. Our morning plan was to tour the British Museum, but we decided to skip that in order to keep the rest of our plans. Fortunately, the British Museum is a free sight, so we were not out any money from prebooking. My parents and I had already seen it on our last trip, so my brother really was the only one to miss out. I’ll have to bring him back another time!

 

We picked up with our plan to do the Rick Steves audio tour of Historic London: The City. This tour goes down The Strand and Fleet Street, covering Elizabethan London (Shakespeare) and rebuilding after the Great Fire of 1666. Rick Steves recommends 3 hours to complete the tour, including a stop inside St. Paul’s Cathedral, but we did it in less than that, just over 2 hours including lunch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Along the tour, we stopped to shop at Twining’s Tea Shop and lunch at the Punch Tavern. We intended to eat at Ye Olde Chesire Cheese, a pub that predates the Great Fire and was frequented by Charles Dickens, Samuel Johnson, G.K. Chesterton, and also Mark Twain and Walt Disney when they visited London. I used to go to Cheshire Cheese all the time, but post-COVID they stopped serving food in the cellar. We could not get a table in the Chop Room, so we went to Punch instead, which is named because it was the regular haunt of the Punch political satire newspaper staff. This tour is another must-do if you want to understand the history of London.

 

 

 

 

Next, we went to the Tower of London for the rest of the afternoon. There is a Summer Bloom festival going on in the outer grounds of the Tower through September that adds some extra beauty. There is an extra charge to walk through the blooms, but we could see them just fine from the outside as we walked to the main entrance. We spent about 90 minutes at the Tower and did the Medieval Palace, Imprisonment, and Crown Jewels audio tours. I wanted to show my brother the armory inside the White Tower, but we did not have the energy for any additional stair climbing. Also, we were anxious to return to the hotel and check in on my mother.

 

 

 

 

This is where the executions took place within the Tower. Not many executions happened inside the walls. Instead, most executions happened on Tower Hill located outside the Tower near the Tower Hill Underground Station. 

 

 

On Tower Hill is a memorial square commemorating where many were executed, including Saint Thomas More and Saint John Fisher. 

 

To our surprise, my mother was dressed for dinner and felt 100% better! Dinner this evening was a bit of an indulgence for my brother and me. We enjoy visiting authentic tiki bars of the mid-19^th century, and London has the oldest surviving Trader Vic’s restaurant at the Park Lane Hilton. All of the older American locations have since closed, and Trader Vic’s London was the first international location, which opened in 1963. For me, the tiki drinks are the main attraction, but the food was great, too. I even brought a special limited-edition aloha shirt to wear for the occasion made by California artist Jeff Granito. I was stopped by a gentleman in the bar who asked if my shirt was a Granito! Nice to see fellow tiki fans keeping the place going!

 

 

 

 

 

This concluded our London adventure, and we really maximized our time. We were blessed with absolutely beautiful sunny weather in the mid-60s to lower 70s. No jacket was ever required, and I could have used a few more short-sleeved shirts. Also, the sun did not set until after 9pm and rose before 5am, which threw us off a bit. I walked 59,907 steps and 24.6 miles total! This was a great way to begin the trip prior to relaxing on the cruise.

[Tiki_Koro]

On 7/4/2022 at 7:59 PM, High C's said:

Tiki - I have a big ask.  And please, only see if you can find the answer at the Purser's Desk when you have reasons of our own to be there.

 

Would you kindly ask them if they do testing on board for passengers who will disembark Emerald and board another Princess ship the next day (in our case the Enchanted).

 

Again, I do not want to put you out.  Just when you are at the Purser's desk 🙂

 

Many thanks and once again Bon Voyage!

 

I was told that you do not need to re-test if you are staying on the same ship, but you will for another ship.

 

On 7/5/2022 at 1:44 PM, rabin1 said:

Hello

Would you please see if you could find out what they are doing at the drydock in October.

Thank you and ENJOY YOUR CRUISE

KATHY

 

I was told that the time in drydock is for general refreshing the ship and deferred maintenance. While it did not detract from our enjoyment of the cruise, as many have noted the ship is in need of cleaning up (marks on the walls, carpets, painting, etc...). 

[Tiki_Koro]

On 7/11/2022 at 12:04 PM, nini said:

 

We were on the Emerald in May for the British Isles. The outside boasts a pretty rusty hull and very unpleasant to see. The inside appeared fairly well maintained. The cabins are showing wear and tear on the lamps (very scratched up) and the walls as well. Our balcony was in need of cleaning and maintenance but we loved our balcony anyway.

The only negative were the smokers from the promenade smoking area which is a new thing post covid and very upsetting when you book a corner aft balcony! The smoke floats everywhere!

Our sailing was at 2/3 capacity for both passengers and crew.

 

Regarding the condition of the ship, that was our experience, as well. The outside is still pretty rusty, but we saw crew members painting when we were at port. I did not notice any smoke while on our balcony (Baja 752), but I saw a crew member tucked away hiding outside on the 16th level sneaking a cigarette. 

 

On 7/11/2022 at 1:39 PM, Ken the cruiser said:

Here’s a trick I have learned with CC, if you are running into the issue of your new post with pictures disappearing when you hit Submit.

 

First, click on the page recycle button at the to of the screen to refresh the page. Then go to the bottom of your thread where your new post magically disappeared. Click on that empty space. Your missing post should reappear. If it doesn’t, get out of CC entirely, then restart CC, go to your thread, and then click on the “empty” space again. If your new post does not reappear this time, it’s gone and you have to start your new post over again. 
 

My guess is there is a secondary “hidden” CC buffer area you’re actually typing your new post into. If for example during the process of creating your new post, you leave CC to say edit a picture or two and then go back to your new CC post and start typing or downloading pictures, that link from the visible space you’re working in got “disconnected” from the hidden buffer space when you temporarily left your CC page. This has happened to me MANY times on my Live from the Regal thread I’m currently posting to. 😁

Hope this helps if you’re having similar issues. 
 

 

 

Thanks for the suggestion. I tried a few times, but I still could not get it to work. The best I could manage was posting pictures on my social media accounts, but I could not get videos to upload on social media, nor could I get posts on CC. 

 

On 7/11/2022 at 2:30 PM, Triptkr said:

Noooo!   Our stateroom is direct-facing-aft!   I'd forgotten about the smoking thing...

 

 

We had aft balconies (Baja 752 and 750), and we did not notice any smoking when on our balconies. 

 

On 7/11/2022 at 2:44 PM, nini said:

Sorry about that! We were on the corner on the Baja deck. We thought that would be "safe" as it was four decks up from the Promenade deck. There was cigarette smoke most of the time. Yuck!

 

That is a shame. We would not have liked that, either. 

 

On 7/11/2022 at 2:52 PM, Triptkr said:

Wow...we are on Emerald where I would imagine the smoke being worse than Baja.  

 

😆

 

On 7/13/2022 at 9:54 AM, Triptkr said:

Tiki_Koro,

Wondered if you would be able to tell me if the aft promenade is blocked off as an area for crew to smoke?

 

Thank you!

 

I did not check, but I did not notice smoke. 

 

On 7/13/2022 at 9:58 AM, High C's said:

Obviously accessing the internet from the Emerald is not great, based on the absence of the OP.  Too bad, as he seemed very excited to be doing a Live From, and it looked like it was going to be a great one!  @Tiki_Koro - if you are seeing this, I hope you and your family are having a wonderful cruise!

 

Thanks! I was very disappointed to not do a live report, but I worked on drafts as we went along hoping to find a way. 

 

On 7/13/2022 at 4:54 PM, BuckeyeMark said:

Just got off the Emerald (July 9) and we had a cabin on the starboard side way back towards the back ... and a couple of times we got whiffs of cigarette smoke.  Once it was pretty strong.

 

I noticed one time while walking down the halls that I smelled smoke, but that was inside. I figured someone was breaking the rules in their cabin. 

 

On 7/14/2022 at 1:17 AM, rabin1 said:

Hi

Would you please see if you can find out what is going to be done to Emerald in drydock in October

Thank you

Kathy

 

I was told general refresh and deferred maintenance.

 

On 7/14/2022 at 2:32 PM, geoherb said:

When I lived in London for seven months after college, I worked near Fortnum & Mason. A friend and I would go there for scones and tea a couple of afternoons each week. When we went back in 2017 for our British Isles cruise, going back to F&M was high on my list. It ended up being a disappointment. The service was not as good as it was 32 years before and the prices were much higher.

 

I hope you are having a great time and will fill us in when you get a good internet connection.

 

I will be trying new locations in the future. Such a shame, too, because my previous experiences before this trip were excellent. 

 

On 7/15/2022 at 12:29 AM, DougH said:

Great review so far. I'm on the Emerald later this year and am wondering where you are doing the pre cruise Covid testing? Do they do it on the pier and at what cost?

 

We brought our own tests, and it worked perfectly. All you need is an internet connection, and our London hotel WiFi was fine. https://www.emed.com/airline-travel

 

On 7/15/2022 at 7:04 AM, ohnonotmeagain said:

I prefer The Ritz for afternoon tea than F&M.

 

Great suggestion! I hope to try The Ritz next time. 

 

 

[Tiki_Koro]

On 7/16/2022 at 7:24 AM, MissP22 said:

Has the buffet returned to self service?

 

Yes. And the buffet was the only location where masks were enforced. On one morning, crew members were also requiring us to sanitize our hands as we entered the buffet. 

 

On 7/16/2022 at 7:28 PM, alibabacruisers said:

Has the Tiki_Koro finished the cruise?  It has been awhile since his last post.  I hope we hear about the conclusion.

 

We finished on Wednesday the 20th. Stay tuned!

 

On 7/17/2022 at 4:50 AM, Malleykatt said:

Emerald Princess in Queensferry  for Edinburgh today. Hope it's going ok. We're heading for a heatwave further south.

 

On 7/17/2022 at 4:59 AM, wowzz said:

Heatwave is probably an understatement!

 

We were outside in Normandy most of the day during the heatwave, and that was bearable. High was around 93 Fahrenheit. In Paris, it was around 106 Fahrenheit. I imagine it was very difficult being indoors in buildings with no air conditioning.

 

On 7/17/2022 at 3:31 PM, 1emerald1 said:

If you have the chance, could you please post a pic of the Officer's on board?

 

Sorry, I did not get that opportunity. 

 

On 7/17/2022 at 4:07 PM, rabin1 said:

Please would you try to find out what will be happening in the dry dock in October??

Thank you very much

 

I was told general refresh and deferred maintenance. 

 

19 hours ago, Billish said:

The UK heatwave lasted all of two days !

 

By the time we returned to Southampton and then Heathrow, the weather had cooled down to the mid-70s Fahrenheit. 

 

19 hours ago, junglejane said:

@Tiki_Koro As someone on the cruise now, who is flying out of Heathrow on disembarkation day 8/1, I’m nervously waiting to hear about your “harrowing experience.”

 

I may not get to that part of my report before you disembark, so I will spoil it a little for you in case you run into a similar situation. We received an email during the first week of the cruise from British Airways explaining that, due to restrictions at Heathrow, some of the BA flights were being canceled. According to the news, Heathrow is limiting the amount of travelers passing through to around 100,000. I imagine this is due to short-staffing, for part of our problem was a 2+ hour wait through security. Our flight was delayed because there was another plane booked for the same gate, and we had to wait for that plane to clear. If our flight had left on time, we would have missed it. BA does not allow travelers to check luggage until 3 hours prior to the flight, so going through security earlier was not an option unless we were not checking any luggage.

 

But, the worse problem we dealt with was I got bumped from the flight due to it being overbooked! I was on the same booking as my brother and in the same travel party as my parents, and yet I got bumped to standby and was told I likely would not get on the flight. The next flight was the following day, so I would have been put up in a hotel and flown out the next day. We were not given the option for my family to stay back with me. The BA staff said bumping individuals from a travel party is not common, but it has been happening more frequently recently. It all worked out, as I will explain in my report. Good luck!

 

19 hours ago, Billish said:

I must have missed the last two weeks, because it never reached much over 80, let alone 90 up here in the North, apart from Monday and Tuesday.

And yesterday, the temperature never went over 72!  I don't consider that to be a heatwave.

 

Weather was very pleasant in Scotland. We even wore jackets in Inverness. 

 

 

[ihopfar]

17 minutes ago, Tiki_Koro said:

BA does not allow travelers to check luggage until 3 hours prior to the flight, so going through security earlier was not an option unless we were not checking any luggage.

 

I thought I remembered reading about the 3 hour restriction on checking luggage, but then I could not find it again on the BA website.  Are they really enforcing it with such long security lines?

 

Thanks for going ahead and reporting on your trip even though you could not do it "live".

 

 

[AF-1]

Thank you for your report.  I loved the detailed report in London.  Your pics are clear and they tell stories.  Glad to see you enjoyed Trader Vic's.  I have stayed at the Park Lane Hilton many times for work and have eaten in Trader Vic's.  Cheers and thanks for posting

[Steelers0854]

Thanks so much for taking the time to do this even after you got back.  We take this cruise next year and look forward to hearing about your experiences in port as we decide what to do in each stop.  We too are coming in a few days early so your London insights are also greatly appreciated.  

[gadabout60]

Great blog - can’t believe how much you fitted in in London!

[Tiki_Koro]

Cruise Day One – Southampton (Departure)

 

For the second part of our trip – the cruise – I am going to renumber my days so that anyone just looking to follow along with our cruise can know where we are on that itinerary. Also, I failed to mention in my previous post how we did our COVID tests, so I am going to back up for a moment. When we got back to the hotel after dinner at Trader Vic's, we did the COVID tests we brought along from eMed. The tests were proctored over the internet through an app, and the instructions were easy to follow.  The proctor asked me to angle my phone camera so that he could watch me take the test. I fumbled around to set my phone up against the wall, but when the rest of my family took their tests, I held their phones for them (just a tip!). Fifteen minutes after our tests, we had our results. We all tested negative, and the results were emailed to us. We took screenshots of our results and uploaded those to the Princess Medallion app. We also had to show the results to the cruise agent at the port when we checked in. Here is where we purchased our tests: eMed | Airline Travel 

 

The next morning, we checked out of our hotel and caught an Uber ride to the Victoria Coach Station. We booked a transport shuttle through Princess to Southampton. This process could not have been any smoother! We were told to arrive by 10am, but we got there at 9am because we had some funds left on our Oyster travel card used for the Tube that we wanted to cash out. We thought we could take care of it at the Coach Station, but we were told we had to cash out our refund at an underground station. My father and I walked a few blocks to the Victoria Underground Station, and getting our refund was as easy as using the tickets machine. I believe there is a limit to how much of a refund one can receive from an unspent balance on an Oyster card (maybe ten pounds?), but we kept the balance low just to make sure we could get a full refund.

 

Once we returned to the Victoria Coach Station, a gentleman was waiting at the entrance with a Princess Cruise sign. I told him we were with Princess, and he directed us to Terminal One. There, a woman greeted us and explained that our luggage would be loaded onto a truck at 10am. We would not see it again until we got to our rooms on the ship. She gave us a colored dot sticker and told us to wait until that color was announced. That was our boarding group. There would be four buses boarding at 10:30am, and they would all depart at the same time for Southampton. Boarding began a little after 10:30am, and it was about 10:50am when we finally departed. We hit some traffic, but otherwise it was an easy ride to the port, about 2 hours and 25 minutes. When we got off of the bus, we were directed into the terminal and were checked in within 10 minutes of getting in the line. Security was simple, and we were on the ship very quickly. We received a letter announcing that masks were being required in the indoor areas, but the only place where I saw this being enforced was at the buffet. Otherwise, there were many guests walking around the ship without masks, and nobody was asking them to put one on.

 

 

 

Our rooms were ready immediately after we boarded, around 1:40pm, although all of our bags did not arrive to our rooms until later that afternoon while we were having lunch at the buffet.

 

 

One of the best post-COVID measures is the new format for doing the muster drill. We had to watch a video in our rooms, and the presence of our medallions checked off that we viewed the video. Then, we proceeded to our muster station and tapped our medallion with a staff member. That was it!

 

 

 

Our rooms were aft balconies on the back of the ship, B750 and B752. These are “partial obstruction” balconies with steel beams going through them, but we did not mind them at all. They may block some of the view out our glass doors, but they do not inhibit us from sitting in front of them on the balcony.

 

 

 

Our cruise came with a few complimentary amenities secured through our travel agent, including the plus drinks package, WiFi for one device each, and a generous shipboard credit that we used to book an excursion. My brother and I took advantage of the drinks package and ordered our first cruise cocktails to enjoy on our balconies (he had a Vesper martini, and I had a mint julep).

 

 

Then, we proceeded to the pool deck for the Sail Away party. There is something in the air when first sailing away at the start of a cruise, and I just love the energy from the staff, performers, and guests!

 

 

 

Before dinner, my brother and I tried our luck at the casino. He bet $1.50 on a slot machine and won $41 on his first bet! I tried my hand at the machine next to him and quickly lost $30! Oh well, there are plenty of nights left to recoup my losses (or make a bigger fool of myself)!

 

We are not experienced gamblers, and we were quickly told after I snapped this photo of my brother winning that taking photos and video are not allowed in the casino. Whoops! 

 

For our first dinner, we decided to go big at the Crown Grill.

 

 

 

 

I started with the Jumbo Sea Scallops with Salmon Caviar, followed by the Black and Blue Onion Soup, and then the moment I had been waiting for since booking the Crown Grill – a 22oz bone-in porterhouse steak! I did not finish the steak because I saved room for the Warm Chocolate Mousse Trifle with cinnamon sponge cake, vanilla gelato, and grapefruit wedges. It was all very good, and I was surprised to find out one of the wines available on my package was Silverado Cabernet Sauvignon, which paired nicely with everything except the scallops, with which I had a prosecco. Silverado is the winery of the late Diane Disney-Miller, and I have had the privilege of visiting the winery and sampling many of the wines. Service was exceptional, as well, and that will become a recurring theme as I catch up on these reports.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After dinner, I spent the evening in Speakeasy, the smoking lounge in the casino. I would call it a cigar lounge, as that is what it is meant to be, but the humidors were completely empty (there is a small selection of cigars for sale in the gift shop).

 

 

Fortunately, I brought my own stash. The server, Vlada, took my order for a double Glenlivet neat. That was all I needed before I was ready to enjoy my first night in my incredibly comfortable Princess bed. If you have been on a Princess cruise before, you know what I mean! Summer days are long in Europe, and the sun was setting as I went to bed. 

 

 

I cannot speak highly enough about the Princess staff and how organized departure was. They have this down to a well-oiled machine. Here are the documents we had in our room upon arrival. The Princess Patter is available on the app, but paper Patters are provided with nightly turndown service (request turndown service on the app).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Tiki_Koro]

Cruise Day Two - Portland

 

I must warn everyone in advance – we had a traumatic experience while in Weymouth that has been replaying in my mind ever since. I cannot get it out of my head, and it breaks my heart each time I think of it. I will get to that in due time.

 

We had no plans for Portland and decided to sleep in without alarms. We got up around 9am and ordered breakfast sandwiches, coffee, and fruit through room service, which we enjoyed on our balcony.

 

 

 

We docked at Portland, and disembarking was a breeze. Once we got off the ship, a port ambassador from Portland greeted us and explained a map of the area. There was a free shuttle bus that took us from the port to Weymouth, the harbor and seaside town next to Portland. There was one stop along the way for anyone who wanted to tour Portland Castle (not much of a castle; we decided to skip it).

 

 

 

Once we were dropped off in Weymouth, we walked through the harbor and across the bridge to the main shopping district. It was a charming town, but we did not see anything interesting in the shops.

 

 

 

 

 

The main streets curved around and terminated at the beach, which was very crowded with sunbathers!

 

 

Weymouth was a frequent holiday location for King George III, who had health issues and was told by his doctor to get some sun at the sea. There is a statue commemorating King George III, and next to it is a replica carriage “bathing machine” that was used to take him into the ocean to bathe!

 

 

 

 

We marveled at the crowd and enjoyed walking along the promenade by the various seaside amusements.

 

 

And then it happened. For most of the beach, dogs are not allowed. But, at the end of the beach, there is a section that is dog friendly. We were walking along the sidewalk between the beach and the road when, all of a sudden, a cute black dog came running through the crowd into the street. Seeing what was about to happen, my mom loudly screamed, along with others, as a driver of a car slammed on her breaks. Unfortunately, she hit the dog, but – perhaps due to the screams – the driver hit her breaks in time to not fully run over the dog. The dog managed to break free and run off to the beach holding one of its hind legs up in the air, bloody and exposed. I have never seen an animal get hit by a car before. I’ve seen roadkill, and I’ve even hit an animal with my car, sadly. But, I’ve never seen the graphic image of a poor innocent animal struck by a car, with fur flying in the air. The driver held her face with her hands and against her steering wheel, in shock. The owner came running up from the beach looking for the dog. There was a stir across the beach as onlookers murmured about what happened. After we regrouped and started to leave, we found the owner holding the dog with its leg covered in a towel. The dog looked panicked but was not whimpering, as the owner talked to the driver of the car. Knowing it was none of our business, we moved on and hoped for the best. I just wish I could stop replaying the scene in my head.

 

For lunch, we sought out a place to get fish and chips. Seemed appropriate! We came across a chippery called Marlboro that claimed to “probably” have the best fish and chips in Weymouth! I must admit, the fish and chips were very good, and while I cannot know whether it was the best in Weymouth, it certainly was one of the best I’ve had. After we finished eating, I asked the server if the fish was local. She said no, they get their fish from the Pacific, but “they are fresh, though!” Oh well, I would not be surprised to find out most of the restaurants in Weymouth source their fish from the Pacific, too. It was still a good meal.

 

 

 

 

After lunch, we stopped by the drawbridge to watch the 2pm raising. It raises up every two hours, and we saw it at noon when we first arrived. We wanted to get a better view for the 2pm raising.

 

 

 

We watched the boats pass through and then decided we were ready to go back to the ship. We walked to where the bus dropped us off, and there was a bus waiting. The busses run so frequently that there was almost always a bus waiting. When we got to the port, boarding was easy. Princess greeted us with glasses of cold spa water (plain, orange-, or cucumber-infused) as we walked up the gangway. We began our day with no expectations, and we left feeling charmed by the Victorian resort town – except, of course, for the incident.

 

 

 

We had some time to kill before dinner, so we enjoyed hot beverages and desserts at International Café. My father went back to the room, while my mother, brother, and I sat in the Piazza and watched some entertainment. We saw a circus performer spin plates and do a knife-throwing comedy act, followed by a couple of ladies playing pop music on electric violins. This was very relaxing.

 

 

 

For dinner, we had reservations in the Da Vinci dining room.

 

 

 

 

I started with the pork terrine, but I found the port jelly and pork combination a little jarring.

 

 

I switched to shrimp cocktail, followed by Bahamian pea soup. The soup was really good, and it was not at all what I expected. I thought I was getting a green soup, but the peas were actually black-eyed peas, which was much better to my Southern palate! I then had the coq au vin, and it was ever so comforting.

 

 

For dessert, I had banana, chocolate, and dark rum mousse tart, paired with a port. Except for the pork terrine, which was just a preference thing, everything I had for dinner was delicious.

 

 

After dinner, my parents went on a date night to see the Neil Diamond tribute concert in the Princess Theater. My brother went back to the room, and I went to Speakeasy for a cigar and cognac. Smokers in the lounge are typically very friendly, and I always seem to have interesting conversations with them. One lady, however, complained about not getting good service. She had been playing video poker at the bar for a half hour, and no one asked her if she would like a drink. About that moment, Vlada came into the lounge and asked me, "Mr. Charles, another Glenlivet double?" She remembered me from the night before, name and drink! (By the way, Charles is my legal name on the Medallion app, but I go by Chad). I said, "Sure, and could you please also get a drink for my friend?" I will give my observations on service in a later post, but I found all of the crew to be very friendly. The service issues I experienced were not from unfriendly or unhelpful crew members, but rather likely due to being short-staffed. 

 

How about a funny story for some comic relief to counter the tragic incident? At dinner, we discussed some things I had read in the Princess Patter for the following day. I received one on my bed after turndown service, but my parents did not receive one because they had not requested turndown service. I explained to them that I had requested turndown for every night of the cruise through the Princess Medallion App (there is a setting that applies to all nights). After my parents had gone to bed but while my mother was still awake going through her phone, around 12:30am, she pulled up the app and requested turndown service for the rest of the cruise. Then, their phone rang and woke my father up. He answered the phone, and it was a staff member asking if he had requested room service. He thought the staff member was referring to their breakfast request hanging on their doorknob, and he said, “Yes.” My mother tried to stop him, but it was too late. Next thing they know, there is someone knocking at their door at 12:30am to turndown their sheets! We laughed ourselves silly at the idea of my parents calling someone at 12:30am to pull their sheets down so they could go to bed!

 

 

 

Along with the Patter, we also got this notice on tender boats at upcoming ports.

 

 

Once again, another beautiful sunset off our balcony!

 

 

[Tiki_Koro]

22 hours ago, ihopfar said:

 

I thought I remembered reading about the 3 hour restriction on checking luggage, but then I could not find it again on the BA website.  Are they really enforcing it with such long security lines?

 

Thanks for going ahead and reporting on your trip even though you could not do it "live".

 

 

 

You're welcome! BA had a sign posted about the 3-hour restriction, but I do not know how well it is enforced because it took us an hour in line just to get to the agent who checked our luggage. By that time, we were within the 3 hours. I think it is worth attempting to check luggage early given the long security lines. 

 

16 hours ago, AF-1 said:

Thank you for your report.  I loved the detailed report in London.  Your pics are clear and they tell stories.  Glad to see you enjoyed Trader Vic's.  I have stayed at the Park Lane Hilton many times for work and have eaten in Trader Vic's.  Cheers and thanks for posting

 

You're welcome! Trader Vic's was fun, and I am glad it is still open and maintaining the classic menu and decor. It is truly a time capsule to an era when tiki bars and Polynesian palaces were in vogue!

 

10 hours ago, Steelers0854 said:

Thanks so much for taking the time to do this even after you got back.  We take this cruise next year and look forward to hearing about your experiences in port as we decide what to do in each stop.  We too are coming in a few days early so your London insights are also greatly appreciated.  

 

You're welcome! Hope you have a great trip!

 

8 hours ago, gadabout60 said:

Great blog - can’t believe how much you fitted in in London!

 

Thanks! We used our time efficiently and did a lot of planning to make sure everyone got to see what they wanted. While our approach may not be for everyone, our objective was to get a real sense of the city and its history. For this trip, we focused on highlights for my brother because it was his first time in London. On our previous trip, I focused on my parents' interests, such as a Legal London walking tour through the Inns of Court and the Royal Court of Justice (my dad is a retired judge) and sites that were significant to John Wesley and his Methodist movement. 

 

3 hours ago, Billish said:

Sorry, not meant to be unkind,  but the pace  is  kind of relentless, with little room for spontaneity. 

 

We save spontaneity for a vacation at the beach! London has so much to offer, so we planned more for that part of our trip than we did for some of the ports. We are satisfied with our experience, but I would not recommend it for someone who would rather enjoy shopping down Oxford, seeing a show, or exploring the museums. 

 

2 hours ago, High C's said:

The energy of youth.  Everyone moves at different speeds.  @Tiki_Koro - can't wait for your next instalment!!!!!!

 

 

Thanks, my parents will appreciate that! 

[caribill]

3 hours ago, Tiki_Koro said:

We are not experienced gamblers, and we were quickly told after I snapped this photo of my brother winning that taking photos and video are not allowed in the casino. Whoops! 

 

That is a change from the past.

 

Photos were allowed in the casino with the restriction not to include other people in them.

 

[SomewhereGirl]

Enjoying your review so far.  Curious, and you may not know the answer, but in one of your pics returning to the ship in Weymouth there was luggage under the Princess tents.  Delayed luggage or delayed passengers?  I think there have been questions about whether delayed passengers can board after the embarkation port in the times of Covid testing.  Thank you.

[Tiki_Koro]

7 hours ago, caribill said:

 

That is a change from the past.

 

Photos were allowed in the casino with the restriction not to include other people in them.

 

That may have been my misunderstanding. I had both my phone and my GoPro out and was taking photos and video of the moment simultaneously. When the crew member told me no cameras, she may have only been referring to my GoPro. I would go by the written policy over my experience. 

[SomewhereGirl]

14 minutes ago, Tiki_Koro said:

That may have been my misunderstanding. I had both my phone and my GoPro out and was taking photos and video of the moment simultaneously. When the crew member told me no cameras, she may have only been referring to my GoPro. I would go by the written policy over my experience. 

 

Did the crew member tell you to put on your mask?  😜

[Tiki_Koro]

13 minutes ago, SomewhereGirl said:

 

Did the crew member tell you to put on your mask?  😜

No, except for the buffet, not a single crew member asked me nor anyone else to put a mask on, as far as I’m aware. They were all very friendly and polite. It looked like the majority of guests did not wear masks around the ship. 

[Tiki_Koro]

2 hours ago, SomewhereGirl said:

Enjoying your review so far.  Curious, and you may not know the answer, but in one of your pics returning to the ship in Weymouth there was luggage under the Princess tents.  Delayed luggage or delayed passengers?  I think there have been questions about whether delayed passengers can board after the embarkation port in the times of Covid testing.  Thank you.

I do not have the answer to that question, but I met some guests who said their luggage was delayed. For their sake, I hope that was their luggage arriving! 

[junglejane]

55 minutes ago, Tiki_Koro said:

No, except for the buffet, not a single crew member asked me nor anyone else to put a mask on, as far as I’m aware. They were all very friendly and polite. It looked like the majority of guests did not wear masks around the ship. 

On the topic of masks, I’m onboard now on the 7/20 sailing. When we boarded, we were given a letter that says that on the prior cruise (OP’s cruise) they “identified some Covid19 cases amongst our guests and crew members, who were all mildly symptomatic or asymptomatic. . . . Out of an abundance of caution, we will be requiring guests on board to wear face masks while indoors at all times, except when eating or drinking or in their own staterooms. Masks must also be worn while outdoors if you are in large gatherings or if physical distance cannot be maintained. We highly recommend wearing masks while ashore on tours, particularly when indoors, or public transportation or in crowded areas. “ I’d upload a screenshot of the letter except that like the OP, I am finding the onboard internet to be very, very slow.

 

Now having quoted the letter, I have not seen any staff member challenge a passenger who is maskless. On the other hand, I’ve been impressed by the percentage of passengers who are wearing masks in public areas, especially elevators and tenders. 

[redtop101]

13 hours ago, Tiki_Koro said:

I explained to them that I had requested turndown for every night of the cruise through the Princess Medallion App (there is a setting that applies to all nights).

I’m really enjoying following along with your cruise. Can you tell me where to find this setting on the app. I’ve been through mine pretty thoroughly but can’t find it anywhere. Maybe just on some ships depending on staffing levels. 

[caribill]

2 hours ago, redtop101 said:

I’m really enjoying following along with your cruise. Can you tell me where to find this setting on the app. I’ve been through mine pretty thoroughly but can’t find it anywhere. Maybe just on some ships depending on staffing levels. 

 

Are you on a ship now?

 

Pre-cruise I do not think you can set that up.

[redtop101]

39 minutes ago, caribill said:

 

Are you on a ship now?

 

Pre-cruise I do not think you can set that up.

No, not until September. On my last cruise on Majestic Princess in May, our cabin steward didn’t seem too keen on performing the nightly turn down service, so we didn’t push it. This might have been to limited staffing levels, with less stewards cleaning more cabins. 

[Tiki_Koro]

3 hours ago, junglejane said:

On the topic of masks, I’m onboard now on the 7/20 sailing. When we boarded, we were given a letter that says that on the prior cruise (OP’s cruise) they “identified some Covid19 cases amongst our guests and crew members, who were all mildly symptomatic or asymptomatic. . . . Out of an abundance of caution, we will be requiring guests on board to wear face masks while indoors at all times, except when eating or drinking or in their own staterooms. Masks must also be worn while outdoors if you are in large gatherings or if physical distance cannot be maintained. We highly recommend wearing masks while ashore on tours, particularly when indoors, or public transportation or in crowded areas. “ I’d upload a screenshot of the letter except that like the OP, I am finding the onboard internet to be very, very slow.

 

Now having quoted the letter, I have not seen any staff member challenge a passenger who is maskless. On the other hand, I’ve been impressed by the percentage of passengers who are wearing masks in public areas, especially elevators and tenders. 

That’s the same letter we got. I posted a photo of it on my Cruise Day One report. I did not hear any word from passengers or crew about anyone during our trip testing positive or being quarantined. There probably were some, but it was contained enough that news of it happening did not spread across the ship. 

[Tiki_Koro]

3 hours ago, redtop101 said:

I’m really enjoying following along with your cruise. Can you tell me where to find this setting on the app. I’ve been through mine pretty thoroughly but can’t find it anywhere. Maybe just on some ships depending on staffing levels. 

 

49 minutes ago, caribill said:

 

Are you on a ship now?

 

Pre-cruise I do not think you can set that up.

 

7 minutes ago, redtop101 said:

No, not until September. On my last cruise on Majestic Princess in May, our cabin steward didn’t seem too keen on performing the nightly turn down service, so we didn’t push it. This might have been to limited staffing levels, with less stewards cleaning more cabins. 

When you are on the ship, turndown service is under the OceanNow room service features both on the app and on the television.

[High C's]

@Tiki_Koro Chad - forgive me if this has already been asked and answered.  But were you able to order drinks on your drink package via the medallion for delivery to your stateroom?

[Billish]

18 hours ago, Tiki_Koro said:

She said no, they get their fish from the Pacific, but “they are fresh, though!” Oh well, I would not be surprised to find out most of the restaurants in Weymouth source their fish from the Pacific, too

The good old British sense of humour !

You do know that your leg was being gently pulled ?