Returning to my favorite ship!

[JT1101]

Not yet. Don’t know where I will be on the run so harder to predict. 

[Winifred 22]

16 hours ago, exlondoner said:

Customs is very unlikely to hold you up, immigration might, as you are arriving at such a busy time. I think the order is Avebury, Stonehenge, Salisbury, Southampton.

That’s good as you will approaching Stonehenge from the other direction. Coming from London the traffic around Stonehenge is very slow/ standstill at times. 2 reasons. Just before the traffic merges into one lane from 2 and  secondly lots of people really slow down as they drive past the stones. Took me an additional 20 mins of queuing to get past last Saturday. It’s good too they have now reopened the direct Road from Stonehenge to Salisbury which up until recently had been closed for the past 6 months requiring a lengthy diversion. Have a brilliant time. Salisbury will be your best place for lunch. If you are visiting Cathedral you can eat there. 

[exlondoner]

20 minutes ago, Winifred 22 said:

That’s good as you will approaching Stonehenge from the other direction. Coming from London the traffic around Stonehenge is very slow/ standstill at times. 2 reasons. Just before the traffic merges into one lane from 2 and  secondly lots of people really slow down as they drive past the stones. Took me an additional 20 mins of queuing to get past last Saturday. It’s good too they have now reopened the direct Road from Stonehenge to Salisbury which up until recently had been closed for the past 6 months requiring a lengthy diversion. Have a brilliant time. Salisbury will be your best place for lunch. If you are visiting Cathedral you can eat there. 

I know the 303 past Stonehenge is a traffic nightmare, and, it appears, likely to remain so. Nonetheless, the sight of the stones as one approaches is mind-blowing. I have never forgotten the first time I saw them. Less fun if it is your every day journey.

[Winifred 22]

3 hours ago, exlondoner said:

I know the 303 past Stonehenge is a traffic nightmare, and, it appears, likely to remain so. Nonetheless, the sight of the stones as one approaches is mind-blowing. I have never forgotten the first time I saw them. Less fun if it is your every day journey.

Yes they have moved the road since I was a child. You can still the remains of the old road the other side of them when you drive past. Now they are not building the tunnel the six months disruption because the direct road to Salisbury was closed to build the infra structure needed seems even more annoying and frustrating. 

[Megabear2]

3 hours ago, Winifred 22 said:

Yes they have moved the road since I was a child. You can still the remains of the old road the other side of them when you drive past. Now they are not building the tunnel the six months disruption because the direct road to Salisbury was closed to build the infra structure needed seems even more annoying and frustrating. 

Everything in Salisbury is currently annoying and frustrating at present when it comes to traffic measures and access. It was so dreadful two weeks ago the BBC national news sent a TV crew to the station to interview the Wiltshire Council planning officer!  Anyone on a tight schedule sadly needs to take this into account if visiting the centre.

Edited August 28 by Megabear2

[*Miss G*]

6 hours ago, exlondoner said:

I know the 303 past Stonehenge is a traffic nightmare, and, it appears, likely to remain so. Nonetheless, the sight of the stones as one approaches is mind-blowing. I have never forgotten the first time I saw them. Less fun if it is your every day journey.

 

3 hours ago, Winifred 22 said:

Yes they have moved the road since I was a child. You can still the remains of the old road the other side of them when you drive past. Now they are not building the tunnel the six months disruption because the direct road to Salisbury was closed to build the infra structure needed seems even more annoying and frustrating. 

 

Oh my goodness.  I had no idea the old road had gone!  I remember having a “mind blown” moment when they suddenly appeared right in front of me.  It boggled my mind that they were immediately next to “civilisation” (the road).  In my head, I had placed them in the midst of nowhere.  That is one moment I will never forget.

[Jim_P]

I'll be doing my first transatlantic crossing on QM2 in march going westbound. I've been on the QM2 a few times on legs of her world voyages but doing a crossing is a bucket list item. I have no idea what to expect in terms of weather at that time of year. Im hoping we may get some wild seas. 

[JT1101]

I always root for wilder seas. In 2018 we got them - it was the December TA where Captain Hashmi had to steer us south then north then south again to avoid the worst of it. 

[NE John]

3 hours ago, Megabear2 said:

Everything in Salisbury is currently annoying and frustrating at present when it comes to traffic measures and access. It was so dreadful two weeks ago the BBC national news sent a TV crew to the station to interview the Wiltshire Council planning officer!  Anyone on a tight schedule sadly needs to take this into account if visiting the centre.

In June 2023, while driving from Bath to S’hampton we when past Stonehenge to our left and the miles of traffic northbound was intense. It was the day of the Solstice so that was a factor. We oddly enough had no traffic going south. It was cool seeing the site so close. 
I took @exlondoner’s advice and arrived the day before the TA to avoid this traffic situation. 

[JT1101]

1 hour ago, NE John said:

In June 2023, while driving from Bath to S’hampton we when past Stonehenge to our left and the miles of traffic northbound was intense. It was the day of the Solstice so that was a factor. We oddly enough had no traffic going south. It was cool seeing the site so close. 
I took @exlondoner’s advice and arrived the day before the TA to avoid this traffic situation. 

And I will be there the day before embarkation likewise. My major "watch the clock" is the need to be in Southampton, check into hotel and clean up and change and get to The Grapes on time in the evening for the friends meet. Since we'll be driving away from Heathrow by 7am I think there s sufficient time.

[ExArkie]

21 hours ago, JT1101 said:

I always root for wilder seas. In 2018 we got them - it was the December TA where Captain Hashmi had to steer us south then north then south again to avoid the worst of it. 

We were on that one, too. I recall an exciting day where one could actually feel the ship movement. 

[JT1101]

Another Travel Agent benefit - free CLEAR (which for US citizens includes TSA Pre). FYI this is CLEAR: 

https://www.clearme.com/clear-plus?utm_source=website&utm_medium=nav

Does anyone else here have CLEAR? If yes is it worthwhile?

[WantedOnVoyage]

I have TSA Pre-Check but no thanks to any government having anything more  on or about me, thanks very much.  

Edited September 3 by WantedOnVoyage

[Winifred 22]

On 8/28/2024 at 2:16 PM, *Miss G* said:

 

 

Oh my goodness.  I had no idea the old road had gone!  I remember having a “mind blown” moment when they suddenly appeared right in front of me.  It boggled my mind that they were immediately next to “civilisation” (the road).  In my head, I had placed them in the midst of nowhere.  That is one moment I will never forget.

Yes going towards Amesbury / London they are now on your left when it used to be right. The first time  I went past having not done so for many years I was so disoriented. 

[ExArkie]

11 hours ago, JT1101 said:

Another Travel Agent benefit - free CLEAR (which for US citizens includes TSA Pre). FYI this is CLEAR: 

https://www.clearme.com/clear-plus?utm_source=website&utm_medium=nav

Does anyone else here have CLEAR? If yes is it worthwhile?

I did have Clear for a short time, when the total cost for me and my wife was covered by a credit card perk. We both had TSA Pre-Check before signing up for Clear (and still have Pre-) as a benefit of Global Entry. 
 

Unless the program has changed in the past couple of years, Clear doesn’t include Pre-Check, but is sold as a substitute for it. The functionality of Clear is that one can skip the line where the TSA agent checks your identification. If you have Pre-Check, you go to the front of that line for security. If not, you go to the front of the “ordinary humans” line for security. 
 

One of the ancillary functions of Clear during the days following the COVID shutdown was that it would consolidate your vaccination records and communicate those to various agencies. That was beneficial in dealing with the Hawaii entry requirements in the early months of post-shutdown travel. It was of no benefit whatever to some other locations. 

As I mentioned, the Clear program may have changed, as I have not kept up with Clear since dropping it. Edited to add: Just checked the Clear Web site. Looks like they will bundle it with Pre-Check as an option, but do not automatically include it.
 

We found Clear to be beneficial once, when we could avoid slightly longer Pre-Check lines at LAX. Otherwise, it offered little to no advantage, as the identification lines for Pre-Check have not proved to be inconvenient at the variety of airports we traverse. To me, as a Global Entry/Pre-Check member, the benefits of Clear do not justify its cost, particularly since the credit card no longer pays the full amount. 
 

Edited September 3 by ExArkie

[JT1101]

8 hours ago, ExArkie said:

I did have Clear for a short time, when the total cost for me and my wife was covered by a credit card perk. We both had TSA Pre-Check before signing up for Clear (and still have Pre-) as a benefit of Global Entry. 
 

Unless the program has changed in the past couple of years, Clear doesn’t include Pre-Check, but is sold as a substitute for it. The functionality of Clear is that one can skip the line where the TSA agent checks your identification. If you have Pre-Check, you go to the front of that line for security. If not, you go to the front of the “ordinary humans” line for security. 
 

One of the ancillary functions of Clear during the days following the COVID shutdown was that it would consolidate your vaccination records and communicate those to various agencies. That was beneficial in dealing with the Hawaii entry requirements in the early months of post-shutdown travel. It was of no benefit whatever to some other locations. 

As I mentioned, the Clear program may have changed, as I have not kept up with Clear since dropping it. Edited to add: Just checked the Clear Web site. Looks like they will bundle it with Pre-Check as an option, but do not automatically include it.
 

We found Clear to be beneficial once, when we could avoid slightly longer Pre-Check lines at LAX. Otherwise, it offered little to no advantage, as the identification lines for Pre-Check have not proved to be inconvenient at the variety of airports we traverse. To me, as a Global Entry/Pre-Check member, the benefits of Clear do not justify its cost, particularly since the credit card no longer pays the full amount. 
 

Thanks for the insight. I was going to mention that CLEAR is not government but rather a private security firm that is trusted and vouches for you.