skatelady Posted July 15 #26 Share Posted July 15 1 hour ago, WisconsinFan said: Thanks! Our plan was a few days in London and then off to Southampton. We have a bit of time to plan, so gathering suggestions. Londontoolkit.com has lots of info. We stayed at a hotel that was half a block from the bus station, wheeled our luggage to the station and took the bus to Southampton. We bought the bus tickets in advance. There was a great Italian restaurant very close to the hotel and we went there both nights in London. Super easy. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Lena11033 Posted July 15 Author #27 Share Posted July 15 Flight check in done. Countdown is really on now. I think I have everything (maybe more than I need I did try to edit but apparently over packing is a fault as I was trying to account for all weather options) ☀️🌧️🥶 Tomorrow is not really an early start but not working out - walking around the airport will be the exercise - up at my usual time but have to be at the airport for 8:30am. I thought with my ticket I would have access to maple leaf lounge as I used points but my boarding pass has 'lounge' which looks to be the signature suite lounge. I guess I'll see when I get there which one it is, if its the signature lounge its a little more upscale Maple Leaf Lounge Signature Suite lounge About the room, I have a Solo Veranda - I had this room on Beyond before and really enjoyed it. Also the double occupancy rooms cost a lot more than the solo ones, providing you book in advance because once they start selling they do go up as I noticed with this sailing which is sold out. Not really surprising as its UK school holidays. When I booked this room the all included actually worked out as a good price (I have a spreadsheet with numbers saved so don't know if it was an IT glitch but I took it) Tips - were part of the AI at the time of booking Drinks package - I did upgrade to premium from the classic while on sale for Black Friday Wifi - this I left as basic - I'll see how I do with this I've always upgraded but unless it impacts communicating back home I may be ok. I did get a ESim for Europe though so while in port I'll be able to message hubby for sure. 9 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark.Jules Posted July 16 #28 Share Posted July 16 I am excited to follow along, we are on this same itinerary next June. Looking forward to learning from your experience. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare DaKahuna Posted July 16 #29 Share Posted July 16 6 hours ago, Z-Bird said: How was your experience at the Marriott Residence Inn London Tower? We are looking at several hotels in that area. Also, do you mind to share the name of the tour company? We found the hotel to be very clean and comfortable. Although there was construction on the street near the front of the hotel it did not interfere in any way. I liked that they had an evening 'happy hour' as well as the breakfast. We arranged our tours through Viator. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Jim_Iain Posted July 16 #30 Share Posted July 16 9 hours ago, Lena11033 said: Thanks I'll check it out, Bruges will be interesting its a Sunday and a holiday so not sure how much is going to be open - that's ok worst case its a nice walk. At least I am aware, last year in Germany people were shocked not a lot was open on Sunday (think it was Easter too) It was a Sunday when we were there and we were just wandering around. Postbar was one of the few places we found open. Also in the neighborhood there was a neighborhood bar that had spilled out into the street..... They graciously took our hands and invited us to join them. What a kick. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Norwaylady Posted July 16 #31 Share Posted July 16 Yey! Im looking forward to your adventure😍 Fingers crossed for decent weather! Oslo has been rather rainy since my return from Greece.....☔ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Travelexpert35 Posted July 16 #32 Share Posted July 16 Looking forward to following along. Would love to do this itinerary from Southampton but I’m not a fan of the IV rooms. Enjoy your cruise!! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Lena11033 Posted July 16 Author #33 Share Posted July 16 This morning started with a 3am thunderstorm so less sore than planned. But used the time to catch up on Below Deck and House of the dragon before heading out. I have three unimpressed dogs After heading out I realized I forgot my attachment for sunglasses on my prescription glasses so going to have to wing it as going back would upset them too much. The drive a little longer than normal as the direct road was closed so did a country road detour (found a farm that had kangaroo’s out). It’s now 10:20 and been at the airport since 8:30. Flight was supposed to be at 10:10 but it’s delayed. Waiting on Toronto to give us the go ahead so have been working away. 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Lena11033 Posted July 16 Author #34 Share Posted July 16 My flight ended up being an hour late - which is fine. Not unexpected considering the weather in Toronto 🌧️ I didn't get the fancy lounge but better than being out in the mases (any one that goes through Terminal 1 in Toronto knows how busy it can get). I've been working away since I got to Toronto and all the updates happened. I now have 40 mins left of work and that it until the 29th 👋 I will admit after the launch at work I did have a large glass of wine but think now I need to search for a snack to hold me over until the diner on the flight as its been a while since I ate anything 😅 13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scrapcreator Posted July 17 #35 Share Posted July 17 Have a wonderful cruise. Looking forward to reading your posts. We cruised on the Apex last summer and loved the Norwegian fjords. Your Goldens are beautiful. We miss our Maddie (golden) girl. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare bjahil47 Posted July 17 #36 Share Posted July 17 Following along! Safe travels and enjoy your cruise! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alcairns Posted July 17 #37 Share Posted July 17 On 7/15/2024 at 10:28 PM, Lena11033 said: normally stay elsewhere but I picked Park Plaza as it's close to Waterloo which is where I'm getting the train to Southampton from. It's also across the bridge from Westminster. The Park Plaza is a good hotel and very convenient for practically everything in London. We have stayed there several times and never need to use transport - all shanks pony. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Lena11033 Posted July 17 Author #38 Share Posted July 17 I’ve made it to London so little update before I fall asleep 😴 My flight from Toronto boarded and was ready to go on time when they did an announcement they found water in the cargo area and needed to investigate by pulling panels off, see if it was rain water or not and put the panels back. So after an hour and a bit of waiting we finally left. I watched ghostbusters movie while having dinner and tried to sleep. But there was a lot of turbulence so I had about 2.5 hours of sleep 😴💀 we arrived in London near 9:30. Border entry is easy with the biometric passports it takes 10 seconds (unless you don’t read the instructions). I pre purchased my Heathrow express ticket early to get the lowest price once at Paddington I took a cab to the hotel which took longer due to King Charles addressing parliament At the hotel they gave me a larger room than I booked (again prepaid for lowest price actually there was also a sale on so got it 50% of the price of the original hotel I had). I’m here for two nights so they have their own version of go green of not cleaning every day and you had options for points or wine. I took the wine I can live with one day being skipped when I’m here two days. after I headed out to Borough market to grab crumble from Humble Crumble after the market I walked to Blackfriars before getting the bus to Waterloo. I am toast so decided to take it easy the rest of the day and stopped by Marks and Spencer’s so some snacks and dinner for the evening. Now I’m just relaxing in my room and trying to stay awake until a decent time. oh and I got an email from Celebrity this afternoon they changed the terminal. I did flag it in my cruise group before it said ‘city’ but directions were for horizon and people said don’t worry it’s the same. Now some aren’t happy it’s Horizon 🤷♀️ Im getting a Uber so doesn’t matter. Also Celebrity put people have to stay with their allotted time as the terminal can’t support a large amount of people at one time so if you turn up early you’ll be made to wait outside 13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Lena11033 Posted July 18 Author #39 Share Posted July 18 (edited) So after I posted last night I fell asleep at 8pm and woke up around 6am. So yeah I was a little tired 😅 I started the day having some food I picked up from marks and Spencer’s yesterday. Then headed out to primark, as I forgot sunglasses I picked up a new pair plus a dress and sandals. After which I headed over to Costa coffee for a bit then. Walk around convent garden for some shopping which basically consisted of venchi chocolate (anyone that’d been on MSC YC will know this chocolate). Then I headed over to Dishoom Indian restaurant (unfortunately interrupted by pro Palestine protesters) after I browsed a couple of other shops before heading to Fortnum and Mason for some biscuits I headed back to the hotel for a bit to cool down as the heat with no breeze in London is 🥵 For dinner I headed over to Luciano by Gino D’acampo. Funny the people next to me ordered a bunch of appetizers then complained the main was taking too long but yeah traditional Italian restaurants aren’t quick . My meal by myself took an hour and a half lol I had the bread, risotto and affogato but it was really enjoyable and a twenty min walk there and back to the hotel to burn off some of the food Now back at the hotel and finishing off the wine I got from the hotel and packing up anything I don’t need tomorrow as I’m heading to Southampton Edited July 18 by Lena11033 16 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Missusdubbya Posted July 18 #40 Share Posted July 18 Wonderful review so far, thank you! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Lena11033 Posted July 19 Author #41 Share Posted July 19 Just a quick update. At the hotel right now my train isn’t for a few hours but seems some people on my cruise are having issues right now with the Microsoft outage. My train is listed as fine right now but looked at a back up in case it does become affected 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Ken the cruiser Posted July 19 #42 Share Posted July 19 (edited) You’re going to have an awesome time! We’re just finishing up a 7-day Norway cruise on the Sky Princess where we went to Bergen, Olden, Skjolden and Stavanger. The temperatures are unseasonably cooler this year from what the locals were saying and usually ranged for us in the high 50s/low 60s during the day and were really lucky the rain stayed away on most days! Have a great cruise!! 😁 Edited July 19 by Ken the cruiser 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare hcat Posted July 19 #43 Share Posted July 19 safe travels to the ship! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare cruisetonowhere10 Posted July 19 #44 Share Posted July 19 I can’t wait for updates! Have a great time. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Jim_Iain Posted July 19 #45 Share Posted July 19 On 7/17/2024 at 9:31 AM, Lena11033 said: Border entry is easy with the biometric passports it takes 10 seconds (unless you don’t read the instructions). Curious is this only available with UK Passports or does it allow Canadian and US passport. We just renewed our passports and the new ones have a thick first page and you can see the chip inside. Iain's UK passport arrived yesterday and it looks identical with the same thick first page. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Jim_Iain Posted July 19 #46 Share Posted July 19 7 hours ago, Lena11033 said: Just a quick update. At the hotel right now my train isn’t for a few hours but seems some people on my cruise are having issues right now with the Microsoft outage. My train is listed as fine right now but looked at a back up in case it does become affected I think you dodged a bullet. The outage may have affected you if you left a day later. They are saying the Paris Olympics are being impacted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Lena11033 Posted July 19 Author #47 Share Posted July 19 53 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said: Curious is this only available with UK Passports or does it allow Canadian and US passport. We just renewed our passports and the new ones have a thick first page and you can see the chip inside. Iain's UK passport arrived yesterday and it looks identical with the same thick first page. It works with US and Canadian. I used the CA one. I think the sign was UK, Eu, US, CA, Aus and some other passports that can use the gates. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Lena11033 Posted July 19 Author #48 Share Posted July 19 54 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said: I think you dodged a bullet. The outage may have affected you if you left a day later. They are saying the Paris Olympics are being impacted. yeah unfortunately people on a group of mine for the cruise are impacted. One person leaving Ireland was ok just had to be at the airport a lot earlier. One guy is stuck in Germany right now and won’t get to the UK until midnight. Another is stuck in Boston her flight is not taking off because of it. I heard some Canadian flights are completely cancelled right now 😬 My train was busy so wondering if people moved train lines. This unfortunately shows anything can happen so last minute travel is not good. I saw some are driving down today and the roads are bad they’ve been on the road for hours and no where near Southampton. I think this one is a doozy though between that and seeing someone who didn’t do their check in with passport info until yesterday and found out the kid’s passport doesn’t have six months on it - the day is a bit like 🤯 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Stem to Stern Posted July 19 #49 Share Posted July 19 We visited one of the Venchi stores in Venice. Lots of free samples. I see from their website they have a handful of stores in the states, but it doesn't look like they have any in CA. I saved all of our nightly turndown Venchi bits from YC, brought them home, and binged on them. Your risotto looked pretty, but it did not look appetizing. I am really enjoying your updates here and on IG. I can tell you are in full-on vaca mode already and thoroughly enjoying it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Ken the cruiser Posted July 19 #50 Share Posted July 19 While we were eating dinner on the Sky, we looked out and saw the Apex blasting past us heading towards Southampton for a 6 am arrival tomorrow morning! It won’t be long now before you’re sailing on the high seas! 😁 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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