Amerryscot

There are loads of restaurants on the South Bank, as well as on the path between Waterloo and the Hungerford Bridge. What kind of food do you like?

"chunnel" is like nails on a chalkboard. Eurostar, ferry, or tunnel, as amerryscot says. Or channel tunnel. But please, not chunnel. Eurgghhh.

;) ;)

Not sure what point you are trying to make as the term "Chunnel" is quite acceptable. In fact, to convince you here is a link:

 

http://chunnel.org.uk/

 

Hank

Any uncultured idiot can buy a domain and make a website.

Don't you have a much shorter summer break in the UK though? Not that I'd turn down 3 weeks in the spring! We get almost 3 months off for summer here--May 20-Aug. 14 this year, but much shorter breaks other times of the year.

7-8 weeks?

I think a cruise should work well for your family, unless your children are at the age where you need to go to bed at the same time as them.

At 12 and 10, they should be able to go to evening entertainment with you and then head to bed at 9pm or so. You then have the option of turning in or hanging out in one of the shows or bars.

IME, entertainment space typically seats large number of people in one booth or around a table, so it is the norm for couples and singles to share, and then mingle.

One week off sounds awful. My DDs get three weeks off.

channel + tunnel = chunnel. usually associated with the train from London to Paris... that travels UNDER the English channel... ;)

You will never hear people use that term here. I think the Chunnel was long abandoned attempt to create a Channel tunnel, not the current manifestation.

The train from London to Paris is called the Eurostar. I have never heard anyone use any different term for this service. It's the Eurostar, full stop.

If you want to drive through the Channel Tunnel, you take the Shuttle, although conversationally you will just say that you are getting to France via "the Tunnel".

If anyone asks how you are getting to Paris, there are four answers - fly, Eurostar, ferry or Tunnel. If you say Chunnel in polite society, no one will ever speak to you again :D

Chunnel?

When we docked in Livorno, we went to Pisa for a couple of hours.

If you are flying economy, you won't have lounge access in T5. It's a reasonably comfortable terminal for sitting in public areas coupled with shopping and leisurely eating.

It would be a shame to miss Barcelona as it is such a good cruise destination. The ship docks close to the city centre so you are not wasting time with transfers and long coach rides. It has just the right mix of culture, scenery and food. It frequently makes top ten lists of worldwide holiday destinations.

OTOH, starting in Rome gives you the opportunity to spend a few days on a land based holiday before starting your cruise as there is more to do in Rome that you could reasonably do from an cruise excursion.

I don't know if you are aware that you will be in Scotland on what could be the cusp of history, as on the 18th there is being a referendum on whether Scotland should become an independent nation.

Hopefully not

One more question please . I see there are lots of offers on website for Gondola rides .Are these better /worse or worth a look .

And can you really strike a deal with the Gondoliers ?

 

Thanks

 

Scotslizzy

There are different lengths of time. I think ours was one hour (the longest time). It was €120 for five of us, picked up from Rialto. We paid the officially posted rate. The gondoliers are not rich, so I did not want to penny pinch.

We had a wonderful commentary and it was amusing to listen to the banter between gondoliers as they met in the narrow backwaters. He also sang to us.

26/3 - 14/4

I agree, Windsor is a day trip and a nice one. Suggest arriving early due to parking.

 

We spent two days in the area, one day at Windsor and another full day at Salisbury, Stonehenge and Avebury.

Or ditch the car a day early and take a bus to Windsor :)

Actually, "get out of town" might be an interesting idea! At least for the morning...has anyone been to Banje Beach, or East West Beach Club? I know they are near town, but at least a little removed. Another option might be to take the ferry to Lokrum or Cavtat at 11am and return by 2pm. Does anyone know if that is doable in that short amount of time? Thanks in advance.

 

And of course, any other suggestion for the morning would be appreciated.

We went to Copacabana beach in Babin Kuk (across the bay from the dock). It is a small but full service beach, with the facilities of a big resort just behind it. We took a taxi there, spent time on the beach, had a nice lunch in the shopping arcade, then to a bus to Pile.

There's no need to book.

Hey, Hey...don't knock the vacation hot dog. One of the best hot dogs I ever had was from a street vendor while on vacation in Key West....right at that time, it was better than any fresh seafood you could have placed in front of me

 

100% beef(yes, I understand that's a broad term when talking hot dogs) grilled right in front of me with grilled onions and mustard......mmmmmmm.....now I want to go back to DuVall street in Key West

 

I guess it's also possible the cruise line hot dog was for a picky kid

The only place I would ever consider having a hot dog would be in Frankfurt.

I didn't bring up my children to be picky :cool:

When we were in Villefranche, we didn't go anywhere. We were happy to stay put. We had an hour or so on the beach, followed by a very leisurely lunch, then a wander around the shops.

The obvious place to visit from the Heathrow area is Windsor.

From Southampton, the Historic Dockyard in Portsmouth is hard to beat.

For all the experienced Smith's users--

 

Another CC member indicated he used Smith's for an international flight landing at LHR. Smith's only allotted him 15 minutes after his flight landing

to get through customs and pick up luggage. He said they almost left LHR without picking him up. I was just about to book Smith's from LHR to Southampton. Has anyone had this experience of only a 15 minute wait by

Smiths? My real concern is I will have no means of communication with them

after landing.

 

Thank you.

I find it hard to believe that any minicab company would allocate only 15 minutes. A typical time for an EU passport holder would be 30 - 45 minutes with luggage, 20 minutes without luggage. It is significantly longer for a non-EU passport holder.

Minicab drivers usually work on flight numbers rather that scheduled time. They park up maybe 10 - 15 minutes from the airport and make their way after the flight lands.

My last cruise I watched this, just as a matter of curiousity. I am not the buffet police. The dumbest thing I saw was a woman pick up 4 hot dog buns before finding the 5th one acceptable.

People eat hot dogs on a cruise??? Yuck.

Please see my post above yours. It was a joke. However, I do take exception to your statement that I live in an impractical place vs. your sensible place. At least the cost of living in my impractical place is only 50% of your sensible place. :eek::D:p

 

P.S. For those with no measurable sense of humor, please note the emoticons!

Cost of everything; value of nothing

Nothing could ever drive me to live in Hyoutston, not even the McMansions.

We were on the Oasis 3 weeks ago and blew through $300 in $2 bills. The guys gave to each bartender and they were treated like kings. Everyone got a kick out of them and even the kids got involved in the tipping process. I highly recommend tipping with $2 bills. I had to order them from the bank a week before I needed them. Will never cruise without them again!

 

 

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Legend

Are you going to arrive at the airport less than two hours from your departure time? If so, then £7 is cheaper than Valium. If you stick with the guidelines, then you are safe joining the hoi polloi.