TenneSea

Enjoying this review. Your humor is unique and very much appreciated ! (Still laughing about the airline prediction 50 years from about 1960) !!

You just can't help yourself, can you !! Pictures of hospital food; you're cracking me up ! So glad you're better.

JB, I very much appreciate all of the driving information. I'm printing it out and studying it while on our cruise prior to renting the car. My husband lived in Manchester, UK for while (18 months, I think) when working on a healthcare project some years ago. While he has that driving experience, it has been a few decades since that episode. I have a reasonable amount of confidence in his ability (he has more confidence in his ability than I do), but I will be riding shotgun -probably with my eyes closed most of the time ! Yes, we have reserved an automatic vehicle. Sounds like you have some great travel stories of your own ! Ever considered writing a book about them?

Oh yes, Atlanta. Traffic hell.! My 2 adult children live in the Atlanta suburbs and we now live near Knoxville, TN. You are a brave soul to tackle the Atlanta traffic !

Interesting about the traffic, Harter. Having lived in Florida for almost 40 years, we're pretty accustomed to traffic but not being used to driving on the wrong side, I mean left side, it could be a challenge. I'm sure we'll be fine if we take our time. The great thing about visiting New Forest, is that there are no reservations and no time table ! So many other places we're going, I had to get tickets in advance and we have to be there at a specific time. This should make it a bit easier !

Ziggy & JB -Sounds like a perfect afternoon trip ! Man, that Old Farmhouse Restaurant looks so interesting and the little village is beautiful. Thank you for the detailed directions (I'll have to get a map and go over the route a few times) and all of the info you both have provided. I could spend a whole week there ! We will have a GPS (from the rental co.) and hopefully, Google maps will pick up the area on my phone.

ziggyuk - Sounds heavenly. Thank you (and JB) for this information. Sounds as if New Forest is one of UK's hidden gems and I hope to get a look when I'm there in August (enough so I'll want to take a longer look when I return - next trip) !

We would be coming from Southampton probably to Burley, most likely on a Tuesday (Aug 22nd). It would be an afternoon into evening. Small vehicle. If I had known about this beautiful area when originally planning our journey, I certainly would have set aside a full day to explore it and would probably have stayed overnight.

Great information. Assuming we have a car, are the roads jam packed with vehicles making driving there difficult? Yes, JB, any info on off the path roads would be nice.

I just discovered New Forest and unfortunately, there is not a lot of information about it. How likely is it that you will see some of the horses roaming? Is there a best place to see them there? How do you get to New Forest from Southampton? How long should you plan for a visit? Would love some first hand experience stories from some of the "locals" and I wish I had heard about it a few months earlier for planning to make this stop part of our trip next month.

That's funny !!

Yes, you are correct. I realized after I posted that I meant Birmingham, not Manchester. Thank you. We are going to Manchester as well, just got confused. Are you near Lichfield?

T3 Virgin. I think I've figured it out - just going to be a haul !

Yes, 4 days in London. I have family history in England so visiting some of those sites. My (9x) great grandfather was the last person to be burned at the stake in England for speaking against the King's church. There is a memorial there to him in the town of Lichfield (near Manchester). Also related to William Brewster (Mayflower) and hope to see the home where he lived and the pilgrims met secretly to worship. Going to 2 West End plays/musicals. Churchill War Rooms, Buckingham tour, St. Pauls, Sky Gardens, Blenheim Palace. Want to go up north to Hadrian's wall. So much to do ! Also staying at Royal Horseguards (your recommendation).

Yes, totally subjective. I think most cruise lines are resorting to more tricks than usual - trying to get back some of the loss from covid. We're headed to Norway in August on Sky Princess and it's the 1st cruise we've been on since the shut down. So excited. We're spending 9 days in England after the cruise, my 1st trip to England. Trip of a lifetime! I've scoured your review of your trip to Norway (on the Silhouette, I believe) for every tip I could squeeze out of it to make our August adventure as smooth as possible. I do appreciate the effort you put into these travel-logs.

Oh my, we will have to find the National Coach station as will be taking it to Southampton.

I think the green and blue creatures are borderline strange. Just some of the color combinations are a little jarring, just personal taste. It's not the usual ship design, that's for sure. The staterooms are very nice.

The food looks amazing. The ship interior decor (public areas), UG. The stateroom is nice, bathroom is beautiful.

Thanks. Good idea.

Could you give us a little update on the whole Passport/Immigration process at Heathrow? How long did it take from getting off the plane until you were on your way. Any tips to make it smoother for us future passengers who are headed to LHR soon. Thanks.

Thank you ! I was hoping that was the case.

Thank you. I do have a luggage scale. What if their scale is different than yours? That's why I asked if they weigh your luggage before you board. I'm glad to hear the trip was enjoyable on Virgin, we're looking forward to it.

dreaminofcruisin: I think it's a total of 35 pounds between two bags. I should specify, we are not checking bags, so this would be carry on only. An important detail I forgot to mention. Upper Class All Upper Class passengers can take up to two pieces of hand baggage per person, weighing up to 12kg (26lb) for one bag, or up to 16kg (35lb) combined weight. So for example, you could take a 12kg bag and another little bag of 4kg.

Jeter02: Have there been any issues getting a table, promptly, in the MDR? Have heard reports of long lines.

Edspec: "For anyone wondering about Virgin Premium Economy we were impressed, not much of a difference between AA first class." Did Virgin weigh your luggage? We're travelling Upper Class our of Atlanta to Heathrow in August and I'm afraid my luggage will be over by about 1 lb.