Heidi13

Affirmative, if you booked 2 - 30 day cruises that only visit Schengen ports, you could only stay another 30 days on a land tour. Example - A TA cruise stops at the Azores. If the cruise next docks in Southern Ireland or UK, the TA only costs 1 day in zone. However, if the TA departs Azores and next docks in a Schengen port, the counter starts in the Azores and continues on the sea days across the Atlantic.

Will fill you in offline on the experience.

I completed 2 full Alaska cruise seasons and can attest to the increased potential in September for both rainfall and storms. One week it could be brilliant sunshine and the next week a raging 70 kt storm. However, on average, most days in September were just dull and overcast. Concur with Coral & Glaciers, if possible, try to go earlier.

When cruising, your time in Schengen starts with first arrival, which in your case will be when you arrive at a Spanish airport (assuming you are flying and not driving). Your time in zone will continue when aboard the ship, unless you visit a non-Schengen country. If visiting a non-Schengen country, during the cruise, your time in zone accrues from embarkation until departing the last Schengen port. If the cruise visits a Schengen country, after departing the non-Schengen port, the time in zone starts again and continues until you visit another non-Schengen port, or return to UK.

Departing Southampton you sail through the English Channel, to the Western Approaches and then across the bay of Biscay, which takes about 2 days. During this period the sea have a high probability of being lumpy, especially between Dec & Feb. On passing the Latitude of Gibraltar you should start to pick up the prevailing NE Trades winds, which can vary from 10 to 15 kts, up to 25 kts. Seas in the trade wind latitudes are generally less than further north.

Lyle - we went to the Empress during a quick trip over in February, as it was the only one available at short notice. Totally underwhelming and grossly overpriced. In August, we booked our prefered White Heather Tea Room in Oak Bay, so our grandson could experience Afternoon Tea, as well as pub fare. Sadly, they have new owners and the quality and service have deteriorated significantly. Won't return, so now looking for a new tea room for our next trip to the Island.

I'm not aware of anyone on this thread has even mentioned a USN Captain, never mind having the audacity to denigrate the responsibilities.

As the Chief mentioned, I have almost 30 year experience in command of pax vessels and am one of the first to question anybody that calls into question the competency of a Master or Officer. With respect to the OP, I took no exception to this very relevant post, as having just a little command experience, it most certainly did NOT question the professionalism and/or competency of the ship's Master. You may have spent 30 years in the US Navy, but I'll suggest you may not have a clear picture of the Master's scope of authority on a commercial vessel and the associated reporting arrangements to the Corporate Office. The Master must operate in accordance with the company's policies and procedures, as outlined in the Safety Management System. While I am not privy to the HAL SMS, I highly doubt there is anything that provides the Master the authority to call in divers for a hull inspection/cleaning. Knowing the vessel is heading to NZ and being aware of the requirements, the Master should have submitted a request for assistance in ensuring compliance. However, these decisions are generally made by Operations and Engineering in the Corporate Office. The ISM Code Section 5.2 provides the Master with overriding authority AND responsibility to make decisions with respect to safety and pollution prevention. Therefore, when dealing with the safety of the vessel, her pax or crew, and preventing pollution, the Master must act in accordance with their professional experience, which can contrave the policies and procedures outlined in the SMS. However, in the situation posted by the OP, this is not relevant, so the Master is limited in his/her scope of authority by the SMS.

The NZ Biofouling Requirements have been around since about 2018/19, so yes, you would expect the cruise lines should be very well aware of the requirement. As with nearly all shipping companies, just because they are aware of an issue doesn't always mean they will address the issue adequately. Last year a number of cruise ships were banned from entering NZ waters due to various levels of hull fouling, particularly iwo sea chests. Based on NZ Regulations, hull fouling has considerable bearing on whether a ship can enter NZ waters for a long-stay, or access pristine areas of the coast. Therefore, probably being one of the first arrivals in NZ waters this season, Kansas2018 posted a very valid question. Unless the ship has drydocked recently (within months), or hired divers to inspect and maintain a clean hull, the chance of being banned from NZ waters is a real possibility.

That would be most unusual, as the drydocking schedule is 2 in 5 years. Based on a previous docking in Feb/March 2022 and previous one in Oct 2019, I expect her next docking to be Oct/Nov 2024.

Economy seats with the middle seat blocked-off is also what we experienced on a US/Canada flight. We flew from Sydney to DFW on a Qantas A-380 in Business, then American Airlines for 4.5 hrs to Vancouver, with the middle seat blocked off. Therefore, in our experience, US domestic First/Business is no different than the BA Business flights in UK/Europe.

Affirmative, from memory, in Cornwall the jam is applied first then topped off with clotted cream and vice versa in Devon. Personally, I prefer the Cornwall method, is it is easier to spread the jam directly onto the scone, then shovel on the cream.😁

Lyle - you bring back happy childhood memories. Any double cream but especially double Devon Cream, OMG!!! it is so good, but just a little bad for you. You can almost whip it with a fork. If I can't find clotted cream, I'll use this as an excellent substitute.

Affirmative, Cream Tea is basically a light Afternoon Tea. You only get the scones, clotted cream and jam along with a pot of tea. Generally doesn't include the finger sandwiches and cakes.

High Tea at the Raffles is new to me. I know they serve Afternoon Tea, but never seen High Tea on any of our visits. Just out of interest, what were the menu choices for the plated meal.

Thanks, I also checked the schedule noting they do broadcast my type of football, especially English Premier League and UEFA Champions/Europa League matches. Personally I don't watch any North American type football, so not showing NFL games isn't an issue for me.

Yes, I recall hearing similar stories from other P&O cargo ship officers on foreign-service contracts. When on a regular contract, I still paid the tax, but when I didn't visit UK I claimed it all back. Unfortunately the foreign service contract wasn't available to Pax Division Officers, as we were on standard 4-month voyages, with 2-off. Our son uses a UK accountant for his tax filing, so not sure if he pays up front and then claims it back, or if he only pays "Stamp" or whatever the new name is.

We have utilised the same procedure for both World Cruises and all shorter ones. A few weeks prior to departure, we order a small amount of currency for each country we will visit, from our local bank. It can take them up to a week for some of the lesser required currencies. For each country we request the equivalent of about $20 CAD. We will also request more US $, Sterling, Euros, Aus $ and NZ $. Time ashore is generally short and we don't want to waste it by looking for ATM's or currency exchanges. Note - I will not use a private ATM, only those from accredited banks. While most purchases are paid with Visa, some small vendors, especially stalls, only accept cash. My preference is always to provide local currency to both local vendors and tips to guides/drivers, unless another currency is widely accepted. In a number of ports, we may not spend any of the local currency. Not an issue, as we take it home with us, keeping it for another cruise, or exchanging it at the bank. Yes, we lose in exchange, but it is pennies.

Brilliant, thanks.

Vaccination requirements change on a regular basis, so what we experienced on a previous cruise may not be currently relevant. What you are doing pre/post cruise and any tours you are planning, regardless if shoreX or private, can also impact the requirements. Prior to any trip we visit a local travel medical clinic, providing the doctor with our itinerary and planned tours. Having spent 40 yrs at sea, I am vaccinated against almost everything, including YF, so they make recommendations for any booster I may require.

Lyle - Unfortunately there won't be any F1 on my cruise, so how about English or Scottish Premier League. Did they show any football, as I might be in withdrawal if no games.

Same here, soft boiled eggs with soldiers was a favourite breakfast.

This is Afternoon Tea, which is a light meal consisting of finger sandwiches, scones and cakes, served with a pot of tea. Often served mid-afternoon. High Tea is a more robust meal, which includes a plated dinner (choice of protein and chips), then followed up with the multi-tier plate of scones and cakes. Also served with a pot of tea, and when served in pubs, pints of ale were also available. When growing up, we often enjoyed High Tea at the local pub on a Friday evening after school. Dinner, scones, cakes and a pint were a perfect end to the week.

If the ship has been sold out for months and GTY cabins are not yet assigned, I'll suggest that HAL may have oversold the cruise and await the inevitable last minute cancellations. They might require a few more cancellations before assigning the remaining cabins. We have a couple experiences where the cabin wasn't assigned until we checked in.

Affirmative, as Princess are not a British based cruise line. Had you booked a similar cruise with sister company P&O, they would be included in the base fare.