Ranchi

Its always a chew from the north east of England. We have used coaches quite a few times but they have moved the pick up points and they are not as convenient for us. While I find the journey down fine (excitement etc.) the return is a bit of a challenge. I must admit the coaches we have been on either Eavesway or whoever Cruise Connect have contracted have almost always been excellent (the exception was the first year Cruise Connect took over & I note they haven’t used the sub contractor again.) The train is quite good but we still tend to go the day before. Also getting reasonable prices for tickets means either chancing it with an early train when you return or spending a few hours in Southampton & ensuring you catch your booked train. A few years ago we were held up disembarking from Britannia due to strong winds affecting the gangway and missed our scheduled train. We were not charged extra for our journey but it did make for an anxious time. So it’s car for us accommodation somewhere cheap (one of the lodges/inns) south west of the M25 or south of Oxford depending on cost/route & a fairly short drive to Soton on embarkation day. We opt for CPS instead of extra obc.

Bom dia! (picked that up as a youngster from port notes!) I’ve been on Google for 20 minutes trying to find out where the shuttle bus pick up is ( for Porto) and the phone number of port agent…no luck with either. Still I can look forward to listening to the test match on long wave & the fishing forecast throughout the day.

The Manhattan berth is better. If you look on Google Maps or similar, it’s a couple of berths north of the aircraft carrier museum. Probably about a 15 min walk to Times Square.

Make sure the date of your account is shown on the screenshot.

From La Spezia there is the opportunity to visit the Cinque Terre. Its a boat trip but we really enjoyed it. It’s over 20 years since we visited Marseilles on a cruise ship & our dock was miles out of town. La Corunna; walk around the old town near the ship. Cross the town to the beach. We quite like it a a port. Palma cathedral, tree lined walk into city or beaches by service bus. You really need a shuttle to get to the town centre. Tours there used to be good- up the north west coast. Also I believe the railway tour is popular. None remind me of Hendon… Murton, perhaps 😄

Some ‘odd’ bits of advice. With an inside cabin, consider leaving the bathroom light on with the door closed. Just enough light gets out through the vent at the bottom of the door to allow safe passage for those who need to wander during the night, but not too much to disrupt sleep. Check on the type (& nature ) of bathroom shaver points. Most have been fine but (Britannia’s?) shaver points look normal but they won’t accept electric toothbrush plugs.You therefore need to pack a standard adapter. Also be aware that on some newer vessels that the bathroom charging points isolate when the light is turned off. Considering a Worldie ? On a westbound circumnavigation you will have about 2 dozen 25 hour days. Fine if your young fit & eager but it can feel that you are getting up at 5am for breakfast & oh the embarrassment of almost falling asleep in the Crow’s Nest😂. Believe me, jet lag is a fluffy kitten compared to the hungry lion that is cruise ship lag. Eastbound circs have a couple of dozen shorter days (& an extra day! )

Really enjoyed reading your reports. We should open a sweepstake on how long it will be before you book your next cruise!

I’m not sure how testing arrangements will affect this type of embarkation. We have certainly done this in the past with another Carnival company (P&O) both joining in Europe & US. The company points out that there is no credit given for days missed. When our daughter joined us in NY we had to get an officer from the ship to come & pick her up from port officials on the dock side. On another occasion I joined the family in Norway. This was not encouraged by the company as it was a tender port and they suggested I join a few days later at a tie-up port. I was however allowed to join at the tender port at my own risk (e.g. if the ship couldn’t tender owing to poor weather/sea conditions.) We have also had a member having to leave the ship at the penultimate port.

Many thanks for this post…especially the requirement to quote the order number.