ROWSE

1 hour ago, ihopfar said:

Thanks for the wonderful review!   How much time did you spend at the Tower of London?

Thank you for reading this LONG review!  From first picture time to last was about 3 and a half hours.  We did not eat a meal in here so that would be even longer if you did. 

This would be a, NOT miss, place to see for sure!!  

May 26, 2022, London Adventures continued...

 

There are many different Thames water tours and we decided on the TRS (Thames River Services).

It went from Westminster to Greenwich.  It is an hour each way so for us, not getting off in Greenwich it is a two hour tour.  You could get off in Greenwich and then get back on later in the day if you took the tour early.  

Note:  There are different ages on different tour attractions for what we call the Senior Rate.  We are 61 so there were times the age was Senior being 60 and up.  This tour was one of them.  Other tours were

65 and over being that rate.  So our rate for this tour was 12 pounds each.

 

We were given a very good guide book but there was a gentleman narrating onboard pointing out the sites we were seeing.  He was very funny as well!

 

 

We sat in the up top viewing area.  The vessel had a bar with drinks and snacks and very nice rest rooms.

 

 

We went under several different bridges.

 

 

Some were a tight fit!

 

The Cleopatra's Needle which is the obelisk that was first erected in Egypt by Pharaoh Thotmes III around 1500BC.  It was presented to the British people in 1819 in recognition of Nelson's victory over the French fleet at the Battle of the Nile in 1798.

 

Blackfriars Bridge opened in 1869 by Queen Victoria.  

 

We turned and pulled in to pick up people at another entry point.  The sky was just magnificent today.

 

On our way again 

 

HMS Belfast

 

 

London has the most interesting shapes of buildings

 

We pull in at Greenwich and can see this ship called the Cutty Sark.  Launched in 1869 for the China Tea Trade and now the last of the great tea clippers.  It is in dry dock and open to the public.

 

Coming back I see a River Cruise coming by. 

 

Coming upon the Tower Bridge and getting to pass under it ourselves was so great!

 

 

St. Paul's Cathedral area.  

 

The little white building or The Prospect of Whitby was built in 1520 , the name of the famous pub comes from the coal carrying vessels from Whitby that used to anchor here.  Visited by many famous pepole, including Charles Dickens.

 

Passing by some other beautiful ships. 

 

The Tower of London. 

 

Lovely wooden boat. 

 

Back to where we began.  We had loved our cruise and to get to see things from the water perspective was wonderful!

There was the Westminster Tube Station entrance right by the docks so on we went and back to Paddington.  We learned certain lines like the Jubilee Line goes really fast and lines like the Bakerloo line which we began calling the Sardine Can line was almost always packed. 

It was another big day and we got take out pizza again for the room.  DH had a beer while he waited for the pizza.  

 

 

 

We had been going hard day after day and we called it a fairly early night.  Tomorrow we have to take our Covid test to go home the day after to the United States, and there is always apprehension, for even if you feel perfectly fine, people have tested positive.  We will see tomorrow!

 

1 hour ago, BuckeyeMark said:

We're doing that Churchill War Room tour - about how long were you there?  How long should we allocate for that?

We were there about 2 and a half hours.  So at least that much time I would say and even more if you really love to read each display.  

May 26, 2022, London Adventures

 

We have been just loving the breakfast at our hotel's restaurant.  We kicked ourselves that we did not discover these chocolate filled croissants on the buffet part of it till a few days in.  They were the most amazing things and we may have taken one each for a snack later during the day!  YUM!! 

 

 

Today we split an omelet.  They were giant!  Note the size of those Latte's too! 

 

 

Today our plan was to see Churchill's War Rooms.  We managed the Tube again and we're getting pretty good at it albeit we are almost at the end of our trip.  😂

 

We walked through St. James Park again seeing the most lovely little cottage on the end of it.

 

 

Loved seeing the gardens going on!!!  

 

 

There was this lovely memorial close by called Guards Memorial 

 

 

The area of the Horse Guards Parade was being prepared for the Queen's Jubilee celebration.  SO MANY SEATS!!  It was so fun to later watch the Jubilee on TV and know we were in all these places!!!  

 

 

Scanning the area.  

 

We were rather early for the 9:30 entrance to ChurchHill's War Rooms so we walked down to see if we could get any closer to see Buckingham Palace.  WELL, due to the Jubilee this is our view.  Again a reason to return!

 

 

Then we came upon the PELICANS!!  OH MY!!!

 

The origins of the Pelicans in St. James Park date from 1664 when they were given to London by Russia.

There were some BIG ones.

 

 

 

They really are that big! 

 

We bought our tickets at the door of the War Rooms, and we were very lucky as they really stagger the entrance.  There was a huge pre-bought ticket line and they let a lot in and then let us come in between some of them which was very nice or I think we may have been there for hours.  There had only been us and one other party in the "buy now" ticket line.  

 

 

There were audio guides and there is so much to see and learn!   

Here we see how the non senior staff slept.  YIKES!!!  

 

Looking down to the sub floor.  NO THANKS!!!

 

 

An example of the uniforms of the time. 

 

Winston Churchill with other war time leaders.  He served as Prime Minister from 1940 to 1945, was defeated in the 1945 general election and then won again from 1951 to 1955.  

 

 

We learned so much about the war years but also about Churchhill's childhood and then his life with wife Clementine and children.  The personal things were the things I enjoyed the most.  My DH liked the fact that we were in the place that all this really took place! 

 

 

I had no idea he painted!

 

 

We saw recreations of the different rooms they used.  

 

 

Look at all those phones!!!  

 

I loved the display of the room keys!

 

 

About 2 and half hours later we were ready for another adventure.  We headed to the

Thames and had this amazing view of the London Eye.  Did not try that this time as getting in 

a pod with others for 30 minutes did not seem the greatest idea for the current times.

 

 

Next up we try a water tour cruise.  

 

8 minutes ago, dog said:

Thanks for sharing.

Thank you for reading along! 

4 hours ago, erros said:

Rowse. Because of your wonderful review of this cruise, we booked this for June 25, 2023 then the next day we found out that the ship is being changed from the Emerald to the Regal. We are waiting to find out what cabin we will be assigned as we had an obstructed view L103 on the Emerald and there are no ocean views on the Regal.  My question to you is where and when did you get your pre cruise covid test. Maybe I missed it in the review.

Thank you so much for that wonderful compliment and for following along!  We used the eMed Home

Proctor test which I ordered online.  We got 6 and used 4 for this trip. Used two at home before we flew and two at the hotel later.   Things change quickly so you may not need any test by 2023 for the cruise.  This is what the package looks like.

 

 

 

 

 

4 hours ago, tartana said:

I have done several Free Walking Tours in several cities in the past...they have been a great way to see the cities - and you "pay" what you think is fair at the end.  I find you see/learn so much more exploring on foot. We have always had good experiences with them. 

I have been trying to thank people for reading along and I think I may have missed you earlier but consider this a BIG thank you!   You are so right about "feet on the ground" when seeing something rather than from a vehicle window, it makes a big difference.  

5 hours ago, TiggerTony2 said:

(If you don’t mind telling us…)

How much did you end up giving Sinead for the tour?

Thank you for reading my very LONG review!  On the pages I had read they had suggested about 15 pounds per person, but I gave her 20 per person as I had so enjoyed so many of her You Tubes I wanted to buy her a coffee in there somewhere.  Compared to other tours this is such a great deal!  

16 hours ago, RNCheryl said:

Next time try the Westminster Abbey Verger Tour.  Excellent access to the church; reserve in advance

Thank you for joining in!  We did not see the Abbey this time and that would definitely be on our list for another round of London which I hope will happen someday!  

May 25, 2022, London continued.

 

We continued on with our Free Tours by foot with Sinead to the end of our tour at Trafalgar Square.  

We see Nelson's Column which is tribute to Horatio Nelson considered one of the greatest officer in the history of the Royal Navy.  

 

 

 

 

After filling our heads and senses with the most amazing things for 2 and a half hours, 

it was time to bid farewell to Sinead.  I got to have my "fan boy" picture with her at the end and 

so appreciate the wonderful time with her!  Hope anyone taking this tour is as lucky as we were. 

I would love to take another Free Tours by Foot tour again someday!  

 

 

Sinead had suggest a great restaurant at the edge of Trafalgar Square located in the crypt at St. Martin's church.  A CRYPT???  Just up our alley!  We find the spot and had a wonderful lunch.

 

 

 

 

 

Our next plan of the day was to go to the National Gallery.  This is the place of European art, masterpiece by masterpiece.  
Outside view of National Gallery.

 

 

I have not experienced so many famous painter's pieces all in one place before!  Just a few to show.

Leonardo da Vinci

 

 

Claude Monet 

 

 

The beauty of the building was also a work of art!

 

 

Pierre-Auguste Renior 

 

 

Pablo Picasso 

 

 

Vincent Van Gogh 

 

 

The museum was free unless we wanted to go into the Raphael Exhibit.  We were just

too tired at this point to venture into it, though I bet it was fantastic.  

 

 

Time to head back to our hotel and the Tube station near here was Charing Cross.  

Loved this fountain!

 

Another look back at the National Gallery 

 

Once back at Paddington Station a little concert was going on.

 

 

Every evening from 5 to 7 pm our hotel 1st floor had a happy hour.  I think the space was rented out to this German gentleman for that purpose.  It was a 2 for 1 special. 

 

The lovely space.

 

 

Now that was one good (Double) pour of Rosé,  I was definitely buzzed by that later.  

 

We did a little fish and chip take out from a venue just a couple doors down from hotel, and called it a night, another amazing day in our record book!  

 

 

May 25, 2022, London

 

I was very excited for today as I had a tour reserved with Free Tours by Foot.  You pay what you think your tour was worth at the end.  They have a You Tube channel that I watched during the pandemic that did You Tubes on various areas.  I watched many of these and one particular tour guide leading the You Tubes was my very favorite!  Hint:  Go on You Tube and watch the Jack the Ripper one.  WOW!!!  

Her name was Sinead.  LOVE HER!!!

We booked the Westminster Walking Tour.  I purposely did not watch this one so I could be surprised.

The day before our tour I got an e-mail letting us know who our tour guide was.  Be still my heart, it 

was to be Sinead!  I was the typical fan boy for sure!!!  

 

That morning I was joined outside our window by this fellow.

 

 

We headed to our meeting place at Green Park by the Goddess Dianna statue.  We used the Tube once again.  This is the meeting spot.

 

 

And then Sinead joined us!  There was one other couple from Australia that had also been watching her You Tubes, so they too were thrilled to meet her in person!  

Sinead is the lovely lady in pink.

 

She was such fun and gave us so much information, taking us to areas that we got to see 

things others did not.

 

We headed through the park and to the front of Clarence House home of the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall.  Who we know as Prince Charles and Camilla.  

There was a lot of preparation going on for the upcoming Jubilee that we were not able to get close to Buckingham Palace.  You can see some of the barricades stacked in front of Clarence House.  

 

 

The guards here gave Sinead the word that one of the royals was leaving soon!  We got to see the Duchess of Cornwall (Camilla) leaving. 

 

 

Next we walked down an area where the changing of the guard starts.  

 

 

Then the band came out and did a little warm up.  

 

Sinead had us move on down so we could see them parade by.  

 

Followed by the Horse unit.

 

 

It was so nice to know where to stand to see the most.  Next we walked through the absolutely beautiful St.  James Park and came upon these friendly little guys.  

 

 

Walking across a bridge we had amazing views.  That is the London Eye in the distance. 

 

 

 

There are so many different species of bird in this park.

 

 

 

Coming across the park to Horse Guards Road and the home of Churchill War Rooms.  Stay tuned in later review for more on that.  The black area in the picture is the entrance. 

 

 

Our walk continued and we saw the magnificent Westminster Abbey.  

 

 

 

Big Ben is almost complete now from it's 5 year renovation.  Actually the Bell itself 

is Big Ben.  This is just the tower.  The Bell has not yet been returned.  

 

We were now standing in Parliament Square Garden.  There are several statues that reside in 

this area.  One is Gandhi

 

Sadly only picture we got but this is Winston Churchill.  He only agreed to a statue in the

park area if he was built facing his favorite pub.  

 

This is the major intersection beside the Parliament building and it happen to be the day that Boris Johnson was to meet with them to answer for his trouble of having parties during Covid Lockdown.

 

We got to see his brigade passed by us at 11:40am through the many protesters and a song going in the background stating "Bye Bye Boris, Boris Good Bye".  Pretty funny!!!  

 

 

We then walked down to Whitehall to Downing Street.  The Cenotaph National War Memorial and Remembrance site is here and the Poppy Wreaths had just been placed recently.

 

 

A few steps away is the gates that are in front of Downing street, residence to the Prime Minister. 

There were a few protesters here as well. 

 

Back through the guards you can see a few news people I am guessing, as the Prime Minister had just left there for the Parliament. 

 

 

Then it was off to see another changing of guard at another parliament building.  Sorry I am not exactly sure which building this was.  She let us know NOT to get in front of the guard getting ready to lead it or we would experience some huge dressing down!!!  

 

After the change we were able to take a picture with the horse guard.  

 

May 24, 2022, London Adventure continued...

 

Our next stop after Tower of London was Tower Bridge.  We went up one side in an elevator.

 

 

The walkway across has a glass floor section and it is so far down to the road below.  

 

 

We were told the drawbridge below opens about 800 times a year and we were lucky enough to be up 

on there when it opened at 1:00p.m.   That dark cloud in my earlier picture turned in to a full blown thunder storm and the rain pelted down!  In the second video you can hear a bit of the thunder at the end.

Going up....

 

 

Coming down...  listen for that thunder!   

 

 

A view outward from the bridge.

 

 

The rain hit so hard the area leaked and had to be mopped up.  

 

Some relics from the bridge.

 

At the other tower we walked down a long stairs.  You could take the elevator if needed.

 

We were so hungry by now, and we still had the Engine Room to see which was a separate part of our ticket and at the end of the bridge.  We decided to have lunch then go see it.  There was a place called The Vault right beside the Engine Room area.  They had the best fish and chips that we had had all vacation so far OR we were just so hungry!!  We sat outside till another round of thunder chases us in. 

 

Our view...

 

 

 

 

The engine room was next.

 

 

We learned all about the early years of how the system worked for the bridge.

 

Next up we walked the waterfront to the London Bridge.  It didn't seem very far but it sure felt

like it!  Saw this cool building as we walked.

 

 

Once on the bridge a view back toward Tower Bridge.

 

 

Walking London Bridge.  I had imagined that this bridge would be so beautiful but no it is not.  

 

At the end of the bridge we see the Monument to the Great Fire of London

 

 

My feet said "no more" and we happen to be right next to a tube station (Monument Station)

We headed back to our hotel calling it a day.  Later we got an amazing veggie pizza 

take out from our hotel restaurant and had a pizza picnic in bed.

Another amazing day!  Tomorrow we have a Westminster tour with a group called Free Tours by Foot!  

 

May 24, 2022, London Adventure continued...

 

We continued on exploring more of the Tower of London.

 

The view from the building that we learned about the Royal Beasts.  

 

 

For 600 years starting in 1200AD by King John, wild and exotic creatures were held captive in the Tower of London and displayed by Kings and Queens through the ages.  In the picture above and below you can see the display of the monkeys.  The animals also kept here through the years were lions, tigers, elephants, zebras, alligators, bears (even a Polar bear), kangaroos, leopards, eagles, pumas, jackal, and panther, who tore an arm off a woman.  I may be missing some.  I had no idea of any of this before our visit.  

 

 

 

 

Inside this building led to an area to walk the wall.  This was some of the city view from the wall.

The odd shaped building is called the 20 Fenchurch Street or walkie talkie building.  Though we did not get to see it, inside it houses a beautiful garden called the Sky Garden.  NEXT TIME! 

 

There is construction going everywhere!  

 

I believe the next building we entered held the Regimental Museum.

So many many artifacts!  It was so well kept and displayed.

 

 

King Henry VIII amor.

 

 

 

Another chapel was within this building.  The Chapel of St. John.  

 

 

This has to be one of the largest books I have seen!  

 

 

Can't even imagine how hard it is to keep all this armor so shiny.  

 

A picture showing the kings.  We found it very confusing when hearing the history 

of which King was when, or who followed who in succession,  during the different tours we took.   

 

 

Loved this dragon made from several pieces of shields etc. of times gone by.  

 

Amazing displays!  

 

 

With the small windows there could not have been much light in these castles! 

 

It does appear some windows were larger on this building!

 

It was time to move on and there is an exit that is an easy walk to the Tower bridge as it almost appeared to us you had to walk out the entrance and way around to get to it.  Thankfully I asked

and we were directed to the shorter walk.  This view is from the outside walk way and look at that

angry looking sky!!  After the rain at the entrance, we had not had a drop inside the Tower of London.

 

 

 

We had a wonderful time with our Son, daughter-in-law, and grand babies, it filled up my

snuggle quota for awhile, but it is NEVER enough!  Love those little people!!!  Time to return to 

our next few days in London!!!

 

May 24, 2022, London Adventure

 

After a lovely breakfast, it was our goal for the first of the day to reach the Tower of London.  This was one of the places that opened earlier than 10 at 9:00a.m.  

We got on the tube at Paddington, went one stop and changed lines,  and in one of my searches it stated to get off at Algate station.  This was wrong, we wanted one more which was Tower Hill Station.  Our learning curve on this Tube was still a challenge.  Right back on and one more station took us to the Tower of London area.  

 

Wrong try again....  

 

 

Once at the ticket entrance to Tower of London we bought our tickets and joined the line

already going in that had pre-booked tickets.  We were told to head right to the Crown jewels

for a less crowded viewing time.   It was raining off and on today!  

 

The Crown Jewels were at a building a brief walk away, so took some pictures at the amazing

structures as we went.

 

 

 

 

 

We found the building and it was guarded on the outside by two guards.  There

was no line and found the advice given was right on.  There was a huge line up later.

 

 

 

This was the entrance of the building.  How interesting is that clock!

 

There is no photos once past the doors so I cannot show you that CROWN!!!  Oh

my!  If that truly is the real thing, the diamond on the front of it is as big as a silver dollar!!!

The other precious jewels were beautiful that were on the crown as well!  

 

We came back out and ventured back toward the front as we wanted to take a Yoeman's/Beefeater tour.

I had read this is a must and I couldn't agree more!  We learned so much!!!  

Some of our sites in the front as we waited for our tour.

The Tower Bridge 

 

They were decorating in the moat area for the June celebration of the Queen's Platinum Jubilee

 

A view of the Shard 

 

Finally the Yoemen/Beefeater joined our group.

 

 This is the paragraph that describes this position from Wikipedia:

The Yeomen Warders of Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress the Tower of London, and Members of the Sovereign's Body Guard of the Yeoman Guard Extraordinary, popularly known as the Beefeaters, are ceremonial guardians of the Tower of London. In principle they are responsible for looking after any prisoners in the Tower and safeguarding the British crown jewels. They have also conducted guided tours of the Tower since the Victorian era.

All warders are retired from the British Armed Forces and must be former warrant officers with at least 22 years of service. They must also hold the Long Service and Good Conduct Medal.   The garrison consists of 32 (formerly 37) Yeomen Warders and one Chief Warder.

 

Our tour was with Scott Kelly or Beefeater 409.  We easily had the best!  We listened to other tours as we continued around the sites later and clearly we lucked out!  He was so funny which is hard to be when telling us about a ton of gory, murderous, but true stories of Henry the VIII and wives and going ons of the Tower of London.  We learned of Jane Gray the 9 hour Queen and how she was killed, along with Anne Boleyn who is the most famous of the be-headed group!  

 

 

 

After our tour we sat having a snack and saw some of the changing of the Crown Jewels guards.

 

 

 

 

This is some of the housing of the Yoeman.  They live on site with their families.  Our guide said

it was very nice when having teenage daughters as the gates closed at 10 so they were always in by then.

 

 

Some other sites we saw were a tower that housed some of the tortures of the time. 

 

 

I always wished I were taller, but I doubt if you survived this you would be appreciate of that fact.  

 

 

In one area where prisoners were housed, they had etched things into the wall.  This was quite eerie to see.  

 

 

 

 

There was a lovely chapel on the grounds called the Chapel Royal of St. Peter ad Vincula.

The building dates from 1520 although the church was established several centuries earlier.  

 

Tomorrow I will continue with more areas of the Tower of London.  

 

4 minutes ago, BuckeyeMark said:

We are now holding you 100% accountable for all weather and waves from this day forward ... LOL!

These are really great reviews.  You are doing a great job writing this up.  I think you should poll Cruise Critic and see where folks need some travel info and reviews and then book a cruise there.  Everyone would read it! 

I blush over your compliment!  There are some amazing reviewers on the Cruise Critic site, and I too love to read their reviews.  Thank you for making me feel like one of them!  

4 hours ago, SomewhereGirl said:

What a great review!  The part at the beginning, talking about the bus to Southampton and the pictures at Heathrow convinced me that I too could do it, so I will in August.  🙂

 

Did you use self-service laundry onboard?  The subject of laundry was brought up in another thread.  Do you recall or know if the laundry was open specific hours, or 24 hours? Sorry if I missed it in your review.

Thank you for coming along on our adventure!  

I am sure you could do the bus!!!  It went pretty smoothly for us especially since our hotel was so very close to the bus drop off.

Regarding your laundry question, we are elite so we used that laundry service as it is free once you reach it.  Not free really when you consider all the money  we all spend that gets us to elite.😂

I am sorry to have not noticed the hours of the self-service laundry.  Hope someone else may answer that for you! 

22 hours ago, Mark_OH said:

What are the expectations for the roughness of the water around the British Isles?  My wife had a bad experience on one cruise and is wondering if she should wear a motion sickness patch for this cruise.

For our trip it was smooth sailing with just a tiny movement to let you know you are cruising at all.

I am sure it is different every cruise as the weather is variable at all times.  

On 6/10/2022 at 3:40 PM, wowzz said:

That looks like a half decent Indian meal !

Never found a good Indian  restaurant in the US - they all think that the "hotter" the flavour  is, the better,  which is nothing like true  Indian/Bangladeshi cuisine. 

(PS I'm sure there are plenty of good Indian restaurants in the US, but they are a lot less easy to find than in the UK ! )

Thank you for commenting!  It was a very good meal!  Not the best we have had, but very good.

There are so many we saw all over London, so you really do have a huge amount to pick from!

 

We have one particular place we love here in the US and it is 6 hours drive from us, where our 

daughter lives.  The flavors of there meals are just incredible!  It is called Karma in case you are

ever in the Seattle area in Puyallup, Washington.  I seriously doubt it, but just in case.  😂

On 6/9/2022 at 3:25 PM, thehowlingroad said:

Really interesting recap of your trip! We're going on the International Friends tour in August too, after our Iceland cruise, and I'm trying to carve out some time during our London stay for the V&A, since we didn't have time during our last trip. Looks like you had a blast.

Thank you for chiming in!!!  International Friends tour was just wonderful!

I hope you will be able to see the V & A museum this trip.  I wish I could go back and see that third 

floor that we just could not get too.  The second floor with the jewelry display was just a not to miss thing!  Happy travels to you!  

On 6/9/2022 at 12:35 PM, kml246 said:

Dear Kitty & Jim,

 

Thank you for sharing your excellent chronicle of your cruise. We were on Emerald Princess for fourteen days in the Caribbean a month before. It was our first Elite cruise and we enjoyed the free laundry! No tender ports so we'll wait to appreciated that perk. The captain and crew were wonderful, but the ship is a bit tired and in need of a drydock (scheduled for Oct 2022). The captain apologized for her condition. It did not detract from a great cruise.

 

We'll be in Southampton next month (our first UK trip) for a cruise to Iceland and Norway on Enchanted Princess. We appreciate your overview of your pre-cruise stay. We'll be spending two nights there before the cruise. We are also taking the same International Friends debarkation tour you took. After reading your review, looks like we made an excellent choice. Thank you for your tips. 

 

In August 2023 we're booked on Emerald Princess for the cruise you just completed, adding the six-day land tour in Ireland prior to the cruise. I've bookmarked this thread and will be referring to it as we book our excursions. A question about the Overlands Tour in France: you mentioned about the rude couple that didn't care about inconveniencing all the other participants. Do you think the tour company was wrong in not being more considerate of you and insisting the late couple get back on time, and certainly not allow the additional time to mail the postcards?

 

You seem like a lovely couple. I hope we have the good fortune of crossing paths on a future cruise.

 

All the best,

Kevin & Nan

So happy to know you are reading along!  Iceland and Norway sound amazing!  Hope you have a wonderful trip and also a great experience on the one in August on Emerald!

 

Regarding your question about Overlord Tour:  First, it was a fantastic tour and the guide was the

nicest most knowledgeable man!  

I have never experienced in all our many cruises a couple doing this "late back to 

a tour over and over" as they did.  Maybe the tour guide was also new to experiencing this.  I only

think the last incident was the one he should have intervened, but maybe he could never had 

guessed they would have taken about 20 minutes to return.  

It is not that I wanted to get back to the port in a big hurry, it was just that we too would have loved that extra time in Honfleur.  I would hope the guide never has this situation again! 

I can only say Overlords were wonderful, and I would book them again despite this experience with these cruisers!  

Happy Cruising to you both!  

 

 

 

On 6/9/2022 at 10:41 AM, RNRcruisers said:

Planning a trip to London for September. Thank you for the great info!

 

Thank you for reading along!  September should be fantastic!  

9 hours ago, lindylooellalouise said:

Hi thank you for posting your review and I have enjoyed every minute you have amazingly packed in a huge amount of sightseeing we are on the emerald Princess  next week and unbelievably we are in the same cabin E702 our first cruise with Princess but have done British Isles a few times usually with Cunard looking forward to reading your next review.

Just remembered that for all our 12 days there was a slight cigarette smoke smell off the right side of bed’s nightstand (by wall not window side).  I tell room steward and he says no one was in our room prior cruise.  I even Clorox wiped it everywhere and would still get a whiff of the smell.  I hope you will not experience that.  Or that I just have an over sensitive nose!   
Maybe come back here and report if you can when you get back. 

May 23, 2022, London adventures -Museums Day

 

We bring our bad habit of getting up before the sun, even though we moved time zones!  I do tend to love those early morning hours, though.  The fact that most museums and things here don't open till 10 made us find other things to pass our time.

One was a big breakfast.  Our hotel provided complimentary breakfast with our room.  It was a full on choice off there menu and then continental breakfast was also laid out in buffet style.  It was just fantastic!  A beverage (latte) is also included.

This is the front of our hotel.  

 

 

And at the top is our room...

 

 

DH chose the English breakfast today.

 

 

I had two eggs "sunny side up" is how we say it, over sourdough bread.  Amazing deal! 

 

 

Then we were off and we walked through the huge Hyde/Kensington Park

 

Surprising things happen like this..

 

 

This was just a beautiful walk.

 

 

Some friends that I found along the river.  I respect them and their space, they are huge! 

 

 

The bridge we will cross next. 

 

 

From the bridge I saw a bird made a nest right on the water. 

 

 

We take the direction to see the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain, but it doesn't open till 10:00 also.

 

 

 

We crossed over into Kensington Park at this point as I need a bathroom and the sign pointed that way.  This bathroom was credit card only for 20 pence.  This came to 25 cents on my card.  

Started heading down toward the museums and there was the Prince Albert Memorial.  This was

over the top huge!  

 

 

 

We see the Royal Albert Hall

 

 

Then it was on to the Natural History Museum.  It is free but they ask for you to make reservations online which I had done.  Not sure they even looked at it and it was so packed later, I am sure they did not 

limit entry as the reservation stated they did.  

 

 

This entrance made our jaw drop!  

 

 

 

There were wonderful exhibits of the various segments of natural history and we grabbed

a bit to eat in here as well.  

The building itself was beautiful.  Again I felt like maybe part of Harry Potter was done here. 

 

 

Then it was time to see the Victoria and Albert Museum.  We enjoyed the Natural museum but 

hindsight we would have spent way more time in the V & A museum.  It was immense and wonderful.

The jewelry exhibit is not to be missed.  Wish I would have taken more pictures.  We didn't even see it all before we just were museumed out.   This museum was also free to enter. 

 

Entrance area...

 

 

Inner courtyard.  

 

 

 

 

There were so many things to see this is just a tiny bit.

 

Something from Ukraine!  

 

 

Huge displays of art. 

 

This little crown was worn over a hair bun on top of, I believe, Queen Victoria's head.  

 

There is a big room of statues and at one end is a way to go to the Kensington tube station.  Our minds just could not take in any more so it was time to call it a day.   We were so glad to find this entrance, as it had started raining.  It was a a long walk to the gates. 

 

 

After being back at the room for awhile and enjoying some tea, we decided to find some dinner.

Indian food is usually a must for us on any trip, if we can find it that is.  There happen to be 

one right by our hotel.  

This is the outside menu and the picture came out kind of fun.

 

 

 

Delicious!!  

 

Doesn't show, but DH had ordered way more Naan than this.  Is there anything better than a good garlic Naan???  We think not.  Another big wonderful day and we head to room for some needed rest!  

 

SO, it is time for us to leave to visit one of our son's and daughter-in-law who live 6 hours drive from us.

It has been too many weeks since I have snuggled those grand babies!  I have missed them so!

I am sure any grandparent out there would give me an absence excuse note, so I will continue with our London adventure on Monday!  Have a good weekend!  

 

5 hours ago, lindylooellalouise said:

Hi thank you for posting your review and I have enjoyed every minute you have amazingly packed in a huge amount of sightseeing we are on the emerald Princess  next week and unbelievably we are in the same cabin E702 our first cruise with Princess but have done British Isles a few times usually with Cunard looking forward to reading your next review.

So glad you are reading along!  E702 was a great room with just a bit of vibration when going into and out of port.  Good luck with those automatic sensor night lights, which are in every room!  Not sure why Princess thinks these are a good idea.  

5 hours ago, leck57 said:

We also spent time in London after the cruise. We thought we did London pretty well but had not read or heard about the canal area as in your photos - we will need to go back! We were there for 9 days and never even saw this area!

Just a tip re the Oyster cards. There is no need to get these anymore as your credit or debit card just works the same way. Just present your card at the reader as you would an Oyster card and and away you go. We were tipped off about this before we left. We had no incorrect charges and all worked fine. Most Metro systems around the world are going this way so there will be no need for Oyster Cards etc.

I don't know how many days it would take to see everything there is to see.  Seven days sure weren't enough.  We were just hesitant to pull those credit cards out and do that.  Losing an Oyster card versus our card we use  to pay for everything seemed less of a risk.  

Also, if a card has the same number for husband and wife, how can that work for two people since you tap in and out?  

Glad it worked out for you two!