JeanieC,Aston

They have been moving cruise ships out of Amsterdam for a while now, To Rotterdam for the big ships and Ijmuiden for the smaller ships. P&O moved from Amsterdam a long time ago,,,they run shuttles from Ijmuiden to Amsterdam. Even the UK to Amsterdam ferries never actually docked in Amsterdam,,,,they docked in Ijmuiden by the locks to the North Sea. The P&O ship Iona in Rotterdam…..they will never stop cruise ships docking in Rotterdam,,,,it’s the biggest port in Europe and can handle any number of ships.

I have used Eavesway many times from Burtonwood Services,,pick up usually 07:45. Get ther 20/30 mins before for a coffee in Starbucks and get the paper from WH Smith. Used ‘free’ coach a couple of times,usually with Ellisons coaches,lovely coaches,,,but they pick up at 09:15 so a later arrival in Southampton. Eavesway is about £180 for two of use,,,,do the math to see if it’s better to take OBC and book Eavesway or take ‘free’ coach.

The plan is to reduce numbers visiting the city,,so if your hope that the numbers drop comes to fruition Amsterdam would welcome that. Have you been to Amsterdam recently?,,,it’s crowded with drunks and druggies,,,it’s that that they want to stop plus they want to build a bridge from the city across the river and the cruise terminal is in the way.

Just to wet the appetite this is Flam,,,the train station not far away. You can book tickets for the trip on the Flam Railway online,,,far cheaper than Celebrity’s excursion,,,,or even walk up for a later train. The first train is usual full with trips and advance bookers.

Met Office forecasting temps of 100 deg F for most of the day,,,those decks need some cover.

Yes,,my wife just reminded me it was our one and only Aurora cruise. It learnt me never to tick the yes to an upgrade box.

What happens if you arrive say at 14:00,,,do you go to the front of the queue or are you given a new time? It doesn’t matter what time I’m given I arrive by Eavesway around 13:30 and go straight in with the time they are calling even if my time is later.

Enjoying the review on probably my favourite P&O ship (Iona my least fav). The noisy neighbours comments reminds me of one episode with P&O,,,I can’t remember the ship but I had an upgrade to a balcony cabin on a better deck than I was on,,,,alas it was next to one of the poshest suites on the ship that had as its feature a Grand piano,,,one of those that played automatically as well as manually. In the suite was a couple and 2 young children,,,,,all day long it was plink plonk,,no tune just plink plonk plink plonk. The husband invited my wife and myself in to look around mentioning the Grand piano. I don’t need to see the piano I said I can hear it all day long,,,,I think he got the message the plink plonking stopped.

The 91 service goes round the island clockwise, 92 anticlockwise. The complete circuit takes about 90 minutes..the buses do get crowded on cruise ship days. On those days the bus company lays on special buses for less than £10 with photo stops at all the main sights.

Be careful in Athens tomorrow it’s forecast for 45 deg. Plenty of water and don’t forget they are closing the Acropolis from early morning to early evening due to the suffocating heat,,,,no shade on the Acropolis.

They had it on Silhouette in May,,,the version doesn’t fit well with Brits as it is the American version with 75 balls whereas the Brit version is the 90 ball bingo. The Brit version is faster and easier to understand. My wife went years ago and couldn’t make head nor tail of it.

Posted Saturday at 09:44 PM Bo on Saturday you wrote…. ‘Every time I have called over the last few weeks for various things, the longest wait was ten (10) minutes and the Reps spoke 'perfect' english and understood what I needed’ Then on Sunday you wrote in the above post… ‘Many of us use agents to handle issues so we do not personally need to be on the phone for 'hours' at a time to get resolutions/answers/responses’ What made you contact X in the last few weeks that your agent couldn’t do? Just asking!

I agree Sunset is the thing in Santorini,,,,this year sunset was about 20:25hrs. With Bummers ship sailing next year at 21:00 he should be OK.

Hi. One of the most thought provoking moments I’ve had on a cruise ship was sailing from Çanakkale to Istanbul when you sail through the Dardanelles past Gallipoli. If you sail past in daylight your good camera will take in all the Anzac/Turkish monuments to that terrible part of WW1. We had a CD who gave a running commentary,,,,with poems read out written bysome of those who perished bringing tears to the eyes. Unfortunately most cruise ships pass during the night,,your ship I see leaves Istanbul at 22:00 so unless daylight comes early before you reach Çanakkale you will miss it. There May be boat trips from Çanakkale to Gallipoli. Did you know the current through the Dardanelles runs both ways,,,one on top of the other. Love that itinerary.

There is a difference between sailing from the US and Europe,,,Southampton excepted. The way MSC operate in the Med is like a bus service,,,,they embark and disembark passengers at every port of call. The majority of passengers can be Italian or Spanish and boy can they cause mayhem whether it’s in the buffet or bars it’s push,shove and General rudeness,,,that’s their ways but us Brits or Yanks may find this all too much. On my one and possibly only MSC cruise I could have had arguments every day. I would maybe sail MSC at a push from Southampton but from Barcelona or Genoa or Livorno never.

Celebrity ‘ask you’ what time you are arriving. Maybe security being before check in at City terminal helps. If you want to go straight in whatever arrival time you get arrive by coach.

I just voted it’s fine just to stop the other person voting it’s fine from being lonely.😏 A meaningless poll when the result is know beforehand. JC

I’ve seen Americans having Cheese Plate for starter,,,it’s quite common. As for coffee I always ask for my Macchiato be served with my Cheese & Biscuits.

Hi Norris. The stadium you saw being built is for Everton FC on Bramley Moor Dock. Be ready in 2025.

Hope you manage to come back to Liverpool there is more to see than the Beatles history. A taxi will do you a tour no problem they all know the tour routes,,most Beatle sights are in the same area of Liverpool. Here are a couple of images of the ‘shelter in the middle of the roundabout’. The original was turned into a bistro,,but it’s been empty for a few years. The original… As it is now… ps,my favourite photo is the one with the Guinness,,,,looks lovely.

Hi Norris. Shame about the short tour,,when I was last in Iceland all tours was 8 or 10 hours,some tours didn’t get back to the ship until half way through dinner. We walked the gap,,our mini bus dropped us at the visitor centre at the top,,we walked down,the minibus drove around and picked us up at the car park at the bottom. Where you on a minibus or full sized coach? At one of the visitor centres/cafes you can stand astride the plates,one foot in Americas the other in Eurasia. We booked 8hr tour with GeoIceland.

Hi Lichfield is in the Midlands near Wolverhampton/Birmingham. Manchester is in the North of England,,,2hrs by car from Lichfield.check you are not going to the wrong place.

Hi I’m British I always ask nicely😉 Last x4 Celebrity cruises,,,,one from Dublin,,no cans of Guinness on board. Last year on Celebrity x2 (from Southampton) no Guinness on board. Last month on Silhouette from Southampton they had Guinness but now on the PDP. But..unbelievably for a ship sailing the season from Southampton they have taken Boddingtons bitter off the menu,,,,,,no bitter on the ship.

Hi Did the shortage of cans of Draught Guinness sort itself. The availability of Guinness on my last x4 X cruises has been abysmal. To make things worse on my Silhouette cruise last month they have bumped Guinness up into Premium drink package. On a Reflection cruise to Iceland a few years ago from Dublin they had no cans of Draught Guinness…..sailing from Dublin!!!! They we’re trying to get rid of the bottles,,,if they where the same as you had they were Foreign Export at 7.5%,,,even the Irish on board couldn’t drink the stuff.

Hi The letter denote which package the drinks are included in,,,,,they now have x2 alcoholic packages….Classic and Deluxe,,,,,so you will see C or D. If you see Spirits under D they are doubles.