Disneyfriend

Thank you to the original poster who asked the question about the pre-cruise tour with transfer! The RomeCabs 4 hour tour into the Roman Countryside with port transfer looks just perfect!

Like others on this thread, we are booked for our first Mediterranean cruise (Rome to Barcelona) in 2019. First time to any of these places, and I'm researching intensely now. I truly appreciate all the tips and advice!

Genoa to Cinque Terre is doable, but the travel time in each direction is around 2 hours. Then you have the travel time between the villages. You be the judge!

I loved the video you posted! I am currently leaning towards doing an excursion similar to what you experienced. It might make for a much more relaxing day!

I am trying to decide the same thing. There is simply not a lot of information about cruise excursions from Genoa!

My adult daughter has been to Cinque Terre and is enthusiastically recommending that we go there. I have found a few companies that offer private Cinque Terre excursions from Genoa. But I don't have a sense of how far away this would be from Genoa . . . would the travel time be worth the payoff? Would it be an exhausting day, or a relaxing one?

Pam, this post caught my eye since we are planning to do the same thing for our first trip to Europe this year. (By the way . . . I am also in Arizona!)

I do thoroughly understand that this trip will not be the "ideal" way to see Paris. It will be a lot of travel for a relatively short time in Paris. I do understand that one should stay in Paris for days, or even weeks, for a more in-depth visit.

But the reality is that Europe is a very, very far distance from where we both live. It requires expensive plane tickets. Our work responsibilities require months of advance notice for travel, so crazy last minute deals are not an option for us. I am no longer an extremely young person with decades of travel in my future, and I don't have a job that involves travel.

So when presented with the opportunity to carve time out of our England trip for a half day, frustratingly quick visit to Paris, we are going to take it. Because the reality is that this may be our only chance to see the city, or one of our only chances.

If you are interested, there are a few pre-packaged overview tours available:

https://www.londontoolkit.com/tours/london_paris_day_tours.htm

My adult daughter was horrified that we would consider doing a canned tour of Paris in this manner. She had the opportunity to do a summer study abroad in Italy, and thinks that all European cities are best experienced in this immersion method. She hasn't realized that not everyone is so fortunate to be a very young person with no family responsibilities who can spend a month in a single European city. While I am sincerely glad she had that opportunity, that is not my reality. So I will be grateful for our trip to the British Isles, and for our half day trip to Paris, as imperfect as it is. :)

What they used to do at the Globe was to try and replicate the way plays were put on in Shakespeare's time. So no stage lighting or microphones, and if it was a night performance there would be lights in the galleries to make it feel like day. (Which is a godsend if you're deaf and following the script in a book.)

 

Last year's appalling director threw all that out, and covered the Globe in tarpaulin so the decorations couldn't be seen, and darkened the galleries and lit the stage, basically making it like any other theatre. Fortunately she's got the push, and hopefully the new one will be more traditional.

Interesting background! Thank you.

I wanted to pop back with a sincere thank you to all who replied. I took all the advice to heart, and ended up becoming an "International Friend" of the Globe in order to go ahead and secure tickets just before they became generally available. (A required donation was involved, but I was happy to do it for such a worthy cause.)

Because we are looking at literally a single show that will work in our schedule - and because that show is a weekend show and closing day for Hamlet - I really didn't want to take any chances after the helpful blog post that Bob shared described difficulty in getting seats together.

I also went with the advice to get front row seats in the middle gallery, and was able to get four such seats together.

So many thanks, again, for such valuable advice.

Just one more question, I think. I've glanced through pictures taken at the Globe, and the dress code of the theater goers seems quite casual. Is this correct? Jeans, layers, and comfortable shoes will be acceptable?

Here is a link to a very helpful blog - essential reading for anyone thinking of going. http://www.thewanderblogger.com/shakespeares-globe-theatre/

 

For a huge selection of photographs, have a look at the Tripadvisor entry.

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attraction_Review-g186338-d187726-Reviews-Shakespeare_s_Globe_Theatre-London_England.html

Bob, that blog post was brilliant: seeing a play at the Globe from an outsider's perspective! Just perfect for us, thank you very much. I actually printed it out and will place it in my trip file for review as our time gets closer. Many thanks. :)

This link takes you to the Summer 2018 brochure, which includes dates and times for all the productions. Several times they are doing Hamlet & As You Like It on the same day, afternoon and evening.

 

http://www.shakespearesglobe.com/uploads/files/2018/01/summer_2018_brochure1.pdf

 

 

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Thank you again, Cotswold Eagle. This brochure is quite comprehensive and helpful!

Echo the posts above - book your tickets early. Seeing a play there is a brilliant experience.

Regarding the tour, they are very good and to be recommended but you will be shown a lot of what you will see anyway if you end up attending a play ie the Stage & surrounds, the seating etc etc. Behind the scenes, there is also an exhibition of the History of the building, Tudor life & times and some of the costumes used in many of the productions. It's possible you may also see members of the cast if there are any rehearsals ongoing. Plus you get a guide who is usually very knowledgable and entertaining.

If you haven't booked accommodation, there is a Holiday Inn Express nearby and also a Club Quarters hotel across the Millennium Bridge. Both are very near & walkable (few minutes)to the Globe if you don't want to spend time travelling the morning after you arrive. Club Quarters is a very pleasant hotel and has standard rooms as well as some that are larger & have a "kitchenette " so you can do a little self catering if you prefer. Also is excellently situated for Tube, buses and HoHo.

Thank you for taking the time to post! The tour sounds lovely and quite worthwhile. And I am definitely convinced to go ahead and buy tickets early. I appreciate your advice!

ps - we do have our accommodation booked, but thanks also for the extra recommendations. :)

Buy your tickets as soon as they become available public. Do not rely on anything other than Groundlings being available nearer the time.

 

Sunday performances are 1pm and 6-30 pm. You mention you are looking at the last day of the Hamlet run. A glance at the 2018 brochure suggests that is Sunday August 26th, when Hamlet is the afternoon performance (the evening is As You Like It).

 

One other thing, look at the Gentlemen’s Rooms in the Middle Gallery, if they are not being used for hospitality and the seats are generally available. They have actual chairs, albeit the rear row are tall, like bar stools.

 

 

 

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Thank you for an extremely helpful post! It was kind of you to look up the times for our date (which is, in fact, August 26th). I had looked on the Globe website but couldn't for the life of me find times.

I will take your (and others) advice and go ahead and buy tickets ahead of time. They will be released to the public in another week or ten days.

Thanks again!

Thank you for the tips . . . we will definitely try to get seats with backs, and plan to rent cushions. Or backless seats with the folding supports. Great advice! Also a great tip to be prepared for weather. Layers, perhaps.

What a funny quote! No, I'm quite comfortable in getting my children primed to see the play. I was lucky enough to have a brilliant Shakespeare teacher who took our older (now grown) kids through three Shakespeare plays; I will adopt her proven approach. Her theory was to introduce children to Shakespeare before "they figured out that he was supposed to be boring and difficult". ;) I now have two adult daughters who adore Shakespeare, thanks to her. I am hoping to do the same with these two.

We are visiting London for the very first time this summer. (Family of 4, including 11 year old son and 12 year old daughter). I had wanted to visit the Globe and possibly see a play there during our trip, and just found out that Hamlet will be playing when we are there.

Tickets sales to the public will open soon. Should I buy our tickets ahead of time? We would visit on a Sunday . . . any guesses as to what performance times will be?

I've combed over the Globe website for information, but am still unclear about what the seating area is like. Are they assigned seats? I know that the tickets in the Yard are standing only, which my damaged hip will make completely impossible.

Ideally I would like to take a Globe tour, but the calendar says the tours run from only 9-11:30 am that day due to matinee performances. We will have arrived from the U.S. west coast the night before, and will likely struggle to get up that early. Are the tours worthwhile . . . should we make it a point to return? As it happens, the last performance of Hamlet for the 2018 season will be that particular day, so we have only a one day window to see the play.

I am planning to have my kids read up on Hamlet a bit before we leave so that they are familiar with the play and its most famous lines.

Any other advice or tips for us to consider?

We had a two hour layover from JFK returning from Israel and didn't make our flight. It took an hour to get our luggage and go through customs. We had to wait an additional 8 hours for the next flight home to Orlando. The planes carry so many people and they all have a lot of baggage. Good luck!

Yikes! I am sorry that happened.

Changing seats during a flight is discouraged.

 

However, if Adult A and Child X have a WT+ round-trip ticket and Adult B and Child Y have a WT round-trip ticket, but they swap on boarding the second flight so that B and Y sit in WT+ for the whole of that flight while A and X sit in WT, that should be fine. It's a good idea to let the cabin crew know that you're going to do that, so that they know and in case there is some reason on the day why that shouldn't happen.

 

But the easier thing to do is to buy A and X a ticket which is WT+ outbound and WT inbound, and to buy B and Y a ticket which is WT outbound and WT+ inbound. That's dead straightforward to do, and it means that no swapping needs to take place.

Thank you for your thoughtful reply! You make an excellent point.

In the end, I spotted a pre-Christmas sale on Virgin Atlantic. We bought four tickets - together - in Premium Economy, at a cost per person that was less than the British Airways nonstop in economy. We'll actually be flying Delta in Comfort Plus to JFK, and then Premium Economy on Virgin Atlantic from JFK to London.

Now I just need to make sure we can make our connecting flight in JFK, but that's another thread, ha! (And I'm pretty sure we'll be just fine, with 1 hour 40 minutes on the flight to London and 2 hours 40 minutes on the flight back.)

Thank you to all who replied!

Thank you to all who have replied!

Gates can change, of course, but as of this week, the Delta flight from Phoenix to JFK arrives in Terminal 4, Gate B34. The Virgin Atlantic flight to London leaves from Terminal 4, Gate A5.

It sounds like we should be ok, unless our Phx-JFK flight is unusually delayed. We will of course move as quickly as possible to our departure gate before relaxing.

Flyer Talker, you asked about our return flight. We have a 2 hour, 40 minute layover on the way back from London. Again, hopefully this time will be adequate. We did just get Global Entry.

So we finally bit the bullet and got our airline tickets to Europe for next summer. We're flying Phoenix-JFK on a Delta flight, then JFK-London on a Virgin Atlantic flight. (Bought the trip through Virgin Atlantic.)

A family member is horrified that we have "only" a 1 hour, 40 minute layover at JFK; she is convinced that we will have to change terminals, etc., and could be in trouble if the flight into JFK is delayed for any reason.

When I look up the terminal map at JFK, however, it looks like the Delta/Virgin Atlantic flights are in the same terminal.

Looking for reassurance that we should be fine with our layover time, barring an unusually long delay on the Phx-JFK flight.

Thanks for any input or advice.

Disney:

 

If you go with the two different seat selections, why not put yourself and one child in Plus and Husband and other child in regular economy? Then during the flight you and your husband can change seats to get a chance for the better legroom.

 

I am very OCD to saving money (grin) and if I had miles to use and could save a good little chunk of change I would do the above!!! Anyway you decide, it is a long 10 hours but at least you are non-stop!!

 

Pooh

Seriously this may be a great idea. It might be about the best compromise we can come up with given all the circumstances. We could probably switch so that whichever adult-child pair rides in WT+ on the way to London will return in WT on the way back, and vice versa.

World Traveler Plus! We loved it. So worth the extra money. For our October cruise we purposely chose a cheapie cruise ship cabin to offset the extra cost for WT +

We are not made of money, and I am a bargain traveler, but I have no regrets about spending more than double to have comfort. We never even suffered jet lag due to being able to get some decent shut-eye for several hours. The food service and food was very good. We were on an SFO LHT 4:40 pm flight which arrived at 11:30 am and it was perfect. In our case we were headed to Barcelona, so by the time we got to our hotel it was 7:00 pm, so we never missed a beat.

FWIW, we were able to pre-board with the First Class group.

 

For our next trip we are inclined to try Norwegian economy plus.

Thank you for the nudge. In our case, World Traveler Plus is probably a reasonable amount over the price of the World Traveler seats, especially once the extra baggage allowance is factored in. What's killing me mentally is the fact that we can get two World Traveler seats using our FF miles. And we've been saving those darn American FF miles for *years*! I feel like we've caught a unicorn and dare not let it go, ha! ;)

Our last 4 flights, BOS/LHR/BOS with BA have all called WT+ to board before WT, thus it's a quasi perk, allowing us to get the hand luggage into the overhead and settle in for a pre-cruise beverage. First on my agenda - take out a few Lysol wipes and wipe the arm rests, beverage tables, remote and monitor. As far as the noise blocking head phones - anything is excellent compared to ear buds and the crummy things sold on domestic flights.

 

LHR offers expedited entry if you fly first or business. I've seen the sign while standing in line at passport control.

 

Upon return to the US, Global Entry is a nice way to avoid the long lines in BOS and elsewhere. Insert your passport into the kiosk slot, do the biometric hand/finger scan, face forward and in seconds, your entry slip appears. No need to complete the blue US Customs card while on the homeward flight.

 

Security leaving LHR is very thorough. IMO, far more so than any I've experienced at any US airport.

 

Re: BA's overall decline - Those planes flying the BOS/LHR route tend to be the older ones, 747 v 787's like Virgin flies. Service on all planes isn't like it used to be.

 

Anything is better than economy, especially flying from PHX to LHR.

 

Darcy

Thank you, Darcy.

You don't need to be flying an airline that participates in TSA PreCheck to be able to use Global Entry, they are two separate programs. I have been using Global Entry when arriving off BA flights for years and years. Just insert your passport as normal and it brings up all your flight information.

Thank you for the clarification . . . I guess I didn't understand the distinction. So Global Entry helps to expedite re-entry into the U.S., and would apply to our arrival back in Phoenix (since Sky Harbor has Global Entry kiosks).

But it would not help to expedite us through security at either Sky Harbor (on our Phx-London leg) or Heathrow (on our London-Phx leg), because British Airways does not participate in TSA Precheck. Is that about right?

WT+ does not get priority boarding. Priority Boarding is limited to First, Club World and oneworld Rubies and up. At some airports there may be a separate WT+ check-in line but this an exception rather than "brand standard". Personally I find it amusing the headphones would be described as "excellent", even the ones in First are terrible, IMO.

 

I should note that BA doesn't participate in TSA PreCheck.

I did hear that BA doesn't participate in TSA PreCheck/Global Entry. Such a bummer! We just got it last year, too! But they have the only nonstop flight from Phoenix to Europe, and I'm not sure a connecting flight is worth it just to fly another airline and get to use our Global Entry.

Having flown BA WT and WT+, go for the upgrade. The better service, food [business class meal - well it's still airline food], and increased recline [not flat] and excellent noise blocking head phones, priority boarding, juice/water/sparkling wine before take off, win out for us. I would go for the earlier flight, too. By the time the first round of beverages are served on the later flight, you'll be ready for sleep. A light snack/breakfast will be served before landing at LHR.

 

To keep the children happy and occupied during the flight, pick up a few extra snacks at PHX after going through security. Hope it's not Terminal 3; what a mess, just flew PHX to BOS last month. TSA was very aggressive in searches and we have Global and Pre-check.

 

Yes, crunch the numbers - when I did, I moved from BA to Virgin Atlantic to save about $1K RT BOS/LHR.

 

Darcy

Thank you for the input, Darcy. All of those little extras - and especially the wider seat and greater legroom - make flying WT+ much more appealing to me! Especially for a 10 hour flight.

I think we will go with the earlier flight - dinner will work better for us, I think.

Definitely WT for the kids and WT+ for the grownups.

 

You're better off purchasing the WT+ tickets rather than using miles for them. On mileage tickets (either AA miles or their own) BA adds "carrier fees" (used to be called "fuel surcharge" fees until BA got sued in US federal court over it) which severely reduce the value of the miles you spend in the first place, and the WT+ seats also get whacked with the highest Air Passenger Duty (departure tax) rate, while the WT award seats pay the lower price. Those fees are built into the airfare for the purchased tickets but they're ON TOP of the mileage "cost" for the award seats.

 

Even so, look closely at the budget for the award seats. Try valuing your miles at 1.5c or 2c each, add the cost of the fees and taxes, and see how it compares to just buying the seats in the first place. You might be surprised, shocked even.

Thank you, Gardyloo, for your thoughtful reply. I actually have an accounting background, so have probably analyzed this to death. The cash cost for an economy flight on BA from Phx to LHR for our dates is approximately $1600. Alternatively, I could spend 60,000 of my AA miles plus $500 in fees. So, a net value of around $1100 for 60,000 miles, or 1.83 cents per FF mile. So really, not a bad use of miles at all, especially given how hard it seems to be to ever *use* AA miles. ;)

Still really struggling over the idea of putting the kids into a different cabin. Probably an overactive guilty conscience, since we're pretty much going to be joined at the hip with them for our two weeks in Europe!

I would go with the 5:10 PM flight.

 

You will have dinner at a reasonable hour.

 

Watch a movie.

 

Then get some sleep.

 

When you arrive push yourself to stay on the new time zone.

 

Key for us is after checking in to walk around. The outside air does wonders.

 

Glad to hear you are staying in London for several days before the cruise.

 

Keith

Thank you so much, Keith. I will try to remember your excellent advice about taking a walk.

Leaning towards the earlier flight. I think it will feel more natural for our schedules. Maybe. I am probably overthinking this!

While agreeing with Klfrodo's logic about LHR, I really enjoyed our late afternoon departure (from IAH) which meant we got to enjoy our dinner and get to sleep at a reasonable time to have a good sleep as opposed to finishing dinner at 10 pm or so.

 

Have you thought about putting the kids in WT and you and yours in WT+? That way you get to have a lie flat experience which will significantly improve your chances of actually getting some good sleep and the kids can sleep anywhere....at least all the ones I know can.

Thanks for the input, Clay. I was thinking the same thing that finishing dinner around 9 pm or later was not my cup of tea. (I'm of those people who don't do well eating on the later side.)

And yes, I *have* thought about giving the kids two seats in economy and getting 2 World Traveler Plus seats for ourselves. It is an extremely tempting and cost effective solution considering that our FF miles can get 2 economy seats, but nothing in World Traveler Plus. I start feeling mildly guilty for considering it, but then I realize . . . hey, you're taking the kids on vacation to Europe!! British Airways actually has a policy for this for children over 5. At 11 and 12, I think it's a reasonable choice. (They're old enough to handle themselves reasonably well, and young enough to not be bothered by the smaller seats.)