scubacruiserx2

We had an advance notice of Norovirus on the previous cruise as reported on Cruise Critic , by a passenger , kevinyork . On June 1st we received a notice from Celebrity advising us of delayed boarding on June 5 due to Noro and deep cleaning of the ship for our safety . We contacted both Novotel and Smith's for Airports , our tranportation to Southamption , and they were fantastic allowing us to change to a later schedule . And so we ate lunch at the hotel before leaving for Southamption at 13:00 . This was our first time using Smith's and they were fantastic . And arriving at Southamption , we found our lady in waiting .

We also found a larger than normal queue

After about a half an hour , it was our turn to receive our boarding cards . However , we weren't too happy when our passports confiscated at this point . The only other place where this has happened before was in Chile . We are independent minded and like to DIY , or use private tours and so we carry our passports when going ashore . This had not happened before on either of our cruises from Dover . Fortunately , the only shore excursion which we had booked with Celebrity was for the next morning , and so we glad that we had used them at that point .

It was just a walk up the ramp at that point to board .

And a photo stop along the way

We were told that the rooms were not ready yet and so we waited in the Sky Observation Lounge .

About an hour later we were told that our rooms were ready and we headed down . We were pleased to find that our luggage had arrived and that in 20 minutes time , the safety drill was being conducted in the Celebrity Theatre .

As you can see , safety vests were not required ( evening chic ? ) . However , we found it strange that there were no life vests present in our stateroom .

It was raining at the hotel and we had hoped to go out for some Indian food but we decided to get take out , which was delivered to the hotel . After a good night's sleep Pat and I got up early and headed down to our first buffet of our trip . BC ( before coffee ) photo .

The Centrum area of the hotel made us feel like we were on the ship already ( except or the dart game on the tele of course ) .

Tyler had surprised the previous night by wearing a grody pair of shoes which were falling apart and we asked our server where we could buy a pair of shoes locally before boarding the ship . It was a Sunday morning and she told us that the Uxbridge mall opened at 9 am . So we headed out early for the bus to Uxbridge .

It was a double decker which we boarded and went to the top deck , front row .

They didn't accept cash and so we swiped our Oyster cards which indicated that they were depleted . Tyler rode free . We were told that we could replenish them at the tube station , but we weren't sure how to do it ( dumb Americans ) . We asked the folks behind us what to do and they didn't speak English ( or American ) . And so we moved and gave them a chance , but they we're just as ignorant as us , only more persistent . Finally a local showed us the ropes and we were out of debt ! And while the mall was open - the stores were closed . Meanwhile we enjoyed some window shopping while waiting for the stores to open . Here's Chugginton , our youngest grandson's favorite .

When we spied this poster we asked Tyler if he would like to see the clowns in town and of course , he wanted no part of it .

But if we would have asked Tyler's younger brother the same question , he probably would have asked as to forget the cruise to see the clowns instead . He thinks that clowns are supremely funny as you can hear the giggles in this video clip :

Next : Boarding the ship

Scuba Cruisers: Doing this trip in August, 2017....LOVING your review and the pictures. Your Grandson looks like his Grandmother. Your train looks like our LIRR (only there were empty seats and an auto accident on the tracks would have been a delay of at least 5 hours)...lived in London and enjoyed the pub scenes. More More More!!!!! :D

Thank you Hydrokitty . And the resemblance was even more similar when she had dark hair !

If we would have boarded the train a day sooner , it would have had more people ( Students ) , but school had ended and so it was empty to start . It was a minor accident , and the tracks were clear , but we had to share a track section with the Amtrak trains creating the minor slowdown . But a serious accident or a fatality , which occur all too often , could have shut the track down all day . :(

Looking forward to more of your review

Welcome , and we're looking forward to it also , now that our photo sharing site is up and running ! :) :D

£92 for 3 including breakfast is very good!:)

Good morning Jackie :) I think that we are still on GMT !

We were happy with the price that we paid and the stay . And we don't mind paying higher prices - if there is value attached ( we took Tyler to Murano on the Eclipse ) . However , if we feel that we are being gouged , like fuel prices after a natural disaster , we can become quite obstinate .

Joe,

Very inflated London prices for the breakfast buffet!:eek:

We thought that the prices were inflated but breakfast was included in our overnight price of 92 GBP for 3 . We thought that perhaps they were preparing us for some of the over inflated prices which we would encounter on the Eclipse and in Scandinavia . :eek:

Joe (and Pat) thanks for pushing the boat out on what no doubt will be another Epic review.

 

I'm looking forward to a good long photo-rich read.

 

Getting comfy...

 

Norris

Hello Norris , we're glad that you and your wonderful POV make it on this cruise . After a very busy day yesterday we had hoped to speed things up today but unfortunately , Photobucket is undergoing maintenance at this point and so I can't upload photos at this time . I'll do some editing and upload some videos to you tube in the meantime , and hopefully we'll get back on track soon . :)

We arrived at lunch time and we had booked a night's stay at our favorite T-3 hotel . After a cab ride and a quick check in , we headed out for our first meal on land .

We enjoyed this pub near the hotel for lunch .

Seeing this double decker through the window made Tyler really feel like he was in London .

In the happy zone waiting for lunch

A wild boar burger for me

We were all ready for a nap after lunch

We like the hotel for is proximity to Heathrow and it's breakfast buffet , which I dreamed about while napping .

I am enjoying another of your wonderful reviews. We sailed Eclipse to the Baltics last year in June and loved it. We got amazing weather except for the first day in Copenhagen. I am looking forward to reliving it through your eyes. Thank you for posting.

You're welcome , and welcome back . :) :D

Our flight felt like a cruise because we received our menu before we left the ground .

And the pre flight safety video made me think that we had boarded an astral plane by mistake . Cue the Moody Blues song " Legend of a mind " .

Dinner is served

The Dreamliner has magic windows which can be dimmed by the passengers or crew .

And no , this review hasn't gone in the toilet (yet) ! But there is more room and it is more humane then most others .

And almost before we knew it - we were there .

Very much looking forward to more, I love how we all have different viewpoints.

Yes with so many different countries , and people from different countries on this cruise we did hear and see many viewpoints . Although this cruise had a more distinct UK feel than our previous UK cruises , which had both departed from Dover .

ooh I think that was the same cruise we were on 5th June ? We are flying Dreamliner to Mexico in January Premium, was it good ? Looking forward to more review. I did a review but on the review page so it is still not published. We really enjoyed our Baltics cruise on Eclipse, hope you did too.

Yes it was the same cruise . And yes we enjoyed the plane and flight - but the cruise even more ! However , we have been somewhat spoiled by past cruising and we do have some mixed and conflicting feelings which will surface as the narrative evolves chronologically .

May is my favorite time to visit Florida. Do continue with your review.

Yes we do enjoy our May days in Florida , but we also enjoy the smaller crowds in many of the tourist areas like St. Petersburg , Russia . And typically , our reviews take months to complete ! :eek:

Tri rail looks good on paper and they had new cars but it wasn't our plan A .

As you can see it covers 3 counties and 3 airports and we rode it all the way from North to South . A problem is that it has no provision for luggage . And not long into the trip it became crowded and worse , there was a car accident on one of the crossings making the 2 hour trip , a 3 hour trip . Fortunately we had taken the early train and Tri Rail has completed the missing link , bringing them into the 21st century and getting us there on time .

Story about the missing link :

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/local/broward/fl-tri-rail-miami-station-tour-20150402-story.html

So we had less than an hour's wait before boarding our flight .

We flew on Virgin Atlantic and it was our first flight on the Dreamliner 787 .

We had a frustrating experience with a popular online vacation site trying to upgrade to upper class and so we were seated 3 across , in the last row of Premium Economy .

Where Tyler loved the interactive TV system .

I have enjoyed all your reviews and am eager to share this trip with your grandson. thanks for all your work.

Thank you hazelmaye , and you're welcome ! I do enjoy sharing the photos as it makes it more interesting to me . But I must admit that I get some strange looks as I photograph food with flash ! :o

Excited to be following along with you again. Always love your reviews & only 10 weeks until we are back on Eclipse again [emoji3]

 

 

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Brilliant , it's great to have you back along . Which itinerary ? You may on the same cruise as Larry ( KikisDad ) . And thanks again for the hand washing tip , No sickness this trip ! :) :D

Can't believe you've started the review so soon after returning home!:)

I can't either , but we some down time ( without any kids ) , and so we jumped on the free time . But that will change soon with both of our oldest grandsons here today and tomorrow ! :eek:

Excited to read another of your reports. We are on the Eclipse in early September.

Thank you Larry . Our other thread may give more detail about the Eclipse then this one , but we will be borrowing some photos from the other one . :rolleyes:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2213388

So excited to follow this, we are doing this next may😃

We hope that you enjoy this cruise . May is our favorite time to visit the Baltic and Europe . ;)

I have been eagerly waiting for your next review......

 

Deb

Thanks Deb and welcome aboard .

Looking forward to reading more. We are on the same itinerary from Sunday.

 

 

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Outstanding , do you have any questions that we can answer ?

We have begun our newest review , Eclipsing Northern Europe by cruise : Basic black and Baltic blues , which can be found here : http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=50342280#post50342280

It's about our 14 day Baltic cruise on the Celebrity Eclipse and our week long stay in London , from which we just returned , less than 24 hours ago ! :eek:

Cruising the Baltic family style on the Celebrity Eclipse

This was our sixth visit to Europe , but this one would be different . We would be taking our oldest grandson , Tyler age 13 . We have always maintained a close relationship to him and his brother .

He was just 3 when we first visited Europe , also on a Baltic cruise , on the NCL Dream . When we returned we told him stories of a far away place including the land where Thomas the Train , his favorite , lived . We promised to take him there one day , and so the time had arrived .

We would be taking the local train to our non stop flight from Miami to London

We left in the late afternoon on Friday , June 3rd , the day after Tyler had finished school for Summer . Last stop MIA for our overnight flight to LHR .

Thank You scubacruiserx2 for taking the time to do all of these posts and photos of the Regal Princess. You provided more info than I have been able to gather in a year so we made reservations for 3 cruises on the Regal thanks to you. I wish you would take a cruise on HAL Koningsdam and report to us

. Thanks again for your efforts.

Thank you for your kind complements . :) We hope that you enjoy the Regal as much as we did , or more . And thank you for the great idea about a review on the Koningsdam , but we would have to cruise on it first ! And to cruise on it , we need to fund it . And to fund it perhaps we should start a High Flyer Koningsdam review cruise fund . But in the name of research only , of course . ;)

In the meantime , you may enjoy our review of the Zaandam in South America . It is one of my favorite cruise ships and my favorite cruise and place for nature .

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1958814

Historical maybe a better adjective!:eek:

Have a good flight.

Will you post a link to your review?

Yes Jackie , as soon as we post the first installment .