Harters

I don't know, I'm afraid. It was Google that found me the UK one so maybe that'd be worth a try.

Spain has very low taxation on wine and, of course, is a major producer. In the UK, we have high taxation on booze. It's approximately 30% of the price of a bottle of wine. But, even so, I can buy a 125ml glass of Californian wine at a local restaurant for under £5 ($6.48) including all taxes and no tip required.

I think it does something to raise expectations for first time O cruisers. Now, having only cruised with O in recent years, I have nothing by which I can make a comparison. But if O's food is the "finest", then there must be some pretty mediocre offerings out there. That is not to say that I don't enjoy the food on O. I do but I accept the limitations of mass catering and do not have high expectations. My "holiday restaurant" rule applies here - if this was a restaurant at home, would I become a regular. And the short answer is generally "no" (with possible exception of Toscana which is generally as good as the Italian place we go to regularly). The video did resonate with me in at least a couple of aspects. First, the wait for a sommelier in the restaurants (both GDR and specialities). Not all the time but often enough to be something of an issue. And, second, the comment about plating of food which often seems that there's been little attempt to finesse the presentation.

Not as simple as all that - if you come from a nation that doesnt have country clubs. Then "country club casual" can be completely meaningless. 😀

I shall lose all credibility with you as well, in agreeing that $11 is expensive. Depending on location, that'd be anything from 50% to 100% more expensive than a glass of wine in the UK. The couple sound as though they are from South East England, where alcohol prices tend to be dearer than in other parts so probably 50% more expensive than they are used to whereas I'd reckon it's getting on for double my local prices. I have previously commented on the forum how expensive we find O's drinks prices (including, say, their alcohol free beer)- fortunately, I don't drink alcohol and my partner only very sparingly, so it is not an issue for us.

And the relevant extract from O's website (which does, indeed, make mention of "casual" jeans). "Recommended on board clothing is resort or country club casual. For evening dining, elegant casual resort wear is suggested. We request that casual jeans, shorts, t-shirts, baseball caps, sandals, or tennis shoes not be worn in the restaurants after 6 PM. Baseball caps may be worn in the Terrace Café after 6 PM. https://oceaniacruises.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360005474533-Is-there-a-dress-code

Assuming midweek, expect it to be packed with folk getting to work. I'd find the walk a bit much at the start of a day's touristing - Google Maps suggests a good 50 minutes. By the by, Park Plaza County Hall is a nice hotel. My partner used to stay there regularly when working, as her employer's head office was just round the corner. I've stayed there once and found it fine

You actually don't need detailed answers here. Signing for routes and the names of lines is excellent at every station. So, to take your second example. As you enter the station, you'll see signs directing you to the platforms for the District or Circle line. As you get close to the platforms, you'll see two more detailed signs - one for each direction and both listing all that line's stations in that direction. Simply check the boards for Tower Hill and that's your platform. So long as you know what line you want, and the names of stations where you might have to change lines, you'll have absolutely no problem. Don't worry - you'll be fine.

I think there may be another version of this somewhere on O's website, which refers to "casual jeans" (or some such description). I'm fairly sure I recall a discussion here months ago about what constituted "casual" in this context. Or am I having another senior moment?

Yes, it is. Although the town centre is small, it's a nice place. Walk a little out of the centre to have a look at Eton College. There's also short boat trips along the Thames, if you are not fed up with being on water. The hop on-hop off, bus may be worth it to see the outer areas of Windsor. https://d1wgio6yfhqlw1.cloudfront.net/UserFiles/file/windsor-hop-on-hop-off-map.pdf Unsurprisingly, it is very touristy. I'd hate to live there but, then, I'm not Charlie Windsor.

Quite a bit to see/do round Dover. Kent is one of my favourite counties. We've often passed through Dover for the ferry to France and, usually, add on another day to our trip to do a bit of touristing round there. And, yeah, London it isn't.

Ancora - on the Boqueria site and open on a Sunday. We had a good tapas lunch there last autumn. From the sound of voices, it's popular with Catalans, as well as tourists My review of it posted to a food forum I play on: https://www.hungryonion.org/t/barcelona-ancora/34987

The weather here in Northern Europe has been awful this summer. The last couple of days, I've had heavy rain and, right now at 2pm, the temperature is only in the mid teens. Apart from a couple of really nice days a few weeks back, that's been the norm all summer so far.

I'm not overly surprised. Tilbury is a good hour's drive away from the centre of London. Oceania might describe Tilbury as "London" but it isnt really. They do the same thing with Southampton which always causes me to chuckle.

I've not been to the Torquay branch of this small chain of seafood restaurants but have been to the ones at Brixham and Weymouth. The food quality is very good but with what i think of as disproportionately high prices. I do like the idea that their fish (haddock) and chips comes with "unlimited" chips. But at £23.96 plus another three quid if you want the almost obligatory mushy peas its, frankly, just taking the piss.

Possibly a new/inexperienced employee. But, either way, she lost the chance of that cruise and any other ones in the future.

So you have. 😀 I've actually deleted one of the TAs on my shortlist. As you know, we booked our next cruise whilst onboard Vista and were then looking to transfer it to a TA. As you suggested, doing that would, hopefully, get us some more discount. So, the now deleted company told me that they couldnt accept a transfer and I'd have to cancel with O and start again, effectively as a new customer with them. As we know, a transfer is perfectly normal and was happily accepted by the TA we had been dealing. So, of course, with regard to the possibility of my future business, the other company has made a right royal mess-up of their chances. 😉

Only as I posted at #62 - it gave me a shortlist of 3 or 4 to get prices from. I'd started out with half a dozen or so picked from from the CC article and a crosscheck with the TA forum eliminated a couple of them (folk reported poor customer service).

Here's the link to the Cruise Critic article mentioning the major players in the UK's TA industry. https://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/articles/best-cruise-travel-agents As you'll know, whilst it's OK for Cruise Critic to mention names, we are not allowed to on their forum. The cruise forum of CC's owners, Tripadvisor, has no such qualms. Using the CC article and TA, you should easily find yourself a shortlist. Good hunting

I’m after recommendations for a nice “country house” type hotel, with good restaurant, for a night’s stay pre-cruise, to get the holiday off to a good start. Definitely NOT looking for anywhere in Southampton itself near the port. If it helps to give an idea of what I’m looking for, we’ve previously stayed at Lainston House near Winchester and Carey’s Manor at Brockenhurst in the New Forest. We’d happily stay again at either but wonder if I can find another gem, just for a change. TIA John

So, on the first night of our last cruise, we started chatting with the American couple on the next table. Obviously, from our accents they knew we were not from that side of the Atlantic. Almost immediately, they asked for our opinion on the state of American politics. That's a tricky one to answer when you don't know who is asking - particularly when you know that American politics is very polarised. My recollection is that we gave a suitable bland neutral answer - we have experience of dealing with issues such as Brexit, so know the need for bland answers at times.

Susan Firstly, and I say this with the greatest respect to American contributors here, but please take any advice they might offer with a very big pinch of salt. The UK travel agency industry is structured and regulated very differently from their industry and contractual arrangements for we Britons may well be very different. Not only that but Oceania's terms and conditions for UK bookings are specific to our country.. And, therefore, secondly, you will need to check the terms and conditions of the contract you have with the travel agency and with Oceania to see what is said about how (or if) price decreases are passed on to customers. It may well be that the contract is the contract and they are not obliged to pass on any reductions, except as an act of goodwill. Once you've looked over the terms and conditions, there are maybe a couple of ways forward. We are not allowed to name travel agents on the forum but I know Vallesan deals with a major player in the UK market. If they have had reductions in the past, then it obviously can be done. So, go back to your TA and see about a reduction on your existing cabin. If that gets nowhere, I would phone Oceania and confirm that what your TA has said is actually correct - it is not impossible that the TA is telling porkies. They are sales people on commission, after all. I have recent experience of one agency telling me something about discounts was contractually impossible when I knew, for certain, that it was very possible (and was achieved with a different agency). The other option, as already mentioned, is to consider cancelling and rebooking - with the cruise so far ahead I assume you have only paid a deposit. You would need to weigh up the costs of lost deposit versus the price reduction.

As stated above, I've never stayed in a HUB so was only commenting on places I actually know about. I'm sure your observation was only intended to be helpful. 😀

Yes, my apologies for my post at #2. The website I'd looked at didnt make clear (at least to me) that the Caernarfon to Bangor segment was by bus.

I've never stayed in a PI that didnt have window or felt other than "normal sized". I had not previously heard of YOTEL till this thread so don't have a view as to similarities. Don't discount Travelodge which often come in cheaper than a PI but can be more basic. Clean, comfy but no frills. I'll happily stay in them - although I can think of a couple I'd prefer not to go back to (Brentford & Llandudno, FWIW). On the other side of that coin, their "new design" hotels (such as the one I stayed at in Hexham) are probably superior to a Premier Inn (except for catering which is always poor in my experience)