Harters

Can anyone please comment on cruise parking at Portsmouth. There seems to be two options. Either CPS which operates a valet service, or APCOA which runs what seems to be a bog standard multi-storey car park. Are both close to the actual cruise terminal - looks as though you have to lug your bags to the cruise terminal, rather than our experience at Southampton where we've dropped bags off first and then checked the car in. TIA

We've used Parking4Cruises with complete satisfaction. They had a handover point, opposite the cruise terminal. They remove your vehicle to a secure compound while youre away, bringing it back on disembarcation day. On our just cancelled cruise, we'd booked the night before at Careys Manor in Brockenhurst inn the New Forest, which would then have been about 45 minutes to the port. Previously, we've found a nice country hotel between Winchester and Southampton - could be 30 - 45 minutes for the port, depending on exact location. Suits us to have somewhere that's a bit of luxury, with a ncie dinner, than a corporate hotel. Leisurely "full English" the next day and a short drive to the ship. I assume you'll be driving a similar route - M6, M40 to Oxford, the A34.

I've cruised once with Oceania. It really suited us - good food, relaxed atmosphere, no formality in the dress code. We should have just finished our second Oceania cruise but were Covid cancelled. Have also done a short cruise, from Miami, with NCL. It was fine for a few days but we didnt think quality was a patch on Oceania. Oceania usually has some perks to offer - beverage deal, onboard credit or a number of free excursions. The latter may be of interest to you. They tend to be the more basic excursion at each port and are valued at around €100 each. I was considering a Viking cruise and wanted to compare with Oceania. I posted on both the Oceania and Viking forums, asking for comparisions. Reason for both is I expected, and got, slightly different responses from the fans of the differing lines. Might be worthwhile you doing similar.

My understanding is that, whilst America is removing testing as a condition of entry, the CDC is retaining it as an advisory for cruise lines. On that basis, I think it most unlikely that a line is going to break ranks anytime soon. Just think of the bad publicity it would suffer if the line had not followed CDC advice and there was a major outbreak. It could be devastating for their profits.

Lots of similar discussions on the "Britain" ports of call sub-forum FWIW, we had a reservation at Carey's Manor in Brockenhurst, in the New Forest, for the cruise we were unable to board earlier in the month, due to a positive Covid test. There was no refund but the hotel has offered credit for a future stay (which we may take them up on if we go for Sirena's cruise out of Portsmouth in September). Carey's is about a 30 minute drive to Southhampton, and about 45 to Portsmouth.

There are reports, today, that the US is to drop the testing requirement w.e.f Sunday. https://edition.cnn.com/2022/06/10/politics/us-to-end-pre-departure-testing-requirement/index.html

I follow a particular Spain forum on Tripadvisor, where the question of prepaid cards crops up with some regularity. As already mentioned, they are accepted just as normal Mastercard/Visa cards (except car rental). The perceived benefits seem to be for folk who: 1) Do not have a normal card for whatever reason 2) Have a normal card which has high charges for overseas use. 3) Want to keep a particularly tight control on their expenditure.

Ship's excursions have always seemed expensive. If you do a bit of Googling, you can often find the operator and you'll see a cruise price much inflated from its usual price. Who knows how they and the cruise line share out what is really an indecent amount of profit. That said, we are looking to book a cruise with Oceania. It comes with an option to take four freebie excursions which we know from experience can be a good bet for those ports where things might be a bit limited in scope. Literally, this afternoon, I've started to work through the various ports and try to work our what we might do. There will be the freebie excursions where other options are limited, maybe some directly booked things but, in the main, we'll work out our own walking tours. It's fun to explore.

Could this be a matter of how tax is calculated in the two countries. Here, VAT is always incorporated into an advertised price but, in the States, sales tax is always added to a bill at the end. That said, why not try and use the differential as a negotiating point. Contact the cruise line's UK sales office and ask them to explain why the difference. Nothing lost.

Google finds several sites which offer an overview of shows playing in the central area, including this one: https://www.london-theatreland.co.uk/

This week, we needed to do an observed test prior to boardign our Oceania cruise at Southhampton. Bought lateral flows from Boots and used them during an observed appointment with the people https://dochq.co.uk/ Good, quick process with the certificate of the test results sent within minutes (unfortunately, it was positive, so I'm sending this from North Cheshire, not the ship). It'd certainly be an idea to use something like this service both for entry to the US and for boarding.

That'd have a different response from we Britons, where "Asian" implies the Indian sub-continent and lamb would be very common (or, more accurately, goat). But, in "East Asian" food, I'd agree it's rare to find it.

This Friday - and Oceania requires a negative test before allowing boarding. In truth, I feel like crap and don't really feel up to cruisng, so I'm sort of hoping I continue with a positive test, so we can cancel and make an insurance claim.

I presume this is the recent remake. The original version, of 90 episodes, was shownhere between 1978 and 1990. FWIW, my partners late uncle, had trained as an actor with the star of the show, Christopher Timothy and continued a friendship.

Edinburgher - your Plan B worked, as did my Plans C & D (the latter being the cruise line). Both the harbourmaster and the cruise line confirm Sirena will be smack bang in the centre, adjacent to the Place des Quinconces. Cruisemapper shows Sirena on that berth today. Many thanks again for your tips. May all be academic as I've tested positive for Covid this morning and Oceania have a "no negative test result, no boarding" policy.

I fully understand O's caution about this - even though I am all but certain to fall foul of it for our cruise which departs Friday. Yesterday, I woke up with a cough. Did a lateral flow test this morning and am positive. We have our pre-boarding tests scheduled for Wednesday afternoon and will attend for these - just in case, unlikely as it seems. In any event, we'll need "official" results to make our travel insurance claim (and who knows how much they'll try to wriggle out of meeting the claim). I cannot begin to tell you just how depressing this all is. My 70th birthday cruise was cancelled at the beginning of the pandemic and now it looks as though we won't get our Golden Wedding cruise. These celebrations can never be recaptured - any future cruise will be just a cruise not an "event". And we'd specifically picked this UK round trip, some 12 months back, as we felt it was going to be much safer than flying to a port.

Thanks again, edinburgher. I also have some French so had another look and have found the relevent page - https://www.bordeaux-port.fr/fr/navires-quais-attendus . Unfortunately, it doesnt seem to detail exactly where ships dock, so I've adopted your Plan B and have sent an email, in my best French, to the port office. I also now have a Plan C. I spotted that our ship, Sirena, is actually in Bordeaux tomorrow so I'll have a nosey at Cruisemapper and see where the GPS has the ship.

If this was me, I'd drop St Andrews from my plan, for the travel reasons already mentioned. Plenty to keep anyone interested for a day in Edinburgh. On our last cruise, we were "fogged in" for several hours and couldnt tender, which meant we scrapped plans to go ashore - which meant we missed our planned trip to the National Gallery of Modern Art. We'll make a point of visiitng next time we stay in northeast England - it's about a 90 minute drive from where we stay and, in the past, we've driven up just for lunch at a favourite restaurant but we'll have a longer day next time.

Now, really interesting bedtime reading is the full Sue Grey report which I read through this morning (all 60 pages of it, although not actually in bed).

I have absolutely no issue with a business setting a dress code. And I agree with you that it should be clear and, as far as possible, unambiguous. In that way, potential customers can decide if that is a place where they want to eat. Or, in this case, decide if a ship is for them or not. For example, I choose not to eat in restaurants which require men to wear jackets. It's no big deal - very few places here at whatever level have such a rule. It also means I rule out a number of cruise lines which still go down the formal/informal route. That's also no biggie, when there's the likes of Oceania, Viking, etc. My standard "dining out" clothing, whether for the local pizza place or a Michelin 3* restaurant is chinos and polo short (or short sleeved buttoned short). And, of course, that's what I'll be wearing on our forthcoming cruise. And I'll have no problem if others are wearing shorts or three piece suit & tie.

Red Ginger was the only place on our previous O cruise, in 2017, which was disappointing. We have made our two reservations for our forthcoming cruise but if we find the food is again medicocre, we'll cancel the second one.

The search facility brought me here, looking for boarding day lunch options, and it's good to know Waves will be open. My recollection of our previous cruise in 2017 was that it wasnt and we battled our way through the bear pit that was the Terrace. This time, we've taken the boarding time slot of 11.00 to 11.30. It will fit nicely with checkout from our previous night's hotel. That's about a 30 minute drive away - so a leisurely breakfast, drop the bags with the porters at the terminal, pop over the road to leave the car with the parking company and stroll back over to actually check in. I'll need to find coffee either before or after boarding but can then settle down, catch my breath and start to feel on holiday. Later on, lunch in the Terrace if not crowded, or Waves if it is. I'll have a small carry-on with my photographic kit and medication. It doesnt leave my side until I'm in my cabin.

Thanks. It had popped up for me before I posted but I couldnt find a docking schedule page. I've just looked again and still can't find one. Unless someone can point me to it, i'll probably now wait and see where I wake up. If it's going to be near to the Place de la Bourse, then I can rejig our walk starting from there.

Very probably. There seems to be strong evidence of illegal people trafficking in this industry, right across Western Europe. .

Absolutely. Their weekly (?) group testing informs their analysis. Since the government changed its ground rules about testing and reporting, it's the only reliable infection data available. They've regularly tested the same large group throughout the pandemic so the base data has been consistent. FWIW, a family member has been one of those tested. It shows that, whilst numbers are decreasing, they are stubbornly high. Factual data about hospital admissions and deaths show a similar pattern. We are currently suffering about 100 deaths a day. That actually compares unfavourably to earlier periods of the pandemic. I had two UK breaks during that time. According to the government Covid dashboard, on the Friday I went away in 9/20 (before anyone had been vaccinated), the deaths recorded were 24 and, in 6/21, just 6.