kaznaid

Who is the Cruise Director, please?  We join Silhouette on Tuesday😄

When I read this thread it got me thinking, my husband and I are doing exactly the same trip starting 3 weeks today! starting in Toronto, then to New York for 4 nights then home on the QM2. I have contacted my travel agent who got this reply from Cunard yesterday.

 

Thank you for your inquiry regarding Cunard Line's White Star Luggage Service. Should your guest wish to reserve Luggage Service for shipping luggage reservations must be secured by Sept.20, 2016

 

Shipment will be picked up on Sept.27, 2016

 

When reserving the service, we will require the following information:

 

1.) Complete address and phone number where luggage is to be picked up

2.) Number of pieces to be shipped

3.) Estimated weight of each piece

4.) Declared value of each piece

 

Shipment is available exclusively for Cunard Guest

 

Current rates are for you exclusively, and are based on shipping from: West Sussex to New York

 

1-14 kgs - 185.11 GBP 15-23 kgs - 250.06 GBP 24-34 kgs - 331.25 GBP

 

I think that's quite expensive, but I am today going to work out how ,I have it's going to cost me to have an extra bag on each flight, as there is no way I can do the whole trip with 1 bag per person. Way too much stuf

 

Hope this helps

Hi!

Thanks for this! I'm only down the road from you in Portsmouth so I suppose it will be a similar price for us. I wondered if it would be possible to take the luggage along to Southampton and put it through ourselves. I know someone who was doing a segment of a world cruise (not Cunard but P&O) and actually went to Southampton to check in a suitcase on the ship, and it was in their room when they joined the cruise in Australia. I think they then left it on the ship when they disembarked in South Africa and collected the case when the ship returned to the UK.

Like you, we don't want to be carting around an extra suitcase containing cruise wear around Niagara Falls and New York.

Are you travelling from Niagara to New York on Amtrak? We are looking forward to it even though we have over a year to wait!

Thanks again for posting.

Karen

Hi

Next year, we are flying to Canada from the UK and, after a few days touring the Niagara Falls area followed by a few days in NYC, are returning back to the UK on QM2. It will be our first Cunard experience.

It would be great if we could put a suitcase on the outbound ship so that our cruise clothes etc would be ready and waiting for us, rather than lugging them around, especially our formalwear. It would also help with our luggage allowance on the outbound flight.

We live close to Southampton and could possibly deliver the luggage to the Cunard terminal ourselves.

If anyone has done this, ie put a suitcase on the ship at Southampton ready for the return trip, we would love to hear your experiences.

We are not going until late 2017 so I am just testing the water at the moment!

Thanks

I did not say Bermuda is part of the U.S. To the contrary, when the Eclipse sails from NY and docks in Bermuda, she will be visiting a foreign country, thus the need for pax to go thru customs when she sails next to Port Canaveral.

I think some people who has told me about this on different forums (not CC), are of the opinion the Bermuda IS part of the U.S. Thus the thinking that we will not have to go through immigration twice!

I know this cruise is a long way off but I am so looking forward to it ... Bermuda was one of the draws of this particular itinerary for us as well as Boston! Fingers crossed that the weather does not intervene! 😊😊

Cheers!

K x

You will most likely go through immigration each time you enter the US.

 

Your itinerary is a bit different than you posted:

 

Departing from: Southampton, England

Sailing to:

Boston, Massachusetts

New York, New York

Kings Wharf, Bermuda

Port Canaveral, Florida

Miami, Florida

 

I would expect to go through immigration in Boston and Port Canaveral.

 

Someone on the Celebrity forum who has actually done this itinerary could give a more informed answer. You might try asking there.

 

My mistake ... Of course it is Port Canaveral!

I too would have thought Boston and Port Canaveral for immigration but some people on another forum (not CC) have said that only one (I suppose forgetting that Bermuda is not part of the U.S.) and I also read that ALL US ports required immigration checks. Just goes to show, eh?

I did ask on the Celebrity forum as here is a review of the same cruise for this year but they had to miss Bermuda due to bad weather. They didn't go to Boston either but had immigration checks at New York as first port of call.

Obviously we will get more definitive information on board! 😊

Thanks to all your help!

K x

Boston was not a port of call for this year's TA. You are correct that you will first go through immigration in Boston. But keep in mind that because you'll be leaving the U.S. with your Bermuda port call, you'll have to go through U.S immigration a second time when you get to Port Canaveral. This year's TA was spared the second immigration clearance when they missed Bermuda (the only upside to missing that port) and sailed directly to Florida from NY.

Thanks for this! I wasn't sure and have had different views!

Will keep this in mind!

K x

Hi

I am from the UK and am travelling to the USA next year on our very first TA cruise (Celebrity Eclipse). After leaving Southampton, our first port of call is Boston, then New York, then Bermuda then Fort Lauderdale and ending in Miami. :)

I do know we have to purchase an ESTA. However, some people have said that we will have to go through immigration at every US port we call at but others have said just the first US port? What about after the call at Bermuda?

My brain is hurting as I am getting so many different views on this. :confused::confused:

Thanks in anticipation

K

We are on this cruise next November and was delighted to read this review. I am currently in a discussion with someone else about immigration and can see that you only went through immigration once - in New York. I assume that you didn't go to Boston first as this will be our first stop so I reckon we will go through immigration there instead and not have to do it in New York too (she says fingers crossed!!)

We love the Eclipse ... This will be our third cruise on her.

Cheers

K x

We've just today returned to Southampton from a Baltic cruise on Adventure of the seas and, to be honest, read some awful reviews before we went. However, as a mere Platinum member these are my thoughts!!

Cosmetically the ship is looking a bit tired and there was some maintenance going on, especially carpet fitting, whilst in St Petersburg. Most people were off the ship before 8.30 and almost everyone left the ship so I don't blame the maintenance staff doing the work then. The rooms were also looking tired and are in desperately in need of some TLC.

Our Stateroom attendant was excellent and serviced our room almost as soon as we left it in the morning. He was friendly and very accommodating - nothing was too much for him.

We were on MyTime dining for the first time and we sat at the same table for 2 every night with the same dining companions most nights. The food was very good and our waiting staff were excellent (especially when it came to updating us with the World Cup scores!!). Giovannis was very good - we went once. The only downside was that we preferred the Windjammer for breakfast as opposed to the MDR. The eggs were better in the Windjammer!!

We didn't come across any surly or miserable staff during the whole 12 days. All the bar staff were quick at taking orders and friendly.

The entertainment was, in MY opinion, mediocre but one night was a one woman show of "Tell me on a Sunday" which was very good (I have seen it in the West End and it was just as acceptable). The RC singers and dancers were new on board and needed a bit of settling in, I think. The Ice Show was excellent, though!

Windjammer staff were quick to clear tables although some people seemed to be rooted there all day on sea days (the weather was not condusive to sitting on deck).

It is a matter of opinion and as the saying goes "you can't please everyone".

K x

I am so upset that the AOS is obviously in poor condition. I suppose that now I have to make the best of it, as we sail June 12, on the Baltic cruise. But poor conditions as have been described tend to actually make me ill; e.g., rust, smells, dilapidated seat cushions, old bathrooms, etc. Question: Aside from the disrepair conditions, is the ship clean? If the ship is clean, I think that I can handle it. Otherwise, I'd better go to the drugstore and get some nausea pills.

I thoroughly agree ... it is what you make it! :-)

Look forward to seeing you at the M&M!!

K x

I got notice about that ... I can board when I want but my husband must wait until 2.15 apparently! :D :D. We are different loyalty levels!

My sister works at Southampton cruise terminal and, apart from last week when there were 4600 passengers, of which 1300 were children, boarding Independence (:eek: :eek:), she said that they haven't been adhering to this too strictly. She has advised me to get there by 12 noon before all the buses arrive. That's when they might revert to boarding times!

However, as Adventure is the only cruise ship leaving Southampton on 12th, we should be OK.

I am sorry to hear that you think the refurb is not up to much! It seems a shame that there are so many odd bits which they didn't seem to touch.

I went on Navigator a couple of years ago and it was wonderful ... since then I have been "bigging up" this class of RC ship to my husband for ages which is why we booked. I am going on AoS in two weeks time to the Baltics and I have a feeling that if it isn't up to much then we will be returning to Celebrity!

We are on MTD for the first time in 8 cruises - was this OK for you? You say about the lack of tablecloths - is this in the MDR or Windjammer?

I truly believe that a cruise is what you make it ... if the worse things are cosmetic then you can put up with it. As long as the service is still there ... :) :)

We've been on a couple of RCI cruise ships, as well as other cruise lines, although this June will be our first time on Adventurer.

We ALWAYS go for a Balcony cabin ... on my first cruise we had an outside cabin and I got a bit claustrophobic cos I couldn't open a window!

In my opinion it is worth the extra!

Annie Morehead and beachgal, we did an Iceland and Norway cruise on the Eclipse out of Southampton in 2012 and DH's bag was put on to a Princess ship going to the Baltics for the exact same 15 days, we were reunited with our bag when we disembarked! I always say better DH than I, he could at least find some shirts, etc onboard and Celebrity loaned him a tux for the formal nights . As you say, travel is always an adventure, better go with the flow and laugh:)

The very first cruise I went on was a 4 day "taster" cruise on Legend of the Seas to France and the Channel Islands. Apparently, as everyone was embarking the ship, a fork-lift truck carrying the bags onto the ship toppled over and the crate of suitcases (about 20 apparently) all went into Southampton Water!! They managed to recover some but others are still there 8 years later! They didn't inform the owners of the bags until we were well out of Southampton! Luckily it was 4 days only and I understand some of the passengers disembarked in France the next day and went home (most of the passengers were British!)

However ... back to the topic in hand! Here in the UK the Ukraine problems have been off the front page of the newspapers and about 4th in the TV news headlines for almost a week - waiting for the elections tomorrow (Sunday) probably. The missing Malaysian airliner has been the main news item.

Hopefully, the elections will bring some harmony to the Ukrainians and some of us can get back to the excitement of our Baltic Cities cruises ... including the two days in St Petersburg (which, IMHO, I don't believe will be in any danger).

Fingers crossed!

 

With around 250 berths booked in St Petersburg for 2014 the cruise ship companies would be flat out finding alternative berths in an area where berths are booked months, or even years, in advance and demand is rapidly outstripping supply. Many of those booked into SPB are the larger ships whose alternatives are limited because of their size and most of them already already have the ports which can handle the bigger ships in their schedule.

It would seem to be very short-sighted of Russia to stop the cruise ships coming to a city on which they have spent millions precisely to attract that part of the tourist market. 250 x an average of 2000 passengers is a lot of money to take out of the economy to say nothing of the livelihoods of the tour operators who are there solely because of their government's visa policy.

I do not intend to cancel, if there is no SPB then so be it. It will be an important part of my cruise simply because a cruise is the most convenient way to visit Russia, but certainly not the be-all and end-all.

Happy cruising :)

Anni

I agree with you entirely! We paid for our June cruise ex Southampton some weeks ago before this situation escalated and, if we cancelled, we would lose everything! I appreciate that, as we live just 25 mins from Southampton, we wouldn't lose flight money but it's still a large chunk.

We are looking forward to seeing all the other ports of call and SPb is just a highlight (albeit a very big draw!). We are just going with the flow, carrying on as normal and hoping the conflict will have a peaceful conclusion!

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

We stopped booking through our local travel agency with a boys first name and someone who works in restaurant for second, because they wanted final payment so far in advance. If you book direct you pay much nearer the sail date. Our final payment is 8 weeks before sail date. Worth finding out for next time.

Mmm - you learn by mistakes, eh? We booked through a cruise-specific travel agent who advertises regularly in the newspapers. The offer was too good to refuse but we have decided that we will book direct in future.

BUT the events in Ukraine are not bothering us too much ... if we don't get to see StP this time then c'est la vie! We will go another time ... so handy living near to Southampton, eh?

Yea, that is my concern. The problem is that most of the G8 countries will rally together (I don't think any one country would go it alone)....so that would be a huge hit since that would take out Canada, US, and the UK.

 

All this worry could be for nothing...I think it'll all shake out in the next couple of weeks.

BIB I am tending to agree with you - and am praying that it will.

We are going on AoS Baltic Cruise in June and we have already paid for the cruise (unfortunately we have to pay well in advance here in the UK!). I don't think it will affect our stopover in St Petersburg.

Here's hoping, anyway!!

Hi

Great review of Tallinn - we shall be visiting in June as part of our Baltic Cruise. We have been told that it isn't worth taking a RCCL tour as the city is very walkable so we plan to do that ... now I have your review, it will make it much easier!

Thanks again

Take care

K

Welcome to our little corner of the world!

 

I believe that it better to link to older answers, than post the same answers, pictures or videos over and over again. Therefore you can take a look at this older thread where I answered regarding Riga.

 

A small curiosity: If you do one of the hop on hop off buses, you will actually hear my voice if you choose the Norwegian language track:)

 

Again, welcome to Riga!

Just stumbled upon this thread ... we are doing a Baltics cruise in June on RCCL BUT, although it is not on the cruise itinerary, it was the Riga part I was interested in! This is because my son is getting married in Latvia in August to a lovely Latvian lady. About 30 of us are travelling to Riga from the UK and then on to the wedding about 30 mins away. :)

Whilst everyone else is staying in Riga, my OH, our other son, his young family and my 90 yr old Mother in Law have rented a house about 10 mins from the beach at Jurmala for a week!

Although my future DiL can give us lots of advice, it is always handy to get hints and tips from other people. :)

Thank you!

K

Hi JB,

 

Our port call in Southampton will be from 7 a.m. - 8 p.m. on May 8 (Thursday). We are interested in DIY. Could you kindly suggest sights/shopping we can see/do in Southampton (please also suggest means of transportation from the port) and also some out of town places we can do by frequent direct trains?

 

Thank you.

Southampton has a lovely shopping centre (Mall) called West Quay. You will see it from your ship (just look for the John Lewis sign). The port is a very short taxi trip away from West Quay (about 5 mins) but not really ideal for walking. You will also see the largest Ikea on the South Coast of England from your ship! There are representatives of all the main UK chain stores both in and around West Quay. The train station is also close by.

Places to visit by train ...

Winchester (very historical - Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table),

Bournemouth (typical british seaside town),

Portsmouth (Naval Heritage with HMS Victory - Nelson's flagship)

Salisbury (pretty city with lovely cathedral)

Chichester (another pretty city with lovely cathedral and lots of shops)

Stonehenge is about an hour away but you will need to go by train to Salisbury then a bus to Stonehenge. There is no train station at Stonehenge!

London is about one hour 45 mins by non-stop train.

http://www.west-quay.co.uk/

http://www.discoversouthampton.co.uk

http://www.historicdockyard.co.uk

http://www.thetrainline.com

I hope all this is of help to you ... I also live close to Southampton.

Cheers

K

Anyone know if RC will have a ship sailing the British Isles? The Vision did these cruises out of Copenhagen in the summers of 2012 and 2013.

RCI and Celebrity used to do lovely cruises from Southampton to Cork (Ireland) via Northern France. This was my very first cruise back in 2005 on Legend of the Seas and it got me hooked. :D

It was a great "taster" cruise for us and I really wish they would reinstate this! :confused:

I think it's only P&O (UK) and Cunard which do anything similar now!

Hi Linda,

Have just started to read this - was told about it cos we are thinking of doing same cruise next year. :)

OH is wondering what the weather is like transAtlantic at this time of the year so will be keeping up with your blog with great interest! We are supposed to be going to the Baltic on AoS in June 2014 but may have to cancel for personal reasons!

Enjoy and hope the internet connection holds up for you! :D

Take care!

K x

Hiya

We went on fjords cruise 2 weeks ago - it was amazing.

We did the longer Flam tour only we went to Voss by coach, stopped at some beautiful photo stops, lunch in Voss (very nice), then a train to Myrdal then the Flam railway! A round trip of about 6 hours ... Worth every penny!

K x

Legend of the Seas was the first cruise ship I ever went on ... To the Med from Southampton! We live only 30 mins from the cruise terminal so we were able to take as much luggage as we could carry!

It holds a special place in my heart! 😄