vacationprincess

15 hours ago, DrKoob said:

Can I ask what sailing you are on? And where you found this out. We are on the June 14 departure and we have our own hotels reserved for two nights in Greenwich. Hoping ours is still there.

We are on the April 19 sailing. We just received an email about the port change a week ago. I had already planned our day in Greenwich so it was a bit of a surprise to find out only 2 weeks before sailing.

53 minutes ago, Peregrina651 said:

 

 

Figure 3 hours minimum from airplane to ship.

 

It is about an hour from Tilbury station to Cutty Sark Station in Greenwich, not including the 20 minute walk to the station and time to buy the train ticket. [Google Maps is good for quick estimates but the  Citymapper or Tfl apps will get you better directions for travel] . So, call it 1.5 hours to Greenwich. 

 

NOTE: there are multiple stops for Tilbury on your way home. The station you want is TILBURY TOWN.  If you miss it, get off at the next station and grab a cab to the ship.

 

At least you don't have a back on board time and can stay  until the sights close for the day.

 

Use timeanddate.com for sunset time, if traveling home in daylight is preferred.

 

 

 

 

I really appreciate all of the information you have shared!!! Thank you so much!! 

9 hours ago, OneSixtyToOne said:

Greenwich is definitely worth a visit. The Royal Observatory should also be on your list of things to see. It houses the Harrison clocks, which were used to determine longitude. There is a daily tour included with admission that gives you the history of the clocks and the Longitude Prize.

 

I believe the Thames Clipper also runs service from Tilbury to Greenwich (may be seasonal) and that leaves you right at the Cutty Sark. The clipper is a great way to see London from the river. It’s worth taking the trip all the way to Parliament. You’ll pass many iconic sites and bridges.

Thank you so much!!! That is extremely helpful!!!

54 minutes ago, Peregrina651 said:

When do you land in London? Embarkation day or earlier? When does the ship depart Tilbury? Same day or next day? In other words, do you have enough time to accomplish the trip?

We land at LHR 8am embarkation day, will go directly to the ship and the ship overnights at Tilbury.  We will have the remainder of the day after we make the trip from LHR to Tilbury. 

Our Venus embarkation port was changed from Greenwich to Tilbury. We had planned to visit the Cutty Sark, Greenwich Market and the Queens House. Is it worth it to take the train from Tilbury to Greenwich? It doesn’t look like there is much to see or do in Tilbury.

What is the current maximum price per drink the drink the package will cover on a 14 night European cruise.

We are going on a river cruise in Oct from Budapest to Nuremburg. We found the flights from Nuremburg to Berlin to be very cheap and decided to do that instead of the train to save time.

We did this itinerary on the Brilliance 6/9-6/21. It was awesome! The weather can be tricky so here’s what we did... my 2 daughters (15 & 21) and I brought leggings, short sleeved and long sleeved T-shirt type shirts. My husband brought jeans and the same shirt types. We all had a type of light jacket or pullover (thin fleece etc.) When we arrived in port we would go out on the balcony and see how cool it was and if it was sunny or not. When we arrived in Skagen it was cold and very windy but just the day before it had been warm and sunny. That was the only day we had to wear long shirts and our jackets/pullovers but we were glad we had them. I took an actual rain coat that was light and had a hood. I also had a scarf which was used in Skagen. Next stop was Tallin and we ended up taking our top layers off mid morning. Leggings/jeans and short sleeve shirts were perfect the rest of the day. St Petersburg was beautiful. We could have worn shorts it was so warm but due to going to the ballet the first evening, we wore pants and nice shirts that day and were comfortable. We lucked out by having very pleasant weather (70’s) for Helsinki, Stockholm and Copenhagen. We would start out with our jackets but leave them in the tour van by the afternoon.

We stopped in New York on our way to Amsterdam to see our oldest daughter and went to a highly rated exchange place and got all local currency. We went on tours with an independent company in all ports except Skagen. I wanted to tip the guides and drivers in their local currency. I will say I think they would have been fine with any currency, especially euros. We were glad we took the local currency for small souvenires and light meals. My husband bought my daughter an inexpensive ring in Helsinki and used US dollars. He realized after he did not get a good exchange rate at all. We also used a credit card everywhere, even St. Petersburg and didn’t have a problem at all. I think if you have some additional euros, you will be fine. They seemed to be accepted everywhere and most items had price tags in local currency and euros

For those of you on Indy now or recently sailed since the refurb... how is getting on and off the ship in port? We are booked on the June 15 - 14 night Southampton round trip on Indy next summer and in ports like Rome, Naples and Florence/Pisa, we want to be able to get off the ship as quickly as possible. Just wondering what your experience has been so far.

Hoopster95 - Thank you so much for your fabulous, well written and thorough review of your vacation onboard the Marina. I just stumbled upon it today looking at Oceania cruise reports. I especially enjoyed your comparison with RCL. We are also fans of RCL and they are our cruise line of choice especially while we still have 1 of our 3 daughters still at home and LOVE RCL for their ships/activities etc - there is truly something for everyone. While you were on the Marina in Tahiti, we were on the Oasis in the Caribbean and what is more coincidental... we were getting off the Brilliance as you were getting on in Amsterdam 6/21. We did the 12 night Baltic 6/9-6/21 and absolutely loved it!!! Thanks again for the comparison of Oceania to RCL! As my husband and I approach our empty nest years, we are looking forward to trying some other cruise lines.

I hope you had a great time on the Brilliance!!

Thank you for taking us along on your fabulous trip! I really enjoyed your review and appreciate you taking the time to keep us updated!

I am so sad to hear this! We will be boarding the Brilliance in 2 weeks. I have been going back and forth on purchasing the surf and stream for my 15 and 21 year old daughters. It will be around $350 for the 12 days with the current promotion. I don't mind the cost if it works but certainly don't want to experience what you did on your recent cruise! We have been on Allure and Oasis in the last 2 years and it worked perfectly. I don't know why they can't upgrade the system to work properly as this is not the first time I have heard a negative review about the surf and stream on Brilliance.

Are they hesitant about refunding your money if you have problems with it?

We are on the Oct. 7th sailing from Bucharest. How about you?

 

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We are going on the October 31 sailing - Budapest to Nuremberg.

Thank you for taking the time to share your experience! We will board the Brilliance June 9 in Amsterdam and are also staying pre-cruise at the Amsterdam Hilton (also using points). Your information so far has been extremely helpful! Thanks again from a fellow Texan!

We will be sailing Beatrice in October. Looking forward to hearing more about your trip!

We sailed the Oasis March 11-18 and had the opposite experience. We had fabulous service and everything we ate was hot and very good to delicious. I wrote a letter to RCCL last week complimenting certain employees who made our trip extra special. I'm sorry that some don't enjoy their cruises and their vacations are less that what they had hoped. But those of you sailing Oasis soon.... if the Windjammer doesn't make you happy, go somewhere else. We had great food in the solarium bistro, the main dining room for breakfast and lunch, park cafe, and Johnny Rockets for breakfast.

I would honestly opt for the 3:20 flight. Just because your arrival time is 6:15, it doesn't always mean you can get off the ship at that time. With 3 young children, I would think it be easier on them to let them sleep until 9 or so, eat breakfast and then get off the ship at a leisurely pace. This will give you plenty of time to go through customs, find transportation to the airport, check in and get through security without stressing. I have done it both ways and I highly recommend the later flight. There will be many others trying to be the first off the ship to make an early flight so you will need to line up early if you decide to book the 9:20 flight. It is certainly do-able. We have done it but I was highly stressed the entire time and I decided I would never do an early flight ever again. Good luck and have the best time on Allure. She is fabulous!

Thank you so much for the fabulous review! We are doing the 12 day Baltic on Brilliance of the Seas next June!! You have helped me tremendously with Amsterdam, all of the ports and the weather and what to pack!! Thanks again!!

We were on the Allure this past March in a GS. All 5 of us got a log in card when we checked in for the cruise. It was great and saved us a lot of money not having to buy VOOM for our 3 daughters!! They put their phones on airplane mode the entire week and used the ship's wifi to text etc.... We did not incur any additional charges on our ATT bill.

All 5 of us got the VOOM. We all put our phones in airplane mode and left them there the entire week. We used the VOOM wifi and never had a problem. My girls were able to use all of their social media, netflix as well as text their friends. We were all able to communicate through texting with each other. We have ATT as our cell provider and I was not charged a dime extra.

We were in a GS. I know JS have access to the CK for dinner, if space available. So I don't really know if those that sail in JS may make reservations prior to boarding through the Concierge.

 

Maybe someone with experience of sailing in JS could advise us.

 

 

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We were in a Grand Suite and will be in a Crown Loft Suite next March. I will make sure I get reservations early next time.

We were able to reserve times for CK prior to the cruise after the Concierge contacted us. This was about a week out.

 

We never go a ticket for dinner. We always tipped the bartenders either by drink or like $5 when we first showed up a given night.

Good to know for our Oasis cruise in March! When I inquired by email when concierge contacted me a week out they said it was easiest to make reservations once on board.

We tipped our CK server each time we ate there. It seems they brought a ticket at the end of the meal and I added it on to that. We had beyond excellent service all week. Before knowing our dining plans and because you cannot pre-book the CK, I went ahead and reserved a table in the MDR for my daughter's birthday dinner. When I called to set up the room decorations for her birthday, the agent saw we were eating in the MDR that evening and said they would do something special for her. Nothing was done for her. She turned 20 and it was not a huge deal to her so I didn't mention it to anyone. The following evening we were back at CK. Two nights prior our CK waiter had asked what we would be doing the following day. We mentioned our daughter's bday. The night after her birthday when we were having dinner at CK, our same waiter brought her a very special dessert with a candle without us saying a word about the MDR experience the night before. That is wonderful service!! Cornelius received a very nice tip for showing such kindness and great service!!

We sailed Allure in March and ate in Coastal Kitchen on formal nights. Everyone was in formal attire and most of the men were in tuxes. I observed almost everyone who came to the suite lounge for a pre dinner drink was also in formal attire. After being on the boards prior to our cruise, I felt people may not dress up as much as in the past so I took a nice suite for my husband. He really wished he had brought his tux since that is what was mostly worn in the suite lounge and coastal kitchen on formal night.

We were on the Allure last week and I didn't think it was bad at all. Everything I had was fresh and good. I did not go at popular times so I never had a problem getting a seat. I did hear people talking on the elevators on port mornings how crowded it was. I think that seems to be the biggest frustration with the Windjammer. We went to Central Park Cafe on port mornings to avoid the crowds.