WyKnott

6 minutes ago, Globaliser said:

 

W5 doesn't itself narrow this down any further - here is a Google map that should show the boundaries of W5. Pitshanger Park is at the upper edge of W5, basically next to where it says "Brentham Garden Suburb". Great if you're visiting relatives nearby; not so great (to put it mildly and politely) if you're intending to sightsee in central London.

Nearest I can tell, we're just south of Pitshanger Park. Like I said, someone else in our group has the correct location.

British post codes are confusing to we foreigners. 🤷‍♀️

3 hours ago, gumshoe958 said:

Ah ok, so North Ealing. Not quite as convenient for Heathrow but not too bad.

 

I’d either get the Elizabeth line to West Ealing or Ealing Broadway and a cab/Uber from there (bearing in mind it’s a 10 minute walk between the coach and rail stations at Heathrow Central), or a cab/Uber all the way.

 

Re arriving at Southampton - it’s hard to say after a TA as it’s not unknown for the UK Border Force to do full immigration checks - equally you could just walk straight through in a few seconds. 
 

A cab to the coach station should take about 10 minutes, maybe a bit more maybe a bit less depending on which terminal you arrive at.

 

You should easily make the 9.45 coach assuming you’re off the ship by about 8.30, but bearing in mind you may not be able to access your Airbnb until 4pm the 11.45 might be a better option, unless you have other plans for the day. The coach station has indoor seating and (basic) facilities if you need to wait a while.

 

Thank you. That helps a lot.

Next question. Does anyone have any idea how long it would take to clear customs and get a taxi to the coach station? I'm looking at 9:45 and 11:45 as options for coach times to Heathrow. There's three of us and some can't walk long distances.

Thank you @gumshoe958 and @Globaliser. It looks like going to Heathrow is the better option. We'll be in postal code W5 near Pitshanger Park. I think. Someone else in our group has the exact address.

We're doing a transatlantic ending in Southampton and staying 5 days in London afterwards. We'll be in an AirBnB in Ealing*, so the question is would it make more sense to take the bus to Heathrow or into London proper? On the map, Ealing is closer to Heathrow, but I'm also looking for simplicity. I'm assuming at some point we'll be taking a taxi on to our final destination. 

* I lobbied for a place closer to central London, but I was outvoted. 🤷‍♀️

A follow on to my table size post, last year on my most recent solo cruise, ahead of time I requested to be seated at a large table. I wanted to be seated with others so I wasn't sitting at a table by myself.

I was seated at a large table all right - which I had all to myself, except for one night when another couple was seated at the table, they never came back after that, maybe it was something I said? 🙄

I didn't care enough to request to be moved, and I did get extra attention from my waiters and the maitre d so there's that. 

14 hours ago, harryfat1 said:

What I would have liked is extra elbow space.  As I discussed with Biker previously, if they had “filled in” the middle area on deck 4, in theory, we wouldn’t be as cramped as they could eke out more space to spread people out..

I think part of the problem with crowded MDRs is before covid, there were more large tables, it was accepted that you might be dining with strangers, now there's a lot more 2- and 4-tops, less room between tables.

14 minutes ago, fenton04 said:

On or about 2010 Royal change the way points accumulated .  Old way one cruise, one point.  This mostly favored the four day cruise.  Then points accumulated one point for one night which rewarded the longer cruises.  

This is how I quickly reached Diamond way before the double points promo during Covid. I did a lot of weekend Mexico cruises back in the late 80s, early 90s. When they changed the point system to the current one, all those 3 day cruises were counted as 7 day. 😎

14 hours ago, harryfat1 said:

Now I know many people on CC dislike these cabins as they complain there’s no privacy but we like this category of cabins as it’s great value.

I prefer a balcony but when I'm traveling solo, I like to book the promenade cabins. They're priced as an interior but with a window and I also like to people watch from above. I hate crowds.

It is free, but some areas have a fee like the waterpark or the Coco Beach Club. It's possible to have a full day at Coco Cay without spending any money.

I'm not a heavy drinker and always have free drinks left at the end of the day, I've gotten into the habit of stopping at a bar at the end of the day to get bottles of water to use up the drink vouchers. On Navigator a few months ago, one bartender always gave me an extra bottle of water.

3 hours ago, poffles said:

 

Is this normal for all HAL ships, was it every night?  I thought I read differently for HAL so I didn't realize their casinos were entirely non-smoking, I thought Celebrity was the only mainstream (large ships) that did this.

I wish I could tell you it was, someone who cruises HAL more often could say better. All I know is it was that way on the Zuiderdam when I cruised it.

I was on Zuiderdam for a Panama Canal cruise in November and their casino was non-smoking, I was pleasantly surprised. Downside for HAL, it wasn't very crowded but I sure liked it and spent more time there. I was able to get a seat at the roulette table any time the tables were open. It got so the pit boss recognized me and asked if I was playing whenever I walked through the casino.

17 hours ago, JustinPlusLauren said:

I never sailed with the previous menu so I can't comment about that, but this didn't affect my dinners at all. I really enjoyed everything that was served. There was one instance where I was able to modify a vegetarian pasta to be vegan quite easily since I didn't want the vegan option that night. I was really happy with the vegan meals!

My friend was able to get meals she was happy with at the specialty restaurants, they were more than happy to modify the dishes for her. I used to tease her that only she would dare to eat at the steakhouse as a vegan.

I'm not vegan, but my best friend is. On previous cruises, she had a selection from the separate vegan menu, now it looks like the choices are fewer. How did that affect your dinners?

On 1/26/2023 at 7:51 AM, DaKahuna said:

That being said, the best fish taco's I have had were in 1973 at Rubio's in San Diego, the original location near old town, not the newer locations. 

I used to work next door to the original Rubio's! All this talk about Tex-Mex and other places that have fish tacos. Fish tacos in the US got its start in Southern California. Baja style is breaded and deep fried.

Fish tacos got their start in southern California as a breaded, deep fried fish in a soft corn tortilla with cabbage and a white crema sauce. 🥰 Lately, you can find fish tacos with grlled fish as a nod to being more healthy. I still prefer the fried fish.

Same with my app. But I did notice that in the schedule for 3 days of my 14 day cruise, it mentions photo ops for dressy nights. So I'm assuming those are the Gala nights (or whatever they're calling it these days).

2 hours ago, seapad said:

May I ask where on the RCL web page did you see this? This is great news, but I'm not able to see this same verbiage. 

sorry, it was there this morning, but not now. 

I checked RCL to see if they say the same for their Panama Canal cruises, yup. no testing for vaccinated, protocols updated today. So cautiously optomistic.

I didn't see your original post before you edited it, but if I'm getting the idea right…

My very first cruise in the 80s was a 5 day Mexican Riviera and I didn't have a passport. My birth certificate was issued by the State Department because I was born in Japan while my father was stationed there.The agent at the port took a look at my birth certificate, looked confused, had to go ask a supervisor and they had me sign a document attesting that I was indeed a US citizen. I'm sure things are handled different now, but I looked on that document as more of a CYA on their part. They can say "hey, she said she was a citizen, so we took her word for it." 

Has anyone who've done the at-home tests had trouble getting an appointment to be proctored when you need it? I've heard with the demand, that could get backed up like the rapid tests at CVS and Walgreens.

2 hours ago, Susanb10567 said:

Any news from onboard from the rest of the testing?

There's this account from The Points Guy.

I've booked boardwalk balconies a few times, and we always get as far aft as possible. We've been lucky to be last or next to last cabin, it's a walk, but the views are better. We get a view of the Aqua Theater and of the ocean, even with the Abyss.

An account from two passengers on board Westerdam.

"Initially we were supposed to complete our cruise in Shanghai, which was then switched to Tokyo, so everyone was requested to alter their travel plans to fly home from there. Holland America has only offered $250 of compensation for flight changes. At this moment, unsure of where we are headed, we are being advised to change flight plans again, but we don’t know where we are headed!"