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18 hours ago, Joanne G. said:

Like pink845, I used to feel more comfortable with a certain amount of local currency on vacation.  On my first post-covid overseas vacations last year to London and Ireland, I took along several hundred £'s and €'s.  I soon realized most merchants preferred or actually required tap-and-go credit cards.  I had to change with the times.  I was able to use up some currency towards my hotel bills and for cab rides (sadly missing out on rewards points).  

 

For my upcoming European cruises, I will have only a tiny amount of local currency, so that I can obtain coins if I need them for a pay public toilet.  I didn't see one of those that accepts cards. 😲    And maybe for tipping tour guides, too.

 

I have a land vacation in Paris this spring.  Can anyone confirm that I will find Paris as cashless as London, Dublin, and Galway?  Thanks.

 

 

Just to clarify that although there are certainly many restaurants that do not accept cash (although the staff often prefer cash for tips we have often noted……..) London is by no means cashless. At least 90 per cent of all restaurants/cafes/shops and tourist attractions still readily accept cash. 

What hotel are you staying at at Heathrow ? Have used both options many times.  Hoppa is reliable but if you are happy to pay a bit more (approx £15 to £20 total cost) by black cab to Bath Road hotels then they will always be amenable from the main taxi rank at T2.

Due to £5 drop off fees these days it is more expensive when arranging for cab from hotel to T2, but it is a simple process to arrange via your hotel.  

Not wishing to hijack this thread re my minimum spend comment, but there are a few local cash and carry/independent supermarket style outlets in Greater London that have a minimum spend of £3 to £5 before they will accept card payments  

Call me old fashioned, but I would always have a small amount of GBP for small purchases just in case certain vendors either do not take cash, or their card machine is not working and they can only take cash at the time you try to buy something.  Some also have a minimum spend requirement for them to accept cards (not strictly allowed but they do it anyway).

Alternatively, you could take an afternoon tea cruise on the Thames. There are a few more options for this one.

Hi JimmyVWine.  Have just looked at the FAQ section on the Princess website and question 18 appears to back up my email as just references the juice bar being omitted from those who purchased the plus package at the cheaper price. 

Hi there.  Just adding my comments re Post No 5 from JimmyVWine.  Our cruise is in April on the Regal Princess and we purchased the Plus Package at the old price and we recently had an email from Princess which amongst other things listed our Plus perks as follows;

You've got perks with Princess Plus

Included in your fare:

• Plus Beverage Package with drinks (up to $15 USD each) like cocktails, beer and wine, speciality coffees and fountain sodas!
• Fast, reliable MedallionNet^® Wi-Fi
• Crew appreciation
• Premium desserts (2 per day)
• Fitness classes (2 per cruise)

Therefore it looks like we just miss out on the Unlimited Juice Bar. 

Hi there.  As long as you are close to a tube station then nothing is that far away in Central London so if you can get a decent price for a hotel you like the look of, just check on the distance to the nearest station.  
 

Quickest journey to Windsor is a train from Paddington to Slough to then connect to a regular shuttle train from Slough into Windsor (1 stop for the shuttle that goes every 5/6 mins).  You can also get a train from Waterloo direct to Windsor but this is a slower journey overall.

The Tower of London is situated in the City of London and a nice way to get there is to hop on the Thames Clipper boat along the Thames from Westminster/Waterloo to Tower Hill stop which is next to the Tower of London.

Thanks Blue Marble - that's a shame.  Obviously they are more strict than the other lines, although with Princess being part of the same parent company (Carnival), a bit surprised that their rules differ in this respect. 

Hi chaps.  Have done several cruises with Carnival, RCI, Celebrity and Princess over the years and now looking forward to our first Cunard cruise - transatlantic eastbound in June.  I have always purchased a soda drinks package with the other lines for myself only as my wife does not care much for soda's.  My question is, is this acceptable for all the non-alcoholic drinks packages or is it a requirement to purchase for both passengers in the same cabin for Cunard ?

Thanks

Hi LuAnn.

Thanks for the reply.  It's also a popular drink here in the UK with most of the coffee chains, and many of the independents, making it easily available.  

Look forward to heaing if it is on the Journey on your forthcoming cruise.  Have a great time !  

Hi all - just booked our first cruise on Azamara  - going to South Africa on the Journey next year.  Can't wait !  A question regarding the speciality coffees.  We have done a few Celebrity cruises and loved going to Cafe Al Bacio for a lovely coffee/tea several times each day.   Is the choice of coffee's extensive and does anybody know if they also serve Chai Latte ?  That's my wife's favourite.......

Loving this thread - it is whetting the appetite !

Hi there.  Will be on the CB this fall and shall be our first cruise at Platinum level - will we still have to pay for the Medallion.net Wifi once we exceed our 'free' minutes each ?   

I understand. We usually do our own thing as well. When on holiday, we enjoy being able to leave work & home schedules behind, so we’re reluctant to make time commitments in advance. I’ve found the roll calls useful for shared private (small group) shore excursions, but that’s not necessary for this itinerary. Regardless, I hope you have a wonderful holiday:)

I did join a roll call a few years back for a NCL cruise that proved useful for a smaller group shore excursion to see the Pyramids in Egypt, but in general the 4 of us arrange our own shore plans, or do the odd ship excursion to use up our OBC. The same to you too :) - where are you from by the way as can't see by your name ?

That’s an amazing coincidence! This will be our first Caribbean cruise, though we’ve been to Barbados for a lovely winter break at the beach. There’s a roll call if you’re interested in joining. Perhaps we’ll meet at the sail away. Cheers!

We've done a couple before - one with Carnival way back in 2010 (used to do Carnival cruises in those days as we had a teenage daughter with us back then who loved the 'fun ship' vibe), and the other on the Equinox in 2015, but loved the look of the 7 Dec cruise as we have not been to any of the stops, plus it is a rare 14 day cruise which Celebrity hardly do in this region it seems.

We are going with another couple this time, but we don't usually join roll calls to be honest, as we prefer just to do our own thing. Perhaps we'll make an exception this time and join the roll call though.......

The title has been edited as requested.

Thanks - much appreciated

No such thoughts here;) I too initially thought the little triangle was only for reporting an abusive post. It never occurred to me that one could also use it to request a correction until someone mentioned the fact on CC. It’s certainly not at all obvious. Cheers:)

By the way - I shall be on the 7th Dec Reflection cruise too - how funny is that !

See that little triangle with a ! on the top next to the # of every post...just click it and add any message you want to the moderators.

Thanks - so obvious. Not doing much for you yanks perception of British intelligence levels.....

Report the thread to the moderators and ask them to change the title to '4th August'.

Can see how to report a post, but how do I report my own thread - have tried looking around the website but cannot see any instructions/or buttons to click ?

Hope the evacuated party is well--- just as an FYI, many readers of the board, though certainly not all, are from the US--- 4/8 looks like April 8th. You might wish to change the title of your post (or have admin change it) to August 4th. I was a little confused but curious, but some might not click thinking it is nearly 4 months out of date.

Good thought - being from UK we always quote the date before the month. How do I get this changed ?

Hi all.

For those that are interested, just heard from my brother who is on the current Equinox cruise, that it had to be diverted to Bahamas today due to a medical emergency. It will be skipping San Juan tomorrow as a result.

Works out well for my brother as they have not been to Nassau before, but had been to San Juan last year already.

Hi folks.

We will be in Hong Kong in November for 1 day on the Celebrity Millennium and are interested in doing a walking tour that starts in the central area on Hong Kong Island near Central Market. Can someone please advise if there is a free shuttle bus that takes us anywhere towards the island rather than Kowloon and/or best/quickest way to get there.

Thanks

Hi there

Just had a look at the 8th may cruise on the website I always use to book and the title says £1015 for cheapest balcony, however when you click select next to the title to enable more details and commence online booking, the price dramatically increases to the approx amount you stated.

I have noticed that this higher amount is virtually the same price as the same cruise departing on 29th May therefore perhaps there has been a mistake by Celebrity who may have applied the late May pricing to the early May pricing - think its worthwhile getting your agent to investigate this more closely.

Good to hear - no not joined the roll call. Going with virgin cruiser friends who have not joined the roll call either. Will look to join it shortly.

Wooooooooooooooooo - mines back toooooooo. Yayyyyyyyyyyyyyy