Mands&Ian

I live a short distance from Chipping Campden and thoroughly recommend this end of the Cotswolds as the best, of course :) I know the Banqueting Houses and they are fabulous buildings, a unique place to stay. But please take a close look and understand that these are 400 years old remnants of a large Jacobean House and, in accordance with Landmark's ethos, preserved in their original condition as much as possible. Plenty of pictures online, which will demonstrate the level of creature comforts available. If you are adventurous enough, fine. If not, there are plenty of more modernised, but still beautiful, cottages to stay in.

 

Edit to add: these properties are literally in a field, albeit only a short distance from the parking. That field like the rest of the Cotswolds is pretty waterlogged at the moment, but hopefully we will have dried out by May!

Cotswold Eagle makes a good point: Landmark properties are best suited to those who prefer the eccentric and the historic over modern comforts.

There is good off-road parking for both of the Banqueting Houses but both come with wheelbarrows to allow luggage to be transported to the properties. I think it's fair to say that isn't to everyone's tastes :)

I was at the eastern house last week. There was no evidence of flooding at either house but two field down (to the south, away from St James) there was evidence of standing water.

Mands

Suggest you also look at the Landmark Trust properties (http://www.landmarktrust.org.uk/) They can be pricey, but we've rented some absolutely unique, stunning places from them over the years.

I'll gladly second Langoustine's suggestion. The West Banqueting House in Chipping Campden is available for a three night booking on the nights you mention.

http://www.landmarktrust.org.uk/Search-and-book/landmark-groups/old-campden-house/

Mands

We stayed at the Britania a couple of years ago. Relatively small, great location and consistently gets good feedback. We'd happily book there again post-cruise.

Mands

Easter is a moveable feast, meaning it is not fixed in relation to the civil calendar. Easter Day is celebrated on the same day worldwide.

No, it isn't. There are two ways to calculate the date of Easter and different parts of the church, and therefore the world, sometimes celebrate Easter on different dates. About half of the time the dates come out the same; about half of the time they are different, as much as five weeks adrift.

The Eastern Orthodox Church uses the less well known method and that gives the date of Easter in Greece, Cyprus and Russia.

In 2013 Orthodox Easter was five weeks after Western Easter, in 2014 the dates will be the same, in 2015 Orthodox will be one week later.

http://voices.yahoo.com/when-easter-2010-2011-2012-2013-2014-2015-2016-5375149.html?cat=7

None of which impacts the OP travelling to England but can be relevant to people expecting to be in Athens, the Greek Islands or on a Baltic cruise in the spring.

Mands

We will be in Dubrovnik in October of this year. Did anyone do tours that day that they would recommend. What should expected weather be in Dubrovnik in October? Anyone traveled to Lluta village? We will be on the WindSurf as well.

We were there in the middle of September two years ago and it was hot enough that I burnt whilst walking the wall.

The link below should take you to the historic data for Dubrovnik. I set it to mid-month but you can adjust to the day you'll be there.

http://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/LDDU/2013/10/15/DailyHistory.html?req_city=NA&req_state=NA&req_statename=NA

Mands

We will be in Corfu Sept 24, all day, Mykonos Sept 27 noon -8pm, Rhodes Sept30 all day and Crete Oct 2 all day. Only 2 of us and no kids. 1st time in each port. Worried about the weather at this time of year. Assume the crowds would be less. Not great with public transportation...would prefer a taxi unless buses are easy to find and on time.

 

thanks

Why worried about the weather? Late September and early October tends to be gorgeous.

Mands

Hi,

I read all the advise you are giving to others. We are stopping at Paphos on an Azamara cruise in May, 2014. We are tendering so our day in Paphos is probably about 6 hours. I have seen accolades for Kato Paphos Archaeological Park, Tomb of the Kings and Steni Museum. Can we walk to any of these? If not, are there vans at the port to take 6 -8 passengers. If we need transportation should we be booking a van for the day? Many thanks for your advise. It is greatly appreciated.

Fern

Hi Fern,

Happy to help if I'm able :)

I don't know where Azamara tenders in to; the comments below are based on that being near to the Castle/Fort so it'd be worth checking with previous passengers to be sure.

If it is by the port then the Archaeological Park and the Tomb of the Kings are both nearby. The Park is directly north and adjacent to the Castle area; Tomb of the Kings is around a kilometre (0.6 miles) further north. There is precious little shade at either location or on the walk between the two so if it is a warm day you may want to be prepared. There are kiosks selling water outside, but not inside, as I once found to my cost.

Here's a map, showing the Castle, the Park and then the Tomb area. Each is marked with a star:

I hope that helps some,

Mands

We will be making a stop in Limassol, Cyprus on a Jade cruise in February.

 

Any suggestions on things to do? Thanks.

There are some great suggestions already; really it depends what your interests are.

* If you are interested in history and archeology then consider Curium and Paphos with possible side trips to Kolossi and the Sanctuary of Apollo.

* If you like beautiful scenery and food and wine then hire a car and head up into Troodos and back down through some of the prettier villages.

* If you want something a little different then hire a car and head to Nicosia, the last divided capital city in the world. Park up in the moat, below the towering city walls built by the Venetians, and walk up Ledra Street, cross into the north and have lunch at the old camel station. You get three cities for your money: the modern Nicosia, the old Greek Cypriot southern half and the old Turkish Cypriot northern half. They are all very, very different.

February is the most variable of the months. You've probably got a 1-in-3 chance of a wet day but if it isn't wet then it's likely to be bright, if cool. Layers would be a good idea.

Mands

Does anybody have any information on the newly revised alcohol beverage package? I purchased the package for my wife and I for our next Surf sailing and did receive a phone call with a reduced price which generated an onboard ship credit. So, that was good. I just can't find any information on what is included in the drink package now. Last year, they eliminated the cabins mini bar from the package but rumor has it the mini bar is now included in the new program. Also some wine related changes. Any up to date info would be apprecitated as Windstar reps are not sure of this.

According to the Windstar blog minibar charges, for alcohol, are not included.

The current packages appear to be these:

HTH,

Mands

Just seeing if anyone has done the ferry, as we have done the plane thing. I was hoping to find someone that has done it recently.

The ferry is from 10PM to 6 PM taking a morning flight means getting up early to get to a Barcelona hotel around 1PM or so, is not being rushed worth 5 hours I don't know that's what I am interested in hearing about. DW is not really a morning person.

I've done long-ish ferry trips in the Med. Not Grimaldi, not that route but they are pretty much all the same I think. In '06 we went from Venice to Patras, about 36 hours, and also a longer trip twice that length from south from Pireaus.

Since their prime aim is transportation rather than entertainment facilities onboard were minimal. Cabins were perfectly adequate, food mediocre but available.

You normally have to be at the port some time before departure, and it often takes a long time to load all the trucks and containers onboard, so I don't know how much time you'd really save. But if that isn't the issue then it'd give you an entirely different perspective to flying.

Loading the ferry in Venice.

Sleeping on deck between Italy and Greece.

Can anyone advise how to get from the Lisbon cruise terminal to the airport? I heard taxis are not that great in the honesty department but that may be hearsay. Could someone advise the cost and if they used a provate service or the aerobus? Thanks.

We've ended three cruises in Lisbon and not had any trouble with taxi drivers at all. Walk out of the terminal and there should be a queue of taxis outside. The fare to the airport has always been in the region of 25€.

Happy planning,

Mands

We had company just outside our porthole once, about 400 miles west of Lisbon.

 

Nothing on Windstar though.

 

Patty

No, I don't think there will be.

Wind Surf stopped at Ponta Delgada on the 2007 eastbound repositioning cruise. That was just after a refit and there was a concern about the fuel capacity of the new tanks. Since then she has only stopped on unscheduled visits related to medical emergencies.

A couple of photos from April '07

Hope you manage to find a way to visit, either by cruise or other means.

Mands

Thanks Mands for all that!

If you have any links for kurion and troodos that would be great!

Which one do you think is best? We are still trying to decide where to go!

Ramizraja, I'm sorry, I lost track of this thread!

If you have any interest in history then Kourion I think.

Come back, in case you run out of time, via Kolossi castle. It dates back to 1200 and was built by/for the Knights of St John. There is usually a little stand nearby the entrance that sells Commandaria, the oldest named wine in the world.

Wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kourion

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kolossi_Castle

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commandaria

Images

http://images.google.com/images?client=safari&rls=en&q=kolossi+castle&oe=UTF-8&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=x2JPS7D7LsbRjAe3lZWlCg&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=4&ved=0CCMQsAQwAw

http://www.ntimages.net/Kurion-tns.htm

Panos

http://cyprus.arounder.com/en/city-tour/kolossi-castle.html

http://cyprus.arounder.com/en/city-tour/kolossi-castle-interior.html

If you do decide on Kourion then take 15 minutes to walk to the far end of the site, away from the exit. You should have the sea on your left. There is a wooden built building with an open front looking down the cliff towards Kourion beach and the sea. If the weather conditions are good you may see paragliders in action. They launch from just beyond the end of the site and finish up just short of the beach. It is impressive to watch!

There's a video on YouTube if you want a sneak preview;

Apologies again for the delayed response,

Mands

What is there to do in Cyprus?

• Troodos for the mountains, the scenery, and the wineries
   
  
• Paphos, Kurion, Kolossi for the history, the mosaics, the archaeology.
   
  
• Limassol, the promenade and the old City for a gentle day's wandering.
   
  
• Nicosia (Lefkosia) for the last divided capital city in the world.
   
  
• St Hilarion or Salamis, both in the north, for those with an exceptionally long port time.
   
  
• Lefkara and surrounding villages for traditional Cyprus life, fantastic views and wandering among old buildings.
  

For a first-time visitor to the island, who has a limited amount of time, I'd say that Kurion or Troodos or the villages were the best bets depending on the individuals interests.

If any of those sound appealing let me know and I'll try and find some appropriate links for further information.

I live here so I've never used local tour or cab companies. As such I can't make any recommendations on who is good or reasonably priced. But, you may be able to get a good enough idea of what you fancy seeing that you can tailor a request to a guide/cab to ensure you get to as much as possible.

Mands

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Don't know about Paradise, but pretty fantastic. But then I'm biased; I got married under one of those palm trees just a couple of months ago :-)

Thanks for the photos, they are a lovely reminder.

Mands