exlondoner

I should imagine Alaska is like Norway in that there is lots of scenery to see from the ship, so a balcony might be well worth while.

And there is no compulsion to give anything.

And they are usually marvellous. After a couple of days, they’ll know your tastes.

It’s covered by the auto tip, but if you want to give something extra, it doesn’t have to be dollars. The main thing is: if there is something you want or something that is not right, ASK.

At the moment the website is simply routing people going North via London. If you haven’t got much luggage, this might be better anyway.

I assume you are aware that there is currently no direct rail connection between Southampton and the North, as a bridge over the Thames is closed for urgent repairs. They are hoping it might be done in June.

Anticipation is an important part of the pleasure - in both cases. 😀

As am I. Be nice to know though.

Traditionally, when the ships were built in the UK, Cunard used to use Australian wine, long before it was fashionable. Now, Prosecco, wouldn’t you think?

Immigration is usually done on the ship, and you would be very unlucky to be delayed by customs. However, the ship can be delayed by the weather or airbridge problems. Last summer, because we were quarantined by Covid, we were last off the ship, and that was about 10.30. I think disembarkation is by deck working downwards.

Still can’t see what sort of prom deck it has, if any.

How is the dining for those doing early or late sittings?

Cheapest fare currently £14.50.

It can be quite a lot cheaper in advance. They have theoretically reserved seats with Advanced tickets, but this is only to limit numbers, they do not allocate you an actual seat number. (Sorry this sounds so bizarre.) As I say, it is usually emptier near the back.

Unbelievably, that bus seems to have changed its route. Apologies.

I am constantly amazed at the reviews, which seem to be of completely different ships from the ones I encounter. We on are on QV in a few weeks so I shall be interested to see how awful it is. As a general comment, a reviewer’s entire experience often seems to be coloured by quite minor things going wrong in the early stages, which ruin the whole holiday for them. On the other hand, if super efficient IT is important to you, don’t book Cunard.

If you want noise, try a Trislander.

Assuming the train has 8/10 coaches, it is usually less crowded at the back, so easier to find somewhere to put your luggage. If for some reason it is only a five coacher, that is not so good. If you have luggage, I would get a taxi from Waterloo, just to avoid grappling with escalators, and a very long walk at KX/St. P. If you don’t have much luggage, the 59 bus goes from just outside Waterloo to just outside St. P.

OMG, why did I type Cyd Charisse, it was Celeste Holm, excellent, but definitely not the legs. Soooooooo sorry.

Surely, that’s arriving, not leaving?

I’m fear you may be mistaken. When she and Sinatra are looking at the wedding presents while singing ‘Who wants to be a millionaire?’ in High Society, she turns an item over and quite clearly says ‘Plate’. Interesting ly, I use a stainless steel trifle spoon for my water softener.

Plate, to quote the immortal Cyd Charisse.

Singapore is approximately equal to one IOW, I believe. Honestly, the IOW is used quite a lot for smaller things.

The IOW is most confusing. As you know, things are occasionally described as X times the size of the IOW. How do they know this? Because they take it away to use as a measure. Certainly there are clear days when it is not visible from Bournemouth, so they must be using it do do this. On those days, I imagine the ships just go straight across.😀😀

I always go for sunsets, but I’m in the Northern Hemisphere, if that makes a difference.