Globaliser

On 5/4/2024 at 1:43 AM, kenexx said:

Would anyone have any recommendations for somewhere for 2 weeks.  Something larger than a hotel room with the ability to self cater at times.

What time of the year would this be for?

Generically, Citadines and Club Quarters would have been my first suggestions. I know people (including a mutual acquaintance) who have used both chains. But I think that they're all central London locations, and probably priced accordingly.

6 hours ago, mrfeeto said:

From what I've seen, it's a SWR-branded train you board that operates between Waterloo and Southampton, not LNER. So since they're all part of National Rail ...

It's not just branding. SWR is a completely different company from LNER. They're only "part of National Rail" in the sense that they both belong to what used to be called the Association of Train Operating Companies, which is now part of the Rail Delivery Group. The members of the group will each sell almost all tickets for any train operated by any group member, as well as through fares that require travel on more than one company's trains.

5 hours ago, gumshoe958 said:

Why some operators accept bookings from overseas and others don’t, who knows. But it’s silly and unhelpful and feels very regressive in the era of Apple Pay and Google Pay.

If I had to guess, it would seem less likely to be a deliberate decision not to accept overseas customers, and more likely that it's simply a website/database construction/security limitation that the company sees no commercial need/imperative to resolve. The number of customers who can only give a non-UK address and must register an account in order to book a ticket in advance for SWR trains is probably negligible, particularly given the nature of SWR's network, passenger and fares mix. It's different for (say) LNER which basically only operates long-distance trains on which advance booking is important for a large proportion of customers.

5 hours ago, gumshoe958 said:

Welcome to the crazy world of Britain’s railways!

 

Ticketing is extremely complicated and not at all customer friendly with a bewildering array of options - sometimes dozens of different fares for exactly the same train.

It's exactly the same as airlines, driven by very similar commercial imperatives.

On 1/2/2024 at 2:10 PM, chengkp75 said:

Well, she'll need a dry dock in April 2024, but if you're asking about the one after that, January 2026 would be a little early for the next docking.  They will give you about 3 months ahead, so January is just outside that window.  It's possible, but I wouldn't bet the farm on it.

As ever, your instinct was correct: that 26-day hole has now been filled (together with some other holes in her schedule).

I'm not sure the NCL website understands how the International Date Line works, but that's probably for another day and another thread.

2 hours ago, Zach1213 said:

When the guy told me I should fly Aer Lingus to Saudi Arabia, I just kind of gave up all hope. 

You wanted Saudia?

5 hours ago, CDNPolar said:

My first thought is where do you change?  In the lavatory?

Yes, normally. It just takes some practice.

Having said that, I'm pretty fond of the vast open spaces of the forward upper deck loos on BA's A380s.

5 hours ago, SelectSys said:

I found it interesting that some of the people making comments really didn't PJs mattered too much.  Maybe not, but I like receiving them onboard.  My main reasons are they are comfortable to wear onboard and wearing PJs helps keeps the clothes fresh while you are traveling.

I agree about the last point, but I find airline PJs tend to be made of some of the nastiest artificial fabrics that can be found, and are therefore usually quite uncomfortable. So I bring my own stuff, which is well worth the small extra effort of carrying it.

12 hours ago, Zach1213 said:

I avoid JAL like the plague for anything more than medium-haul flights because of the heat.

It's useful to hear this from you, too. JAL isn't often an option for my routes, but it's been cropping up as a possibility a bit more often recently.

51 minutes ago, epixx said:

Our BA flight from USA arrives at Terminal 5 at 0930.   We are US citizens with hand luggage only.  Do you think it is likely that we could make the 1018 train?

I doubt it. In pre-Covid times, you might have had a decent chance, but even then I wouldn't have booked it.

You also need to be aware that the RailAir link is not a train. It's a bus that takes you to Woking (or possibly Guildford) to change there for a train. A quick look suggests that the bus runs twice an hour, but it may be that there is only one train an hour from Woking.

9 hours ago, dickinson said:

We definitely want a place that has tables to sit down.  In the US, fast casual is usually places where you place your order at a counter, pay for it, then go sit down at a table and they bring the food to you.

I think that here, that model is most often seen in pubs and similar places. Otherwise, it's generally either being served at the counter and taking the food to your table yourself (including at sandwich shops like Pret), or table service. So it sounds like the latter may be more what you're looking for anyway.

1 hour ago, dickinson said:

We then want a "fast casual" lunch (nothing too big or fancy or time consuming).

How fast and how casual? As you mention pizza, are you prepared to contemplate sit-down table service in an informal setting?

In any event, there is a planning law in London that stipulates that if you stand outside the front door of any branch of Pret a Manger, you must be able to see at least one other branch. The most convenient one for what you want to do is probably this one (49 Tothill St, SW1H 9LQ).

Another alternative is Farmer J St James's (8-9 Orchard Pl, SW1H 0BG), which does counter service salads (including hot salads).

A sit-down bistro-type place that I would recommend is Chez Antoinette Victoria (22 Palmer St, SW1H 0PH).

1 hour ago, dickinson said:

One person in our small group eats dairy free so no pizza for them.

That shouldn't rule out pizza. You can get plenty of dairy-free pizza. At worst, many (probably most) pizza places will be geared up to do vegan versions, but some places might offer non-vegan but non-dairy. One possibility for a pizza would be the Pizza Express at 85 Victoria St, SW1H 0HW.

2 hours ago, SelectSys said:

This reminds me of when I was a "journeyman" management consultant years ago. We had a saying back then that only partners and gentlemen flew during the day...    

Isn't the day flight called "the Chairman's flight"?

4 hours ago, gumshoe958 said:

London isn’t great for Christmas markets tbh, but what few there are (Trafalgar Square, South Bank, Leicester Square, Covent Garden) should be open by then.

 

Christmas lights will be on by then in the major West End shopping streets (Oxford St, Regent St, Bond St).

There’s also the incredibly popular Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park which you have to pre-book (not free).

A quick dig found these dates for 2023, which are typical. (These are not comprehensive lists.)

Christmas lights switch-on
2 November 2023 Oxford Street
7 November 2023 Covent Garden
8 November 2023 Carnaby Street
9 November 2023 Regent Street and St James's
9 November 2023 Marylebone Village
14 November 2023 St Christopher's Place
15 November 2023 Belgravia
16 November 2023 Bond Street
18 November 2023 Chelsea

Southbank Centre winter market: 28 October 2023 - 7 January 2024

Christmas in Leicester Square: 8 November 2023 - 7 January 2024

Winter Wonderland: 17 November 2023 - 1 January 2024

But many individual places start putting up Christmas decorations earlier than that, often because they want to have them in place before schools' half-term holidays at the end of October.

Some of the big department stores may actually have their Christmas departments (selling decorations, gift wrap, cards, and Christmassy gifts) open from as early as mid-August. Before you fall off your chair laughing, there are actually good reasons for this, which were confirmed when they first experimented with the idea.

2 hours ago, SelectSys said:

DFW would be my vote as you then as you get to bypass all the baggage claim/recheck and TSA issues that you would have at either SFO or LA - assuming DFW is your final destination.

This can't be stressed enough. If you wouldn't have to fly on further from DFW, then doing immigration and customs at your final destination is so much better than having to do an international-to-domestic connection at LAX or SFO.

1 hour ago, PR-Texas said:

... we booked Quantas.

Qantas

It truly is Qantas.

12 minutes ago, PR-Texas said:

Quantas

Qantas

You should also be able to get Qantas flights via LAX, although the domestic sector would be operated by American Airlines.

However, "best" is something that nobody can advise you on, because it depends on how what your personal priorities are and what value you place on them. We can usually have a go at "cheapest", but that's a very different adjective from "best".

8 hours ago, John Bull said:

Shows how ridiculous the fare pricing is.

You keep saying this, but what's your alternative? I think that the only way of eliminating such anomalies would be to price all fares on a flat pence per mile basis.

If cheap is the principal consideration, there's an itinerary that's £66.60 per person:

• 1015 Southampton Central to Coventry arr 1227 (CrossCountry)
• 1327 Coventry to Edinburgh Waverley arr 1821 (Avanti West Coast)

It appears to be fared on split tickets:

• Southampton Central to Basingstoke
• Basingstoke to Banbury
• Banbury to Coventry
• Coventry to Penrith (North Lakes)
• Penrith (North Lakes) to Edinburgh

Usual health warning about split tickets, though: There are potential pitfalls for the uninformed or unwary if things don't go according to plan; they should be used only by people who understand what split tickets are about and what the downsides can be, and not by people who can't see beyond the £ signs.

4 minutes ago, Empehi said:

I guess the question is does 10:45-11:43 mean the times of the road trip of is 10:45 the boarding time and 11:43 the the actual departure time?

I think 10:45 is the departure time from Flam and 11:43 is the arrival time at Myrdal, at the other end of the trip.

4 hours ago, shofer said:

When Hubby & I were @ the Tower in 2018, I asked about Anne Boleyn's quarters and they told me that building had burned down.  Maybe because we were close to closing time?  But I will make that one of my major stops.

I have no personal expertise in this subject, but I was intrigued by the idea that the staff at the Tower might tell you an untruth just to get rid of you near closing time, particularly as quite a few visitors to the site will have extensive knowledge.

So a quick Google found this page:

"In Victorian times, it was claimed that Anne was lodged in the current day ‘Queen’s apartments’ but we now know that this is incorrect as the present day buildings were built a number of years after Anne’s execution. This information was circulated to meet a strong public demand to see and know the physical space where Anne Boleyn spent her last hours."

It's corroborated by things said on a number of other web pages on the topic of Anne Boleyn and the Tower, although I can't vouch for any of it.

On 3/4/2024 at 2:59 AM, markeb said:

Tower and Abbey in same day will be a stretch. The opening times are not really conducive, and they're not near each other.

I always suggest not packing too much in to a day, and I agree that anyone who wants to see both places properly will probably struggle because of a lack of time - they each need at least half a day.

But this isn't because the two are too far apart from each other. To get from the Tower to the Abbey, it's six stops on the District (or Circle) Line from Tower Hill Tube to Westminster Tube, which is about a 10-minute journey on a line with frequent trains, and the respective stations are close to the sites.

1 hour ago, PhillyTravelBug said:

It’s starting to sound like it may just be easier to take the tube to London and drop the bags off at our hotel and then head to Windsor.

To be frank, that's what I would do. It would also allow you to gauge whether you actually have enough energy to go to Windsor that day. If I had to choose between an overnight flight from Philadelphia to London followed immediately by sightseeing in Windsor, or poking out my eye with a sharp stick, I'd still want to think about it.

32 minutes ago, John Bull said:

Alternatively there will be cabs on the rank at your Heathrow terminal, obviously more expensive but I don't know the rates.

29 minutes ago, PhillyTravelBug said:

We will most likely take a taxi to the castle.

AIUI, licensed taxis ("black cabs") from the rank at the terminal will not be obliged to take you to Windsor, as that journey goes outside the TfL taxi area. In addition, if one agrees to take you there, the meter does not have to be used, for the same, reason, and the fare is therefore for agreement between you and the driver.

36 minutes ago, John Bull said:

It's a 5 minute walk from Windsor & Eton Central train station (trains to London Paddington via a change at Slough, I don't know how easy or difficult the change at Slough with luggage).

Or a 15 minute walk from Windsor & Eton Riverside station (direct trains to London Waterloo). There's a taxi rank at that station.

One note about this: There's a significant hill between W&E Riverside and the location of that gift shop. It probably matters less if you're going to the station, as that's at the bottom of the hill.

4 hours ago, CalLuvsCrusingToo said:

How do we know if our cruise is out the back of hotel, City Cruise Terminal?

Here's a provisional list: https://www.southamptonvts.co.uk/Live_Information/Shipping_Movements_and_Cruise_Ship_Schedule/Cruise_Ship_Schedule/ - the berth numbers for each terminal are listed near the top of the page.

18 minutes ago, CRUISIN2X2 said:

additional information...Our train is London to Southampton

Then it's the same answer, as SWR's strike is also the day before you travel. I would expect the route from London to Southampton (and beyond) to be a priority for SWR.

8 minutes ago, CRUISIN2X2 said:

We booked our train tickets for May 8th, we now see a notice that they are striking May 7-9th.

Assuming that you've booked a direct train from Southampton Central to Gatwick Airport, your train is operated by Southern. The strike there is on 7 May, so I think you should be fine for 8 May. I think that the worst that is likely to happen from this industrial action is that you'll have to take a different direct train from the one you've booked, if your booked train is cancelled for some reason. And because South Western Railway's strike is also on the previous day (ie 7 May), on the day that you travel you will also have a backup route of going to London and coming back out again using SWR trains.

19 hours ago, T-2 said:

We're coming in by rail from Southampton post cruise & are staying near the Waterloo station so I'll see where a visitor centre is nearby ...

16 hours ago, T-2 said:

Piccadilly Circus has a very convenient TfL only a few stops away on the Bakerloo line

You can simply buy the Oyster and set the Young Visitor Discount at the same time at any Tube station. There's no need to take the Tube to Piccadilly Circus before doing it, because by definition you will have passed through a Tube station already. So you may as well just do this when you take your first Tube journey.

I know what you mean about this discount being hard to find. For some reason, TfL does not like to make a big deal out of it, as noted on some local transport blogs.

36 minutes ago, T-2 said:

I had no idea there was such a thing as a Young Visitor Discount and for different age groups. Your link even contained a video walkthrough of the process.

Thank you for the kind words - but I'm posting again just to make sure there's no confusion.

The only video that I could see concerned the 11-15 Zip Oyster photocard. That is not the same as the Young Visitor Discount, which is also for (and only for) this age group. Getting a photocard will probably not be practicable for you.

To set the Young Visitor Discount, you need to get an ordinary Oyster. (A Visitor Oyster will also work, but I personally find it hard to see any real benefit in a Visitor Oyster, for any age.) Then find a member of staff at a Tube station, a London Overground* station, one of the listed Elizabeth Line stations, or a TfL Visitor Centre. Ask to have the Young Visitor Discount set on the Oyster. The child must be present. The staff member will then use one of the ticket machines to set the discount onto that Oyster. The process should take only 2-3 minutes.

If you're here for 8 days, then this will definitely be worth doing.

* NB The London Overground is a set of TfL lines. They are shown in hollow orange on Tube maps. The London Overground is different from National Rail, and National Rail stations will not be able to set the Young Visitor Discount.

2 minutes ago, tscoffey said:

If I use a US credit card in the Tube, do I get charged bank conversion fees each time I use it? That would steer me towards buying a $40 Oyster card instead for our 4 days in London.

This depends on your credit card company, not on TfL, which simply charges the sterling price.

Typically, a credit card will charge a foreign exchange conversion fee in the order of 2.5% to 3.0%. But because this is a simple percentage, you end up paying the same whether you spend (say) $100 buying an Oyster or spend $25 on each of 4 days' travel.

If your credit card company charges a per-transaction fee for foreign exchange transactions, then the calculation is different. A single $100 purchase will be only one transaction, but TfL will send a separate charge to your credit card for each day's travel, ie four transactions.

It's not hard to get a credit card that doesn't charge forex fees, though, in which case it shouldn't matter which route you go down so far as fees are concerned. But if you buy an Oyster, you will now of course have to pay the non-refundable price of the card.