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John Bull

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    Lee-on-the-Solent, England
  • Interests
    vintage & classic vehicles
  • Favorite Cruise Line(s)
    Voyages of Discovery
  • Favorite Cruise Destination Or Port of Call
    Caribbean

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  1. We also struggled to find that information for Briksdalbreen (old & tired limbs),, in the end we gave up. But on arrival at Loen we lucked-in and joined a different tour on-spec It started with a short coach ride from Loen (we were tendered, but they also offer it from the cruise pier at Olden) to the landing stage at Lovatnet Lake, aka Loen Lake, then a boat cruise (20 - 30 minutes?) on the super-clear water with super views both sides to the far end of the lake, where we went a couple of miles of track by minibus and finally a 5 minute walk to the viewpoint for Kjenndalsbreen (Kjenndal Glacier). Apparently we were as close to this glacier as visitors get to Briksdal Glacier, it's apparently not as big, but we were impressed. Then back to the lake and included waffles at the tearoom by the boat pier, then boat & coach back to Loen (or Olden). Very relaxing, good value-for-money, very pleased that we did it. Check out google images of Kjenndal Glacier, they include photos of the lake, the boat, the tearooms etc. Can't remember the name of the operator, I think this website is by a booking agency https://www.oldencruise.com/loen-lake-and-kjenndal-glacier/ JB 🙂
  2. John Bull

    Hong Kong DIY

    We've stayed at the Kowloon Shangri-La - a discounted harbour-view room for a 4-night stay. Excellent hotel, a butler that we had no need of, but we shied away from the hotel's high prices for food & drink, even stepping outside for morning coffee. Harbour-front windows are wall-to-wall and floor-to-ceiling. If you're in at 8pm, ensure that the room's radio is tuned in for the city's nightly laser show - the music and commentary make all the difference. Location isn't totally ideal but not bad. Nathan Road is a ten-minute walk, the Tsim Sha Tsui Star Ferry terminal is about 20 minutes. There are a couple of Mass-transit metro stations ten minutes away. I concur totally with @thehowlingroad that HK is the sort of place that you explore independently, and not by car. In our two visits we've never used the mass-transit system, we much prefer to use the Star Ferries (to Wan Chai rather than to Central is a much more interesting and ethnic "Suzie Wong" part of the Island) the Island's the rickety trams (though they're usually over-crowded) and the double-deck buses.to places like Stanley antiques market. When you leave Stanley Market you can ask the driver to put you off part-way back where you walk round the corner for another bus to the Peak and the top station of the Peak railway. Some folk use the ho-ho buses but even that's too slow, too clinical & too civilised for us. If you want to check out shops & sights on the steep part of the city, head for the Mid-Levels Escalator, a series of moving walkways which take the grunt out of the climb https://www.landmark.hk/en/visit/around-central/central-mid-level-escalator Back on the mainland head to the Temple Street Night Market near the top of Nathan Road for bargains & street-food. https://www.temple-street-night-market.hk/ We had dinner there, under a tarpaulin roof sat on orange boxes with a tea-chest table and food cooked on the sidewalk - I wine & dine my lady in style 🤗. An experience she's never forgotten, but in the nicest sort of way. Check out this old video, but be aware it's perhaps just a mite exaggerated 😏 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yg--o2Ly_uY (minute 26 to minute 33) JB 🙂
  3. You've had good suggestions to date. Premier Inns are owned by the UKs biggest brewery and have their own attached restaurants. Haven't eaten at this one but at others around the country. Good food, good choices, good value, but there's something insular about eating in the hotel, and they don't have a "local" feel. Certainly good for breakfast Most of the restaurants in the West Quay entertainments complex, directly across the road from P.I.West Quay, have the option of al-fresco dining overlooking the City Wall and there are a lot of restaurants there that you can browse - but they're all national or international chains - not my scene, might be yours. https://www.west-quay.co.uk/dine Nearest Wetherspoon's pub is the Standing Order in the High Street a ten-minute walk. The chain is often ridiculed (kinda like Walmart) for being cheap & basic, but food is acceptable, prices are very keen, and they're popular. We've eaten at a few Wetherspoon's pubs including this one - OK, but not somewhere you'd take a new date,. https://www.jdwetherspoon.com/pubs/all-pubs/england/hampshire/the-standing-order-southampton Oxford Street has been mentioned - one of the areas to browse a selection of pubs & restaurants but it's a 15 minute walk from your hotel (and applying the usual formula for walking to pubs that means about 25- 30 minutes walk back to the hotel 😏) The waterfront / old town area is our preference, just a 6-minute walk' I'll second the Dancing Man pub / micro-brewery, in a 13th Century stone wool-store with a varied history. Try their Beef Rag & Bone. https://dancingmanbrewery.co.uk/# And add the Duke of Wellington, a couple of hundred yards up the road from the Dancing Man, a 12th Century pub (for those who know their history, it was re-named in 1815 in honour of the Duke of Wellington following his rout of Boney at Waterloo). Traditional & attractive English pub, good value - we've eaten here a few times and it's a popular venue for Cruise Critic RollCall pre-cruise meals. https://www.dukesouthampton.co.uk/ Mentioned by @showingdiva Kuti's is an Indian restaurant, almost opposite the Dancing Man in the Royal Pier. Had a great reputation, has gone thro financial problems and reviews are currently mixed.. https://www.kutis.co.uk/ Mentioned by @MBP&O2/O Ennio's is an Italian restaurant just a few yards past Dancing Man. Excellent, but higher prices. https://ennios.co.uk/ Ditto La Regata, a Spanish restaurant https://www.laregata.co.uk/ .two doors down from Ennio's. We've enjoyed eating at both, but the prices deserve a "special occasion" Particularly those in old-town/waterfront, for a table of seven it's best to book, ditto for any size group on a friday or saturday. Usually no commitment when booking. JB 🙂
  4. To get the best out of the Island you need a very long day, but not for just Osborne House. It was designed in Italianate style by Queen Vic's husband Prince Albert, and was her favourite home, takes mebbe 3 to 4 hours. From Southampton Town Quay there are two ferry routes - both go to Cowes, which is divided by the Medina River. The Red Jet fast-ferry goes to (west) Cowes, the traditional Red Funnel car ferry goes to East Cowes, on the other side of the River.. Best for Osborne is the Red Funnel car ferry to East Cowes The crossing takes about an hour. When you leave the ferry it's a simple 2 - 3 minute walk to the bus stop alongside the Waitrose grocery store. Take any bus from there to Osborne House, there are only two bus routes, the No 4 and the No 5. Three to four buses per hour (two per hour on sundays) for the 10-minute journey - ask the driver to put you off at Osborne House. It's a bit of a walk down to the House from the entrance gates. In the House you follow a route, it's self-guided but there are knowledgeable staff. Be sure to include the "Swiss Cottage" built for her 8 - 9 children, there's an included shuttle-van to take you there. There's also a shuttle-van to the private beach & Queen Vic's bathing machine, but on busy days there can be a line to get back to the House late in the day. Same bus back to East Cowes. If you want to extend your time on the Island, take chain ferry across the river from East Cowes to Cowes "proper", an attractive tourist town famous amongst the yachting fraternity. It's a ten-minute walk from the chain ferry to the centre of town. Your first stop should be at the Red Jet ferry terminal to check availability and up-grade your Red Funnel tickets. The Red Jet takes about 35 minutes to cross to Southampton Town Quay. If you skip that extension I guess you'd be back at your hotel at about 3pm to 4pm, if you reckon to take in (west) Cowes best to check if there's a latest hotel check-in time. https://www.redfunnel.co.uk/ JB 🙂
  5. You can swing disembarkation until about 9.30. In Southampton https://www.visitsoutheastengland.com/things-to-do/tudor-house-and-garden-p8041 (historic pub The Duke of Wellington, a hundred yards down the road) https://seacitymuseum.co.uk/ https://southamptoncityartgallery.com/ ( Art Gallery & SeaCity museum are both part of the Civic Office complex https://www.solentsky.org/ Selection of shops, restaurants etc in the city centre, centred on The Bargate JB 🙂
  6. Portland No trains on Portland Bill, but it's just a 10-minute ride on ship's shuttlebus to Weymouth. The bus takes you on the road across the shingle bank to "the mainland," with the shingle Chesil Bank on your left and Portland Harbour (2012 Olympic sailing events) on your right. The drop point in Weymouth is on the south of the town, it's a 5 to 10 minute walk across the Town Bridge into the town. Weymouth is a Victorian seaside resort, in a kinda 1950's / '60s time-warp. A favourite of Brits, but few international visitors. Little lanes with shops, pubs, cafes, smugglers' museum, fish & chips, kiss-me-quick hats, etc leading to the esplanade & .wide sandy beach (sand sculptors often at work). Good for a lazy day. Portland is a secure navy port, you can't walk in or out and there are no taxis or tours on-spec., if you want a tour you need to fix it in advance. You leave the port & return on the shuttlebuses - free to little Portland Castle or the nearby volunteer-run D-Day museum (Portland was a major departure port for D-Day), usually payable to Weymouth. probably $10 or $15 return fare If you fix up a taxi or private tour they meet you at Portland Castle. Lots of alternatives along the Jurassic Coast & in the Dorset countryside including Durdle Door & Lulworth Cove, Corfe Castle, Bovington Tank Museum, the market town of Dorchester (here you have the alternative of going from Weymouth by train), Abbotsbury Swannery, West Bay & Bridport. But you'd need to fix up a tour in advance - none available on-the-day, and no car rentals on Portland or even in the centre of Weymouth. More info and suggestions for tour operators at https://boards.cruisecritic.com/search/?q=Portland &quick=1&type=forums_topic&nodes=148 Dover The cruise terminals (one behind the other) are in the Western Docks. To the castle by public bus is a royal pain, You'd need two buses, each of which runs only half-hourly plus a longish walk at both end - the one up to the castle s steep. Far simpler to take a taxi from the cruise terminal into the castle. I'll guess at £10 to £15 e/w. I don't think there's a taxi rank at the castle so arrange for the driver or colleague to collect you. You could easily spend four hours or more in the castle, it's been in continuous use from the 11th century to the end of WW2 during which the area was known as Hellfire Corner. The imposing Keep is in fine condition & you can clearly see France from the roof, there are curtain walls & cannon, medieval tunnels (self-guided) and tunnels used in WW2 to organise the Dunkirk evacuation included in the castle entry fee but guided - fix a guided tour time when you arrive), military museums etc in the outbuildings. etc . The Roman lighthouse is within the castle grounds. https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/dover-castle/ The path to St Margaret's Bay is at the opposite end of Dover from the cruise terminals. I think the best place to start is from near the castle JB 🙂
  7. I can remember when the only options for breakfast were a couple of "greasy spoon" cafes near the fruit & veg market. But the growth of hotels & shopping outlets in the past few decades and the more-recent trend to eating-out for breakfast and brunch means you have a pretty wide choice. Here are the more-obvious ones......... Holiday Inn, Herbert Walker Avenue is right by the port gate for City Cruise Terminal & 400 yards / 5 minutes walk from the terminal entrance. Thyme Restaurant at Premier Inn West Quay on Harbour Parade, 3 minutes past H.I. Both open to non-residents, both offer a choice of continental or "proper" English breakfast, H.I. perhaps a slightly better breakfast, P.I. certainly the better value. Opposite Premier Inn, the West Quay entertainment complex has a number of restaurants, most have al-fresco dining overlooking the City Walls and many of them offer breakfast. If you want cheap & cheerful, IKEA on West Quay Road (allow yourselves a extra 4 hours to find your way out 😏) or ASDA grocery superstore (rear entrance opposite the coach station). https://maps.app.goo.gl/r4ZrY6kP5EkxKn3k8 (Mr Google's directions are a bit silly, all much much simpler than Googlemaps makes out - for instance cruise terminal to Holiday Inn is a straight line 🙄) JB 🙂
  8. Several cruise lines eg RCI, Celebrity, Princess offer one-way cruises Rome to Ravenna or Trieste (for Venice), or vice-versa. Around 11 days. This gives you the opportunity to extend your stay at either or both ends of the cruise. They also typically include Naples, a couple of Greek Islands, and ports in Croatia and/or Slovenia and/or Montenegro and/or Albania. Open-Jaw (aka multi-city) return air tickets from home to Rome and from Venice to home (or vice-versa) cost the half-way point between return tickets to either, but you need to book both ways in a single booking and with the same airline or air alliance. JB 🙂
  9. Best put your tin hat on 😀 - posts about smoking can bring out some really snarky comments There are smoking areas on every cruise ship that I know of. Very broadly, on most ships that's on specified outside decks only - sometimes a corner of the pool deck, often one end or one side of the deck overlooking the pool. Some offer smoking in part of the casino. A very few offer a smoking lounge - but they're really foul because folk only go in there for a smoke, so if there are say thirty folk in there then thirty cigs will all on the go at the same time. Rules for vaping seem to be the same as for smoking. Rules for cigars are usually more draconian. Entirely no smoking has been tried (was it Disney??) - and failed miserably. In a strange way it's kinda like restaurants that don't offer vegan options - some would be happy not to have any vegan customers, but just one vegan in a group means none of that group would book. Ditto when one in a group of cruisers is a smoker. JB 🙂
  10. As @Zach1213 posted, there are no regular scheduled direct flights to North America from BHX. I think the only options are London Heathrow / Gatwick / mebbe City, plus Manchester, plus Edinburgh. JB 🙂
  11. A little clarification is needed here. The hourly direct train from Gatwick to Southampton now runs direct to Portsmouth. Southampton-bound passengers should still catch that train, but about 50 minutes into its journey change at little Barnham Station to a Southampton-bound train - it'll come along on the same platform 22 minutes later. So your total journey time will about 25 minutes longer But's still an hourly service. The other hourly service has always been there, has always involved a change of train. But it goes via a different route, via a comparatively awkward change at Clapham Junction - shaves 30 minutes off the total journey time but costs twice as much. (Its your only option on sundays) A third option, not really worth it unless time is against you and you've just missed the first two options, is also via Clapham Junction and throws in another awkward change at Basingstoke. The route which goes via a simple change at Barnham (currently leaving Gatwick at 39 minutes past the hour) is the one I'd recommend. https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/ Click on Journey details to confirm its via Barnham JB 🙂
  12. Was your information about "tiered" disembarkation from a reliable source ? If not, do check with your cruise line. Usually ships allocate disembarkation times only at the disembarkation port, and at ports-of-call where they lie off-shore and tenders are needed to ferry passengers to the quay. I think all ships berth at the quay in Civitavecchia. If you're sailing MSC or Costa they often have pax embarking or disembarking at several ports during a cruise but I don't know whether allocation of disembarkation times affect those who are mid-cruise. Ship to rail station is more complicated than it was - it used to be a port shuttlebus to the gate by the small castle then a pleasant 15 - 20 minute seafront walk. But the port now uses a gate much further from the station, so most folk switch there from the port shuttle to a station shuttle. If you choose to walk, shops & stalls en-route sell BIRG tickets to Rome. Or, if there's a line at the station ticket window, buy them from the newspaper stand in the station, same price.. Wherever & whenever you buy tickets they're not dated. so It's important to get them validated (stamped) on the platform before you board the train, or an inspector will charge you an excessive penalty. Our first time we though there would be validation machines on the train - there weren't, so we travelled in dread of an inspector wanting to see our tickets. Luckily there wasn't one 😌 For the Colosseum get off the train at Ostiense station and follow the blue metro signs to the adjacent Piramide metro station to take the blue metro line (end-station Rebibbia or Conca D'Oro) two stops to Colosseo. https://www.rome.info/transport/public-transport/metro/ Give yourselves plenty of time to get from ship to Colosseo, if you arrive early enough explore the Forum (entry is the same three-venue ticket as for the Colosseum), right by the Colosseum. As you already know your metro ride is included in your BIRG ticket. JB 🙂
  13. Don't waste your time & money on Rome's ho-ho buses. I'm a great fan of them in many cities,, but that doesn't include Rome (or Florence) They're forbidden down many small but important roads (and Florence's can only circulate round the edges of the old city). Colosseum & Vatican are the only two worthwhile places on their route, they hang around at Termini station (looking for more passengers) and the Vatican (so passengers can walk around the corner to see t properly), and like in most cities they're useless as "transport". But you could consider a night tour (different operator) on your first evening. If you've got three days (at least two full days) IMHO you'd do better to split Colosseum & Vatican into two days - Colosseum (and Forum and mebbe Palatine Hill) - Vatican (and Piazza Navona and Pantheon and mebbe Trevi and Spanish Steps). Colosseum and Forum and Palatine Hill are all on one 3-venue tickets. Buy in advance to avoid the ticket lines. For Vatican / Sistine Chapel you need to book well in advance - I think they're timed tickets but others will know better than I. JB 🙂
  14. Hi, and welcome to Cruise Critic, For excursion-sharing, post on your cruise RollCall https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/20-roll-calls/ (menu page to RollCalls to your cruse line to your ship to your sailing date. Sailing dates aren't consecutive, each post puts that cruise to the top). As per CC rules, don't use other forums for things specific to your cruise - such posts are irrelevant to 99% of members and clog up the forums Cinque Terre is iconic - but about 2 hrs e/w from Livorno by road, and problematic due to crowding in the villages. The day of the week, the time of year, how many cruise ships are in La Spezia or Genoa, etc are all immaterial as we discovered to our dismay during a shoulder season vacation on a mid-week day when there was only one cruise ship in La Spezia. The frequent, convenient & good value Cinque Terre trains from La Spezia and from village to village were packed, the villages were packed - we saw a fight between two families of circling "vultures" when folk vacated one restaurant table, and our planned lazy lunch at an outside table on the harbour of one village became takeaway sandwiches sat on a convenient wall. We were lucky to get a ferry between two villages, which got us out of the hubub and the wind in our hair for about 20 minutes. If your proposed excursion involves travel from village to village by boat that's probably the best way to do it but it'll be expensive, esp including a van between Livorno and Cinque Terre. If it's all by van, the quiet winding roads between villages will be welcome breaks from the crowds, but the villages have roads restricted to locals etc and/or parking restrictions so expect one or two long walks. Don't expect a great response to an offer of excursion-sharing for this one - it's to far from Livorno and most folk will have their eyes on Florence and/or Pisa Pisa / Lucca / Winery sounds much more relaxing. Lucca via Pisa is about 40 minutes e/w from Livorno, much more sensible. Pisa's Field of Miracles of course is iconic - it'll be busy, but spacious grounds with plenty of room to breathe. We've been twice - both times it was easy to get a drink and a meal on the road of cafes bars & restaurants just off-site, but that's no guarantee. On a road-trip we had a few days based near Lucca. Attractive & historic walled city, un-crowded, plenty of shade and people-watching from behind a long cold beer. But not "iconic", unlikely to be of great interest to first-timers in Italy. A winery is a great way to round-off an excursion in Tuscany. I don't know how popular it will be with your fellow-cruisers - Pisa is cheap & easy by train, and Florence will be top of the list for many, but there will be those who've been-there, done-that. First job - find and browse your cruise Roll-Call, and at least post on there to say Hi to your cruise-mates. JB 🙂
  15. Either of the terms that I've highlighted in red is reasonable - but both together??? Or to put it another way -- if you have to cancel within 24 hours of the journey time don't go to the bother and expense of phoning them, they're keeping all your money anyway so let their driver hang around in the Arrivals Hall for an hour or two while their car runs up Heathrow's exorbitant parking charges. 🙄😃 JB 🙂
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