John Bull

August is usually hot hot hot. Ideal for sitting in a shady spot behind a tall cold beer. Not ideal for sight-seeing September usually makes more sense JB 🙂

You should clear airport formalities within about 90 minutes. That's more likely if you have a biometric passport (little camera icon on the front cover) because you can use the machines at immigration instead of joining a line for a manned booth. Timing & routing to your hotel as per @Globaliser's post. So excluding any exceptional delays, aircraft seat to hotel lobby before about 1.30pm (but don't make any commitments for that time). If you arrive at your hotel before check-in, most hotels will hold your cases for you - you might even get checked-in immediately. JB 🙂

Tipping isn't the norm. in Norway, but neither is it regarded as an insult. @JHCruiser123 - if you do tip, not at anywhere near American levels - just a few k to show your appreciation for excellence. Elsewhere in the world you need to check whether payment by card is accepted. In Norway you need to check whether payment by cash is accepted. Last year, at our final port-of-call and with too many k still in our pockets, we stopped for a coffee. When it was presented I got out my cash, only to be told that the establishment doesn't accept cash. There was no notice to that effect, so we said "sorry, we don't have cards, only cash". and left the server to drink the stuff for herself. In the absence of any notice I rate that as reasonable in an establishment which deals primarily with foreign visitors We managed to spend all our k elsewhere, and in an extra tip for our cabin steward (it was early-season for the ship). Having a few k would be sensible, but you could probably get by with no cash at all. JB 🙂

There's also the option of a wedding on the ship - check out the cruise line's website or e-mail them. I don't know the legalities, but its an option which isn't dependent on the ship making port. JB 🙂

RCI, and to perhaps a lesser extent NCL, are "fun" ships. Celebrity and Princess are more laid-back and - dare I say it - more refined. But we choose cruises based more on their itineraries and prices JB 🙂

I rarely venture into the big bad city, the Elizabeth line is quite new & I've not yet travelled on it. One route is the Piccadilly tube line from Heathrow - as @Globaliser's post it's the start of the line so no trouble getting seats & luggage together. Buy tickets to Westminster / Zone One. Easy cross-platform change at Baron's Court to the District line. Off that District line train at Westminster. From Westminster tube station it's something under a mile to your hotel, over Westminster Bridge then a slightly mazy walk. If you take a taxi, stay on the same side of the road (bridge on your left) to hail one - that'll avoid a circum-navigation of Parliament Square. But I'll defer to advice from those who know London better than country-boy JB. JB 🙂

HI again Amy, I share your grief with technococololgy This formatting in sympathy 😄 That address is indeed the marina. 15 to 20 minutes walk. https://maps.app.goo.gl/K3ytuXXTqcFuhPtD9 9 am is quite late for an arrival, I suspect it'll be more like 8am arrival & disembarkation from 9 am. Are the arrival times quoted for the other ports similar or earlier? But regardless, it's a bit of a risk. One time we rented a car and circum-navigated the island. Most of it was very scenic, but the south coast was almost all in long tunnels. Tunnels aren't very scenic.🙄 On another occasion we took the cablecar up to Monte, then descent on a wicker toboggan https://www.google.com/search?sca_esv=41437dda0f3602d3&rlz=1C1GEWG_en-GBGB999GB999&sxsrf=ACQVn0_1lub_4KJNvM6qf3RaYrxZD-E-Tg:1706643072268&q=funchal+toboggan+ride&tbm=vid&source=lnms&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjilNLw7IWEAxU1gf0HHc5JBEoQ0pQJegQICxAB&biw=1346&bih=670&dpr=1.25#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:0c16b81e,vid:7wZugMQpcSU,st:0 (not our video, one of several on YouTube) From the cruise pier by retro bus (or tuk-tuk or taxi) to the cablecar station, which is just past the marina. Up in the cablecar to the first station, Monte Palace Gardens. Short walk round the corner to the start of the toboggan ride. The ride takes you about half-way down to Funchal, then walk or haggle a shared taxi to the town centre. Fun day, not too expensive. More posts on the Europe, other Mediterranean ports (??🙄??) board Here are some https://boards.cruisecritic.com/search/?q=Funchal&quick=1&type=forums_topic&nodes=149 Super island, super people JB 🙂

"Advance" tickets have to be bought from about 8 weeks out (up to 12 weeks on some routes). Sometimes they're available as close as the day before travel, sometimes not available a week or more out. The major drawback is that they're only good for the train time that you've booked - fine if for instance you're staying at a hotel reasonably accessible to the station, you have no excuse for missing the train. But if for instance you're flying into London Gatwick (LGW) and booking a train from there to Southampton you have no control over flight cancellation or delay, or the time to pass thro the airport formalities. In those circumstances you risk wasting your tickets, or sitting at Gatwick station for an hour or two because you were too cautious about the timing. (Trains from LHR to Southampton aren't a viable option) Advance tickets aren't amendable or refundable - if you don't get on your chosen train your tickets are trash. Since you're lodging in London pre-cruise cheap "advance" tickets to Southampton or Dover make sense. JB 🙂 ps Dammit - Welsh Dave beat me to it 🙃

Hailing a taxi in the street is fine for short hops within the city - but is by far the most expensive way of going to the port, especially if the driver uses the meter. Pre-book a fixed-price private transfer, preferably direct but alternatively by asking your hotel to book it. JB 🙂

OK, so walking up-hill is a problem. How about walking down-hill? For good reason folk stress about the lines for the cablecar, but for most people walking down the zig-zag path from Fira to the tender pier isn't too strenuous - the steps are wide and shallow, and the path has a solid chest-high wall Top to bottom takes about 20 minutes. There are plenty of places where you can sit for a break - even a couple of bars Whilst other may disagree, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to folk of average mobility. But only you can decide for yourself JB 🙂

International Friends is a trusted and long-established coach operator, comments on Cruise Critic about their cruise tour-transfers are overwhelmingly positive. You won't be spending half the day on a scenic tour of London hotels - they use several vehicles for pick-ups, then transfer to the tour coach en-route. But they don't quote how long at Windsor - this will of course depend on any delays before the coach arrives in Windsor, and reports of any delays between Windsor and Southampton. A small worry is that on a summer saturday the route to Southampton is usually clogged with Londoners heading out of the big bad city to the south coast - but the scheduled arrival time is at least 60 to 90 minutes ahead of latest check-in time. Like any responsible transfer organisation their priority is getting you to your ship in good time. I'll hazard a guess that on average the time spent at Windsor is about two hours - "sufficient" for just the castle but not generous. Guides aren't permitted in the castle - you can employ a castle guide but most folk are happy with the audio-guide On the other hand if Windsor is a priority it avoids the loss of a day in London. A day-trip to Windsor from London would be a much more leisurely affair - about 6 hours, more if you cut into the evening. As you're probably aware there are direct trains from Waterloo station to Windsor Riverside station, a 5 - 8 minute walk from the castle entrance. Broadly half-hourly service, journey time just under an hour e/w, £16 return pp. In summary a day-trip to Windsor from your London hotel. then a train to Southampton on the morning of your sailing day would be cheaper, more in-depth and more leisurely. But you'd lose a sight-seeing day in London. Those are the choices, but we can't choose for you. Your choice might depend on how many days between flying in and sailing out. (BTW - if you choose to travel to Southampton by train, "advance" train tickets are half the cost of the walk-up fares but come with a caveat. Ask again if you're not clear about this) JB 🙂

The quay at Funchal is well over 1/2 mile long long, so it depends on quite how far along your ship is berthed. There will e taxis at the ship. And retro buses partway along the quayside https://maps.app.goo.gl/jPjhUxtoiD9zjMPc6 And can you quote the location you need to be at to meet the excursion operator? JB 🙂

Since this will be a berthed port-of-call, half-an-hour before advertised sailing time at the latest would be normal though folk tend to allow for longer. Because of the distance your time in London will be quite limited. Your ship will almost-certainly be at Horizon Cruise Terminal, but double-check that on https://www.southamptonvts.co.uk/Live_Information/Shipping_Movements_and_Cruise_Ship_Schedule/Cruise_Ship_Schedule/ If you go to London by train..... Horizon Cruise Terminal is about a 15 to 20 minute walk from Southampton Central station. Take a train to London Waterloo station, there are 2 to 3 per hour, journey time is about 90 minutes.. Don't take a train to London Victoria station - they're less-frequent and take 2 1/2 hours 😮 You need to check at what time you are likely to be able to disembark, then from about 8 weeks out you can buy on-line cheap "advance" tickets - for return tickets that's £25 to £30 instead of £55. But those cheap advance tickets are only good for the train time that you've booked - miss that train and you'll have to pay the full walk-up fare for the next train. For the return to Southampton aim to catch the second-to-last or even the third-to-last possible train, leaving at least one train to spare in case you are delayed heading back to Waterloo station. https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/journey-planner/ Alternatively consider a private or shared tour (check your cruise Roll-Call to see if anyone is looking for sharers) or ship-sponsored coach tour. But don't even think about renting a car to drive the sights of London 😮 JB 🙂

6 am is the time that the ship berths. I see them sailing in on the few mornings that I'm up at that ungodly hour. By the time it's tied-up, gangways set, ship cleared by immigration, etc it'll be around 7am for unassisted disembarkation and the first tranche of assisted disembarkation 7.30.. So the prospects of a train at 7 am are nil, nought, nowt, zilch, zero 🙁. If you want to maximise your time in Paris at the expense of missing London entirely there are one-hour flights to Paris from Southampton airport JB 🙂

From experience..... Selling the truck was a wise move, otherwise you'd still be leaned-on to help out last-minute when they're in need 🙄 Less driving = more cruising 🙂 JB 🙂

I agree with every word of Simon's post (now there's a first 😃) It used to be that all trains which arrived in London before 10am were expensive, but now there are a couple of advance bargains. Yes, commuters to London - plus folk with business meetings in London For the 8am you need to disembark unassisted, I rate the 9am as the best compromise. JB 🙂

Yes, both of them busy day & evening. JB 🙂

Re my post above, since you're sailing into & out of Trieste, by train it's Molo Bersaglieri for travel both to & from Venice. JB 🙂

On current prices (likely to increase by about 5%, probably April or May) a walk-up ticket costs £43. No "peak" rate on sundays, so off-peak and anytime are the same cost. The cheap advance ticket means specifying a train time but costs £9.20. So for two people that inconvenience saves £67.60 - that's quite a few beers. f you're willing to disembark unassisted (haul your cases from your cabin) it'll be about 7 am. You should have no difficulty scooting thro terminal formalities and hop in a taxi from pier to central station (£10 or less) for a booked 07.52 train. The ship won't be cleared for disembarkation until about 07.00, you'd be very very unlikely to make the previous train, the 07.20 - so booking the 07.52 is a no-brainer. First tranche of assisted disembarkation is usually 07.30. If you're allocated a later disembarkation time you can normally request an earlier slot, citing your onward transportation. You're unlikely to be asked for proof, but a timed train ticket would do the job. Whilst the 07.52 is a possibility, the 08.25 is sensible. JB 🙂

Cruise lines offer "Saigon on your own" transfers from Phu My. The drop / collection point tends to be close to the Rex Hotel JB 🙂l

Yes, there is a Marriott on Bath Road https://www.marriott.com/en-us/hotels/lhrhr-london-heathrow-marriott-hotel/overview/ No shuttle provided by the hotel, but local buses to all terminals. NB The "Hotel Hoppa" bus service is over-priced No, there's no tube station on or near Bath Road. So you'd need to return to any Heathrow terminal (T2/T3 is most convenient) for a tube train into central London Alternatively, there are hotels attached to all Heathrow terminals, and several a short walk from Terminal 4. For a ship's coach transfer to Southampton on sailing day you'd need to choose a Heathrow terminal and book with NCL from there. Then present yourselves in that arrivals hall (NCL or their ground handler's will be near where fliers come out of customs.) Or for broadly the same service at a fraction of the cost you can pre-book a coach from Heathrow central bus station for Ts 2 & 3 or from the terminal concourses of T4 or T5. Add about £10 for a taxi from Southampton coach station to ship. https://www.nationalexpress.com/en -------------------------------------------- Hotels in airport-land are rather soul-less and they ain't "London" or even "England". Recommended for a single night, not recommended for 3 nights plus, for your two nights there are pros & cons & personal preferences. So for two nights it's worth considering a central London hotel. It will avoid duplicated travelling and give you convenient evenings in the city. In London Victoria for Nat Express coach, or tube + taxi from LHR. Then NCL's transfer coach - or again Nat. Express bus at a fraction of the cost - from Victoria coach station to Southampton. In London Paddington for quick train or tube from LHR but more complicated from there to Southampton In London Waterloo / County Hall for frequent, fast and (with pre-booked "advance" tickets) cheap trains direct to Southampton. But a little more complicated from LHR. Again about £10 taxi from Southampton central station to ship. Instead of a simple transfer to Southampton on the morning that you sail, you can take a coach tour-transfer from your central London or LHR hotel to your ship in Southampton via either Windsor or Stonehenge. Independently-operated by well-established, reputable, and recommended by many Cruise Critic members, International Friends run the tour-transfer specifically for those on your cruise. https://www.internationalfriends.co.uk/shore-excursions-and-cruise-transfers.html Or, if you've already been to London or you expect to go in the future, go direct from LHR to Southampton by Nat. Express. Southampton city centre hotels from about £70 per night, restaurants & pubs at locals' prices & no add-ons. Enough in the city to keep you amused for the day, or a selection of places incl Bath, Winchester, Portsmouth, for a day-trip within an hour by train.. A useful London website for your LHR, London & Southampton logistics https://www.londontoolkit.com/ JB 🙂

Hi again, Ted, Some Cruise Critic members get a bit paranoid about how many ships in this port on that day. That's based on places like Caribbean islands, where cruise ship passengers can be a massive proportion of the visitors. That's true of only the smaller Adriatic ports like Kotor or Koper or Rovinj or Sibenik- but we've not experienced big crowds in those places. It's not true of larger places like Venice or Split or Dubrovnik, which are busy busy busy with many other visitors. Which makes for very easy research into how many cruise ships in port - because it'd be pointless to bother. Other cruise ships make not a bit of difference in any of them except for whether you might berth or tender and in a few places (like Dubrovnik) possibly any crowding for transportation from the port JB 🙂

Best compromise between convenience & cost is by direct train. From Trieste airport station to Venezia Santa Lucia station. Mainly an hourly service but an awkward gap mid-morning , journey time about 2 hours, one-way fares mainly €15 to €20 depending on time of travel. Unless you choose a hotel on the mainland (or your journey needs to be in that awkward mid-morning gap) avoid trains to Venezia Mestre, which then needs an awkward train connection or taxi or bus ride. If you're returning to Trieste to sail, you'll want a train to Molo Bersaglieri in Trieste. It's right by the cruise berth. https://www.lefrecce.it/Channels.Website.WEB/#/ the website is clunky and IMHO not user-friendly (eg you need to be precise with those station names), but does have an English translation function There's a cheap but tiresome bus option, an expensive private car transfer option, and a super-expensive water taxi option. There's also one ferry service (about 3pm) daily except tuesdays. JB 🙂

Many thanks to @LauraS for abandoning this potential change, which seems pretty pointless (posts can be "liked"), would remove some useful features and would put conversations out of synch. Despite the rhetoric from myself and most other contributors, sometime changes can be good. Testing them, which has been done for a week on this forum, brings out the problems. I shall now ask Bill Gates to consider testing planned changes on his customer, to avoid a repeat of disasters such as Windows 8 😏 JB 🙂

It concerns me that the choice of "Sort by Votes" and "Sort by Date" automatically defaults to "Sort by Votes" every time. Select "by date", then visit another forum. When you return to this forum, hey-presto its back on "by votes" Methinks the mods may not be interested in our comments. JB 🙁