John Bull

Yes, sadly CC members' favourite Smiths was a casualty of the pandemic. These have been recommended frequently on Cruise Critic https://westquaycars.com/ https://www.aquacars.co.uk/ (as @Crown Vic's post) https://gunwharf-executive-travel.co.uk/ All three are based at the Southampton end https://www.blackberrycars.com/ Based at the London end. JB 🙂

Not entirely true - I understand that under US contracts the cruise line has a free hand to change itineraries at will, but the OP is in Scotland, and presuming that he booked from the UK or in the EU the contract is subject to much stronger consumer protection laws. If a cruise line chooses - of its own free will or for reasons within its control - to make significant changes to the itinerary or any other major changes it is in breach of UK and EU (and I think Aus.) contracts, and would have to refund, recompense, cover costs etc. I had reason to challenge a missed port of call due to a mechanical issue which meant that shortly after leaving a port the ship had to turn back because of a faulty generator and we spent the next day in that port waiting for a spare part to be flown out. The cruise line gave meagre comp. Maintenance is within a cruise line's control, and I felt it worth significantly more. It never reached a Court of Law because the cruise line buckled under the threat of court action. Check your contract with the cruise line - if you can find the equiv. US contract you'll see the differences. Things like the weather, industrial action, or civil unrest aren't within the cruise line's control, but there are no troubles in Mediterranean Egypt, or in Istanbul or areas like Antalya where cruise ships visit, and no governments (US or UK or EU or most others) currently advise against travel to those places - but of course if that changes for the worse it becomes something beyond the control of the cruise line. I do agree with @1025cruise that it's risky to rely on making a particular port because there are so many reasons why a ship can fail to make that port. BTW Istanbul is worth waaaaay more than a one day port of call. And not that difficult or expensive to fly there for a few days JB 🙂

Just a note of caution ................ The Piraeus to Athens ho-ho bus goes via the Acropolis entrance. But unless it's been changed in the last few years, the "Athens on your own" transfer bus (Royal Caribbean, perhaps others) drops everyone at Syntagma Square, by the Parliament building - a 15 min walk to the Acropolis entrance. Somewhere there's an elevator. It's only for those unable to walk up, and I don't know its location. Worth researching if its important to you. JB 🙂

About 1 1/4 miles, 25 minutes as Gumshoe's post. But only one major road to cross, and you have the choice of a number of sets of traffic lights to help you to cross it. All on level ground, sidewalks all the way. No worries for most folk - unless it's a wet day https://maps.app.goo.gl/Lps2AocMFzqmoxgK9 JB 🙂

https://www.londontoolkit.com/travel/southampton_accommodation.htm Those are almost-all of the Southampton city centre hotels. Most are modern, some are historic. Some expensive, some not. Most full-service, some with just basic facilities. But you get what you pay for, and there are none that I would caution against - except the Mercure Dolphin whose future in uncertain. See the little thumbnail map at the bottom of that page. With luggage you'd need a short taxi hop to Mayflower terminal (red A on that map), so any hotel is as convenient as any another. Ocean terminal (red D) is walkable even with luggage from hotels blue 8 & 15, mebbe 4, 5, 6, 7 & 14.. Most convenient hotels for the city centre, old town, waterfront, pubs, restaurants etc are Blue 4 Premier Inn West Quay , Premier Inns are the UK's biggest & best budget chain, the West Quay one is popular with cruisers Blue 5 Holiday Inn Herbert Walker Ave is particularly popular with those sailing out of City cruise terminal, which is directly behind the hotel. Beware - the city's two Holiday Inn Express's are way out on the city limits, very inconvenient., Blue 6 Leonardo Royal. Don't confuse with the Leonardo, which is a little inconvenient and in the centre of a traffic gyratory. Blue 7, Pig in the Wall is a quirky boutique hotel, set in the old city's wall. Blue 8 Ennios is another boutique, in a former brick warehouse over the owner's Italian restaurant of the same name. Blue 16 Moxy, next door to P.I.West Quay, is a quirky recently-opened Marriott brand, rapidly becoming popular with cruisers. JB 🙂

In England, taxis available on spec. at cruise terminals and at taxi ranks or hailed in the street are licensed as "Hackney Carriages", and drivers are obliged to accept passengers for any destination within the borough. So even if you wanted to go only a couple of hundred yards from Mayflower to Horizon they would take you. But there's a minimum fare, plus time/distance charges so the driver doesn't lose out - they're regulated & metered so the two miles from Mayflower to Ocean will cost you about £8.50 including a £1 docks surcharge. https://www.southampton.gov.uk/media/03dd4axz/2023-table-of-fares.pdf A pre-booked Private Hire taxi eg Uber wouldn't be interested in your little hop, but If you wanted to go to, say, Heathrow airport a metered Hackney Carriage taxi would cost a fortune - you should pre-book a Private Hire taxi at a pre-agreed price. But for Mayflower to Ocean a taxi from the rank makes absolute sense JB 🙂

Or, tongue-in-cheek, where ships berth on Grand Turk is Carnival Overseas Territory & its official currency is Carnival group sea-pass 😏 JB 😏

The "Spice Island" - one of my favourites 🙂 Take your beach gear with you and check out the vans available at the pier - you want one that'll take you up into the Rainforest. Stops for spice stalls & demos and a waterfall, back past Fort George would be a bonus, and ask your driver to drop you at Grand Anse beach & not too far from the ferry pier. Food & drink outlets or order from your (payable) beachfront sunbed & shade. Return to the ship on the frequent little open ferries ("!ferries" sounds a bit grand for them 😀) at about $5 one-way. If you just want a beach day, take those little ferries both ways. Or try the Rum Runner. Join the Rum-Runner boat from close to the ship, for a party atmosphere. BUT BEWARE - Lots of boat excursions include plenty of rum punch - they're a freebie so understandably pretty weak, & we drink them down like beer. Presuming the Rum Runner's cocktails to be the same, we quaffed the first two or three. Bad move - the Rum Runner doesn't mess, they go heavy on the rum, and we were well away. We don't remember much of the trip, apparently other passengers carried us back aboard our ship & dumped us on our bed - we woke up at sea.😂 JB 🙂

Been a long time since but - there's a concentration of cafes & restaurants in Casemates Square - they mainly offer "tourist-fodder, but because it's a dedicated fish-and-chippie Roy's Fish & Chips is hopefully better than the usual bought-in ready-battered ready-frozen fish and frozen fries you'd likely find from outlets in the Square with a broad menu. https://gibraltar.com/en/travel/restaurants-bars/roys-fish-and-chips.php - near the other end of Main Street & opposite the Governor's residence, The Angry Friar was always my choice of a pub It also provides good snacks & meals https://maps.app.goo.gl/icFSA6PJvQbGXEyx5 https://gibraltar.com/en/travel/restaurants-bars/the-angry-friar.php JB 🙂

Yes, chilling on the beach - or more likely your friends will recruit you as their designated photographer 😀 But yes, if it's an excursion with friends go along and enjoy the day. JB 🙂

Hi, and welcome to Cruise Critic, You haven't given us any clues. Whereabouts in the world? Which cruiseline? Given that information we can direct you to the appropriate forums for your cruiseline and port. You can find them from the main menu https://boards.cruisecritic.com/ In the meantime I think it almost-certain that you can skip the zipline on the excursion, I doubt they'll frog-march you and handcuff you to the zip-line 😏. For instance plenty of folk take a snorkelling with turtles catamaran trip without even getting into the water. But just like that snorkelling excursion, the zipline will be a significant part of the experience and you'll be paying full price, so you might find something vaguely similar at a lower cost - even DIY transport to a beach, sunbeds and food & drink from a beach bar. JB 🙂

USD pretty-well everywhere. Many Caribbean countries' currencies are tied to the USD, same as Channel Islands & Gibraltar pounds are tied to the GB pound. The exceptions quoted by others, Martinique & Guadeloupe (plus the French half of Sint Maarten) are actually French departements just like Normandy, Brittany etc. and their currency is the euro. At tourist outlets in those places USD will very probably be accepted, altho not necessarily at a favourable exchange rate. In shops geared to locals, on buses etc USD are often not accepted, but in many cases plastic solves the problem. In any case if you travel to mainland Europe you'll probably have some euros stashed away somewhere. A couple of other things about using USD anywhere in the Caribbean - $2 bills aren't accepted, and the same often applies to soiled notes - If you use USD in outlets geared to locals, their tills are geared to give change in local currency. If for instance in a grocery shop you want to buy just a $2 bottle of pop with a $20 you'll get a very expensive bottle of pop and a stack of souvenir money. So when you get your dollars ask for plenty of 5's & 10's and use your week in the US to get some change in 1's. Don't overdose on cash, plastic is widely used in the US and becoming much more widely used in the Caribbean. And when using plastic decline any offer to charge your card in GBP "for your convenience" . Your card issuer will always give a better exchange rate. This also applies if you are cruising on a US ship - always but always have your card charged inn ship's burrency. JB 🙂

That was back in 2010 !! Long after Pol Pot's "killing fields", but I remembered it from when it was news. And of course before the building boom-and-bust. A few weeks ago, responding to a post on Cruise Critic, I mentioned a grubby but interesting little fishing village in the countryside down the coast from Sihanoukville. The OP asked me where it was - If i'd even known the name of the village I couldn't remember it, and it took me ages to find it on googlemaps . Check it out on this Googlemaps link https://maps.app.goo.gl/aoNVtobZu5P5x7id9 and you'll understand why I struggled to find it, no longer in the countryside but amongst the high-rise buildings. Some photos of it on that thread https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2976738-sihanoukville-kog-rong-kog-saloem/#comment-66706105 Yes, we know exactly what you mean by the peoples' "mellow" attitude. Life is what it is, stay laid-back and happy despite circumstances. Can't offer any comparisons with Siem Reap because we didn't go there - un-obliging ship's captain refused to sail the ship along about 300 miles of dusty roads 🙃 I remember our first visit to Lass Vegas - we drove from lonely Death Valley at dusk, and ended up on a different neon-lit planet 😃 But couldn't help but see the other side of Vegas Vietnam was much livelier than Cambodia, but tourism was in its infancy which meant it was difficult to fix things up but ridiculously cheap. An all-day junk cruise negotiated at the pier & getting lost from civilisation amongst the limestone karsts of Ha Long bay was something else. And the mist (which is normal for the bay) added to the eerie watery moonscape. About a dozen of us at $10 a head. As I understand it, now crowded and waaay more expensive And I'd organised a speedboat from Saigon (small ship, we ported in the city) up the Saigon River to the Cu Chi tunnels. Booking it was fraught because of the language barrier, wasn't too sure how big the boat would be, whether we'd find sharers on the ship (we booked it on the grounds that we reckoned it worth the cost even if it was just the two of us), and whether even the guy would show. But he was good as gold waiting for us at the ship, boat would have taken twice as many as the 8 of us but it meant we all had great seats with the wind i our hair, and it cost us about $10, each, same as a van to Cu Chi. I now see speedboats to Cu Chi professionally offered on the internet. Apologies for the long screed, as you may have realised, the best cruise we ever had - and on the rustiest old tub we've ever sailed (Loveboat's twin-sister), but such a homely ship & crew, & congenial company.. JB 🙂

I used to drive ships' bus transfers. If you book with the cruise line it will be a bus chartered by the cruise line, all the passengers will be your cruise-mates, and it will take you and your luggage direct to your cruise terminal. Exactly the same as coaches chartered by cruise lines for airport transfers Yes, ships' transfer buses leave from Victoria Coach Station in central London - that's the same coach station as the time-tabled cross-country National Express (think Greyhound) buses, and that's possibly the reason for confusion. You have the option of instead booking with National Express for a much lower fare (around £9), it's a direct service from Victoria coach station to Southampton (two or three stops en-route, but no changing buses), driver loads & unloads luggage, same as ship's coaches. But they go to Southampton Coach Station. From there a couple of cruise terminals are only a 15 minute walk, or it's a taxi costing no more than £10 to any cruise terminal. I usually try to persuade folk to save their money by booking Nat Express. Some understandably prefer the security of being the cruise line's responsibility from the moment they board the bus, but also there are luggage constraints. Since you mention lots of luggage, perhaps better for you to stick with a Princess transfer, which has no limitations on luggage - in fact they don't book out every seat because of the risk of too much luggage for the bus's belly-lockers and exceeding the coach's maximum gross weight. I hope that explains the reasons for conflicting reviews.. JB 🙂

About 8 - 10 years ago..... Bonaire - quite small, not much happening there. One time we took an escorted quad-bike tour, quite good fun, Another time snorkelling on Klein Bonaire, a small island opposite the cruise piers, just a short boat ride - best snorkelling we've done in the Caribbean. Willemstad, Curacao. Loved it. The town is very Dutch. We were berthed right in town on the channel which links the lake to the sea, & alongside the floating pedestrian bridge which is pulled open & closed by a tug - when closed to allow a ship to pass there's a free ferry launch. But larger ships berth at the cruise terminal at the end of town, a10-minute walk then cross that bridge to the town centre. Quite expensive compared to other islands. We didn't leave the town. Grand Turk. It's a Carnival-brands port. Not our sort of place - nothing local just a beach & Carnival -owned or leased shops & bars (you can use your sea-pass). Make it a beach day, don't bother with snorkelling gear. Grand Caymen. Tendered. You can fix up a boat-trip to "Stingray City", a sandbar about ? 1/2 mile / One mile? out to sea. Water is only about waist-high on the sandbar and it's teeming with wild stingrays. Harmless, they'll swim between your legs etc. Worth taking snorkelling gear but don't bother with the fins. A great experience, likely to be busy (over-busy?) these days In the past year or two .......... B.V.I. (Road Town, Tortola?). Two main choices - boat excursion to "the Baths of Virgin Gorda", a water-side boulder formation on the island of Virgin Gorda. There's a cheap ferry service, but being an island off Tortola there's no Plan B if the ferry has a problem. Ship's excursion of course costs a lot more, but the security that a boat problem is your ship's worry & not yours, cos it's a long swim to your next port 😏. So your choice will depend how lucky you feel. - Local buses & vans from the cruise pier to Cane Garden Bay. Pleasant ride with good panoramic views, to the best beach on the island. Dominica, Was very backward. now more switched-on. Vans at the pier to go up into the rain-forest or river-tubing. Very worthwhile. Dom. Rep. (Romana) Not very attractive, better in the countryside. We took a ship's excursion to Cueva-de-las-Maravillas (quite a lot of steps) and a area of iguanas, followed by a river trip (lots of rum punch) - pleasant, but not overly-exciting. JB 🙂

In many ways Cambodia is stuck in the 18th Century, and the poverty isn't because the economy has taken a dive - it's always been a very poor & backward country. Remember this was the country of Pol Pot & the Khmer Rouge, so the country went backwards when the neighbouring tiger economies were zooming forward. When we visited Sihanoukville, in a pretty second-rate way it was Cambodia's playground, In the past decade or two Chinese investment accelerated that - but yes, it back-fired. We were there before the building work, and enjoyed our day in and around Sihanoukville. Others felt that it was an awful port-of-call, but it's part of the world that we live in, it's an education how other people live, and we're glad that we went there. We don't plan to go back anyway, but making it a Cambodian Macao would put us off whether the high-rises were shells or thriving BTW Quite a few cruise ships stop there, perhaps more because it's conveniently located between Thailand & Vietnam. Yes, your overnight stop was probably because Phnom Penh (3 hours e/w) is hardly worth the travel in one day, plus two days also means that for those with deep pockets flight excursions can be arranged to Angkor Wat JB 🙂

The gardens, museums and bullring are within easy and level walking distance of the cruise berths. But the Alcazaba, immediately behind and above the gardens & museums, is then a bit of a climb - 'though part-way can be by elevator if it still works. The castillo is significantly higher altho the two are linked - a very steep 1/4 mile walk or a tortuous two miles by road.. https://maps.app.goo.gl/vhVxeFVEb5zwz94d8 A picture says a thousand words 😏 ........... Here's the view from the Alcazaba https://maps.app.goo.gl/hjppvUoe35y4yyga6 And from the Castillo https://maps.app.goo.gl/41ifmeKKn7chc2489 The Castillo is great for panoramic views, but there's little there other than the rampart walls. JB 🙂

Yes, get dropped-off in town, one of the best on cruise itineraries for shopping. Or at the Old Fortress, about a 10 - 15 minute walk from the town centre. Get the driver to show you the bus stop for buses back to the port, a bus every few minutes and about a 10-minute ride JB 🙂

Hi, Ziggy, I'll strike a deal with you. I promise to visit the Royal Oak sometime this summer, if you promise to do likewise with our favourite Forest pub, the Alice Lisle in Rockford 🙂 JB 🙂

Kotor is a lovely little historic & compact town, very easy to meander on foot - lovely people as well. It's under 2 hours from Dubrovnik by road, though I was going to say much the same as @edinburgher about the wonderful sail-in to Kotor. But when I checked the distance by road (57 miles) I found that the road follows the coast of that sail-in, literally waterside for most of it https://maps.app.goo.gl/Xc6V7HKWGLLVUq8Y6 Then I saw that you'd found an option by boat. Because by boat is more of a straight line route it looks to be about 35 miles, so probably takes little if any longer than by road. So either or both sound good. JB 🙂

@ziggyuk Since the pick-u is Lymington & the drop-off in Beaulieu I feel sure the taxi driver will know the Forest. And how to avoid the log-jam of Lyndhurst. Ask the driver to include Rhinefield Ornamental Drive (which also means automatically avoiding Lyndhurst) and Bolderwood Arboretum then Beaulieu (about 25 miles). And - if time & pocket allow - from there to Linwood, Ringwood and back via Burley & Brockenhurst to Beaulieu, showing you the different aspects of the Forest (about 40 miles total). What say you, Ziggy? JB 🙂

We've sailed MSC a couple of times, and another coming up. Being poverty-stricken pensioners 😏 we've never sailed Yacht Club but still enjoyed the cruises. Youngest and most-stylish fleet in the business, a real wow. And with lots of toys - depending which ships things like F1 simulator & bowling alley (both pay-extra), incredibly-technical theatre stage, massive & feature-filled kids' adventure & water playgrounds, etc. Keen prices, esp for kids. A few negatives..... A smart-phone based booking system for everything including dining. But other ships are going the same way,.no fun for techo-dinosaurs like JB Multi-lingual PA announcements & theatre compere, which get to be extremely boring - especially when that compere loves to show off his linguistic skills with long monologues. Lots of passengers whose first language isn't English, so some very stilted conversations. But no significant language difficulties with the crew, the only recurring problem is explaining "shandy". Those linguistic matters apply to European cruises, others can tell you if its the same on the other side of The Pond. MDR food involves a lot of pasta, service is laid-back, and you may have to ask for a jug of water on the table or a post-dinner coffee, and that's a clue about why MSC get poor English-language reviews. Americans & Brits are surprised to find that Italian ships do things the Italian way 🙄. Expect the American or British way & you'll be disappointed, go with the flow & you'll have a great cruise. JB 🙂

What water you can take on board & what it costs if bottled water is bought on-board is cruiseline-specific. as per @capriccio's post. It's pretty reasonable to believe that ship's water is safe to drink - I've never seen anyone washing or shaving or brushing their teeth at a drinks-dispenser, only people drinking the stuff 😏 It's (almost-always) de-salinated seawater, but a great deal different from the awful stuff I remember from 60-odd years ago. And it's the same water as in the cabins, the kitchens, the bars etc, and used for ship's ice. Other than not being as cold as ground-water (needs a few ice-cubes) I can't tell the difference from tap water at home, though some folk can. The only times I've bought bottled water is in a very few god-forsaken third-world countries, or the first drink of a day ashore because I've forgotten to take a refillable bottle. JB 🙂

South Africa doesn't have a strong tipping culture, but safari guides kinda expect something and you may get the odd hint any time from initial paperwork to goodbyes. But don't be swayed by any suggested amounts. 🙄 Tipping at US levels isn't regarded as generous - it's regarded as a mug's game. I guess the equivalent of 10 USD per person per day for about a week's safari, mebbe 15 USD pp for a single full day. But I suggest you follow our general routine - for a very satisfactory experience a total of 50 - 75 USD per day divided by the number of guests, which is usually 4 to 8 per safari jeep. More for going the extra mile, less or more-likely zilch for an unsatisfactory experience (which I doubt will happen). South Africa has a very poor exchange rate - so the value (other than the very best safari lodges) is excellent and tips are worth rather more than you'd think. Tip at the end of the safari. For a small organisation, a good review is more important than good tips. I guess organised entertainment will depend on the size of the establishment and the price level - we've only once come across organised evening entertainment, fire-eating round the pool at one quite large mid-priced lodge on a roving safari. But it's not really necessary, dinner or after-dinner in relaxed surroundings round a braal & chatting to guides & guests is fine for us - and early-to-bed because the best drives start around 5.30 - 6am For a one-lodge safari there's usually a game drive before breakfast, another in the afternoon, and sometimes a night drive. Jeeps are open-sided with tiered seats like an early charabanc. The more-expensive ones have a tracker seated on the nearside front wing. They remain in one reserve, which is open only to guests in the reserve's lodges. All are high-quality lodges, but the most expensive eg Sabi Sands have the best animal sightings. Roving safaris are usually better value & with more flexible pricing. They start a little later in the day, and some days are a mix of game drives and travelling. Jeeps are closed because of the distances and the need to carry luggage, but they have a full-length pop-up roof. They travel between reserves. Drivers on both fixed & roving safaris keep in touch with each-other by radio and share information about sightings. On fixed safaris that means only two or three jeeps, on roving safaris that can mean only a few or it can mean too many. Bear in mind that there's a huge selection of safaris & locations, so our experiences - whether on fixed safaris or roving safaris or self-drive Nat Parks may not be relevant to what or where you're booked. JB 🙂

Haugesund. The cruise port.is on an island just a river's width from the main town, accessed by a bridge. The town centre (street named Strandgata) is about a 15-minute walk. Busy street of shops, bars etc. and a few yards up from a parallel waterfront which makes an interesting block. We took a ho-ho from the cruise port - the rest of the town is uninteresting, so the ho-ho was a waste of time and effectively an expensive way of avoiding that 15 minute walk. The town centre for a lazy day, or research what's to see or do beyond the town. Olden (or like us you may be tendered from a mooring off Loen, 4 miles from Olden) The obvious excursion is to Briksdal glacier (Briksdalspreen). Tours, buses etc to where the road runs out at Briksdalsbre, about 14 miles from Olden. There appeared to be just one suitably-timed public bus for the return to Olden - a long walk if the bus is full !!! We also struggled to research how difficult the hike from the road to the glacier viewpoint or even quite where that viewpoint was, so we gave up on the idea. When we arrived at Loen we took an on-spec chance on an inexpensive tour which involved a short bus ride (also operates from Olden) to the landing stage at the bottom of Lovatnet Lake (Googlemaps name, just to confuse tourists also called Loen Lake and Lodalen Lake) where we met the folk who'd started in Olden and had a lovely boat ride the full length of the lake, followed by a short van ride from the lake to the viewpoint for Kjenndalsbreen glacier. Then included waffles & coffee (& rest-room) at a little restaurant before the boat back. Runs back-and-forth all-day approx hourly with the different parts knitting together, we did it on-spec but best to pre-book. We recommend it. https://www.oldencruise.com/loen-lake-and-kjenndal-glacier/ At Loen is the Loen Skylift, a very long & steep cablecar ride with panoramic views Alesund. We re-booked a day-long bus tour (available on-spec. at the pier if seats available, but our bus was full) up to the Trollsteigen. Scenic ride with interesting stops, highlight was the narrow switchback Trollsteigen pass & waterfall. Well-organised, leaves from the pier, excellent drive, excellent guide. Can be booked with or without a meal, we chose to do our own thing - delish filled baguettes and local strawberries - yes strawberries this far north, and the best we've ever eaten. The are has a reputation for its strawberries. Bus seats aren't allocated, sit on the right side (same as the door) for the best views. We recommend it. https://www.norwayexcursions.com/en/tour/alesund-from-fjords-to-trolls/ JB 🙂