John Bull

Princess normally suggest that you don't use their transfer coaches if your flight is before 1pm., so no worries with a 2.15pm flight. For two people, a private transfer is cheaper than most cruise-line transfers - but Princess' transfer fares have always been lower than most, and if the fare is still around $60 pp it'll be best value JB 🙂

Yep, a direct flight from Edinburgh to Southampton would be simplest & quickest, and possibly the same sort of cost as by train. Both Edinburgh and Southampton are small single-terminal regional airports - all very laid-back and easy, not like the zoos of major international airports Three flights most days. Base fare about £80 pp. but ................... - like most regional airlines the fares are fluid, typically much more expensive for late bookings - included baggage is only 15kg (33lb) and there may be other add-ons, so you'll probably need to do a dummy booking to get a true total cost. Add about £20 for a taxi from Southampton airport to city centre or cruise terminals. Sorry, can't help with suggestions for luggage forwarders - but even allowing for the cost of extra luggage on Loganair, with just one checked bag and one carry-on each, I can't imagine that luggage-forwarders would be either economical or worthy of the complication. https://www.loganair.co.uk/en-gb/flights-from-edinburgh-to-southampton?redirecturl=true&gclid=Cj0KCQjwwfiaBhC7ARIsAGvcPe4CU6Dy4fdT4vbFZMpT6_d0KgSSjOpiZVQQ_dKBoj40thxPH-CEzSoaAi1REALw_wcB JB 🙂

Latest advice on the UK's equivalent govt. website is only to take care - their advice not to travel applies only to Sinai and the western desert - see the map at https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/egypt Check to confirm that the ship offers excursions from Port Sokhna to Cairo, and assuming that it does (I can think of no other destination worthy of excursions from Sokhna) I reckon your driver can simply join the convoy for the extra protection - but transfer operators will know whether this has to be confirmed in advance. And their advice may be that it's safer not to go with the convoy. Even at times of heightened tensions - in Egypt & most of the rest of the world - the prospects of coming to harm are very very low. So I suggest you put away your worry-beads, but heed safety advice - including the advice of your transfer operator. Bonne chance JB 🙂

As per cruisemom's post, the train isn't part of the regularly-scheduled national rail network - I've heard many comments that it's unreliable. I've not seen tour operators touting there, but the Katakolon Express (a bus, not a train) usually runs when there's a cruise ship in port. Can be pre-booked or join it on-spec if it's running and has spaces. I've heard complaints that it doesn't leave when scheduled, that it waits in the hope of selling-out - which kinda ties in with carlmm's post - transportation, not an escorted tour of the site. But Olympia is only about 40 minutes away and it gives I think 2 hours at Olympia. Or simpler to rent a car - it's only about 20 miles, there are a couple of car rental agencies near the port gate. in Katakolon. We rented from the one on the linked street-view, https://www.rentacarkatakolo.gr/en/ We pre-booked without payment or card details or commitment - they held a car for us until the time we booked. Return with fuel at the same level as at the start, there's a gas station on the road into Katakolon. Clean late car, very simple navigation, no worries. If you spin the streetview camera left you see the ships, if you swing it right you see the Katakolon Express bus https://goo.gl/maps/k734nHgjmSetLFCg8 JB 🙂

I concur with Bruce about Overlord Tours , but that's a bit problematic if you're on a river cruise. Overlord offer seat-in-van for a selection of tours from Bayeux, and for those on ocean cruise ships porting at Le Havre - but river cruisers normally stop at Honfleur, on the opposite side of the Seine estuary so you're relying on either the cruise boat offering a D-Day tour or you booking a van (8 seats, I think) from Overlord or their competitors and finding sharers. Le Havre and Cherbourg are the most-convenient ports, Cherbourg is significantly closer to the American sights but some stop for only half a day, ships calling at Le Havre tend to depart later in the evening. If you have the time, consider Bruce's suggestion of two or three nights in Normandy (between Arromanches les Bains and Vierville-sur-Mer would be the most convenient if you rent a car, or Bayeux if you booked tour's with Overlord. https://www.overlordtour.com/ JB 🙂

https://www.aquacars.co.uk/ are one of the three taxi transfer operators at the Southampton end who are most-frequently used by Cruise Critic members, along with https://westquaycars.com/ and Smith for Airports (closed down during the pandemic travel restrictions). Blackberry were also popular but this is the second time recently that I've seen a heavy quote from them on Cruise Critic JB 🙂

My info is from a few years ago, so treat it with caution. Sokhna is a secure port, there are no tours or even taxis "on-spec" so whatever you want to do you need to book in advance - otherwise you'll be spending the day on your ship watching the crane-operators playing Lego with containers on the other side of the harbour. (we actually did that because after leaving port, the ship had to turn back due to a dynamo issue and we spent the next day in port waiting for a part to be flown out - truck driver got a big cheer when he arrived, and half-an-hour later we were on our way again) Some folk do book private tours, but it's a 2-hour drive - mostly across desert - so be very very careful about the reputations of tour operators. Ships' tour buses travel in a convoy (sometimes accompanied by armed guards), then split into their different itineraries when they reach Cairo. Options are likely to include the pyramids at Gisa & the nearby sphynx, plus another venue - the extensive Museum of Egyptian Antiquities (Cairo Museum) which includes the golden mask of Tutankhamun is probably the best. Street vendors are not aggressive, but can be a pain. Net result is that folk avoid showing any interest in their wares, a negative all-round. We bought from one stall that didn't hassle, but left folk to browse uninterrupted. Cairo is busy and crowded, but of course it has to be done. At the end of the day, tours all end at the "Papyrus Institute", which is a fancy name for the souvenir shop but it's quite interesting and has clean bathrooms etc. It's also where coaches organise themselves into convoys for the return to Port Sokhna. If you also port at Safaga (for Luxor) that's even further - about 3.5 hours e/w, again across desert - but we found it a much more interesting, varied and pleasant day and very very worthwhile. Definitely one for a ship's tour. Probably a short drive to the Red Sea resort town of Hurghada or a dune-buggy drive will be offered as an alternative - they're strictly for those who've already "been there, done that, got the t-shirt", Safaga is very much for Luxor. BTW because it's not a Brit or US ship, depending on the number of English-speakers, at any destination you may end up on a ship's tour which combines two languages. C'est la vie, not usually a problem JB 🙂

Funchal. Take a taxi / bus / tuk-tuk / retro bus or whatever else is available or walk the 2km to the cablecar station and take the cablecar to Monte. Turn left out of the Monte cablecar station onto the cobbled road and in five minutes you'll come to the start of the Monte Toboggan Run At the bottom of the run, share with others to negotiate a taxi back to town - the cathedral and shops & bars on R. do Aljube would be a good place to aim for, and walk back to the ship from there. NB - I recently saw a post which mentioned a bus back to town from near the end of the toboggan run, sorry can't find it now. https://www.europeanbestdestinations.com/travel-guide/madeira/cable-car-to-monte/ Lanzarote. Rent a car, the roads are easy & mainly un-crowded. https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2870283-lanzarote-canary-islands/#comment-63676936 JB 🙂

I'd be very wary of any immediately offered answer from the head office of Carnival, or indeed the head office of any cruise line, on matters such as passport validity, visas, embarking at a later port or disembarking at an earlier one, because its unreasonable to expect a head office employee to know the ins & outs in every country their ships visit. Beware of the "The answer's no, now what's the question?" syndrome. You really need a definitive answer from them - in writing, so best if you ask by e-mail, not phone. Zeebrugge is an international port, so both immigration and customs officers are there if needed. Since you are coming from another Schengen country you shouldn't need them, and your departure from Schengen will be noted at your final departure point - even if that's, say, Paris or Barcelona. But I'm only a barrack-room expert. When arrangements for jumping-ship have been agreed by other cruise lines in other European ports, it's normally involved a requirement that you & your luggage leave the ship in the morning & don't return. Some cruise lines charge a small fee. If you still get no definitive reply, I can only suggest that on the evening before Zeebrugge you approach the captain in the MDR, plant a big kiss on his lips, grab him by his wedding vegetables and say "My, what a big boy you are". That should guarantee that you can disembark next morning, and the crew will even help by tossing your belongings onto the pier.😏 JB 🙂

Yes, that's far too presumptuous.😟 I certainly wouldn't expect cruise ships to add mandatory gratuities for service before serving drinks. Ahhhh, ohhhh, errrrr, ummmm, oooops Where's the delete button? 😀 JB 🙂

The same is shown on the Deck plans by all stair / elevator lobbies on all Decks, right up to Deck 12, and denotes a watertight bulkhead across the ship with doors which close off the corridors If seawater is pouring into upper decks eg Deck 12, then the ship is already on its way to the bottom - but a further (perhaps more important) value of the close-able bulkheads is to prevent / delay the spread of fire. They are normally left open apart from for the occasional check. JB 🙂

There's an archaeological museum on the hill which separates the port from the marina. Marina is very pleasant but un-exceptional https://www.piraeus.org/museum.html But I'd be inclined to look further afield. An hour to the Corinth Canal perrhaps? JB 🙂

All of the major players have depots at Heathrow. Which agency is best value will depend on circumstances such as whether you'll be returning it to the same depot, whether you want to fix up your own excess cover (cars rented n the UK are inclusive of full third part insurance but damage to the vehicle is usually subject to a high excess - anywhere between £1,000 and £2,000), whether you have any loyalty points etc Whilst most of your driving will be on motorways, best to choose a car that's no bigger than is able to carry yourselves and your luggage (luggage out of sight if touring). Gas is very expensive, currently about £1.60 per litre. Rougham Airfield is on the outskirts of Bury St Edmunds, and about 110 miles from Heathrow - 2 to 2.5 hours plus any delays. The M25 London orbital is busy, but far better than the complications of cutting the corner thro north-west London. I think the only surviving traces of the USAF Rougham are the control tower, (now a museum) and some huts. https://rctam94th.co.uk/ Note that it's volunteer-run, and the website says open sundays - best check before travelling. There's a flight training school and glider club at the airfield In the same area north of London are The university city of Cambridge https://www.visitcambridge.org/ The Imperial War Museum's aircraft section https://www.iwm.org.uk/visits/iwm-duxford The Shuttleworth Collection (mainly early aircraft) https://www.shuttleworth.org/ Bletchley Park home of the WW2 Enigma code-breakers https://bletchleypark.org.uk/plan-a-visit/ https://goo.gl/maps/GNA1dhfXG6jThTh4A JB 🙂

Very simple & reasonably inexpensive, Mary. Hourly direct service, journey time about 90 minutes. One-way fare about £32 pp "Advance" tickets are only good for the train time that you select - miss that train & your ticket is trash, you have to buy again. Usually Advance tickets get you a big discount, often less than half-price. But on this route the saving is only about £1, so keep your train times options open by buying "off-peak" tickets. (Return tickets are the same price, such are the vagaries of train tickets 🙄) Your departure station is Southampton Central (no more than a £10 taxi fare from any cruise terminal) and your destination is Bath Spa (station is in the centre of Bath). https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/ JB 🙂

I recall a "golf course" on an RCI ship out of Southampton. Explorer, I think. It was up high on an exposed deck.😲 Impossible to play in a choppy English Channel and Bay of Biscay 😄 Give me a man-sized chess-set instead. But haven't seen one of them in years either JB 🙂

That's gonna depend on the age of the ship. In the hull of older (much older) ships, passenger cabins extend right up to the pointy bit. We've sailed a couple of them - with our cabins in the pointy bit, and in bad-tempered seas. Yes, the vertical movement is quite extreme, and for cabins somewhere near the water line the waves crash loudly against the cabin "wall". Quite exciting for a night or two, but if experienced frequently it gets to be more than a bit tedious - especially since the porthole covers are lowered by the crew. That's one of the disadvantages of being a cheapskate and booking budget cabins 😏 That's old ships (both of those we experienced have since gone to the scrapyard in the sky). But there's now a trend to build ships with the superstructure further forward than builds of the more-recent past, so more chance of an uncomfortable ride - even in cabins no further forward than the bridge. JB 🙂

At both ends of the bridge on the downstream side the lower level is accessed by about 15 steps or a ramp. Which to take will depend whether the bigger problem is distance or steps. The central part of the bridge has no lower level, because it's for boats going under the bridge. There are steps between road & lower level at the outer end of both lower-level sections, but I don't know if there are elevators. The eastern (Cruise berths) end https://goo.gl/maps/s4bZBRr9XsT9y5ps5 (You can see the wheelchair sign on the right) The western (Eminonu / Sultanahmet) end https://goo.gl/maps/nWJHzreWdNgPosDx8 (swing the camera top the right to see the ramp) The outer end of the lower level (eastern side) https://goo.gl/maps/mwmGu7VHtaRmKwB59 JB 🙂

Cheapest by a long chalk is a scheduled direct National Express coach, ten seats cost £77.00 A private transfer for 4 in a sedan is from about £160, so a door-to-door minibus "("van" in American-speak) for ten would be £250+. Journey time about 2hrs 15 mins By direct train from London Waterloo station to Southampton central station from about £15 pp, so £150 (advance-booked from about 10 weeks out). Journey time about 90 minutes https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/ Try dummy booking for dates in late November to see those cheap rates (and the terms &conditions) By direct coach (bus) from London Victoria coach station to Southampton coach station from £7.70 pp so £77. Plus a small booking fee. Journey time about 2 hrs 20 mins. https://www.nationalexpress.com/en For ten on the same coach I suggest you book at least a couple of months out. From Southampton central station or coach station to MSC's usual berth, City Cruise Terminal is a 15 minute walk on level ground and with pedestrian traffic-light crossing on main road. Or (especially in inclement weather) take a taxi - probably 3 or 4 cars (or several trips in the same one) at about £6 a time. JB 🙂

Yes, I too saw the absence of direct trains mid-December, but presumed that the OP was looking at sometime next spring or summer. Plenty of options, best by far are a single change at Three Bridges or Littlehampton. As well as being massively cheaper than via a change at Clapham, those changes are easier. A change at Three Bridges means using the elevators to get from one platform to the next. A change at Littlehampton is from train to bus (coach), using the same thru tickets. JB 🙂

An 8.30am bus would need an early flight arrival - I guess 7am or earlier ? Since you've still also got your original tickets for the ? 11 am ? bus, take them with you too, just in case. 😉 JB 🙂

If the change imposed by Nat Express is significant, they should come to some accommodation. Best bet from Canada is either e-mail (I guess you select "travel & ticketing") or use the on-line chat facility which will probably pop up.(Figure at a suitable hour for both you & the UK) https://www.nationalexpress.com/en/help/contact Good luck JB 🙂

There's a direct hourly train service from Southampton Central to Brighton main station, journey time 2hrs 20 mins. Google reckons the journey time by car at 1 hr 25 mins, but if this is a summer saturday you can add half an hour or more - the last 20 miles will be slow. As per Bob's post, train fare £18.10 pp - add no more than £10 for a taxi ship-to-station, and £? at the Brighton end. I reckon Bob's £150 for a pre-booked car from cruise terminal to destination is about right, and Aquacars are frequently used & recommended by Cruise Critic members. So it's cost vs convenience JB 🙂

Of the three mentioned ........ Ennio's & The White Star Tavern have quite similar roast menus, at similar prices around £18. I don't think Ennio's roast will disappoint, and it has the advantage that you'll be staying there anyway. https://www.ennios.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Ennios-Sunday-Menu.pdf The White Star Tavern is an up-market pub, part of the Fuller's brewery. The sunday menu is basically a standard Fuller's roast but that's not a bad thing - they're probably the best pub chain for sunday roasts, and - despite my favourite sunday venue - I always associate sunday roasts with British pubs rather than Italian restaurants.. It has the advantage that it's different to where you're staying https://www.whitestartavern.co.uk/food/sunday-menu At £12.95 the cost of a roast sunday lunch at the Duke of Wellington is more the average price of pub roasts. Consequently you wouldn't expect it to be as good as Ennio's or the White Star, but value-for-,money will be the same and it's a remarkable historic pub. https://www.dukesouthampton.co.uk/menu Depends whether you want to push the boat out. The Duke is a 4-minute walk, the White Star is 8 minutes. Sunday lunches are popular in England, best to book ahead - about 10 days ahead is usually fine. From outside the UK by e-mail is best, I don't think any of them require a deposit or credit card details - they trust you to let them know if you need to cancel, even if its as little as an hour's notice JB 🙂 IMPORTANT EDIT. Just noticed the date - 5th November is Guy Fawkes Night. The guy tried to blow up Parliament centuries ago. So effigies of the feller are burned on bonfires, with fireworks & such. There'll be public displays, though they tend to be held in different places over four or five nights, Southampton on the 5th. https://www.visit-hampshire.co.uk/whats-on/mayflower-park-southampton-fireworks-p1505001 and https://www.southamptonfireworks.uk/

Rather than requiring payment up-front the passenger should be invoiced for the crew's assistance, payable within 28 days of the sinking. That would give the crew more incentive to ensure the passenger's survival. "No rescue, no fee"" Suggested by a friend 😉 JB 😄

"Open" safari trucks belong to the local National Park or adjacent private parks. They're surprisingly safe (as long as you stay in the vehicle) because the animals see the vehicle and its occupants as a single large noisy animal. The closed-in ones (usually with elevating roof) are privately-owned or belong to operators touring for several days from park to park, spending a lot of time on the roads (which aren't as safe 😉), and carrying their clients' luggage. JB 🙂 (unsubtle plug for Lion King Adventure Tours, Tanzania, who gave us a great safari in the Serengeti and nearby parks.👍)