BuckeyeMark

Can't say enough good about this company: City Sightseeing Belfast | Irish Tour Tickets City Sightseeing Belfast: 028 90 321321 Irish Tour Tickets: 02890 310101 ian.mckitterick@citysightseeingbelfast.com ian.mckitterick@irishtourtickets.com They took our group on a fabulous tour, and when the weather looked bad for the afternoon flipped things around so we got to Giant's Causeway before it rained.

I started this thread so maybe I can add to it now that I've been over to the UK. I was more than a little surprised at the places/people where there was no tip jar, and no one put their hand out expecting one. The folks here who said "nope, it's not much of a thing" were (not surprisingly) spot on. Tipping is nothing like what it is in the US. Nothing! That said we tipped all our excursion guides and they seemed to appreciate it.

Did Twelve Transfers from Southampton to London earlier this month (July 2022). Very good. Excellent service, very professional, nice car.

On the Emerald end of June to first week of July. Interior of the ship is good. She has a dated feel and there are always places she could use a little updating but all in all, good. The outside? Wow. Needs a sanding and paint big time. And the Internet? Maybe they will install it BECAUSE I COULDN'T TELL SHE HAD WIFI AT ALL.

Was on the Emerald June 26-July 9. Yes, World Marketplace has self-service.

That is very helpful ... and I love that marker. So ... how cool is it to be there and see it? Is it just a "I was there" thing or is the scenery, the light, the fjords all absolutely can't miss this, best thing in the world stuff? Am I going just to take a pic of the marker, do the Arctic Circle ceremony, etc. or is the reward for going that far north some unbelievable scenery and sights? I can't go everywhere. Must I go to the Midnight Sun or would doing some deep fjords further south in Norway be about the same?

That looks amazing but Viking is a bit beyond my price range ... I'm over here with Princess and Royal Caribbean. Might have to dig down in the couch cushions and see if I can come up w/enough spare change to make that Viking trip. 😉 That is one special itinerary!

I can already tell that I'm going to have to make some tough choices ... there are some really nice cruises that get these deep fjords and also get over to Iceland (wow - that'd be a great trip). But you can't do Iceland AND the midnight sun in a 12-14 day cruise. So I need to prioritize... just how great is the midnight sun? Is that worth building an entire itinerary around? It is that spectacular or is it just the novelty of being where the sun never sets, going that far north, the ceremony when you cross the Artic circle, etc? I know what to do in Alaska. Glacier Bay is so incredible you build everything around getting there. Is the midnight sun that kind of thing for Norway?

This is extremely helpful. Hallasm I have read and made notes from your posts in the sticky - just great information. Here's another question - there's a lot of talk of getting up early to see the fjords and I'm kinda worried this cruise is just going to be exhausting. Up at midnight to see the sun, up at 4:30 AM to see a waterfall in the fjords ... does anybody get to sleep on these cruises?!

Dumb question but what is the "midnight sun"? Is that just sailing when the sun doesn't hardly ever go down?

Beginning to do the research for a trip that prolly won't happen till 2024 but am taking a long look at Norway and the fjords. Never been there. Have read in this forum some and looked at some itineraries... but am looking to know what are the CAN'T MISS stops for Norway. What are the fjords that you have to see? The stops or ports or fjords that you build an entire itinerary around - "Okay, that's a great cruise line, that's a good price ... oh, it doesn't go ___________ so it's out. I'm finding me a different cruise because I have to go to __________."

Lots of taxis queued up when you get off the ship. Not sure about toddlers in a Black Cab but I'm sure you can google that. They look like smallish Rolls Royces, and have jump seats that fold down.

Deck 9. Cabin 727. We figured it was someone smoking on a balcony close to us. Never did make the circuit on the promenade deck to see what was going on there. Sorry.

Just got off the Emerald (July 9) and we had a cabin on the starboard side way back towards the back ... and a couple of times we got whiffs of cigarette smoke. Once it was pretty strong.

VERY HELPFUL! Part of our group arrived this morning (Friday) and Princess reps were there to meet them. No bus. Princess walked them to the taxis and said P would reimburse. Off they went. My guess is there weren't enough this morning to justify a bus. The main body of us will arrive in the morning (Saturday) and I'm guessing we'll get the bus. Just another example of P being overworked and understaffed, I'd guess. We now have a firmer grip on what to do if there is no reps and no bus. Very grateful! Thanks!

Abbot Binax - I think that is an online antigen. Second time we've done it. Lots to commend that. For one thing you can get that test in a cheap "not monitored version" which means you can PRACTICE the exact test you'll take online. Very helpful. And it's very easy to do. They walk you through it step by step.

Thank you!

See we are a big group we were able to arrange with Princess to take us to the O2 and then from there on to Southampton on Sunday. Paid a pretty penny for all this ... would like their buses to show up for us!

Going to the O2 Intercontinental Hotel which I believe is in Greenwich area. And after looking at how far it is from Paddington Station I realized why the people who did the Heathrow Express to Paddington and a taxi from there spent so much money. Sorry 'bout that - London is LARGE!

Some of our group landed early, had paid for Princess transfers and ... Princess dropped the ball. No transfer. Nobody at the airport for them. Our folks ended up taking a taxi in which cost an arm and a leg. Saturday morning I'll be standing with more than 50 folks (some senior citizens) and all their luggage and if Princess isn't there with a bus I need Plan B. Also hearing that there is a train strike? So is Heathrow Express out of the question? What's the best and cheapest way to move 50+ people and their luggage to London, considering that I can't reserve another bus with another company because I may not even need that bus if Princess does what they say they will! SIGH...

The test has to be done three days before sail away. Who's done their test at 12:01 AM so that it was technically within the three day window and did anyone give you grief about it? Did you ask the internet monitor/proctor what date stamp you would get? I'm guessing that if you need the date to be June 23 and it's 12:01 AM on June 23rd that it would count and qualify. Yes? I'd like to test as soon as I can - so I know I'm good to go!

On this cruise and itinerary soon so am interested in the up-to-the-minute updates on the good ship Emerald. Thank you!

Thanks for the help everyone. They'll do the dial in thing... as for the phone, you can set it up, you can do this, you can do that ... nope, nope, and NO. They have no interest in that. They aren't going to use their phones as an alarm clock and they won't be using their phone as an alarm clock. Not my choice, not my decision but that's where it is. So they'll be using the wake up call service. Again, thanks.

Ah but that's the thing: they want to turn their phones off and put them in the safe so as to avoid unexpected cell phone charges. Maybe a little paranoid about it and they could prolly be taught about airplane mode but they are not inclined to that ... so ... how about Princess waking them up?

Someone in our group that will be traveling on Princess soon wants to know if they need to bring an alarm clock or can they do a wake-up call with the phone? I've never done that so I'm not even sure what they're talking about. Is this something you can call and "program" in yourself or do you have to talk to another human being, maybe in customer service, and they program something for you? What say ye? Can Princess be your alarm clock?