GrJ Berkshire

Well worth going up to the point at Skagen. The town itself has charm, interest and superb sea food, plus artists, a small museum. To get to the point of the skaggerat/ kattergat, you can walk up the dunes/beach or use a buggy bus adapted for the sands. This area will give you a view of the real Denmark, away from the areas most visit. Wrap up as well as even in summer this can be a bit windswept.

After events today, surely nobody will be going to Istanbul in the near future. This is cruise critic , nearly all have pulled out of Turkey and Istanbul is now off the itinerary, worth avoiding at present.

Highclere castle aka Downton, is not open widely to the public. In 2017 it is open for 2 weeks at Easter and then Sundays only till June. Your sites are a long way apart and I would think impossible to do justice to on one day with travel, traffic etc. Windsor alone with travel needs much of the day, Stonehenge although an iconic site is a good view from the road. Highclere near Newbury is a good way from the others. Needs to be re thought out in my view.

Windsor for a short lay over is a good bet, lots to do and see and only 30 mins away from Heathrow. You can do the castle, the town, shopping, or pop over the river Thames to see Eton.

Sorry, meant to post no public transport till 26th, as a limited service on Boxing day.

Christmas meal for $500 will be a good deal, very few places will be open, and those that are , will be pre booked only, no walk up and probably about 3x normal prices, ethnic restaurants will open but not a turkey Christmas meal on offer.

London on Christmas day will be a ghost town, especially as it's Sunday this year. No transport provided till the 27th, few shops, only small ethnic stores open, cabs rare and expensive and equally few mini cabs either. To get any service you will have to pay way over the odds. The problem is staff don't want to work, and/or can't get in .

More likely to find service at Heathrow, hotels here might provide food, but again pre-book. Only tourist location would be to go to a Christmas day service at famous church/ abbey/ cathedral!

I wish you well.

The co-cathedral, gardens at the top of the lift, the Malta experience and a 2 harbours boat tour are all possible in a day without a guide. Be wary of travel to other parts of Malta like Medina, traffic can make a return journey much longer than you think, in and out of Valletta is hard to time accurately. Valletta itself is good to wander and explore but again leave time as down to both harbours are steep with lots of steps.

Madeira and the Azores are special territories of the EU not an integral part of the EU, so these refunds may not be available here. It's the same in UK re the status of the Channel isles, Jersey and Guernsey. You may need do this at an earlier port.

Diet mountain dew is not found in the UK, except in specialist shops, not stocked by Tesco.

Don't worry about a tie, few wear them and on a 22day B2B in the med this year on Navigator they were almost extinct. A jacket for dinner in prime or a reception is useful, also depending on where sitting may be good with the AC, especially as in warm climes a formal, short sleeved shirt may not be enough. My wife always puts a pashtima in as some dresses/ tops are chilly without in CR. Don't tend to wear in sette Mari, unless outside, either pashtima or jacket.

I always have a jacket anyway as for flying its my bag for tkts, passports etc, wallet, especially if in business class on plane. Anyway if not in business it's the only way to get an upgrade at the airport.

Just don't worry about the Little Mermaid, it's one of the most overrated world tourist sights, few leave you more underwhelmed.

There is so much more to Copenhagen, buy a postcard it will show it in better light than you can photograph with the industrial backdrop.

Unless you have driven in France before and are experienced drivers of manual cars I would not entertain driving in Paris. Most drivers in this would find it very stressful, and you will need a companion as the navigator as driving will not allow you to read signs.

For a holiday I would think again you could be a nervous wreck!!

Seems like a north/ south split with the south of England saying sept and the north-Scotland preferring may. No guarantees however for cast for tomorrow is interesting warm in the south , wet and wild in Scotland.

Not sure how you will get here. As most cruises are not going to Istanbul and going through the Bosporus into the Black sea. So Odessa is off most itinerary.

Which company/ line are you looking at?

If you get to Ukraine then Euros are not widely accepted if at all.

As a Brit, I would always say September, most years it is one of the best times to visit UK. I know the days are even shorter than May but its usually warmer, often settled and not really autumnal, this year there is no leaf colour changes now and often autumnal colours are a month on from now. Places are still open and the tourists thin on the ground except at weekends.

May is midge time in the north and Scotland which can restrict some outdoor activities.

This year Sept will break records with 33°[94°F] in much of the south for 2 days and better weather than May/June which were less pleasant for tourism.

One correction on the Navigator this summer the shows were at 9-30, not 9-45 which does make it a rush if there are late eaters as there were on our trip. 7-30 to 8-00 was the busy arrival time in CR with many later diners, a Mexican group usually arrived at 9-00pm

None of the restaurants were busy early and empty up till 7-00, very different from Alaska when many were there for window seats by 6-35.

Maybe its location in the Mediterranean, hot weather, late excursions .

I would have to disagree with the other posters, we were on a B2B for 22 days and found the Wi-Fi ok most of the time . It depends what you need it for, it was for us, not work, but basic contacts and keeping up with the news etc. In some ports it was poorer and at peak times of the day, just up to dinner when more people were using the band width. However it was not unworkable.

With the numbers of selfie, photos etc it is not surprising you may have to be a little more patient, as it will not match top speeds at home.

Our only complaint was the last afternoon when the need to use computers/printers for home flights and printing boarding cards overwhelmed the system and the IT consultant , even on a small ship like Navigator, scaled up this must be worse on the larger ships.

Not heard in reviews how good the Explorer Wi-Fi has worked out, and even this will need constant upgrades as growth in use in the 7 years since we first sailed Regent is amazing. People must have realistic expectations on Wi-Fi , like the delay on the satellite phones compared to land based equipment.

It depends on your preferences.

One is a small remote town with charm, few visit, the other a large city with all the pros and cons this brings.

Liverpool has more obvious tourist 'sites' or the area around depending how long you are in port.

Kirkwall has a unique charm , small cathedral and an insight into an island life, but would need transport to do outer areas or a tour.

Also depends on other ports are they large cities or countryside stops? Are you looking to walk or take a tour?

Why?

When ships water is purer than most.

Amazed you have to buy, if you go with Regent you can get as much of any beverage free of charge, but surely water is included in the ships price!!

Totally agree with the last post. We must get away from this dangerous scaremongering re passports and carrying documents with you. We have just completed a 22 day trip on Regent from Haifa to Barcelona, we only used passports at the airport at both ends of this, even in Israel we did not need with crossing into the Palestinian area. For most of our trip I did not have a passport as its with the purser for ship formalities. I asked if we needed to carry in Albania, an unusual destination not EU, and until recently a place with secret police you might think ID would be an issue, categorically NO.

We had 5 different Italian port shops, no paperwork required, except Venice cruise terminal where a Gov't issued ID was needed along with your ships card to reboard the ship. Venice was the busiest port of the lot, so fine, but for Brits a driving licence card was all.

Passports are not needed in Spain, stopped at Palomos, asked again on this issue, again categorically NO. Was carrying in Barcelona as only part was a tour after cruise before airport transfer, so had with me, but kept out of sight in a bag when got off coach, not in pockets.

We stopped at Monaco, crossed into France for Eze and Nice asked again as a border do I need, looked incredulous at the thought of this!!! Wondered after events in Nice this year if spot checks on ID may occur, NO

Can't answer for a 5week cruise, but here are my reflections after a 22day B2B on Navigator this summer in the Mediterranean. We got into Regent's cruises as it was not tuxedos at sea, and this still remains the case. We are a couple of professional people in our 50's, we always dress smart casual, my wife usually a dress, or smart skirt/ top for dinner, I always a smart short sleeved proper shirt, smart trousers. We are not jeans people and would never wear shorts/ threequarter trousers to dinner. I will put a jacket on some nights if following an event SS party ,captains welcome etc or in prime 7 . However the weather was hot and few outside Prime7 did wear jackets. The tie was almost extinct in all venues just 1 or2 in prime.

In fact in packing at the end I said it was the last time I will bring along, this has totally changed in 6 years since we first sailed Regent when most guys wore them and many men had no jackets with them, on this trip I had 2 , but always do to travel as a jacket for wallet, passport, tickets etc is my 'handbag' for flying . Plus one other.

My wife had a couple of long dresses and only wore twice each, for a few hours. Sette Mari/la veranda anything else than smart casual is totally over the top and inappropriate.

Regent mirrors life and in a few years has become much less formal.

To add to above plan daily where you are, in the cruise, are you sailing or in port, the CR menu, lateness of excursions etc, whether you wish to go on to the show and especially the weather as the outside deck is not available some nights.

Enjoy the cruise.

This is impossible to judge and depends on luck and the dining preferences of all the passengers. We did a B2B from Haifa to Barcelona on Navigator and sat outside twice , inside once in sette Mari. However on our trip we adjusted our dining to a little earlier, from 7-45 wish to about 7-20 so as to get to the shows also the passengers on these two cruises ate later often queues to be seated in CR at 7-45 to 8-15 many nights. We had 2 /3 larger groups(families ) which gave little flexibility on larger tables, plus after long hot days people were not at dinner as early. When we first sailed Mariner in Alaska we were often getting relaid tables at 7-45 when people were queuing to dine at 6-30.

As much as you may like alfresco dining sette Mari every night is limited choice, CR and prime 7 will give you a wider choice and variety. Another guarantee of al fresco is room service of CR on your own balcony.

Good advice talk to the manager and ask for suggestions. On our trip (full ) CR was more popular than sette Mari , which was not always that busy. This depends on the menu .

This is a urban myth about carrying your passport. Nowhere in Western Europe do you need this, at maximum a Gov't. Issued driving licence with photo will suffice. So much of this concern over pickpockets is due to over carrying of money, passports, jewellery in places where travel light is a better idea. This is cruise critic from a day excursion do not carry, in most cases you can't as the ship holds them centrally re port authority paperwork and so guests do not have to carry.

Quick answer to your post

1- Yes

2- Yes

3- Both

Hope this helps.