shoreham01

The Tudor House and Garden is really lovely and well worth a visit. We were amazed when we visited it. http://www.tudorhouseandgarden.com/ think it is ok to post this link. If it vanishes then just google it. Not very far from cruise terminal either.

As for original question. No way would I want to risk leaving London at 10.00hrs for Southampton. As someone else has already said, traffic is very unpredictable and delays are very common.

I suggest you spend the time in Southampton. We really enjoy looking around the town and you can also go to the Isle of Wight which is lovely. We always book in the day before the cruise and stay at the Premier Inn West Quay which is very central and near the dock. There really is quite a lot to see in Southampton.

The problem with our trains is that they can be very over crowded and the space for luggage is very poor.

The roads here can be difficult as if there is a traffic incident or accident you can be delayed for hours as they just shut the road. This is why we always travel the day before even though we live an hour and a half away. Sounds silly, but believe me these things happen.

Whatever you decide make sure you travel to Southampton early, don't leave it to the last minute.

Quite honestly, Helsinki was our least favourite port on the Baltic Cruise. We were delighted to find another Baltic Cruise at a later date missing out on Helsinki. These days I think most of the Baltic cruises stay over night in Copenhagen.

I am sure if you go past the restaurant of choice and say what is your best price and smile you will get a good discount. If it is only 20% walk on. Go back another day and try again.

Hello Lisa, we are from the UK.

We like to cruise out of Southampton, on the Eclipse, however we are finding the itineraries very repetitive. The Eclipse seems mostly to travel to the Baltics which we have done twice or Iceland which again we have cruised to, or for just 7 night cruises to Norway. May I suggest a round Britain cruise and a 14 night cruise to Norway including Svalbard. We do not like to fly to cruise.

Another suggestion Lisa, please can you try and move the performers and shows around the various ships more. We are getting tired of seeing the same shows and same performers.

With love from the UK x

There is tea/coffee and kettle in all cabins on all sailings on Eclipse out of Southampton.

Make sure you print out all your perks. It would be awful if you got on the ship and they tried to say you did not have them. Has happened to us but we had plenty of written confirmation documents to show them.

We have already advised that pacsafe bags are great. We use the fanny (bum) bags and as they are slash proof and you wear them under your t-shirt they are pretty safe.

Of course the usual advise is to not draw attention to yourselves. Don't walk about with an expensive camera round your neck as I believe these are being stolen too. Don't use your cell phone unless you are inside somewhere safe. Just make sure you are aware at all times and you will be fine.

If you are going to use a handbag only use one that goes over your head and under one arm and keep your hand on it at all times. Do not put anything valuable in a rucksack. They will undo the zip and grab contents in seconds.

Even here in the UK I have my money purse/ wallet attached to a long chain which is then attached to the key fob inside my bag. So easy just to drop your purse.

Remember, only a small percentage of people are the victims of crime. Enjoy your holiday.

We stopped cruising with Princess because we could not stand the noise of MUTS during the day. We have moved over to Celebrity but we have now cruised all of their Northern Europe Itineraries at least once. Came over here to see what was going on with Princess these days. Find it hard to believe that they are still playing that Tina Turner concert. Looks like we will still be avoiding it unfortunately. Incidentally we could hear MUTS on our balcony C231. Maybe it was the way the wind was blowing.

New CEO.... New Direction.....

Let's see where they go with their animals and cars taking celebrities....:confused:

Maybe this should read 'New CEO...One Direction

I am amazed that someone said that staff at both rail stations helped to put baggage on and off train. We have actually requested assistance before we travelled and have found no-one to help at Southampton Central train station. Southampton airport station is further from the docks, have no idea how much a taxi would cost from there.

I would always recommend that if at all possible you arrive the day before. We like to stay at the Premier Inn West Quay Southampton. This is really near the docks, a very short taxi ride. Southampton is a nice place to spend time in, plenty to see and do.

Our roads over here can be awful. If there is an accident or incident a road or train line can be closed for hours and if you are stuck in that closure bye bye ship. Far less stress to get to Southampton day early.

Last time we went on a Baltic cruise there was no shuttle provided at Stockholm. They said it was walkable, but it was quite a long way if you are unable to walk far. We ended up taking the HoHo bus, but I can't remember how much it was. You can look it up quite easily. Whatever you do, do not take a taxi in Stockholm. We were warned that they can take liberties with you and charge the earth.

Copenhagen is difficult. Oceankaj dock is miles away from Copenhagen and you do need a shuttle or local bus. Public transportation from the dock was dire when we went there last time. Possibly they have improved it by now. If you are really lucky you will be docked at Langelinie Dock which is right near the Little Mermaid, but I think the bigger ships are now being sent to the new dock.

Shuttle costs were around $15 per person but may be more now.

We remove the automatic service charge before we travel, and then put it back on again when we board the ship. That way you can pay for it with OBC. I think you can only do this if you have set time dining, not anytime.

If you don't have the drink package included, use it for that too. It soon goes!

Buy a pacsafe fanny bag (bum bag if in UK) They are slash proof and you can hide it underneath your clothes.

Whenever I think 'that is a terrific deal' I price it up and find it works out the same as any other deal they have offered. By saying $400 on board spend and free drink package (a new 5 day offer in UK for balcony and above 2015 cruises) it looks like a good deal. Still always seems to work out more or less the same when I price it all up.

We have only been on a short three night cruise on Arcadia, but have been on three cruises on the Eclipse.

Our experiences on Arcadia have resulting in us not booking another P&O cruise. We found the buffet poor, the MDR food poor and the staff just about the most unfriendly we have ever met. We are very chatty and friendly to everyone so it was not our attitude.

The entertainment was good on Arcadia and the state room and the ship itself were ok.

Celebrity has lovely friendly staff, wonderful stateroom with large shower with no sign of ghastly plastic curtain. The bed is very large and very comfortable. The buffet food is fantastic, so much choice. Entertainment is good the first time you see it, but like all cruise ships after the same shows for the third year running it does become a little tedious.

Drinks are very expensive and they have just put the price up yet again. There is a drinks package which they include from time to time. If not then if you are a drinker you will need the expensive drink package.

I agree with everyone else about the foyer, but still preferred the Eclipse to Arcadia.

Don't bother with speciality restaurants unless they are offering 50% off deal which they do from time to time once you are on board. In our opinion the food is not much better than the MDR and Buffet. Having said that we did have a wonderful meal at Moranos on our first cruise, but that was complimentary. This year we heard the food was not so good there.

We will have to wait for a year or so for our next cruise as we have to save up.

We noticed that the first formal night seemed more formal, and then many people just wore smart dress or smart skirt with sparkly top. Many women just wore smart trousers with sparkly top. As for the men, some wore tuxedo, some wore kilts and some wore smart suit or smart trousers with shirt and tie and smart jacket.

In future I am just going to take smart black trousers with different chiffon evening tops. If you are travelling by air you don't want to carry three formal dresses that weigh a ton. My OH has a very lightweight tuxedo suit from M&S in their sale, he then wears a different bow tie each night and takes a couple of formal shirts. No need for heavy tuxedos and beaded dresses these days.

Tesco for us. Never had a problem ordering a few dollar bills amongst the others.

We pack using packing cubes. I leave my tops and underwear in the packs on the settee. The size I use is 15 X 12 inches and 8 inches deep. I separate day tops and evening tops into different cubes and label them. There is still room to sit on the settee. I am short and don't like standing on the bed to reach the shelf above it. The huge advantage is that I can pack my case in about 10 minutes while my husband takes about an hour or more! The drawers are not big enough to put folded clothes in. There is a lot of storage in the bathroom, but you would not want to keep clothes in there as they would get damp.

One other tip is to take a couple of those very lightweight plastic baskets to keep on the very small bedside tables. I keep my contact lenses, glasses, bits and pieces in it. The ideal size is 7 X 11 inches and 6 inches deep.

You will also need something to hang your washing on.

How wonderful, at last we have a decent web site to browse. Thank you Celebrity. At last it seems to be a fast and easy site to negotiate. Lovely clean layout too. Congratulations to whoever designed and built it.

Everet, do you go on the roll call forums for your cruises? You may find someone there who is looking for a dance partner. My OH is a ballroom dancer but I have two left feet and hate dancing. I always say to him to ask one of the ladies to dance, but he says he is too shy :)

I have seen cakes in the Main Dining Room, but I think it would be better to have a word with the Maitre De when you get on board.

You can also decorate the outside of the suite door. You could even decorate the suite. Magnets are great for sticking things up on the walls as the walls are metal. We take loads of fridge magnets with us and sticky tape.

Depending on your budget, you could consider a spa treatment. Photos or photo cd but they are quite expensive. In the gift shop they do souvenirs of the ship, some cheap, some expensive. Wait till near the end of the cruise as they usually have a sale, don't know if this is true for short cruises.

Enjoy

hi I have been looking on celebrity website and i cannot find any info about the complimentary driunks package , I booked the baltics cruise two weeks ago to go this july and havent been told about this

can anyone shed light on this please

I think you will find that you paid less without the drinks package. I have been checking prices and they have fallen considerably.

We have done the Baltic cruise twice, marvellous, and book private tours in St Petersburg. We used SPB tours both times and they were great. Check out your roll call, I expect someone is organising a private tour - I think all the usual tour operators out there are good. We booked small tours for 8 people, very easy to get around.

No, only Royal Replenish or Ultimate include those.

Thanks for explaining it to me.

Confused with the drinks packages. Do all the packages include premium coffee and tea?