seacrystal

we loved our 2013 trip & are repeating it plus the TA next april-may - 33 days on caribbean princess & then 10 or so days in bath, wales - from cardiff up to conwy, chester, 4 or 5 days back at luna simone - have not booked it yet but hope to get #2 again - am still researching all the places in wales so we'll know how many days before we get back to london

 

thinking of renting a car - dropping it off before london -so we can be more flexible and not dependent on train schedules plus all the luggage & wheelchair if i have not had my hip replaced (have only lost 20 of 40 pounds dr insisted upon before he'll do surgery !:eek:)

 

jim feels we'll have no problem getting around & doesn't mind pushing me - i really wanted to go to sweden but all those little islands and boats in

stockholm would not be easy with wheelchair plus his heritage is welsh - altho we do not know exactly where in wales - but it is so full of castles & medieval banquets - we'll love it !!

 

please let me know all about your trip !!!!;)

p.s. wish you were going on ours next april - there is a great roll call already set up for the TA and the british isles - we are starting from houston so we can visit a friend for a few days before we board

Wow! You have another wonderful trip ahead of you. Stay with that diet so you can have your hip replacement surgery. I have several friends who have had this surgery and leave yourself enough rehab time to be in top shape. It takes time!;)

Hi Ann, it's good to see you back again. I followed this thread and posted a couple of times on it when you first wrote it. We are leaving in one month for our own British Isles cruise. Thanks to your review, we are staying at the Luna & Simone Hotel and even asked for Room 2 as you suggested.

We will be boarding the Royal Princess on August 1 and cannot wait! When we disembark, we will be staying in London for five days and I was especially happy about your recommendation of using Bus 24 from Luna & Simone to see most of the sights we are interested in.

Thanks for your help!:D:D

Bon voyage, Tracie-Lynn!

I followed Part 1 and love your style of writing. I will enjoy this thread more since we will be sailing the British Isles on August 1 on the Royal.

Have a wonderful cruise:D:D.

You're welcome! Fellow cruisers have to stick together.;)

Maybe you should check out this thread before you consider booking.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2224170

Thanks again, Sue for taking the time to keep us informed!:D

I am enjoying every scrap of information you provide. You have quite the fan club now of future British Isles cruisers. Keep it coming!!

no, I have a hard copy of the form. Its not fillable, you have to write in the information.

It is fillable if you have an Adobe .pdf program. I used the edit mode and was able to fill in and just print without saving it. The only handwritten revision I made was to write over the 2015 with 2016. No problem!

The fax service works great. I faxed mine in yesterday about 3:00 pm and I checked this morning and it was posted to my onboard credit already. They are really on the ball.

Hi Sue!

Belated bon voyage!! Thank you so much for taking the time to let us sail along with you. We are on the August 1 cruise and your information will be very helpful to us. I hope the wind improves and you have a wonderful journey.

I find it amazing that some cruisers didn't get back in time - hellllooooooooooooooo?

I will be watching for all of your posts!:D

Thanks, Shogun.

A very special moment in time. I wish we could have witnessed this occasion live. It was wonderful to see as we are headed to Liverpool in August. Can't wait!:D

Also, thank you Dave for the great screenshots!:)

Sorry didn't spot the question about the train. I have created a thread about that too and you'll find it at:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2031574

Thank you so much tartanexile81!

I actually remember reading this last year and thought I will get back to it and forgot all about it. :o

As usual you are such a big help to cruisers and I cannot wait to see your beautiful country! :D

Most of the uk wine places have on-line stores you can check what might be available in store and guide to price.

Don't have handy links and on phone so will try to remember later.

This might be of interest to those who are interested in purchasing a minimum of six bottles of wine from Majestic Wines which I previously mentioned in an above post. You might check to see if it is possible to deliver to your hotel of choice within the local around surrounding the ports at Southampton. Just a thought!;)

https://www.majestic.co.uk/about/six-bottles

Here is a list of their wines for purchase: https://www.majestic.co.uk/wine

Marks and Spencers, 5 mins walk have some great wines. They always have some on offer.

Thanks scottie99 for this information. We will probably check this out first before trying Majestic.

I s this a new thing? When we cruised with Princess there was no restriction on bringing wine and beer for the canin. They did charge corkage if you wanted it at the dinner table though.

Hi Bob++

It's not really new. It was always the rule but never enforced. Princess cracked down in 2014. When we went on a two week cruise to the Caribbean years ago, we took an entire case of wine and put a luggage tag label on it and it was delivered to our stateroom with no problem. I miss those days!

Luckily we were warned before our last cruise so we were prepared to pay. It is still cheaper than buying Princess wine!

Since this will be our first European cruise in awhile, I hope their treatment of extra wine is the same as in the States.:eek:

As far as I know, there is no restriction on water or soft drinks. You can still bring a case of each onboard.

Thanks for the names ofwine stores. Does anyone know how strict they are about bringing more than 2 bottles of wine when boarding a Princess ship in Southampton?

We cruised in January from Los Angeles and took on six bottles of wine. Two were free and after you go through Princess security, they send you to a desk where you show them your other bottles of wine and pay $15 corkage each. They stamp each bottle and you take them with you onboard. We did not, however, take any of the stamped bottles to the dining room. We always buy at least one bottle at dinner. We save the extra bottles to drink in our cabin with friends before we go to dinner.

My understanding is that the stamp which shows previous payment keeps the waiter from adding it to your bill.

We have our shares in the name of our trust with my husband and I as trustees. That way the title shows both of our names and I can leave him at home if I want to!;)

Thanks for the restaurant suggestions. This will be our first time staying in Southampton. Is there a place to buy wine?

Hi CruisePrincess6,

I also wondered about a wine store while staying at Premier Inn before our British Isles cruise in August. I checked around and found the Majestic Wine Store. I googled the address and the distance might be walkable, but if we buy too much wine, it might be cumbersome.;)

Here is the website www.majestic.co.uk.southampton. Upon your return, let us know if it is worth going there.

It will be really busy around town Seacrystal but it doesn't usually affect cruise schedules. What are you planning to do?

 

It definitely takes longer to get from South Queensferry into town by road so if you'e on a tour they will hopefully allow for that. The best advice during the festival is to use the train but I guess that depends on how fit you are to be able to walk up to the station from the quay. Do you want advice on DIY-ing. It's so easy in Edinburgh.

Thank you for your quick reply tartanexile81!

Our thinking is to tour the Edinburgh Castle and just walk around the Royal Mile. I never thought of the train. I would appreciate advice on that.

We will be arriving in South Queensferry on the Royal Princess on Monday, August 10. Will the Fringe Festival interfere with the normal schedule? What can we expect in the way of traffic from the port to the Castle?

Thank you in advance for any information.

It looks like the private excursions that most cruisers arrange (including myself) are eating into the Princess budget. While wanting to get into the action, the cruiseline tours are still too costly.

I think I will stick with my private excursions.;)

Chris ~

After 15 Princess cruises with another coming up in August, I am ready to try the Quantum in 2016 and cannot wait to see your pics!!

Bon voyage!:D:D:D

Best advice given to me years ago - follow the sun (and it works)! Nap on the way and NOT when you land. Go to bed early and feel refreshed on European time.

Have a wonderful trip. There is nothing like your first time in Europe!;)

Okay, then don't. I'm not sure why you felt the need to tell the rest of the world about it...

My hero!;););)

Thanks, Peg!

I think I have found my transport service.:D:D

A car service is a good idea, just make sure you get a fixed price. The last time we took a cab and got stuck in a traffic jam and our bill was 95 Euro.

 

There are also shuttle services that use a minivan that can be a good value, except with them you may multiple stops.

 

Check with your hotel, they may be able to arrange a car service for you.

 

The Saint Germaine area is our favorite place to stay in Paris, you will love it! We will be returning this fall for another visit.

 

Dave

Thanks, Dave!

I did check with our hotel and they said they would make arrangements but the cost was 95E. After I posted, I found one service and the cost is 84.73E. Since there will be four people and lots of luggage, it will still be $50 for each couple for private service. I did find out that the fixed fee from CDG to Paris was $50 for a taxi. If we do not do the private service, each couple could take a taxi for the same cost, but that is inconvenient.

We had heard so many good recommendations for the St. Germain area, that was the only place we considered. Can't wait!!!:D

We have used Shuttle Inter twice and had very prompt service.

 

http://www.shuttle-inter.com/

Thank you, trvlgirlmq. I checked out their website and found their charges were 65E for four. I appreciate the information as I was having trouble finding private transportation and a referral is always best. I knew Cruise Critic would come to my rescue!;)

If you do not get positive results from your inquiry, I would like to recommend a service that provided me with one of the most wonderful excursions I have ever been on.

It is Island Wings Air Service in Ketchikan. Owner Michelle took us up in her float plane in the Misty Fjords and landed at a dock in the middle where there was not one outside sound. We stayed there for about 20 mins. and resumed our flight. It was wonderful.

When we started out, it was a little foggy and she told us that if we wanted to cancel if was up to us because visibility would not be at its best for viewing. She told us the weather was due to clear and we decided to go ahead and we were glad we did.:D

Good luck!

We will be arriving in Paris at CDG in July. We would prefer a car service and not a taxi to take us to our hotel in the Saint-Germaine-des-Pres area.

Any recommendations? Thanks in advance for any help.