Morgans

No idea what EVOO is ? Do you mean extra virgin olive oil ? Was there anything you liked ? Your review is extremely negative.

The St James Court Hotel in Buckingham Gate would be ideal - very well placed for all your plans.

These are two good ones near the Tower - The Chamberlain Pub and Hotel (brilliant Sunday lunches - can recommend the roast beef and Yorkshire pud) and also Motel 1 (lovely new hotel with rooms from £99 ) They are both in the Minories, across the road from each other, about 1 minute from Aldgate tube. Very handy for Tower, Tower Bridge etc. Transport on the doorstep. There is also Bevis Marks Synagogue and St Botolphs Church (beautiful) very, very near to hand if they are of interest to you. The Synagogue is extremely interesting and has guided tours available.

Certainly is for hotel guests...

Thanks for the clarification G - the hotel link is a very good service and runs approx every 10 mins or so (there is a break for an hour or so later in the day.) Also it is free ....

What about the ones near the Tower - decent positions.....and modern.

It's a very nice hotel with excellent pricing. Yes it is out of the centre of town but the Clipper service (reached by the hotel's private river boat) is pretty good. Westminster and Tower are easily accessible. Canary Wharf has an excellent selection of shops and restaurants. There is a nice walk along the river to Limehouse where there is an excellent pub - The Grapes - and further into Shadwell basin and Wapping to visit even more old pubs if you are feeling particularly energetic. It's a part of London that tourists mostly miss as its a bit further out.

Why were our previous posts deleted - was it purely the fact it was a double post?

Are you sailing the same day - time could be an issue.....

We are fans is Ryanair - use them frequently to Portugal and they have always been excellent. Yes there are add ons but we realise and accept them. They are pretty good on the whole.

You cannot take the Eurostar train from Southampton - you can only take it from St Pancras Station in London or Ashford in Kent so you will need a transfer to London first, to connect. There are many trains each day to Paris and it takes about 2 hrs 10 mins. When you search you will need to select St Pancras/Paris and return. It's a very easy journey and will take you to and from the centre of each city - much closer than any air travel.

Another vote for the Historic Dockyard at Portsmouth - brilliant to visit for the day - then head to the airport the day after.

She's a beautiful ship .We also love QE and have also booked the Far East for 2020 - looking forward to playing bowls on the bowling green and also croquet (after a fashion.)

Do book it - you will have a marvellous time and won't regret it.

I would opt for the Ventura one too - most of the school's won't have broken up then. Completely agree that families tend to go for the hot weather cruises.....

The outdoor Folk Museum in Oslo is brilliant for children as is the Petroleum Museum in Stavanger - much more interesting and fun than it may sound. The kids can go on a mock up of an oil rig and see a 3D presentation amongst lots of other activities.

The Viking ship museum is close to the Folk Museum in Oslo (get there by crossing the fjord by little boat ) very close to where the ship docks. Great fun....they should love it.

Also, pop into Greenwich market if you want to have a look at arty crafty things and the like. And another curiosity is the Greenwich foot tunnel, by which you can walk across the river - underneath it.

One of our favourites - a lovely market which actually sells decent things.

Globaliser and Morgans, Thank you for your car service recommendations. However, before I saw your posts I googled car service in Greenwich and found Royal Borough Cars. I emailed them for a quote , which seemed like a fair price (£40 for an estate car), and the manager told me that they regularly pick up from the Greenwich pier. So, I went ahead and booked with them.

Robert Baker

Excellent- glad you are sorted.

Blue marble - thank you for this. Perhaps it's just for US travellers (or from the continent) - I can't see it mentioned on the UK website but perhaps I'm missing something? St Pancras would be very convenient for us so it's worth a phone call/enquiry next time we go from Southampton.

Addison Lee (car service) are also in the area - worth a quote and a look on line.

Is it possible to get a transfer from St Pancras? Thought it was only Victoria or Heathrow.

If it works for you then get it all booked. You will be looked after on the ship and you will be looked after on the tour........do it!

Thanks to all - and Brian. Your arrangements sounded quite complex. Well we have booked the segment for 2020 and now have to wait for approx 10 mths for the flights to open up, which is what we thought. We have booked the entire package ie. Cruise + flights from Heathrow through our regular TA and Cunard have told them that we will be able to deviate our flight dates to suit our requirements when they open up - we can even choose to book our flights ourselves and have them taken off the package if we prefer. So we will have plenty of choice.....hopefully we will be able to fly direct.

Have a look at - The Rookery Hotel in Clerkenwell. It's full of history -(original building 1764), has good transport links, on the doorstep of the Museum of London, Charterhouse Square, and Hatton Garden & Holborn and in easy reach of some gems of restaurants such as le Cafe du Marche. Also walkable to lots of other sightseeing gems such as St Pauls etc.

This website was posted on our Grand Asia roll call. I would agree with the writer that the Ginza/Tokyo Station is the most convenient and most central area of Tokyo to stay. All train and subway lines are easily accessible. We just booked at the Millenium Mitsui Garden Hotel, just off the Ginza. Very convenient. I think it is a 4*.

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/28/t...%2Ftravel-tips

Thank you for this - it's very interesting and useful. Looking at all suggestions carefully.

Thank you for all your replies - we will study them carefully use them in our research. They are all very helpful.

When we were on Independance of the Seas there was a Nou Camp excursion offered. My husband and son in law went on it and we're very pleased with it.