CRUISIN2X2

28 minutes ago, Globaliser said:

 

Assuming that you've booked a direct train from Southampton Central to Gatwick Airport, your train is operated by Southern. The strike there is on 7 May, so I think you should be fine for 8 May. I think that the worst that is likely to happen from this industrial action is that you'll have to take a different direct train from the one you've booked, if your booked train is cancelled for some reason. And because South Western Railway's strike is also on the previous day (ie 7 May), on the day that you travel you will also have a backup route of going to London and coming back out again using SWR trains.

Sorry, I was not clear, we booked London to Southampton.

41 minutes ago, CRUISIN2X2 said:

We booked our train tickets for May 8th, we now see a notice that they are striking May 7-9th. Any thoughts on this regarding should I cancel and book another travel method or wait it out? We don't have a train system where I live so unfamiliar with this. Below Copied from news site.

Members of Aslef union at 16 rail companies will walk out on different days from 7 to 9 May.

Additionally, all members will refuse to work any overtime from 6 May to 11 May.

Here is a full list of the services affected by strikes and when.

Rail strike dates

Tuesday 7 May

Strikes will affect c2c, Greater Anglia, GTR Great Northern Thameslink, Southeastern, Southern, Gatwick Express and South Western Railway.

Wednesday 8 May

Strikes will affect Avanti West Coast, Chiltern Railways, CrossCountry, East Midlands Railway, Great Western Railway and West Midlands Trains.

Thursday 9 May

Strikes will affect LNER, Northern Trains and TransPennine Express.

Overtime ban dates

From Monday 6 May to Saturday 11 May union members will not work overtime.

Overtime bans, an action short of a strike, means some services may not be running or may be reduced as drivers refuse to work their rest days.

 

Thanks for all the great advice I have received and read on here, I am probably not the only one wondering what this means. Thanks in advance.

additional information...Our train is London to Southampton

We booked our train tickets for May 8th, we now see a notice that they are striking May 7-9th. Any thoughts on this regarding should I cancel and book another travel method or wait it out? We don't have a train system where I live so unfamiliar with this. Below Copied from news site.

Members of Aslef union at 16 rail companies will walk out on different days from 7 to 9 May.

Additionally, all members will refuse to work any overtime from 6 May to 11 May.

Here is a full list of the services affected by strikes and when.

Rail strike dates

Tuesday 7 May

Strikes will affect c2c, Greater Anglia, GTR Great Northern Thameslink, Southeastern, Southern, Gatwick Express and South Western Railway.

Wednesday 8 May

Strikes will affect Avanti West Coast, Chiltern Railways, CrossCountry, East Midlands Railway, Great Western Railway and West Midlands Trains.

Thursday 9 May

Strikes will affect LNER, Northern Trains and TransPennine Express.

Overtime ban dates

From Monday 6 May to Saturday 11 May union members will not work overtime.

Overtime bans, an action short of a strike, means some services may not be running or may be reduced as drivers refuse to work their rest days.

Thanks for all the great advice I have received and read on here, I am probably not the only one wondering what this means. Thanks in advance.

On 3/27/2024 at 8:00 AM, CRUISIN2X2 said:

 

We decided to stay the night at a hotel and fly out the next morning. We took a tour from the ship which worked out great since we could not check in until mid afternoon, the tour dropped us at Gatwick Airport and we walked (2 minutes) to the hotel which was attached to the airport. In the morning we walked to the airport (2 minute walk inside hotel) Decided the stress was not worth it and not sure we would have made it . Sofitel London Gatwick was the hotel, great experience.

3 hours ago, gumshoe958 said:

This. SWR isn’t Amtrak - it’s basically a commuter rail operation like Metro North or LIRR. There’s a direct train from London Waterloo to Southampton every 30 minutes and you can be assured many others will be using it to get to the cruise terminal as well.

Thank you for clarifying and the assurance regarding the direct train, that was helpful and appreciated.

4 hours ago, Globaliser said:

 

I think it's the entire concept of reading any reviews about SWR that seems slightly bizarre. Railways are simply the principal form of transport for this kind of journey. You would no more read reviews of SWR to decide whether to take it than you would read a review of the New York subway to decide whether to take that to go downtown as opposed to taking a bus. It's not like you're choosing between two different cruise lines. And I'd be much more nervous about something going wrong with a car.

Of course I am going to read reviews on how to get somewhere in a country I am not familiar with, nothing bizarre about that. I don't live in a big city that uses rail so not a common concept for us. I am trying to decipher the way to travel from one place to another including cost, taking all factors into consideration. I appreciate all posts that are helpful in explaining their opinions regarding the transportation options.

19 hours ago, gumshoe958 said:

No-one ever goes on Tripadvisor to praise a commuter train company! Like all operators the world over, SWR have their bad days but on the whole they’re pretty reliable and carry more than 200,000 passengers a day, largely without incident.

 

 

There were positive reviews there too but seemed most recent ones were not positive. We are leaving London in the morning, our ship departs from Southampton 4pm that afternoon. Nervous about mishaps, we took the train last year from Gatwick to Victoria Station, it was easy and without mishap, however getting on the next train was stressful as we missed the first one due to trying to find the right platform on the correct side and some misinformation. Love when it is direct with no changes which is what I believe Waterloo would be. Thanks for all your insights! 

On 4/1/2024 at 2:28 PM, Homeport5 said:

Oh thank you!   The neighborhood names are confusing...as with any city!  We are near the Marriott London Kensington.

We were going to take the train but after reading these reviews today we may have to look at a other options. We can't afford to be delayed. Has anyone else had an issue with SWR? Lookup trip advisor for reviews of South Western Railway, they are not good!

14 hours ago, SkippersCruisersMN said:

Has anyone used uber to get from London to the cruiseport in Southampton? Debating on using Uber vs. taking the train?

Following, we are pondering the same thing. Thought about if trains don't run for some reason how hard or costly to book Uber. I know many are thinking about using the train, including us. We thought about ride sharing an Uber so it would be cheaper but haven't found anyone yet.

On 11/27/2023 at 5:32 AM, herbanrenewal said:

For an American sailing into Southampton, scheduled arrival at 6am. What would be reasonable time to allow self-disembark, clear passport control and customs, and meet driver. I'm trying to see if its likely to make a 1250pm flight from Gatwick on a Sunday morning.

 

Wondering if you already went and if so was it doable. We have a 12:20 flight Thanks

We are staying 2 days in Rome but want to stay near the Vatican as we have a 7:30am entry and want to be within walking distance and not worry about being late. Any hotels or any B&B you may recommend nearby?

On 10/9/2019 at 11:06 AM, ABQrobin said:

If you have never seen the show...Deadliest Catch:

On 9/11/2019 at 12:26 AM, shadowmeboy said:

 

I generally shoot in sports mode, especially for moving subjects. All of these were in sports mode.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My family was addicted to this show for 5 years.  

Beautiful pics! Where did you sit on the tour and would you sit in the same place? Thanks, hoping to take this tour too!

 

Which side of ship (port or starboard) has the view of the Christ statue going into Havanna Harbor in the morning? Thanks. Getting ready to book and want to be on the side to see it! Your review is awesome and a great help![/quote

 

I would suggest going up on deck so you can get a panoramic view and see the entire port as you pull in, you will not get the same view from your room.

We were on the Sept 7 cruise and had a wonderful time. Cuba was very hot! They did stamp our passports. We used a private tour which we had a fabulous time. Jesse was our guide his email is jesse.aguilar1979 at nauta.cu use the @ sign where the word at is, did not want him getting spam. The ship docked at 1130 we were off soon after and met him at 1230 for our tour, the tour was 6 hours for $240 for 6 of us and he did have shorter tours. We had an air conditioned van. If you email him you can tell him Keith recommended him. He also had cars but we wanted to all ride together. He spoke English very well. I have to add that Carnival was absolutely amazing during this time and gave us free phone calls to home, two free cruise days and a future credit for cruising with them during hurricane Irma. The weather and seas were calm and we would not have guessed there was a hurricane in the gulf, they kept us informed and safe.

Hi, was your ship scheduled to arrive that early? We are on the same ship in Sept and ours is due to arrive at 11:30 and I was wondering if were scheduled at 11:30 or you docked early. If you had to do it again would you do the walking tour yourself or still with a guide? Thanks for your great review it was very helpful.

Hello Cruise Critic folks - we are just returning from our Carnival Paradise cruise, including a full day and overnight stop in Havana. We're happy to share our experiences, which are very positive! I'll try to keep the post at a summary, and I'm happy to answer questions in more detail if anybody wishes to post in the thread.

 

ARRIVAL IN HAVANA

 

As some have already posted, don't pass up a 6 am wake-up call to see the ship sailing into Havana harbor. It's a truly majestic view as the ship slowly navigates through the narrow harbor toward the ship terminal. If you are lucky, you will get a chance for a beautiful sunrise view over the Jesus statue on the side of the harbor opposite Old Havana.

 

DISEMBARKING

 

The process to get off the ship was well-organized, and only took about 10-15 minutes once our group was called. Carnival was giving disembarking priority to those who booked tours through them. We were worried about our situation, as we had booked a private tour. However, we just needed to show Carnival screen shot proof of our private and they let us off with one of the first groups, around 8:15 am.

 

Passport control in Havana was a pretty quick process. We already had received our visa forms from Carnival, and we had those filled out in advance. We were not asked any questions at passport control. Money exchange was right down the hall from passport control, and again, it was a short line and simple to exchange. The rate is about 1 CUC per 1 USD. After fees, we got back about 87 CUC for 100 USD.

 

Once we left the arrival hall, we just had to walk across the street to St. Francis of Assisi Square, where most tour groups meet. Be aware of roving photographers and sketchers in the square, offering to take your photo or draw your picture for a small fee. There are many people there offering private tours. Since we had already booked our own tour in advance, we didn't ask about the details or prices of those tours.

 

PRIVATE TOUR

 

The highlight of the day was our nearly full-day tour, booked through FerTours, whom I believe is a local Havana company. Our tour guide Yanelis speaks fluent English and was an encyclopedia of knowledge about Havana and Cuba. With just 3 of us in the group, we felt like we were getting a personalized experience, and she was very nice for times that we asked to go down a certain street or into certain buildings. It would take another several posts to list all the sites we saw. I'll just say we felt we got a good variety of Old Havana, newer buildings, residential areas, and tourist locations.

 

The tour was set up for about 2 1/2 to 3 hours of walking in the morning, followed by lunch in Old Havana, and then an hour-plus driving tour around Havana in the afternoon. We were done by about 3 pm, allowing us time later in the afternoon and evening for more people to people interaction. The tour cost was 120 CUC for our group of four (one could not go but we did not ask for a reduced price), not including lunch or gratuities. We paid in cash upon tour conclusion. We happily recommend FerTours, who were easy to contact via their website with an email link. We exchanged several emails in the days prior to the cruise, where we confirmed the tour time, length, and lunch location.

 

LUNCH

 

Our lunch was at a small restaurant, Habana 61, in Old Havana. Like many of the small restaurants in Havana, this one is privately operated on the ground floor of an apartment building. The interior looks more like a hip cafe than someone's house. For 3 of us, lunch came to about 20 CUC each, including drinks, 2 appetizers, 1 side dish, dessert, and 2 coffees. The food was good, comparable to what you may see in other Caribbean islands. We had appetizers of ceviche and Spanish ham with pineapple, followed by main courses of ropa vieja (shredded beef with Cuban seasoning), grilled snapper, and shrimp with a flavorful tomato sauce. Main courses include rice and black beans.

 

After asking our waiter, we were impressed to find out that all the food they serve is local to Cuba, with the exception of the Spanish ham and beef for steaks. They are able to purchase the fish directly from the fishermen.

 

If you choose to go here, reservations are a good idea, as it is a small place with about 6-8 tables.

 

LATE AFTERNOON P2P, STROLLING AND SHOPPING

 

We went back out on our own following our tour, and spent a few more hours interacting with people while walking through Old Havana. We bought multiple of what appeared to be local souvenirs in small shops on the ground floors of several apartment buildings. We are told that these shops are often set up as private businesses by the people who live in the upper floor apartments. I found the better deals on souvenirs are for items that are unlike your typical tourist fare. For example, hand-carved wooden cars were about 3 CUC, while the t-shirt my wife bought was 13 CUC. Apparently, Cuba does not yet have a big tourism infrastructure, and things like shot glasses, t-shirts, etc. tend to cost about the same as what you pay in the US. The shopkeepers were friendly. Unlike other islands, they don't seem as agreeable about bargaining for a lower price. I tried to bargain a couple of times, and was just met with stares of "this is the price".

 

We also did the obligatory stop in a Cuban cigar shop, bringing back several for post-cruise enjoyment. I'm not a big cigar smoker, so I really don't know much about quality or price differences among the selection. The variety of available cigars seemed large, with pricing anywhere from 2 or 3 CUC per cigar to several hundred CUC per box.

 

In the early evening, we sat out by a local brewpub in the Plaza Vieja, actually referred to locally as the "new square". 4 beers came to 12 CUC, and they had live music outdoors along with many people dancing in the square. It was impressive to see that the mix of people sitting out looked like both locals and tourists.

 

GETTING BACK ON THE SHIP

 

Getting back on the ship was straightforward. We didn't try to exchange our leftover CUC to dollars, figuring we will keep them as memories or maybe use them should we ever return. We needed to pass through metal detectors twice, once for Cuban immigration control, and again on the Carnival ship. For passport control, it took all of about a minute for our passports to be scanned and for us to be let through.

 

All in all, a very enjoyable day in a country we never thought we would be able to visit. We highly recommend the experience, and we are happy to answer questions.

 

I'll try to post a few photos later in the thread, once all the shots sync up on our mobile devices.

 

 

 

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We are planning on booking for Sept 2017 but want to do private tour vs ship tour. Waiting to see what restrictions there are before actually booking. I will keep following on here and hopefully someone will find out and post it.:confused:

We did this last week ($25pp tour and Trunk Bay drop off)- worked out very well and was enjoyable and not to mention ... simple. Next trip - we will just go to the beach in St. John and enjoy!

Thanks for the current update :) what was the taxi cost to get to ferry and which location did you catch the ferry at? Thanks :)

If you really want to do it on your own there is no reason not to. The taxis and ferries are extremely reliable and do this everyday. If you go through the ship you will be in a queue when you disembark and then ferry 45 minutes from the cruise dock to STJ through rougher waters. If you go on your own you taxi to Red Hook for 20 - 25 minutes then ferry for 15 minutes to STJ through typically much calmer water.

 

If you can keep track of time on your own there is no benefit to going through the ship. The cost to go to a beach on STJ on your own is about $48pp from Havensight and a few more $ from Crown and is just st a more enjoyable experience IMHO. Ferries run on the hour in both directions so if you dock at 7AM you'll easily make the 8 AM ferry to Cruz Bay. And if your ship leaves at 5PM you'd want the 3PM ferry back from STJ at the latest, and the 2PM to be safer.

 

It's nice to have more than one option, and the self-excursion is very safe and worry-free if you want to try that! :)

 

 

[EDIT] You can also add an island tour on STJ for about $25pp then get dropped at Trunk Bay. The taxi drivers will give you that option when you arrive or after you board the taxi to the beach, and the total cost with the tour is about $56 - $58. So a nice day at a very reasonable price.

Thanks for the updated info :) Appreciate it

I see you mention a Carnival excursion called "on your own" My Carnival cruise is in two weeks and there is still no excursion titled "on your own". There is an excursion to St John and Trunk bay but it is $80 per person. I wasn't sure if there would be another one available on the ship, as I really would like to do it on my own, but would prefer the reliability of going on a ships tour

I looked at this thread as well but noticed most posts are from 2015 so I am sure there is a price difference. We are on Ncl this week and their tour is about $89

I got their quick reply that they had received it on December 2 and would let me know within 7 days. Now that you have given me the location, I'll keep checking. Thanks again.

Ours finally showed up but it took almost two weeks. Dean, are you still on the Triumph Feb 2015 b2b?

We loved our tour guide Rehab (sorry if I spelt her name wrong) She and Hussain? were terrific. We would ask for Rehab again she was so extremely pleasant,patient and knowledgeable. We did the two day, not overnight tour. They were very accommodating and spoke very good English. There were four tour buses, three overnight and one two day not overnight and our bus was clean and tourguides very pleasant. Thank you!