Cotswold Eagle

2 hours ago, PhillyTravelBug said:

It’s starting to sound like it may just be easier to take the tube to London and drop the bags off at our hotel and then head to Windsor.

I'd agree, almost certainly, but an alternative would be to take the Heathrow Express or Elizabeth line in to Paddington station, drop your luggage at the left luggage facility by Platform 12 there, take your return trip to Windsor from Paddington via Slough, pick up your luggage again and on to your hotel. Depends to an extent where your hotel is, of course.

3 hours ago, CRUISIN2X2 said:

We booked our train tickets for May 8th, we now see a notice that they are striking May 7-9th.

You can also keep an eye on this page - as the notification was only made today, it doesn’t yet have any service impact information, but will be updated.  
I’m with Globaliser - there will be trains on your route on 8th, but service recovery after a strike and the overtime ban may affect frequency of services.  If you have ‘Advance’ tickets and the service you are booked on happens to be cancelled, you will be able to switch to another at no cost. 

15 minutes ago, ace2542 said:

And also you cannot be arrested or detained or hours or days you are simply refused and walk out of the airport

Yes, this is known as the “right to withdraw’” from the pre-clearance area. 

The American agents (known as pre-clearance officers in the law) do have a limited power of detention within the area, broadly speaking when there is an immediate threat or if offences against Irish State law are disclosed. The person detained must be then handed over to Irish law enforcement to be dealt with. 

4 hours ago, tc-cruise said:

I just want to take a train to Poole. 

Then take the shuttle to Weymouth. 

On 4/20/2024 at 1:49 PM, John Bull said:

couldn't find the hours of the nearby quite small but excellent volunteer-run D-Day museum.

For future reference, it’s 1030, but currently they are not open every day - important to check their Facebook page, where they are posting opening days weekly. I believe the ambition is to open every day in the summer. 
https://www.facebook.com/castletownddaycentre

5 hours ago, gumshoe958 said:

Bath to Paddington trains do have first class. It will normally be at the very front of the train (but on occasions may not).

Yes, it should be at the London-end of the train. On GWR 9-car trains that will be coaches L and K, on 5-car sets it’s D and E.  On GWR trains there is a large white sign with a ‘1’ and the words ‘First Class’ by the door on the First Class carriages.  

The platform train indicator sign will usually say if they are at the front or rear on the day (it will have a rolling scroll of information beneath the train indication), as will the train announcements. At some stations, and I’m afraid I’m not sure about Bath, there are ‘zones’ on the platform and so you may hear that First Class is in Zone 1, for example - the zones are indicated by numbers on the platform itself.

1 hour ago, T-2 said:

I can't wait to give the ticket purchases a try tomorrow,

As JB says, the GWR site may not be the easiest for a ‘novice’ user (I use it all the time, but I’m on GWR trains very frequently!j. The journey planner at National Rail has a different layout and may be easier for you - you will be redirected to GWR to book. Both have apps as well, of course! 
 

Feel free to check back here with your results 😀

4 hours ago, Eglesbrech said:

Edinburgh airport will apparently be providing this service in 2 years time according to their press releases.

The interview I read quoted the CEO as saying two to three years after agreement is reached at government level. There will also be primary and secondary legislation requirements, which are outwith the gift of the airport authority. 

And he said two years last year as well, I think... so I wouldn't take that as a firm timetable just yet, more just putting pressure on the government!

4 hours ago, Thejuggler said:

Once you descend the escalator you are on virtual US soil and under US jurisdiction and border force laws.

It doesn't really matter, but I don't think that's quite legally correct. A pre-clearance area remains host state territory and the US agents operating there have diplomatic-style 'privileges and immunities' and limited powers of detention, implemented by State law. The AGS can operate there at will. 

6 hours ago, SEA58 said:

Cotswold Eagle, you live in a beautiful part of the world.  Have been there twice and loved it!

Shhh, don’t tell everyone, they’ll all come 😀 Glad you enjoyed my part of the world and I hope you have a great cruise!

12 hours ago, jerrib said:

I hesitate to make a reservation due to weather concerns.  Is it possible to just show up and hope they have room?  Thanks.

You can cancel up to 48 hours before, so should have a good idea of the weather by then. Also, their booking engine has real time availability, so you could monitor how busy they are for the day/time you want. 
But you can book at their office and I’m sure they’ll try to accommodate you. 

11 hours ago, Island2Dweller said:

if the "we" is more than three then the staff may have "groupsave" fare options which can knock a third off the walk up fares.

Good point - I feel we don’t mention GroupSave enough on this board somehow. Even better news, it’s actually ‘three or more’, not ‘more than three’ 😀

OP - the journey planner at National Rail does a pretty good job of sorting through these options for you. 

4 hours ago, marys350 said:

Although the websites that you provided links for have good information about applying for ETA for travel to the United Kingdom (UK) I don't think that they are the official government website.

100% correct and thank you for pointing this out. These types of website often transition into near-scams which charge a fee for an application process that is free (there is, of course, a charge for the ETA itself). 
 

As far as I know, there is no published timetable for the global rollout. I believe the ambition is still for this calendar year. 
 

Beekee did post a screen shot of the UK government website up thread, but described it as Ukrainian. (The domain identifier for Ukraine is UA). 

45 minutes ago, ColoradoMom!! said:

Thanks @gumshoe958

 

So if I were to take the tube from Waterloo, is it considered outside of London proper - would it have contactless payment?  And that entrance would be different than where I would access the trains  - like underground probably- no pun intended.

Waterloo is absolutely right in the heart of London. 
 

It will all make a lot more sense once you are here, but the Underground and the national rail system are entirely separate systems. So you will tap out of the Underground station (yes, at Waterloo it’s underground, but outside central London most of the Underground network is overground!) enter the mainline station and need a ticket at the gate for the platform for you train to Southampton. 

6 hours ago, shay1 said:

I googled it and some site that I checked showed that time.

Ah, I wonder if you happened to hit upon a reduced timetable due to industrial action. 

4 hours ago, shay1 said:

Glad to know it is cheaper to just use our contactless credit card.

Gatwick rail pricing is possibly the most complicated on the network, but extremely simple in one sense - pay as you go, by Oyster or contactless, is the best. You will need a card (or mobile device with a payment method) each, though. Just make sure you avoid the Gatwick Express. 

And as Globaliser says, and it's one thing most of us around here agree on, the drive to Gatwick from town is a dreadful journey through south London suburbia. If you were going to do it, I guess 0530 on a weekend is the best time, but I really would not. 

That’s a Saturday, so trains pretty much as Twickenham described above (the first Gatwick Express is a little later, I think). I’m genuinely puzzled why you thought there was no service until 0730 - there is at least one Thameslink train an hour from central London to Gatwick throughout the night, plus the very early start of services from Victoria. .  
 

45 minutes ago, mlbcruiser said:

started with XO in the name

XO is a small chain of hotels in Amsterdam, so important to note which one you’re looking at when you get time for more research!

47 minutes ago, mlbcruiser said:

Something called the RAI is in that area.

RAI is a convention centre complex, so there are a bunch of hotels serving that. Rates no doubt will vary according to what events are on. Good variety of quick connections to the centre via train, tram or metro. 
 

Sounds like you are looking in the right areas, so good luck with your search! 

Could one of the hotels have been Hotel NH Amsterdam Noord? I can see some decent rates for there in July. That could be a definite candidate. 

Noord Amsterdam is not too far out - but it's the other side of the canal to the main sights, the station and the cruise port. There's a free ferry from the back of Central Station, which makes it walkable, but there are also pubic transport options.

Hopefully some of our Amsterdam experts will be along to give opinions, but I know that some of Noord is pretty nice - a 'village within a city' as they say.

3 hours ago, mlbcruiser said:

We’ll be needing a hotel for 2 nights in Amsterdam prior to an ocean going cruise.

Hoping not to have tp pay more than $200 per night in early July  and will need one with an elevator

Those needs sound very unlikely in your hoped for price range, which is extremely cheap for central Amsterdam. Is $200/night a genuine budget constraint or just what you think you should be paying? Amsterdam is now regarded as one of the most expensive tourist cities in the world, I'm afraid.

Which hotels have you found? You can get some views on their location (and facilities) if you let us know. 

11 hours ago, Dutch_Travelgirl said:

From their recent posts, it seems that the OP has literally moved on and is now looking at cruises in other parts of the world. 

Ah, yes. How rude not to come back and let us know.

Their question about using insurance to get a cheap solo fare, though 😲

1 hour ago, Dutch_Travelgirl said:

How will you arrive in Amsterdam?

I assumed that the reference to "a couple last minute cruises" meant the OP was thinking about back to back cruises, but you are correct that's not necessarily the right interpretation!   

As a seasoned international traveller, I am surprised the previous two posters have been quite so blasé. To me, it seems pretty tight, with risks over which you have little control (and that may not be insurable). A delay through the sea locks into Amsterdam or retrieving bags at Barcelona could make life difficult. What's Plan B?

The time of arrival and departure of the two ships are not relevant - it's what time you can get off in Amsterdam (and do you know if you would be disembarking at the passenger terminal in the centre of Amsterdam or out at Ijmuiden) and the 'all aboard' time in Barcelona. I would expect both those to squeeze your window.

Looking at a random date next week, the only feasible flights seem to be the 1025 KLM or 1030 Vueling. If you are off the ship with your luggage by 0730 they are possible, but earlier than usually suggested here. 

14 hours ago, John Bull said:

Altho those Advance tickets are "no changes, no refunds",

This is a common misconception, oft reinforced on these boards. 
 

Advance tickets are changeable until time of departure of the booked train, for a £10 fee and change of fare to an available one for the service one now wishes to travel on. 

First, just to be clear, you mean the Millennium Gloucester Hotel on Gloucester ROAD in Kensington, London right? The American habit of dropping the last part of an address, which has now infected the actual name of this hotel, can really backfire in Europe - in this case, the title of the thread reads as if you are going to Gloucester, a town almost 100 miles from London. 
 

This one should be a no-brainier. Gloucester Road tube station is right next door and on the direct Piccadilly line from Heathrow. As easy it gets, except you don’t want to take the train, so I’m not really sure why you’re asking 🤣

On 3/16/2024 at 8:19 AM, Sarnia 432 said:

Alesund - 15 Sept 2022 and 27 June 2023

Town is very walkable from the ship

Stairs to Fjellstua viewpoint - 418 steps to the top (or use cable car)

There is no cable car up Mount Aksla in Ålesund. The 418 steps are well worth it for the view, or one can get there by road. 
 

You may have been thinking of Tromso, where there is another cafe also called Fjellstua at the top station of the Fjellheisen cable car? 

5 minutes ago, cruiseaholic78 said:

Maybe this will help.

https://www.space-institute.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Avoiding-Stairs-on-the-Tube2.pdf

Rosalyn

That's very out of date (2011) - not sure why you posted from a third party site. 

The current TfL version is here, or their app (TFL Go) has a host of step free information.

https://content.tfl.gov.uk/step-free-tube-guide-map.pdf