ladysail2

Thank you Dutch Travelgirl. I respect your opinion. I will cancel my reservations at the other two hotels. Thank you very much for the museum tip and flower market tip. I was interested in bringing some bulbs back to Canada. I can bring back 6 bulbs without a licence. Is there anywhere that you can recommend a person buy healthy bulbs? That’s also too bad about the flowers..hopefully I can buy some flowers somewhere. As you say, the entrance fees are reasonable, LOL, so I’ll take a look anyway. No buying!! Thank you again for responding! 😊

After much scrutiny and hemming and hawing, looking for a hotel in Amsterdam where I don’t have to sell my first born, LOL…I have three hotels on reserve….I’ve reserved a single room at Pension Homeland, Koopermoolen and Prins Hendrick. One person wasn’t happy with the tiny room at Koopermoolen; it’s inside the red light district so I’d be worried about noise at night. The reviews for Pension Homeland were average. I think Prins Hendrick is what I’m leaning towards as far as location, walk ability to the Tulip Museum, flower market, shopping, the Dam Square, and a few other places. The reservation is for the end of August. I was wondering if anyone had an opinion on one of these places. I’m just looking for a decent room, nothing fancy but bigger than a large closet. Hopefully it has a window and is clean. I usually book a double room, but these prices are wow! The Grand Prix must be driving the prices up. Thank you for any insight into the choices..😊

I phone Carnival to book in CDN. Have never seen where I can do it on their website. Royal Caribbean can do both, wonder why Carnival won’t? I’m not sure you will get the $50 deposit in CDN bookings though. At least they keep any OBC in US funds.

The email from Carnival doesn’t specifically say what the 25% FCC is based on. The email does say that all monies paid so far will be totally refunded including the deposit..even for Early Saver. I’ve paid the deposit plus made equal monthly payments to the tune of about $1600. I’m presuming the 25% FCC is based on the cruise fare only…not port fees and taxes. They are giving a $100 OBC for the inconvenience…..are they giving another $100 OBC for booking a future cruise by Feb 2023? Shucks, when my cruise was cancelled in 2020…we got $600 OBC….that was nice! Will Carnival inform us of the amount of the FCC, or does the travel agent do that? Guess I’ll just have to wait for Carnival or my ta to inform me of amounts.

Just wondering if the Tube strike set for Nov 3 has been postponed similar to the train strikes due to Poppy Day? I’ve Googled the question but the info is still saying a strike is set. At least the buses are still running if the Tube trains are not…not totally out of luck for getting around. 😕

I’m landing in London on the 2nd and going to Southampton on the 5th….so lots of time that way….just have to leave the hotel in plenty of time. I was going to take a taxi to Victoria Coach station from my Earl’s Court hotel…they might be in high demand due to the strike. Might have to take the tube. 🤔

I’ve heard of that occurance. I wanted to take an earlier bus. Now that there will a train strike on the day I’m taking the bus, I want to make sure I have a ticket beforehand.

Or Canada as well. Now, the Debit machines ask if you want to tip the fast food staff…..and that’s before you wait for your food or taste it!! Smart..tip before service…innovative!!??

The topic veered ‘off track’…..🤣🤣

Thank you for your recommendation. I’ll be back to Southampton, so perhaps I’ll try the White Star Tavern next time. 😊

Thank you so much for all the effort you take to inform visitors, that is so kind of you, John . I’m in agreement, as much as Ennio’s roast lunch looks nice and is convenient….I will enjoy my roast lunch at The Duke of Wellington set among historical walls. I’ve had fish&chips there before and enjoyed the ambience and people watching. I wish I enjoyed beer to make it a true pub visit, but unless they serve me beer in a shot glass, that’s about as much as I can handle. I’ll have to settle for a glass of wine. We have already purchased our Fireworks tickets at Mayflower Park. I sure hope it doesn’t rain. We are also looking forward to seeing what the food trucks offer. 😁. BTW, we were taught about the antics of Guy Fawkes in school over here in Canada. The evening will have a small significance to me! I’m looking forward to it. Thank you again!

Thank you John. I tried the on-line chat, but it’s not a person, just a series of topics with further policies and rules. I felt the simplest thing to do was buy a new ticket, so that’s what I did. The time change difference was not significant, just 30 minutes but it meant that I didn’t arrive into Southampton until 1pm. With sundown around 5pm, it didn’t give me alot of time to go to a few places that I’d like to visit. So I am taking the 8:30am bus from London and arriving at 10:40am 🤞. That gives me some extra time. I hope they don’t change this schedule 🤞. Also, I made a reservation at the Duke of Wellington for Sunday Roast lunch. I am really looking forward to that! Thank you for all your help! 😊

I bought a National Express ticket from London to Southampton. It is non-amenable and non- refundable. But National Express has changed my departure time to a later time. There are earlier times available that I would rather take. I really can’t find help on their website about how to change my ticket. Do I have to buy a new ticket, or will they exchange my current one to a more preferable time for me. Thank you for any help.

It looks good that’s for sure. Thank you for the link.

I had a look at both Ennio’s Sunday lunch and The Duke of Wellington Sunday lunch. Would you have a preference? The price difference isn’t too bad…. Thanks again!

I’m staying at Ennio’s for one night..Nov 5, cruise on the 6th. I would love to experience an English Sunday roast lunch. Would you recommend the Duke of Wellington? I can’t go to Botley, would have to stay in Southampton. I’m not sure if Ennio’s has a roast lunch, I’ll take a look at their menu. Also, , you recommended making a reservation…would that still be applicable. Thank you so much for all your help. 😊

I sure hope to have that ‘problem’ some day! LOL. 😁

I’m still on the fence about using a travel agent. After cruising for nearly 20 years doing it all myself, I decided to try a ta. Several of them. I still did the original booking, cabin choice, deposit, then handed it over. The ta had little to figure out. The only two lines involved were Royal Caribbean and Carnival. My friends wanted to sail the new Carnival ships. None of the ta offered anything but OBC. Carnival must pay the best commission because I received great OBC for Carnival..in the neighbourhood of $200 for a $4000 cruise. But Royal…very low. One cruise of about $3000, a $35 OBC…another $2000 cruise..a $50 OBC. I’m not sure that I like losing control of my booking either, although the ta has been very responsive to any changes that I might need to make. After these sets of cruises are done, I’ll evaluate how I feel about using a ta.

Thank you for that link, LHT28. I come into Galveston next year from Southampton. I have departed Galveston before and used a shuttle service from Houston to the port. It worked out very well.

Some people don’t believe that going on Carnival is better than going on Royal Caribbean. To each his own, but we weren’t discussing Guy’s.

I remember when it was free….2003…

A resident of Canada doesn’t have to deal with US Customs beyond showing your passport and answering a few questions. Canadians deal with Canadian Customs upon re-entry to Canada. If you are a Canadian, you have to complete ArriveCan. You will upload both your vaccination status and passport information into the app before entering Canada. Your cruise ship policies will dictate how your vaccination information is revealed. Most cruise companies want to know your vaccination status. Hope that helps somewhat.

Very, Very Yum! My absolute favourite!!

If your invoice is in CAD$, then the gratuities are converted to CAD as well. But as Wemjam says, you may be too close to sailing to add them yourself. Try phoning Carnival to see if they’ll take payment over the phone. Enjoy your cruise!

Thank you for this information. I haven’t cruised on Carnival in a number of years. What constitutes the chocolate delight? Chocolate covered strawberries? My favourite perk is the laundry perk, most handy. 😊