gumshoe958

Well it would certainly be more convenient for Rome and the airport - only a 10 minute drive to FCO or 45 minutes into the city, much closer than Civitavecchia. This being Italy, don’t expect progress to be quick though.

Yes, all trains from Blankenberge stop at Bruges before (mostly) continuing on to other destinations in Belgium. They generally run once an hour 7 days a week.

There’d be a riot if no food was available until the evening! Most people head straight for the Windjammer (buffet) which is open for lunch but gets extremely crowded. Depending on the ship you can get a lighter lunch at the cafe, or pizza, or a few other takeout options on the bigger ships. And at least one specialty restaurant will be open for lunch if you want to pay extra.

The Elizabeth line doesn’t go to Bank, and Farringdon is considerably further away from Tower Bridge than Liverpool Street, so this isn’t very helpful advice. I would follow the advice from @Twickenham and take the Elizabeth line to Liverpool Street.

There are several buses a day from Invergordon to Dornoch (route X25) but there are some big gaps in the timetable so you’d need to check whether the times fit in with your schedule. Journey time is about 45 minutes each way. Otherwise you’d need a taxi (or potentially two taxis for 6 of you).

I rarely recommend National Express coaches for journeys between Heathrow and central London as the train or tube is normally faster and more convenient. But in your case, your hotel is just around the corner from the Victoria coach station so it’s the easiest way unless you prefer a cab (which would be quicker but cost a lot more). Coaches run at least every 30 minutes from the Heathrow Central bus station, which is a short walk from T2. Booking in advance online is advisable, and during the booking process you can add a ‘Change & Go’ upgrade for £5 which allows you to use any coach within 12 hours of the one you booked, if there’s room.

The tube isn’t closed, just Kentish Town station. You can still use Tufnell Park if that’s convenient. But yes, with luggage and a child in tow it may be simpler just to cab or Uber it to Waterloo.

1. Gatwick and Kentish Town are both on the Thameslink rail line, however you will need to change trains at St Pancras International. Catch any northbound Thameslink train from Gatwick (final destination usually Bedford or Cambridge), get off at St Pancras then wait on the same platform for a train that stops at Kentish Town, which is the next station (final destination usually St Albans or Luton). 2. To get to Waterloo, catch a Northern line tube train from Tufnell Park. You want a southbound Charing Cross branch train, not a Bank one. 3. For both the above journeys, and for all your travel within London, it is easiest to use a contactless debit/credit card or Apple/Google Pay to touch in and out at the barriers for each journey you make. Buying paper tickets tends to be more expensive.

Have a look at The Pig. A beautiful country house hotel in the middle of nowhere (but not far from Canterbury) with a lovely restaurant. https://www.thepighotel.com (There are a few of them around the country, the one you want is The Pig at Bridge Place.)

Wrong board - try here: https://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/forum/116-northern-europe-amp-baltic-sea/

If anything remotely interesting had emerged, you can guarantee it would have already been posted here or picked up by one of the bloggers.

What about air miles? Failing that I guess it’s a choice between sucking it up or gambling that Cunard Air will come up trumps while hoping that fares don’t rise even higher.

How much is return air fare? Might be cheaper than one way, and you can just throw away the return leg.

They’ve said they are, yes. But politicians say a lot of things that never actually happen. We’ll just have to see whether or not this does happen. But even if it does, it’s years away.

They certainly are. It’s all done electronically behind the scenes based on the API you submit, but if you haven’t got an ESTA or other permission to enter the US you’ll be denied boarding.

Agreed. You won’t see the nicest bits of Amsterdam from the bus. You will from a boat.

Look up the current sailing on the app, that’ll give you a good idea of what’s on when.

I just got a Voom refund through in 3 days. And we should probably be grateful that Royal hasn’t made cruise planner purchases non-refundable.

And I can’t see France agreeing to let it start until the Olympics & Paralympics are well out of the way - so late 2024 at the earliest. And yes, probably not even then.

You can’t normally book headliner shows - just the main Broadway or production shows, ice shows and Aqua shows on Oasis class and the 270 shows on Quantum class. Comedy club bookings seem to open much later, or maybe not even until you’re on board.

Newhaven is the terminus of the newly extended tram (streetcar) line. The stop is a short walk from the port. Trams run every 7-10 minutes and take about 20 minutes to St Andrew Square, from where it’s a 10 minute walk to the Royal Mile. A day ticket, valid on all trams and Lothian buses in the city zone, costs £5 - far less than your cruise line’s outrageously overpriced excursion.

Normally the start of the month before the month of your cruise. So around now for cruises in September.

I would file this under ‘nothing to worry about right now’. Until they actually confirm a launch date (which will probably be delayed again), there’s no point even thinking about it.

Yes, a very short walk.

From the Royal website: Voyagers (ages 9-12 years) will explore a range of activities that puts the "cool" back into learning.