gumshoe958

It’s a half mile walk and perfectly doable in 10 to 15 minutes, albeit not what you’d call scenic. There are pavements (sidewalks) all the way BUT it’s not signposted and it does involve crossing a couple of very busy roads at intersections (there are light-controlled crossings). Put very simply you need to leave the train station by the exit on Platform 4, which most trains from London use, head right up the hill then left, and keep going.

Yes, pre-Brexit you’d have been fine but not any more. If the receipt says you can get a refund I’d try standing my ground and escalate if necessary via Guest Services. But if they still refuse there’s probably not a lot you can do on board.

Sadly that is not true on cruises where all the ports of call are in the European Union, in which case VAT will be added to all on board purchases. Some or all of it can be claimed back at the airport on departure if your destination is outside the EU. For @shilu the question of whether they need to declare their purchase to UK Customs depends on how much it cost. Goods worth up to £390 can be imported duty free. Ditto if they’re worth over £390 and you can prove they were made in the EU. Details here: https://www.gov.uk/bringing-goods-into-uk-personal-use/arriving-in-Great-Britain

Yes, if you plan ahead and get hold of a £5.50 HEX ticket (or even £7.50 or £10) it’s good value and well worth the effort, even if you’re going beyond Paddington and need to pay an additional fare to transfer to the Elizabeth Line or the tube. However the HEX advance fares have limited availability and the cheapest ones get snapped up quickly. The reality, though, is that most visitors to London will only pay for their journey from Heathrow on the day, and for them the Elizabeth Line will always be cheaper than the HEX.

Victoria is the closest station to your hotel, and there are direct trains to Southampton, once an hour - but they’re very slow (2.5 hours). The faster trains, taking half that time, leave from Waterloo every half hour. Waterloo is an easy 10 minute cab ride from your hotel. There are also direct National Express coaches from Victoria Coach Station to Southampton, roughly every hour. That’s about half a mile from your hotel so a 10 minute walk or 5 minute cab ride. Whether you take the train or the coach, once you get to Southampton you’ll need a cab to the cruise terminal. It’s a 5 to 10 minute ride. From Heathrow to your hotel you can either take a cab, an Uber, book a private pick-up (all in the £60-80 range) OR take the Heathrow Express or Elizabeth line train to Paddington and pick up a cab there.

I’m not aware of any unrest whatsoever involving refugees. There have been protests against plans to house asylum seekers on a barge at Portland, as reported by the BBC. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-dorset-66137414.amp

It is, but they’re (usually) long trains and more comfortable than, say, the LIRR or Metro North. And, so we’re told, many commuters now WFH on a Friday so leisure passengers and fellow cruisers may well outnumber them. You shouldn’t have any issues finding seats.

There’s no set price. It can and does change - both up and down. The good news is you can cancel for a full refund and repurchase if it goes down after you’ve bought it. So the usual advice is to buy it, then keep checking in case it’s come down.

How much data do you think you’ll use? 1GB may not get you very far for 24 days and you could find yourself racking up those extra $10/100MB charges quite quickly. Only you know how much you’re likely to be online.

There are five separate cruise terminals at Southampton. If your ship’s docked at the City Terminal, that’s an easy 5 minute walk from the HI and you’d honestly be there by the time you’d loaded your luggage into a cab, driven there and unloaded again at the terminal. For any of the other terminals a cab would probably be easiest. The HI reception staff can help call one for you, or use Uber. Southampton has no shortage of cabs so finding one shouldn’t be an issue.

I’d have thought the tattoo is the reason for the Johnston Terrace and Chambers Street stops closing, rather than the festival? Certainly whenever I’ve been in Edinburgh in August Chambers Street closes to traffic at some point each afternoon to be used as a coach park.

The bread. I could live entirely on that bread. And the cucumber martini is sublime.

August in Edinburgh is EXTREMELY busy. You have the Edinburgh Festival Fringe - the biggest arts festival in the world which takes over virtually every venue in the city centre with about 3,000 different shows - not to mention the actual Edinburgh Festival, numerous other festivals and the military tattoo at the castle. All of which attract hundreds of thousands of people and make getting around the city by bus, car or on foot slow. So yes, it’s walkable but be prepared for huge crowds. And it’s a hilly city, in case that’s an issue.

They’re a big national chain, nothing wrong with them but definitely not the authentic British pub the OP desires.

That’s encouraging. What about ships that are yet to enter service?

It’s about a 5-10 minute walk. Children are welcome up until 9pm. You can book a table online: https://dancingmanbrewery.co.uk/table-booking/

Yes, a private car from Southampton all the way to Holborn will be expensive. I’d use either National Express direct to Victoria coach station or the half hourly train to London Waterloo, then jump in a taxi or Uber from there to Holborn (which should cost around £15-25 depending on traffic). From Heathrow to central London, there’s no need to pre-book a private car unless you really want the driver to meet you in arrivals. That would cost more than a taxi or Uber which would be roughly £70-90. Alternatively you could try the Elizabeth line (about £13 each) which, being new, is pretty easy to navigate with luggage with plenty of elevators and step-free access to & from trains. If you’re going to Holborn, get off at Tottenham Court Road and jump in a taxi there.

Montenegro is in the Balkans, not the Baltic. About 1,200 miles away.

Princess use three different terminals at Southampton - the QE2 and Mayflower terminals would both be about a 35 minute walk (1.5 miles), and the Ocean terminal is closer - about 20 minutes (1 mile). If your cruise is in 2023 you can find out which terminal it’s scheduled to dock at here: https://www.southamptonvts.co.uk//Live_Information/Shipping_Movements_and_Cruise_Ship_Schedule/Cruise_Ship_Schedule/ (Berth 38/9 = QE2 Terminal, Berth 46 = Ocean Terminal, Berth 106 = Mayflower Terminal)

Once you have your luggage, it’s about a 10 minute walk to Heathrow Central bus station via clearly signed underground tunnels (including some moving walkways, if they’re working). The 1345 bus is certainly doable, but I would recommend buying the £5 “Change & Go” add-on which allows you to take a later bus if you miss it, subject to availability.

At least there is a bit of time to put right anything that needs putting right on Icon and Utopia. Of more concern is whether these panels were also installed on, say, Odyssey or Wonder.

They get excellent reviews but there are two red flags for me. 1) Insisting on cash only: why? Britain is rapidly going cashless and card and contactless payments are increasingly the norm. Even buskers carry card readers these days. Cash doesn’t always get declared to the taxman however … 2) An admin fee on top of the deposit: why? Charging a fee to pay by credit or debit card is now illegal in the UK but unspecified “admin fees” are a grey area. This company wouldn’t get a penny off me, however well reviewed its guides may be.

Agreed. Or just stay in London and get the train down to Dover on embarkation day. They run every hour from St Pancras station and take just over an hour.

That’s not an easy journey by train as neither Glasgow Airport nor St Andrews are on the rail network, so you’d need to catch the airport bus into Glasgow (every 12-15 mins), then a train from Queen Street station to Dundee (twice an hour), then a bus to St Andrews (every 10 mins). All of which takes around 3 hours. An easier option would be the airport bus into Glasgow, then the hourly X24 bus direct to St Andrews. Which also takes about 3 hours but with one simple transfer at Buchanan bus station. The upshot is it’s a long journey on public transport, however you do it. By car it takes between 90 minutes and 2 hours so that would be faster, but a cab or private transfer wouldn’t be cheap, as you’ve discovered.

No Uber anywhere near there. And Invergordon is a small place so taxis will be limited. You’d be advised to pre-book any journeys you need if you’re not planning to take an organised tour.