gumshoe958

As things stand, I would expect a normal half-hourly service to run, and no I would not seek other transportation.

Ole Smoky moonshine.

West Quay Cars (based in Southampton) are consistently recommended on here, and promote Stonehenge stopovers as an option on their website. https://westquaycars.com/southampton-cruise-port-transfers/ Or at the London end Blackberry Cars are also frequently recommended, although they’re likely to be more expensive. https://www.blackberrycars.com

Yes, you’ll have time. Cobh isn’t a big place and everything’s easily walkable from the ship.

You could try Deal, a very attractive little seaside town with a castle that’s open to the public. Closer to Dover than Sandwich, on the same train line.

Yes, noon should be fine. You’d be unlucky if it took more than an hour to get landside. For added security, National Express do offer a £5 ‘Change & Go’ upgrade during the booking process, which allows you to swap to any coach 12 hours either side of the one you booked, as long as there’s space.

Heathrow Express sells advance tickets at a variety of different prices starting at £5.50, but the cheapest fares are strictly limited and once they sell out the price goes up to the next level (£7.50), then the next and so on. So it looks like you missed out on the cheapest tickets. But the easiest route from Heathrow to your hotel would actually be the Piccadilly line tube, which runs direct to Earl’s Court every 5-10 minutes. Your hotel is about a 10 minute walk from the station. The fare is £3.40 at peak times Mon-Fri, or £2.10 at all other times if you use a contactless payment card, Apple/Google Pay or an Oyster card. A paper ticket is £6.70.

The law requires a minimum of two weeks’ notice. So yes, there could be more to come.

Schengen has nothing to do with whether you can use self-service check-in kiosks at AMS. Nor does your nationality. It’s purely down to whether your airline has them or not. Some do, some don’t.

If you can go this year, Celebrity Edge is doing Rome-Dubai-Singapore leaving on Oct 30th. (And onwards to Sydney if you fancy a real adventure!)

The CLIA is in desperate damage limitation mode. General consensus seems to be that the existing city centre cruise terminal WILL close, but not for many years and even then ships will continue to visit Amsterdam, docking at either an existing or new terminal further out of town.

The price can go up or down, and most of us only think it’s worth it if it’s no more than two or three dollars more than the Voom price as apart from the internet the benefits are limited.

Indeed, but looking at a couple of random dates next July it’s $295 a night.

I’ve never been but The Stage Door is right next door - they do basic pub food (pies, burgers, fish & chips) and get decent reviews on Tripadvisor. http://www.thestagedoor.co.uk

You’ll be lucky to find anything in central Amsterdam for under $300 these days, let alone $200. You should think about looking further out of town - eg down near the RAI convention centre or the Amsterdam ArenA where rates are lower. They’re both on the train and the metro so very accessible, if not exactly in the centre of the action.

The Doubletree near Centraal Station is popular with cruisers due its proximity to both the station and the port. But, as with most Amsterdam hotels, prices have doubled this year and it’s no longer a cheap option. But there’s another Doubletree at NDSM Wharf, across the river, which is often much cheaper and is easily accessible via frequent free ferry from behind the station. Also check out the ibis Amsterdam Centre, right next to Centraal Station. They’re a reliable no-frills budget chain.

You would be fine with 11:00, or noon to be absolutely sure. For a short-haul intra-EU flight you can happily check in 90 minutes before departure.

Rotterdam to Schiphol is roughly a one hour drive, maybe more at that time on a weekday. If you’re looking at a transatlantic flight the advice is to arrive 3 hours before departure. So as you can see 11.40 is doable but tight and depends on an on-time arrival, a speedy disembarkation, no long queues at border control and a delay-free drive to Schiphol.

Annoyingly, it’s common for train companies to delay putting cheap advance tickets on sale for Sundays until they know for sure whether services will be disrupted by weekend engineering work which is fairly common. So the advice above is sensible. Either wait, and keep checking to see if cheap advance tickets become available safe in the knowledge that £41 is the maximum you’ll pay. Or, for guaranteed savings, book fully flexible National Express coach tickets that you can cancel for a full refund if necessary.

Yes. Zeebrugge is a huge commercial port and the cruise terminal is some distance from where the ship docks. As they don’t allow any walking within the port, everyone has to get on a shuttle bus to the terminal where cabs and buses to Bruges will be available.

There’s an Oman stop on the Dubai-Singapore leg. But yes, with those prices it’s an easy decision.

Yes, I’ve heard good things about brunch. I’ve only had dinner there and found the food dry and stodgy. But you’re right, food is subjective.

The bar has been a huge hit. The restaurant - not so much. I would either halve the size of the restaurant and double the size of the bar, or scrap the restaurant to make one big bar/lounge that also does a la carte food, like Playmakers.

No reservations required (or available) for the bar. It gets very busy but if there are no seats left and the restaurant isn’t full they’ll let you move chairs out into the bar.

Europcar and Enterprise both have locations in Dover. Europcar is closest to the cruise terminal but it’s still a good 20-25 minute walk. I don’t know whether they’ll meet you with a car at the terminal. Also both companies have very limited hours at weekends.