gumshoe958

Absolutely fine. Anything goes (more or less) these days.

There are no direct flights from Southampton to Rome that I’m aware of, so for a direct flight you’d need to get to a London airport (Heathrow or Gatwick).

If you want to fly from Southampton, which is a small regional airport, you’ll have to transfer somewhere like Amsterdam.

Airlines’ baggage policies differ but most now charge for checked-in bags unless you’re flying business class or have status, and the low cost carriers often charge extra to put a bag in the overhead locker as well.

Southampton is a problem for Royal now.

The new strategy is all about getting families on short cruises to the sun. But from Southampton, the places in the sun where families want to go are at least a week away, and longer cruises are no longer Royal’s thing.

So they’re a bit stuck. Either sell longer cruises to the Med or the Canaries, or short booze cruises to northern Europe which aren’t appealing to families. Neither of which fit into the new strategy.

10 minutes ago, little britain said:

Seriously?! So they take away a ship launched in 2008 and now give the Brits a ship launched in 2007!!! 
Jeez they really treasure that UK market don’t they ?! 🤦‍♀️

Sadly the UK doesn’t fit all that well with Royal’s new strategy of short sailings, repetitive itineraries, ship is the destination (for which you need warm, sunny weather).
 

Maybe they’ve found out the hard way that there’s only so much demand for expensive short breaks to Hamburg, Rotterdam and Zeebrugge, and for Norwegian fjords cruises that can’t visit the ports people really want to see.

From Anthem to Independence to Liberty is quite the downgrade and, if true, would indeed prove that the UK is no longer a key market for Royal under Jason Liberty.

Set the app to the current sailing and you can see typical show times.

1 hour ago, Markanddonna said:

Here's what we ended up doing: we booked the train thru Birmingham. Everything was going fine until we learned that our train was cancelled due to track problems. No text or email, just conflicting info, esp from Liner who told us we had to change it with the company...waiting on hold ..

We just followed the most common advice and hopped on the next one scheduled an hour later. No problem but arrived 90 minutes later.

You did the right thing. Was this less than 28 days ago? Because if so, for a 90 minute delay you should be entitled to claim a full refund under the Delay Repay scheme.

You claim it online from the train company whose train was cancelled (maybe CrossCountry in your case?), NOT the one you booked with (LNER).

There’s the free Coral Way trolley which stops on Biscayne Blvd right outside Bayside, though it’s about a 5 minute walk to the terminal from the closest port stop.

Only if you buy The Key.

6 minutes ago, RoperDK said:

Isn't the MDR open for breakfast on all days and on all ships?

No, on some ships the MDR now does only brunch on sea days, not separate breakfast and lunch.

46 minutes ago, Ramblin Wreck Cruiser said:

Thank you all for your excellent advice. I believe we will just hop in a cab or two (we are two couples with large bags) and board the train at Waterloo. It seems like the simplest way. Changing at Clapham Junction sounds far too complicated to me.

 

Thank you all again for your wealth of knowledge!

Sensible choice. Clapham Junction is an extremely busy commuter station (always used to be the busiest in Britain by number of trains) and isn’t ideal for cruisers dragging large bags. Trains only stop for a few seconds so it’s always a mad rush to get on, and there’s no guarantee of good seats - or even any seats if it’s busy and the train is full when it leaves Waterloo.

At Waterloo you should have plenty of time to board, find seats, store your bags and relax. And good news about the tickets!

Age is just a number, it’s all about attitude.

Virgin is very much aimed at the young at heart, unlike certain lines which can feel like floating nursing homes with activities to match.

If you like good food, slightly risqué entertainment and an upbeat vibe you’ll love it.

1 hour ago, markeb said:

 

 

Is there actually anything that would keep someone from simply buying an advanced ticket from London Waterloo and boarding at Clapham Junction? Same train? Are the stations close enough together that they might not have finished checking tickets anyway. I'm pretty sure I've always had my ticket checked in the UK (unlike Germany where it's an exception), but not always at the first stations. I remember some stations require a ticket to get to the platform. Just curious. Not something I'd recommend to the OP.

 

 

Advance tickets can only be used to travel to and from the specified stations on the specified train. So if you were caught joining a train at Clapham Junction with an Advance ticket from Waterloo to Southampton, you’d be in trouble.
 

Now the chances of anyone noticing are slim so YMMV on whether it’s worth the risk. But it’s not without risk, and being caught can have serious consequences.

34 minutes ago, Ramblin Wreck Cruiser said:

 

Thank you both for your replies. I’m a bit confused because the LNER site lets me choose Victoria to Southampton and it says there will be one or two changes of train depending on the time. So it is not as simple as this?

Yes, it is confusing!

There is an alternative route from Victoria to Southampton, using Southern trains (not Southwestern). But it’s much slower - nearly 3 hours - and does indeed involve changing trains en route. 

Another option is to take a Southern train from Victoria to Clapham Junction (about 5-10 mins) and pick up the Southwestern train from Waterloo to Southampton there. But I don’t think you’ll ever be offered a cheap Advance ticket for that particular route as it involves two different train companies.

So if you want to use the train it would be easiest to book an Advance ticket for the direct train from Waterloo (not Victoria) to Southampton, and take a cab, Uber or an 11 or 211 bus from your hotel to Waterloo.

But given where you’re staying you might also consider the direct National Express coach to Southampton from Victoria Coach Station, less than 5 minutes walk from your hotel. The coaches at 8:30 and 10:00 on August 6th are currently only £5.20 per person. You won’t find a better bargain than that!

Annoyingly, there is no direct tube between Victoria & Waterloo. You have to change trains. I would just jump in a cab or get an Uber, particularly if you’ll have luggage.

As @Thejugglersays, keep checking for Advance tickets to Southampton. They should go on sale soon. You are indeed seeing the full walk-up fare.

It depends on the ship and how many categories of inside & oceanview cabins there are but in my experience, from the cheapest inside you’re unlikely to be offered much higher than an ocean view balcony.

2 hours ago, chickychubs said:

The pricing of these cruises are pretty unattractive to me especially with these repetitive itineraries. I think this is due to the lack of choices in Singapore as RCCL and Genting are the only companies with ships home ported here. Until things change, I'd rather go for land tours in Malaysia or Thailand instead which would offer better itineraries,accommodations and food at a far more competitive price.

Short cruises, repetitive itineraries and high prices is now Royal’s MO globally.

We all hate it, but it seems to be working.

1 minute ago, wolfie11 said:

Yes, but I’d have to go on a monstrous big ship for that and I refuse to get on a ship with more than 3500 passengers and would prefer under 2000.

Royal’s probably not the line for you then! 

17 minutes ago, wolfie11 said:

With the exception of Virgin, cruise line shows seem to be endless slight variations on the same theme.  I can’t even sit through 90% of them. Even the talent is the same as most cruise lines use many of the same agencies.

While that is certainly true for many of Royal’s in-house production shows and headliners, you can’t possibly think the Broadway, Aqua and Ice shows are slight variations on the same theme? Love them or hate them, they’re high quality productions and are, for me, what sets Royal apart from other lines.

I agree Virgin’s entertainment is refreshingly different, but there are only so many times I can sit through Dual Reality.

29 minutes ago, Jam0610 said:

Might have something to do with booking Boy George and Culture Club to headline President's Cruise 2024?

Sure seems like an odd choice to me.

 

 

Why odd? Boy George has just finished a run in Moulin Rouge on Broadway so feels pretty relevant right now.

4 hours ago, markeb said:

What airline? That might help with likelihood of checking the bag early, and give an indication of what terminal and what's available near departures if you have to kill an hour or two.

Yes.

All the big airlines with transatlantic service at Heathrow have multiple daily flights so keep their check-in desks open all day.

But how early they let you drop bags may depend on their individual policy, your class of travel and your status with them so it’s best to check with them.

That said, I concur with the advice above to check out International Friends for a longer tour which would be a far more pleasant way to kill time than waiting around Heathrow for hours.

Yes, the standard fleetwide Chops menu includes a 6oz and 9oz filet.

5 minutes ago, Hobie1976 said:

I noticed on the Unlimited Dining it states premium cuts at Chops not included. 
Have they added premium cuts to their menu?

This looks like something new.  I called Royal, but the rep did not know. 

On Icon only, yes.

30 minutes ago, gonole1972 said:

Who is "some people"?  And how do YOU, Cussmatt4, know Nick didn't voluntary resign for some personal reason, etc.  Get back to us when you have identified the "some people". 

 

 

If he’d resigned, Royal would have released a much longer and warmer statement paying tribute to his many achievements.

But they didn’t, and anyone with even a basic knowledge of corporate PR will confirm that tells you all you need to know.

I fear the days of live orchestras and full Broadway shows with 20+ cast members are numbered. 
 

Much cheaper to have a few singers and dancers performing to prerecorded tracks like on most other cruise lines.
 

Most people won’t care or notice the difference but it’s another sad reflection of the direction Liberty’s taking Royal in.

38 minutes ago, Anton said:

He was posting tweets as late as Friday touting Royal entertainment.  

Fairly obviously not his choice to leave.

I hope this doesn’t mean big cuts to entertainment. It’s a big USP for Royal.