gumshoe958

Ok, so what’s your explanation? A reminder - no other cruise line has this rule. Just NCL.

Big corporations don’t work like that though. A bean-counter will have spotted NCL’s total bill for duty on international alcohol sales and decided it should be cut. They won’t even have factored in the lost revenue but that doesn’t matter because the bean-counter will be credited with reducing unnecessary costs.

NCL is hardly likely to put up a sign saying “we’re too cheap to pay duty on alcohol so we can’t sell you any”. Yet no other cruise line is doing this, either in Italy or Southampton. So what’s your explanation?

It should take no longer than an hour to get landside, and quite possibly far less. If you have a US passport (or EU or many other countries) you can use the automated gates at the UK border instead of queueing to see an immigration officer. There’s often no queue at all for those. Customs is normally just a walk-through unless you have goods to declare or are unlucky enough to get stopped. The main variable, as at most airports, is baggage reclaim.

Well clearly local laws prohibit them from selling alcohol if duty isn’t paid. So technically they’re right.

It’s not local law. Other cruise lines have no such policy. It seems to be entirely an NCL decision - presumably to avoid paying duty.

It’s not that bad - but like any big airport the amount of walking depends on your terminal and gate. I found Miami much worse than Heathrow when it comes to walking distances.

According to a post on the Royal Caribbean board, with photographic evidence, NCL has imposed the same rule in Livorno and Civitavecchia in Italy. Looks to me like a very deliberate attempt to cut costs by avoiding the need to pay duty on alcohol sales while in port.

I saw another post saying NCL had the same rule in Southampton, where it’s definitely not a port regulation and Royal has no such rule. At a guess NCL is trying to cut costs by avoiding the need to pay duty on alcohol & tobacco sales while in port.

The first four are very close to each other - no more than 5-10 minutes’ walk apart. The last one is slightly further - maybe 15 minutes - but the historic centre of Bruges is very compact and delightful to walk around.

While unusual in the US, interporting is actually very common in Europe. On some MSC Med cruises, new passengers embark at almost every port of call. Royal, of course, makes a bit of a hash of it: it hasn’t yet found a way to make the app work for Civitavecchia passengers so they can only book shows etc once on board.

From the port at Zeebrugge you can get to Bruges using a ship’s tour, a shuttle bus (either pre-booked or pay at the port), a shuttle bus & train combo (cheapest) or a taxi. Note - only taxis can take you right into the historic centre. Buses and trains leave you with a 15 minute walk (a very nice walk, mind).

There are no direct tube, train or bus services from Heathrow to Waterloo. Your options are: Fastest (but most expensive unless pre-booked well in advance) - Heathrow Express train to Paddington, then Bakerloo line tube. Slowest but cheapest - Piccadilly line tube to Green Park, then Jubilee line. Somewhere in the middle - Elizabeth line train to Bond Street, then Jubilee line tube. Note that, while doable, the tube is not ideal with lots of heavy luggage.

No, there is no dedicated luggage space. There are narrow overhead racks above the seats but if you have large cases you’ll need to wedge them into an empty seat next to you and hope it’s not too busy as you may be asked to move them if someone needs the seat. Shouldn’t be a problem on trains heading against the commuter flow (although since Covid commuter traffic has reduced considerably and leisure travel has boomed so even off-peak services can be unpredictably busy).

Only on 4, 5, 6, 11, 12 & 13 August, and then only for a lecture inside Studio Two rather than a full tour. Abbey Road is still a busy, working studio facility, not a tourist attraction.

That’ll help, but Bruges gets crowded even without cruise passengers. It’s easy to get to from all over western Europe and hugely popular.

Make sure you know which terminal at Heathrow your flight leaves from and pick a hotel accordingly. 2 & 3 are right next to each other but 4 & 5 are some distance apart and completely separate. There are only a handful of hotels within walking distance of the terminals, most require a cab or (not free) bus ride to get to. Heathrow does not allow free hotel shuttles.

Yes, but there’s an admin fee of £10 plus the difference between what you paid and the standard walk-up fare of £20.

You can certainly book online here in the UK but their site may not allow bookings from the US. I think P&O may use a third party agency for sales in the US - try PO Americas dot com.

Other options: Cunard’s brand new ship Queen Anne from Southampton on Sep 1st. For a higher end British experience (think ballroom dancing, afternoon tea with a harpist and mandatory dressing for dinner). Or NCL have an interesting one-way 11 night itinerary from Southampton to Reykjavik on Sep 15th on Prima, taking in Norway & Iceland. Easy to fly from Reykjavik back to the UK, or even direct to the US east coast. Or stay on and do a 21 night B2B back to Southampton! Or Princess have a spectacular 14 night Arctic Circle itinerary from Southampton on Caribbean Princess on Sep 24th.

You could consider P&O, who have several Norway cruises from Southampton in Sep 24. While part of Carnival, they are a British-based line and the vast majority of passengers will be British so food, entertainment etc will be targeted accordingly. Their prices are usually good and they’re a mass market line akin to Royal or NCL. Check out the Iona itineraries on Sep 7th or 14th.

If hubby liked Alaska I’d highly recommend the Norwegian fjords. Several cruise lines sail there from Southampton so you could easily combine it with a stay in the UK. English is spoken excellently everywhere so language won’t be a problem, and he’ll easily find food he likes.

Just ask your cab driver to drop you off at the Cutty Sark. You’ll then need to walk the last few yards to the river as the area around Greenwich Pier is pedestrianised.

1) No, there are ticket vending machines at the Heathrow coach stops. But it’s cheaper and easier to do it online in advance. For an extra £5 you can buy a “Change & Go” upgrade which allows you to travel on any coach 12 hours either side of the one you book, as long as there’s space. 2) That will depend on which terminal you arrive at. Assuming it’s Terminal 2 or 3 (for all US/Canadian airlines) you just follow the signs to the central bus station. It’s a 5-10 minute walk via underground tunnels with moving walkways.

I would stay in Rotterdam, then use the train to visit Amsterdam: they’re fast and very frequent. Hotels in Rotterdam are much cheaper, and you’ll be well placed for a relaxed getaway on the morning of your cruise. Rotterdam itself is also well worth exploring.