lydiamight

The original post by Love Sea days specifically mentioned that they were unable to use Public Transport because of mobility problems---hence my earlier reply focused solely on cars and taxis. Public transport is a very viable option from London to Dover, or vice versa.

There is a fast modern train service  from St Pancras International in London (this is also the Eurostar Station for trains from the Continent.) to Dover Priory Station. This service runs on the High Speed Continental line and trains take 1 hour and eight minutes. Their top speed is an impressive 140 mph.

Fast trains run once every hour and assuming that you book in advance a one -way ticket in Standard Class would be £35.60 ($48.15).  Standard Class is a perfectly civilised way to travel, there s free Wi-Fi and power points at every seat although there are no catering facilities on board. If you can't last an hour without eating or drinking there are Buffett Bar facilities at each station where you can purchase a selection of snacks and drinks for the journey.

Dover Priory Station is 1.2 miles away from the Dover Cruise Terminal and would take around 25 minutes to walk there----not something I would recommend if you have luggage. There are taxi ranks at both Dover Priory Station and the Cruise Terminal so that would be the best way to make the transfer. I am guessing that the fare will be circa £5.00 to £8.00 ($6.75 to $10.80) and it will only take a few minutes. There may be a small queue at the Dover Cruise terminal when boats disembark but the local taxi drivers are well aware of the demand and you won't have to wait for long.

If there are four or more of you travelling together it would be more cost effective to pre book a taxi for the journey rather than use the train. You would also be picked up directly from your hotel in London rather than have to make your way to St Pancras International Station.

Don't underestimate either the cost or the time to make the Heathrow to Dover connection. It's 99 miles from Heathrow to the Dover Cruise Terminal and Google Maps is currently (noon) showing a journey time of 1 hour 40 minutes in normal traffic.---that's averaging around 60 mph over the whole journey, easily achievable as apart from the first 9 or 10 miles it is all Motorway/Freeway. However the M25 is notorious for blockages and delays during both the morning and evening rush hours---if I were making the journey I would probably leave at least an extra  hour to give me some latitude--probably more if I was doing Dover to Heathrow and had a plane to catch. 

A quick Google for taxis shows plenty of offers around £135.00 (or $182 at current exchange rates}. I would strongly recommend that you book your transport in advance. 

Jimdee3636 mentioned getting a taxi at his Heathrow Hotel---not advised as the amount on the meter of a standard London "Black Cab"---by the time that you got to Dover will probably be the wrong side of £370.00 ($500.00). !!!!!

The UK has hanged the rules for re-entry from a foreign country. If you are fully vaccinated then no tests are required. You still have to complete a Passenger Locator Form though.

Waited ages for my refund.  Eventually asked my TA to inform Seabourn that I would be asking for a "charge-back" on my Amex card. Miraculously by refund appeared on my credit card statement within a week. the threat of a "charge-back" obviously galvanised Seabourn into action

 No problem for me——everything shows up in pounds sterling. Are you using a VPN connected to a USA server?

I received the following email form Seabourn this morning:

We can’t wait to welcome you back on board again soon. Until then, we invite you to join us in dreaming and planning — today. 

As a Seabourn Club Member, you probably know the insider perk that comes with planning your next Seabourn cruise while on board. The Future Cruise Deposit offers you an extra 5% savings* when you purchase a £250 deposit. For a limited time, while our fleet is paused, we’re bringing this special promotion to you. Your savings credit is valid for four years from the day you pay your deposit, and fully refundable if you don’t use it. Plus, it’s combinable with our Sensational Suite Savings and 10% Early Bonus Savings promotions!

Book this special offer by August 31, 2020.

Contact your Travel Advisor or call Seabourn at 0344 338 8620 to turn your travel dreams into travel plans — and save 5% percent on your next Seabourn voyage.

Rather bizarrly when Seabourn processed my requested refund the first thing that they did was refund my FCC---something that I would be happy for them to keep as I intend to resume cruising once a vaccine is available-------still waiting for the refund of the cruise payment though.

If you paid for your cruise by credit card try escalating the claim with your credit card company---it seems to have worked for some people

Spoke to my UK T/A yesterday. They suggested that I wait until 60 days had elapsed from my cancellation and if I had not received a refund then they would "escalate" the matter with Seabourn.

Cruiser based in the UK---Seabourn cancelled my cruise due to take place in April and I duly completed the Seabourn form requesting a full refund on the 12th April 2020.

Under the UK Package Travel Regulations, companies cancelling package holidays are legally obliged to refund passengers within 14 days. That’s the case even if it’s for reasons beyond their control. I realise that things are taking a bit longer than normal but i have not heard anything from Seabourn.

Although I used a UK travel agent the Amex credit card payment was made directly to Seabourn, so presumably I have no claim against the T/A as they acted purely as an agent, not a principal.

Should I approach Amex and inform them that Seabourn UK have not refunded my money within the required 14 days and ask Amex for my money back?

Thoughts and experiences from any UK cruisers in the same situation would welcome.

We were due to depart on the the Quest yesterday (Monday 20th April) for the transatlantic crossing.

Just looked at the weather  https://earth.nullschool.net/#current/wind/isobaric/1000hPa/orthographic=-64.38,12.02,508     and it looks as if it would have been a very bumpy ride across the Atlantic.

Every cloud has a silver lining

All Seabourn Cruises cancelled for a further 30 days---just received the following email

Received the following from Seabourn

A very lengthy article, but one of the best that I have read on Covid19

https://medium.com/@tomaspueyo/coronavirus-act-today-or-people-will-die-f4d3d9cd99ca

Well---at its current speed of eight knots it is not rushing to get anywhere

Well worth downloading "Press Reader" on to your tablet or Smart Phone before you embark. This enables you to download quite a large number of daily newspapers on to your tablet each day. The important thing to realise that these newspapers are on an "intranet" on Seabourn ships and downloading them does not come out of your internet allowance. Somebody in The Seabourn Square will be able to help you.

If you wait to download Press Reader until you get on board then you will have to use your internet minutes to download the app.

Really liked the bar area in the TK restaurant area. You can use even if you are not dining in the TK restaurant.

A really great and generally underused sunbathing area on Deck 12 right forward.

Just loved the Japanese restaurant for both luncheon and dinner. Rarely had to wait more than a few minutes for a table

I was the person that referred lisa6191.  I have received the $400 referral credit as well as the $250 shipboard credit that Seabourn gave me when I booked. My emails were with a very helpful lady called Lucia at the following email address

resaccounting@seabourn.co.uk. 

Obviously this contact only works for UK based cruisers

Hi Lisa-----we came off The Encore in Athens in the spring of 2019. There is a "flat rate" charge by the taxis for a trip to the airport, it is Euro54 which equates to around $60. Journey time is approx 40 minutes and there were absolutely loads of taxis waiting alongside the ship when we got off. 

A "thank you" to all who responded to my query.  I have just been informed by Seabourn that we will be staying at The Mandarin Oriental.

We are booked on the April 2020 transatlantic crossing from Miami to Barcelona. Flights and transfers all booked through Seabourn. Does anyone know what hotel Seabourn are likely to put us up in Miami on the night before embarkation?

I have an original $400 referral coupon available if anyone wants it. Please reply to raymondcoole at gmail dot com

Further to my "amazing deal" with Seabourn----I think that at the time of my booking Seabourn were offering some "air credits" so the charge for my flights was probably just the excess over the air credit.

Recently booked the Transatlantic crossing--Miami to Barcelona departing Monday 20th April. Got an amazing flight/transfer package from Seabourn through our TA.

British Airways Premium Economy London to Miami, limo transfer to hotel in Miami, bed and breakfast overnight. Limo transfer to ship the following day.

On arrival in Barcelona mimi bus for a tour of Barcelona before being dropped at the airport for a 14:50 departure. British Airways Business class back to London.

Total cost for the above package was an unbelievable £300.22. per person

Checked on the BA website and just the single Premium Economy flight to Miami is priced at £2040 per person!!!!

Forgot to mention that the Hotel Icon gives you a free mobile phone loaded with maps etc as well as free calls.

Another vote for the Hotel Icon. TripAdvisor rates it No 4 out of 797 hotels in Hong Kong. Well worth going for a "Club Room" free drinks and food in the evenings and they don't seem to stop serving the free drinks when the allotted period of time has ended.

Thoroughly recommended