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You can book a car with West Quay Cars https://westquaycars.com/ The National Express bus is great but I assume you would rather have a private car.

That is simply not true, while it is a battle to get previous cruises added after you turn 18 it can, and is regularly done, it's right there in the Terms and Conditions that they will do it and lots of people have battled on and had it done. Additionally, I have personally had a cruise added from 2001 (cruised as an adult), if you put in the work and present the evidence to the right person they will help, in my case as a gesture of goodwill they added 7 days which was half the points. In my case I cruised as an adult which the T&Cs state they will only look back one year..... but they helped and looked back 18 years.

Sorry, I duplicated what you said about National Express, we must have been typing at the same time.

Would National Express not do the trick, 3hr 20min with no changes and starting at £11.90PP for early booking for October?

It looks fine to me, I would have no hesitation doing it, worst comes to worst and you unlucky enough to have such long flight delays you get a weekend in London an make a claim on your insurance for the missed cruise. Go for it 👍 My only advice is keep a look at railway strike dates, they are striking a lot at the moment but they (by law) have to give good notice of the planned strike dates, you might have to take the bus between Southampton and Gatwick, its a long journey but comfortable. We are doing that this weekend, leaving Southampton Friday evening after work to Hamburg, getting off the ship early and straight to the airport for an 11.30 flight home. Will be home in time for a Sunday roast dinner 😂

Not yet but you now me from the Antarctica roll call, it won't be long 😁 The king has been received very well, better than expected to be honest, a lot of people wanted him to step aside in favour of William but he has fitted in perfectly. I guess you have not heard the news he has cancer? He went if for an enlarged prostate and while they were working on that they found cancer, they have not revealed what the cancer is but have said it's not prostate cancer. The King will be taking a back seat roll while he goes through his treatment, the other royals will cover his duties, he is 75 and works very hard. They say they have caught it early so fingers crossed.

Never, we went to central America recently on a land trip an sat at the canal watching the ships go through the canal, at that point we said we would return on a ship.... now we do, the old locks on a small ship 🥳

Monica is about 5' 5", with shoulder length light brown wavy hair she keeps tied back, she would be about late 30's. We first met her in May 2023 on the Star, she told us she returned home and came back for another contract on the ship when we met her again in February. I can't add any more than that I'm afraid.

We just booked a "quickie" MSC Euribia for a weekend across the channel to Hamburg, it was only $25 a night ($55 with premium drinks package), couldn't say no for a weekend away. We are flying straigh home, the trip is all about the ship. Plus MSC reset your loyalty if you don't sail in three years so had to be done to maintain Diamond level. Next after that is 17 days in November on NCL Jewel LA to Tampa via the Panama canal.

Monica is from Romania, I'm afraid I don't have a photo either.

Both Taxis and Uber will be plentiful at the docks, it will be easy and inexpensive to catch a cab for the short ride.

More surprising is "28: Fresh flowers" I know several people who take flowers onboard....... AND are provided with vases to keep them in!!!!

I'm not sure where you found that information, the .gov site does says you can enter without visa for 30 days? 6 months on the passport and an entry form. https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/cape-verde/entry-requirements

No need to declare it, they may ask you to go to the corkage desk if they spot it during the security scan, if they do the corkage desk will just ask to see your card and wave you through if you have the drinks package.

If you have status that gives you priority you can use it there to get on the next available bus, they gave us a blue ticket and we went on the next available bus after arrival, we were only there 10 minutes.

Walkie talkies are banned for a reason. I had a child next to me at the meet and mingle recently. They were using a walkie talkie and annoying a member of staff at the other end, they must have been on the same channel as the staff use. The staff member kept saying "Who is this?". The child's mother said "opps, we better change channel.".

Yes, on the Star two weeks ago it was the Bliss lounge, you could drop bags until 2PM.

It was a pleasure meeting you both as well and you are more than welcome to include my photo in your review. Your photos were also an amazing leadup to this incredible and very special cruise. I hope we get to meet again in the future 🤩

You need a reservation, it is highly unlikely you can walk up and get a table on the day. Online bookings open 120 prior to departure (125 for Top Tier Latitudes). If you miss the online bookings do it as soon as you board as they only put a small amount online, the rest are filled onboard but the good times fill up quickly

If you mean at the temporary building for the bag drop, then no there was not, they hand everyone a numbered bus ticket and ask you to wait until your number is called, at this point you should state you are priority, show them your ticket for validation, and you will be given a different colour ticket for any bus you wish. At the boarding terminal the normal Priority lines are in operation.

Antarctica is absolutely incredible, nowhere on earth is so beautiful. This trip exceeded my expectations in so many ways.

Yes I can actually, it is only a short way away but Latitudes priority helps a lot. If you have priority, make sure you mention it at the bag drop at the temporary terminal. We were given a numbered bus ticket and asked to wait until our number was called, I know some people waited there for a long time. Luckily we mentioned we were Sapphire and had priority, we were immediately given a different colour card and told we could alight the next available bus, we waited no time at all at the temporary terminal. Once bussed to the regular terminal for boarding, its the same procedure as normal, three lines, suites line have first priority, then Latitudes line have second priority, then the long third line of no priority.

We did not use it I'm afraid, so can't offer any advice.

Top right of the app there is a download button, it's not great, sometimes it takes an hour to kick of the download, other times it starts right away. I hit it multiple times in frustration (and a few G&Ts) one day and ended up with dozens of downloads later in the day 😂

Exactly that, it was not so cold, for me a jumper, scarf, gloves and a warm jacket.