WyKnott

Nearest I can tell, we're just south of Pitshanger Park. Like I said, someone else in our group has the correct location. British post codes are confusing to we foreigners. 🤷‍♀️

Thank you. That helps a lot.

Next question. Does anyone have any idea how long it would take to clear customs and get a taxi to the coach station? I'm looking at 9:45 and 11:45 as options for coach times to Heathrow. There's three of us and some can't walk long distances.

Thank you @gumshoe958 and @Globaliser. It looks like going to Heathrow is the better option. We'll be in postal code W5 near Pitshanger Park. I think. Someone else in our group has the exact address.

We're doing a transatlantic ending in Southampton and staying 5 days in London afterwards. We'll be in an AirBnB in Ealing*, so the question is would it make more sense to take the bus to Heathrow or into London proper? On the map, Ealing is closer to Heathrow, but I'm also looking for simplicity. I'm assuming at some point we'll be taking a taxi on to our final destination. * I lobbied for a place closer to central London, but I was outvoted. 🤷‍♀️

A follow on to my table size post, last year on my most recent solo cruise, ahead of time I requested to be seated at a large table. I wanted to be seated with others so I wasn't sitting at a table by myself. I was seated at a large table all right - which I had all to myself, except for one night when another couple was seated at the table, they never came back after that, maybe it was something I said? 🙄 I didn't care enough to request to be moved, and I did get extra attention from my waiters and the maitre d so there's that.

I think part of the problem with crowded MDRs is before covid, there were more large tables, it was accepted that you might be dining with strangers, now there's a lot more 2- and 4-tops, less room between tables.

This is how I quickly reached Diamond way before the double points promo during Covid. I did a lot of weekend Mexico cruises back in the late 80s, early 90s. When they changed the point system to the current one, all those 3 day cruises were counted as 7 day. 😎

I prefer a balcony but when I'm traveling solo, I like to book the promenade cabins. They're priced as an interior but with a window and I also like to people watch from above. I hate crowds.

It is free, but some areas have a fee like the waterpark or the Coco Beach Club. It's possible to have a full day at Coco Cay without spending any money.

I'm not a heavy drinker and always have free drinks left at the end of the day, I've gotten into the habit of stopping at a bar at the end of the day to get bottles of water to use up the drink vouchers. On Navigator a few months ago, one bartender always gave me an extra bottle of water.

I wish I could tell you it was, someone who cruises HAL more often could say better. All I know is it was that way on the Zuiderdam when I cruised it.

I was on Zuiderdam for a Panama Canal cruise in November and their casino was non-smoking, I was pleasantly surprised. Downside for HAL, it wasn't very crowded but I sure liked it and spent more time there. I was able to get a seat at the roulette table any time the tables were open. It got so the pit boss recognized me and asked if I was playing whenever I walked through the casino.

My friend was able to get meals she was happy with at the specialty restaurants, they were more than happy to modify the dishes for her. I used to tease her that only she would dare to eat at the steakhouse as a vegan.

I'm not vegan, but my best friend is. On previous cruises, she had a selection from the separate vegan menu, now it looks like the choices are fewer. How did that affect your dinners?

I used to work next door to the original Rubio's! All this talk about Tex-Mex and other places that have fish tacos. Fish tacos in the US got its start in Southern California. Baja style is breaded and deep fried.

Fish tacos got their start in southern California as a breaded, deep fried fish in a soft corn tortilla with cabbage and a white crema sauce. 🥰 Lately, you can find fish tacos with grlled fish as a nod to being more healthy. I still prefer the fried fish.

Same with my app. But I did notice that in the schedule for 3 days of my 14 day cruise, it mentions photo ops for dressy nights. So I'm assuming those are the Gala nights (or whatever they're calling it these days).

sorry, it was there this morning, but not now.

I checked RCL to see if they say the same for their Panama Canal cruises, yup. no testing for vaccinated, protocols updated today. So cautiously optomistic.

I didn't see your original post before you edited it, but if I'm getting the idea right… My very first cruise in the 80s was a 5 day Mexican Riviera and I didn't have a passport. My birth certificate was issued by the State Department because I was born in Japan while my father was stationed there.The agent at the port took a look at my birth certificate, looked confused, had to go ask a supervisor and they had me sign a document attesting that I was indeed a US citizen. I'm sure things are handled different now, but I looked on that document as more of a CYA on their part. They can say "hey, she said she was a citizen, so we took her word for it."