matamanoa

There are so many choices of quaint towns and attractions to see around the Southampton area. We spent three days in Bath a few years ago pre cruise and thoroughly enjoyed it. Easy train ride back to Southampton to catch the ship. We've also spent a day in Brighton and it was a straight train run there from Gatwick airport where we landed. Interesting town as well. There is a lot to see and do in Portsmouth and we spent the day there this past summer. Would have liked more time, a two day stay would have been nice. So much to see just in the dockyard area. We have also spent some time in the towns in the New Forest but luckily we had friends who were driving us around on that trip. It's a bit harder when you are on your own without a car but the area is beautiful. The Cotswolds are one of our favorite areas to visit but again harder to get around in if you don't drive your own car. Whatever you choose to do pre cruise will no doubt be amazing as there is spectacular scenery and so much quintessential UK, that you'll want to come back for more! Enjoy your time there and your cruise. Barb

Based on our own past experience, that flight is too early. Don't stress yourself out at the end of your cruise. Either book a later flight or stay over an extra day. Barb

absolutely gorgeous picture. Well done! Barb

While our cruise didn't leave from Whittier but from Seward instead, we used the Alaska RR for our transfer from Anchorage and it was a wonderful experience. Our luggage was handled by train staff, we were served a delicious breakfast while riding through the countryside, listening to an on board naturalist describing the flora and wildlife and we were able to get a different perspective of the land by traveling inland and not hugging the coast on a bus. Very positive experience.

Thanks for the suggestion. Barb

Thanks for the useful tips. The walk we are taking is free and is run by the city. They do cover a fair bit of ground so should give us the most value for the short amount of time we have in Melbourne. A friend did recommend the Hopetoun Tea Room and said that we might need a reservation. From the pictures that I've seen for the lineups waiting to get in, we'll keep our fingers crossed that we can get a seat without too much of a wait. It looks just like my kind of place. I'll check out the website you suggested for St. Kilda.

We love quaint little shops and alleyways, art museums (not modern art). We are taking a guided walk around the CBD one morning, so that should show us some interesting places that we might want to pop back to. We like antiques and historic architecture. And - I love tea rooms and being able to have a cream tea!

I'm sure we will. The only problem is that we have so little time to discover your wonderful city. My husband and I will be coming through Melbourne on a cruise and so that affords us one day in the area. We don't plan on going into the city that particular day as we will be back again after the cruise ends. At that time, we will have two days to see whatever we can of Melbourne and then we're off again on another cruise. So the first time in port, we are going to stay in the port area and discover the shops, restaurants and galleries in the beach area and Bay St. On our second time in Melbourne a week later, we will have more time to see what the CBD has to offer and I'm sure we'll enjoy our brief stay. Barb

Thanks again Leigh for answering. Barb

Another question if you don't mind. We will be using the tram service on Easter Sunday to get to the cruise port. Due to the holiday, will tram service run on a lighter schedule with fewer trains available? Barb

Thank you Yarramar and Possum52 for the information. The tram sounds perfect! Barb

What is the best way to get from our hotel (Ibis Budget Melbourne, at Collins and Elizabeth Strs) to the cruise port? My husband and I will have a medium suitcase and a carry on each. Thanks for any advice. Barb

Please return to the old format. This one is ridiculous and as JB put it, if it doesn't go back to the old format, then I won't be reading it. Please don't change anything else!

Contact Custom Irish Tours. We have used them before and Derek is a wonderful guide. Their website is www.customirishtours.com One tour in particular which we really enjoyed was the Beautiful Meath County Wicklow Tour.

My husband and I have spent some enjoyable hours listening to informative and educational talks from naturalists, historians and other speciality speakers. We have found that the lectures on health - accupuncture, beauty products, relieving stress topics - are usually the ones which invite you to buy products after their presentations and we avoid those talks. You have to read your daily activities list carefully to see what is on offer on any particular day and you should be able to choose from a variety of lectures that occur mostly on sea days. We particularly enjoyed the daily lectures from a retired high school teacher whose talks about the South Pacific and Hawaii were standing room only on the four or five sea days it took to get to Hawaii from LA. If you were to be on an Alaskan cruise, there is almost always a naturalist on board who gives lectures over the PA system as you are sailing into a fjord or some other natural landmark along the way. As was mentioned above, the art auctions might not be your cup of tea but perusing the artwork itself could be of interest. There are so many activities listed daily and you can pick and choose what you want to attend. Sometimes one of the officers on board will give talks about the workings, etc. of the ship and they are always interesting talks, as are the Q & As events from one of the higher ups on board - the captain or another one of his officers. Enjoy your cruise! Barb

We experienced a delay with the ship getting into Sydney on time due to currents. Our flight was the only one to Canada that particular day and it was due to leave at 12:15 p.m. Due to our late arrival into port, coupled with the fact that it took a long time to clear customs and get out of the airport, we made the flight by the skin of our teeth. After a wonderful and relaxing cruise, I was a bundle of nerves wondering if we were going to make our flight as we sat in traffic congestion. Not worth the stress to book in or around the noon hour. Better to take a later flight or even stay overnight and fly the next day. We've learned our lesson and now make our departure as stress free as possible.

Thanks for your quick reply. I did try to enter the two additional sailings on the b2b2b cruises we have coming up but the app only shows the first segment. Very frustrating and disappointing. I had hoped that the new app would work better than the old one but that doesn't seem to be the case. At this point, I certainly wouldn't call it new and improved. Unfortunately, as soon as my husband uploaded the new app, he got rid of the old one 😞 . At least our dining arrangements for the first cruise did transfer over to the new app, so that's a blessing. Hopefully by the time we cruise in March, the new app will work better. Thanks again for answering and I will follow with the Princess New App thread for more information and updates.

Can anyone explain how to find all of our currently booked cruises on the new app. I have just downloaded the new app and can only see one of our upcoming cruises listed. I've tried all the various headings but only see the first of three b2b cruises in my profile. I notice that there is a small symbol under and to the right of the cruise ship under the heading My Voyages. I thought perhaps tapping this symbol would bring up our other cruises but it does not. If anyone could share their expertise on this question, the help would be greatly appreciated.

For the Orkneys, get in touch with Lorna Brown from See Orkney Tours. seeorkneyweb@gmail.com You won't be disappointed. Barb

On our first trip to Sydney a few years ago we hailed a taxi right outside the airport and despite all the messages I had read on CC re fares into Sydney and to ask the driver to take the tunnel, he told us that the tunnel was backed up with traffic and we had to use the local roads. We crawled along and once we got to our hotel, found that the taxi ride was costing us double what was suggested on CC. I think the taxi driver took us on road level streets rather than the tunnel on purpose as we didn't know the city at all and we ended up paying way more than we thought the ride was going to be. This was on a Sunday too and not sure why the tunnel would have been packed with traffic. A lot of us who are visiting a new city for the first time and don't know any better seem to be at the mercy of taxi drivers. Barb

For the Orkney Islands, contact Lorna Brown from See Orkney Tours. We have toured with her twice and she gives a fantastic all day tour to the major attractions. seeorkneyweb@gmail.com

When my husband and I did our first cruise to Hawaii, with 9 sea days, we enjoyed the cruise but not the number of sea days. Now, many years later, we are looking forward to relaxing on all the sea days that we will encounter on our trans-pacific, resting our bones and bodies from all the touring coming up on our around Australia cruise. Being that the trans-pacific ends in San Francisco, we felt that this was a no brainer as our son, DIL and grands live there and we'll spend a week with them before continuing on to Toronto. We're hoping for a positive experience. Good luck with your search for airfares.

And here I thought ALL Canadians were polite.

As you are retired and have no time constraints, would you consider flying one way and cruising back. There are cruises from Australia which end in San Francisco or you could continue on up to Vancouver before flying on to Ottawa.

Usually we're only staying there one night pre cruise and so I carry my valuables with me. Just a tip - if you are staying at the Premier Inn West Quay and are going on a cruise, don't wait until the morning of the cruise to book your taxi. There is a courtesy phone for calling a cab but do it the night before and give them a time to pick you up the following morning. If the port is busy with three or four ships in, then the cabs will be few and far between if you haven't booked one.