gumshoe958

A quick Google found this obituary for a man with grandchildren from Seattle called Stephen & Joelle and great-grandchildren called Ethan & Jordan. Got to be, surely … https://nationalpost.remembering.ca/obituary/max-adler-1065368737 And then another quick Google found a lady called Joelle Baron, nee Adler, married to Stephen living near Seattle: https://www.spokeo.com/Joelle-Baron/Washington/Sammamish/p3410933171 May or may not be them. But maybe a starting point? The internet is a scary thing …

Assuming you’re staying in the hotel I think you’re staying in, it’s a half mile 10-15 minute walk from the coach station so up to you whether you choose to walk or take a cab. Leonardo have two hotels in Southampton. The former Jurys Inn is on the northern edge of the city centre, by a park in quite a studenty area (there’s a university next door). But it’s easily walkable from the centre and its many shops and restaurants. You’ll need a cab to get to the cruise terminal. The other one, the Leonardo Royal, is in the south of the city centre, the same distance from the coach station but nearer the shops and much closer to the cruise terminals, therefore very popular with cruisers.

Don’t feel the need to seek out a Wetherspoons. They’re a huge national pub chain with cheap beer and microwaved food. Very popular, always crowded and definitely not “different” or local. Pizza Express, to be fair, is far nicer than it sounds. Pleasant, full service restaurants with pizzas that are a big step up in quality from Pizza Hut or Domino’s. Still a chain though!

It’s perfectly doable, on the understanding that if anything goes wrong (delay to ship’s arrival, delay in disembarkation, unscheduled motorway closure etc) you won’t have an awful lot of contingency time. So it’s really down to your appetite for risk. If you’re the type of person who’ll spend the entire cruise worrying about whether you’ll make your flight, you should rethink. It’s really not worth the stress. But if you’re a ‘what will be will be’ YOLO type of person, go for it because there’s probably a 90% plus chance everything will be fine. Just have a Plan B in mind as back-up.

This really is worst case scenario stuff. In the unlikely event of a flight cancellation or severe delay, assuming @ssawjo is flying in from the US or Canada there are likely to be any number of rerouting options that would get them into Heathrow later the same day or possibly early the next day, still in plenty of time to make the ship at Southampton. So my advice is - chill!

You can use it at any restaurant that’s open. Problem is on port days, you’ll struggle to find one that opens for lunch. Maybe Johnny Rockets and Sabor after 2 or 3PM, but unlikely to be earlier.

Yes, when it rains that gap (which is Central Park) gets wet! It’s good for the plants though! Oasis class ships rely heavily on outdoor facilities like Central Park, the Aquatheatre, Boardwalk and waterpark to keep passengers occupied but if it’s cold and wet they tend to be deserted. Yet 6,000 people have to go somewhere so the remaining indoor venues just become very crowded. Of course the open decks on Quantum class will also get wet, but more of their activities and large venues are under cover like 270, Seaplex and a much larger Music Hall, so there are more places to go when it’s cold and wet. And crucially, Q class ships have a pool with a retractable roof.

MSC should match you to their top tier, Diamond. You don’t get a lot though - one free dinner at a specialty restaurant is probably the best perk. And a dance class. Tbh in terms of loyalty perks, Royal sets the bar pretty high and takes some beating thanks to those drink vouchers. I’d lay money on Liberty ‘enhancing’ them at some point.

As long as you’re off by 8 you’ll be fine. It’s only a 90 minute drive, 2 hours max.

Exactly. And as long as people are willing to pay $1500 for a covered chair on a beach or $200 for a couple of hours in a water park, right now that somewhere else is Coco Cay. Sure, cruise fares are high out of Southampton. But if people aren’t buying drinks, spa treatments, speciality dining and excursions that means little.

Isn’t the whole point of Quantum class that it’s more of an ‘indoor’ ship and WAS designed specifically for ‘cold’ markets like the UK? Yet we Brits still moaned about being sent Anthem every year despite her being a hugely impressive ship, second only to Oasis class which is clearly incompatible with the UK. Fact is we’ll happily moan about whichever ship we’re sent, and maybe Royal’s had enough. It can make much easier money elsewhere and leave us to whinge to our heart’s content on P&O and MSC. (Or - far simpler and probably more likely explanation - new CEO, different priorities. Fain saw potential for Royal to grow in the UK. Liberty doesn’t.)

Indeed. But I bet the bean counters have. Presumably Royal has signed multi-year deals to licence Cats, Mamma Mia, Hairspray, We Will Rock You, Grease & Saturday Night Fever. If and when those deals end, I’d lay money on them not being renewed.

I don’t think it is. To quote the article linked upthread: ‘Weir said the version coming to the ship won’t be a rehash of the 1939 MGM film production or the Broadway version adapted by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Jeremy Sams, but something unique to the ship. “I think everyone knows that I’m a future-forward type of creator. I like to look to the horizon,” Weir said. “We’re going to do something to ‘The Wizard of Oz’ that’s never been done.”’ Royal is moving away from licensing existing shows. That costs a lot of money and means sacrificing creative control. I’m confident this will be an entirely new, in-house production.

Not the movie or West End musical versions though. It’ll be a Royal in-house production.

Well it would certainly be more convenient for Rome and the airport - only a 10 minute drive to FCO or 45 minutes into the city, much closer than Civitavecchia. This being Italy, don’t expect progress to be quick though.

Yes, all trains from Blankenberge stop at Bruges before (mostly) continuing on to other destinations in Belgium. They generally run once an hour 7 days a week.

There’d be a riot if no food was available until the evening! Most people head straight for the Windjammer (buffet) which is open for lunch but gets extremely crowded. Depending on the ship you can get a lighter lunch at the cafe, or pizza, or a few other takeout options on the bigger ships. And at least one specialty restaurant will be open for lunch if you want to pay extra.

The Elizabeth line doesn’t go to Bank, and Farringdon is considerably further away from Tower Bridge than Liverpool Street, so this isn’t very helpful advice. I would follow the advice from @Twickenham and take the Elizabeth line to Liverpool Street.

There are several buses a day from Invergordon to Dornoch (route X25) but there are some big gaps in the timetable so you’d need to check whether the times fit in with your schedule. Journey time is about 45 minutes each way. Otherwise you’d need a taxi (or potentially two taxis for 6 of you).

I rarely recommend National Express coaches for journeys between Heathrow and central London as the train or tube is normally faster and more convenient. But in your case, your hotel is just around the corner from the Victoria coach station so it’s the easiest way unless you prefer a cab (which would be quicker but cost a lot more). Coaches run at least every 30 minutes from the Heathrow Central bus station, which is a short walk from T2. Booking in advance online is advisable, and during the booking process you can add a ‘Change & Go’ upgrade for £5 which allows you to use any coach within 12 hours of the one you booked, if there’s room.

The tube isn’t closed, just Kentish Town station. You can still use Tufnell Park if that’s convenient. But yes, with luggage and a child in tow it may be simpler just to cab or Uber it to Waterloo.

1. Gatwick and Kentish Town are both on the Thameslink rail line, however you will need to change trains at St Pancras International. Catch any northbound Thameslink train from Gatwick (final destination usually Bedford or Cambridge), get off at St Pancras then wait on the same platform for a train that stops at Kentish Town, which is the next station (final destination usually St Albans or Luton). 2. To get to Waterloo, catch a Northern line tube train from Tufnell Park. You want a southbound Charing Cross branch train, not a Bank one. 3. For both the above journeys, and for all your travel within London, it is easiest to use a contactless debit/credit card or Apple/Google Pay to touch in and out at the barriers for each journey you make. Buying paper tickets tends to be more expensive.

Have a look at The Pig. A beautiful country house hotel in the middle of nowhere (but not far from Canterbury) with a lovely restaurant. https://www.thepighotel.com (There are a few of them around the country, the one you want is The Pig at Bridge Place.)

Wrong board - try here: https://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/forum/116-northern-europe-amp-baltic-sea/

If anything remotely interesting had emerged, you can guarantee it would have already been posted here or picked up by one of the bloggers.