gumshoe958

But no word yet on how Voyager will get from Rome to Singapore, just that it will take 28 days. Interesting to see whether the repo’s announced tonight/tomorrow, or whether Royal will wait a bit longer to see how things pan out in the Red Sea.

Try this thread. Plenty of suggestions there:

Contactless can be used for any tube journey (and should, because it’s much cheaper than buying a paper ticket). The escalators to/from the tube station at Waterloo are within the main rail station but totally separate from the mainline platforms. So if you were to take the tube to Waterloo then the train down to Southampton, you would go through two sets of ticket barriers. First you’d touch out with your contactless card to exit the tube station, then go upstairs and use your train ticket to access the mainline platform.

You cannot ‘tap in’ with a contactless card or Apple/Google Pay at Waterloo for trains to Southampton. That only applies to journeys wholly within London and a few destinations just outside. For Southampton you need to buy a ticket. If you know the exact train you want, it’s far cheaper to buy an ‘advance’ ticket online, up to about 3 months in advance. This can be delivered either as an e-ticket on your phone or as a code you use to get a paper ticket from a machine at the station. If you’d rather stay flexible, you can buy a ticket on the day from the ticket office or the machines at Waterloo station but you’ll pay considerably more for the flexibility.

The cynic in me says they’ve figured out that clearing the MDR half an hour earlier each night saves them money somehow.

You’d think, but many of the EU’s rules simply transferred across to UK law and haven’t been changed - either intentionally or because they haven’t got round to it yet. For instance the EU’s generous rules on compensation for flight delays & cancellations haven’t really changed in the UK and have just been slightly updated. Cruises are governed by a separate set of rules in the UK as they are classed as package holidays. But they essentially follow the EU’s rules with no right to compensation in most cases, especially if the cancellation is due to “exceptional circumstances or an unforeseen event”.

I hope you’re right but suspect it may be nearer the $45-50 they charge for Verandah. It can’t have escaped Cunard’s notice that some other lines have more or less doubled their speciality restaurant prices since the restart.

This is what the trains look like inside (when empty). The overhead racks are actually fairly roomy but all being well you’ll be able to find room for larger cases in an empty seat next to you.

The daily cap applies to contactless as well as Oyster.

If it’s a warm sunny day, the beaches and seaside attractions of Scheveningseweg are a quick, easy tram ride away. And the beautiful historic towns of Delft and Leiden are only a short train ride away.

Age is just a number. It’s about attitude. If you’re young at heart you’ll have a blast. But know that VV is a very different experience to other lines.

For the avoidance of doubt there is no EU rule that entitles you to compensation worth 150% of the fare if a cruise is cancelled. Or any compensation. You are legally entitled to a full refund or to be re-routed to your final destination “under comparable conditions at the earliest opportunity at no extra cost”.

Typing random sentences in quote marks does not prove you’re right. Again, what’s your source?

Again, that quote is from the EU’s own website. So please provide your source to back up your claim that “EU passengers are due 150% of the total fare as compensation!”.

No. Read the first sentence. EU rules on ship passenger rights usually apply when you travel on most ferries and cruise ships by sea or on inland waterways (rivers, lakes or canals) But please do provide your source as I’d be delighted to be proved wrong.

Source? Because strangely there’s no mention of 150% compensation - or any compensation - on the EU’s own website. Just a refund or a re-routing. https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/travel/passenger-rights/ship/index_en.htm#cancelled

You’ve always been able to book restaurants online if you pay for them individually. But to my knowledge there’s been no movement on the plan to roll out advance booking for people with dining packages.

Far more people embark in Barcelona than Civitavecchia. Barcelona is the home port. If you board in Civitavecchia it can feel like you’re joining the cruise half way through.

This. SWR isn’t Amtrak - it’s basically a commuter rail operation like Metro North or LIRR. There’s a direct train from London Waterloo to Southampton every 30 minutes and you can be assured many others will be using it to get to the cruise terminal as well.

Having recently (deliberately) missed a final payment and not calling up to cancel as I was prepared to sacrifice the small NRD, I received: - a reminder email two weeks before final payment date; - a reminder email one week before final payment date; - a reminder email on final payment date; - a reminder email a week after final payment date; - three missed calls within an hour that same day a week after final payment date; - my cancellation invoice by email within 30 minutes of the final missed call. So in my case I could have been a week late with final payment. Whether that’s a standard grace period I have no idea but the cancellation was clearly done manually rather than automatically, and Royal made numerous attempts to contact me first.

Also an easy walk to Shakespeare’s Globe, the Tate Modern, HMS Belfast, St Paul’s Cathedral across the river and The Shard for overpriced views. You’re also close to Borough Market for amazing street food. A bit less touristy - and far cheaper - than The Shard but also offering amazing views, walk across London Bridge to climb the Monument to the Great Fire of London - now dwarfed by the skyscrapers surrounding it. https://www.themonument.org.uk

It’s the usual conflict of interest between passengers who, understandably, want to know what’s happening asap so they can plan accordingly and Royal which, understandably, wants to leave the final call until as late as possible in case things improve in the Middle East.

The big unknowns are immigration and baggage reclaim. If your passport allows you to use the automatic e-gates at immigration, it’s normally very quick. Most US & Canadian citizens with a biometric passport can use the e-gates but if you do need to see an officer the lines can be very long. All being well you’ll be landside within an hour of landing, then it’s a 10 minute walk to the coach station. So I’d probably aim for a bus leaving between 1:00 and 1:30 if there is one. For an extra £5, National Express will sell you an upgrade allowing you to move to a later bus if you miss the one you booked or an earlier one if you’re there in time.

No-one ever goes on Tripadvisor to praise a commuter train company! Like all operators the world over, SWR have their bad days but on the whole they’re pretty reliable and carry more than 200,000 passengers a day, largely without incident.

Absolutely fine. It’s only a 5 minute cab ride or a 10-15 minute walk, assuming NCL use their normal Horizon terminal.