Neil_c

Thanks 

I am confused

This is from The UK government website

"You can visit Vietnam without a visa for up to 45 days for tourism or business. If you want to stay longer than 45 days, you can: book with a travel agent in Vietnam and ask them to apply for a visa pre-approval letter – your agent will tell you when to collect your visa from the embassy."

So why the need for a visa? I can assume US are treated Differently

Just to agree but note on Cruises out of Southampton more people where formal wear. Guess its a cultural thing that Brits like to dress correctly. (awaiting flames)

On 3/12/2024 at 4:35 PM, Potstech said:

It's a pity with your background the disrespectful name calling of "so-called singer" and "a dozen young idiots".  These are professionally trained singers and dancers who are very good at their craft. No need to slam them. 

☝️☝️👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍☝️👍

I Have to agree that the original poster was being disrespectful. My Great nephew and his fiancé are performers on another carnival line ship, they are professionally trained performers. Princess  along with all lines have a large pool of talent to chose from and you have to be talented to get on board. A number of the performers go on to  a career in the West End and/or Broadway. The shows themselves may not be to everyone's taste (I don't like 5 Skies) but you should be respectful of the young performers who are trying to entertain us/

I renewed my UK passport took less than a week! all done online.

We were on Emerald in January. Asked  cabin steward when he welcomed us for a kettle. Received in  a couple of hours. Did have to bring the tea bags cups and milk from the buffet.

Did mean we could have a proper cup of tea rather than what the Americans serve.😉

On 12/4/2023 at 5:41 PM, texswamper said:

I have a cruise leaving from Southampton in 2024 and when I try to have the medallion sent to me in Texas through my app, it says it's not available for shipping and picking up at the port is my only option.  Is this normal??

Very efficient when we sailed from Southampton in September. 1 queue but if Platinum, elite or suites you get priority (save about 2 minutes). Time from arriving (valet Parking), dropping luggage with porters (no tipping) getting medallion, check in, passport control and security to onboard - 30 minutes

Neil

Hi

I have not read the entire thread as a UK resident I do not have any option to have the medallion posted to home. Will have to see what the lines are like at San Pedro next month do not mined a short wait, but as a Brit queuing is a way of life!

50 minutes ago, Snaxmuppet said:

As I said in my recent post... IMO, smart casual should be the only enforced dress in the MDR... everything else should be optional but then everybody will feel at ease as everyone is reasonably smartly dressed.

 

I think that this is all more relevant on cruises from Southampton as it seems that more people from Brit based cruises like dressing up. 

HI

As a fellow Brit I agree. Whilst what other people wear does not bother me, I actually find it impolite for people to be in shorts and T shirts in the MDR, but that might be because I am older ( mid 60s) and the way I was brought up.

We have cruised on a few cruise lines and have never used the fixed dining when offered. Much prefer not having a fixed time, and just going to the dining rooms when we feel like its time to eat. never had a long wait when just the 2 of us as we enjoy sharing tables with different passengers over the course of the cruise. We don't need to have the same waiters the whole time, I know some people enjoy the waiters knowing their preferences but we are quite capable of just asking for what we want. 

11 hours ago, ceilidh1 said:

I remember the days when:

you had notepaper and envelopes in your cabin (with the ship name and "written at sea" on the paper)

the soda package was less than $10 a day and included a tumbler and cool curly straw with an animal attached

turndown service with chocolates and (sometimes) towel animals

passport book with collectable stamps each cruise

coffee cards and ability to switch out the mini bar for them and use them on other sailings

 

Not saying that any of the above had much impact on me, persoanlly, but they are still cuts to what WAS there and now isn't...

Was on sky in June. Had turndown service (no chocolates). Also a couple of towel animals. 

1 hour ago, JG&Lcruisingnewbies said:

Oh I will! Thank you ☺️ 

 

never been, but the more I research, the more excited I’m getting 😃 

Went in June. My advice don’t take Princess excusion. Local operatives are significantly cheaper

12 minutes ago, Jeter02 said:

Why did my first cruise out of Southampton a few weeks ago and I will say that was such a breeze of a check-in even with having to pick up a medallion at the port. Especially considering the mass majority we're all picking up medallions at the port.

Just think green lane will be very short. Most will be blue lane as they will be picking up medallions. However as you said it is very efficient and last time we sailed in June no real difference between fast tracked and normal green lane

2 hours ago, sunviking90 said:

I’m currently in green lane for my August 21 cruise (still green today) Being in Canada we also can’t get medallions shipped and get them at the port.

Will be interesting to see. We have only sailed from Southampton were from my observations the vast majority are picking up medallions at check in. I know it will be different sailing out of American ports.

3 hours ago, kentishfred said:

Hi Neil That is strange, on our recent Sky cruise we had Green lane and also already allocated Green lane for our Regal cruise in September. For information both times with have had the premium package. We picked up our medallion when we checked in.

Yes the same as us also booked on Regal in September. However under this new scheme does this change?
 

16 hours ago, Martha1974 said:

Fair point - we’re UK based and sail out of the UK so have only sailed on Sky Princess up to now, I had forgotten about O’Malleys and the GastroPub on other ships. 

Also for us UK based. We cannot get the medallion sent to our home so we will never be green lane even with the package 

58 minutes ago, maiseric said:

Embarked 2 weeks ago, inside there is a priority lane for Elites etc. Took us 3 minutes to get medallion then quite a wait through security!

Thanks.

Anyone aware of how the system is working at Southampton? Especially as outside USA you can only get your medallion at the port. 

This is the usual discussion about tipping. There is a completely different culture over tipping in UK as opposed to US. Here in the UK we do not tip everyone who we deal with, service charges are added at some restaurants and we will tip if not. This is usually at a level of 10 to 12.5%.  We do not tip for every drink we receive at a bar. As far as being on a cruise, if we are on Princess and have the plus package (which we usually do), then we do not tip extra with the possible exception of the room steward. We do not tip in MDR as we use Freedom dining and rarely have the same waiters. I have no problem going in on the final night and not tipping. From discussion I have had with crew members it is more important that good service is noted on the end of cruise questionnaires. 

You should be aware that P&O which is a sister company but UK based has not got the daily tips or tipping on every drinks as it is all rolled into the fare, this saves most of these arguments

15 hours ago, BabsinTX said:

Glad to here this.  We're sailing Sky to Norway and Iceland next summer and now really can't wait!

Hope you have good weather too

4 hours ago, CaptainPedantic said:

Thanks for sharing this review @Neil_c 

Would be interested to know what independent trips you did in Iceland if you don't mind sharing details

We used Sagatravel.is -  Lake Mývatn Classic from Akureyri Port and from Reykjavik for the Golden Circle - both small coaches. 

others in our party  did a puffin boat tour and kayaking in Grundarfjordur

We completed this cruise at the weekend and here is my short review.  These are based on our party of 4, 2 of us seconded time with Princess but have sailed on other lines and 2 first timers

Pros
Love the ship – although a covered pool would be useful 
Entertainment – Enjoyed all the shows we saw and thought they were a very high standard -especially the Beatles tribute act and “The Trawlermen”  - The trivia we attended was a bit mixed as they were trying to cater for passengers from UK and USA (nearly 50/50 split). But as we won the long trivia quiz it was appositive!
Food –  we enjoyed it and thought it was an improvement on the sailing from last year and on a recent P&O cruise. Good choices in the World Fresh Marketplace and not difficult to get a table.
Crew – Excellent all trying the best to serve everyone and always with a smile on their faces.

Cons
Shore excursions – We saw the price compared to booking independently and did not book any ships excursions, from talking to fellow passengers we got better trips at less costs.
Sensor light in Stateroom – Hated the one in the closet area went on when not needed, went off when needed.

Overall, we had a great time, we had great weather with it dry at every port in Norway and Iceland, with calm seas throughout. We booked another cruise onboard for September and the 1st timers are smitten just waiting for them to book more
 

Thanks

55 minutes ago, 9tee2Sea said:

LAX is about a 30-45 min drive ( on a good day) to the Port Of Los Angeles ( San Pedro).  There are many fine hotels just outside the airport .  Some of those hotels will also offer tours of LA. The city of Long Beach is pretty close to San Pedro ( about a $15.00 ride share), and has lots of interesting restaurants .  Not much to do around San Pedro.  If you can find a day tour that goest to Hollywood Blvd ( touristy, but it's a must) and Beverly Hills ( again it's a must).  Look into a Hop On Hop Off tour of Hollywood or get a bus tour of Celebrity Homes.  LA proper is really big and takes more than 2 days to see.  I would NOT go to Downtown LA.  Just not safe.  Please beware of your valuables when walking in Hollywood.  Keep your purse in front, mens wallet in front pocket, and just shake your head NO when people ask for money. And by all means, do not step on any water puddles on the sidewalks ( its defiantly not rain water..if you know what I mean).

Thanks 

Hi

 Traveling in January 2024, we are arriving at LAX after 11 hour flight from London. we have 2 nights in hotel before departure from San Pedro cruise port. Looking for recommendation of hotel that is convenient for either sightseeing and/or port as this our 1st time in LA need help

TIA

Neil