Mini Review of London Pre-Cruise

[DragonOfTheSeas]

We really liked staying at the Doubletree in the area around the Tower of London. On our second night in London we ate at the Liberty Bounds pub. It is directly across the street from the Tower of London. It seemed busy every time we passed by, so we thought it should be better than the night before; and it was. The food was excellent and the view was pretty spectacular. The pub has a 2 story window overlooking the Tower.

 

 

Here is the sign.

 

 

Between our hotel and the Tower was a very nice park. We sometimes rested here after climbing all of the steps at the Tower Hill tube station.

 

 

 

Another shot. You can see the Tower in the background.

 

 

This area is part of the original city of London during Roman times. There is still a portion of the wall on the Tower Hill tube station.

 

 

 

We walked on the Tower Bridge to see the river view. You can see it is pretty popular with the tourists. This was a Friday evening.

 

 

 

This was the view at night from the roof top bar at the Doubletree:

 

[DragonOfTheSeas]

On the 3rd day we were in London we went to the Tower of London. It was Saturday morning.

 

This is a historic sketch of the Tower Of London:

 

 

 

 

 

It is made up of many towers and each has different exhibits.

 

 

We arrived at the ticket counter before it opened. They had not even opened the main gate. [drawbridge] We used the group entrance. We quickly went to the tower with the royal jewels. We had heard that this tower has huge lines. We were the 7th and 8th people to enter. It was great. We were able to look at everything at our own pace. We kept going around to look at the various crowns.

 

 

Since this is the 100th anniversary of WWI, There is an exhibit at the Tower of London. They are placing over 800,000 poppies in the moat to commemorate the war casualties. [one for each fatality]

 

 

 

 

Placing the poppies is an ongoing project. They will not have the last one in place until November 11--to celebrate the end of the war. Here volunteers start on another area of the moat.

 

 

 

 

I took way too many pictures of the poppies--but, none of them do the display justice.

 

DH and I tend to take slightly less time to see attractions than some people. But, we were in the Tower of London a full 2 hrs and never had to wait in line to see anything. There is so much to see.

 

I highly suggest you arrive when the Tower opens.

Edited September 22, 2014 by DragonOfTheSeas

[DragonOfTheSeas]

At this point we had one afternoon left to tour London. So, over a quick lunch we weighed our options. We looked back at my planning spreadsheet [i guess it is really a table] to see what we had missed. The 2 biggest things were Parliament and the British Museum. DH left it up to me—so, we headed to the museum. I wanted to see the Rosetta stone and the Elgin Marbles.

 

We had a real adventure on the tube. We were going to take the Circle line to St Pancras and then transfer to the Piccadilly line to Russell Sq. However, while we were standing at the side of the track they announced that the circle line was closing for engineering. So, an employee told us to go one stop to Monument and walk to Bank [on the central line]. I know that those of you that have not visited London have no idea what this entails. . . but, it was a loooooong walk. Up and down 4 escalators, 2 flights of stairs and down some long passageways. We felt like we walked to the British Museum. We made it and were able to follow the same route on the way back.

 

The British Museum is free. I bought a map for 2£ and it was money well spent. It really helped me get around and see as much as possible. [if you do not have much time it outlines the most famous exhibits in each gallery]

 

But, we wanted to see as much as possible.

 

 

 

Rosetta Stone: [bucket list –check]

 

 

 

Sculpture from the Parthenon in Greece:

 

 

From the Pediments of the Parthenon:

 

 

The Egyptian exhibit was amazing.

 

 

 

It was a Saturday afternoon. You can see it was very busy.

 

[DragonOfTheSeas]

The next morning we took a private car [Totally Driven] with 2 other couples we “met” on our roll call to the cruise port at Harwich. We paid 138 £ and could have had 8 people. I think that would have been too many people/luggage to be comfortable.

 

We enjoyed the 2 hour drive through the English countryside. It was mostly farm land with small villages.

 

 

 

 

The cruise terminal is one of the smallest we have been to. It was a very fast embarkation.

 

 

 

The pilot boat followed us out of the harbor.

 

 

 

 

 

And then it picked up the pilot and we were off.

 

 

[nitenurs2]

I just need to add my thanks to those of the others. I followed along with your pre-cruise thread to get information for our upcoming trip (4 weeks!) and it was extremely helpful to me.

 

I am thoroughly enjoying this thread and getting more valuable information to use on our trip. Thank you for posting

[DragonOfTheSeas]

I just need to add my thanks to those of the others. I followed along with your pre-cruise thread to get information for our upcoming trip (4 weeks!) and it was extremely helpful to me.

 

I am thoroughly enjoying this thread and getting more valuable information to use on our trip. Thank you for posting

 

Thank you--I plan to post some lessons learned as a wrap up tomorrow. :D

[Cotswold Eagle]

Great review! It's always interesting to see your country through visitors' eyes. And good to hear from someone who stayed over by the Tower, rather than at County Hall or Victoria. You packed a lot in to a short space of time :)

 

I'm sure you probably know, but for other enquiring minds that park at Tower Hill is Trinity Square Gardens, which houses war memorials to the Merchant Navy. The sunken garden in the first shot is the 1939-45 memorial, with the structure in the background being the original 1914-18 one. Both have thousands of names engraved on panels. And the anchor sculpture in the second photo is the Falklands conflict memorial. Lovely place and often overlooked.

[Bob++]

I'm sure you probably know, but for other enquiring minds that park at Tower Hill is Trinity Square Gardens, which houses war memorials to the Merchant Navy. The sunken garden in the first shot is the 1939-45 memorial, with the structure in the background being the original 1914-18 one. Both have thousands of names engraved on panels. And the anchor sculpture in the second photo is the Falklands conflict memorial. Lovely place and often overlooked.

 

Thanks Eagle - I was wondering.

 

And thanks again Dragon for a very interesting and informative post.

[DragonOfTheSeas]

Great review! It's always interesting to see your country through visitors' eyes. And good to hear from someone who stayed over by the Tower, rather than at County Hall or Victoria. You packed a lot in to a short space of time :)

 

I almost never see this area of London as a suggestion for hotels. I have to say it was very convenient. The advantage was that every evening I could walk around the Tower and Trinity Park when most visitors had left. Also, the rate I paid was less than I saw in many other areas.

I'm sure you probably know, but for other enquiring minds that park at Tower Hill is Trinity Square Gardens, which houses war memorials to the Merchant Navy. The sunken garden in the first shot is the 1939-45 memorial, with the structure in the background being the original 1914-18 one. Both have thousands of names engraved on panels. And the anchor sculpture in the second photo is the Falklands conflict memorial. Lovely place and often overlooked.

 

Yes--I knew the name of the park, but could not think of it when I was typing my post. :o We could tell this park was dedicated to your veterans/war casualties. I did not realize all of this detail. thanks!!

 

We assumed that is why they put the poppies exhibit at the Tower of London. [beside the WWI memorial]

Edited September 23, 2014 by DragonOfTheSeas

[Bob++]

For anyone interested in learning more about the poppies, this is a link to a newspaper with great pics and some more explanation.

Edited September 23, 2014 by Bob++

[DragonOfTheSeas]

As I glanced back at my thread I I realized I had left out the All Hallows by the Tower church. It is located immediately beside the Tower of London and across from the tube and the stops for all the HOHO buses.

 

 

 

This is the oldest church in London. It survived the great fire of 1666 in London. Samuel Pepy observed the fire from its tower and described it in his diary. Our Doubletree hotel was on Pepy Street, so, excerpts from his diary were printed in large script on the hallways of the hotel.

 

Inside the church

 

 

 

It was an impressive church for as old as it is.

 

 

 

 

 

The church was extensively damaged in WWI, yet, a large part of the original building still stands. This church is free to visit. We stopped in for about 45 minutes after our Tower of London visit on Saturday morning before we ate lunch. There were about 10-15 other people in the whole church. John Quincy Adams was married here and William Penn was baptized here. His father is credited with helping to save the church during the great fire. [sorry—too much history. I am a former history teacher, remember :o ]

[DragonOfTheSeas]

I had too many pictures for one posting. Here is the rest:

 

 

When you visit make sure you visit the crypt. It is fascinating. There are lots of little chapels.

 

 

 

 

 

 

. . . and there are unique items displayed. This was the crow’s nest from a ship that explored Antarctica.

 

 

There were many more displays in the crypt. The lighting was very dark. I could not get very many pictures to come out.

 

. . . and while I am posting, this is the Port Authority building. [ it is beside the Trinity Square Park and across from the Tower] I wanted to go inside because I could see there was a large map through the door. But, by Saturday it was closed and roped off.

 

 

 

 

My question for you Brits—is it worth visiting?

[DragonOfTheSeas]

For anyone interested in learning more about the poppies, this is a link to a newspaper with great pics and some more explanation.

 

Thank you so much for the link. These pictures shown the display with more vibrant color than mine. I hope those of you in England have plans to visit. It is worth the trip.

[Bob++]

The reference to All Hallows Church prompted me to look up the Pepys reference which I quote below. I saw somewhere that he had gone up with Sir W Penn, but that is probably not the case. All Hallows is Barking Church in the quote: Note that this was 5th September 1666 and the fire had been burning for four days by this time.

 

William Penn, son of Sam's colleague, was baptized there. President John Quincy Adams was married there.

 

But going to the fire, I find by the blowing up of houses, and the great helpe given by the workmen out of the King’s yards, sent up by Sir W. Pen, there is a good stop given to it, as well as at Marke-lane end as ours; it having only burned the dyall of Barking Church, and part of the porch, and was there quenched.

 

I up to the top of Barking steeple, and there saw the saddest sight of desolation that I ever saw; every where great fires, oyle-cellars, and brimstone, and other things burning. I became afeard to stay there long, and therefore down again as fast as I could, the fire being spread as far as I could see it; and to Sir W. Pen’s, and there eat a piece of cold meat, having eaten nothing since Sunday, but the remains of Sunday’s dinner.

 

http://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1666/09/05/

Edited September 23, 2014 by Bob++

[clo6216]

I, too, want to add my thanks for coming back with this report. Great job! We collected a lot of valuable tips while browsing your pre-trip posts, and your current posting is helping us add last-minute details as we are leaving for London (3 days pre-cruise) in a couple of weeks. I'm so glad you mentioned the Winston Churchill rooms as we probably would have just continued the tour as you did had you not warned us.

[puppycanducruise]

Thank you for this informative post. Your pictures are wonderful.

I can't wait for next June when we will spend a few days in London before a cruise.

Thanks for the information about the Churchill rooms so we won't miss them.

[Cotswold Eagle]

 

. . . and while I am posting, this is the Port Authority building. [ it is beside the Trinity Square Park and across from the Tower] I wanted to go inside because I could see there was a large map through the door. But, by Saturday it was closed and roped off.

 

My question for you Brits—is it worth visiting?

 

Although it's known as the Port of London Authority Building, the PLA is actually headquartered elsewhere these days. This building, 10 Trinity Square, is going to be developed as luxury apartments and a hotel, I believe.

[DragonOfTheSeas]

Although it's known as the Port of London Authority Building, the PLA is actually headquartered elsewhere these days. This building, 10 Trinity Square, is going to be developed as luxury apartments and a hotel, I believe.

 

Ahh, that would explain all the construction around there. By the Saturday of our stay they had roped it off. I thought that was curious--now I can see why.

 

Thank you for the update.

[Globaliser]

Although it's known as the Port of London Authority Building, the PLA is actually headquartered elsewhere these days. This building, 10 Trinity Square, is going to be developed as luxury apartments and a hotel, I believe.

That's correct. Over the last couple of years I've watched the site become a big hole in the ground and then a new building. The PLA actually moved from 10 Trinity Square some time ago, and it became the European headquarters of a big insurance company for a number of years before the current redevelopment.

 

Funnily enough, the last time that I was round there I was walking to dinner with a group of friends. Just outside Fenchurch Street station, I was accosted by a woman asking for directions to the Liberty Bounds, but whose opening gambit was to ask me "Do you speak English?" It was hiliarious, because I was the only ethnic minority person in the group - but for some reason she seemed to think that I might be her best bet amongst half a dozen white faces, even though she feared that I might not have been an English speaker. :D

[DragonOfTheSeas]

 

Funnily enough, the last time that I was round there I was walking to dinner with a group of friends. Just outside Fenchurch Street station, I was accosted by a woman asking for directions to the Liberty Bounds, but whose opening gambit was to ask me "Do you speak English?" It was hiliarious, because I was the only ethnic minority person in the group - but for some reason she seemed to think that I might be her best bet amongst half a dozen white faces, even though she feared that I might not have been an English speaker. :D

 

:rolleyes:

 

LOL, if it had been me I would have been too speechless to give her any directions. :eek: :confused: :D

 

Our hotel backed up to the Fenchurch Street station. When we walked in that direction I noted that a street overpass created a tunnel we walked through. It was dark and closed in.

 

While it is not far from the Tower Hill tube station, it was in the wrong direction and she was in the process of getting very lost. It sounds like she was in a panic.

 

Thank you for helping a poor tourist in distress. [even if she was very clueless ]

[DragonOfTheSeas]

I am going to post something I wrote for my other thread and then add to it:

 

I obsessed a lot before we left over what was the best way to get the different types of money I needed for the trip/cruise. We would need GBP and euros mostly. We hoped to use our credit card for any purchases in the Faroe Islands and Iceland. There was a discussion on that thread whether it was better to use ATMs for cash or to exchange currency before we left. We decided to exchange before the trip.

 

**************************

my previous post:

 

I promised I would come back to tell you how I did exchanging currency at my bank. DH and I determined that any loss of value through a bank exchange rate was the “cost of travel. “

 

We got our currency from our Wells Fargo bank. They do not charge any fee other than $7 for the Priority mail postage.

 

I exchange $752.29 for £430. [bank exchange rate was 1.7405] I did not write down the open market exchange rate for last Thursday, but yesterday it was 1.6726 and would have given me ~ £449.

 

In addition I exchanged $252.99 for €180. [bank exchange rate was 1.4055] I have some euros left from our trip last fall. They will come in handy this trip. The exchange on the open market yesterday was 1.3387 and would have given me ~ €188—but, I remember the open market rate was closer to 1.4 on Thursday.

 

Thus, I lost about $28 [or less if the euro rate was better] on the bank conversion vs the open market. I addition, I learned my bank would charge me $5 each time I used an international ATM--even if the UK ATMs do not charge me any fee. When you figure in several [at least 3] ATM fees there is not much difference and there is a big “peace of mind” factor.

 

We will use our credit card for any big purchases and to buy our Oyster cards. We have one credit card that does not have a foreign transaction fee and one with a chip that does have a fee. I called the latter and they sent me a pin number to use in Europe. We will only use that when our old swipe and sign [no fee card] does not work.

 

********************************

 

So, how did this work out for me? :confused:

 

As you Brits would say--Brilliantly!

 

We used the swipe and sign credit card [no foreign transaction fee] to purchase Oyster cards [Heathrow Express desk, terminal 5], for our hotel bill , and at a souvenir store without any trouble.

 

I ran into a bit of trouble returning the Oyster cards for credit on the last evening. You had to present the same card for the ticket agent to credit the money back. The card I used to buy the cards at the airport would not register in her machine. So, I tried my DH card and it worked. [thank goodness].

 

We used the GBP for the admissions to the various attractions and meals. I used my left over GBP at our port stop in Portland with our tour to Stonehenge. My swipe and sign CC worked fine at the gift shop at Stonehenge, too.

 

[The only place I had to use the chip and pin CC was at a little store in the Faroe Islands. I was glad I had it our I would not have had any lunch until we returned to the ship from our 7 hr tour. ]

 

We were happy with our decision. However, I saw ATMs everywhere. There were several very close to the hotel and one in the hotel.

 

We had some GBP left and we were able to use these in Iceland to buy some souvenirs at the port gift shop. FYI--they took pretty much any type of currency in the touristy places. I even saw prices displayed in euros.]

[Globaliser]

Our hotel backed up to the Fenchurch Street station. When we walked in that direction I noted that a street overpass created a tunnel we walked through. It was dark and closed in.

 

While it is not far from the Tower Hill tube station, it was in the wrong direction and she was in the process of getting very lost. It sounds like she was in a panic.

It was exactly in that "tunnel" (opposite the German restaurant). She wasn't in a panic, just uncertain of where she was. And not a tourist, either, in the sense that she was British. Which made it all much funnier when she decided to ask me.

 

The biggest irony, though, was actually this: The question she then asked was "Do you know how to get to the Wetherspoons that's near here?" - and I was in fact the only person in my group who knew. We all had a laugh later as my friends wanted to know how I knew the answer, and knew it instantly. (No, I have never set foot inside that pub.)

[DragonOfTheSeas]

Sorry that I did not come back to finish the last post or 2 on this thread yesterday. I will get to it today.

 

I decided I better at least get one or 2 of my other mini reviews of our ports going before I forget everything.

 

I finished my mini reviews of the Normandy D-Day beaches. If your cruise visits Le Havre you might want to check this out.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2106994

[DragonOfTheSeas]

Before I leave the topic of money I would like to give you an idea of how much we sent on attractions and meals while we were in London. [How much money will I need?. . . is a frequent question]

 

We did not have any fancy meals. We would be having longer sit-down meals on the ship and did not need those here. Also, we wanted to try a couple of pubs. We were not trying to eat cheap meals--but, were often too busy touring at lunch or too tired at night to care where or what we ate.

 

If I added up the meals below correctly it came to 124 £. Our hotel had bottled water in the executive lounge and we took a couple of these each day. YMMV

 

 

Day 1— We arrived at 10:00 am

Breakfast on plane –almost frozen croissant with butter and jam [DH added one of the trail mix bars I carry when we travel] $0

Lunch—the deli attached to our hotel; 2 sandwiches, one pasta salad to split and 2 bottles of water = 14£

Dinner—Cheshire Cheese pub; 2 fish and chips dinners and a beer and cider ~ 23£

 

Day 2

Breakfast in hotel executive lounge—This was the best bargain of the trip. I was able to ask for an upgrade to executive level for 5£/night when I made the online reservation. It included breakfast and wine/beer in the evening + snacks. [based on availability] $0

Lunch – Pret a Manger in Trafalgar Square, 2 sandwiches, a bag of chips and a blueberry muffin to split and 2 diet Cokes. 18£

Dinner—Liberty Bounds—2 dinners and beer & cider 25£

 

Day 3

Breakfast in hotel executive lounge-- $0

Lunch—sandwich shop near the Tower of London [cannot remember the name] 2 sandwiches for take away. 14£

Dinner—Pizza place by the Tower of London—30£ for pizza and sodas

 

Day 4—Day we left on the cruise

Breakfast in hotel executive lounge-- $0

Lunch—on-board--$0

[DragonOfTheSeas]

Now for the Attractions/transportation costs :

 

Day 1—

Oyster Cards: 5 £ deposit for card and 25 £ to begin [i got about half of that back]

Westminster Abbey: 15 £, senior rate

Free: St Margaret’s Church, Parliament Square and walking around Big Ben and Westminster Bridge

 

Day 2—

Buckingham Palace State Room Tour: 18£ senior rate

Churchill War Rooms: 14£ senior rate

River cruise from Westminster pier to St Katharine’s Pier: 7£

Free: Changing of the Guard, Horse Guards, St Martin in the Fields Church, and Trafalgar Square. Also, we walked around St James Park, the St Katharine’s dock area and the Tower Bridge

 

Day 3—

Tower of London: 17£ senior rate

Free: Remains of Roman Wall, Trinity Square Park [visited everyday] and the British Museum

 

This equals 101 £, however, I got about 30£ credited back to my CC when I returned the Oyster Cards

 

Even with buying some souvenirs with cash and some on the CC we had GBP left for our port day in Portland [stonehenge and Salisbury].