7 Night British Isles Sept 2, 2018

[laevson4712]

There is one be organized on the page that can't be named.

I’ve seen the one on the other site but if anyone is interested in doing one on this site I would be happy to do it. Nothing against the group on the other site, just personal preference.

 

[iadizfans]

I’ve been looking at sites outside of Disney and I’m a little weary. Mainly I can only find one tour per site and from the descriptions it sounds like a lot of time on the coach and not much exploring. I've mainly been looking for tours in Cork and Greenock. In Dublin I heard there is a free shuttle from the port to downtown and we are going to book our own tickets for Guinness and explore on our own. Still trying to decide about Liverpool.

Beatles!!! Beatles!! Beatles!.... If you're interested, these folks look pretty good. I think that's where we're headed.

http://fab4tours.co.uk/index.php/prices

If you're not into the Beatles, there's some awesome history tours as well.

 

[LINDATHEPOOH]

Beatles!!! Beatles!! Beatles!.... If you're interested, these folks look pretty good. I think that's where we're headed.

http://fab4tours.co.uk/index.php/prices

If you're not into the Beatles, there's some awesome history tours as well.

I’ve sent them 2 emails and haven’t gotten any response. Does anyone know if they’re a reputable company?

 

[iadizfans]

I’ve sent them 2 emails and haven’t gotten any response. Does anyone know if they’re a reputable company?

Well that's not good... I communicated via this site with two different couples that used them and both were very positive. I have not tried reaching out yet to them to book ours yet.

 

[spenifer]

Wondering about the weather/how to dress. I’ve been to London in theSummer and in the Fall, but not on a cruise ship and I suspect it will be a bit cooler?? Anyone with experience on what you’ve packed- dresses, pants and sweaters or just layer? Did you spend any time at the pool or should I just forego the swimsuit?

 

[iadizfans]

Wondering about the weather/how to dress. I’ve been to London in theSummer and in the Fall, but not on a cruise ship and I suspect it will be a bit cooler?? Anyone with experience on what you’ve packed- dresses, pants and sweaters or just layer? Did you spend any time at the pool or should I just forego the swimsuit?

Never been there but I did a quick Google search on just Liverpool weather and it doesn't look like good swimming conditions...

https://www.google.com/search?q=liv...0j69i57j0l4.5650j0j8&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

 

[cruiser21]

I usually check www.skyscanner.com for transatlantic flights, then book direct with the airlines. That way you can get the exact itinerary you want. Having read many cruise threads where people have booked flights with Disney, it does not seem a good idea, both cost wise and itinerary wise. Also when you book direct with airlines rather than a third party, its easier to make changes or sort out issues. Airlines really dont like dealing with problems when a third party is involved. I learned that the hard way a few years ago.

Two things to remember about flying to Europe from USA
1. You loose a day, ie you will depart USA on a Thursday evening and arrive Heathrow or Gatwick on Friday morning, flight time plus time difference
2. Jetlag. I always find it worse flying USA to Europe than Europe to USA. When I land in LA Im tired that night but fine the next morning, but when I come home I crash for a day.

It's funny I'm the total opposite and I live in the US. I'm thinking maybe the jet leg is worse when your coming home from vacation then going to it LOL. I could fly anywhere in the world and experience no jet lag. When I come home and have to go back to work I feel like I need a vacation from my vacation.

 

[spenifer]

Never been there but I did a quick Google search on just Liverpool weather and it doesn't look like good swimming conditions...

https://www.google.com/search?q=liv...0j69i57j0l4.5650j0j8&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

Moreso, wondering about what to wear in general? Long pants rather than a dress at dinner? Take sweaters for every evening? That kind of thing.
It will be too cool to swim I am fairly certain...

 

[iadizfans]

Moreso, wondering about what to wear in general? Long pants rather than a dress at dinner? Take sweaters for every evening? That kind of thing.
It will be too cool to swim I am fairly certain...

Yep... understand. I've never been so I cannot say for sure but my guess is sweaters for evening is a good bet.

 

[laevson4712]

Beatles!!! Beatles!! Beatles!.... If you're interested, these folks look pretty good. I think that's where we're headed.

http://fab4tours.co.uk/index.php/prices

If you're not into the Beatles, there's some awesome history tours as well.

I found a bike tour that we are interested in. It’s only an hour and a half which is great cause we didn’t wanna spend a huge amount of time off the ship but still hits a good bit of historic/Beatles site. Might pop over to Speke Hall after depending how we’re feeling.

 

[iadizfans]

Hi all - Sad to say we swapped this sailing for something a little closer to home (and warmer). Travel & logistics required a little more time away from work than I can swing. We would also like to spend time pre/post cruise exploring London/Belgium/France and that's just a little too much to bite off right now. Retiring in approx. 5 yrs.... makes more sense for us then!! Enjoy the trip!! Look forward to seeing trip reports!

 

[RogueKnits]

Hi everyone! Just checking in here as I’ve just booked my husband and myself on this cruise for our 10 year anniversary vacation. This will be our first cruise ever, so I’m extra excited! Can’t wait to get into all the planning.

 

[cjmmom]

We've never been to London before so I wondered if anyone is familiar with the London subway [underground/tube - not sure what they call it?]. There's a stop less than a mile from our hotel so it seems like a convenient way to get around. I'm wondering if it's easy to navigate for first-timers and any other info would be appreciated.

 

[BadPinkTink]

We've never been to London before so I wondered if anyone is familiar with the London subway [underground/tube - not sure what they call it?]. There's a stop less than a mile from our hotel so it seems like a convenient way to get around. I'm wondering if it's easy to navigate for first-timers and any other info would be appreciated.

Hi, I used to live in London and used the tube on a daily basis. Using the tube is a normal everyday thing in London. Your most important resource is the official website https://tfl.gov.uk/ even when I lived there I checked this all the time.

The next thing to check is which line is nearest to where you are staying. The easiest way to do this is go to Google Maps, put in the address of your hotel and zoom in. You will then be able to see the tube station symbol. Click on this and it will tell you the name of the station and the line.

When you have done this, come back to me and I will walk you through as much as I can.

 

[cjmmom]

Hi, I used to live in London and used the tube on a daily basis. Using the tube is a normal everyday thing in London. Your most important resource is the official website https://tfl.gov.uk/ even when I lived there I checked this all the time.

The next thing to check is which line is nearest to where you are staying. The easiest way to do this is go to Google Maps, put in the address of your hotel and zoom in. You will then be able to see the tube station symbol. Click on this and it will tell you the name of the station and the line.

When you have done this, come back to me and I will walk you through as much as I can.

Thanks so much! I did visit the tube website after I wrote this. According to our hotel's website, Earl's Court is the station that's closest to the hotel [Residence Inn Kensington] - less than a mile [sorry, the website is American so it's giving me miles, not meters]. We're from Wisconsin - no subways in the state sadly, but whenever we visit Washington D.C. we use their subway -so we're comfortable with that but London's is far more extensive. I'm guessing they make if fairly easy for people to figure out how to get from point A to point B? In addition, I'm trying to figure out if I should buy fare cards ahead of time or not and which type of card to buy if I do get them before we arrive. I was looking at the Visitor Oyster Card? We only have 2.5 days pre-cruise and 2.5 days post-cruise and expect to spend one of the pre-cruise days going to Stonehenge plus using a hop-on/hop-off bus one day so this would fill in the gaps so to speak.

 

[BadPinkTink]

right ok, got you on the map

ok, there are 2 tube stations near you, depending on your route you could go to either one.

Earls Court has 2 tube lines - District Line - Green and Piccadilly Line Blue

West Kensington has 1 tube line - District Line Green

There are two entrances to Earls Court Station, one on Warwick Road and one on Earls Court Road. If you look at the map you will see that the whole station property is the land between these two roads. The Warwick road entrance is the nearest to your hotel, Google maps is saying an 8 minute walk.

Ok, thats your location sorted. The next thing to know is that both tube and buses in London are cashless system. There is a credit card sized plastic card called an Oyster card which is used for all transport in London, buses, tubes and the Docklands Light Railway. You load money onto it and then tap and go. You do not have to specify which transport you are using, just put money on the card and travel any combination you wish.



There are 2 ways to load money - multiple days or pay as you go

The multiple days means you pay for unlimited use for a set amount of days, usually 7 or 30 days.
The pay as you go means you put money on the card and every-time you swipe / use the card it deducts the fare from your balance. There is a maximum of £6 per day which will be detected from the card. You need to work out which is the better option for you. You might only need transport for 1 or 2 days, then pay as you go would be best, or you might need transport for 5 days, then the 7 day unlimited would be the best option.

Next How to get an Oyster Card.
This is the main Oyster card section https://oyster.tfl.gov.uk/oyster/entry.do
If you are flying into Heathrow airport you can get Oyster cards at the ticket desks at the Tube stations in any of the terminals.
You can also get Oyster cards at the ticket desks of either Earls Court or West Kensington.

How to use an Oyster Card.

Once you have your Oyster card, you need to load the money onto it. When you are getting an Oyster card for the first time at a tube station ticket desk, you will need to pay a desposit ontop of whatever amount of money for the fare. They ca load the fare money direct onto the card for you when you buy it.

If you need to add additional money onto the card at any time. you can either use the self service ticket machines or you can go to the ticket desk. Some of the self service ticket machines only accept a chip and pin card, some of the ticket machines will accept cash and card. To use the self service machine, tap the card on the yellow reader. It will display your balance and give you 2 options, to add pay as you go money, or the multiple day fare. Choose which one you want, pay the money and then tap the oyster card on the yellow reader to load the fare onto the card.

To go to the train platforms you need to tap the oyster card on the yellow reader at the entrance turnstiles. This will open the gates. Be aware though that London people walk FAST and holding up the traffic as you fumble for your Oyster card is a no no. Instead, always make sure your Oyster card is either in your hand as you approach the turnstile or is in your pocket and you can pull it out as you walk with purpose to the turnstile.

Once through the turnstile you then need to take the escalator down to platform level. Again London people walk with purpose, so watch out. When using the escalators make sure you stand on the right and walk on the left. People WILL push past you and tut and be annoyed if you stand on the left. So yes this means your party MUST be in single file when using the escalators.

How To Use The Tube System
All the tube lines are colour coded. The easiest way to figure out the tube map is to find the end of a line and then trace it all the way to the other end. Some lines connect at various stations. You do not need to swipe out when switching between lines, only when you reach your final destination.

You need to plan your route. For example, if you wanted to get from Earls Court to Harrods in Knightsbridge.
This is the Piccadilly Line Map https://tfl.gov.uk/tube/route/piccadilly/
Tube lines either run north / south or east/ west. The Tube trains have the end station of that particular route marked on the front of the train.
To go from Earls Court To Knightsbridge you would need the Piccadilly Line Train to Cockfosters (the last stop)
Walk into Earls Court Tube station on Warwick Road, and follow the signs for Piccadilly Line Tube. Its been a few years since I was in that station so I cant give you exact instructions but it will be easily signposted.
Then once you have found the Piccadilly Line, there will be two platforms. You will need to find the platform which has the train to Cockfosters, not the Heathrow platform.
Tube trains are usually every 5 to 7 minutes so dont worry if you miss one.
When the train arrives on the platform the doors will open automatically. Let the people off first and then board the train. Depending on the time of day, it may be crowed and there may be no seats available.
The doors will close. An automatic announcement will come on, This is a Piccadilly Line train to Cockfosters, the next station will be Gloucester Road, change here for the Circle and District Lines.
There will be an announcement at every station. There is a route map on the wall above the seating area near the doors so you can follow your progress.
It is 3 stops from Earls Court to Knightsbridge. The doors will open automatically. As you approach the station , look out of the windows and at eye on the station walls you will see yellow signs saying WAY OUT. When the doors open, follow the flow of traffic and the yellow signs to the exit.

Not all tube stations have escalators. Most have stairs. When you reach ground level, you will need to swipe your oyster card to open the turnstiles. Again people walk with purpose, so as you are going up the escalators have your oyster card in your hand, and walk directly to the turnstile and swipe. As soon as the gates open, move away from them. If you have to put the oyster card away in a wallet or bag, move to one side to do so. Do not hold up the flow of traffic.

You can get paper tube maps at every station BUT it really marks you as a tourist if you walk around with one. There are route maps all over the station, on the walls and on billboards.

 

[cjmmom]

I can't thank you enough all this info - it's incredible and I imagine a lot of people on this thread will benefit! As far as the subway itself, sounds like it operates in a very similar manner to DC's subway which helps. You helped clear up questions about using the 7 or 30 day pass vs the pay as you go - really appreciate that. We are so excited to visit the British Isles. We've been to Europe before but other than our oldest son [his college grad trip from us was a trip to Ireland] nobody's been to the area and we're looking forward to exploring all these places [and the history] and meeting the people who call it home.
Well, thanks again and enjoy the rest of your day!

 

[BadPinkTink]

@cjmmom you are welcome. if you have any other questions let me know.

 

[mrobin023]

We have booked the Doubletree at Victoria station for our Pre nights and are now considering our transportation option from Heathrow to the hotel. It looks like the train would be a good direct option, but not sure we want try and tackle that after a 13 hour flight. Does anyone have any recommendations for a car service?

 

[goofeypete]

Looks like we are all set! Excitement level is growing as each day brings us closer to this dream trip.
The airfare from Sky Harbor in Phoenix, AZ was VERY expensive, but at least its a non-stop straight to Heathrow and back. (Hate layovers and connections)
We'll be staying 2 nights in London pre-cruise and have used our TA to book both the room and transfers to Dover for embarkation. We are not experienced travelers, so the extra cost was worth it for us.

BadPinkTink: Could you give some advice, please? From what I've been reading on the various posts, credit cards (chip and pin) are accepted most places. Still need to have local currency, but wondering how much to carry for incidentals like Taxi, tips, small purchases, etc. in both Euros and Pounds? Also- have you been to Camden Market? Looks interesting for a short shopping/dining stop. Thanks for any info.