Transatlantic Cruise in Sept???

[Petert]

Hi D&J,

You are right, I was mixed up on the Irish ports. We sailed on the Sept 7 '04 cruise from Dover to New York. We were initially scheduled to stop at Le Havre, Cork, Dublin, Reykjavik and NY. Weather in the North Atlantic forced the cancellation of the Reykjavik port call, with Vigo, Spain as a substitute. As I meant to say we made the Cork visit but then the Belfast visit was substituted for the Dublin port of call. Sorry if I confused you. We missed the Iceland visit, as that breaks up the trans Atlantic crossing, but we still had a great cruise.

Peter

 

[D&J]

Petert...Did you dock at Ringaskiddy in Cork?

 

[Srpilo]

Wow we're a 2 pager ..LOL !!

Hi everyone..

D&J, I hope you finally get your answer about Cork... We've haven't started our planning for Cobb yet, so I have nothing to help you ..But I'll keep my ear's open on the other board about docking in Cork..

Pete

P.s .. Hi to "Alli and Grant"

 

[D&J]

Thanks Srpilo ...Let me know if you find anything out re Ringaskiddy...I'm almost positive that is where they will dock due to the draft of the berth. I guess I could always email the fishing lodge from the ship to let them know! Looking forward to the cruise. Will be meeting Pam and Kevin who live near us on Sunday! They are avid cruisers but first time to Europe and we have done Europe but are first time cruisers!

Hi Alli and Grant!

Dee

 

[catwomanlv]

Hi Dee and Srpilo!! I still am on here and check often... i am going crazy waiting!! lol We bought our airfare... we leave from Las Vegas to NYC (JFK) on the 8th and leave JFK around 11:10 (i think) on Virgin and arrive in Heathrow like 11 am on the 9th. We then got a flight back to Las Vegas that Sunday we get back , a couple days in NYC. The TOTAL cost for all our airfare was only $500!!!!!!! Can you belive it?!? Holy Crap that's SO cheap!!! We are also trying to recruit some friends to go since its going to be such an amazing time!! We are looking/researching each place and tyring to figure out what to do/where to go in each port.... anyone going to Amsterdam and going to the coffee bars besides us?! lol
Talk to u guys later....hey how many more days do we have?!?!

 

[D&J]

Hey Allie and everyone...so far Jon and I have figured out a few ports...Honfluer in France, "on our own" in Amsterdam (you can get a pass on the tour barges that stop at all the museums and I'm sure some coffee houses), flyfishing in Ireland (and the ship will dock in Cobh, I found out from the cruise line), would like to go to Brugges in Belgium but haven't figured out if it will be a private or ship tour, and don't know about Halifax yet.

I've been buying clothes 'cause the sales are good right now. Have all of my formal stuff, bought some some good shirts and pants, will probably be taking some skirts /dresses I already have. We're signed up for the CC party! Also switched to late seating...we enjoy cocktails before dinner so it won't be as rushed.

Our flight on Virgin was only $159 each but had to add tax of $40 so it was only $400 for both of us. We flew Virgin on our honeymoon 20 years ago so it will be fun!

We found a B&B and as they don't have an email address, so I wrote to them. They are on the rail line and located 10 minutes from Dover and 20 minutes from Canterbury. Perfect! Can't wait to hear back from them.

As you can see, things are falling into place. A question: Can you book the specialty restaurant on line prior to the cruise or do you have to do it on board?

It was 45 degrees here yesterday but only 10 degrees this morning! Looking forward to my Belize trip too in 8 wks!

 

[D&J]

I found out from both Celebrity and from the Port of Cork that the ship will be docking at Cobh in Ireland, which is nice because there is a heritage center right there. The Port is lengthening and improving the berth at Cobh to accomodate the Constellation...they will confirm after February 11th. So it is only an "almost" sure thing.

 

[catwomanlv]

D&J-
You are staying at a BB the night before we leave in Dover? How much was it? Can you give me the details? We still havent decided if we are going to stay in London the night before or just go straight to Dover and not worry about traveling the day of the cruise. What time can we board the cruise anyways??

 

[Srpilo]

Hi Guys..

Dee
Just a quick question..You said you're doing Honfluer on your own ?? How are you getting there ?.. Do you have a private tour lined up?..
Just curious because Sylvia and I are thinking about Honfluer for the day also..So any info would be helpfull.. Thanks

Alli
Congratulation on your airfare..Have you considered "Priceline" for your hotel in London ?? We got a great deal bidding on our hotel..


Anyway guys, lets keep the energy going..

 

[catwomanlv]

Hey guys...
We just booked our room for London, we're staying at the Rubens along with everyone else and probably going to do a transfer if there is still room.. anyone else doing that? how much is it? is it a bus or what? I can't wait..all this preparation is making me crazy ... it seem SO far away!!

 

[D&J]

Hey Gang:

Honfluer...we are not doing that one on our own...we will go with the ship tour. We are going to do Amsterdam on our own, and may be doing a tour with PamKev in Halifax. Just put deposit on the salmon flyfishing in Cobh. Hoping to get on a tour with Jezzedogg for Brugges.

Catwomanly: We bought a B&B book at Borders and I still have the letter to send to the B&B owner, so it isn't for sure yet...we hope to stay at a place called Sunshine Cottage halfway between Dover and Canterbury. It is supposedly a 5 minute walk to the Britrail station. I think the B&B is around 45 to 60 pounds per night (for 2 people). I dont have the book here but I will bring it in and email you with the particulars.

Just spent more money on clothes for the cruise....ouch...better put the credit card away.

 

[D&J]

Just saw the Amsterdam tour option to be done privately by some native Amsterdamers...so we would like to do that possibly.

 

[catwomanlv]

We're doing our own tour of Amsterdam... complete with tours of Coffee Shops, the Pot Museum (my bro told me about it) , and the Red Light District... hey we're only in Amsterdam once might as well see it all!!! woo hoo!!

 

[D&J]

Catwomanly: You might want to check the other board, cruisecritics. There is a transplanted Ohioan who now lives in Amsterdam and did the Transatlantic cruise last year and is arranging a tour ...we will go to the Van Gogh museum in the morning while others are at Ann Franke house and then we will meet up for lunch and take a tour of the red light district and a canal cruise...sounds perfect! I have asked to be placed on that one. Check it out!

 

[D&J]

Hey Alli: You mean they have a pot museum as in the herb? My guess is that some of the coffee houses have the real thing and it is legal there... : )

 

[D&J]

Alli: I think you can board as early as noon. Will email you with the B&B stuff tomorrow or I may wait until I hear back from them. Snail mail is slow, but they didn't have an email address, although they are on the web. The url is http://www.sunshine-cottage.co.uk/

 

[catwomanlv]

Hi Guys!
Yes D&J its legal there and we plan on taking adavantage of that for a day.. lol hey why not?! Lol And we decided to stay at the Rubens the night before we leave and take a transfer over... The tour sounds great in Amsterdam,,, but we are going to do it alone there!!

 

[D&J]

For those doing Honfuer, any ideas on cheap transportation from the ship? I was going to book with the ship tour if it doesn't make sense to go wiht private transportation.

 

[Srpilo]

Has anybody considered sharing a taxi to Honfluer, it seems like sharing a taxi would be less time restrictive, and alot more flexible, enjoyable and certainly cheaper than the Ships Excursion..Umm??

On another note, Sylvia and I are off for our "Princess" cruise , we'll be gone a couple of weeks, and I'll check back-in when we return.

Type at ya then
Pete

 

[catwomanlv]

Srpilo- have fun on your cruise!!! Man I'm jealous!! Wish we didn't have to wait SO long until September, although its coming faster than I thought!!
Honfleur is in France right? We haven't really decided what we wanted to do.. since we're there unitl midnight we figure we want to go into Paris since we've never been and we'd like to go there... is anyone else planning on doing that?
We know in Brussels we are going to sign up for the Brewery Tour that sounds like fun...
Ireland we're not too sure yet either...
Nova Scotia who knows either..
haha... we still have a lot of planning to do.....
how many days left???

This weekend we are celebrating our birthdays mine is Friday and Grant's is Monday!!

Talk to u all later!!