@%!*(^&

Mystery 3.5 star hotel $175 a night in The City - Financial District.
2 rooms 2 nights after tax $828.96

http://www.hotwire.com/hotel/details.j...=C&inputId=hotel-results&actionType=303

I looked online for cheats on how to figure out the hotels on Hotwire and found a match. The hotel is probably this one:
Club Quarters, Gracechurch
http://www.hotwire.com/package/hotel-d...-selection&selectedCarAddOnSolutionId=0

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=7+Gracec...+London,+EC3V+0DR,+UK&ie=UTF8&z=16&om=1


Basically what you do is look for flight+hotel packages that match the description. The only 3.5 star hotel in the financial district is that one. It is also part of the cheapest package so it looks like a match to me.

It has elevators, and is sort of close to Monument station, which happens to be at London London London Bridge. Tower of London also nearby.

This forum link also corroborates my findings:
http://www.betterbidding.com/index.php?showtopic=12693&

Trip Advisor reviews of "Club Quarters - Gracechurch":
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Revie...uarters_Gracechurch-London_England.html

Hotwire

My pick would also be the hotwire one with that additional infomation although I haven't checked anything else because it is by far cheaper than anything else I have seen.

Robert called and said he would go to AAA today so there is also that for when we get home.

I don't know if its just because some time has passed or because we have all gone to look at it but the price did go up to $179 a night but that makes the total now $844.47 now. but that is still very resonable.

What's weirder is when I went back last night at 3AM, it had gone down to $172.

Shady

So I think we should rely on cruisecritic.com to see reviews of how people make the transfer to Harwich. It seems that some people used Silver Fleet cars
http://www.silver-fleet.com/harwich/


I haven't done much looking but it is cheaper than what I have seen at other sites so far. I estimate all transfers and getting around England will be about $100-$110 per person.

Here is the breakdown (prices are for 8 people):
Getting to Harwich via "cruise train" $230
Getting from Harwich to airport with Silver Fleet: $380
Tube passes for two days: $192
______________________________
Grand total $802 (not including gratuity for driver)

Thoughts? Findings? Can someone post our hotel info here too for reference? :)

That sounds like a great bargain deal.

I say call them.
They probably know when we will be able to get off the boat from experience.

Out hotel links:
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Revie...gs_Cross_Bloomsbury-London_England.html

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&...=0.019464,0.040169&z=15&iwloc=addr&om=1

I asked for a price and explained that we have two issues.

One: We are 8 large adults who will probably have way too much baggage. (Probably won't fit in a car for 8 so what car do you recommend?)

Two: We have a tight connection (Any idea when we will be able to get off the boat? Any idea how long it will take to drive from Harwich to Heathrow given it will be Monday morning?)

I will let you know their responses.

Hi Lina, thanks for the enquiry.

The Silver Van pictured here http://www.silver-fleet.com/harwich/ is our 8 seater with an interior shot below it. This van seats two rows of 3 passenegers in the back and with two more up front next to the driver. The two seats up front are quite small - but the other six will take large people OK. The trunk will hold 20 cases of mixed sizes so I don't think luggage is a problem. Price for this vehicle is 190 Pounds.

Next size up is a 13 seater (pictured in blue on same page above) price is 300 Pounds.

Journey time is about 3 hours on a Monday morning. earliest I've ever colelcted from this ship is 7am. You may be able to get off earlier - I don't know.

What time are your flights?

Regards
Tony Hayter

We better get confirmation from Royal Caribbean what the earliest time we could leave the ship is.

I will try to contact them using the web-site.

First of all I would like to say that I have been trying to convey this idea since the moment we booked our flights. Second of all I thought it would be good to mention here that our flight leaves at 9:55am
So there you go.

This really has nothing to do with our cruise I was just wondering why this webpage says its been viewed 4285 times, that seems like a lot.

Since Im on the topic of nonrelated stuff I would like to add that I posted a Happy Birtday comment on Bianca's myspace and told her Ernie has invited her to his house for drinks and games whenever she is free. So there.

Oh and now for what you are here for. Royal Carribean has a thing on their webpage where you put in your airport, the ship you are cruising on and the date of departure of your cruise and they tell you the earliest you can schedule a flight back after your cruise. For our cruise it won't even let me choose London-Heathrow as an option, well it will it just says there are no matches. But when I pick London-Gatwick as our airport they say to schedule your flight no earlier than 1:00pm so I think we may be in a bit of a pickle.

As far as changing our flight I don't even know if its possible but if it is the options aren't even good. Apparently Lina said that the latest flight on AA is at 12:45pm which at least according to the driver and pushing the RCCL site is ok but its not direct and god only knows if there are seats available. So I don't know

If we can't solve this flight problem, we would disembark at Cork. The RyanAir fare from Cork to Stansted is about 5 Euro. With all the fees and such it comes to 228 euro for all of us. With the current exchange rate, thats about 155 pounds. The transfer was going to be 190. We miss one day on the ship, we need a place to stay and meals in Cork for the night of the 6th. It's also going to cost something to get from Stansted to Heathrow, but I've done that before and it's not too bad...trains all the way. It's a short train trip from the airport to the underground and then the underground the rest of the way and It's zone 3 to zone 6, so it's a little cheaper than the ride in.

We would get more time in Ireland, which could be fun, especially if I contact my peeps, but we lose a lot too.

...Just an idea....

Everyone post your ideas for the hotel on October 8th!

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London Pass Prices
Adult Prices Child Prices*


With Travel Without Travel With Travel Without Travel

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2 Day
£54.15

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£69.35

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Your London Pass comes with an option to purchase a London Visitor Travelcard. The Travelcard is date stamped for the dates you wish to use it. It can be used on the public red buses, tubes and trains zones 1-6 (i.e in Greater London).

I don't know how much of a value this is, I suppose it would depend on the sites we are planning on seeing.

I don't know if you guys think it would be better to stay near the airport or in the city.

I found this on the same site:
94 pounds for a quad
London Town Hotel in Earls court which is really close to 2 tube stations and has bathrooms ensuite. Address: 15 Penywern Road, Earls Court, London
It would mean no changes on the tube to get to the airport

By the way by reading the crazy ass pdf that the london underground webpage has I have decifered what I believe to be the times of the first and last trains. I think that around 5:30am they start and stop at around midnight, I did only look at the District Line (dark green) and focused on Earls Court since thats what was highlighted on the Pdf for some reason.

javascript:openWindow('/hotelpopup/acc...telDetails',%20'width=578,height=520');

the list of prices that dont make sense and the webpage thingy not working

oh by the way the postal code of the hotel is SW5 9TY

It is cheap to stay near the airport. Will that be a good plan?

I guess we would be close in the morning, but we wouldn't be in London proper for as long as possible.

I like the Earl's Court idea Chrissy found assuming that place has an elevator.

Room facilities

All our rooms provide a warm, comfortable and relaxing atmosphere, the perfect base from which to explore London.
Ensuite facilities Each room has it own private shower & toilet
Colour TV
Telephone Direct dial telephones in all rooms
Central heating
Iron & ironing board Available from reception on request
Hairdryer In room or available from reception on request
Wake-up calls Available from reception on request
Tea & coffee Available in the Guests Lounge
Non-smoking All our rooms are non-smoking

Hotel facilities
Reception 24 hour Reception
Breakfast Morning Continental Break fast served between 7.30am till 9.00am
Check In/Out Check In time: 13.00 hrs and Check Out time: 10.00 hrs
Guests Lounge Available for private hire functions


Tea & coffee
Tea & Coffee making facilities are available in the Guests Lounge
Internet Internet and WiFi access are available in the Guests Lounge
Left luggage Guests left luggage storage facilities available on request.
Lift Hotel lift serves all floors

so there

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Revie...s-London_Town_Hotel-London_England.html


It looks like fun! It would be cool to experience a small London hotel if we can find one that has an elevator and isn't too bad. This one looks pretty good to me.

Let's do it.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&...,82.265625&ie=UTF8&z=16&iwloc=cent&om=1

FYI here is the itinerary of our Cruise:
http://www.royalcaribbean.com/findacru...0?packageCode=JW14U021&sailDate=1070924

I looked and found this for a total of 163 GBP for 3 triples en suite with english breakfast included. It is supposedly really close to kings cross station.

http://www.travelstay.com/pages/HotelMeridiana.htm


http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Revie...ews-Hotel_Meridiana-London_England.html


http://www.hotelmeridiana.co.uk/



I have no idea if they have a lift but it seems that they have good reviews.

For the Hotel Meridiana
As with most of these old English houses there is no lift, so carrying your suitcases up several flights of stairs could be a hassle (depending on what floor you're on).

www.bargainlondonhotels.com

Majestic Hotel
160 Cromwell Road
LONDON GB
SW5 0TL
Quad (private bath and lift)
114 GBP /room/ night

Half a mile from Hyde Park

I haven't looked at tripadvisor yet, though. Any word back from the other hotel?

Comfort Inn Kings Cross
2-5 St Chad's Street
LONDON GB
WC1H 8BD

265.56 GBP Total two rooms and all fees
Includes continental breakfast

So there are rooms available there. They got back to Chrissy. The total with tax is 220 GBP. Hotwire seems to have a room that is coming up for a decent rate that is in Kensington - Chelsea area for under $200. We should check tonight at 3 am or whatever.

;)

£187.23 + VAT = 220?
OK I like it let's do it yay

http://www.ricksteves.com/plan/destinations/britain/hpotter.htm


I'm sure there are other sites too.

sounds like we may want to pursue this :)

Justin,

So good to hear from you.

Oh my gosh, do you ever have relatives in eastern Ireland!!! Both my kids have made multiple trips now due to their hospitality. The tough part is that Karen is in the Andes in Peru right now - and she has all the email addresses. All of the Irish Carews have resettled in the Dublin area except one (who is still in the family base in Galway). Their kids are all 30-ish - and love to have US cousins come. They put on a hospitality show like you wouldn't believe - especially if you'd like to do a pub tour. Here's what I have for now - I'll try to get you better info before you leave.

Lucy and Mary are the daughters of Gretta Carew, who was my mother's first cousin. So they are both my second cousins. Their children are your third cousins. Gretta married married Thomas Geraghty. Mary and Lucy Geraghty were born in 1947 and 1948 respectively. Mary's four kids are Colm, Declan Gillian and Suzanne. Lucy's three kids are Niall, Emer and Kevin. All seven of those kids have just heaped the hospitality on Brian and Karen when they visited. Also, Lucy and Mary's hospitality was unbelievable when we were there. They have also been to Boston with their families - so I've met them multiple times.

Karen tells the story that when she was in Galway, she found Irish universities operate a little differently than ours. After semester classes end, there's like a one month break to prepare for exams. So Lucy called her and said to come to Dublin for a band concert that Kevin was in. She did. And after two weeks in Dublin, she called home and, speaking almost in a whisper, said, "Mom, they won't let me leave!"

When we were in Dublin, Lucy's husband Noel took us on a personal tour of the Guiness Brewery (he is a retiree) - his pride in Guiness was like nothing I've ever seen an American display about their employer. Then, we went back to their house where they fed us like royalty. Then, after dinner, off to a family-type pub where we were joined by Lucy's sister Mary and her brother Jimmy and all of their kids (your age). There, we were once again treated like royalty. Memories for a lifetime - surrounded by an incredible number of relatives!!!

I have an address for Lucy. - Noel and Lucy Foran, 4 Whitethorn Grove, Artane, Dublin 5, Ireland. I think this is a phone number - 01 8187601. And an address for Mary - Billy and Mary Whelan, 41 Glenwood Road, Raheny, Dublin 5, Ireland. No phone. I know Karen has email addresses for some of the kids. She'll be home from Peru a week from Saturday - so I'll send you more when she gets back. You'll love all of them!!!