We embarked from New York Manhattan Cruise Terminal. We used public transportation to get there (bus drop off a block away). Security and check-in went quickly, but then we had to wait to board. They had an issue with one of the ramps that further delayed us.

Brugge is a delightful medieval city and perfect for a day in port. The port is actually Zeebrugge, about 18 km away. There are various ways to get into Brugge:

1) Paid NCL cruise shuttle from ship to Blankenburge train station ($15) and train in/out of city. However, we were told that the train only ran once per hour.

2) Free cruise shuttle to port entrance, public tram to Blankenburge train station, and train in/out of city. Less expensive than the cruise line transportation, but one extra step.

3) Free cruise shuttle to port entrance and taxi to/from city. This is approximately 50 Euros each way, but could be split with other passengers. The taxi queue was quite long.

4) Free cruise shuttle to port entrance and Express Bus (https://www.cruise-express.be/en/) for 20 Euros pp. I think you can book tickets in advance, but we stood in a line and bought them at the cruise terminal. The gift shop clerk said there was another non-sanctioned bus across the street, but we opted for the sanctioned one., which ran more frequently and was a known commodity. The Express Bus into the city ran frequently as everyone was getting off the ship. Coming back, it ran every half hour. While it may be more expensive than the train option, I think it was worth it in time and ease.

The bus drops off at the edge of the city, and it's an easy walk across a bridge and into the city. I'd recommend a half-hour boat ride on the canals (10 Euros pp) in the morning, as it's more crowded in the afternoon. We also went to the Choco Story chocolate museum (9 Euros pp with free samples). It's a quirky museum but something to do. Otherwise, we spent the day walking around and eating. Points of interest: Begijnhof, a UNESCO heritage site and community of whitewashed houses belonging to members of a Catholic order of lay women; Church of our Lady with Michaelangelo's sculpture (featured in Monuments Men) - church is free to enter but sculpture and museum are 5 Euros; the Belfry in the Markt square surrounded by restaurants and cafes; Burg square, Streenstraat with shops. We stopped at Chez Albert, a waffle take-away stand, on Breidelstraat, a pedestrian street on the southeast corner of Markt square. So, so good! Also, we sat at one of the cafes on the square for local Belgian beer and frites.

This was my second time in this port. The first time, I took a ship excursion to Omaha Beach, the American Cemetery, and Bayeux. It was a long day on a coach bus with limited time at any one location. Also, it was very expensive (around $250 pp). This time, we decided to rent a car and visit the sites that were most important to us. Because our ship was in port on a Sunday, most car rental agencies are closed, as are a lot of business in the town of Le Havre. However, although their websites say they are closed, both Rent-a-car and Sixt were opened on Sunday with limited hours for cruise passengers. Sixt is located in town, so I would recommend Rent-a-car (le_havre@rentacar.fr), which has a desk in the cruise terminal. Many of the cars are manual transmission, but we were upgraded to an automatic for free. Our car cost 90 Euros. The service at the desk is slow with one clerk, so I'd recommend getting off the ship as soon as possible to get going.

Once on the road, we took the Pont de Normandie toll bridge to save time and get on the highway going west. We went to our furthest point west and worked our way back. Our first stop was Pointe du Hoc, the site of the US Ranger assault between Omaha and Utah Beaches. We got a little turned around when first out of Le Havre, but got there in about 1:45 hrs. We spent over an hour at the visitors' center, walking the paths to the point, going in German bunkers and looping back to the parking lots. The German cemetery La Cambe is nearby, but we didn't realize it so didn't take the time to go back once we were already heading east. Our second stop was Omaha Beach and the memorial. There are two parking lots. We spent a little time walking the beach and imagining what it must have been like for the soldiers. Then we traveled to the nearby American cemetery, which contains 9387 graves of soldiers killed in the events surrounding D-Day. The visitors' center was closed for renovation (scheduled to reopen June 1, 2019), so we spent our time walking around the cemetery and memorial. They offer free tours at certain times. We caught the tail end of a tour so asked the guide a few questions. From there, we felt like we were running out of time so we got back on the road. We stopped in Benouville. British gliders crash landed and captured the Pegasus Bridge in the hours leading up to the D-Day beach invasion. A modern draw bridge crosses the canal now, but the original is housed in a park at the memorial museum down the street along with a glider. From there, we hurried back to the port just in time for all-aboard. We cut it a little close for comfort and didn't even have time to gas up our car. Regardless, renting a car was totally worth it. It was a lot less expensive than the tours and we had the flexibility to do what we wanted.

We disembarked in Southampton. Unfortunately, we had to do face-to-face customs on the ship, which significantly delayed our departure. Everyone was getting off at the same time so the taxi queues were incredibly long. Once in a taxi, it's an easy, five-minute ride to the central train station and cost 7 pounds. I'm not sure if the taxis take credit cards, so you'll want to make sure to have local currency first. From Southampton, we took the train to Victoria Station in London. We had bought advanced tickets online; however, we missed our scheduled train due to the long lines at customs and in the port. We were able to buy tickets for the next train (they depart once every hour) for less than 20 Euros pp. The journey is 1:45 hrs. There were also trains to Waterloo Station. From Victoria Station, you can take the Underground to other parts of the city. We stayed in a hotel near Victoria and walked.