gumshoe958

Again, that quote is from the EU’s own website. So please provide your source to back up your claim that “EU passengers are due 150% of the total fare as compensation!”.

No. Read the first sentence. EU rules on ship passenger rights usually apply when you travel on most ferries and cruise ships by sea or on inland waterways (rivers, lakes or canals) But please do provide your source as I’d be delighted to be proved wrong.

Source? Because strangely there’s no mention of 150% compensation - or any compensation - on the EU’s own website. Just a refund or a re-routing. https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/travel/passenger-rights/ship/index_en.htm#cancelled

You’ve always been able to book restaurants online if you pay for them individually. But to my knowledge there’s been no movement on the plan to roll out advance booking for people with dining packages.

Far more people embark in Barcelona than Civitavecchia. Barcelona is the home port. If you board in Civitavecchia it can feel like you’re joining the cruise half way through.

This. SWR isn’t Amtrak - it’s basically a commuter rail operation like Metro North or LIRR. There’s a direct train from London Waterloo to Southampton every 30 minutes and you can be assured many others will be using it to get to the cruise terminal as well.

Having recently (deliberately) missed a final payment and not calling up to cancel as I was prepared to sacrifice the small NRD, I received: - a reminder email two weeks before final payment date; - a reminder email one week before final payment date; - a reminder email on final payment date; - a reminder email a week after final payment date; - three missed calls within an hour that same day a week after final payment date; - my cancellation invoice by email within 30 minutes of the final missed call. So in my case I could have been a week late with final payment. Whether that’s a standard grace period I have no idea but the cancellation was clearly done manually rather than automatically, and Royal made numerous attempts to contact me first.

Also an easy walk to Shakespeare’s Globe, the Tate Modern, HMS Belfast, St Paul’s Cathedral across the river and The Shard for overpriced views. You’re also close to Borough Market for amazing street food. A bit less touristy - and far cheaper - than The Shard but also offering amazing views, walk across London Bridge to climb the Monument to the Great Fire of London - now dwarfed by the skyscrapers surrounding it. https://www.themonument.org.uk

It’s the usual conflict of interest between passengers who, understandably, want to know what’s happening asap so they can plan accordingly and Royal which, understandably, wants to leave the final call until as late as possible in case things improve in the Middle East.

The big unknowns are immigration and baggage reclaim. If your passport allows you to use the automatic e-gates at immigration, it’s normally very quick. Most US & Canadian citizens with a biometric passport can use the e-gates but if you do need to see an officer the lines can be very long. All being well you’ll be landside within an hour of landing, then it’s a 10 minute walk to the coach station. So I’d probably aim for a bus leaving between 1:00 and 1:30 if there is one. For an extra £5, National Express will sell you an upgrade allowing you to move to a later bus if you miss the one you booked or an earlier one if you’re there in time.

No-one ever goes on Tripadvisor to praise a commuter train company! Like all operators the world over, SWR have their bad days but on the whole they’re pretty reliable and carry more than 200,000 passengers a day, largely without incident.

Absolutely fine. It’s only a 5 minute cab ride or a 10-15 minute walk, assuming NCL use their normal Horizon terminal.

For a 10am flight with some lounge time, I’d probably aim for the 6:35, 6:54 or 7:05 Southern trains. There is also a 6:29 or 6:59 Gatwick Express but that costs considerably more for only a very slightly faster journey. The station at Gatwick is attached to the South Terminal so you are literally seconds from check-in and security when you emerge. No long walks (well apart from once you’re airside, to the gate). If you have a London Oyster card or a contactless credit or debit card, you can use that to pay for the train to Gatwick; you don’t need to buy a paper ticket. The contactless/Oyster fare is £10.10 per person on Southern or £22.90 on the Gatwick Express (rip-off!). Uber from your hotel to Gatwick is currently showing £84 so the train will cost considerably less and will be faster.

Teleportation.

@TMLAalum It’s worth noting that the Notting Hill Carnival always takes place on that Sunday & Monday, which typically attracts one to two million people (it’s billed as Europe’s biggest street party). Much of central London is unaffected but it does have an impact on travel around the Paddington, Notting Hill, Bayswater and Hyde Park areas where there are many popular hotels.

@shay1 What date is your flight? Then we can check train times for you.

See post #3 in this thread by @John Bull https://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/topic/2873595-princess-transfers-from-lhr-airport-to-their-cruise-terminal/ If you want to use an arrivals lounge, it’s probably best to speak to the Princess rep in the arrivals hall first and ask them if you can travel on a later bus. The LHR arrivals lounges are all landside after immigration, baggage reclaim and customs.

8 is late dining. It varies by ship but early traditional is typically 5:30-6 and late is 8-8:30. A few weeks ago it was reported that Royal has trialled a third slot, maybe 6:45-7:30, on Wonder & Icon with a view to rolling it out fleetwide but it seems to have gone quiet. https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2024/02/28/royal-caribbean-introduces-third-dining-time-give-cruise-ship-passengers-more-choice

Right now Uber is quoting €300 for a standard car but you’d probably need a minivan which is nearer €500. A private limo transfer would be even more.

I used Chiltern. But you have to specify via Havant to get the full timetable. It’s the same with the National Rail website and Southern’s own website. As you found out, if you just ask for Southampton to Gatwick it omits the :50 service. Perhaps because it’s the slowest (albeit only by a minute or two) and the algorithm rejects it for taking too long. Whatever the reason, as with many aspects of British train travel it’s ridiculous and user unfriendly but it is what it is. Anyway, the intricacies of British train timetabling are probably a bit confusing for our overseas friends! The key takeaway for cruisers is that from June 1st there will no longer be a direct train between Southampton and Gatwick Airport, which means a 20 minute longer journey and a (simple, granted, but still a pain with luggage or for the less mobile) change of train en route at Havant.

For the avoidance of doubt, this is an excerpt from the new Southampton to Gatwick Airport train timetable from June 1st, showing the easiest and cheapest route (with a change of train en route at Havant). Monday-Saturday - half hourly: Sunday - hourly: Other faster (and more expensive) options are available via Clapham Junction but the change of trains there isn’t as easy, especially with luggage.

On Monday to Saturday from June 1st Southern’s service will run every 30 minutes involving, as you say, a change of train en route at Havant. Trains normally leave Southampton Central at 20 and 50 minutes past the hour. On Sunday the same service runs once an hour, normally leaving Southampton Central at 30 minutes past the hour, also with a change of train at Havant. Total journey time to Gatwick is between 2 hours 20 and 2 hours 40 mins Mon-Sat and around 2 hours 10 mins on Sundays. It will nearly always be quicker to use the other route via Clapham Junction, which normally takes less than 2 hours. However it’s more expensive and the change of train at Clapham Junction involves negotiating elevators/stairs and a footbridge or underpass at an extremely busy commuter station so is really not recommended with heavy luggage. The bottom line is from June 1st the loss of the direct Southampton to Gatwick service makes the train a far less attractive proposition. And there is no direct bus service so the only choice is an indirect train or a very expensive taxi/limo service. Such is progress.

It’s online check-in that closes 2 hours prior to departure. At the airport, check-in & bag drop opens 2 hours and closes 40 minutes before departure. So there’s little point arriving at the airport much before 9:20 as doing so may just mean sitting around waiting.

Assuming the ship arrives on time, no problem at all. Southampton Airport is small and efficient and check-in may not even open until 9:20, so I wouldn’t even leave the ship before 8:30.

London to Southampton: take your pick between train, National Express coach, cruise line bus transfer or private car transfer. Depends how much you want to spend, how mobile you are, how much you want to haul your own luggage etc. Southampton to Heathrow: depends on flight time. If “noon time” means 12:00 a private car transfer is really your only option but if it means 2:00 there’s also the National Express coach or cruise line bus transfer.