Cruising out of Harwich?

Has anyone cruised out of Harwich lately or have a cruised booked? I want to know the latest one can get to the port and still check in.

Thanks for any info.

I just returned this past Friday from an eleven day cruise that started and ended in Harwich. Not sure how to answer your question. I think Celebrity along with the Port authority defines the latest time you can check in based on your specific cruise departure time. I think our cruise departed at 5:00 and last check in was 3:00. Not 100% certain of this though.

Best to check with your TA or directly with Celebrity.

According to our cruise docs for the infinity, check-in must be completed 90 minutes before "sail away" -- which is scheduled for 5:00PM (1700h).

According to our cruise docs for the infinity, check-in must be completed 90 minutes before "sail away" -- which is scheduled for 5:00PM (1700h).

Thanks. If its in the cruise docs that must be correct. I did call Celebrity on two different occasions and got two different answers so though I'd ask here. We were hoping to be able to book Infinity from Harwich but we arrive in Barcelona on a TA at 6am the same day as Infinity leaves Harwich at 5pm.

Still trying to work out the logistics to see if we can make it work. If everything went according to plan, we should be there by 3 at the latest but I've travelled too much to know things don't always go according to plan. I would feel a lot more comfortable to have an extra 30 minutes before boarding.

Does anyone know if its possible to join the ship at the first port which will be le Herve?

Probably. It's called joining a cruise downline. You need to pre arrange it and there's no discount for the missed day.

Does anyone know if its possible to join the ship at the first port which will be le Herve?

Here's a recent thread with the same question and some responses.

Woody

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1862167&referrerid=422315

A few years ago we cruised out of Harwich and got stuck in a massive traffic jam on the way. We were due to depart at 5pm and arrived at about 4pm and there were still people arriving after us. We really thought we were going to miss it but it was fine.

We will cruise on the Infiniti on September 18. We will stay in London for a few nights pre-cruise. We are traveling with another couple and would appreciate advice on getting from

Central London to Harwich. We do not want to take the train because of too much luggage.

Thanks.

We will cruise on the Infiniti on September 18. We will stay in London for a few nights pre-cruise. We are traveling with another couple and would appreciate advice on getting from

Central London to Harwich. We do not want to take the train because of too much luggage.

Thanks.

We will cruise on the Infiniti on September 18. We will stay in London for a few nights pre-cruise. We are traveling with another couple and would appreciate advice on getting from

Central London to Harwich. We do not want to take the train because of too much luggage.

Thanks.

http://www.silver-fleet.co.uk/page.aspx?page=Shared-Shuttle

http://minibusanywhere.co.uk/

http://www.woodfordchauffeurcars.co.uk/

Also suggest you try posting this on

BRITISH Isles/Western Europe - Cruise Critic Message Board Forums

We used a family owned car service, guys live in Harwich. They picked us up in London and drove us to Harwich. Picked us up for the return to Heathrow as well. If u are interested I can provide their email.

Are you then flying from Barcelona to Heathrow, if so would check all the logistics of getting from Heathrow to Harwich as it is a long away and no direct route, need to go via Central London. There are various cars firms available. Only thing that would worry me is the time you have flying from Barcelona to get to Harwich, are you able to change the flight to the day before? Allison

We will cruise on the Infiniti on September 18. We will stay in London for a few nights pre-cruise. We are traveling with another couple and would appreciate advice on getting from

Central London to Harwich. We do not want to take the train because of too much luggage.

Thanks.

Even with a lot of luggage, the train is a good option. i have never seen a cruise port and train station so close to each other and there are porters at the station to take your luggage.

Just returned from back to back (Norway/British Isles) out of Harwich. If you are considering arriving same day - Good Luck. On the first cruise that was supposed to leave at 5:00 pm, the Captain announced that a substantial number of people were missing and departure would be delayed. We departed at 8:00 pm and when we arrived at our first port, Oslo there was a large group waiting to board.

Are you then flying from Barcelona to Heathrow, if so would check all the logistics of getting from Heathrow to Harwich as it is a long away and no direct route, need to go via Central London. There are various cars firms available. Only thing that would worry me is the time you have flying from Barcelona to get to Harwich, are you able to change the flight to the day before? Allison

Allison we are checking everything very thoroughly including all flight schedules to different airports, possible time in immigration and time to get to Harwich. We will be on a TransAtlantic from New Orleans to BCN and we arrive in BCN at 6am the same day the Infinity leaves from Harwich. We would prefer not to cut the TA short and leave a day early as we are cruising with friends. We will consider that option as well as trying to board Infinity at the first port, if we don't think we can get to Harwich in time.

At the moment we are looking for as much info as possible.

CMJ33 - were they letting people board after 3.30pm? If so, I do believe we could make the ship as we can get to Heathrow by 11.30am and allowing for immigration, would hope to be out of the terminal by 12.30 and have a vehicle and driver waiting.

It is never a good thing to arrive the same day as the cruise. Too many things can go wrong. Arrive a day early and stay in Harwich overnight. You are then relaxed and there would be no stress about being late. I'm following my own advice next month and meeting a group of other people doing the same, in the pub at the Premier Inn in Harwich :D

Also, with joining "down the line" please bear in mind that sometimes, (not often)but sometimes, the ship may miss a port for various reasons, weather, strikes at port etc, in which case you might not make your pick up.

I agree that best advice is to arrive a day early if you can, and join the ship at the start. And start enjoying yourself a bit sooner too! :D

Flying into London from Barcelona, you might want to check on different London airport options for flight time. Check on flights that land at Gatwick or Stanstead and then get a private car service to pick you up and drive you to Harwich. If you opt to carry off your bags in Barcelona you will hopefully be able to get an earlier flight into London. When they pass out the debarkation forms on the TA request the earliest time,and follow that up with a visit to the guest relations people on ship. Most ships are usually able to debark passengers at the stated time( of course you can never be guaranteed of that)

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Also bear in mind that there is only main road into Harwich and if there is a major incident (as happend to us) you could be delayed a LONG time. We only live a relatively short distance from Harwich but still got caught out. If possible I'd advise arriving a day early.

Allison we are checking everything very thoroughly including all flight schedules to different airports, possible time in immigration and time to get to Harwich. We will be on a TransAtlantic from New Orleans to BCN and we arrive in BCN at 6am the same day the Infinity leaves from Harwich. We would prefer not to cut the TA short and leave a day early as we are cruising with friends. We will consider that option as well as trying to board Infinity at the first port, if we don't think we can get to Harwich in time.

 

At the moment we are looking for as much info as possible.

 

CMJ33 - were they were letting people board after 3.30pm? If so, I do believe we could make the ship as we can get to Heathrow by 11.30am and allowing for immigration, would hope to be out of the terminal by 12.30 and have a vehicle and driver waiting.

 

 

Yes they were allowing people to board after 3:30 pm. Give yourself 2 hours to just get out of the terminal and 4 hours from Heathrow to Harwich. From London to Harwich it should have taken us 1 1/2 hrs, it took us 3 hrs.

 

Any other questions just ask.

A few years ago we cruised out of Harwich and got stuck in a massive traffic jam on the way. We were due to depart at 5pm and arrived at about 4pm and there were still people arriving after us. We really thought we were going to miss it but it was fine.

If you are driving anywhere near the M25, a traffic jam is likely.

You can fly from Barcelona to Southend via easyjet. Then get a car with driver to Harwich. The drive from Southend to Harwich is about 1 hour and 15 minutes. hope this helps. if you need a number of a car company, I can email you the owners number.

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.......... I do believe we could make the ship as we can get to Heathrow by 11.30am and allowing for immigration, would hope to be out of the terminalby 12.30and have a vehicle and driver waiting.

If your flight is scheduled to arrive at LHR by 11:30 am, you could still be eligible to take the cruise line's transfer that day, which would be well worth doing for peace of mind, even if it costs more.

If there are traffic delays en route to Harwich, or if an incoming flight arrival is delayed, they will most likely hold the ship for passengers who purchased Celebrity transfers and are arriving on their own chartered bus, something they would not be as likely to do for passengers who make their own private transfer arrangements.

Check to see if you can instead book your transfers from LHR to the Harwich port directly with Celebrity.

 

If your flight is scheduled to arrive at LHR by 11:30 am, you could still be eligible to take the cruise line's transfer that day, which would be well worth doing for peace of mind, even if it costs more.

 

If there are traffic delays en route to Harwich, or if an incoming flight arrival is delayed, they will most likely hold the ship for passengers who purchased Celebrity transfers and are arriving on their own chartered bus, something they would not be as likely to do for passengers who make their own private transfer arrangements.

We did consider this and I will check into it. The reason I put the idea aside is that we tried to book a choice air flight from BCN to Heathrow but only the very early morning flights were included, which we wouldn't make, so we figured if there was a bus it would be gone.

You can fly from Barcelona to Southend via easyjet. Then get a car with driver to Harwich. The drive from Southend to Harwich is about 1 hour and 15 minutes. hope this helps. if you need a number of a car company, I can email you the owners number.

Thanks. I just checked out these flights and we will be flying on a Monday and the earliest flight is arriving at 3.40pm :(

Jo

Unless there are exceptional circumstances, Celebrity will only delay the departure if passengers have booked their travel package with them ie flight and transfer or UK transfer