Yet another airport/London/port transportation question!

[NancyIL]

I'm thinking of our options to get to the port at Harwich July 2nd! My husband and I are arriving at Heathrow July 1st at 10 a.m. If we stay overnight at the Marriott Heathrow (where I have a room reserved), we would take Royal Caribbean's bus to the port @ $80/pp. If we want to visit London the day we arrive, we would take the tube to and from Heathrow.

 

I am also considering taking the tube right to London and staying overnight at the Renaissance Chancery Court. The next day, either take a taxi or the tube to Liverpool Station for the train to Harwich International. I was given a price of $29/pp one way or $54/pp RT, plus a $13 handling fee, for the train. We are planning to take the train back to London at the end of the cruise for 2 days of sightseeing.

 

My main questions are: Is the train station at Harwich International within walking distance of the port, or will be need to take a taxi? Should we stay at a Heathrow hotel the night before the cruise and use RCI's transportation, or stay in London and take the train?

[Globaliser]

My main questions are: Is the train station at Harwich International within walking distance of the port, or will be need to take a taxi? Should we stay at a Heathrow hotel the night before the cruise and use RCI's transportation, or stay in London and take the train?

I'm not sure about the station at Harwich but I believe that it's a walk - the special cruise ship trains are intended to be an easy way of getting to and from Harwich.

 

My advice would be to come into London and get to Harwich under your own steam the next day. On the assumption that you don't want to spend your extra 24 hours holed up in a hotel room, having a hotel in town means that it's much easier to pop in and out, particularly as and when jet lag hits you. Otherwise if you make the excursion into town from Heathrow, you're basically either stuck in town for the duration, which may be a struggle, or if you give up once and go back to the hotel, it becomes too much of an effort to go into town again. (The journey time from a Heathrow hotel to Covent Garden would probably be about 90 minutes each way.)

[NancyIL]

Thanks, Globaliser! I knew I could count on you!

 

One more question, if you don't mind...about tube stations and luggage. I imagine getting on the tube from Heathrow is fairly easy, since the majority of people doing so will have luggage. But is it a pain going from the city towards Heathrow, or from Holborn to Liverpool Street Station with a few bags in tow?

[Globaliser]

One more question, if you don't mind...about tube stations and luggage. I imagine getting on the tube from Heathrow is fairly easy, since the majority of people doing so will have luggage. But is it a pain going from the city towards Heathrow, or from Holborn to Liverpool Street Station with a few bags in tow?

One question occurs to me: Which airline are you flying, and where from?

 

The Tube station at Heathrow's Terminal 4 is currently shut and will remain shut until about September 2006 - this is to do with work to build the new loop out to Terminal 5. If you arrive at T4, there are three options:

1. You can get the Heathrow Express all the way into town, because that's running as normal
2. You can get a shuttle bus to Hatton Cross Tube, where you can pick up the Piccadilly Line.
3. You can get the Heathrow Express to the T123 station, and then walk to the Tube station there.

The last of these is not a recommended route, but it's theoretically possible.

 

If you are not arriving at T4, then all of the walking is step-free until you reach the Tube station itself. There are plenty of free trolleys (carts) for you to use to move luggage while you're at the airport, so that makes things much easier.

 

As always, the feasibility of using the Tube is critically dependent on how much and how far you can carry your own luggage. Realistically, to use the Tube you must between you be able to pick up all of your bags in one go, and carry them up or down a dozen or so steps, and along several tens of yards of corridor. (Obviously, if you can drag/wheel the suitcases or bigger bags, the latter part is immeasurably easier.) You also need to be able to put them all onto an escalator and steady them as you go up or down, and then pick them up again when you reach the end of the escalator. But not all level changes are assisted by escalators, and lifts (elevators) are few and far between at Tube stations.

 

If you can't do all that, using the Tube will be a lot of hassle, and could even be dangerous. (Last weekend I saw a full-size suitcase tumble all the way from top to bottom of an escalator, although this was at the train station at CDG airport in Paris.)

 

But if you can do that, then no Tube journey will be that much of a pain. There are some very long escalators at Holborn Tube, but if you can manage to keep the luggage under control then it's just a matter of waiting a longer time for the escalator to carry you to the top, or the bottom.

[NancyIL]

Thanks again, Globaliser! We are flying on American Airlines from Chicago, and will arrive at T3, so the construction at T4 shouldn't affect us.

[captbill]

My main questions are: Is the train station at Harwich International within walking distance of the port, or will be need to take a taxi?

 

The trainstop at Harwich International is literally across the street from the cruiseship. Any closer and the Conductor would be shaking hands with the Purser.

[NancyIL]

Thanks, Captbill!

[littlemama]

We are sailing on the Jewel in May. Will be in London pre-cruise and need transportation to Harwich. We would like to take the cruise train from Liverpool Street Station. I cannot find any information regarding stairs, elevators, help with luggage and so on. Does anyone know anything regarding the set-up in this station?

[Globaliser]

We would like to take the cruise train from Liverpool Street Station. I cannot find any information regarding stairs, elevators, help with luggage and so on. Does anyone know anything regarding the set-up in this station?

If it's information about Liverpool Street station itself that you're looking for, this is the page for you.

[littlemama]

Thank you for your help. You have saved the day for many of us and it is most appreciated!;)

[VickiVSN]

Globaliser - Thank you for the detailed description of taking the tube with luggage. I am thinking there are three feasible options for me on getting from LHR to our hotel near Bloomsbury. I'd be interested in your opinion of the three.

 

1. Heathrow Express to Picadilly then taxi to hotel

2. Tube to Holborn (assuming I can keep luggage to a roller bag a piece)

3. Taxi all the way

 

I'm a pretty frugal person but am willing to pay a little for a lot of convenience.

 

Thanks for your help or anyone else that wants to jump in. :D

[Globaliser]

If you can manhandle your luggage as I've already described, and if the hotel is within easy walking/dragging distance of Holborn Tube (you don't say which hotel it is) then you might as well take the Tube.

 

Otherwise, you have to remember that the HEX also involves some lifting and carrying of your own luggage, although not as much as taking the Tube. At T4, you'd have to be able to carry it 10-20 yards without the aid of a trolley - you have to leave the trolley before you reach the platform itself. I'm not sure about the station at T123 (I don't use it very often) but I think it's likely to be similar. When you get to Paddington (not Piccadilly) there are trolleys available on the platform, although I think that you may need to have a £1 coin to operate these.

 

If you can manage that, then HEX+taxi will be rather better value than getting a taxi all the way.

[VickiVSN]

Perfect advise - Thanks! The hotel is Thistle's Bloomsbury Park. I got it through Priceline but am a bit nervous about the reviews I'm seeing. Oh well, I'm sure I'll have too much to do to bother with the hotel much. It does sound like its very convenient to a few tube stations.

 

I"ll try to plan my luggage for maximum roll-ability which will likely mean I'll store the bulk of our cruise luggage there at the "left luggage facility" and put 4-days worth of whatever in a roller case to drag into London with us. Looks like we'll be landing at terminal 3. We're then back to LHR to fly to Barcelona for the big Med cruise. :D

 

Again, I appreciate all of your help and advice. It helps take some of the anxiety out of our first European vacation :D.

[Globaliser]

That's a perfect plan.

 

The only thing that I'd add is that you might think about whether you want to store your luggage at Terminal 3 where you arrive, or alternatively at the terminal from which you leave for Barcelona. (This should be either Terminal 1 or Terminal 2, depending on which airline you're flying on. All the terminals have their own left luggage facilities.) That in turn may depend on what time your flight to Barcelona will be. If it's an early flight, the last thing you want to be doing is having to go to the "wrong" terminal to collect your other luggage, and then taking it over to the terminal you need to be at to check-in. However, it may be that the last thing you'll feel like doing when you arrive at LHR from your trans-Atlantic flight is to drag the stuff over to the other terminal before you head into central London. But you'll need to do it at some stage, and you should think about when would be the better time.

 

If the hotel is the one on Bloomsbury Way, then even if it lacks something as a hotel you're going to be in a brilliant location - a lot will be within easy walking distance, and as you say there are Tube stations close by. I'm glad I've been able to help. I hope you enjoy your trip over here!

[VickiVSN]

We are back from London and Med Cruise. Thanks again for your help and advice. We did the Tube to the hotel as planned and it worked out great. The airline had lost of our bigger bags and when found offered to deliver it to the hotel. It took me awhile to convince them to leave it at the airport has we were flying out two days later and it would be hard to handle on the Tube. This airline error actually save us ₤22 in left bagge fees :D. Although the airline looked at me accusingly when we went to pick it up. "Oh, did you 'forget' it"..."No, you lost it!". Like I had left it on purpose to not pay the fee.

 

We loved London and the only downfall was there just wasn't time to do it all!

[Globaliser]

That's great - I'm glad it all worked out! Don't worry about the last bit - just come and visit again ... :)

[Nickwolf]

Globaliser, I am very happy to see you are ok after today's disgusting events.

 

Nick.

[VickiVSN]

I will be back. And hopefully soon. Glad to hear you both are okay.