Distance airport is to Port of Southampton??

[larry the lobster]

We are considering a RCCL cruise on the Adventure of the Seas, can someone please tell how far the the Port of Southampton England is from the airport? I'm assuming the closest airport is the London Heathrow Airport????:confused:

Thank you!!

[John Bull]

London Heathrow LHR is closest at 66 miles, London Gatwick LGW is about 90 miles. They're the two most obvious options. Every major trans-Atlantic airline flies to one or the other.

 

Southampton's own airport SOU has flights to european hubs such as Paris & Amsterdam

 

From Heathrow best public transport is direct by coach (bus) with http://www.nationalexpress.com/home.aspx though frequency is poor so pre-booking is essential, Journey time 2hrs or less, cost about £18. Destination is Southampton (coach station) - the cruise ship terminal option doesn't apply to your ship.

The train http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/ is an alternative - frequency is excellent (2 - 3 trains per hour) but your "train" journey starts with a rail-link shuttlebus to a mainline station (Woking or Reading) & direct train from there, which makes it less popular. Total journey time about 2 hours, cost about £36 (includes shuttle bus)

 

From Gatwick best public transport is the train, direct hourly service from train station in the terminal, journey time about 2hrs, cost from about £8. No direct service on a sunday - on sundays journey time about the same but involves 2 or 3 changes.

Second option is direct by pre-booked Nat Express coach, journey time 2hrs 40, cost about £6. On sundays it may be more attractive than the train.

 

From Southampton central rail station or coach station it's a £5 taxi hop to City cruise terminal, though its walkable in 15 mins even with luggage.

 

Private transfer for two will cost about £95 from Heathrow & about £130 from Gatwick. Most frequently recommended on Cruise Critic are http://www.smithsforairports.com/index.html

and http://www.westquaycars.com/

 

RCI offer a cruise-day transfer from both airports. Value is poor, but some folk feel more comfortable using ship's coaches.

 

There's little to choose between the two airports, so best to choose according to airline price & preferences.

Also worth checking out flight times back to the US from both airports - a return flight time which might demand a private transfer (ex-Heathrow before about 1pm or ex-Gatwick before about 2pm) or an overnite stay (ex-Heathrow before about 11am or ex-Gatwick before about noon) probably won't be ideal.

 

JB :)