Transfers from London Heathrow to Southampton

[sandav]

My husband and myself are travelling on Eclipse on 3rd August.

As we will be coming from Scotland can anyone tell us if Celebrity offer transfers from Heathrow to Southampton on the day the ship sails and back at the end of the cruise. We can fly in and out of Southampton as well but are concerned at the time it might take us to get a cab back to Southampton airport when the ship returns. We know Eavesway travel offers coach transport from Glasgow but it only seems to be P&O or Princess cruises.

[seahappy08]

My husband and myself are travelling on Eclipse on 3rd August.

As we will be coming from Scotland can anyone tell us if Celebrity offer transfers from Heathrow to Southampton on the day the ship sails and back at the end of the cruise. We can fly in and out of Southampton as well but are concerned at the time it might take us to get a cab back to Southampton airport when the ship returns. We know Eavesway travel offers coach transport from Glasgow but it only seems to be P&O or Princess cruises.

Very short journey from the ship to Southampton Airport you could pre book a cab if you need to.

[hancock]

Check out National Express for a bus to S'Hampton from Heathrow. You would then have a short cab ride to the pier. We took the Nat.Epress bus from London to S'Hampton. Nice ride and reasonable.

[Jo42]

Use Southampton Airport its a breeze and there will be plenty of taxis available. I use Southampton to travel back and forward to Glasgow (home) and its so easy. You could be half way home in the time it takes you to get to Heathrow :)

[Lily Feghoot]

My husband and I are on the same Eclipse sailing. We'll be flying into Heathrow from the United States a couple of days early, in order to see friends in the area. We were thinking of buying the Celebrity transfers from Heathrow to Southampton on the day of the cruise, and back again after the cruise, but we have no idea just when and where in Heathrow we should meet the Celebrity bus.

 

Can anyone give us advice? Thank you!

[ladylemondrop]

There will be a celebrity representative waiting in arrivals for you once you have your luggage. Look for the big blue X signs, this is what happens when we fly cruise.

[shoreham01]

Sandav, fly into Southampton if you can. Far less stress than Heathrow or Gatwick. Allow yourselves plenty of time though as the roads around Southampton can be busy.

 

We only live along the coast but always arrive a day early and stay at the Ibis which is really reasonable. That way we get an extra days holiday and arrive at the ship relaxed.

[navyrotorhead]

My husband and I are on the same Eclipse sailing. We'll be flying into Heathrow from the United States a couple of days early, in order to see friends in the area. We were thinking of buying the Celebrity transfers from Heathrow to Southampton on the day of the cruise, and back again after the cruise, but we have no idea just when and where in Heathrow we should meet the Celebrity bus.

 

Can anyone give us advice? Thank you!

 

National express bus leaves regularly from two different places at Heathrow and runs to Southampton for less than 25% of what an X transfer will cost.

 

The busses are clean and no less comfortable than the ones chartered for X, but they do make one short stop enroute. There are cabs waiting at the bus station for the 3-4 minute ride to the pier.

[Crown Vic]

You could look at ordering a car for the journey to the port in Southampton. We used Aquacars, who are based in Portsmouth, both locally and to London. Their service was very good...

[ghstudio]

Many folks arriving in Southampton have arranged private cars or are taking busses (ship or otherwise). Taxis will be busy, but on very short trips..and then they will rush back to the pier to get another fare. I doubt that you will have any trouble at all finding a taxi to the airport....and if I could fly in/out of Southampton, I'd do it in an instant....the drive from London airports is long and expensive, be it by private car or bus.

 

My alternative in many ports is usually to rent a car and drive myself to the city or airports...but the way the Southampton pier is laid out, it's quite a walk from the ship to the car rental agencies....you can't just walk across to the rental offices because there is a wall/fence in the way and there are only two ways in/out at either end.

[Suzy Smith]

I would fly in and out of Southampton if you possibly can, but if the return flight from Southampton is very early and you would feel happier using Heathrow, National Express will get you there comfortably and economically.

 

You might still like to consider flying to Southampton on your outward journey to avoid the stress of Heathrow. On our next cruise we have to fly into Gatwick and are using National Express to get us to the port, but are flying back from Southampton - such a lovely little airport!:)

[6andy6]

There will be a celebrity representative waiting in arrivals for you once you have your luggage. Look for the big blue X signs, this is what happens when we fly cruise.

 

Given there is what...5 terminals. (So 5 arrivals halls) ....this doesn't make things clearer.....which one? Or all....

[hancock]

If anyone is interested, Enterprise's office is just outside the pier gate in S'hampton.

[2theship]

My husband and I are on the same Eclipse sailing. We'll be flying into Heathrow from the United States a couple of days early, in order to see friends in the area. We were thinking of buying the Celebrity transfers from Heathrow to Southampton on the day of the cruise, and back again after the cruise, but we have no idea just when and where in Heathrow we should meet the Celebrity bus.

 

Can anyone give us advice? Thank you!

 

Celebrity should be offering a transfer from London as well, probably picking up at one of hotels they are using for passengers who booked their pre-cruise accomodations with them. Another option is to check out the roll call for your specific cruise. It's usually pretty easy to get a group of six people together to share a van with Woodward Chauffeurs or a similar company for door to door service. Unless you are staying someplace very close to Heathrow, that might be a better option.

[ladylemondrop]

Given there is what...5 terminals. (So 5 arrivals halls) ....this doesn't make things clearer.....which one? Or all....

 

If you have Celebrity transfers booked, they will have your flight info, and therefore will know which terminal you are arriving into. I work for a Cruise company, in the UK so I have some knowledge of all this stuff.

 

Here is the "blurb" from Celebrity website anyway....

 

Making Your Own Air Travel Arrangements?

If you choose to make your own air arrangements or book air through our online ChoiceAir Travel Program you may wish to purchase ground transportation to the ship. Transfers are available for purchase from the arrival airport to the pier on day of sailing and from the pier to the departure airport on debarkation day only.

 

When reserving this service, please remember we need your flight arrival information to meet you.

 

To purchase your Celebrity Cruises Guest Transfer or for additional information consult your travel agent or our Reservations Department.

[lindsaystevenson]

We are flying with flybe from Edinburgh to Southampton .....haven't read whole thread so don't know if you have any chance to change flights or not?

[sandav]

We can fly from Edinburgh to Southampton as well but we're not sure about exact baggage charges. What flights are you on and can you tell us what you are paying for your luggage, if you don't mind. We're not so much worried about getting to the port on the day the ship sails but how long we might wait for a taxi to get back to Southampton airport on the day the ship returns. We could prebook a taxi I suppose but again not sure what time we'll get off the ship.

[alynn]

We can fly from Edinburgh to Southampton as well but we're not sure about exact baggage charges. What flights are you on and can you tell us what you are paying for your luggage, if you don't mind. We're not so much worried about getting to the port on the day the ship sails but how long we might wait for a taxi to get back to Southampton airport on the day the ship returns. We could prebook a taxi I suppose but again not sure what time we'll get off the ship.

 

Just checked the flybe web site you can fly from Edinburgh on the 3rd dep 06.40 arr 08.10 return 12.50 on the 17th arr edin 14.20 total cost £265 with 20kg bags or £285 with 23kg

this is the total for 2 pax. that sounds a great deal

[sandav]

Thanks everyone for your help. We've booked Flybe to Southampton at the times mentioned in the previous post. I daresay as we will be there early, taxis won't be too much of a problem and we can go down to the port for about 10.30 ish. The return flight is also at a good time so waiting for a taxi again should be ok. Now to work out excursions. We might look at car rental for some of the ports as we've already been to the fjords and done some cruise excursions already at Geiranger and Stavanger. Will look for some ideas on other forums. Thanks again.

[Lily Feghoot]

Thank you for the information. We're staying at the Sofitel, connected to one of the terminals at Heathrow, so should be able to make our way back to the arrivals area the morning of the cruise. I wouldn't want to confuse Celebrity by not actually having a flight arrival time, though.

 

Guess I need to work this out with my travel agent.

[wendyatpml]

National Express from Heathrow is the way to go. We were on the Independence two years in a row and RCCL was charging$100 per person each way for a grand total of $400. We took National Express and for the two of us the total was about $70. Big difference. It was really easy and I would do it again.

[ladylemondrop]

Thank you for the information. We're staying at the Sofitel, connected to one of the terminals at Heathrow, so should be able to make our way back to the arrivals area the morning of the cruise. I wouldn't want to confuse Celebrity by not actually having a flight arrival time, though.

 

Guess I need to work this out with my travel agent.

 

Its terminal 5, and its a lovely hotel, we love it! Have a wonderful cruise, i am sure the staff will ensure you are met and looked after. :)

[Lily Feghoot]

Again, thank you all for your helpful replies. And I'm delighted to get a recommendation for the hotel!