PRINCESS AIR/Gatwick/Heathrow/ transfers

[bobontheblue]

With Princess we have a really great flight from Toronto to London Gatwick with transfers to Southampton. Caribbean Princess TA. crossing in September. We do not have the luxury of time to spend in London prior, so we will be arriving embarkation day. I have read that getting through Gatwick North Terminal is a nightmare. We arrive on Monday morning Sept. 5 at 9.00 am. Should we consider LHR as a better option. Looking for feed back on anyone having gone through Gatwick and the timing with Princess transfer connections.

[FawnRiver]

We didn't have any trouble with Gatwick a few years ago. We didn't do EZair or any private transfers. We flew in a couple of days early and hopped the train straight down to Southampton, it's a really nice place to spend a couple of days. We got our bags and got through the terminal to the train station without any real issues, a fair bit of walking, but nothing unexpected. Having done Princess transfers at other ports, I expect they'll have someone waiting for you to steer you through once you clear customs and immigration.

Have a great cruise!

[wowzz]

If anything, I would say that Heathrow would be worse at that time of day.

[Colo Cruiser]

I think you are fine with the current schedule.

[pris993]

With Princess we have a really great flight from Toronto to London Gatwick with transfers to Southampton. Caribbean Princess TA. crossing in September. We do not have the luxury of time to spend in London prior, so we will be arriving embarkation day. I have read that getting through Gatwick North Terminal is a nightmare. We arrive on Monday morning Sept. 5 at 9.00 am. Should we consider LHR as a better option. Looking for feed back on anyone having gone through Gatwick and the timing with Princess transfer connections.

 

We did Gatwick many years ago... don't recall any problems, did Heathrow more recently, recall walking what seemed like forever.... we were staying overnight so were not concerned about making a connection. Whenever we go in and out of Southampton, we arrange for a private car service pick up, through Smithtotheairport.com Excellent service, well worth the costs. Offer as an alternative if you are concerned about making connections, you can book on line, pay on day of service in English lbs.

[georgiacat]

We flew into Gatwick last June from Atlanta and landed about the same time of day. We used a private car service Great Britain Cars to take us to our hotel in London for a couple of days. It went great. They were waiting for us right as we came up to the luggage carousel with our name on a poster. The driver got our bags and showed us to the car. We reserved on line and paid in British pounds (got form our local bank before trip). It was worth every pound. No problems with Gatwick.

[diverward]

With Princess we have a really great flight from Toronto to London Gatwick with transfers to Southampton. Caribbean Princess TA. crossing in September. We do not have the luxury of time to spend in London prior, so we will be arriving embarkation day. I have read that getting through Gatwick North Terminal is a nightmare. We arrive on Monday morning Sept. 5 at 9.00 am. Should we consider LHR as a better option. Looking for feed back on anyone having gone through Gatwick and the timing with Princess transfer connections.

Hello, we did this trip a couple of years ago. We took the train from Gatwick to Southampton and then took a taxi to the cruise terminal. Here is a website for trains running from Gatwick to Southampton: http://www.thetrainline.com/ or http://www.southernrailway.com/ It is approximately 2 hours and the trains run about every half an hour. After collecting your luggage go back upstairs and take the monorail to the South terminal. Come out and make a left. This is where the ticket vending machines are. Get your ticket and then check which platform your train will be arriving on. Be careful, some of the trains split up a little further down the road. Make sure you get on the correct carriage. There is plenty of room for your bags. When you arrive in Southampton, come out of the station and take a taxi to the cruise terminal. Should be around 10-12 pounds sterling.

On a side note we did a Normandy tour with a group of Canadians and visited all the Canadian sites. Well worth checking into this. Have a great cruise.

[hm9912]

If anything, I would say that Heathrow would be worse at that time of day.

 

We arrived at Heathrow at 6:45 AM on an overnight flight from Newark (EWR). It took us over two hours to get thru customs as the airport was mobbed. Took about another hour to get on the bus to Southampton. We had EZ Air and Princess Transfers. We reached the Caribbean Princess in time to make the MDR for lunch. Overall not so bad but very tiring.

 

Howard

[sinned19]

We arrived at Heathrow at 6:45 AM on an overnight flight from Newark (EWR). It took us over two hours to get thru customs as the airport was mobbed. Took about another hour to get on the bus to Southampton. We had EZ Air and Princess Transfers. We reached the Caribbean Princess in time to make the MDR for lunch. Overall not so bad but very tiring.

 

Howard

 

Howard,

 

what was the airline you used? We are looking to fly from JFK to Heathrow . We did a Viking cruise last year and bought airfare through them, got stuck on an older American Airlines plane, very little available as far as entertainment.

[sinned19]

We didn't have any trouble with Gatwick a few years ago. We didn't do EZair or any private transfers. We flew in a couple of days early and hopped the train straight down to Southampton, it's a really nice place to spend a couple of days. We got our bags and got through the terminal to the train station without any real issues, a fair bit of walking, but nothing unexpected. Having done Princess transfers at other ports, I expect they'll have someone waiting for you to steer you through once you clear customs and immigration.

Have a great cruise!

 

Fawn River,

We are taking a British Isles cruise and thinking about flying in a day early and going into Southampton, hard to determine how easy it is to get around once there ? how did you get to the pier?Thanks

[FawnRiver]

Fawn River,

 

We are taking a British Isles cruise and thinking about flying in a day early and going into Southampton, hard to determine how easy it is to get around once there ? how did you get to the pier?Thanks

 

 

It's super easy to get around, there's a free bus service that goes around the town. The bus drivers are very good. We tried to get onto the regular bus that you have to pay a fare for and he told us about the free bus. We stayed at the Novotel near the train station which made it easy to access the bus and we were in a decent walking distance (for us) to good shopping and Above Bar area where there were a lot of good pubs. There are two great museums there, Sea City which covers a lot of the history of the area, not just maritime history. If you like planes and WW2 history, see the Solent Sky museum. You'll likely need the bus to get there, it's on the opposite end of town, but it was worth the trip.

As to getting to the pier, we just had the hotel front desk call a cab for us. It was about 20 pounds, if I recall correctly.

Have a great trip!

[sinned19]

It's super easy to get around, there's a free bus service that goes around the town. The bus drivers are very good. We tried to get onto the regular bus that you have to pay a fare for and he told us about the free bus. We stayed at the Novotel near the train station which made it easy to access the bus and we were in a decent walking distance (for us) to good shopping and Above Bar area where there were a lot of good pubs. There are two great museums there, Sea City which covers a lot of the history of the area, not just maritime history. If you like planes and WW2 history, see the Solent Sky museum. You'll likely need the bus to get there, it's on the opposite end of town, but it was worth the trip.

As to getting to the pier, we just had the hotel front desk call a cab for us. It was about 20 pounds, if I recall correctly.

Have a great trip!

FawnRiver thanks for the information, we will look into arriving a day earlier and head down to Southampton, the museums sound interesting.

[hm9912]

Howard,

 

what was the airline you used? We are looking to fly from JFK to Heathrow . We did a Viking cruise last year and bought airfare through them, got stuck on an older American Airlines plane, very little available as far as entertainment.

 

We flew on Delta.

The flight was on time, the food was good but getting thru customs at Heathrow was a bit of a hassle.

 

Howard

[sinned19]

We flew on Delta.

The flight was on time, the food was good but getting thru customs at Heathrow was a bit of a hassle.

 

Howard

 

Thanks Howard