about using P&O from California

[mooph]

P&O is British company, and I'm wondering if Americans are present on this board. A friend & I are researching the 16 night Scandinavia, Baltic cruise and are trying to evaluate the extra costs and logistical issues. Do Americans fly into London, then train or drive to Southhampton?

 

Any practical feedback would be appreciated.

 

Mooph

[dallas16]

P&O is British company, and I'm wondering if Americans are present on this board. A friend & I are researching the 16 night Scandinavia, Baltic cruise and are trying to evaluate the extra costs and logistical issues. Do Americans fly into London, then train or drive to Southhampton?

 

 

 

Any practical feedback would be appreciated.

 

 

 

Mooph

 

 

I'm not American but the easiest ways to get to Southampton are to either fly to London and take a National Express coach to Southampton or fly to a European airport such as Amsterdam and then get a flight with airlines such as KLM or Flybe to Southampton

 

 

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[plumduff68]

You can easily get the train from London Gatwick to Southampton or it's the national express bus from Heathrow.

We have this dilemma for our Princess TA in Sept. Sail from Southampton and fly back into LHR. We are planning on leaving the car at LHR and it's £25 each on the coach.

With regards to passengers we've only done 1 cruise P&O to the Fjords. There were a fair few smatterings of different accents - American among them.

The Baltic cruises look fantastic and are on our list once we've done our 15night TA via Iceland and Canada and 14 night Caribbean cruises done 😁😁.

If u like the look of the cruise don't worry about the other passengers

 

 

 

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[easyboy]

We had a flight from NY to Heathrow. Our plan was to stay 3 days in London pre-cruise. Took the train from Heathrow to Central London. On day of cruise, we took the train at Waterloo station in Central London to Southampton.

 

 

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[mooph]

I'm appreciating the feedback. Sounds like best bet would be RT flight from SFO to Heathrow and express bus to Southhampton.

 

I'm noticing that people seem to book almost two years out. Like now for a mid 2018 cruise. Is that because the cabins people want fill up fast?

 

Thanks,

Mooph

[easyboy]

One advantage of booking early is to lock a particular cabin of choice. It is one of the reason. Some have been assigned to TA's. Some cabins open up also after final payment date where some cancels their booking.

[kevinyork]

P&O is British company, and I'm wondering if Americans are present on this board. A friend & I are researching the 16 night Scandinavia, Baltic cruise and are trying to evaluate the extra costs and logistical issues. Do Americans fly into London, then train or drive to Southhampton?

 

 

 

Any practical feedback would be appreciated.

 

 

 

Mooph

 

 

 

Royal Caribbean and Celebrity home port their ships in Southampton during our summer and therefore thousands of Americans fly into London and travel to Southampton. I wouldn't recommend you fly in the same day as the cruise departs. Extend your stay in London just in case of any flight issues. It's an easy journey from London to Southampton via train or coaches(buses). Our experience of P&O is that there are a tiny amount of non U.K. passengers onboard. Food and Entertainment is very British.

 

 

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[danielundecided]

I'm appreciating the feedback. Sounds like best bet would be RT flight from SFO to Heathrow and express bus to Southhampton.

 

 

 

I'm noticing that people seem to book almost two years out. Like now for a mid 2018 cruise. Is that because the cabins people want fill up fast?

 

 

 

Thanks,

 

Mooph

 

 

P&O grade their cabins so that a cabin of one grade may be very desirable (and have a good view if booking an obstructed view etc) where as another in the same grade may not be desirable (under a restaurant or nightclub, for example). If you book early you can make sure that you get the most desirable cabin for your money.

 

I'm not sure if it's still on but P&O also had a 5% booking deposit when the 2018 cruises came on sale AND the dollar is strong against the pound at the moment - the cruise will work out cheaper (after conversion of money) than it would've done a year ago.

 

 

Do Americans fly into London, then train or drive to Southhampton?

 

 

 

Any practical feedback would be appreciated.

 

 

 

Mooph

 

 

Regards this as Dallas said the easiest option would be to (upon checking) fly to Dublin, Manchester, Amsterdam or Paris (four airports out of many that seem the easiest to connect in) and then connect on to Southampton with Flybe, if you wanted to travel by airplane.

 

Alternatively you could fly into London and get the coach or the train (train all the way for me!). Definitely add at least one night before your cruise in Southampton to make sure that if there are any delays you have time padded in to account for it. If you can afford it and have the time a few nights in London may also be nice.

 

Happy new year!

 

Dan

 

 

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[tartanexile81]

I'm appreciating the feedback. Sounds like best bet would be RT flight from SFO to Heathrow and express bus to Southhampton.

 

I'm noticing that people seem to book almost two years out. Like now for a mid 2018 cruise. Is that because the cabins people want fill up fast?

 

Thanks,

Mooph

 

We booked early for our cruise to the Baltic in June 2017 on P&O Britannia mainly because we wanted a particular category of cabin, as you suggested. In our case it was an aft cabin overlooking the wake.Also because of care arrangements for our menagerie we need to get organised early.

 

P&O is very British in style and you should be aware the dress code is probably more formal than you're used to

[john watson]

 

Regards this as Dallas said the easiest option would be to (upon checking) fly to Dublin, Manchester, Amsterdam or Paris (four airports out of many that seem the easiest to connect in) and then connect on to Southampton with Flybe, if you wanted to travel by airplane.

 

Alternatively you could fly into London and get the coach or the train (train all the way for me!). Definitely add at least one night before your cruise in Southampton to make sure that if there are any delays you have time padded in to account for it. If you can afford it and have the time a few nights in London may also be nice.

 

Happy new year!

 

Dan

 

 

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If I were considering flying to Southampton, I should think twice about changing planes in Paris. There are different terminals and different airports. Charles de Gaulle seems to do long haul but others do short haul.

 

Amsterdam Schippol is a single massive terminal over a hundred gates all on the flat and easy to change at. I have flown in on a 46 seater and out on a Jumbo.

 

No idea about Manchester. Dublin on Aer Lingus you normally do immigration both ways for USA at the Irish airport and they do a reasonably cheap business class to/from US.

 

Are luggage restrictions on short haul Southampton flights a problem, Dan?

 

A night in Southampton pre-cruise is crucial however you do this. Holiday In Herbert Walker Avenue or Grand Harbour Hotel both are close to cruise terminals and have swimming pools!

 

A guy on my next cruise is doing a Westjet flight from US to London Gatwick, then Gatwick Express into London day or so there then on to Southampton. Westjet do a reasonably priced Premium Economy to/from London Gatwick. But you could do Gatwick to Southampton and avoid central London. Westjet is a budget airline that do transatlantic on a Boeing 767.

 

Regards John

Edited December 31, 2016 by john watson

[mooph]

Lots of helpful info coming in, and I thank you all.

 

P&O grade their cabins so that a cabin of one grade may be very desirable (and have a good view if booking an obstructed view etc) where as another in the same grade may not be desirable (under a restaurant or nightclub, for example). If you book early you can make sure that you get the most desirable cabin for your money.

 

Yes, I spent a lot of time yesterday just trying to figure out cabins and how to get what you want. I read a whole thread about whether to use special cruise consultant or dealing direct w/P&O. Better to get a 2BR suite for the friend & me, vs 2 balcony cabins...how much togetherness is too much for 16 nights??

And how on earth would I know if calling P&O directly would yield me the best cabin in my grade...? I'ts all a bit overwhelming if you're mildly obsessional like me.

 

It then occurred to me that there's a downside to these huge ships. It must take a good hour or more to disembark at a port of call. Maybe a smaller ship company would better suit....Windstar, Grand Circle Travel, etc.

 

And, tartan, it's both apt and amusing for you to note the more upscale dress code, given we're from CA. Neither of us are dress up sorts, so thought we'd use the restaurants or some off-hour eating time to not look foolish. I don't know how much I'd care once aboard about not fitting in re: clothing.

 

Onward to more research. Thanks again for your input.

 

Mooph

[Pennbank]

You can easily get the train from London Gatwick to Southampton or it's the national express bus from Heathrow.

We have this dilemma for our Princess TA in Sept. Sail from Southampton and fly back into LHR. We are planning on leaving the car at LHR and it's £25 each on the coach.

With regards to passengers we've only done 1 cruise P&O to the Fjords. There were a fair few smatterings of different accents - American among them.

The Baltic cruises look fantastic and are on our list once we've done our 15night TA via Iceland and Canada and 14 night Caribbean cruises done ����.

If u like the look of the cruise don't worry about the other passengers

 

 

 

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Using Gatwick Airport by rail , Its not easy with the present and long on going strikes by Southern Trains.

http://www.southernrailway.com/

Edited January 1, 2017 by Pennbank

[Host Sharon]

Lots of helpful info coming in, and I thank you all.

 

P&O grade their cabins so that a cabin of one grade may be very desirable (and have a good view if booking an obstructed view etc) where as another in the same grade may not be desirable (under a restaurant or nightclub, for example). If you book early you can make sure that you get the most desirable cabin for your money.

 

Yes, I spent a lot of time yesterday just trying to figure out cabins and how to get what you want. I read a whole thread about whether to use special cruise consultant or dealing direct w/P&O. Better to get a 2BR suite for the friend & me, vs 2 balcony cabins...how much togetherness is too much for 16 nights??

And how on earth would I know if calling P&O directly would yield me the best cabin in my grade...? I'ts all a bit overwhelming if you're mildly obsessional like me.

 

It then occurred to me that there's a downside to these huge ships. It must take a good hour or more to disembark at a port of call. Maybe a smaller ship company would better suit....Windstar, Grand Circle Travel, etc.

 

And, tartan, it's both apt and amusing for you to note the more upscale dress code, given we're from CA. Neither of us are dress up sorts, so thought we'd use the restaurants or some off-hour eating time to not look foolish. I don't know how much I'd care once aboard about not fitting in re: clothing.

 

Onward to more research. Thanks again for your input.

 

Mooph

 

I don't think US citizens can book direct with P&O, you have to use their US-based agent or International Contact centre.

 

"A:If you are a resident of a country outside of the UK you will be required to make a P&O Cruises booking via our International Customer Contact Centre on (+44) 2380 657064, who will be happy to assist you. Unfortunately our website here in the UK does not currently support overseas addresses."

 

As for size - the nice thing about P&O is that they have a range of different-sized ships - if you want small - look at Adonia.

Arcadia, Oriana, Oceana and Aurora are all around the 2000 pax mark and I have never had an issue disembarking them.

 

Re clothing :) - be aware that if you are not dressed reasonably smartly - ie suit and tie - on formal nights you won't be able to use the main dining room or some bars. There would most likely be 4 formal nights on a 16 night cruise.

 

There are increasing numbers of US and Canadians booking with P&O so they must enjoy it.

Edited January 1, 2017 by Host Sharon

[danielundecided]

If I were considering flying to Southampton, I should think twice about changing planes in Paris. There are different terminals and different airports. Charles de Gaulle seems to do long haul but others do short haul.

 

Amsterdam Schippol is a single massive terminal over a hundred gates all on the flat and easy to change at. I have flown in on a 46 seater and out on a Jumbo.

 

No idea about Manchester. Dublin on Aer Lingus you normally do immigration both ways for USA at the Irish airport and they do a reasonably cheap business class to/from US.

 

Are luggage restrictions on short haul Southampton flights a problem, Dan?

 

A night in Southampton pre-cruise is crucial however you do this. Holiday In Herbert Walker Avenue or Grand Harbour Hotel both are close to cruise terminals and have swimming pools!

 

A guy on my next cruise is doing a Westjet flight from US to London Gatwick, then Gatwick Express into London day or so there then on to Southampton. Westjet do a reasonably priced Premium Economy to/from London Gatwick. But you could do Gatwick to Southampton and avoid central London. Westjet is a budget airline that do transatlantic on a Boeing 767.

 

Regards John

 

 

You get my drift and the concept of what I'm suggesting though.

 

I was going to expand (decided against it as OP seemed to be interested in the coach/rail) that Manchester would seem the best bet as you've got flights with Virgin Atlantic across the pond etc. and the case of changing terminals is something that you often do if you connect anyway - you build in a couple of hours to your schedule and it's a case of moving from one terminal to another - not an issue. Even if you got the train you'd have to travel through London with all your luggage which seems significantly more stressful than hopping on a connecting flight.

 

Dublin have the connections to the USA as you say which can be fairly cheap but I'm not sure they go to SFO.

 

The issue with Westjet is that as they are a Canadian airline these flights tend to go to Canada only.

 

And yes, Charles de Gaulle does do direct, short haul flights to Southampton. ;)

 

Regards the luggage you just 'book' your hold luggage on the flight with the airline. Again, no more a problem than us flying out somewhere like Rome for example; would you put a travel route aside because you have to book hold luggage separately, hm? So no, the restrictions are not a problem.

 

I'm sure you'll find a way!!

 

Dan

 

 

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