Time to disembark?

[PleaseDont]

Apologies if this has been asked before (I'm sure it has!) but I wasn't able to find it.

 

I am trying to arrange car service from Southampton to London. The ship (Marina) docks at 6 am. Some of us are in PH2 on deck 11 and some in veranda staterooms on deck 7. Does anyone have an idea of what time we would all be ready to get into a van? I'm not sure how long it takes to get off the ship, etc. Is there a place to wait (since I'm guessing the deck 11 people will be getting off first)?

[sitraveler]

I’ve only disembarked at Southampton once. It was very long for all to get off the ship. That said, when you complete the disembarkation questionnaire you give Oceania the names and cabin numbers of all in your group and you will be grouped together. By 10, all should be off the ship and gathering your luggage 

[Paulchili]

Here is a recent discussion on this topic (search “Southampton”):

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2663421-early-disembark-southampton-for-lhr-t2/?tab=comments#comment-57481917

That said, while you embark according to your cabin level, disembarkation has nothing to do with cabin or deck levels - you choose the time.

Clearance depends on amount of time the authorities take to clear the ship and that has to do with where the ship is coming from - i.e from another UK port or foreign port (among other things). Also, ships are sometimes late in arrival for any number of reasons.

 

[pinotlover]

When the ship docks in Southampton has little to do with when the immigration officials will show up to start clearing passengers. 

 

When we arranged our car service to LHR from the port, for our upcoming cruise, our car service gave us a 9:30 pickup time. They said passengers are rarely off their ships and ready to go before then because of immigration. Drivers don’t want to show up early and sit for 1+ hours awaiting disembarkment . There is an answer from a 3rd Party that sees the process almost daily. 

 

Therefore, if one isn’t reasonably getting off the ship until 9:30, make the drive to LHR, check in and clear security, any flight time before 12:00 is extremely ill advised.

 

On my last cruise into Southampton, we had a 6:00 arrival on a Sunday. Immigration showed up at 8:30. Aboard ship disembarkment was a total zoo! Some of the passengers had flight times as early as 9:30 and 10:00! Houston, I think we have a problem! One of those couples showed up at our hotel later in London. Earliest next flight they could get booked on was two days out! They had sat around the airport all that day hoping to go standby finding everything full.

Edited July 8, 2019 by pinotlover

[LHT28]

we waited in the seating areas on deck 5  until the line when down

we were not in a hurry as we were staying in the area

but it depends on the officials  how long it takes

we were off by 9:30 one of last pax  but  as I said we were not in a hurry

I would ask for 8 am departure  & hopefully you will be off by 9am 😉

 

[PleaseDont]

Thanks, all, and thanks for the link to the other discussion. It's far from clear, but I guess if we have the car come at 9:30, that should be OK?

 

The ship goes to a UK port before Southampton, though it does stop in Ireland before that.

 

Luckily we don't have to worry about getting to an airport; we're just going to London.

[LHT28]

1 hour ago, PleaseDont said:

Thanks, all, and thanks for the link to the other discussion. It's far from clear, but I guess if we have the car come at 9:30, that should be OK?

 

The ship goes to a UK port before Southampton, though it does stop in Ireland before that.

 

Luckily we don't have to worry about getting to an airport; we're just going to London.

you could probably book  the car for 9 am & be fine

We used Smith's  when we went to LHR  incase you are looking for a good car service  😉

 

I think it is a crap shoot no matter what the disembarkation is  ..there is always the possibility  things can go pear shaped on occasion

JMO

[CintiPam]

11 hours ago, PleaseDont said:

Thanks, all, and thanks for the link to the other discussion. It's far from clear, but I guess if we have the car come at 9:30, that should be OK?

 

The ship goes to a UK port before Southampton, though it does stop in Ireland before that.

 

Luckily we don't have to worry about getting to an airport; we're just going to London.

I think 9:30 is a good choice.  Our one disembarkation there two years ago took longer than we expected due to immigration officials but we had a friend from Winchester picking us up (met on a previous Oceania cruise!), and she was not at all surprised by the delay.

Edited July 9, 2019 by CintiPam

[PleaseDont]

Thanks very much, and sorry for the late response!