Questions on hotel, transport info in England

[MichelleR1963]

We will be flying from the US to an English airport precruise.  One of three airlines and one of three airports.  Won't know details till 40 days before trip (August 8th) 

Flying in 2 nights ahead (8/6) for an NCL cruise out of Southhampton.  First time overseas.... Figure we will do London hop on hop off and get a taste of England.  Realizing 2 days won't be much time especially not knowing what time we will arrive and a 5 hour time difference.

My general questions are:

1- If we arrive "late in the day" on 8/6", should we plan to stay at hotel at whichever airport we end up landing in and then move onto London and get a hotel for the second night?

2- Any recommendations on mid range hotels in London?  I'm on info overload!  LOL

3- Recommendations for transport a) to London from airport and b) from London to Southhampton?

 

Thank you so much... 

[Cotswold Eagle]

29 minutes ago, MichelleR1963 said:

 

1- If we arrive "late in the day" on 8/6", should we plan to stay at hotel at whichever airport we end up landing in and then move onto London and get a hotel for the second night?

 

Literally impossible to answer without knowing the possible airports! "An English airport" could be a couple of hundred miles and several hours from London... Also, "late in the day" is somewhat subjective. 

Edited April 9, 2023 by Cotswold Eagle

[gnome12]

Most trans-Atlantic flights leave North America in the evening and arrive in London in the morning. There are some daylight flights, but they are in the minority.

[MichelleR1963]

1 hour ago, Cotswold Eagle said:

Literally impossible to answer without knowing the possible airports! "An English airport" could be a couple of hundred miles and several hours from London... Also, "late in the day" is somewhat subjective. 

I guess I'll just have to be patient and wait till 40 days out.  I know NCL said it would be Heathrow, Gatwick or one other which escapes me now.  I'll repost when I know more. Thanks

 

[MichelleR1963]

2 hours ago, gnome12 said:

Most trans-Atlantic flights leave North America in the evening and arrive in London in the morning. There are some daylight flights, but they are in the minority.

Thank you for the info... will just have to wait till our flight gets assigned.  We got a 2 for 1 flight deal, but could only go in 2 days early, which I'm realizing is a very short time period. 🙂

[Harters]

There are a limited number of British airports which receive transatlantic flights. In the London area, that would be Heathrow and Gatwick. If it is not those, then as mentioned, you could be a couple of hundred miles away (my local airport - Manchester - is one such). Again, as already mentioned, flights from the States usually arrive very early morning local time. You will be jet-lagged. It takes me days to adjust after returning from holidays.

 

Assuming it is Heathrow or Gatwick,my suggestion would be to go direct into London, rather than finding two hotels. Now, that poses a dilemma in itself. You are possibly in central London by perhaps 9am. Yet you can't check in to the hotel till maybe 3pm. So, do you want to sleep or go straight off touristing? If the latter, then make sure you've checked with the hotel beforehand that they have storage facilities for your luggage which you can collect later when you check in. If you want to sleep, then you'd need to book an additional night and advise that you won't be arriving till the morning (missing the actual night). That's what we did on a trip to South Africa a few years back - well worth paying for the extra night. Unpacked, went to breakfast, came back and slept for a couple of hours.

 

If you find it is an airport well a way from London, the logistics will be very different and I'd suggest you come back and ask for advice here if that proves to be the case.

 

As for hotels, there are the usual American owned chains as well as out own, such as Premier Inn. To get the best out of your time, I'd suggest you develop an idea about how you want to spend your time in the capital. We might then be able to make specific suggestions for hotels that will be geographically convenient.

[Harters]

PS: Michelle - just realised your home town is vaguely familiar to me. The Conway in North Wales is about 90 minutes from home and we visit often. But I realise I must have passed through your Conway going to Myrtle Beach. from the I95, some years back.

[gumshoe958]

18 hours ago, MichelleR1963 said:

Thank you for the info... will just have to wait till our flight gets assigned.  We got a 2 for 1 flight deal, but could only go in 2 days early, which I'm realizing is a very short time period. 🙂

It’s conceivable that you’ll be booked on an indirect flight via another European hub eg Paris or Amsterdam, in which case the connecting flight could arrive at any number of British airports, at any time of day.

 

Come back when you know the itinerary and we’ll happily advise on transport options.

[MichelleR1963]

5 hours ago, Harters said:

There are a limited number of British airports which receive transatlantic flights. In the London area, that would be Heathrow and Gatwick. If it is not those, then as mentioned, you could be a couple of hundred miles away (my local airport - Manchester - is one such). Again, as already mentioned, flights from the States usually arrive very early morning local time. You will be jet-lagged. It takes me days to adjust after returning from holidays.

 

Assuming it is Heathrow or Gatwick,my suggestion would be to go direct into London, rather than finding two hotels. Now, that poses a dilemma in itself. You are possibly in central London by perhaps 9am. Yet you can't check in to the hotel till maybe 3pm. So, do you want to sleep or go straight off touristing? If the latter, then make sure you've checked with the hotel beforehand that they have storage facilities for your luggage which you can collect later when you check in. If you want to sleep, then you'd need to book an additional night and advise that you won't be arriving till the morning (missing the actual night). That's what we did on a trip to South Africa a few years back - well worth paying for the extra night. Unpacked, went to breakfast, came back and slept for a couple of hours.

 

If you find it is an airport well a way from London, the logistics will be very different and I'd suggest you come back and ask for advice here if that proves to be the case.

 

As for hotels, there are the usual American owned chains as well as out own, such as Premier Inn. To get the best out of your time, I'd suggest you develop an idea about how you want to spend your time in the capital. We might then be able to make specific suggestions for hotels that will be geographically convenient.

Thank you for the info.. much appreciated.  I will repost when I know more.  I believe we'll do a hop on hop off tour.  Conway SC is one town over from Myrtle Beach. We retired here from Connecticut and really enjoy it.

[John Bull]

The mystery third airport is probably London City, or possibly Southampton if the agent is a cruise line or knows you are cruising. That'd be an indirect flight, via a European hub such as Paris or Amsterdam, and included so that they can offer flights  from a wider range of US cities. But they tend to be tiresome and expensive, and the vast majority of cruisers fly direct into London's Heathrow or Gatwick.

The differences between those two airports for transfer into central London or Southampton are comparatively minimal in time, cost & convenience so don't worry which airport - choose the most economical or convenient flight or your preferred airline, and the airport will be whichever one it is.

How to transfer from the airport will depend which one and perhaps the location of your hotel, so worry about that when you know which airport.

 

As others have mentioned. most flights from North America to the UK are overnight, so you're likely to be able to step out of your hotel by early afternoon.

 

A London hop-on bus won't give you a taste of "England", which is very different to "London" if you get my drift - but yes it will give you a good overview of the city and a drive-by of most of its iconic sights. And you can relax on the bus for a complete tour, ideal if you want to make the most of your short time after a jet-lagged red-eye flight. 

Tootbus (formerly known as London Original) and Big Bus are the best for ho-ho because of their  long experience, their frequency & comprehensive routes, and  their freebie add-ons.

But for your jet-lagged overview consider Golden Tours' Panoramic Tour - they offer the same main tourist route as the other two but they're complete 2-hour tours, not hop-on, which means they're not stopping frequently so much quicker thro the traffic. A 2-hour tour which leaves from & returns to the London Eye.  

https://www.londoncitybustours.com/panoramic-london-bus-tour.html

If instead you choose a hop-on, buy only a 24-hour ticket - they're fine for that oversight, but for hopping on & off between a number of sights you're restricted by their route & low speed. So for your second day, or a substantial part of it, use the Tube (London's fast & comprehensive metro system) for inside visits to places like the Tower of London, Churchill's War Rooms, St Paul's cathedral, Westminster Abbey or wherever.

 

For transfer from central London to Southampton your main options by public transport are by direct hourly National Express bus from Victoria coach station (2 hrs 15 mins, about £17 pp) or by direct frequent train from Waterloo station (90 minutes) or direct hourly from Victoria train station (2 hrs 30 minutes). Walk-up train fares up to £45 pp, but advance tickets (subject to conditions) can better than halve that cost - ask about advance train tickets once you've sorted your hotel.

 

A hotel in the Waterloo/Westminster Bridge/London Eye area is more convenient for seeing the sights (especially on foot) but they're quite expensive. A hotel in Victoria is less convenient, but a wider range of prices. Plenty of choice and prices in other areas of central London, but Waterloo and Victoria are the areas I'd concentrate on.

The closer to the date, the poorer the choice of hotel and usually the higher the prices, so you might want to book (esp if you can do so without a big cancellation cost) as soon as you've confirmed your cruise and flight dates.

Your hotel location will be a factor in choosing between bus & train to Southampton, seek out more info when you've chosen.

Travel from London to Southampton is perfectly OK on the morning of your cruise departure.

 

Here's a very useful website for details of London sights, logistics, etc, including airport & seaport transfers. But beware that some of their suggestions are influenced by their sponsors - well, someone's got to pay for that excellent website  😏

https://www.londontoolkit.com/

 

JB 🙂

 

[avgsuperheroine]

I wrote to NCL and they said the only two airports we might land in, using the free at sea airfare, are London or Gatwick. 

[Globaliser]

59 minutes ago, avgsuperheroine said:

I wrote to NCL and they said the only two airports we might land in, using the free at sea airfare, are London or Gatwick. 

 

Presumably they meant Heathrow or Gatwick.

[MichelleR1963]

On 4/11/2023 at 6:22 AM, John Bull said:

The mystery third airport is probably London City, or possibly Southampton if the agent is a cruise line or knows you are cruising. That'd be an indirect flight, via a European hub such as Paris or Amsterdam, and included so that they can offer flights  from a wider range of US cities. But they tend to be tiresome and expensive, and the vast majority of cruisers fly direct into London's Heathrow or Gatwick.

The differences between those two airports for transfer into central London or Southampton are comparatively minimal in time, cost & convenience so don't worry which airport - choose the most economical or convenient flight or your preferred airline, and the airport will be whichever one it is.

How to transfer from the airport will depend which one and perhaps the location of your hotel, so worry about that when you know which airport.

 

As others have mentioned. most flights from North America to the UK are overnight, so you're likely to be able to step out of your hotel by early afternoon.

 

A London hop-on bus won't give you a taste of "England", which is very different to "London" if you get my drift - but yes it will give you a good overview of the city and a drive-by of most of its iconic sights. And you can relax on the bus for a complete tour, ideal if you want to make the most of your short time after a jet-lagged red-eye flight. 

Tootbus (formerly known as London Original) and Big Bus are the best for ho-ho because of their  long experience, their frequency & comprehensive routes, and  their freebie add-ons.

But for your jet-lagged overview consider Golden Tours' Panoramic Tour - they offer the same main tourist route as the other two but they're complete 2-hour tours, not hop-on, which means they're not stopping frequently so much quicker thro the traffic. A 2-hour tour which leaves from & returns to the London Eye.  

https://www.londoncitybustours.com/panoramic-london-bus-tour.html

If instead you choose a hop-on, buy only a 24-hour ticket - they're fine for that oversight, but for hopping on & off between a number of sights you're restricted by their route & low speed. So for your second day, or a substantial part of it, use the Tube (London's fast & comprehensive metro system) for inside visits to places like the Tower of London, Churchill's War Rooms, St Paul's cathedral, Westminster Abbey or wherever.

 

For transfer from central London to Southampton your main options by public transport are by direct hourly National Express bus from Victoria coach station (2 hrs 15 mins, about £17 pp) or by direct frequent train from Waterloo station (90 minutes) or direct hourly from Victoria train station (2 hrs 30 minutes). Walk-up train fares up to £45 pp, but advance tickets (subject to conditions) can better than halve that cost - ask about advance train tickets once you've sorted your hotel.

 

A hotel in the Waterloo/Westminster Bridge/London Eye area is more convenient for seeing the sights (especially on foot) but they're quite expensive. A hotel in Victoria is less convenient, but a wider range of prices. Plenty of choice and prices in other areas of central London, but Waterloo and Victoria are the areas I'd concentrate on.

The closer to the date, the poorer the choice of hotel and usually the higher the prices, so you might want to book (esp if you can do so without a big cancellation cost) as soon as you've confirmed your cruise and flight dates.

Your hotel location will be a factor in choosing between bus & train to Southampton, seek out more info when you've chosen.

Travel from London to Southampton is perfectly OK on the morning of your cruise departure.

 

Here's a very useful website for details of London sights, logistics, etc, including airport & seaport transfers. But beware that some of their suggestions are influenced by their sponsors - well, someone's got to pay for that excellent website  😏

https://www.londontoolkit.com/

 

JB 🙂

 

Thank you so much... I've printed off this message for future reference.  The other airline option is Stansted.  You are a wealth of knowledge!

 

[Globaliser]

19 minutes ago, MichelleR1963 said:

The other airline option is Stansted.

 

This seems very unlikely. Once you strip out the low-fare airlines (Ryanair, easyJet and the like), there are very few scheduled passenger flights at Stansted and even fewer that might even arguably be usefully used by passengers starting in the US. I wonder whether the agent was either just reading from a script, or dredging up some hazy personal knowledge about the names of some London airports. London City has far more possible flights than Stansted.

[John Bull]

17 minutes ago, MichelleR1963 said:

Thank you so much... I've printed off this message for future reference.  The other airline option is Stansted.  You are a wealth of knowledge!

 

 

Stansted is a favoured airport for budget airlines offering European & domestic flights, but like Southampton has no direct scheduled flights to the USA.

 

I live near Southampton, south-west of London - for trans-Atlantic flights my nearest airports are London Gatwick (mainly low-cost airlines). They're both on the Southampton side of London, whereas 

London Stansted is way beyond the opposite side of the big bad city,

 

All European hubs have flights to Heathrow or Gatwick, some have flights to Southampton or nearby Bournemouth and there's no sensible reason for routing you via Stansted. 

NCL have either an inexperienced agent or are making a cheapskate CruiseAir offer.

Don't accept Stansted - there's no need.

 

JB 🙂

PS Dammit - Globaliser is a quicker typist than me 😄

[Lois R]

I was going to start another thread but will ask my question here.......I will be sailing out of Southampton in late August. Flights and hotel are all booked🙂. I am flying from JFK to Heathrow and staying at the Conrad St James (my flights and hotels are through the cruise line). I have a question about arrival.......when disembarking the plane, is customs/immigration easily accessible with signage? Or just follow everyone because all of us will have to go through it and then on to baggage claim? The last time I was at Heathrow was July 2022 but my experience was not so good (long story for another time). Just wanting to get info from "those in the know".  And, do you know where the folks from the cruiseline normally pick up their guests? I have cruise line transport to the hotel. Are they usually in the baggage claim area? Or is there another spot after getting your bags?

 

Thanks for any help🙂

[Globaliser]

53 minutes ago, Lois R said:

I have a question about arrival.......when disembarking the plane, is customs/immigration easily accessible with signage? Or just follow everyone because all of us will have to go through it and then on to baggage claim?

 

If you're asking about whether the route from the gate to immigration is well signed, the answer is yes. Follow the yellow-and-black signs for "Arrivals". These will take you to immigration.

 

Don't just "follow everyone". Not everyone will be going to immigration; many passengers will be making direct airside connections and will be following a "Flight Connections" route - those are signed in purple, to distinguish it from the arrivals stream.

[Lois R]

44 minutes ago, Globaliser said:

 

If you're asking about whether the route from the gate to immigration is well signed, the answer is yes. Follow the yellow-and-black signs for "Arrivals". These will take you to immigration.

 

Don't just "follow everyone". Not everyone will be going to immigration; many passengers will be making direct airside connections and will be following a "Flight Connections" route - those are signed in purple, to distinguish it from the arrivals stream.

Thanks, yes that is what I am asking. Would you know anything about where cruise line folks pick up their guests? 

[snowballs mom]

We stayed in Victoria between cruises in early November 2022. Our hotel was within walking distance of Buckingham Palace as well as public transportation. I have been pricing hotels for our 2024 return, and would suggest making a refundable reservation as soon as you can. Even the midprice hotels are expensive for the summer, and they use dynamic pricing so the cost will increase as August gets closer. We stayed at the Eccleston Square Hotel, which is a midrange boutique property that is a five minute walk from the Victoria Coach Station. We liked it a lot and would stay there again.

[Globaliser]

2 hours ago, Lois R said:

And, do you know where the folks from the cruiseline normally pick up their guests? I have cruise line transport to the hotel. Are they usually in the baggage claim area? Or is there another spot after getting your bags?

 

28 minutes ago, Lois R said:

Would you know anything about where cruise line folks pick up their guests? 

 

They can't go into baggage claim because that's a passenger-only area. It will be after you have collected your bags, cleared customs (just a walk-through unless you declare something or you are selected for a search), passed the arrivals shop, and then exited into the public area. I don't usually pay much attention to who's in that area, but that meeting area is the obvious place for the reps to be. There'll be a lot of people waiting in the area, so keep your eyes open for someone holding the appropriate sign.

[Lois R]

8 minutes ago, Globaliser said:

 

 

They can't go into baggage claim because that's a passenger-only area. It will be after you have collected your bags, cleared customs (just a walk-through unless you declare something or you are selected for a search), passed the arrivals shop, and then exited into the public area. I don't usually pay much attention to who's in that area, but that meeting area is the obvious place for the reps to be. There'll be a lot of people waiting in the area, so keep your eyes open for someone holding the appropriate sign.

Thank you. I appreciate the reply.

[John Bull]

1 hour ago, Lois R said:

Thanks, yes that is what I am asking. Would you know anything about where cruise line folks pick up their guests? 

 

As per Globaliser's post.

Usually a long walk to Immigration, then usually a long walk to Baggage Reclaim.

Customs is the exit from the baggage hall, go thro the "nothing to declare" green channel and it's usually an uninterrupted walk-thru.

Then Hey Presto you're in the Arrivals Hall, faced by a lot of drivers with passenger names held up.

Amongst them, and with larger professional boards are the cruise line reps or the cruise line's shore agents - all very recognisable.

(Since this is a hotel transfer it'll probably be a private car, so do look for your name on the various drivers' boards. But if you don't see it, the reps will help out - (do tell them you have a hotel transfer booked - it's so much easier to mention it then rather than halfway to Southampton on a coach😋)

 

JB 🙂

[Lois R]

20 minutes ago, John Bull said:

 

As per Globaliser's post.

Usually a long walk to Immigration, then usually a long walk to Baggage Reclaim.

Customs is the exit from the baggage hall, go thro the "nothing to declare" green channel and it's usually an uninterrupted walk-thru.

Then Hey Presto you're in the Arrivals Hall, faced by a lot of drivers with passenger names held up.

Amongst them, and with larger professional boards are the cruise line reps or the cruise line's shore agents - all very recognisable.

(Since this is a hotel transfer it'll probably be a private car, so do look for your name on the various drivers' boards. But if you don't see it, the reps will help out - (do tell them you have a hotel transfer booked - it's so much easier to mention it then rather than halfway to Southampton on a coach😋)

 

JB 🙂

Hi John, thank you for explanation. I appreciate it🙂

[nini]

On 5/2/2023 at 7:31 AM, Lois R said:

I was going to start another thread but will ask my question here.......I will be sailing out of Southampton in late August. Flights and hotel are all booked🙂. I am flying from JFK to Heathrow and staying at the Conrad St James (my flights and hotels are through the cruise line). I have a question about arrival.......when disembarking the plane, is customs/immigration easily accessible with signage? Or just follow everyone because all of us will have to go through it and then on to baggage claim? The last time I was at Heathrow was July 2022 but my experience was not so good (long story for another time). Just wanting to get info from "those in the know".  And, do you know where the folks from the cruiseline normally pick up their guests? I have cruise line transport to the hotel. Are they usually in the baggage claim area? Or is there another spot after getting your bags?

 

Thanks for any help🙂

You may find more help on the Cruise Air board.

[Lois R]

6 hours ago, nini said:

You may find more help on the Cruise Air board.

Thanks🙂.....got the answer I needed above but I will check the air forum too.