2024 carnival european cruise to iceland

[She62]

We are going on the 2024 Carnival Ireland, Iceland, and Scotland cruise.  We are arriving in London 2 days prior we are planning on staying in London 1 night and then taking eruotrain to Dover for 2nd night. I have a hotel in Dover but was wondering if anyone has a suggestion about where to stay in London near the St Pancreas train station?

[leaveitallbehind]

You may also want to ask this on the Carnival board to get better responses.  Here is the link:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/133-carnival-cruise-lines/

 

You can also join your Roll Call for that cruise to talk with others sailing with you.  Here is the Carnival Roll Call board to search for your sailing.  If a Roll Call does not yet exist you could start one.

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/91-carnival-roll-calls/

Edited September 15, 2023 by leaveitallbehind

[edinburgher]

2024 carnival european cruise to iceland

57 minutes ago, She62 said:

if anyone has a suggestion about where to stay in London near the St Pancreas train station?

Better yet, post instead on the British Isles Forum as  London is in the British isles..  This one:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/148-british-isleswestern-europe/

 

But before doing so, I suggest you chage the wording of your thread title to better reflect your question as your "2024 carnival european cruise to iceland" doesnt indicate what your question actually is.

 

As London hotels are a FAQ, you could use the search tool under your username to find previous threads containing these words.

 

And just now noticed, Welcome to CC. It takes time  to figure how the site works, but your efforts will be rewarded.

Edited September 15, 2023 by edinburgher

[cruisemom42]

How close do you need to be?

 

That area isn't far from the British Museum, and my favorite hotel is right across the street from that. (The Montague on the Gardens), pricey, but has such a great location and ambiance. If you're planning on walking with luggage though, it may be a bit farther than you're comfortable with -- looking at Google Maps it's about a 20-minute walk.

[mom says]

For just a night or 2, there are 2 Premier Inn hotels within a block of St Pancras. The PI Kings Cross and the PI St Pancras . Premier Inns is a well established British chain, not dissimilar to Holiday Inns. And the closest Underground station (Kings Cross) is on the Picadilly line, which you can take from Heathrow.

 

Note the spelling. There is no e in St Pancras

Edited September 15, 2023 by mom says

[She62]

thank you all, not very computer savy, trying to figure all this out.

[She62]

After reading tons of reviews on tons of hotels booked with Crestfield hotel near St Pancras station in london.  We can walk to eurotrain station to go to Dover on Saturday. Hopefully is good hotel and reviews are ligit.

Thank you all for info.

[gumshoe958]

Be aware that although Eurostar (not eurotrain) international trains do leave from St Pancras, they do NOT go to Dover so ignore all the signs for Eurostar inside the station.

 

What you need is the Southeastern High Speed train which leaves from platforms 11, 12 and 13.

[Cotswold Eagle]

11 hours ago, She62 said:

After reading tons of reviews on tons of hotels booked with Crestfield hotel near St Pancras station in london.

I had to look up the Crestfield, as I’d never come across it. As expected, it’s a two star, budget hotel in a townhouse, of which there are hundreds in London. I’d say it’s reasonably reviewed, not stellar, and I trust you understand what it will be:

- very small rooms, with little storage and nowhere to sit

- no air conditioning

- no lift, steep stairs

- no dining, no breakfast, probably very little communal space such as a lounge. I suspect the “non-alcoholic bar” is little more than a fridge at reception 

 

The reviews do suggest it’s clean, comfortable and there’s decent hot water, which is not always given with this sort of hotel!
 

These hotels are fine to flop for a night, and as you say close for a train from St Pancras (but I don’t imagine you’ll be leaving very early), but I just encourage you to have reasonable expectations of the hotel. 

[Globaliser]

On 9/17/2023 at 9:38 AM, Cotswold Eagle said:

... but I just encourage you to have reasonable expectations of the hotel. 

 

Very politely put! 😄

[Meander Ingwa]

OP i have spent a lot of time in small hotels in this neighborhood extensively. Cotswold is spot on, I was going to post the same. This is a very basic place with little to no amenities .  Most if the buildings there are not going to have elevators and you will have to drag bags. If that is OK, then you  are fine.  Encourage you to do the Premier Inn for a more reliable and comfortable stay.  Other options some of the B&B on Cartwright Gardens, though they don't have lifts either , a mire pleasant surround

[gnome12]

If the OP is looking for a hotel near St. Pancras, I stayed at the Premier Inn St. Pancras, and it was very comfortable and a very short walk from the station. It has an elevator.

 

I had added the included breakfast with my reservation; when I arrived I found that they also had a simpler breakfast available (without the hot foods like eggs and bacon which I don't eat) for less. They quickly adjusted my reservation to the lower cost breakfast. And I had a very pleasant dinner in the restaurant on one night.

Edited September 18, 2023 by gnome12

[She62]

Thank you all for all the information.  This will be our first european trip so trying to figure everything out. Have been to caribbean multiple times and Alaska once  (my favorite so far).

 

Did you book directly through premier inn or a 3rd party website.

We will be getting into London @12noon I am trying to decide if use taxi service or train since will be very tired and never being in London before, to get to hotel,

[gnome12]

12 minutes ago, She62 said:

Did you book directly through premier inn or a 3rd party website.

I believe Premier Inn can only be booked on their own website. 

[Island2Dweller]

Using public transport to get to your hotel will be vastly cheaper than taxi or car service.  But the devil is in the detail - how easy/difficult that is depends on which hotel you book.  When you know that, we can advise further on public transport options and whether they are easy to that location

[She62]

So I changed my hotel to Premier Inn, St Pancras because of all the reviews I received from you all, thank you. 

[She62]

We will be arriving in London a day and a half before our cruise, we are planning on going on to Dover when we get off plane, Would bus or private transport be better, have plenty of time. 

 

On our return flight to US after cruise, we are looking at a flight from Heathrow at 1 pm, would that be enough time to carry luggage off and take carnival bus transport back to Heathrow?

 

O

[Shaporama]

On 9/19/2023 at 12:13 AM, Island2Dweller said:

Using public transport to get to your hotel will be vastly cheaper than taxi or car service.  But the devil is in the detail - how easy/difficult that is depends on which hotel you book.  When you know that, we can advise further on public transport options and whether they are easy to that location

I2D, can you provide any recommendations regarding private car service from the Tilbury docks to Paddington Station?   We are four of us with a commensurate amount of luggage.  We are thinking of leaving the bags at the Kept Luggage counter at Paddington then siteseeing for the day before flying home to the states.

 

Thanks!

[Globaliser]

17 minutes ago, Shaporama said:

We are thinking of leaving the bags at the Kept Luggage counter at Paddington then siteseeing for the day before flying home to the states.

 

At what time is your flight to the US? Unless it's unusually late, realistically you won't have time to go from Tilbury docks to Paddington, drop your bags, then go sightseeing, then go back to Paddington, collect your bags, and only then go to Heathrow.

[gnome12]

1 hour ago, She62 said:

We will be arriving in London a day and a half before our cruise, we are planning on going on to Dover when we get off plane, Would bus or private transport be better, have plenty of time. 

 

On our return flight to US after cruise, we are looking at a flight from Heathrow at 1 pm, would that be enough time to carry luggage off and take carnival bus transport back to Heathrow?

 

O

What day of the week are you talking about for the return trip?

[Shaporama]

20 minutes ago, Globaliser said:

 

At what time is your flight to the US? Unless it's unusually late, realistically you won't have time to go from Tilbury docks to Paddington, drop your bags, then go sightseeing, then go back to Paddington, collect your bags, and only then go to Heathrow.

Thanks Globabliser.  We are staying overnight at Heathrow before departing the following afternoon.  So we should have enough time to enjoy a day in London.  Granted this is way too little time to really take advantage of so many things that London has to offer, but we've been there multiple times before and plan on returning for longer visits in the future.

 

Thanks!

[Cotswold Eagle]

1 hour ago, Shaporama said:

Thanks Globabliser.  We are staying overnight at Heathrow before departing the following afternoon.  So we should have enough time to enjoy a day in London.  Granted this is way too little time to really take advantage of so many things that London has to offer, but we've been there multiple times before and plan on returning for longer visits in the future.

 

Thanks!

I can see no advantage to staying at Heathrow in this scenario. If you can cancel your reservation, I would suggest finding a hotel in town, drop your bags there, enjoy the day  and evening in London, have a leisurely start the next day  and only head out to the airport when you need to for the afternoon flight. 

[Shaporama]

Yes, well. . .

Everyone has different tolerances for stress.  I choose to awaken at the airport, have a leisurely breakfast then make my way towards my early afternoon flight, through what I know will be a security gauntlet at Heathrow (based on prior experiences).

 

So, my original question is: can anyone recommend a private car hire to meet us dockside at Tilbury then ferry us to London?

 

Thanks

Edited November 8, 2023 by Shaporama

[Globaliser]

5 hours ago, Shaporama said:

Everyone has different tolerances for stress.  I choose to awaken at the airport, have a leisurely breakfast then make my way towards my early afternoon flight ...

 

Are you actually staying at the airport, though, and is it at your terminal? Which hotel is it, and which is your terminal? The way that Heathrow is set up, the process of getting from most "airport hotels" (even some of the on-airport hotels) to your terminal can be as stressful and time-consuming as getting to your terminal from a hotel in town.

 

This is not just Cotswold Eagle and me being picky. Even within your original idea, there is (for example) a good argument for the Hilton Paddington being the best "airport hotel" for your purposes; for what you're trying to do, it's certainly much better than many of the airport hotels.

 

And that, in turn, has an effect on the best transport alternative from Tilbury.

[Shaporama]

Thank you for your suggestion Globaliser.  We are returning to California via United Airlines which as you may know, operates from Terminal 2.  We've booked a room at the Hilton Garden Inn Heathrow, adjacent to Terminals 2 and 3, and are hopeful that will ensure a smooth transfer on the day of our flight.  While your recommendation intrigues me, I do not believe my traveling companions will go for it, and frankly, we have found the London trains to be only slightly more reliable than those here in the U.S., thus I believe we will stay with our plan to wake up at the airport.