Is this too risky?

[goingcruizing]

Hi, Is this possible or too risky?  Princess cruise docks back  at Southhampton  at 7am  and Royal caribbean leaves at 5pm from Southampton same day. I have never done a back to back let alone try one with 2 different cruise lines. Any advice welcome. Thankyou.

[crystalspin]

We call this a "Side-by-Side" and lots of people do it. I had one booked with two different HAL ships in San Diego that never happened due to the shutdown. NOW, I do not know the port at SouthHampton at all! You might ask on the UK forum, here:

UK Cruisers - Cruise Critic Community

 

for perhaps some feedback from someone who has done something similar in that port.

 

Edited February 14 by crystalspin

[John Bull]

No, not risky - no more so than, say, booking a mid-evening flight home after the Princess cruise.

 

If the Princess cruise is between April & October it's unlikely to be delayed by the weather at sea and Southampton is a reliable port, sheltered by the Isle of Wight - one of the reasons why it's so successful.

Of course any ship can encounter mechanical issues which might delay it altho getting to the turnaround port on time takes precedence over ports-of-call - but without increasing your concern unnecessarily, where is the first port-of-call for the RCI ship? The UK, or mainland Europe or further afield ?

 

Since this isn't a b2b on the same ship you'll have a gap between when you must disembark Princess & earliest time to register & board RCI  - whether you'll have time to explore Southampton may depend on whether you can deposit your bags early at the RCI terminal.

RCI's usual terminal (berth 101, City Cruise Terminal)  is only a 10 to 15 minute walk from the city centre & the few sights of old-town.

 

No worries 

 

JB 🙂

[Hlitner]

Agree that it is not risky and actually fun.  We once did a side by side in England which was even crazier.  We disembarked from a HAL cruise in the port of Dover, and had a car/driver reserved to drive us directly to Southampton where we boarded the Queen Mary 2, for the crossing over to NYC.  At the time we joked that we did not miss a meal since we had breakfast (and drinks) before leaving the HAL ship and were aboard the Queen in time for lunch :).  

 

I am a big fan of back to backs with two different cruise lines.  You get the advantage of completely different menus, entertainment, atmosphere, etc.  Tis all good.  The only down side to this kind of thing is that we do not get to visit John Bull and watch him drink a pint of Guinness. 

Hank

[JimmyTheSaint]

We did a side to side two years ago and had a great time. Cruise 1 was a Transatlantic that finished in Tampa, we then jumped in an Uber to get to Port Canaveral to jump on the next cruise the same day. We had breakfast before disembarking the Transatlantic cruise and had lunch on the ship docked in Port Canaveral waiting to take us on a Caribbean adventure. I would have no hesitation in doing a side to side that both ships are in the same port.

[John Bull]

1 hour ago, Hlitner said:

The only down side to this kind of thing is that we do not get to visit John Bull and watch him drink a pint of Guinness. 

Hank

 

Hank, you'll never  get the chance to watch me drink even a dram of that evil black mud 🥴😀

 

JB 🙂