Oceania transfer from Southampton to Heathrow

[ColoradoCruiser88]

Been away and just now catching up on this thread - I can no longer get email alerts from CC forum on threads I follow. 

 

It appears to be the most recent price for O transfer is now $79 USD or $102CAD.  You can pre-book through your travel agent now or just as easily book while onboard ship a few days before the end of the cruise.

 

On our past cruises from Southampton, there were 4 of us traveling and it was reasonable to book private car service to and from London (once with Stonehenge added).  But this time with only 2 of us, the easiest and cheaper alternative is to do the O transfer.

 

Thank you all for posting the information!

[redshine]

On Oceana‘s bus Transfers, do they limit how many suitcases you are allowed to take? I remember on a prior Oceana Cruz you could only take the bus if you had two suitcases,

we are going to be on the cruise for a long time and will be taking four suitcases and 2 carry ons

[AC2]

A couple of yrs ago when we were young.....sorry couldn't resist it .....we used first choice and had a minibus for up to 16. We had 14 plus baggage I believe the round trip from LHR to Southampton was $500 + I added a tip as the driver had to wait for a late arrival for 1/2 our group. They were very reliable and helpful. Hope this helps.

[ORV]

5 hours ago, redshine said:

On Oceana‘s bus Transfers, do they limit how many suitcases you are allowed to take? I remember on a prior Oceana Cruz you could only take the bus if you had two suitcases,

we are going to be on the cruise for a long time and will be taking four suitcases and 2 carry ons

I have very little experience with Oceania transfers, but the couple I've been on had no such restrictions. 

[lilybug]

On 6/12/2024 at 7:04 AM, Mrs f. said:

We took the Oceania bus last September from southampton to Heathrow...I think about $70 pp. 

Very well organized.  They ask for flight info. Terminal.  Assign you to the correct bus...they had a load 9f them waiting at the pier.  Very easy. 

Does anyone know if there is an O bus from Southampton to Gatwick?  

[osandomir]

5 hours ago, lilybug said:

Does anyone know if there is an O bus from Southampton to Gatwick?  

We sailed to Southampton in May. There was O transfer to Gatwick if I remember correctly.

[Vallesan]

5 hours ago, lilybug said:

Does anyone know if there is an O bus from Southampton to Gatwick?  

Don't know  about Oceania transfer to Gatwick but just a point to remember when booking Gatwick flights.  The cruise port in Southhampton is roughly 88 miles from Gatwick and average time is 1hr 40mins but our motorways, especially the M25, can be really challenging. Just make sure you leave plenty of time before your flight.

[Tranquility Base]

3 hours ago, Vallesan said:

The cruise port in Southhampton is roughly 88 miles from Gatwick and average time is 1hr 40mins but our motorways, especially the M25, can be really challenging.

Thanks.

Any thoughts on taking the M27 / A27 ?

[Vallesan]

11 hours ago, Tranquility Base said:

Thanks.

Any thoughts on taking the M27 / A27 ?

If you don’t already have it take a look at the Waze app. Works worldwide and seems to always come up with best route depending on traffic conditions.

[lilybug]

18 hours ago, Vallesan said:

Don't know  about Oceania transfer to Gatwick but just a point to remember when booking Gatwick flights.  The cruise port in Southhampton is roughly 88 miles from Gatwick and average time is 1hr 40mins but our motorways, especially the M25, can be really challenging. Just make sure you leave plenty of time before your flight.

We are actually staying at a hotel at Gatwick and flying out the next day, so we have all day to get there.  Thanks.

[Vallesan]

1 hour ago, lilybug said:

We are actually staying at a hotel at Gatwick and flying out the next day, so we have all day to get there.  Thanks.

That sounds like a good plan!

[hetzess]

Good information! Does anyone know if I can book directly with O instead of TA the transportation from Southampton to Heathrow prior to the trip? We are handling our own airfare.

[1985rz1]

24 minutes ago, hetzess said:

Good information! Does anyone know if I can book directly with O instead of TA the transportation from Southampton to Heathrow prior to the trip? We are handling our own airfare.

Why not just ask your TA to add it on, once you know your flight information.  Our did and added it to our Oceania invoice.  I'm not sure if an O agent will do it if you booked the cruise through a TA.

Edited July 28 by 1985rz1

[ColoradoCruiser88]

We have returned from our O Marina cruise and the O transfer to Heathrow went perfectly fine.

 

Several days before the end of the cruise, a questionnaire appeared in our cabin asking what your plans are for Southampton - if you are continuing on the next leg of the cruise, if you have independently arranged transfer, if you have already purchases a ship transfer, etc.

We indicated we wanted to purchase a transfer - to Heathrow airport.  You need to mark down which airline, flight number and flight time you have.  This is so that they know which terminal you will be going to and what color/number luggage tags to assign to you.  I think it read no flights before 1pm was acceptable.

 

The cost - $79 USD per person - was deducted from our onboard account (where we had refundable onboard credit) and the appropriate luggage tags appeared a few days later.  One minor note - although the transfers are called “excursions”, they do not qualify for the 25%  Shorex discount (if you had already booked the minimum number of Shorex).

 

On the morning of, we just waited until they called our luggage tag color/number, walked off the ship, found our luggage in the terminal and was on the bus by 8 am.  I don’t think there was a limit on the number of luggage as we saw couples with 4 and 5 suitcases being loaded.  They are loaded into the bus storage compartments according to which terminal you will be going to.   Th3 bus waited for stragglers and we didn’t pull out until 9:00 am.  The trip takes 90 minutes and we pulled into terminal 2 at exactly 10:30 am.  It took awhile to unload everyone’s luggage, so if you are departing from the other terminals, it may take some time.

We cleared security and dropped off our luggage by 11:00 am and so had lots of time to kill before boarding time at 2 pm.

 

 

[hetzess]

Thanks for the great information @ColoradoCruiser88  Your info was exactly what I was looking for! Appreciate the details.