British Isles Cruise - July 1, 2008

[Traveler50]

I need information from anyone who has completed The British Isles Cruise on Grand Princess that leaves from Southhampton. I am making plane reservations for next summer and wonder about the best type of transportation from London Heathrow to Southhampton port terminal. This could make a difference in our arrival and departure time.

Any other information about this particular cruise....such as shore excursions, etc. Thanks!

[YYC F/A]

I am originally from the UK, so I hope I can maybe help.

 

To get from Heathrow to Southampton, there are 3 options that spring to mind. First, take the cruiseline transfer! They will meet you at LHR, and your bags will be taken off you, and you won't see them again til you get on the ship at your stateroom - now that was easy!

 

The cruiseline transfer however is pricey. I just booked some clients on that same cruise for 2008, and I was surprised at the cost of the transfers.

 

The other options are:

 

Take National Express (the UK coach company). They have frequent service from the Heathrow Bus Station (Terminals 1,2,3) and slightly less frequent service from Terminal 4 through to Southampton. My understanding however is that they do not take you to the pier, so you will have to unload your luggage, then take a cab the final part of the way.

 

Finally, you could take the train. However, there is no direct service from Heathrow, so you'd need to take the RailAir coach from Heathrow, then change (probably at Woking) onto the train from there. It will mean much lugging around of your luggage.

 

If you want a smooth experience - take the cruise ship transfer. But if you don't mind lugging your bags, and saving some money, National Express will take about 2.5 - 3 hours and runs frequently.

[Toto2Kansas]

Another transfer option is to join a roll call for your sailing. If there are several that will be arriving around the same time, you can share a private transfer to/from the airport. The Europe board here on CC has a lot of different transfer companies that come highly recommend that others have used in the past.

 

When arriving, we were the only ones coming in at that time so we did book the Princess transfers to the ship, which are quite costly I must admit. But at the end of the cruise, we got together with two other couples from our roll call and did the private transfer that was less than half the cost of using Princess.

 

Shore excursions booked privately with those from your roll call can also save you quite a bit of expense. They usually are about half the price and twice as good as being on an overcrowded Princess bus. :)

[Traveler50]

Thanks for the information! We may arrive a day early and stay at a hotel at the airport. I wonder if we could still take the ship transfer if we took a shuttle back to Heathrow the next day? That does seem to be the easiest method of transportation even though the cost is higher.

 

Do you know how much the fare is for the coach is we decided to do that?

[Traveler50]

Thanks....I hope someone will start a roll call. Is it too early now?

[Toto2Kansas]

I took a quick look and there is a small roll call already started for this sailing, you can access it by clicking on this link: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=569715

 

As for the price of the transfers, I honestly can't remember off hand. Hopefully someone else can fill you in on the price.

Enjoy your cruise!

[can786]

Transfers are $75pp each way through Princess from LHR to Southampton for 2008.

[chasetf]

I need information from anyone who has completed The British Isles Cruise on Grand Princess that leaves from Southhampton. I am making plane reservations for next summer and wonder about the best type of transportation from London Heathrow to Southhampton port terminal. This could make a difference in our arrival and departure time.

Any other information about this particular cruise....such as shore excursions, etc. Thanks!

We did the British Isles last year and had a great time. We did a pre cruise in Scotland, then flew to Southampton to join the ship. I would definitely recommend the ship transfer. A taxi is very expensive, and I would not know what a limo / van would run but I am sure it would be as expensive (assuming you are two people and not a group)

 

Unfortunately you will not be in Edinburgh for the Tattoo, but do see the castle and the Royal Mile. Edinburgh is an area you can spend a week in and not see everything. Lots of other castles nearby and of course St. Andrews is doable in a day. Most of the large cities you can do Hop on / Hop off buses if you want to avoid the expensive ship's tours.

 

Definitely do Loch Ness and Urquhart Castle. We also enjoyed riding the train between Inverness and Invergordon to get back to the ship after departing the Loch Ness / Castle tour to spend time in town. When in Glasgow, you should consider seeing the Culzean Castle.

[ukcrusing]

if you going to stay overnight at heathrow, the only hotel attached directly to the airport is the the Hilton at terminal 4 (V Expensive circa $450 a night) all the other "airport" hotels are out around the perimeter road, and you will have to pay to use the hotel hoppa bus service. By July 2008 Terminal 5 will be open, not sure which airline you will fly in on, as that will be mainly BA flights, but this should at least reduce soem of the congestion, in the central T1 T2 T3 area. Heathrow is not the easiest airport to move about

[jdm]

We did this cruise last year on the Golden Princess. We flew into Heathrow a day before cruise. We purchased National Express bus tickets prior to cruise (via internet) and it was quite simple and inexpensive to take bus to Southampton. I don't really remember the cost, but I think it was about $10-15 each or so. We stayed day pre-cruise at a Holiday Inn in Southampton near the pier. We simply rolled our suitcases the few blocks downhill to the Holiday Inn from the bus terminal. Walked around the area in the evening, had a great dinner and found a wonderful local pub that had some music. It was great. Walked to the mall the next morning and bought a few things to take on the ship.

[Traveler50]

That does sound pretty easy with the location of that hotel. Did you book the hotel through Princess or on your own?

[Traveler50]

Thanks....I didn't realize one was already started!

[jdm]

We booked everything on our own. Also took the train to get to Glagow and the train to get to Edinburgh rather than Princess excursion. Only cost a few $$ and train gets right into the middle of the city and in Edinburgh, very close to the castle.

 

I researched and found most of my information on the British Isles Ports of Call site on cruise critic. Very helpful information from others who have done it.

 

Loch Ness is a must! We did it through a private tour.

[muffydawg]

We used a private car service from Gatwick to Southampton (round trip) then Southampton to London (post cruise stay) through a company called Woodford Chauffered Cars. It was about 135 GBP each way and SO worth it. They were reliable, professional and billed my credit card correctly and didn't get lost...can't ask for more than that!

[PhillyCruiser]

We were on Sea Princess in June of this year. We flew into Heathrow Terminal 4 from Philadelphia the day before the cruise. We took a cab to the Heathrow Marriott, which was reasonably priced. The next morning, we took a cab to the Heathrow Central Coach Station, and took the National Express bus to Southampton. We had purchased our National Express tickets over the internet. Once at the Southampton Coach Station, we lined up at the taxi stand and waited 15 minutes or so for a cab. It was a 5 - 10 minute ride to the dock. Very easy, and inexpensive.

 

Joan

[tom_uk]

This is a perennial in the Europe -> British Isles/Western Europe forum, and you will find many threads and answers on the topics of getting to Southampton from various entry points, staying a night at Heathrow (or Gatwick), getting into cities in the UK and Ireland from docking ports, etc. Have a look there.

[MercedMike]

We loved that cruise!

 

Check out our trip report and pics at

http://www.elite.net/~thehalls/royalprincessbrit.html

 

There are several good independent guides listed there, as well.

 

Have a GREAT cruise!

[Spikesgirl]

We just returned from the British Isle cruise and it was fabulous. We had booked our hotel separately from Princess (they wouldn't permit three to a room) and then we were able to purchase transfers from Heathrow to our hotel and then from the ship to our hotel from Princess. They were $35 a person and well worth it - long wait for the bus though.

 

We rented a taxi for the ride from the hotel to the airport because we stayed an additional week. It was 55 pounds total for the three of us and our luggage. The ride was fast and smooth - we got to the airport in record time.

 

If you have the option, I would serious consider the trasfers - it was definietly the easiest (if not the fastest way to your hotel)

 

Charlie

[ocean.queen]

Toto...thanks for the referral. Yes, we have a thread for the July 1 BI cruise. It's slow to start but I'm sure we'll pick up soon after we all return from our '07 trips.

 

Traveler50...come on over and join us.

 

MercedMike...thanks for the review and pictures...always love reading your information.

 

Ok, while we're asking questions over here and you all are so helpful and informative...I have one. We are doing 3 days pre-cruise in Paris...taking the Eurostar to London. Is it best to continue on the train to Southhampton or pick up National Express?

 

Muffydawg...thanks for the private transport info...that may be a good option for us, also.

[cherylandtk]

The total time on the train from Paris to Southampton is about 4 1/2 hours. The train goes to first to London Waterloo International station, you walk 15 min. to Waterloo Mainline section and take a one hour train from Waterloo to Southampton.

 

You might find this site helpful, too:

http://www.visit-southampton.co.uk/site/faqs

 

Just realized your trip is next July--I believe the Eurostar trains will be terminating at St. Pancras then, but the routine will be similar.

[Traveler50]

Which airport did you fly into?.... because I understood that from Heathrow the transfer is $76 if you go through Princess. Also wondering if you stayed at a hotel at Heathrow or in Southhampton and which hotel was it.

Thanks for the information!

[ocean.queen]

cherylandtk...thanks for the info. I did read about the station change. We'll check out of the hotel in Paris and head for Southampton...should get there about 4:00. I have a hotel booked for the night before we board the ship. Thanks for the link!

[Lancashire Lad]

The total time on the train from Paris to Southampton is about 4 1/2 hours. The train goes to first to London Waterloo International station, you walk 15 min. to Waterloo Mainline section and take a one hour train from Waterloo to Southampton.

 

You might find this site helpful, too:

http://www.visit-southampton.co.uk/site/faqs

 

Just realized your trip is next July--I believe the Eurostar trains will be terminating at St. Pancras then, but the routine will be similar.

We travel to the UK a lot being English, but living in Spain. If we can't get friends or relatives to pick us up from the airport we use National Express bus company. If you book online you will see a section are you over 50/60, tick this box and you will find you get automatic fare reductions. The route may not be direct but you see some of the countryside (or motorway) as they stop in different towns do do pick ups en route.

[spongerob]

Please see my review of the cruise we just returned from. Hopefully you can get some good info. Here's a link to the thread.

 

Review