Can we make our flight at Heathrow from Southampton?

[joeinsb]

My wife and I will be sailing on Eclipse next year from Southampton, England, to Portugal and Spain. We are getting ready to make our airline reservations and have a choice on our flight back to California of flights leaving at 2 p.m., 3 p.m. or 4 p.m. We prefer the first one, but since we have never sailed out of Southampton, we are not sure if we can get off the ship and get to Heathrow in time for a 2 p.m. flight. We don't know how long it will take to get to the airport from the ship, and we have heard that getting through Heathrow's check-in process can take much longer than at other airports. (On our past European cruises, we have flown in and out of Frankfurt). Do you think we can make a 2 p.m. flight?

[Fblack]

A year ago we had a 1:30PM flight out of Heathrow. The Constellation docked in Harwich though. We took the ships transfers. We were on their bus about 8:15AM and made it in under 90 minutes. I know the ride from Southampton may be different. Turned out we were in Heathrow's huge departure holding area by 11:15AM. In fact, at check-in, AA said we could make their 11:30AM flight if we rushed. I think the 2:00PM is doable. You could also arrange private transportation and make it earlier.

[lauralou2]

Train would be the quickest way , either to Reading and then coach to Heathrow , or Southampton Reading change for Paddington by train then the Heathrow express , the first way would be easier from a luggage point of view but the traffic could be a problem both are just over 2 hours trains from Southampton are very regular . Trere will be a coach service i will look that up for you .

[lauralou2]

Just found a better way shuttle bus from Heathrow to Woking then train direct to Southampton or the other way around , the train journey is just over 1 hour plus the shuttle , you can buy a train ticket that includes the shuttle bus

[lauralou2]

Web site www.londontoolkit.com scroll down to cruise terminals then click heathrow all the options are on this page hope this is helpful

[pspercy]

Originally Posted by joeinsb

...flights leaving at 2 p.m., 3 p.m. or 4 p.m. . . . Do you think we can make a 2 p.m. flight?

Maybe. Remember you'll need the 90minute lead time for checkin/security etc as well.

Personally I'd go for 4pm and not have to rush around

I hate the new "open skies" agreement, all transatlantics out of DFW now go to Heathrow instead of Gatwick. Ugh.

[pris993]

We have done some research on flying back to California from another cruise docking at Southampton. Was advised by someone with more experience getting off ships in Southampton, not to book a flight before 2pm because fog can be a problem. We have decided to not put ourselves through the stress with lots of luggage and a flight booked with FF miles, so we plan to stay over night at the Marriott at Heathrow after departing the ship.

[woozlebear]

Given a clear road then I would say this time is possible HOWEVER both motorways from Southampton are experiencing major roadworks. The M25/M4 from the M3 to Heathrow is also subject to delays ,it took my husband 2hrs on Thursday afternoon to travel from M3 to M4.
I would book the later flight.

The Marriott has wonderful beds!

Regards
Susan

[LongTimeTvlr]

I have sailed from Southampton by way of LHR a couple times.

I am doing it again in December.

I am taking the 1 PM flight to Dallas from LHR on my return.

But I hate sitting around in hotel rooms waiting for flights.

You pay your money and make your choices.

Have a great trip.

By the way, where is the port in Frankfurt?

[lauralou2]

It is 16 miles from from woking to Heathrow using the shuttle bus and only 5 miles of the 16 is on the M 25 the train from Southampton to Woking takes I hour ,I totally agree it would be risky doing the whole journey by road the op has lots of advice coming though , Im sure the cruise will be late spring early summer so not the time of year we would expect fog ,

[junglejane]

We disembarked the Crown Princess at Southampton this summer, and took the ship transfer to Heathrow for a 2:15 pm flight. It was easy and uneventful. If you are still concerned, post your question on the Cruise Air board. There are several serious experts there who are very helpful.

[c-legs]

Hi,
If , as you say, you have the choice, then why not take the later 4.00pm and continue on with a relaxed holiday, rather than ruin the whole time spent cruising by switching to ''stress mode'' wanting to push for an earlier flight.
Ways to travel between Southampton and Heathrow are not where the potential problems might arise, it's at Heathrow itself !!!!! This is one of the worst airports to navigate ( no pun intended.....) and a perfectly normal checkin time window can suddenly become '' tight'' due to security snakelines coming to a halt, or immigration / control screeching to a stop, all for reasons well beyond your control ( or anybody else's ) and which you can't do a thing about.
If the ''transport '' portion works ''normal'' and you find yourself at Heathrow with 3-4 hours to ''kill''....thank your lucky star....you might find yourself stalled at the next security check point for about 1 hour....

good luck.
cheers

[TMLAalum]

We are booked on a 2:05 pm out of LHR. The ship docks at Southampton at 5:30 am on a Saturday, but I figured we wouldn't be disembarking til 9am. We have a private transport booked and planned on a 2 to 3 hour drive, which would get us to the airport 2 hours before departure. If we can disembark sooner we will.

[joeinsb]

Thanks for all the information. I think we will try to book a later flight.

[Albert Ross]

Originally Posted by joeinsb

My wife and I will be sailing on Eclipse next year from Southampton, England, to Portugal and Spain. We are getting ready to make our airline reservations and have a choice on our flight back to California of flights leaving at 2 p.m., 3 p.m. or 4 p.m. We prefer the first one, but since we have never sailed out of Southampton, we are not sure if we can get off the ship and get to Heathrow in time for a 2 p.m. flight. We don't know how long it will take to get to the airport from the ship, and we have heard that getting through Heathrow's check-in process can take much longer than at other airports. (On our past European cruises, we have flown in and out of Frankfurt). Do you think we can make a 2 p.m. flight?

If you are off the ship by 7, have a driver waiting, it is approx 1hr 45 up to LHR so even with a 2hr check in you have no problems at all.
If you are flying BA then you go from the new T5 which is wonderfully efficient, the check in literally takes minutes, and then there is a fantastic selection of duty free shops, restaurants and cafes to keep you amused whilst you wait.

[junglejane]

Originally Posted by Albert Ross

If you are off the ship by 7, have a driver waiting, it is approx 1hr 45 up to LHR so even with a 2hr check in you have no problems at all.
If you are flying BA then you go from the new T5 which is wonderfully efficient, the check in literally takes minutes, and then there is a fantastic selection of duty free shops, restaurants and cafes to keep you amused whilst you wait.

We disembarked the Crown Princess in Southampton for a 2:15 pm BA flight this summer. We used the ship transfer and got to T5 so early that we had to wait around for an hour before we could check in our bags. Even after that, we had time for a leisurely lunch at Giraffe in T5 before heading to our gate. As I recall, if your flight left after 3 pm you could book a ship excursion to Windsor Castle or Stonehenge on your way to Heathrow.