Southampton to Heathrow 1PM Icelandair flight

Crown Princess arrives at Southampton 7AM on Sat. Aug. 26. We'd like to make the 1PM Icelandair flight, spend a couple days in Iceland, and then return to DC.

Princess transfer is only for flights after 2PM and the 1PM flight is not available thru EZAir.

We would book the 1PM flight direct with the airline if it was possible to make that 1PM flight by using a private transfer company. We would actually have to be at the airport and check in by noon since Icelandair cuts off check-in 60 minutes prior. And I'm not sure how long it takes to get thru Security. Would appreciate feedback from fellow cruisers.

You can read first-hand accounts on the British Isles board here: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=233, but IMHO if you arrange for a private transfer, you should be fine with a 1pm flight out of LHR.

Icelandair's check-in may well close one hour before the flight departs, but do be aware that Heathrow is a busy airport. It could take you longer than one hour to get through security and reach your departure gate.

In addition, the gate will close about 15 minutes before departure time.

To be safe, I think you should plan to get to Heathrow two hours before departure time.

That's probably possible as long as:

• your ship arrives on time and completes arrival immigration procedures on time,
  
• you are in one of the first groups to leave the ship,
  
• you organise private transport to the airport,
  
• and the traffic isn't bad.
  

I did not see that there was a British Isle forum -- lots of good info and references to good private car services there.

Celle -- Thanks for the reality check. Without a crystal ball to foresee the circumstances, it may be too stressful to even try it. We may just aim for the 9PM flight and take a tour that lasts all day.

I have made 12noon flights out of LHR coming up from Southampton many times. You need to get on an early transfer to the airport, so don't dawdle, but you will make it for 1pm for sure unless something unusual happens.

This probably doesn't help, but I think Icelandair is starting service from Philadelphia soon. Depending upon where you live and when you cruise, it might be possible to get a later flight to Philly and take the train down to the DC area. We took the train from NYC to DC recently and it was quick and comfortable (3 hours).

Thanks for the suggestion but we are going to spend a couple days in Iceland before flying home to DC. Our hope was to make the 1PM flight to Iceland, which is more desirable than waiting till the 9PM flight. After we spend a couple days in Iceland, the times for the flights back to DC work for us.

I think we will just book the 1PM flight and do what we can to make it in time.

That's probably what I would do. I'm also from the DC area and taking a cruise that starts in London (Greenwich rather than Southampton). We plan to stop off in Reykjavik for 2 days before going to London for the cruise. I've always wanted to go, but those prices for food and hotels - wow! I found a couple places to stay on Airbnb, though, and that will help. I've only used Airbnb once before, but had a great experience so I'm willing to try it again. At the end of our cruise, we have to fly Bergen to Reykjavik and then take a late afternoon flight to DC.

This probably doesn't help, but I think Icelandair is starting service from Philadelphia soon. Depending upon where you live and when you cruise, it might be possible to get a later flight to Philly

Sorry, but you don't understand the whole Icelandair operation. They run a true hub & spoke operation. Flights come in from European cities (usually one per day) and converge on KEF. The flights are timed so that most all are banked to arrive at nearly the same time. Then the outbound flights to North America head out. Those are also banked, so most leave with 20 minutes of each other.

So....even if one would take a flight from KEF to PHL, you would still be on the same flight from LHR into KEF. It's just a matter of what flight out, and they are all roughly equivalent in departure time and equipment (757)

And, they do the reverse in the opposite direction. Flights in from NA arriving in the morning, with a banked set of departures out to Europe.

Sorry, but you don't understand the whole Icelandair operation. They run a true hub & spoke operation. Flights come in from European cities (usually one per day) and converge on KEF. The flights are timed so that most all are banked to arrive at nearly the same time. Then the outbound flights to North America head out. Those are also banked, so most leave with 20 minutes of each other.

 

So....even if one would take a flight from KEF to PHL, you would still be on the same flight from LHR into KEF. It's just a matter of what flight out, and they are all roughly equivalent in departure time and equipment (757)

 

And, they do the reverse in the opposite direction. Flights in from NA arriving in the morning, with a banked set of departures out to Europe.

Oh, you're right. I hadn't thought about that. They won't add new flights London (or wherever) to KEF. I asked a question about Icelandair's seating on 767-300ER flights on the Flyer Talk forums - did you see that? I'd ask it here, but I don't want to hijack this post too much.