Island2Dweller

Stansted is notorious for queues at bag drop and for security. If you are going to use that option you need a plan that gets you there in good time. From Southampton it would be nigh on impossible. Even if you dock in Tilbury, it's still an hour / 90 minutes on roads that can get extremely congested. If you decide to stay an extra night, there is nothing to do at Stansted. Stay in London near Liverpool Street station - that's where the express train to Stansted leaves from.

There are only a few hotels actually located near terminals at Heathrow. One at T5. One at T2 and a few at T4. Unless your flight arrives into the same terminal, these are not going to be quick to get to. All other "airport hotels" are outside the airport boundary. You can chew a lot of time (and some cost - there are no free hotel shuttles) simply getting to an "airport hotel". You then face the same the next day if you want to use National Express. Unlikely as it sounds, I think your lower hassle option is to go direct to Southampton on arrival.

The connection would be at Gare du Nord in Paris, so you wouldn't have to change train stations in Paris Sadly not correct. The trains for Spain leave from Gare du Lyon, so if you came in from London to Gare du Nord, you do have to cross Paris for the onward journey

You've hit a system limitation with BA - who have consistently underinvested in the IT to support their business. On a group booking (such as a cruise line travel department), they cannot give you access to the seat booking process. (Because you are all on one booking reference, and to release that to you would reveal details of everyone else on that booking, which would be in breach of data protection rules).

Getting to Tilbury under your own steam from central London is cheap. Use contactless payment (bank card / phone / smart watch) rather than a paper ticket (as you should for all public transport in London) and the journey is under £10 per adult to Grays station. Trains are so frequent you don't need to worry about the timetable. Grays station is about a mile or so from the cruise port, and has a taxi office outside for the short ride to the terminal. (Counterintuitively, the station at Tilbury is not your best option, it's not close enough to the cruise terminal to walk and there won't be any taxi waiting - which is why I suggest use the prior stop of Grays) That's the good news. The less good news is that it is not a particularly seamless journey. You'll need to transfer from the underground to the railway network (the best station to do that depends on which part of central London you stay in - central London is vast). I'd be completely comfortable doing this but I am very familiar with the transport system in London. If you are not used to navigating public transport in a big city it might seem daunting. If you choose a road transfer, be aware that traffic in London can move slowly, and the A13 (the main road from London to Tilbury) is at walking pace for miles from about 3pm, so don't set off late

You'll be moored mid river, and then transfered (by one of the Thames Clipper boats) onto Greenwich pier. This is in a pedestrianised area. The nearest place a taxi can pick you up is outside the Gypsy Moth pub. (Greenwich Church Street, SE10 9BL). It's only a minute or two walk across the pedestrianised area to that pub.

London offices seem to have the "TW&T" phenomenom. Workers present in offices only on Tuesdays Wednesdays and Thursdays, and working remotely on Monday and Friday. I needed to run some errands during rush hour on Monday and I was astonished how quiet the transport network was.

Another option to consider is to travel to Canterbury the day before. More choice of accommodation there and a it's much more pleasant place to stay. On embarcation day you are 30 miles to Dover, with train and bus options to get you there.

You won't find a shuttle. They have been tried a few times in the UK and always fail - the existing public transport options work best for most people so there isn't a market opportunity for shuttles.

Book direct with Eurostar if your journey is on their network only. That would mean if travelling from Amsterdam Brussels Lille Paris. As you are trying to book an itinerary across different operators (Eurostar plus DeutscheBahn) then it gets messy. Sadly cross operator rail ticketing is nowhere near as integrated as you would hope. This is where an agent with specialist knowledge (such as Ffestiniog) is really useful.

Which terminal(s) will you arrive into Heathrow at? There are four terminals, spread across three zones (and they are miles apart). So the easy/difficulty of getting to a particlar hotel very much depends on which terminal you're arriving in to. It can be as quick to get to central London as it is to some "airport" hotels

Your hotel is about 400-500 yards from Waterloo station. That's a major rail station (trains to Southampton as many on this board will know) and mutiple tube lines. If you are prepared to walk that last distance from Waterloo to your hotel - here is your "tube all the way" option. Take Piccadilly line from Heathrow to Green Park. Change there for Jubilee line (direction Stratford) to Waterloo. There are lifts and escalators so the change is not too difficult. Depending on which end of the tube you get out of, there can be a fair bit of walking and multiple escalators. Even as someone who uses public transport by default, I'm not sure I'd be keen on this with bags in tow. To make life slightly easier. Take Piccadilly line to Hammersmith. Cross platform onto District line (direction Upmister, don't get an Edgware Road train) and get off at Westminster. Lifts to street level. Then jump in a taxi (there will be loads driving by) for the last mile to your hotel. Cost for the tube ride is about £6 per adult, pay with bank card or phone. If you add on the taxi, that should be about £10 or slightly more if traffic is grdilocked. (Which can happen at any point in London)

BA allow you to buy seats in advance. EXCEPT if you are part of a group booking, in which case you can never buy in advance. It's a limitation due to BA shonky IT. As all the group booking will be under the same reservation number, if they allowed you to reserve it would show all the names on that reservation number (which would be in breach of data protection rules). So it is never allowed. You'll be able to choose seats when check in opens 24 hours before departure, but obviously you'll only be able to choose whatever is unallocated at that point.

Don't get hung up on the apparent extra fee. In general, you get a much better FX rate on the credit card statement than you do for withdrawing or converting cash. So the overall difference in cost is much less than you may think.

Sadly no longer true. The bus route was shortened last month, and isn't really a good sightseeing route any more. If using London service buses to sightsee (very cheap option), route 15 from Trafalgar Square to Tower is a good option. Remember you can't pay cash on buses in London. Contactless bank card or phone payment is the easiest

As well as the one flight out of Southampton airport, there are also flights out of Gatwick (which can be easily reached from Southampton by direct train) on easyjet or Veuling. All these airlines charge for bags so check allowances and extra charges carefully when pricing up your options

Going to Southampton then returning to London the next day chews a lot of time. Any saving in hotel cost is likely to be chewed up by the extra you pay in rail tickets. I really would not arrange the trip like this. Trains between Southampton and London use the Waterloo terminus. There are a few services to Victoria but these go a circuitous route and take much longer.

Return rail fares to Oxford, per person Anytime Day Return £77 Off Peak £32 SuperOffPeak Doesn’t apply on this route. . The time restrictions on the OffPeak tickets applies weekdays. Cannot depart from before 0830 if departing from Marylebone or before 0920 if departing from Paddington. No restrictions at weekends.

Return rail fares to Bath, per person Anytime £236 Off Peak £96, can’t depart from Paddington before 0920 SuperOffPeak £69, can’t depart from Paddington before 1015 No one in their right mind ever buys an “anytime” ticket, simply start after the weekday rush hour so that you can travel on one of the OffPeak type tickets. These are valid on any train, except for the weekday peak time restrictions. The time restrictions on the OffPeak tickets apply weekdays, no restrictions at weekends. Cheaper fares are available if you take the circuitous, much slower route, from Waterloo via Salisbury. I think this chews too much of your time if you want a sensible day trip. There are “advance” tickets, always priced as two singles, which can be very cheap. But these are valid on the booked service only. You have zero flexibility if you wanted to cut short or extend your day, so you have to trade flexibility for savings. At this late stage, the cheaper advance fares may well be already sold out. Trains to Bath don't go through Oxford, and it's a surprisingly awkward journey by train between Bath and Oxford, requiring one, perhaps two, changes. The fares quoted above are not valid via Oxford. I don;t think it is practical to do both within a single day trip

Instead of schlepping all the way out to Heathrow (west of London, whereas Tilbury is well east of London), I would take the train into the centre and put your bags into left luggage. Going all the way to Heathrow and then retracing the journey back into central London will use at least two hours. There are facilities at most mainline stations, though Liverpool Street station probably makes most sense because from there you can continue to Heathrow on the Elizabeth line after you have done your sighseeing.

"I think that the 10 yo would need a 5-10 Zip Oyster photocard to travel for free" That is only needed if travelling alone - it is really aimed at local school children using the tube or bus to get to school. For visitors, so long as the child travels with an adult, no ticket or pass is needed.

There is no need or advantage in buying rail tickets for the trip to Watford junction. Using a contactless bank card (or phone or smart watch) to open the platform gates is far more convenient and usually cheaper. Your device (be it card/phone/watch) acts as your ticket, you never hold a physical paper ticket. Heathrow Express is only a good idea if your hotel is at Paddington. If elsewhere in central London, the new Elizabeth line is likely to be a more useful option (and much cheaper). Again, don't buy tickets, just use card/phone/watch. You do need a paper ticket for the train trip from Southampton into Waterloo. If you are happy to commit to a particular departure time, an "advance" ticket is much cheaper - but only valid on the service you booked. If you disembark late and miss your train you need to buy a new ticket. If you get off early, you need to sit and wait until the chosen time. You are trading flexibility for cost saving.

There are no long haul flights to/from Southampton, it has a relatively short runway which isn't long enough for the wide body planes used on transatlantic flights. It is possible to fly into Southampton if you transfer through Amsterdam or Paris but 99% of cruise passenger will be booked into Heathrow LHR or Gatwick LGW. (Note that London has six airports but virtually all transatlantic services use either LHR or LGW)

The train from Waterloo station (a short taxi hop away) to Southampton takes about two hours. Example, the 1005 departure arrives at 1200. Loads of taxis at Southampton central for the hop to whichever quay your ship is berthed on. If you book an "advance" ticket now, it will cost £21. Those tickets are valid on the reserved train only, zero flexibility. A flexibile ticker, valid on any train that day, is £35. A car service is also an option, and is of course door to door. That will cost much more (perhaps £200) and won't be quicker

Getting a taxi will be simple, there is a rank outside. Just look for the signs as you exit the station. Traffic in central London can be very slow, the tube (underground) will probably be quicker (and vastly cheaper) if that matters to you.