gumshoe958

Sadly National Express closed all their ticket offices at Heathrow during the pandemic and never reopened them. All ticketing issues now have to be resolved by phone.

Of course they have. They’d be fired pretty quickly if they failed to stick to the official company line and revealed confidential information that could affect the stock price before it’s announced to the markets.

You need to post in the roll call for your sailing.

It should be, but the big unknown is baggage reclaim which can be very hit or miss at LHR. On a bad day it’s not unknown to wait an hour for your luggage to appear. Border control is normally pretty quick as long as you have a biometric passport and are eligible to use the automated e-gates.

Makes sense to me. The UK cruise market tends to skew older and more traditional (see Cunard, P&O, Fred.Olsen, Princess) so X feels like a better fit.

Even if the QM2 is 24 hours late (which is so unlikely it’s almost certain not to happen) you’d still be able to make it. As it is you’ve got more than 24 hours to make a 3 hour journey. You’ll be fine.

Which is exactly what they want. Jason Liberty’s dastardly plan is working.

Yes, there will be a lot. School seems to be optional for many kids since Covid.

Longer cruise in a cheaper cabin for me every time. Far better value for money. Most suites are hugely overpriced for what you get but Royal knows there are plenty of people who’ll overpay $$$$$ just to get “the best”.

Yes, as @Globaliser says because the flights have only recently opened, BA hasn’t yet loaded the cheaper fare buckets (knowing full well there’s easy money to be made from people who feel they HAVE to book the moment flights go on sale). Looking at BA flights two Sundays before yours, they’re available from £61 ($79). So just give it a couple of weeks or so and you’ll see fares tumble. There’s no reason whatsoever to go via AMS.

As posted on the wiki, Uber operates in Southampton or - for a more relaxed arrival - consider staying the night at LHR then heading down to Southampton refreshed in the morning. The Sofitel is a very nice hotel connected directly to T5 or there are cheaper options a short bus or taxi ride away.

There is a taxi rank at Southampton coach station, but there’s no guarantee that any cabs will be waiting that late. Uber operates in Southampton though, so that would be an obvious solution. @PORT ROYALmakes a good suggestion though. There is a very nice (albeit not especially cheap) hotel, the Sofitel, connected directly to T5 and a multitude of other hotels to suit all tastes and budgets a short bus or taxi ride away.

Hi Dan, Yes there should be luggage carts (or trolleys as they’re known in the UK) available in the reclaim hall. At T4, National Express serves bus stops 13 & 14 outside the exit from the arrivals hall, on the same level. So a very short walk. You should easily make the coach, but please note it departs T4 at 4:15 - make sure when booking you select Terminal 4, NOT Heathrow Central Bus Station as they are nowhere near each other.

Bayley can promise whatever he likes in the full knowledge that he’ll be long gone by 2029/30 and it’ll be someone else deciding whether there’s another WC or not. This is the same Bayley who promised that Icon of the Seas would debut in the UK. His promises are completely and utterly empty but hey, it makes for good PR.

The same Michael Bayley who said this two years ago: "I promise you will bring Icon of the seas into Southampton. The UK will be the first country and market that we will bring this incredible ship into [when it launches] in ’23." The reality? Southampton’s been downgraded to Independence then Liberty. So I’m afraid I don’t believe anything the man says. He’ll say anything to get some PR, knowing full well it means nothing. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I’d be amazed if there’s ever another world cruise. This one was nowhere near full, reportedly made a loss and is completely and utterly at odds with Royal’s current strategy.

On a weekday, it’ll be about as busy as it gets. There are several routes you could take but I’d be minded to walk to Waterloo, catch the Waterloo & City line (a one stop shuttle) to Bank then walk 10-15 minutes from there. Yes it’ll be crowded but it’s only one stop and only takes 4 minutes. So door to door in about half an hour. A cab could take 25 minutes or it could take much longer. You have to cross the river somehow and there are only so many bridges which can all get very busy at rush hour.

Caernarfon is the terminus of a very popular (and deservedly so) tourist railway, but isn’t connected to the main national rail network. So you’d have to catch a bus to Bangor (every 20 mins, journey time 30 mins) and change there for a train back to Holyhead (roughly hourly, journey time 35 mins).

To be clear: standard Premier Inns - the vast majority - always have windows and normal sized rooms. Only Premier Inn HUB hotels - of which there are just a few, mainly in central London - have small rooms, some without windows, similar to the YOTEL concept.

There is an hourly CrossCountry train from Southampton at :15 past the hour which typically has a 15 minute connection into a Paddington train at Reading, giving an overall journey time of just over 90 minutes. That should be fine - while a big station, Reading is easy enough to navigate around and there are lifts to and from the footbridge should you need to change platforms, which you almost certainly will.

Yes, I always forget there are two bridges! However I wouldn’t want to rely on the lifts working when you need them to. Another option would be to take a train one stop from Charing Cross to Waterloo East.

An hour is far too much. This isn’t Amtrak! Aim to get there at about 9:45 - or a little earlier if you need a coffee to go. Waterloo is very easy to navigate, all the platforms lead off one concourse so just check the screens for the platform for the 10:05 train to Weymouth (the final destination), scan your ticket at the barrier and you’re good to go. No security protocols. Note the footbridge over the river has steps at both ends, quite steep ones at the Embankment end. There is a little known level walkway from the back of Charing Cross station but it’s not easy to find. If you have lots of luggage a taxi may be easier, despite it only being a 10 minute walk.

Others may disagree but I would say no, you won’t need any cash as long as you have and are happy to use a contactless credit/debit card or Apple/Google Pay.

@Dohmacc Do note that there are (normally) six Elizabeth line trains an hour to Heathrow, but only two serve T5. If, when you arrive on the platform at Liverpool Street, the first Heathrow train is to T4 rather than T5, it might be quicker to catch it anyway, get off at Heathrow Central and wait on the same platform for the first train to T5 (which might be a Heathrow Express but that’s fine, your ticket’s still valid).

Option 1 - the Jubilee/Bakerloo line interchange at Baker Street is simple, cross platform and on the level. At Paddington they’re building new lifts from the Bakerloo line up to the mainline station “by this summer” but I don’t know if they’re open yet. Otherwise, the old route involves stairs and escalators. Option 2 - the Jubilee/Elizabeth line interchange at Bond Street is all underground within the station and step-free using lifts. The adult fare from London Bridge to Heathrow using the Elizabeth line is £13.30 per person. Option 3 - for guidance, right now Uber is quoting £75 with a 95 minute journey time. It’ll be faster on a Sunday morning, but the train will still be quicker and cheaper. If price is more important than speed, there’s also the cheapest option 4 - Jubilee line to Green Park then Piccadilly line direct to T5. Adult fare £5.60 per person, journey time just over an hour. The interchange at Green Park involves escalators. The tube and Elizabeth line aren’t especially luggage friendly but lots of people do take big bags and Sunday morning is probably the quietest time to travel so it’s doable. Or @Thejuggler makes a sensible suggestion - Uber or cab to Liverpool Street then Elizabeth line from there.

Thankfully there is currently no engineering work scheduled for July 27th.