gumshoe958

In which case it’s a minimum of two connections. The obvious route is SAV-ATL-AMS-SOU which can be done with Delta/KLM. Just note there are only a couple of flights a day from Amsterdam to Southampton so there may be some long connections.

The drive from Heathrow to Southampton takes 1 hour 20 minutes minimum. That’s with no traffic in the middle of the night. If you have checked luggage it will take at least 40 minutes from aircraft to landside, more if your luggage isn’t off quickly. So yes, it’s possible you’d make it but you’d need all the stars to align. Any delay to your flight, at immigration, at baggage reclaim or on the motorway and it’s game over. Do you really want to spend the whole journey stressing about whether you’ll make it? I would strongly urge you to get an earlier flight, preferably the day before. This is far too close for comfort.

There’s less demand for lie-flat seats on day flights, largely because many corporate travel policies only allow employees to fly business class if it’s a red-eye.

London buses haven’t accepted cash for ten years now.

Yes, you can cancel any time for a full refund (up to about 48 hours before sailing, then once on board you can cancel for OBC).

Fairly standard tbh. They have to offer free wifi as people expect it in 2024 and their competitors all do. But they make it as useless as possible to make you upgrade to the premium wifi. It’s a budget hotel - you want frills, you pay extra.

Me too! And many of them from the US where, until quite recently, it was common practice in restaurants to give your card to a waiter who would take it out the back for several minutes and return it with the total left blank for a tip! There’s absolutely no point in getting an Oyster card unless you’ve got kids who are too young to have a debit or credit card.

For comparison, Uber is currently (Sunday morning, so quiet) quoting just under £60. Sure, you’ll have to walk to the car park next to the terminal to find your driver as opposed to having your driver meet you in arrivals, but it’ll be considerably cheaper.

Just to be clear, it’s only rooms in the ‘Hub’ hotels that are tiny. The rooms in standard Premier Inns like Tower (Bank) are larger. Premier Inn is a budget chain - think Days Inn standard - but they have a decent reputation for being consistent, clean and comfortable. As for getting around, if you have Apple or Google Pay on your phone you can use that instead of a physical credit card.

Thanks for the info. By car, Southampton to Greenwich will take a minimum of 2 hours 15 minutes if there’s no traffic, but probably more. By train, the quickest route would probably be Southampton to London Waterloo, Waterloo East to London Bridge, then London Bridge to Greenwich. Which can be done in about 2 hours 10 minutes (fast trains run every half hour). With four of you plus luggage, I’d be minded to book a car service. I’m guessing it’ll cost around the £200 mark to Greenwich.

The 11:07 would be playing it very safe IMHO. Assuming your flight is on time you’d probably be at St Pancras well in time for the 9:07 and certainly for the 10:04. The off-peak ticket is valid on any train that day. With an Advance ticket you can change it on the day, paying the fare difference plus a £10 fee as long as you change it before the train you originally booked departs. If it were me, I think I’d book a £15.50 advance for the 10:04. If your flight is delayed and you’re not landside at Heathrow until after 8:30 (but before 10:04), stop by the airport rail station ticket office before catching the tube, and get them to change your ticket for a later train.

Just be aware that the ‘Hub’ hotels tend to have much smaller rooms, which don’t always have windows. The Bank (Tower) Premier Inn is indeed very close to the Tower of London and a short stroll to St Paul’s Cathedral and across the river to attractions like the Shard, Shakespeare’s Globe and Borough Market. It’s in London’s financial district though, so not much going on at night or weekends if you want to be near restaurants and nightlife. Very close to the tube though, so easy to get around.

There will be multiple performances at different times on different days. Set the app to the current sailing and you can get an idea of when they are.

Sadly the Gravesend ferry stopped running in April due to funding issues.

I’ve never used them but I believe Hertz and Europcar have locations that are easily walkable from the Horizon & City terminals (a short cab ride from the others), and Enterprise and Alamo have locations next to Southampton Central rail station, only a 5-10 minute cab ride from all terminals.

There is no dedicated luggage space on the Southampton trains, other than overhead racks for your carry-ons. It’s not normally a problem as you’ll be travelling off-peak and they’re (usually) long 10 car trains, but you’ll still have to squeeze your big cases in around your seat area as best you can. It’s not ideal but lots of people do it every day. National Express would avoid that as the driver stows your luggage under the coach, but obviously it’s a longer journey. 1st class: if it’s only a few pounds more than standard, go for it - but you don’t really get anything extra other than slightly nicer seats in a (hopefully) quieter carriage so it’s certainly not worth paying £££ for.

No.

The National Express fares are a bit confusing. As well as the flexible fare @Bruin Steve mentions there’s the “Change & Go” upgrade, which costs £5 and is offered as an extra during the booking process. So you could save a bit of money by buying a standard fare plus “Change & Go”. That lets you change for free to another coach up to 12 hours either side of the one you’ve booked, as long as it’s not full. A private limo transfer would probably cost around £160-180, so considerably more expensive but obviously door-to-door, quicker and more convenient.

Anthem has We Will Rock You (ok, West End not Broadway).

Pure speculation of course but this feels like something that would come out of an emergency brainstorm after Cunard was told last week it couldn’t have the royal it was expecting due to the Palace diary purge triggered by the election.

So reading between the lines there was originally meant to be a royal but Cunard was probably told last week it wouldn’t happen due to the election-linked diary purge. Hence a very hastily cobbled together Plan B (or even C or D).

It’s Southampton to Waterloo that’s the issue on days when multiple ships are in port. Cruise passengers with lots of heavy luggage fighting for space with commuters on trains that are busy even before they reach Southampton does not a pleasant journey make! Waterloo to Southampton is usually easier although weekend mid-morning trains can get very busy with the big spike in leisure travel since the pandemic.

Indeed. The three biggest sports in the US - (American) football, basketball and baseball, are all fairly niche in Europe and don’t feature much on TV. Soccer, on the other hand …

The Clermont, right next to Victoria station, is a favourite with many cruisers. Nearby there’s also the Goring (very pricey), the Doubletree Victoria or the Park Plaza Victoria.

On a weekday, plenty of room. On a sunny weekend, not so much.