Earliest Flight Leaving Southampton?

We usually book our departure flights a day after the cruise has left, but I wanted to know from those that have flown out of Southampton Airport (Not London or Heathrow) the same day as arriving.

What the earliest flight departure time you would recommend for a boat arriving at 5:30AM (likely cleared for passengers at 6:00) if the passengers carry off their own luggage (backpacks) and grab a taxi from the port?

Again this is for the Airport that is 20 minutes away, not in London.

Stax of folks fly out same-day as disembarkation - most of them via London's Heathrow and Gatwick.

And everyone flying out of Southampton would do likewise unless they had a very early flight or wanted a post-cruise break.

Yes, most ships arrive in Southampton around 4,30am to 6am, while passengers are still in the land of Nod.

But disembarkation is normally from around 7am unassisted (haul your own bags from the cabin), with the first tranche of assisted disembarkations usually at 7.30.

Yes, it's about 20 minutes to Southampton airport by taxi , but add another ten minutes during commuter time.

Taxi about £22 from the rank at the pier, or about £18 pre-booked. (by bus or train are also options but for most folk the time and hassle isn't worth saving mebbe £10 - £15).

There are no long-haul flights out of Southampton, just domestic and European flights.

For long-haul from Southampton you'd need to go via a European hub like Paris or Amsterdam.

Because it's a small one-terminal airport & short-haul flights, last check-in at the airport for most airlines is 35 minutes or 45 minutes ahead of flight time. You can check-in on-line & cut it tighter, but since you'll have luggage you'll have to meet that deadline for the luggage-drop. No long walks, usually very quick thru security.

So ignoring any major problem like a very late docking you can feel pretty confident with a flight time after 9.30am, or about 8.45am with unassisted disembarkation.

JB :)

We usually book our departure flights a day after the cruise has left, but I wanted to know from those that have flown out of Southampton Airport (Not London or Heathrow) the same day as arriving.

 

What the earliest flight departure time you would recommend for a boat arriving at 5:30AM (likely cleared for passengers at 6:00) if the passengers carry off their own luggage (backpacks) and grab a taxi from the port?

 

Again this is for the Airport that is 20 minutes away, not in London.

Where are you flying to and what time is the earliest flight? I have numerous friends who fly to Scotland on the same day but they never go for anything too early. Technically, yes the ship docks and we all disembark early (but not 6:00 a.m. if you are on P&O). However in recent years we've been delayed for a number of reasons including thick fog in the English Channel, a technical problem and heavy seas. In two cases this was by less than a couple of hours but on one occasion it was late morning when we arrived.

If we're getting the train back as we do sometimes (I don't fly) we book the 9:46 but we know there may be an occasion when we miss it and have to buy tickets on the day. If you're prepared to chance that, book an early flight

Stax of folks fly out same-day as disembarkation - most of them via London's Heathrow and Gatwick.

And everyone flying out of Southampton would do likewise unless they had a very early flight or wanted a post-cruise break.

 

Yes, most ships arrive in Southampton around 4,30am to 6am, while passengers are still in the land of Nod.

But disembarkation is normally from around 7am unassisted (haul your own bags from the cabin), with the first tranche of assisted disembarkations usually at 7.30.

 

Yes, it's about 20 minutes to Southampton airport by taxi , but add another ten minutes during commuter time.

Taxi about £22 from the rank at the pier, or about £18 pre-booked. (by bus or train are also options but for most folk the time and hassle isn't worth saving mebbe £10 - £15).

 

There are no long-haul flights out of Southampton, just domestic and European flights.

For long-haul from Southampton you'd need to go via a European hub like Paris or Amsterdam.

Because it's a small one-terminal airport & short-haul flights, last check-in at the airport for most airlines is 35 minutes or 45 minutes ahead of flight time. You can check-in on-line & cut it tighter, but since you'll have luggage you'll have to meet that deadline for the luggage-drop. No long walks, usually very quick thru security.

 

So ignoring any major problem like a very late docking you can feel pretty confident with a flight time after 9.30am, or about 8.45am with unassisted disembarkation.

 

JB :)

The flight I was looking at does dock in Amsterdam, and we would only have Carry on backpacks so that helps a little bit.and wouldn't leave until 9:30AM, might be cutting it close, but as I posted in a different reply the connecting flight doesn't leave until the next day at 5pm, so we have a day to figure out how to get to amsterdam if we miss the first flight. either by train, car, or paying the exorbitant fees to fly there....

The risk seems potentially moderate. but the reward would mean that we get to spend another 7 hours in amsterdam versus taking the later flight out of southampton (leaves at 5-ish pm)

not sure what P&O is, it would be through Royal Caribbean. Thank you for all the information!

Where are you flying to and what time is the earliest flight? I have numerous friends who fly to Scotland on the same day but they never go for anything too early. Technically, yes the ship docks and we all disembark early (but not 6:00 a.m. if you are on P&O). However in recent years we've been delayed for a number of reasons including thick fog in the English Channel, a technical problem and heavy seas. In two cases this was by less than a couple of hours but on one occasion it was late morning when we arrived.

 

If we're getting the train back as we do sometimes (I don't fly) we book the 9:46 but we know there may be an occasion when we miss it and have to buy tickets on the day. If you're prepared to chance that, book an early flight

The flight would dock in Amsterdam and Fly back to the states.

One of the flights Im looking at leaves at 9:30AM from southampton, but doesn't leave until the NEXT day at 5pm from amsterdam. We figured we could book a hotel for the night in Amsterdam and make it like a little quick stop during the 22+hour layover. So worst case scenario it would seem that we may miss the first part of the flight and have a day to figure out how to get to amsterdam to get home.

but this information about disembarkation is really helpful.

The flight would dock in Amsterdam and Fly back to the states.

One of the flights Im looking at leaves at 9:30AM from southampton, but doesn't leave until the NEXT day at 5pm from amsterdam. We figured we could book a hotel for the night in Amsterdam and make it like a little quick stop during the 22+hour layover. So worst case scenario it would seem that we may miss the first part of the flight and have a day to figure out how to get to amsterdam to get home.

but this information about disembarkation is really helpful.

Delayed ship arrivals in Southampton are rare, even rarer during summer months, but they do happen.

Yes, an early flight out of Southampton (a 9.30am flight is easily manageable) would give you time for a decent look round Amsterdam that afternoon & evening, and the next morning.

Or a flight from Southampton next day would give you a chance to explore Southampton and its hinterland, though that does take away the safety net if that first flight is significantly fouled-up. And if you've not been to Amsterdam I rate it significantly more worthwhile than the Southampton area.

A late flight out of Southampton on disembarkation day would leave you with insufficient time to explore either Southampton or Amsterdam and a lot of time hanging around airports ;)

JB :)

Last month I would have relayed our experience with exiting the ship wand being at the train station within half an hour.

But our recent cruise took hours to disembark. We cruised from Hamburg, maybe that was the difference. Most passengers had to line up for immigration prior to disembarking. Nightmare!! Then waiting an hour for a taxi.