Best transfer to and from cruise

We are cruising on the Celebrity Infinity from July 14 - 26, 2013 for their 11 night Iceland and Fjord cruise. We are sailing into/out of Harwich, England. We are staying at a hotel near Heathrow when we arrive and then at one near Chelsea Football Stadium (Stamford Fridge, Fullan Road) on our return. We are trying to find a means of transfer to and from the cruise that will be the easiest ( and hopefully not too expensive). The Cruise transfer works only if we make our way to Liverpool station which is not very convenient. Has anyone already figured out a good transfer system? Recommendation gratefully appreciated.:confused:

Welcome to Cruise Critic!

Easiest method is going to be a car service although not the least expensive.

Hope you enjoy your cruise!

You will find a lot of info on the British Isles board, here:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=233

Also,

Please join the Roll Call for your sailing. There might be others on your specific cruise willing to share transportation.

As CruiserBruce suggested I would post this on the British Isles board.

Keith

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

I am all for hiring a car/limo service.

If you join your Roll Call you may get more suggestions.

Just use this link and scroll down until you find your cruise ship. Click on that and then scroll down until you find the date of your cruise.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=34

Welcome to cruise critic. Noticed this was your first post. You may also check with a local TA in your area. They have booked transfers I'm sure in the past. We did a google search when thinking of doing a cruise out of Harwich and came up with many options as well........we never got that far and decided on another cruise.

Again welcome.........I'm sure many will be along to help you.

Heathrow to Harwich

From Heathrow to the ship by public transport is very awkward.

Harwich isn't served by any National Express scheduled coaches. You'd need train or tube or bus into central London, transfer across central London to Liverpool Street station, train to Harwich. Difficult - especially with luggage - for someone who doesn't know London, time-consuming, and not particularly economic.

Three sensible choices:

Although ships' transfer coaches are generally poor value, between Heathrow (or Gatwick) and Harwich they're the easiest by far, and probably cheapest for a twosome. Direct, non-stop. They generally don't pick up at Heathrow hotels, you'd need to make your way to a terminal.

A new door-to-door coach service from Heathrow hotels to the ship, recently introduced by an established & reputable coach tour operator, costs £54 per person & thoughfully includes a stop to buy wine etc.

http://www.londontoolkit.com/travel/harwich_london_transfers.htm

(that London Toolkit website is also a mine of information for your stay in London - browse its other pages)

Or a private transfer. Cost vaguely in the region of £160 the car. A Harwich-based operator is likely to be a little cheaper than a Heathrow-based airport specialist, though sorry I don't have any recommendations. The cost could be substantially reduced if you found sharers, eg via your RollCall, but bear in mind that sharers are likely to be flying-in same-day so meeting-up could be problematic. Here's a link to your RollCall - in any case it's worth posting on there to introduce yourself to your fellow-cruisers & to glean any specific hints about your particular cruise.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1661686

Heathrow to Harwich by road is about 2 to 3 hours, but very variable depending on traffic.

Harwich to Chelsea

The train from Harwich (right alongside the ship) is by far your quickest & cheapest, even though Chelsea is inconvenient from Liverpool Street station.

You have the choice of the cruise special or the regular trains. All pick up from right alongside your ship. The cruise special is direct. The regular trains involve one very easy change at Manningtree - in the Harwich to London direction this means simply crossing from one side of the platform to the other. That six yard walk saves up to £20 compared to the cost of the cruise special.

http://ojp.nationalrail.co.uk/service/planjourney/search

(your departure point is Harwich International)

Liverpool Street to Chelsea you have two choices.

By London taxi is very easy, but it's about six urban miles. Only a very very vague guess, but I suppose something like £25-£30, 25 to 35 minutes.

By tube is cheap, I guess about £5 each, and Fulham Broadway tube station is handy to your hotel. But not easy with luggage, there's no direct tube train, you'd need one change of tube train. http://tube-map.co.uk/

Several options of where to change, but you'd need an expert to advise which is best with luggage. You're much more likely to get an answer on the Britain forum http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=233

The other options - private transfer, cruise line's coach transfer (usually to London Victoria), or the tourbus (your hotel would be outside the range of their door-to-door) - really aren't worth discussing.

You may have specific reasons for your chosen hotel, and you may be committed to it.

If not, it's well worth considering other hotels which are much more convenient to Liverpool Street station, to central London's sights, and to Heathrow.

JB :)

I was hoping JB would post here but not knowing that I had recommend posting on the British Isles Board.

JB is extremely knowledgeable on this and other related topics so I would go with his advice.

Keith