London Cruises out of Tilbury vs. Greenwich

[JesterPlaying]

Just found out that the 2010 cruises will be docking in Tilbury versus tendering in Greenwich as stated in the original itineraries. What surprised me is I only found out about this by another thread in the roll calls. Evidently TAs have been informing their clients, but I booked through HAL and got no notice. So this is just a notice for other London cruisers who might not of been notified either.

 

I guess it is a trade off of being dockside versus having to tender to the dock. I will miss sailing the Thames, but figure I can take one of the ferries to get my Thames cruise in.

[JYGresham]

Just found out that the 2010 cruises will be docking in Tilbury versus tendering in Greenwich as stated in the original itineraries. What surprised me is I only found out about this by another thread in the roll calls. Evidently TAs have been informing their clients, but I booked through HAL and got no notice. So this is just a notice for other London cruisers who might not of been notified either.

 

I guess it is a trade off of being dockside versus having to tender to the dock. I will miss sailing the Thames, but figure I can take one of the ferries to get my Thames cruise in.

 

Are you saying that every HAL cruise scheduled to land in Greenwich in 1010 will be recheduled for Tilberry? We are booked on the Prinsendam for the May 17 TA/Europe/North Cape 39 day cruise but have heard nothing from our TA as yet?

[hotzej]

Our TA notified us that the 14 day British Isles cruise August 28 has been changed to Tilbury...only problem is getting there when you are not on HAL precruise with transportation......we are planning a few days in London before the cruise. Was easy to get to Greenwich but unknown how we are going to get to Tilbury...oh well, best laid plans already blown!

[WhansaMi]

I believe it is everyone. I called, and initially, when I asked, the rep said if I hadn't been notified by HAL, nothing had changed. But, then I asked her to check, and she said we were now sailing from Tilbury.

[clyde3]

We weren’t notified either. I had to call my TA and she called HAL and yes it’s changed to Tilbury. Our cruise has an overnight before we leave. Who wants to overnight in Tilbury? I checked and it’s over a $100 round trip by taxi to get into London from there. The casino and stores onboard will be closed. They are saying it will be easier than tendering but they have been tendering for years. I wonder what the true story behind the move is.

[JesterPlaying]

Based on the London Cruise Terminal site there is a direct train to the Tower of London and it takes about 35 minutes. The train station is about a mile from the cruise terminal. So the way I figure it, considering the lines for the tenders and transfer time from Greenwich to the Tower, this may be only a ten minute increase in time if that.

 

The biggest issue is probably the transfer time to Heathrow. It takes about an hour and a half. But again with the tendering of passengers and bags this may also be a wash.

 

If you aren't taking the Holland America Transfer there are shuttle services from the Airport to the Terminal.

 

http://www.londoncruiseterminal.com/

http://www.tilburycruisetransfer.co.uk/

http://www.britishairportcars.co.uk/index1.asp?from_type=P&to_type=H

http://www.airportcabbie.co.uk/Londoncruiseterminaltransfers.html

http://www.dolphintransfers.com/cruise.php

[JYGresham]

Our cruise ends in Greenwich--if one must tender in how in the world do they get the bags off?

[WhansaMi]

Our cruise ends in Greenwich--if one must tender in how in the world do they get the bags off?

 

If you are on a HAL ship in 2010, I don't think your cruise ends in Greenwich any longer. My understanding is that all ships that were scheduled to embark or disembark fron Greenwich have been moved to Tillbury.

 

I've never docked in Greenwich, but I would guess that, when it was a disembarkation port, they started transporting the bags during the night, since everyone is supposed to have them out by midnight. Of course, that still means that people plus carryons would be on the tenders once disembarkation began. All in all, it might be a good thing we are going to Tillbury.

[WhansaMi]

Our cruise ends in Greenwich--if one must tender in how in the world do they get the bags off?

 

If you are on a HAL ship in 2010, I don't think your cruise ends in Greenwich any longer. My understanding is that all ships that were scheduled to embark or disembark fron Greenwich have been moved to Tillbury.

 

I've never docked in Greenwich, but I would guess that, when it was a disembarkation port, they started transporting the bags during the night, since everyone is supposed to have them out by midnight. Of course, that still means that people plus carryons would be on the tenders once disembarkation began. All in all, it might be a good thing we are going to Tillbury.

[Steve Q]

We were on the Prinsendam this past August. Our cruise was supposed to sail the Thames and disembark at Greenwich. Instead, we were told by the captain that there were problems locating a water barge. Thus, we landed in Tillbury and spent the night.

 

Good luck, as it is an awful stop. There is a town across the river (Pochahontas is buried at the local Church) but it is really not worth visiting.

 

The train is nearby and you can take it to the Tower of London.

Heathrow is quite a distance so do not even think about a taxi ride.

 

I would have to say that this was a major disappointment for us.

[Steve Q]

We were on the Prinsendam this past August. Our cruise was supposed to sail the Thames and disembark at Greenwich. Instead, we were told by the captain that there were problems locating a water barge. Thus, we landed in Tillbury and spent the night.

 

Good luck, as it is an awful stop. There is a town across the river (Pochahontas is buried at the local Church) but it is really not worth visiting.

 

The train is nearby and you can take it to the Tower of London.

Heathrow is quite a distance so do not even think about a taxi ride.

 

I would have to say that this was a major disappointment for us.

[Oslo Dutch]

When I worked on Royal Princess in 1989 we did turn arounds from Tilbury to the Baltics. Right than it was a complete dump in the middle of wasteland.

 

The good news is there is the train station nearby and you don't have to tender like in Greenwich. From what I've heard they had to change due to problems with supply of fresh water at Greenwich.

 

Reint

[Mary Ellen]

From what I've heard they had to change due to problems with supply of fresh water at Greenwich.

Now, this I can understand why a change in ports. HAL saying it is for 'passenger convenience' - phooey. I know we're NOT feeling convenienced by having to take a car service to Tilbury, missing our Thames cruise (the ferry isn't the same) and the overnight in Greenwich. We were planning on seeing some sights in Greenwich within walking distance of the tender. That won't be happening in Tilbury, but at least now I understand there is a good reason.

[mancunian]

I doubt it is just the water barge. We were on the following cruise at the end of August supposedly leaving from Greenwich back to Greenwich.. As SteveQ said that all changed because the water barge had broken down and there is apparently not a second one. We hired a chauffeur driven car from Euston station to Tilbury which was actually cheaper than an ordinary taxi because Tilbury is outside the city taxi limits. That part was good as it turned out. Tilbury was not. To be fair embarcation was no problem there - they had masses of girls on the desks and we just really walked in, filled in health form went straight to the desk and then onboard though it is quite a long walk from the terminal to the ship gangplank. However .......... What I still do not understand and never will, is that as we were due to sail from Greenwich at 3 am in the morning why Captain Albert decided to be fair to the people carrying on from the previous cruise (not many) and to give them an extra day in London we would not sail until afternoon of day 2. I don't understand this because it would be impossible to get to London and actually see very much in a morning, and the alternative, which we did was a ferry across to Gravesend. The local tourist office amazingly helpful, had drafted in extra staff, opened up the church which is normally closed etc. But to be honest Tilbury is a complete dump and Gravesend nothing special (though better than Tilbury). What got us was that we missed sailing the English Channel in daylight. Also I was very disappointed as I wanted to do some night photography at Greenwich. However, these things happen.

 

Coming back we were going to Greenwich (presumably water barge repaired). Of course we had had a less than satisfactory cruise with not sailing from Greenwich, then bad weather and unable to dock at four ports. The last of these was Edinburgh and the wind was too strong to get into the lock at Leith. This was supposed to be followed by a day at sea then Greenwich. Captain Albert decided to make it up to people by having the day we should have been in Edinburgh at sea and getting back to Tilbury for the day - could not get up to Greenwich because of the tides, give us another day in Tilbury (what joy!!!) then sail up to Greenwich at midnight.

 

The biggest problem at Greenwich is the tides to fit in with sailing and this is why if things had gone to plan we were sailing at 3am in the morning on the way out and around midnight on the way back.

 

This we did so we did finally embark at Greenwich. I have to say it is actually very easy. Luggage goes out as usual in the middle of the night and they start ferrying it on the luggage barge in our case around 5 am in the morning. When it was time to go ashore - silent disembarkation which worked beautifully- you were tendered probably about 50 yards on a port of London ferry with a carrying capacity of far, far more than ships tenders. At the dockside after collecting luggage there were guides to put you on the right coaches, or to phone for taxis (which came in about three minutes) or you could just get on the ferry into the centre of London. Absolutely great.

 

Tilbury cannot touch Greenwich, however I just wonder if this year has been too much hassle with the tides etc. Sad.

 

Do not think I am not moaning about our cruise. Despite difficulties the crew of Prinsendam did everything possible to make it a good trip and we enjoyed ourselves. As I said before things happen.

 

If anyone has any questions do ask.

[Liz 130]

We were on a different cruise line last year that had Greenwich as a port. It was a wonderful stop - easy access to London - and the town of Greenwich is just great. That is what attracted us to the Holland America cruise 6/7/10 ending in Greenwich. Like others on this post, I was confused when some cruise agencies showed Greenwich - others Tilbury - and HA sight simply shows London (if the port is truly Tilbury) showing London is a stretch! And why you would want to spend more than one day there is beyond me.

 

Is there any problem leaving the ship the day before the end of the cruise? If we are paying the price for a private car from Tilbury to the city of London - why would we do it more than once! I pose this question because cruise critic members seem to know a whole lot more than Holland American reps.

 

Thanks for any info. We have not booked this cruise - and we are in the process of deciding.

[CDRMark]

We love London and Greenwich and this was one of the main reasons we chose this specific itinerary. We were disappointed also when we found out about the change. We were notified promptly thrice: e-mail, and phone call by T/A (we love our T/A, and have even cruised with her twice :) ), and a letter from the agency. But we were given two different reasons...

 

ONE: Passenger convenience. HAL has supposedly received many complaints from mobility impaired passengers about having to tender at Greenwich.

 

TWO: The floating pier normally used at Greenwich is unavailable due to repairs.

 

Either way Tilbury is about 20 Km from London, and pretty inconvenient.

We are still cruising, just a little less excited.

Cheers

Mark

[bishop84]

Based on the London Cruise Terminal site there is a direct train to the Tower of London and it takes about 35 minutes. The train station is about a mile from the cruise terminal. So the way I figure it, considering the lines for the tenders and transfer time from Greenwich to the Tower, this may be only a ten minute increase in time if that.

 

The C2C line is a main commuter train line for London. If travelling in the peak morning or evening periods you can forget about getting a seat let alone space for luggage - it is literally standing room only. Strongly advise alternative transport to the train!!

[mancunian]

CDR Mark

 

I think the second reason given about the pier sounds feasible. Sorry I just do not accept the first about disabled passengers. It is not like getting on a tender from the ship. You go down the ship gangplank in the usual way onto the floating dock which you walk across and step onto the tender - which is better described as a ferry, so no access problems. Once at the pier I grant you have to walk up a steep slope, but no steeper or longer than the one at Tilbury and I think the overall walking distance is longer at Tilbury.

 

I suspect but do not know, that the Greenwich setup costs more than Tilbury.

 

I think we will never know the complete answer.

 

Some passengers on our cruise did bail out at Tilbury so presumably there is no problem.

 

The other thing to watch for at Tilbury if it is a weekend is how the trains are running. Our reason for going for the private hire car was that there was engineering work on the line that weekend. When we came back guess what there was engineering work further down the line so our day trip into London (free ticket from HAL) we had to change. Now if we had to change and if we had had luggage it would not have been a good idea at all.

[CDRMark]

Oh ye from Manchester:

Just the messenger, but I have heard any number of mobility impaired cruisers speak ill of tendering anywhere, so if HAL received a significant protest I could see it figuring in to the equation.

Did I see a press release from the London Cruise Terminal about work on the floating pier?

Thanks! (We fly into Manchester whenever we vacation in the Lake District. Very convenient. We should plan on a longer visit)

Cheers

Mark

[Liz 130]

Do you think there is any possibility of it being changed back to Greenwich?

[Pimienta]

I did a lot of research and found a lot of conflicting answers. One answer, that I did find plausible, is that they are remodeling Greenwich Pier to be a stationary pier, that there is a lot of remodeling and improving of infrastructure in and around Greenwich, for the 2012 Games. Don't ask me to supply references, I've had too much wine.

 

Karen in Mexico

[mancunian]

Pimienta

That would be good if it became a permanent dock.

 

I have been thinking about this quite a bit and whilst I loved docking at Greenwich (eventually) coming back, I guess it gives the cruiselines a fair amount of trouble if things go wrong.

 

Ships can get up to Tilbury at any time, but can only get up to Greenwich for a short period during high tides. This makes for funny sailing times - in our case if we had sailed from Greenwich it would have been 3 am in the morning and coming back we left Tilbury to sail to Greenwich after midnight, but also there is no margin if a ship is late due to bad weather or engine problems, or indeed perish the thought if they need to get in early, leave late in the case of say norovirus and deep cleaning. I just wonder if after last years difficulties with the weather they think it is not worth the hassle.

 

I do however, think that if they are going to sail from Tilbury they should change the itinerary completely and have it so that it is a normal embarkation at lunchtime followed by a later afternoon sail. They should not have passengers wondering how to entertain themselves in Tilbury.

 

For Brits there is a possible advantage to Tilbury as there is long period car parking for cruisers as at Dover and Southampton. If in fact we had known we were going to be changed to Tilbury we would certainly have travelled by car, as it was we had paid for rail tickets and decided to go along with them.

 

Captain Albert's blog gives a lot of information about the Thames, Greenwich and Tilbury. Our cruise started 23 August, but I think he started discussing it on about the 20/21st.

[Pimienta]

Mancunian, You are preaching to the choir. I agree with everything you have said. I'm still excited about this cruise, but I did so much research on Greenwich and cruising down the Thames. Well, a little disappointed, to be sure.

 

Perhaps London awaits another journey. One can only hope.

 

Karen in Mexico

[hotzej]

I think we are all upset over this port change...it seems from the note I got from HAL when I asked them about it they are not really saying anything except it is more convenient! HA!!!! The only convenience is to HAL not us, the passenger....very expensive to get there from London vs floating down the Thames, very dangerous area according to a thread on Trip Advisor....HAL says it's not, but a guy I was asking how to get to Tilbury said he would not go there without a very large body guard! That is when I emailed HAL and the message back was about convenience and that they would never put their passengers in danger...sure...that's because no one will be able to get off the boat as there is nothing to do in Tilbury! I even went back on the HAL account to find a possible excursion while there, they no longer are listing any probably because of the change to Tilbury...The overnight is now a waste of time and money for all of us!

[Liz 130]

Had my travel agent inquire whether HAL would be offering bus service into London from this port. The answer NO. Whether there would be any consideration to passengers that opted to depart early? The answer NO. It really appears to be a poor choice for an overnight. Is this the way HAL operates all the time?