Experiences with cruise embarkation after first day?

[Shooraq]

I booked the British Isles cruise on the Celebrity Inifinity. It leaves Harwich on Monday 5/13/13 and the first port is Le Harve, France on the next day (5/14). DH is contemplating how feasible it would be to fly into Paris on Saturday afternoon, spend 1.5 days in Paris before taking a train to Le Harve, spending the night and then jumping on the cruise Tuesday morning when it is docked in Le Harve.

 

Has anyone had experience with boarding on the second day or later of a cruise? I know I need to contact Celebrity to see if it is even feasible, but wanted thoughts on how much trouble it could be.

[cruisestitch]

Probably won't be any difficulty at all , and as you said, this has to be arranged ahead of time with X. The only possible glitch would be in the unlikely event that the ship has to skip that port for some reason (bad weather, some horrible accident that closes the port, etc).

[Wine-O]

For just 1.5 days in Paris? I wouldn't go thru the hassle unless you planned to spend 4-5 days in Paris to make it more worthwhile.

[ghstudio]

For just 1.5 days in Paris? I wouldn't go thru the hassle unless you planned to spend 4-5 days in Paris to make it more worthwhile.

 

1.5 days is more than the time spent in most ports when cruising. If you really want to see any of the cities/ports, you need to spend more than that......so 1.5 days in Paris is really no worse than 1.5 days in Istanbul or Singapore, etc. If one has never been to Paris, it's a reasonable option to explore.

[Shooraq]

1.5 days is more than the time spent in most ports when cruising. If you really want to see any of the cities/ports, you need to spend more than that......so 1.5 days in Paris is really no worse than 1.5 days in Istanbul or Singapore, etc. If one has never been to Paris, it's a reasonable option to explore.

 

Exactly. :) We are used to spending 1.5 days in a city prior to a cruise. Doesn't bother us. We plan to go back to Paris in the future, but this would give us a taste of it.

 

My main concern is that I have an excursion booked for a Normandy tour at 8am and the ship docks at 7am. Might be cutting it too close for comfort... :(

 

I've been doing a lot of research on transportation this morning. So I am slowly thinking it might be easier and calmer once the cruise is over to take a high speed train to Paris for 2 days and then come back to London for the flight back to Boston. That way I can just chill in London pre-cruise and adjust to the jet-lag better. :rolleyes:

[CathyCruises]

Why don't you just fly home from Paris? Crazy to go all the way back to London. FYI we just took the Eurostar from Paris to London for $132 for both of us. But it would be easier if you dock in Southampton just to take the ferry across, especially if you want to do Normandy. You have lots of options, just need to work out all the details.

[Shooraq]

Why don't you just fly home from Paris? Crazy to go all the way back to London. FYI we just took the Eurostar from Paris to London for $132 for both of us. But it would be easier if you dock in Southampton just to take the ferry across, especially if you want to do Normandy. You have lots of options, just need to work out all the details.

 

Didn't think of that... Always afraid the separate legs would cost more... Thanks for that suggestion too!

[CathyCruises]

We have always had good luck with open jaws and almost never fly in and out of the same place in Europe. Try using choiceair.com, celebrity's air booking system. Compare to what you can get on a regular site for r/t London. Also check prices for two one way flights. We did very well using choiceair on our current voyage. Generally there is a minimal difference, if any at all for an open jaw ticket. Landing fees are VERY high at Heathrow, and much less at CDG, so you should probably do fine.

[Shooraq]

We have always had good luck with open jaws and almost never fly in and out of the same place in Europe. Try using choiceair.com, celebrity's air booking system. Compare to what you can get on a regular site for r/t London. Also check prices for two one way flights. We did very well using choiceair on our current voyage. Generally there is a minimal difference, if any at all for an open jaw ticket. Landing fees are VERY high at Heathrow, and much less at CDG, so you should probably do fine.

 

Thank you so much for your advice. After talking to DH, to limit stress and maximize vacation happiness, I think we will do London precruise, then once the cruise is done, take the Eurostar to Paris, spend two days there and attempt to fly from Paris back to Boston. Since I know the exact days to work with, it will be easy to track over the next few months until I find the right time/price. Thanks again! :D

[Lastdance]

Thank you so much for your advice. After talking to DH, to limit stress and maximize vacation happiness, I think we will do London precruise, then once the cruise is done, take the Eurostar to Paris, spend two days there and attempt to fly from Paris back to Boston. Since I know the exact days to work with, it will be easy to track over the next few months until I find the right time/price. Thanks again! :D

I sure hope the Eurostar has been refurbished. I was really disappointed a couple of years ago in first class. It looked old and very used.

[Shooraq]

I sure hope the Eurostar has been refurbished. I was really disappointed a couple of years ago in first class. It looked old and very used.

 

Thankfully that won't matter to me. As long as it gets from London to Paris in 2 hours safely, that's all that matters to me. :D

[iancal]

I think that you have a great idea!

 

Sailing from Southhampton-LeHavre is not a big deal and you will not be missing anything. If you are in London for example, you will not have to waste all that time going to Southhampton, and then even more time if you wanted to take a day trip from the dock at LeHavre to Paris. London and Paris airports both have great access to pubic transportation into the city. There is also great rail service. I think that it just as easy, or perhaps easier to get from London to Paris as it is to get from London to Southhampton.

 

Paris is far too great a city to limit yourself to a very short one day ship excursion. You would spend too much time travelling to and from the port.

 

Good luck with your plan. At the end of the day would you rather be in transit to Southhampton, eating dinner on the ship, watching a tired show in the ship theatre, OR strolling around Paris and taking in the the sights and sounds of the city?