??? about Fall Grand Princess Medtrn Cruise (London ques)

[seattlekckckc]

Hello! We are doing the 12 day Medditerranian cruise in September/October. I have two questions about the travel to and fro.

 

Whilst in London for a layover, what is the possiblility of getting from Heathrow to the city for lunch and some sightseeing?? I know the tube is very reliable, but I havent been there since 1989 (when I was 17!), so I cant remember - does it leave from the airport? Or how about a cab? How far away is the main part of the city from Heathrow??

 

Secondly, after the cruise has ended, how much does it cost to take the train from Venice to Rome?? How long of train ride is this?? I guess Princess probably offers this, but we are spending 2 nights in Venice before going back to Rome, so I guess we have to do it all on our own.

 

Any help is appreciated!

Casey

[Fantazy]

You can take the Heathrow Express from the airport into London. If I remember right it took about 30 minutes. Cabs are a lot more expensive and can take twice as long...depending on traffic. Here are a couple of good sources for London tube information and cab information. We usually pre purchase our tube passes from London travel pass.

 

www.thetube.com

www.londontravelpass.com

www.londontown.com

 

Hope this helps

[cherylandtk]

Venice to Rome by train is about 6 hours, depending on number of stops. Cost is ~$55. Here is a link to a great site that will help you plan the trip from Venice to Rome, demystifies the train system, and links to european online train schedules:

 

http://ricksteves.com/rail/itinplan.htm

[seattlekckckc]

Thanks for the tips guys! I have bookmarked all of those great sites! We are getting ready to book our airfare today, and I know am thinking, "Holey Moley, what about the rest of the trip"??? I am so spoiled with just getting on a cruise ship and having everything taken care of. Now I have 3 days on either side of the cruise to schedule! These sites will make it much easier. Thanks a ton!

 

Casey

[Globaliser]

Whilst in London for a layover, what is the possiblility of getting from Heathrow to the city for lunch and some sightseeing?? I know the tube is very reliable, but I havent been there since 1989 (when I was 17!), so I cant remember - does it leave from the airport? Or how about a cab? How far away is the main part of the city from Heathrow??

Much depends on how much time you have, and what your exact travel arrangements are.

 

Assuming that you are arriving during the morning peak for long-haul arrivals (between 6 am and 8 am) and that your baggage will be tagged through to its final destination so that you don't need to do anything with it at Heathrow, you will need to allow about the following times:- 45 minutes for immigration (Customs will not take any extra time as you will simply walk out after clearing immigration), 10 minutes to reach the Heathrow Express station, 10 minutes average wait for train, 20 minutes train to Paddington (15 from T123, 23 from T4, to be precise).

 

However, this will only get you to Paddington. To reach any of the standard tourist sites, you will have to allow another 20 minutes or so of travel by taxi or Tube. That means that from arrival time at Heathrow to arriving at whatever you want to see will probably take you in the region of 1¾ hours.

 

For the return flight, assuming that you already have boarding passes for your onward flight and therefore simply need to go to the gate, you will want to aim to arrive back at the terminal about an hour before the scheduled time of departure. Working backwards, you need to allow the same 10+10+20 for the train from Paddington, plus travel time to Paddington, so you'd probably need to leave the last sightseeing point about 2 hours before your scheduled time of departure.

 

So unless you have a very long connection time (I'd say 7 hours minimum), it's probably not worth the effort and stress. Otherwise, you'll spend a lot of time just travelling to and from central London for very little time there.

 

Overall travel times on the Tube are probably little different. It's about an hour or so by Tube to central London stations from Heathrow. If you fly into or out of T4, the Tube station there will still be closed at the time of your trip. You'd need to get a shuttle bus between Hatton Cross Tube station and T4. It's not far, but it's just another step in the process.

[seattlekckckc]

Thanks Globaliser - you have given me some food for thought. I really dont know what to do. We are looking at BA, and our flight is scheduled to arrive at 11.45AM. We can then either book a 2.40pm flight to Rome, or a 5.30pm flight to Rome. Same price for both. My hisband has never been to London, and I would love for him to see some of the sights. However, I often err on the side of getting to the airport early, so maybe it wouldnt make sense for us to go all of the way into London, just to eat quickly and turn around and come right back. So tell me this, if you would. Are there choices to eat at in the airport?? Would it make more sense for us to just eat there, and then board the earlier flight?

 

Thanks for your help, Casey

[High C's]

Forgive me for jumping in here, Casey, but I would strongly recommend that you pass up going into London. Even if you took the later flight, once you factor in the time it will take to clear customs, etc., then factor in what time you need to be back in advance of your flight, you'd have two hours tops. Assuming everything was on time! If that were me, the stress that I would feel just worrying about getting back on time would take over from the enjoyment. London is a place you need to wander around and "absorb". One or two hours just wouldn't cut it!

 

Heathrow (as airports go) is a great place to spend a couple of hours. The shopping (Harrods, Burberrys, etc.) and the restaurants are more than adequate.

 

I would recommend that you relax and practice your Italian!

 

Have fun no matter what you choose. :D

 

Jackie

[seattlekckckc]

Thanks Jackie - that is kind of the direction I am heading now. We will just have to plan a trip to London on it's own so we can do it right! Thanks for your opinion, and I am glad to hear there is a Burberry! (Although we just had an outlet open up about 30 minutes from our house - nice!!!!)

 

Casey

[High C's]

Casey

 

If you stick with booking BA, check into their "Premium Economy" category. Not quite Business, but much nicer than Economy for relatively little extra. Much more leg room, a configuration of 2 x 4 x 2 in the Premium cabin (as opposed to a 3 x 4 x 3 configuration in economy. We felt it was very much worth the extra cost, as Business was way out of our league!

 

Jackie

[seattlekckckc]

Thanks Jackie! I did end up booking with BA, as it was the best flight times for us, and the best prices (although it is still higher than I wanted to pay, but I am getting nervous!) I am on hold right now to ask about "Premuim Economy". Thanks for the tip! Casey

[seattlekckckc]

Well, Jackie - Thanks for the idea, but it didnt work out for us. It was only available on one leg of the trip, the leg home, and while I would love to have more room for that long journey home, it ended up being $275 more per person, plus $100 per person fee to change our tickets. She said that the only way that could be avoided was if we had upgraded while I booked, but it never gave us that option (she said becasue it was not availbe all of the way through). Also, if we booked the upgrade online there is no fee, but it wont let me do that either. Oh well, an extra $550 for just one of 4 legs is a little rich for our blood, I think. (I guess I am too cheap!)

 

Thanks! Casey

 

PS, I did go with the shorted layover in London, I think I would be top stressed about a traffic jam, tube closure or random power outage to enjoy myself!

[Globaliser]

Casey,

 

You've done exactly what I would have done. A connection from 1145-1440 is pretty much perfect for Heathrow. If all is well, you will be able to get between the terminals and still have ample time to get something to eat. If there is a small delay, or if the Flight Connections Centre is particularly busy, you still won't have any need to stress about missing the flight. But you won't end up hanging around for an unnecessarily long time. The later flight would definitely not have given you enough time to see any of London.

 

On the assumption that you're flying non-stop on BA from Seattle to London, you will arrive at Terminal 4. You need to go to Terminal 1 to get the BA flight from London to Rome. When you disembark, follow the signs for Flight Connections, Terminal 1. This will route you from the arrivals level downstairs to the bus which will take you to the Flight Connections Centre situated between Terminals 1 and 2. When you get there, you will clear security and (if for some reason you don't already have your onward boarding pass) you can pick up your next boarding pass at the transfer desks. It's then a very short walk into the Terminal 1 international departures lounge.

 

This is the airport's official map of the shopping and eating facilities in Terminal 1 - you want page 3 for international departures. However, you should be aware that a new extension to the shopping and eating facilities is about to open, which is not yet shown on the map, which will include two new and fairly interesting restaurants (the Giraffe, and the Tin Goose, I think). Of the existing ones, Est Est Est (number 60) is probably the pick of the bunch. There's also an interactive Flash map available on this page.

 

It's a pity about not being able to get into World Traveller Plus. $275 per person per sector is actually quite a good price for it. I usually pay £200 per person per sector on top of the economy fare for this, and I reckon it's very much worth it - not only for the extra space but also for the fact that it's usually a much calmer, quieter and more sophisticated cabin. Plus the cabin crew usually try a bit harder for WT+ passengers, sometimes to the extent of sneaking in little treats from business class. But all is not lost - sometimes, US stations are known to offer upgrades to WT+ for $150 or $200 per person at check-in, though this is not always available and very much depends on how the flight has been selling. I would personally have said that it would be more important for the overnight sector from Seattle to London than the day flight back to Seattle at the end of the cruise.

[High C's]

Casey

 

Either way you'll be pleased with BA. Quite honestly I wouldn't consider flying anything else Trans-Atlantic, when heading somewhere that you need to stop in a European gateway. I'm not surprised that World Traveller Plus books up quickly. It is a very comfortable option, but at least now you know for next time when you bring hubby back for the quality time in London you wanted!

 

When we went last year, it was an entire family trip (DH and myself, along with our two teens, my mom and my aunt). With the exception of DH and my 15 year old son, the rest of us could have used more time browsing around Heathrow!

 

Have a great trip!

 

Jackie

[minke]

Please be sure to let us know how you like Grand on this trip. You must be on sept 23rd cruise, we are on end of Oct cruise (co-incidentally with some American friends from Seattle area, we are from UK) so there will be time if you can post a review.

[dsawyer]

Casey, if you are on the 9/23/05 cruise, we have a roll call thread going on over on the roll call boards. We would love to have you join our CruiseCritic group. He is the link to our thread. Come over for a visit :cool:

Dorothy

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=103494&page=1&pp=25