HAL transfer from LHR/London to Dover

[edgeman61]

We are booked on the Prinsendam for the 2018 Celtic Explorer that leaves from Dover.

 

I was wondering about the feasibility of flying into LHR on embarkation day and arranging a HAL transfer to the port.

 

I the past we have always stayed in London a day or two before our cruises from the U.K. and made our own way the port.

 

It sounds a bit risky to me but with a 14N itinerary there isn't much vacation time to spare.

 

Has anyone transferred to the port with HAL on embarkation day from Heathrow? and if so, would you do it again?

 

Thanks,

[Alberta Quilter]

I have not used a HAL transfer but would not recommend arriving on embarkation day, particularly if coming from the US. There are just too many things that can go wrong with flights and planes. I would make sure to arrive the day prior, at a minimum. You can book a pre-cruise hotel package with HAL or book it on your own (it would probably be less expensive). When we did a 14 day cruise from Dover, we first flew to Frankfurt, stayed there for a few days to visit a friend, then flew to LHR, arriving the day prior to the cruise. And, yes, we experienced a delay for our flight from Frankfurt; we were over an hour late. I arranged a private transfer to our hotel in Dover. Fortunately, the driver waited for our arrival but then the highway to Dover was shut down (to become a parking lot for the ferry traffic) due to the ferries that stopped running (part of the same weather system that caused our flight delay). Fortunately, he was from the area and knew another way to Dover so we weren't delayed much due to the Dover ferry issue.

 

I was really glad we had come in the day prior!! The same driver took us back to LHR upon our return to Dover. That trip was non eventful, thankfully.

[debsjc]

I try never to fly in on embarkation day, there are too many things that can go wrong. Even when we depart Amsterdam in June, which is only a 1 hour flight for us, we get there a day early. When we flew to Rio my mums bag arrived 2 days later, luckily just before the cruise left.

Heathrow operates at almost full runway capacity constantly. It only takes a 30 minute runway closure, which happens fairly frequently, and you would likely divert and miss your cruise. The drive can be done in 2 hours on a good day, but the route is via the M25 which is well known for traffic problems.

If you don't want to go right into London again, maybe consider an airport hotel, or a night in Windsor. I live close by if you need any more information.

[john2003]

Always nice to go in the day before but that isnt always achievable. The other consideration is where is the first port and how difficult would it be to get there.

 

Sent from my LG-H812 using Forums mobile app

[RuthC]

I would do everything I could to fly in a day before. Even if everything runs smoothly (a risk), you will arrive and board totally exhausted.

 

If you can't go ahead of time, at least see if there is a non-stop flight, and also see if flying into Gatwick is a possibility. I find Gatwick a much easier airport to deal with.

[edgeman61]

Thank you all,

 

You have confirmed my suspicions, beside the risk (and stress) of being late for embarkation, we are always VERY tired after the all night flight from the U.S. to the U.K. (I cannot sleep well on a plane).

 

I know we haven't seen all that London has to offer but we were wanting to add a day or so to the end of the cruise in Amsterdam and something has to give.

 

It will be hard to add time on both ends of the trip without pushing the trip into the 3 week territory.

 

I guess we'll arrive a day before embarkation in London and tour Amsterdam the day we disembark and return to the U.S. the following day.

[summersigh]

I found this info online -

The average journey time between Dover Priory and London St Pancras Intl is 1 hour 33 minutes. The fastest journey time is 1 hour 5 minutes. On an average weekday, there are 84 trains per day travelling from Dover Priory to London St Pancras Intl. The journey time may be longer on weekends and holidays.

 

http://ojp.nationalrail.co.uk/service/planjourney/search is where you''ll find info on Britrail tickets and schedules.

[debsjc]

I found this info online -

The average journey time between Dover Priory and London St Pancras Intl is 1 hour 33 minutes. The fastest journey time is 1 hour 5 minutes. On an average weekday, there are 84 trains per day travelling from Dover Priory to London St Pancras Intl. The journey time may be longer on weekends and holidays.

 

http://ojp.nationalrail.co.uk/service/planjourney/search is where you''ll find info on Britrail tickets and schedules.

 

Unfortuntely it's not very passenger friendly with a lot of baggage. The quickest from from Heathrow to London is the Heathrow express train, but that goes into Paddington. Which means taking the tube across town from Paddington to St Pancras. Of course one can get a taxi to St Pancras, but then there is the London traffic to consider.

[Tampa Girl]

Thank you all,

 

You have confirmed my suspicions, beside the risk (and stress) of being late for embarkation, we are always VERY tired after the all night flight from the U.S. to the U.K. (I cannot sleep well on a plane).

 

I know we haven't seen all that London has to offer but we were wanting to add a day or so to the end of the cruise in Amsterdam and something has to give.

 

It will be hard to add time on both ends of the trip without pushing the trip into the 3 week territory.

 

I guess we'll arrive a day before embarkation in London and tour Amsterdam the day we disembark and return to the U.S. the following day.

 

Wise choice. Having spent some time in the U.K., I have vivid recollections of train outages, road delays, airport traffic, etc., etc., etc. A cruise cause too much to risk losing even a couple of days due to unforeseen circumstances.

[USN59-79]

Last time we cruised out of Dover, we flew into LHR the day before. We had purchased the ship's transfer to Dover, so we booked a hotel near the airport. Next morning took a taxi to the airport and took the transfer to Dover. Probably cost $150. for the hotel and taxi than trying to do it all in one day, but the peace of mind was priceless.

[summersigh]

Unfortuntely it's not very passenger friendly with a lot of baggage. The quickest from from Heathrow to London is the Heathrow express train, but that goes into Paddington. Which means taking the tube across town from Paddington to St Pancras. Of course one can get a taxi to St Pancras, but then there is the London traffic to consider.

We do take the train from Heathrow to Paddington and an easy to get taxi from there to where we normally stay a block and 1/2 from the St Pancras/ King's Cross stations. We feel the tube is worse than a taxi with alot of luggage since lugging it up and down the stairs at each station is a nightmare. We enjoy sitting back in a taxi and sightseeing our way across London.

 

 

We take one rolling suitcase and a tote bag each and have never had problems with them on the trains. We do try to be among the first to board and there have always been places for the luggage in the car's designated area. We normally spend a couple of weeks traveling by trains in Great Britain and western Europe

Edited April 18, 2017 by summersigh

[debsjc]

We do take the train from Heathrow to Paddington and an easy to get taxi from there to where we normally stay a block and 1/2 from the St Pancras/ King's Cross stations. We feel the tube is worse than a taxi with alot of luggage since lugging it up and down the stairs at each station is a nightmare. We enjoy sitting back in a taxi and sightseeing our way across London.

 

 

We take one rolling suitcase and a tote bag each and have never had problems with them on the trains. We do try to be among the first to board and there have always been places for the luggage in the car's designated area. We normally spend a couple of weeks traveling by trains in Great Britain and western Europe

 

Yes, I meant it's not easy to take the tube from Paddington to St Pancras with baggage. If you get a taxi from Paddington, then it's easy enough.