Finally Going Back on Windstar!

[ducklite]

Last night we booked the Autumn On the Atlantic Coast, James Beard sailing from London to Lisbon next year.  

 

I was on the web site and happened upon it.  We had planned on doing a land based trip to Portugal, but couldn't pass this one up.  

 

Does anyone know exactly where Windstar will dock in London?  It says the Tower Bridge, but that's pretty vague, as there are several deeper water piers around there.  

[minidonuts85]

Sounds like an amazing trip!

[milepig]

This is what the CruiseCritic port guide says:

 

Where You're Docked

London is a major port of embarkation and debarkation, although few ships actually dock near the city center. The city is linked to five different ports, all of which are commonly referred to as "London" by the cruise industry. The ports of Southampton and Dover are each located about 80 miles from downtown London (southwest and southeast, respectively). These ports handle the larger ships carrying 2,000 passengers or more; see the individual port profiles for travel hints and tips.

The Port of Tilbury is 25 miles east of central London, near the mouth of the Thames, and home to a purpose-built cruise facility, the London Cruise Terminal. Tilbury is situated less than an hour from the London City or Gatwick airports, but about 90 minutes from Heathrow Airport by car or coach. Links into town have been improved with the Thames Clipper, fast catamaran river buses carrying 220 passengers, taking 50 minutes to reach Tower Bridge.

But two ports are located near the heart of London, and if you are lucky enough to be docking at Tower Bridge or Greenwich it means you're on a small, luxury vessel. Tower Bridge is the most scenic place to dock, with the Tower of London and the City easily accessible by foot. There are also fashionable shops, restaurants and delis at Butler's Wharf on the south bank. Greenwich, a fascinating, historic suburb, is within easy reach of the West End. Greenwich is a great place to be moored; the Greenwich Observatory, National Maritime Museum, Cutty Sark and the shops and weekend market are just minutes away on foot.

 

I'd think it may well be Tower Bridge. I didn't realize that was even possible. Our London-ish port with the Surf was Dover.

[ducklite]

I know we'll be docked near Tower Bridge--you can't dock at the bridge itself.  There are three possible places to dock in that area.   The two most likely actual boarding points would be from the deck of the HMS Belfast, or at the Tower Pier.  I suspect that from the HMS Belfast is the correct answer.  I"ll reach out to Windstar when we get closer.  

 

I do know boarding is in London, not Tilbury, Southampton, Dover, Greenwich, etc.  Cruise Critic's  information on ports tends to be almost entirely geared towards the large ships, which can't get that far up the Thames (if at all) and have to port at alternative locations.  

[milepig]

Some digging around turned up this site:

 

http://www.pla.co.uk/Travel/Cruise-Ship-Diary/Cruise-Ship-Diary

 

the information is very specific - you can even click on the port name to pull up a map, but it only goes through 2019. Unless you really need to know right now, I'd wait and check from time to time and I"m sure the 2020 information will appear sometime later this year.

 

As always, the information is subject to change.

[6rugrats]

Sounds like a great trip.  I think Windstar does a poor job providing docking information.

Edited June 10, 2019 by 6rugrats

[milepig]

1 hour ago, 6rugrats said:

Sounds like a great trip.  I think Windstar does a poor job providing docking information.

 

Yep. At least now it shows up on your final paperwork you get mailed, but in some ports the port can be split into multiple locations miles apart. I like to book a hotel close (often walking distance) from the port, and by the time they tell you it's too lake to book a hotel. The good thing is that if you scrounge around there's almost always a port site that shows all the upcoming arrivals and where they dock. Not 100% certain, but it always has been so in my case. I've never figured out what it is, but our taxi driver who picked us up at the airport in Barcelona had an app he used to call up a map of the cruise port that showed where all the cruise ships were docked along with their boarding and departure times.

[Island2Dweller]

On previous visits, she has moored in Pool of London, alongside HMS Belfast, just past Tower Bridge.  She is one of the few modern ships small enough to pass through Tower Bridge.

This is as close to central London as it gets, and very few ships are small enough to access this mooring.

As the blurb you've received says 'by Tower Bridge,' I think it's safe to assume this is where she will be.

There aren't "several deepwater" berths near tower.  Only the one by HMS Belfast or another just lower than Tower Bridge.  The next is Greenwich, quite a few miles downstream.

[ducklite]

On 6/12/2019 at 1:07 PM, Island2Dweller said:

On previous visits, she has moored in Pool of London, alongside HMS Belfast, just past Tower Bridge.  She is one of the few modern ships small enough to pass through Tower Bridge.

This is as close to central London as it gets, and very few ships are small enough to access this mooring.

As the blurb you've received says 'by Tower Bridge,' I think it's safe to assume this is where she will be.

There aren't "several deepwater" berths near tower.  Only the one by HMS Belfast or another just lower than Tower Bridge.  The next is Greenwich, quite a few miles downstream.

 

 

Thank you!  I was under the impression that the Tower Pier and St. Katherines Pier were also deepwater.  Perhaps I was wrong.

 

So where is the boarding point?  

[CruiseOrLand]

In my limited experience, all cruise companies provide poor docking information. That is by design. They want to hedge the (astonishingly likely) possibility that they will be forced (or choose, for maintenance reasons) to change their original plans. It's tough enough to get everyone to read the "Terms and Conditions" before they pay their money. How can they be sure a change made the day before Embarcation will reach all the passengers?

 

I don't think they really make so much on the optional (for people who don't buy their air from Windstar) transfer. They would just rather be the ones in control of it. When our Embarkation in Panama City was changed (at the quite distant port of Colon), the transfer (and a delay-covering lunch buffet at the official hotel) ended up being free, because there had been so many changes and minor annoyances. In a way, that's why we booked (independently) the "Windstar" hotel on our one-night-early air arrival. We didn't know how confused it would be. But we had nothing to stress about. (Like the time the Athens taxi driver let us off a mile from the "right" pier in Piraeus!)

 

I'm not "defending Windstar." I'm just accepting some realities of the sub-luxury cruise business!

[Strenz]

It is always about the port authority, they can change at the drop of a dime. Nothing can be done about it. I do not blame WS for keeping it loose. One can simply hope that the taxi driver will be in the know. Luckily we have had lots of dock changes with knowledgeable taxi drivers. 

Happy Sailing. 

[ducklite]

On 6/15/2019 at 4:23 PM, Strenz said:

It is always about the port authority, they can change at the drop of a dime. Nothing can be done about it. I do not blame WS for keeping it loose. One can simply hope that the taxi driver will be in the know. Luckily we have had lots of dock changes with knowledgeable taxi drivers. 

Happy Sailing. 

We travel light and don't typically take taxis--particularly in places like London where the cost is extortionate.  In fact I've once taken a taxi in London, and will never do so again.  I'll Uber if it's late at night and/or there is no good way to get from paint A to point B.  

 

We're debating where to stay and are thinking it might be convenient if we can do so near the point of departure.

[Strenz]

I get it. I hope you have better info than we have had. I remember in Barcelona they changed the dock the morning the ship arrived. All cab drivers were mixed up. Good luck. 

I agree London, the cabs are beyond expensive as is Paris. We travel with nothing as well  taking the subway is easy, however most ports are not near subways and sometimes the public transportation to get there is really inconvenient. Happy Sailing 

[ducklite]

3 hours ago, Strenz said:

I get it. I hope you have better info than we have had. I remember in Barcelona they changed the dock the morning the ship arrived. All cab drivers were mixed up. Good luck. 

I agree London, the cabs are beyond expensive as is Paris. We travel with nothing as well  taking the subway is easy, however most ports are not near subways and sometimes the public transportation to get there is really inconvenient. Happy Sailing 

I know what you mean--we ended up in a different dock in Venice--we were supposed to dock where that ship hit the riverboat a few weeks ago and ended up at the main port instead.  

 

In London there's apparently only the one dock deep enough within the city, otherwise you'd have to go out to Southampton, Tilbury, or Dover--all of which are well over an hour to almost three hours from where we are scheduled to board.  I don't see how they could possibly make a change like that day of--or even a few days before.  There would be no possible way to reach everyone who was booked as many would be in transit.  

 

There's a huge different between changing locations in a place like Barcelona, Venice, and Athens, and changing the boarding to an entirely different city.

Edited June 17, 2019 by ducklite

[Strenz]

You are so right. Good luck and have a fabulous time. We are on the Hurtigurten in Norway 9/1, first time jumping ship we have been on 26 Windstars. We took a supply ship up the St. Lawrence twice, glorious and our friends in Sweden  proposed   this so off we go. Have a great trip. 

[Host Jazzbeau]

1 hour ago, ducklite said:

In London there's apparently only the one dock deep enough within the city, otherwise you'd have to go out to Southampton, Tilbury, or Dover

 

or Greenwich [but the slot may already be taken by another ship].