Disembarkation question -British Isles on Golden

[CarolC]

We need to travel from Southampton to Gatwick after our cruise. Ships docks at 5 a.m. and the best flight for us departs at 11 a.m. I know many would recommend a later flight, but could anyone who has been on such a crusie give me your experience as to what time you actually completed procedure for departing. We will have private transportation and will be in a suite (which has ensured early disembarkation on other cruises, but not sure of Princess). Additionally we arrive in Southampton on a Sunday which minimizes risk of traffic. Based on our previous experience, we think we can

make it, but any input is welcome.

[Pam in CA]

Good question. We're on the Sea Princess which gets back to Southampton on 8/8. We have a choice of direct flights to Boston from Heathrow at 10:55AM and 6:05PM. Big difference and I tend to lean towards preferring to hang around in an airport than stress that I'll make a flight.

 

Another question -- is it better to fly to/from Gatwick than Heathrow?

[Casshew]

11:00am is cutting it very close...you should be checking in for your international flight 2 - 3 hours prior - that's 8:00-9:00am

 

Plus the 2 hour ++ travel time from Southampton.

 

The ship could be late to arrive, or you may not be in the first colour to depart, find your luggage, meet your transportation.

 

Seriously, if you could stay another night at an airport hotel it would eliviate 'murphy's law' :eek:

[spongerob]

You might post your question on the Britain page of the Ports of Call board. You'll get some very good advice from UK residents.

 

Personally, I think 11 AM is too early, even if you used self-disembarkation and could get off as soon as possible.

[blackpool belle]

We was on this cruise last year and the earliest disembarkation started at 7.00am. We needed to be off early to catch an 8.15am train and encountered no problems. Having said that we kept back our luggage and wheeled the cases off ourself without having to wait for a set/given time. It also saved time looking for our cases in the terminal which can be a nightmare because they all look the same.

[calikak]

We were on this cruise last year too, and I think we disembarked on a weekend. If I remember right, disembarkation began around 6:30 or 7. And it's about an hour and a half to Heathrow, if I remember right. If you self-disembarked and were able to make a connection to the train or your shuttle service easily, it could be doable, but there's very little margin for error, so to me it wouldn't be worth the stress. Instead, I'd see about arranging a shuttle company that would take me on a tour (Stonehenge? Bleinheim Palace? etc.) before dropping me at the airport for the later flight.

[CarolC]

Thanks for all the input. Spongebob, I took your advice and posted on the Britain page, Ports of Call board. We would not normally even consider this schedule but it is the only flight that works for us to get business class "reward" ticket and we would rather not stay over another day. As much as we love to get away, we prefer our extra days on the front end of the trip and are always eager to head home as soon as the cruise is over.

[Casshew]

Hi Carol, what would 'Plan B' be if something happened and you missed your flight on the reward ticket? would they put you on the next day?