Southampton-Southampton, can we disembark in Le Harvre?

[gma rae]

Hi we are looking at a British Isles cruise in 2022. We would like to get off in Le Havre the last port before returning to Southampton. Will Princess allow us to do this and how do I request this ahead of time so they are aware. We have not booked it yet and will do so on line. Our last 2 TA's retired with the Covid.

 

Also I notice on the excursion list for this cruise there are a lot of very overpriced options for booking a car and driver through Princess for port excursions to DIY, some are half day some full and the options are for small car and vans. I think this may have something to do with cruise ships wanting passengers to use only approved transport during the cruise. The private car/van options in Le Havre specifically say not available for those embarking or disembarking that day in that port. So I am assuming that people do embark and disembark on this cruise here.

Anyone have any experience with this? Thank you.

[dog]

If your cruise ends in Southampton you can call Princess cruises to request disembarking in Le Havre. You must pre arrange it with the cruise line. And I suggest phoning Princess to book rather then doing it on website. I have been given lower fares by doing this: past passenger rate etc. 
Now, 

I have done this cruise twice. The first time we missed Le Havre due to winds, weather. The second time we missed St Peter Port- weather. 
 

So have a back up plan. 
 

great cruise. 

[wowzz]

Can I also say that since the UK left the EU, the situation may have changed. 

You need to talk to Princess, and get everything in writing. And, as has just been said, have a Plan B, in case you don't get to Le Havre at all!

Edited February 20, 2021 by wowzz

[franktown]

Good question.  With the UK no longer in the UK I doubt even Princess knows for sure.  

[gma rae]

Thank you!

For some reason all my searching of the forums revealed nothing, then when I searched for transportation from Southampton to Le Havre I found a 2018 thread about this exact subject. The ship missed the port and there were a lot of stranded people caught unaware as at that time it was listed as their embarkation/disembarkation port and Princess was of no help! Yikes. So yes I will need a plan B if I decide to take this cruise and hope to disembark at Le Harvre, as our follow on plans are a land trip of France.

 

[dog]

Also, Le Havre had a small car rental in the terminal. Wise to prebook & get there as soon as ship lets you off. May not still be there now. In 2012 we rented drove to a couple of towns on our own that Princess offered in excursions. Others took train to Paris. 
I have taken train from London to Paris very easy. Princess offers bus from ship into London or you can take train or bus to London on your own. As mentioned entry from UK to EU may have requirements. 

[wheezedr]

Used to be possible with the caveat that the ship made port in Le Havre.  But many things have since changed and continue to do so, Brexit and Covid may both cause a rethinking of this option.  I would really spend time working with Princess and developing a Plan B.  I would give little credence to what has been accepted in the past as I suspect much about cruising especially when one hopes to deviate will be different going forward.  Just a personal opinion.

[denatravels]

Can you book round trip La Harve? I did that in 2019 and it was so nice— only 300 people embarking!

[sandyoftheseas]

We did a South Hampton round trip cruise.  Stayed 4 days pre cruise in London  then took a tour from London to Stonehenge  then to the cruise ship.  On returning to South Hampton we took a private car to the airport and flew to Paris for 4 days.   We thought about ending our cruise in Le Havre but we also heard that it may not dock due to weather so we went the safer route and did it this way.   I think you can also take a train from South Hampton to Paris.

[maggie777]

15 hours ago, gma rae said:

Thank you!

For some reason all my searching of the forums revealed nothing, then when I searched for transportation from Southampton to Le Havre I found a 2018 thread about this exact subject. The ship missed the port and there were a lot of stranded people caught unaware as at that time it was listed as their embarkation/disembarkation port and Princess was of no help! Yikes. So yes I will need a plan B if I decide to take this cruise and hope to disembark at Le Harvre, as our follow on plans are a land trip of France.

 

Have you considered embark and debark at Le Havre? This might be simpler. 

[mtnesterz]

Article here dealing with this topic here, but uses RCL for examples. 

https://cruzely.com/can-i-get-off-a-cruise-early-in-another-port/

Consider this won't be a US Point of departure.  There is a name for this request with Princess, but I can't recall it. Give them a ring.

[dog]

5 hours ago, denatravels said:

Can you book round trip La Harve? I did that in 2019 and it was so nice— only 300 people embarking!

I don’t see that offered for 2022. 

[antsp]

19 hours ago, franktown said:

Good question.  With the UK no longer in the UK I doubt even Princess knows for sure.  

The UK is most definitely still in the UK, we are no longer in the EU

[franktown]

49 minutes ago, antsp said:

The UK is most definitely still in the UK, we are no longer in the EU

So right. My bad.  I guess I should proofread my comments. 

[john watson]

23 hours ago, wowzz said:

Can I also say that since the UK left the EU, the situation may have changed. 

You need to talk to Princess, and get everything in writing. And, as has just been said, have a Plan B, in case you don't get to Le Havre at all!

 

I think Princess will be the main people from whom to seek permission.  These British Isles cruises have different start points, often Southampton, Le Havre and Dublin. So it is not a case of a single couple of passengers disembarking, a whole number will be doing so I feel.  As far as the UK leaving the EU I think things might be different for the original poster as they appear to be US citizens.  This would count in their favour if anything.

 

Regards John

[compozer]

We had no issues leaving the ship a day early.

 

[gma rae]

Thank you All!

I could not find any BI cruise on Princess that offered any alternative boarding or disembark. All the cruises appear to start and end in Southampton.  I realize they did have Le Havre as a boarding/ disembarkation in previous years. I wonder if the occasions they missed the port caused too much financial/ bad press so they stopped offering it.

I learned on here I can contact Princess for a port deviation request. I will try that as we plan to stay in Normandy for 3-4 days before going to Paris.

I guess plan B is figuring out a high speed ferry from Portsmouth to Caen then taxi to Bayeaux. Researching.

[caribill]

16 hours ago, sandyoftheseas said:

  We thought about ending our cruise in Le Havre but we also heard that it may not dock due to weather so we went the safer route and did it this way. 

 

In our case we could not dock at Le Havre due to a strike.

 

There was advance warning, so the ship went to Zeebrugge (Belgium) instead that day.

 

Those who had arranged to disembark in Le Havre were given the choice of leaving the ship in Zeebrugge (and be responsible for all arrangements and costs to get anywhere from there) or continue on to Southampton.

[compozer]

7 hours ago, caribill said:

 

In our case we could not dock at Le Havre due to a strike.

 

There was advance warning, so the ship went to Zeebrugge (Belgium) instead that day.

 

Those who had arranged to disembark in Le Havre were given the choice of leaving the ship in Zeebrugge (and be responsible for all arrangements and costs to get anywhere from there) or continue on to Southampton.

That is what happened on our trip

 

[gma rae]

Thanks for that info. I will prepare for both the option to disembark in LeHavre and be prepared to continue to Southampton and get back to LeHavre area. I loved Brugge on our Baltic cruise so that would be a pleasant surprise!

[DJVKN]

My daughters and I were RT Southampton - Southampton a couple of years ago. This was our experience:

We contacted Princess and requested a cruise deviation form which I believe was emailed to me.  We completed the form and returned it to them then needed to wait for Princess to approve it. (They only allow a certain number of people to complete a deviation of the cruise so apply early) Once we had approval, we made our plans to take the train to Paris. We hired a taxi from the port to the train station. (we were told there would be very few taxis but that was not the case at all) Our plan B if we did not get to port in LeHavre was to return to Southampton and catch the Chunnel back to Paris.

Once on board the ship in the early days of the cruise, I took the approved deviation document to Passenger Services so they were aware that we were deviating from the cruise in LeHavre.

Everything went like clockwork. We went to Passenger Services the morning we were to disembark, settled our accounts etc.. ( I think there were 9 of us leaving the ship that day) and they told us where to meet up and off the ship we went. Onto Paris for 4 days before we flew home. 

[Cruise Wonderland]

On 2/20/2021 at 11:56 PM, sandyoftheseas said:

We thought about ending our cruise in Le Havre but we also heard that it may not dock due to weather so we went the safer route and did it this way.

 

Before guests make any late embarkation / early disembarkation request, Princess will have the below reminder:

 

Princess Cruises is not responsible for missed cruises or any expenses incurred in getting to or from the next port of call if the ship does not arrive at the requested port of embarkation or disembarkation, or if the ship is delayed for any reason. There is no reduction in cruise fare for any missed nights of the cruise due to a requested route change. Guests are responsible for obtaining any necessary visas or travel documents, and for verifying what those requirements are.

 

Even Princess approves the deviation request, they cannot guarantee that the ship is able to visit that port due to various uncontrollable reasons.

[gma rae]

Thank you DJVKN and Cruise Wonderland.

I think the cost of a lost night and day on board is a wash if we can disembark in Le Havre and save the hassle and cost of getting back there from Southampton!

 

I have looked at the fast ferry, Britany Ferry, from Portsmouth to Caen as a back up plan. So it would be train from Southampton to Portsmouth, cab to Britany Ferry, fast ferry to Caen then cab to Bayeaux. Too far out to see times and cost but at least an idea of what is required.

[zogrand]

I definitely agree with Dog that you should have a back up plan.  We're been on 2 cruises that included a stop in Le Havre and missed both of them due to weather.  I believe there was a long post a couple of years ago about a cruise that couldn't get into Le Havre and many passengers were expecting to disembark there.  Many had travel plans back to the States from Paris.  The ship ended up in Southhampton leaving many to travel back to Paris from the UK in order to get home.