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Silhouette 12 night Scandinavia & St. Petersburg from Southhampton May 14-26, 2022 - London Airport closest to cruise port?

Arimaren

By Arimaren,
in Celebrity Cruises

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Arimaren

Arimaren

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Can anyone advise me on which London airport I should book flights with to be closest to the above cruise port.  I noticed on my roll call for this sailing, many guests have booked Holiday Inn.  Does anyone have a preferred Holiday Inn or other hotel for pre-cruise stay?  Does anyone have a preferred method of transferring to the port once I arrive.  I have only been to Europe once and have never been to England.

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Guest

Guest

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If you are flying direct from US- Heathrow is nearest.

 

I live close to Southampton so can advise!

 

Holiday Inn is the closest, but I think overpriced for what you get. It’s location is prime.

 

If you want something a bit fancier, the Harbour Hotel is lovely. It’s a 5/10 min taxi drive from the port Celebrity use. (https://www.harbourhotels.co.uk/southampton?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIqZWZ1tK09QIVGrd3Ch3wLAOkEAAYASAAEgIJ2fD_BwE)

 

If you head to West Quay shopping centre, there are lots of restaurants in there! 

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Turtles06 Great Review Rare

Turtles06

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The questions you have asked and more are regularly discussed and answered in the Britain ports of call forum, and the “regulars” in that forum are extremely helpful.  (And, as they will tell you, please note the spelling of Southampton, particularly if you do any on line searching. 😊)

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/148-british-isleswestern-europe/

 

Especially since this is your first trip to England, I hope you’ll be spending some time in London before and/or after the cruise; it is truly one if the world’s great cities. 

 

 

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chemmo Holiday Sharing Rare

chemmo

Posted
Posted (edited)
2 hours ago, Arimaren said:

Can anyone advise me on which London airport I should book flights with to be closest to the above cruise port.  I noticed on my roll call for this sailing, many guests have booked Holiday Inn.  Does anyone have a preferred Holiday Inn or other hotel for pre-cruise stay?  Does anyone have a preferred method of transferring to the port once I arrive.  I have only been to Europe once and have never been to England.


All above advice excellent.
 

Strongly suggest do arrive early. Apart from the pleasure you could gain from visiting London and then travelling on or heading to the Southampton area where the New Forest and ancient cities and quaint towns are on the doorstep it will take a lot of stress out of your journey.

 

The snag is  time/distance travel in the UK doesn’t always go according to plan….So even if your transatlantic flight has no issues it only takes road works or a road accident to scupper car and coach journeys or a strike or leaves on the track to scupper rail transfers…

 

Not wishing to appear negative but technically we are a 4ish hour drive from Southampton but always drive down the day before…Do suggest you fly in early.

 

There are lots of hotel options in the area. We have used Holiday Inn and have had no issues at all with them. They are as they say, a typical ‘Holiday  Inn’ with standard provision. Breakfast was fine and it does make an easy boarding as you are so near the port. However, if you fly in a day or two early search New Forest Hotels. There are several country house hotels which offer breakfast/dinner packages…A simple way to get a brief taste of England if you haven’t a lot of time to spare!

 

Sincere best wishes for a great cruise and welcome to the UK for a first visit, I hope you get to see more than Heathrow Airport and Southampton Cruise Terminal!

Edited by chemmo
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hawkesbaynz

hawkesbaynz

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As above. Holiday Inn was right next to the dock which the Silhouette sailed from in September.  My wife stays there when she has to audit Carnivals ships as so convenient (and we live 15 minutes from there but she hosts clients). 
 

Personally I would give London 3 nights then a day or two in Winchester which is 30 minutes by train/taxi from the port. 
 

Loved the Baltic cruise too😀

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Denny01

Denny01

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We’ve cruised out of Southampton a number of times and the info being given you above is great stuff. We flew into Heathrow which is The airport you’ll use mainly from the US. 

 

Used a website taxi service one time, but a 2nd time we used the UK bus system, the National Express and it was inexpensive, quick as a direct rental/taxi and very comfortable. It had internet on and only had one stop at Winchester which is just north of Southampton. Strongly recommend it. You can get tickets online in the States. 
 

Southampton is not very large so we didn’t stay right near the port, no real reason to. We got a neat B&B in town and loved it.local taxis were inexpensive and handy. Lovely town and took the ferry over to Isle of Wight all day. Well worth it. 
 

another time we stayed in Winchester for 3 days prior just north of Southampton. Fantastic. our last time we spent 8 days driving around Cornwall then to Southampton. One of our favorite of all experiences. 
 

so you see there is sooooo much to see and do prior to your cruise. Take full advantage of it and enjoy. Do add more than an overnight prior to the cruise if at all possible. Take full advantage of those expensive flights by staying longer instead of just focusing on the cruise. Even if you are new at it, the UK is a perfect place to explore a bit on your own. Youll get lots of help from the townspeople. 
 

den

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dani negreanu

dani negreanu

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13 hours ago, Northern Aurora said:

The OP also asked about transfers.  We used Smithsforairports for transport from Southhampton to Heathrow following a B2B2B2B series.

 

Another vote for Smiths.

 

Stayed in London 3 days pre-cruise, and used Smiths to Southampton, spent the night before the cruise at Premier Inn WQ, and just crossed the road leisurely, through Holiday Inn's parking lot, to the cruise terminal....

 

At the end of the cruise, we opted (2 couples) again for Smiths. Direct to Heathrow and flying home.

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dani negreanu

dani negreanu

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7 hours ago, Host Hattie said:

Unfortunately Smiths have ceased trading.

 

6 hours ago, Turtles06 said:


That’s terrible news!  Is it permanent? Do you have a link to anything? 

 

1 hour ago, Happy Cruiser 6143 said:

Sad to hear about Smiths.  They provided excellent service.  Sounds as if they were a casualty of the shutdowns.  A lot of good people were forced out of business.

 

 

Sad here too, taking into account that they provided a very reliable and excellent service, at a very reasonable price. Even good companies cannot face this continuous pandemic.

 

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