Southampton-London Transfers - Airport (LHR/LGW) - NEW THREAD!

[nini]

1 hour ago, jajsmom said:

I checked cruisetime tables.  I thought they had gone out of business during covid, so thanks for refreshing my memory. There will be 3 other large ships in port the day we leave, but they all return sooner than we do. I know the change fee is only 5 pounds per traveler, so I'd be willing to book this far in advance. Our flight currently arrives just before noon.  How much time should we allow to get the bus?  Would a 2PM bus (1400) be an acceptable time to book? And what is the earliest we should book on debarkation day.  We can walk off, but our flight isn't until later in the afternoon.  Thanks!

 

It took us at least 1.5 to 2.0 hours to get through LHR. So, I would think 2 hours later would be ok, especially when purchasing a change ticket.

For the return, remember that you need to get a cab to the bus station. I think disembarking began at 7:30 am for those who walked off with their luggage.

[Meri Oliveira]

hello everybody! Does anyone know what time I need to be back at the ship in Southampton? I will be on board the MSC Euribia. Thanks!

[nini]

23 minutes ago, Meri Oliveira said:

hello everybody! Does anyone know what time I need to be back at the ship in Southampton? I will be on board the MSC Euribia. Thanks!

 

Welcome to Cruise Critic!

You would be better off finding out from your cruise line/ ship what their expectations and schedule is. I am unclear how this pertains to a transfer from the port to the airport.

[ltthib]

Staying in London after a trans Atlantic in May. Taking the cruise line transfer from Southampton. We're at the St. James Court hotel. Can anyone please recommend our best options for getting to Heathrow after the stay? That's the only part that we don't have planned yet.

Thank you

Bert

[Globaliser]

5 minutes ago, ltthib said:

We're at the St. James Court hotel. Can anyone please recommend our best options for getting to Heathrow after the stay?

 

It depends on what you mean by "best", and why.

 

One obvious "best" is a short walk to St James's Park Tube station (the nearest entrance is on Palmer Street, although I think that's only open during the day on weekdays). Take a Westbound District Line train (but not a Wimbledon train, and not a Circle Line train) to Barons Court. Cross-platform change to the Piccadilly Line, but make sure you take a Heathrow train. Exactly what you do after that depends on where at Heathrow you're going, eg which terminal.

 

But this may not be "best" for everyone.

[ltthib]

Staying in London after a trans Atlantic in May. Taking the cruise line transfer from Southampton. We're at the St. James Court hotel. Can anyone please recommend our best options for getting to Heathrow after the stay? That's the only part that we don't have planned yet.

Thank you

Bert

[ltthib]

Sorry should have been more specific. Train is probably not a good idea as we'll probably have a bit of luggage. We're flying Delta out of Heathrow so whichever terminal that would be. Was thinking more along the lines of Taxi or van/ car service.

Thanks

Also sorry for the duplicate post

[PORT ROYAL]

5 minutes ago, ltthib said:

Staying in London after a trans Atlantic in May. Taking the cruise line transfer from Southampton. We're at the St. James Court hotel. Can anyone please recommend our best options for getting to Heathrow after the stay? That's the only part that we don't have planned yet.

Thank you

Bert

Ask the Hotel Concierge to book a car/limo…

[nini]

51 minutes ago, ltthib said:

Sorry should have been more specific. Train is probably not a good idea as we'll probably have a bit of luggage. We're flying Delta out of Heathrow so whichever terminal that would be. Was thinking more along the lines of Taxi or van/ car service.

Thanks

Also sorry for the duplicate post

 

Many people use Blackberry Cars. We used them once to get from LHR to our London Hotel. They are mentioned often on the "Old" thread for these transfers.

[Globaliser]

10 hours ago, ltthib said:

We're flying Delta out of Heathrow so whichever terminal that would be. Was thinking more along the lines of Taxi or van/ car service.

 

9 hours ago, nini said:

Many people use Blackberry Cars. We used them once to get from LHR to our London Hotel. They are mentioned often on the "Old" thread for these transfers.

 

Delta operates at Terminal 3 at Heathrow. But if you're going to use a taxi or a car service, that's of less concern to you once the driver knows where you need to go.

 

There are plenty of taxis and plenty of car services. Many CCers usually come along to answer these questions by naming the car service that they always name.

[Blue and Green]

18 hours ago, ltthib said:

Staying in London after a trans Atlantic in May. Taking the cruise line transfer from Southampton. We're at the St. James Court hotel. Can anyone please recommend our best options for getting to Heathrow after the stay? That's the only part that we don't have planned yet.

We used Blackberry Cars a few times (pre-pandemic) for London/Heathrow transportation and were satisfied. As we are preparing for our next trip I will probably get quotes from Blackberry Cars and 2 other car services--maybe Just Airports and Blacklane, as those names seem to come up in other forums too. 

[pompeii]

We'll be disembarking the Regal Princess in Southampton on August 7 and flying from LHR the same day.  Princess EZ-Air offers flights leaving at 2pm or later, but I'm wondering if 1:40 would work?   If we line up a car service, is that enough time to get from the port to the airport with the recommended three-hour cushion?  The ship is scheduled to arrive at 7am.  

[gumshoe958]

6 hours ago, pompeii said:

We'll be disembarking the Regal Princess in Southampton on August 7 and flying from LHR the same day.  Princess EZ-Air offers flights leaving at 2pm or later, but I'm wondering if 1:40 would work?   If we line up a car service, is that enough time to get from the port to the airport with the recommended three-hour cushion?  The ship is scheduled to arrive at 7am.  

Absolutely fine. The drive takes between 90 minutes and 2 hours.

[susi_q]

On 11/5/2023 at 6:44 AM, Globaliser said:

 

A contactless card should have a logo on it that looks something like this:

 

 

Touching in/out:

• On the Tube, Elizabeth Line, National Rail (within the London fare area), Thames Clipper ferries, and the cable car at Greenwich: touch in on the reader as you enter through the gate, touch out at the gate as you leave.
• On the DLR, the same applies but you must remember to look for and use a reader because there are no gates - and it can be easy to forget.
• On the bus, touch in as you board, but do not touch out when you alight.
• On Tramlink, it's the same as a bus, except for special arrangements at Wimbledon.

If you're using a contactless card, then after the end of the fare day TfL reviews all of your travel for the day and sends one charge to your bank. TfL will apply all caps etc before it does so, including the proper fare for a journey that requires you to change trains by exiting one station and entering another (eg Tower Hill <--> Tower Gateway). The fare day begins at 0430 each day and ends at 0429 the following day.

Fantastic detail!! Thanks!!

[SaltyMarsh]

Hello, we are flying into LHR the day before our cruise out of Southampton in early June and booked our hotel for the night before in Southampton. What is the best transfer to get to our hotel from LHR.

 

I see lots of recommendations to the cruise port and many only seem to list to the cruise port on their options online.  Do we just book one of these and then get a taxi to the hotel from there or is there a better option?

[John Bull]

7 hours ago, SaltyMarsh said:

Hello, we are flying into LHR the day before our cruise out of Southampton in early June and booked our hotel for the night before in Southampton. What is the best transfer to get to our hotel from LHR.

 

I see lots of recommendations to the cruise port and many only seem to list to the cruise port on their options online.  Do we just book one of these and then get a taxi to the hotel from there or is there a better option?

 

Cheapest is National Express scheduled coach to Southampton coach station @ about £20 pp, then walk or taxi depending on the location of your hotel & the weather.

 

But if you're looking at on-line adverts for private transfers, which are mainly read by folk going direct to a ship - you can book them to a central Southampton hotel for the same money.

Nowadays operators are shy about quoting prices on their websites, so it's a tedious job of contacting each for a price. Include https://westquaycars.com/ & https://www.aquacars.co.uk/  &  https://gunwharf-executive-travel.co.uk/ - all are based at the Southampton end.

 

I see some crazy prices mentioned on Cruise Critic - the rate for LHR to Southampton should be around £140 to £160 for a sedan.

 

JB 🙂 

[WyKnott]

We're doing a transatlantic ending in Southampton and staying 5 days in London afterwards. We'll be in an AirBnB in Ealing*, so the question is would it make more sense to take the bus to Heathrow or into London proper? On the map, Ealing is closer to Heathrow, but I'm also looking for simplicity. I'm assuming at some point we'll be taking a taxi on to our final destination. 

 

* I lobbied for a place closer to central London, but I was outvoted. 🤷‍♀️

[gumshoe958]

59 minutes ago, WyKnott said:

We're doing a transatlantic ending in Southampton and staying 5 days in London afterwards. We'll be in an AirBnB in Ealing*, so the question is would it make more sense to take the bus to Heathrow or into London proper? On the map, Ealing is closer to Heathrow, but I'm also looking for simplicity. I'm assuming at some point we'll be taking a taxi on to our final destination. 

 

* I lobbied for a place closer to central London, but I was outvoted. 🤷‍♀️

If you get the coach to Heathrow Central, you can then catch the Elizabeth line train which runs direct to West Ealing and Ealing Broadway (normally six times an hour, journey time about 15 minutes) OR the Piccadilly line tube which runs direct to Boston Manor, Northfields and South Ealing (every 5 minutes, journey time about 20 minutes).

Hopefully at least one of those stations is convenient to your Airbnb.

 

Or just jump in a cab/Uber.

 

The coach to London Victoria is more frequent but tends to take longer due to traffic in London, and you’d then need a cab to Ealing (or the tube; the District line runs direct to Ealing Common & Ealing Broadway although it’s a bit of a schlep from Victoria coach station to the tube station).

 

Personally I’d go for Heathrow but YMMV.

Ealing itself is very suburban but is blessed with very good transport links with the Central, District, Elizabeth and Piccadilly lines all running frequently to and from central London.

 

Edited February 20 by gumshoe958

[Globaliser]

1 hour ago, WyKnott said:

We'll be in an AirBnB in Ealing* ... 

 

* I lobbied for a place closer to central London, but I was outvoted. 🤷‍♀️

 

54 minutes ago, gumshoe958 said:

Ealing itself is very suburban but is blessed with very good transport links with the Central, District, Elizabeth and Piccadilly lines all running frequently to and from central London.

 

Only if you're close to a station. "Ealing" covers a large area, and if you're not close to a station but you want to sightsee in central London, transport to/from central London could, frankly, drive you nuts.

[WyKnott]

Thank you @gumshoe958 and @Globaliser. It looks like going to Heathrow is the better option. We'll be in postal code W5 near Pitshanger Park. I think. Someone else in our group has the exact address.

[WyKnott]

Next question. Does anyone have any idea how long it would take to clear customs and get a taxi to the coach station? I'm looking at 9:45 and 11:45 as options for coach times to Heathrow. There's three of us and some can't walk long distances.

[gumshoe958]

45 minutes ago, WyKnott said:

Thank you @gumshoe958 and @Globaliser. It looks like going to Heathrow is the better option. We'll be in postal code W5 near Pitshanger Park. I think. Someone else in our group has the exact address.

Ah ok, so North Ealing. Not quite as convenient for Heathrow but not too bad.

 

I’d either get the Elizabeth line to West Ealing or Ealing Broadway and a cab/Uber from there (bearing in mind it’s a 10 minute walk between the coach and rail stations at Heathrow Central), or a cab/Uber all the way.

 

Re arriving at Southampton - it’s hard to say after a TA as it’s not unknown for the UK Border Force to do full immigration checks - equally you could just walk straight through in a few seconds. 
 

A cab to the coach station should take about 10 minutes, maybe a bit more maybe a bit less depending on which terminal you arrive at.

 

You should easily make the 9.45 coach assuming you’re off the ship by about 8.30, but bearing in mind you may not be able to access your Airbnb until 4pm the 11.45 might be a better option, unless you have other plans for the day. The coach station has indoor seating and (basic) facilities if you need to wait a while.

 

Edited February 21 by gumshoe958

[WyKnott]

3 hours ago, gumshoe958 said:

Ah ok, so North Ealing. Not quite as convenient for Heathrow but not too bad.

 

I’d either get the Elizabeth line to West Ealing or Ealing Broadway and a cab/Uber from there (bearing in mind it’s a 10 minute walk between the coach and rail stations at Heathrow Central), or a cab/Uber all the way.

 

Re arriving at Southampton - it’s hard to say after a TA as it’s not unknown for the UK Border Force to do full immigration checks - equally you could just walk straight through in a few seconds. 
 

A cab to the coach station should take about 10 minutes, maybe a bit more maybe a bit less depending on which terminal you arrive at.

 

You should easily make the 9.45 coach assuming you’re off the ship by about 8.30, but bearing in mind you may not be able to access your Airbnb until 4pm the 11.45 might be a better option, unless you have other plans for the day. The coach station has indoor seating and (basic) facilities if you need to wait a while.

 

Thank you. That helps a lot.

[Globaliser]

4 hours ago, WyKnott said:

We'll be in postal code W5 near Pitshanger Park. I think. Someone else in our group has the exact address.

 

W5 doesn't itself narrow this down any further - here is a Google map that should show the boundaries of W5. Pitshanger Park is at the upper edge of W5, basically next to where it says "Brentham Garden Suburb". Great if you're visiting relatives nearby; not so great (to put it mildly and politely) if you're intending to sightsee in central London.

[WyKnott]

6 minutes ago, Globaliser said:

 

W5 doesn't itself narrow this down any further - here is a Google map that should show the boundaries of W5. Pitshanger Park is at the upper edge of W5, basically next to where it says "Brentham Garden Suburb". Great if you're visiting relatives nearby; not so great (to put it mildly and politely) if you're intending to sightsee in central London.

Nearest I can tell, we're just south of Pitshanger Park. Like I said, someone else in our group has the correct location.

 

British post codes are confusing to we foreigners. 🤷‍♀️