Heathrow or Gatwick to Southhampton? Which is better?

[LLD]

My Mom and I are considering taking a cruise to the British Isles and are contemplating which airport to fly into. We are from Orlando and would like to fly direct to London but the only direct flights from our airport go to Gatwick. We are wondering what to do! Yikes! We need help! Then our other dilemma is if we have a flight from Gatwick at 12:30p.m. to go back home will we have enough time to get on that flight?

 

Is Southhampton very far from Gatwick or should we just fly into Heathrow and take a less direct flight? Any help would be appreciated. I am dying to go on this cruise and realllly need to get all my ducks in a row! Thanks!

[Globaliser]

First, you should note that it's actually "Southampton". That may help if you do any online searching.

 

Second, one big issue will be whether you are intending to use cruise line transfers, or whether you will do it by a private car, or whether by public transport. But, in general, there are plenty of cruisers who fly to Gatwick and then sail from Southampton. The details you can sort out later.

 

Third, whether 1230 is too early for a flight from Gatwick will depend on your itinerary and what time your ship returns to Southampton. The best guidance will be that given by the cruise line.

[LLD]

I've been on many Europe cruises and know about transfers however, booking airfare through the cruise line or on my own is dependent on which airport is closer to Southampton. I like the ease of knowing the cruise line will pick me up at the airport if I book through them however since I can finally get a direct flight from my home city I am contemplating on booking my own airfare but any direct flights from Orlando to London are through Gatwick airport. That is why I need some information about airports. I flew once to Heathrow and went to the port of Harwich but it was quite far and I had to fly on 2 flights to get to London. If I can avoid an extra flight or two I would consider getting a flight on my own to Gatwick but don't want the stress of wondering if I should've booked differently.

[Globaliser]

... however, booking airfare through the cruise line or on my own is dependent on which airport is closer to Southampton.

By a sensible road route, Gatwick is about 25 miles further away from Southampton than Heathrow, although as the crow flies it's only a few miles further. It's a couple of hours' travel from Southampton to either airport, but much depends on how you do it. And, as I say, lots of people fly to/from Gatwick and sail from Southampton, so that doesn't cause a problem as such. The rest is only details.

[ocngypz]

A 12:30pm flight is too early. Pick another flight. As an agent, I cannot book cruiseline transfers for a 1230pm flight.

[muffydawg]

Ditto the 12:30 flight time as being too early. We are flying from Houston to Gatwick non stop on Continental because we prefer to fly non stop when possible (or if a stop is inevitable) have the stop be stateside (like last year when we went from Houston to Atlanta and then non stop to Barcelona. So like the previous posters have mentioned, it is a matter of preference.

 

We also prefer to fly into a city the day before the cruise as it eases our stress levels and reduces the chances of arriving too close to embarkation time. In the US, flying out of cities like NY, Houston or FLL at 12:30 is probably fine but in Europe we find many delays in cities like London and Amsterdam.

 

Stay the extra day in London and leave on that 12:30 flight if you can or if you have to leave on disembarkation day, get a later flight if possible

[Stephen.Gilmore@btinternet]

There is a direct train from Gatwick to Southampton. Takes a few hours but after a transatlantic flight you can sleep without needing to change trains.

[LLD]

Thank you everyone for your input. I am still undecided. My latest thoughts are to take the non-stop flight to Gatwick and then coming home take a connecting flight out of Gatwick that departs after 2p.m. It kills me to have to take a connecting fight as I have had bad experiences before but to spend an extra day in London might not work for me with my work schedule. I can't take too much time from work. An extra day is just that, an extra day. Work is just intering too much with my travels! haha!

 

If any of you have further comments or suggestions I will be checking this board --I appreciate all of your comments.