Cruise Show London how to get there please?

[Elizanessie]

Hi :D

 

 

I have just heard I am going to the Cruise Show in London at Excel London, Royal Victoria Dock but havent a clue how to get there please can someone help me on best/easiest way to get there (21/22nd March)

 

I live in the Highlands of Scotland and can get flights to London from Inverness but no idea if I should be looking to fly to Heathrow or Gatwick or City or where?

 

Please can someone help me.:)

[lisiamc]

Hi Liz

 

I looked at some links on the Cruise Show website, and according to this Tube/DLR map, if you can fly into London City Airport, you will be well placed to get the DLR to ExCel London via Canning Town.

 

However, I am not a Londoner, just a country mouse from Northamptonshire, so someone more experienced may want to weigh in here.

 

Lisa

[Elizanessie]

Hi Liz

 

I looked at some links on the Cruise Show website, and according to this Tube/DLR map, if you can fly into London City Airport, you will be well placed to get the DLR to ExCel London via Canning Town.

 

However, I am not a Londoner, just a country mouse from Northamptonshire, so someone more experienced may want to weigh in here.

 

Lisa

 

 

Thanks Lisa much appreciated :D

 

I couldnt follow the details as I havent been to London before apart from passing through airports for cruising.

 

Will check out now if we can fly to City Airport from anywhere up here.

 

Thanks again.

[sddsddean]

Liz

 

If you can get to London City Airport, its about 15 mins on the DLR to Custom House (for ExCel). Unfortunately, you have got to do 3 stops to Canning Town, change and do 2 stops to Custom House. Alternatively, its not very far in a taxi...probably £5-6. If you have to fly to Heathrow , I'm afraid its a drag all the way across the city, though you can do it all the way on tube/DLR in about 1hr 30 mins for about a fiver.

 

Simon

 

PS Lisa, where are you in Northants? You can see where I am!

[lord of the seas]

You can fly to London City Airport from Dundee,Edinburgh or Glasgow

[Elizanessie]

Liz

 

If you can get to London City Airport, its about 15 mins on the DLR to Custom House (for ExCel). Unfortunately, you have got to do 3 stops to Canning Town, change and do 2 stops to Custom House. Alternatively, its not very far in a taxi...probably £5-6. If you have to fly to Heathrow , I'm afraid its a drag all the way across the city, though you can do it all the way on tube/DLR in about 1hr 30 mins for about a fiver.

 

Simon

 

PS Lisa, where are you in Northants? You can see where I am!

 

 

You can fly to London City Airport from Dundee,Edinburgh or Glasgow

 

Thank you both :D

 

Ok so I can use my Airmiles to fly from Glasgow to London city ..check

Taxi from LCY to Excel...about £5/6...check

Tube/DLR ...mm kinda scary for me :o

 

Now just got to get to Glasgow and find somewhere to stay near LCY night before flight back on 22nd ...not checked

 

Am I nuts or what ? :o

[sddsddean]

http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=hotels+excel+london&btnG=Google+Search&meta=cr%3DcountryUK%7CcountryGB

 

Loads of hotels nearby. Premier inn from £67, Novotel from £76 etc

 

Simon

[lisiamc]

PS Lisa, where are you in Northants? You can see where I am!

 

Hi Simon

 

I'm in Higham Ferrers. West Haddon is reasonably near Coton Manor, isn't it? We went to see the bluebells there a couple of years ago. Beautiful!

 

Lisa

[sddsddean]

Hi Simon

 

I'm in Higham Ferrers. West Haddon is reasonably near Coton Manor, isn't it? We went to see the bluebells there a couple of years ago. Beautiful!

 

Lisa

 

Thats it. Just Guilsborough in between. I've done a fair bit of work round HF and Rushden, but I work all over the county.

 

Simon

[Globaliser]

Taxi from LCY to Excel...about £5/6...check

Actually, you could easily walk from LCY to ExCeL. It would take no more than about 20 minutes.

[Elizanessie]

Simon thanks for the hotel link...great link by the way:D

 

But oh heck now I am in more of a muddle..I think.:o

 

All was going well until I found I had problems with connections back home ...getting to Glasgow was fine...but then hit brick wall sort of...couldnt get from Glasgow back north until the next day.

 

So now...son has said "forget it mum I am staying home"...so I will take cheapest route..hey I dont mind sitting on a bus for 12 hours :eek:

 

So now I can go from Inverness to London Victoria for under £20...but how do I get to Excel from there ?

 

Oh wait a friend mentioned the Tube....oh do I want to do that on my own...first time in London...help please lady in distress :o

[ancientmariner]

Liz,

 

From Victoria Coach Station, cross over Buckingham Palace Road to the main Victoria (Train) Station. Look for the Underground sign. You can either take the District (green) line OR the Circle (yellow) line, whichever one comes first (same platform) in an easterly direction to Bank Station. At Bank change and follow the signs for the DLR (Docklands Light Railway). Take the DLR to Customs House and voila! you're there. I'd advise staying at an hotel near Victoria Station for convenience. I'm also going to the show, but then I live in London; don't think I'd travel to Scotland for a giant sales pitch though.

[Elizanessie]

Liz,

 

From Victoria Coach Station, cross over Buckingham Palace Road to the main Victoria (Train) Station. Look for the Underground sign. You can either take the District (green) line OR the Circle (yellow) line, whichever one comes first (same platform) in an easterly direction to Bank Station. At Bank change and follow the signs for the DLR (Docklands Light Railway). Take the DLR to Customs House and voila! you're there. I'd advise staying at an hotel near Victoria Station for convenience. I'm also going to the show, but then I live in London; don't think I'd travel to Scotland for a giant sales pitch though.

 

Oh wow thanks for all that info...going to print it all out as I know I will forget it in all the excitement of my day out :o :D

 

I am a loyal to royal cruiser but I want to see just what other cruiselines do offer. Plus it isnt very often I get the chance of meeting up some of the CC staff (who will be at the show) and I have friends at RCCL UK who will be there too :D

[Globaliser]

So now I can go from Inverness to London Victoria for under £20...but how do I get to Excel from there ?

 

Oh wait a friend mentioned the Tube ...

Is it any easier for you to get to/from Edinburgh? There are far more flights between EDI and LCY than to/from GLA.

 

If you do get the coach to Victoria, then the easiest thing is to do this:-

• Walk from the coach station to Victoria Tube station. It's least hassle if you walk along Buckingham Palace Road all the way to Victoria Street, then turn right along Victoria Street and go in the entrance that's a few yards further along there.
• At the ticket office, buy a pre-paid Oyster card. It's £3 plus whatever credit you want to put on it - I suggest £7, so you just hand over a tenner and don't need to faff about with change.
• Touch in at the ticket barriers leading to the District/Circle Line platform, go down to the platform and jump on any train going east.
• Get off at Westminster, and follow the signs down to the Jubilee Line going east (towards Stratford).
• Get on any train that goes as far as Canning Town (which will be virtually all of them).
• Get off at Canning Town, and go up one floor to the platforms above.
• Get on a DLR going towards ExCeL - it's always announced.
• Get off at the station for ExCeL and find a validation machine to touch out so that you are only charged the appropriate fare for the journey.

This is probably the easiest way to do it.

[Globaliser]

You can either take the District (green) line OR the Circle (yellow) line, whichever one comes first (same platform) in an easterly direction to Bank Station.

Sorry, this doesn't work at the moment.

 

The District/Circle Lines do not go to Bank. They go to Monument. Normally, you can change from Monument to Bank using an underground tunnel/escalator link, but that is closed at the moment. You can only get from Monument to Bank at street level. So this is not good.

 

A better way would be to go to Tower Hill, and then change to the DLR at Tower Gateway. But this still involves a street level walk between stations. The two-change route via Westminster and Canning Town involves two very easy changes.

[Elizanessie]

Is it any easier for you to get to/from Edinburgh? There are far more flights between EDI and LCY than to/from GLA.

 

 

If you do get the coach to Victoria, then the easiest thing is to do this:-

• Walk from the coach station to Victoria Tube station. It's least hassle if you walk along Buckingham Palace Road all the way to Victoria Street, then turn right along Victoria Street and go in the entrance that's a few yards further along there.
  
• At the ticket office, buy a pre-paid Oyster card. It's £3 plus whatever credit you want to put on it - I suggest £7, so you just hand over a tenner and don't need to faff about with change.
  
• Touch in at the ticket barriers leading to the District/Circle Line platform, go down to the platform and jump on any train going east.
  
• Get off at Westminster, and follow the signs down to the Jubilee Line going east (towards Stratford).
  
• Get on any train that goes as far as Canning Town (which will be virtually all of them).
  
• Get off at Canning Town, and go up one floor to the platforms above.
  
• Get on a DLR going towards ExCeL - it's always announced.
  
• Get off at the station for ExCeL and find a validation machine to touch out so that you are only charged the appropriate fare for the journey.
  

This is probably the easiest way to do it.

 

Ohhh :eek: ooh hecky thump now that sounds kinda scary to me but I will try it. Thank you so much for all the clear details....only thing I need to ask...when you say "touch in"...sorry what does that mean?

 

I sound like a right country hick...honest I am not :o I have travelled all over Europe etc before I found cruising but London just makes me :eek::eek:

[Globaliser]

...only thing I need to ask...when you say "touch in"...sorry what does that mean?

The Oyster card is a contactless smart card. So for the barrier machine to read it, all you need to do is to place it on top of the reader pad. These are all a bright yellow colour, and you'll see one on top of each barrier machine. They are, as you'd expect, designed for right-handed people, so if you hold the Oyster card in your right hand when you place it on top of the reader pad, you'll be standing in front of the correct gates, which will then open. The act of placing the card onto the reader pad is called "touching in" or "touching out" as the case may be. If you're in any doubt, just watch a few people doing it. It's dead easy.

 

The note about the DLR is because on the Tube system, touching in and touching out is almost automatic, because you normally have to do it to open the barriers. However, the DLR doesn't have barriers, so you must find the machine at the entrance to the station or the entrance to the platform to do this, in both directions. (Otherwise you will get charged a penalty fare automatically at the end at which you do touch your card.) If you're at a Tube station and the barriers are open, you must still touch in or touch out, as appropriate - otherwise you will again get charged a penalty fare.

 

When you've finished using the card, you can either just take it home with you ready for next time - the credit does not expire - or you can take it to any Tube station office and get a refund of all unused credit plus the deposit. Buying a card with a tenner takes about 30 seconds. Refunding it takes 2-3 minutes. It really is that easy.

[Elizanessie]

The Oyster card is a contactless smart card. So for the barrier machine to read it, all you need to do is to place it on top of the reader pad. These are all a bright yellow colour, and you'll see one on top of each barrier machine. They are, as you'd expect, designed for right-handed people, so if you hold the Oyster card in your right hand when you place it on top of the reader pad, you'll be standing in front of the correct gates, which will then open. The act of placing the card onto the reader pad is called "touching in" or "touching out" as the case may be. If you're in any doubt, just watch a few people doing it. It's dead easy.

 

The note about the DLR is because on the Tube system, touching in and touching out is almost automatic, because you normally have to do it to open the barriers. However, the DLR doesn't have barriers, so you must find the machine at the entrance to the station or the entrance to the platform to do this, in both directions. (Otherwise you will get charged a penalty fare automatically at the end at which you do touch your card.) If you're at a Tube station and the barriers are open, you must still touch in or touch out, as appropriate - otherwise you will again get charged a penalty fare.

 

When you've finished using the card, you can either just take it home with you ready for next time - the credit does not expire - or you can take it to any Tube station office and get a refund of all unused credit plus the deposit. Buying a card with a tenner takes about 30 seconds. Refunding it takes 2-3 minutes. It really is that easy.

 

 

Wow thank you so much once again for such clear details...I will print it all out and read it on the way down.

 

Note to self though...remember to have English notes not Scottish ones.:)

[Globaliser]

Don't get too hung up about Scottish notes. Many places will take them. A couple of nights ago, my cab driver said I've only got a Scottish tenner, will that be OK? Now, I know that my regular sandwich shop will take them without quibble, so I said yes. Anyway, the next morning I asked my cab driver whether he's take a Scottish note (so that I didn't have to ask for lots of change from him first thing) and he said yes. So that was that.

[Elizanessie]

Don't get too hung up about Scottish notes. Many places will take them. A couple of nights ago, my cab driver said I've only got a Scottish tenner, will that be OK? Now, I know that my regular sandwich shop will take them without quibble, so I said yes. Anyway, the next morning I asked my cab driver whether he's take a Scottish note (so that I didn't have to ask for lots of change from him first thing) and he said yes. So that was that.

 

I will never forget in a shop in Worcester and I handed over a Scottish £10 and the guy started shouting at me and accusing me of trying to use fake money :eek: :o So whenever any of the family up here go south they always make sure they have English notes.

[ancientmariner]

Liz,

 

I've just discovered that the Cruise Show will be running a FREE shuttle bus to the show from Embankment Tube Station every hour on the hour throughout the two days. Embankment Station is just three stops away from Victoria on the Central and District lines, so this might be a pleasant way for you to see a bit of London at the same time.

 

Their website is www.cruisingshow.co.uk

 

Incidentally, I spent a lovely day in Inverness, when my ship called in at Invergordon last September. What a friendly lot you are; you certainly will notice the difference when you come south.

[Globaliser]

I will never forget in a shop in Worcester and I handed over a Scottish £10 and the guy started shouting at me and accusing me of trying to use fake money

:eek: indeed. Ignorant peasant!

[Elizanessie]

Well I am all booked now and oh yes plans have changed..my mum didnt want me going to Victoria etc on my own...heck I am only 48 hahah

 

Anyway so now getting bus to glasgow, flying to LCY, staying two nights at Custom House at Excel, and then at hotel in glasgow one night upon return north before bus back home on Monday.

 

Thank goodness for Airmiles :D

 

Thanks again everyone for their help and suggestions. The info you have provided will I am sure be very useful for others here on CC.:D

[Globaliser]

Sounds like a good solution!

 

One tip for the way back: Don't be tempted to turn up too early at LCY. When they say minimum check-in 20 minutes (or whatever), they mean it. It is easy to arrive waaaaay too early there, and it isn't the best airport in the world to be waiting in for hours as it is relatively small.

[Elizanessie]

Sounds like a good solution!

 

One tip for the way back: Don't be tempted to turn up too early at LCY. When they say minimum check-in 20 minutes (or whatever), they mean it. It is easy to arrive waaaaay too early there, and it isn't the best airport in the world to be waiting in for hours as it is relatively small.

 

Oh no ..you mean it doesnt have any business lounges??? :eek: oh thats it dont like that airport :eek::D