London help - Page 8 - Cruise Line Fans: Cruise Forum, Reviews and Chat From Real Cruisers

nealberk · 11-24-2007, 12:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 2ladies

Hi Neal - were you on the Connie crossing with Tony and Alina? Tony said it was a terrible crossing!! Luck of the draw - entitled to think that September would be better than November - but there yah go!!! Weather!!!

No, just another cruise. Sometimes you luck out, other times you don't. Like I said, though, our shore days were unbelievably good.

bubbie617 · 11-24-2007, 11:17 PM

What a wealth of information you have all provided. We were in London for a few days in June at the beginning and end of a Baltics cruise. We loved London in spite of the high prices.

We stayed at the London Forum before and after (just okay), and the first day after flying in, we walked to the V & A Museum to keep ourselves awake. It was well worth the walk. After the cruise, we did the requisite trip to Harrods. After all, it was our first trip there and I couldn't miss it. I know we could have taken the Tube, but we chose to walk to see the sights along the way. The next day we did the Hop On Hop Off bus for the entire day. There are still so many things we didn't get to see.

If you are going to Buckingham Palace, we found a wonderful restaurant on Buckingham Palace Road. It's called Noodle Noodle. The food was wonderful and the prices were reasonable.

I have a question for all the well informed people here. We will be in London in April at the end of a TA. The ship docks in Southampton. How far is it from Southampton to London? What is the best way to get into central London from there? We will have too much luggage to "rough it", but I would love to find a reasonably priced way to be transported. I appreciate all the help you can offer.

2ladies · 11-25-2007, 11:38 AM

Which ship will you be on? We will be on the Brilliance.

Southampton to London. Most expensive by limo. You can take a bus/coach.

Our preferred way is the train to Waterloo. Taxi ($10?) to station and then train to Waterloo and then taxi. Make sure you have one pound coins if possible for luggage cart (its returnable).

And then there is Megatrain. This is bookable 45 days in advance or less. BUT will only accept bookings from people in the UK for some reason. So, if you have friends there get them to do it. Its just a few trains each day that have one carriage called Megatrain. (Same train, same type of carriage!). There is one at about 11.00ish from Southampton. If you book early it can be as little as one British pound each plus a 50p booking fee.

However, if you google South Western Railway or British railways etc. they sometimes do offers. The usual fare is about fifty pounds for two. Can sometimes be cheaper on a 'day return' and you tear up the return.

Sharing a limo is an option. There is Megabus and National Express Coach (look for FunFares very cheap) which we have also done as Megatrain doesn't run on Sundays.

Train is the most civilised IMHO!!!

houston77068 · 11-30-2007, 10:34 PM

Nation Express bus service is an option from the airport to either Southampton or Harwich directly from Heathrow. Did it rn August and the round trip fare was only 32 pounds for two people as I recall. You can catch the bus right at Heathrow and when you get to Southamptom just take a quick taxi ride to the ship or hotel. Buses are just like greyhound, with baggage storage underneath

smitty · 12-01-2007, 02:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by houston77068

Nation Express bus service is an option from the airport to either Southampton or Harwich directly from Heathrow. Did it rn August and the round trip fare was only 32 pounds for two people as I recall. You can catch the bus right at Heathrow and when you get to Southamptom just take a quick taxi ride to the ship or hotel. Buses are just like greyhound, with baggage storage underneath

national express are pretty good, but it depends on time of day. the M3 gets jammed up bad certain times and it can take as long from getting off the motorway to getting into victoria coach station. however when you get there you are in cfntral london

2ladies · 12-01-2007, 08:48 PM

When we debarked (good word that!) in Southampton in April, there was an accident on the M3 motorway and it took all those going by road hours to get to London.

We use the train for this very reason!!!

Char · 12-01-2007, 10:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 2ladies

When we debarked (good word that!) in Southampton in April, there was an accident on the M3 motorway and it took all those going by road hours to get to London.

We use the train for this very reason!!!

Yep! We were on one of those busses going to Gatwick that morning. Some folks missed their 1PM flights. Fortunately, ours didn't leave till 2PM.

Best to spend a night and fly home the next morning, then you don't have to worry about that traffic and making your flight.

smitty · 12-02-2007, 02:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Char

Yep! We were on one of those busses going to Gatwick that morning. Some folks missed their 1PM flights. Fortunately, ours didn't leave till 2PM.

Best to spend a night and fly home the next morning, then you don't have to worry about that traffic and making your flight.

thats for sure. usually some good deals around, even if you havn't booked. i'm half hour from LGW,and it's not uncommon for people to miss flights thru snarl ups

houston77068 · 12-02-2007, 09:39 PM

I agree, traffic could be a problem, which you should factor in your plans. In our case, we flew with frequent flyer tickets, so we had an exrtra day both before and after the cruise.

nealberk · 12-03-2007, 08:12 PM

From everything I have read, and from my personal experiences London traffic can either be fair or really, really bad.