Disembarkation times at Southampton

We are holding on a package deal that includes flights from Australia and a cruise On NCL Jade from Southampton to Norway, Shetlands, Iceland and back.

The issue is that the scheduled berthing time is 8.00am on Sunday Sept 3. The flight time allocated is 11.25am from Heathrow. Crazy but true and the wholesaler said take it as is or pay another $500 to change the flights.

We can get a private transfer to Heathrow for considerably less than that which takes 80-90 mins by car.

So my questions to the community are these.

Do NCL allow walk offs with all bags (no issue to us to take them off)?

How soon after berthing might we get to walk off?

With a cruise like this how long could Customs take? would we even do Customs?

It is technically feasible if we can walk off at 8.30am and be in the car at 8.45am.

Am I dreaming? I know the person who put the package together certainly is!

Thanks

Most ships that dock at Southampton normally do so between 0400-0500 with self walkoff starting about 0700. If your only going to be docking at 0800, I very much doubt you'd get too Heathrow in time for a 1125 flight. I'd either stump up the cash for later flights or walk away from that deal..

Unfortunately the "arrival" time quoted by cruise lines is unreliable

I doubt this is a realistic schedule.

This is asking for trouble. Agree with other comment. Pay for flight change or walk away from that "deal". And could you let other Aussies know who that genious is that proposes such schedules?

With that flight departure you should realistically be at check-in at LHR by 10 a.m.

This means you will probably encounter morning commuter traffic along the way. Quite a crazy proposition :eek:

I have techie prob. so short post. NCL cruise

NCL cruise

Sorry, I give up.

We usually self-disembark at Southampton, including NCL Jade when she was last here- 2008, I believe. The time has always been between 7-7.30 am, but twice there's been a problem with the gangway, so it can be later. A lot of it depends on the shore staff, and if there's several ships in, that might cause a problem. I don't know which dock she'll be going to, but that time we were on, we sailed into a different dock, further down stream than where we left.

Unfortunately the "arrival" time quoted by cruiselines is unreliable - sometimes it's the time they berth & sometimes thetime of first disembarkation. The port website quotes arrival time at 8am.

http://www.southamptonvts.co.uk/live_information/shipping_movements_and_cruise_ship_schedule/cruise_ship_schedule/

As Bob's post, most ships arrive at around 5am to 6am, withunassisted disembarkation (schlep your own bags from your cabin) from around 7am& first assisted disembarkation at 7.30.

Your ship has a port-of-call at Newcastle on the friday& a sea day en route to Southampton on the Saturday. To arrive by 5am itwould only need to average 11 knots.

Disembarkation at 8am is a bit tight, even for a sunday. Leaving by car at say 8.15 should get you to Heathrow by9.45. That's adequate.

Berthing at 8am would be pushing your luck too far.

If the "package" you've been offered has been puttogether by the T/A, I'd be exceptionally wary. If it's an NCL package (ie the cruise line books the flight)you can have a little more confidence that they know what they're doing, andyou may have recourse if it all goes belly-up.

Disembarking in Newcastle & flying to Heathrow is an option but would cost almost as much as it saves.

You really need better info on disembarkation time.

JB

Like others on Internet Explorer 11, I'm having issues with Cruise Critic's new format. Sorry, no more posts from me til its sorted cos its very very hard going.

I don't even know if this post will show. :-(