Island2Dweller

If your travel is booked on one ticket number (and I know it is all electronic, but there is still a ticket number in the system) then your hold luggage is checked through from Rome to your entry point in the USA. You stay "airside" in London, you don't touch UK immigration. Caution - this assumes a same-airport transfer.... London has six airports and some agents will book an itinerary which requires a change between airports. This is major hassle to be avoided, not least because bags are never transferred and you need to clear UK immigration. If the separate legs are on separate tickert numbers then your bags will never be checked through

For the past few years, Viking have used Tilbury for winter port calls and Greenwich throughout the summer (usually from April onwards). The Port of London cruise ship diary shows the same pattern for 2024.

If you're starting at Fenchurch St, it's a very small station (by London standards) and there will be staff around to tell you which service to board. There are also large departure screens - you won't go wrong. I'd suggest going to Grays (the station before Tilbury) as there are taxis available there - whereas you won't find one at Tilbury itself. The distance / cost of the taxi hop for the final mile or so to the cruise terminal will be about the same from Grays. The Jubilee line intercepts the train line at West Ham station (a really easy interchange) so you can also look for any hotel in London that is near any Jubilee line station.

Just tell the car service the flight number and they organise a pick up time - it's what they do all day long. In normal circumstances, 60 minutes is a reaonable estimate. "Global entry" is irrelevant for UK immigration, but assuming you have a US passport you're permitted to use the E-gates, which usually flow reaonably quickly

There's a left luggage facility at St Pancras (the station that Eurostar uses for the London-Paris train). So you can leave bags there if you want to explore London before catching a train to Paris. Note that Eurostar tickets can sell out, and the cheapest tickets sell out very early, so as soon as you are comfortable with your plans you should book. You clear Schengen immigration at St Pancras before catching the train so you need to be back at the station a good hour ahead of train departure.

Trains go from Fenchurch Street, which is the only mainline station in London not directly connected to the underground network. If you are connecting from another part of London it can be easier to take the underground to West Ham, as the train will stop there and this is an easy station to change lines at - there are lifts so it isn;t difficult with bags. If you choose the train, take this to Grays, the station before Tilbury. That's because there will be taxis at Grays - there won't be any at Tilbury. Because of the road network configuration, it's actually about the same distance/cost from Grays. It's about a bit over a mile to the cruise terminal, so I would not fancy walking that far with bags. Perfectly safe if you choose to, but desperately dull route next to giant container port and rail yard. You do not need to buy a ticket, you just tap in with a credit card of phone (as you do for all London travel) at the start and end of the journey. No idea about coaches - but as Victoria is west of the centre and Tilbury is well to the east, this will be a slow journey by road.

You didn't say what day this will be. On many weekends, the c2c trains may use Liverpool Street as well as (or sometimes instead of) Fenchurch St.

Uber? They exist in London but you can't be sure any London driver will want to accept a trip that will have them away from their local area for three to four hours. When you priced the trip, that's just the Uber algorithm giving you an estimated cost, it is not guaranteeing that any driver would accept that trip. If you want certainty, book one of the car services that get recomended.

Suggest you get off the train at Grays, the stop before Tilbury. That's because there is a taxi office at Grays (for the approx 1mile leg to the terminal). Because of the way the roads are laid out (getting over the railway tracks), the driving distance from Grays is about the same as from Tilbury. Don't bother with any physical tickets - just use a contactless bank card or phone to pay.

Yes, you can get a direct train from Waterloo East to Dover. By way of background. Waterloo station and Waterloo East stations are side by side, connected by a walkway, but operationally entirely separate. Trains from Waterloo head off through south west London and on to Surrey, Hampshire and Berkshire. Trains from Charing Cross run though Waterloo East and then off through south east London into Kent.

If you've booked the hotel in Southwark, forget Gatwick Express. Thameslink is far cheaper and given you are near the station, will be quicker in overall journey time.

If you intend to stay in central London, consider staying in central London. If you're going to use one day at Hampton Court, then a Gatwick hotel is just as convenient. The £80 on fares is true, but ignores the detail that if you stay in central London you'll be paying fares to travel around London anyway plus a journey to Gatwick - so the additional travel cost is more like £30 not £80

I happily aim for two hours ahead at Gatwick, if that swings your view. If one of the days is devoted to going to Hampton Court then a hotel at Gatwick is just as convenient as central London

At very different price points, there is a Sofitel and a Premier Inn right at the north terminal. If you choose the latter, make sure you take care when booking as there are numerous Premier Inn hotels in the Gatwick area. You want the one right at North Terminal. It's easy to get to Hampton Court from Gatwick. Train to Clapham Junction, change to a train for Hampton Court. Don't buy any tickets, just use a contactless bank card (or phone) to open the platform gates.

Gatwick is not a charter airline airport. The biggest airline (by far) at Gatwick is easyjet. They don't operate any charters. For the original question. Also worth looking at Air France / KLM, who operate from Southampton airport and may have a connecting option. Yes, it involves a change but far simpler/quicker/cheaper to get to Southampton airport than any of the six London airports.

The location is incredibly central, but as the previous post said, you cannot put Marriott and Travelodge in the same sentence. A reasonable budget option, but it is a budget / no frills option.

"I don't think there are any mainstream situations left in which the pay-as-you-go fare using a bank card is cheaper than the fare you'd pay using an Oyster. " True. But a bank card can be used to far more destinations (eg Windsor / Luton Airport) than Oyster. This will become even more extensive from the end of 2023 when contactless will be extended to more stations outside London.

Re the comment on Oyster card. Oyster still works but is now considered "old tech", and you need to pay £7 (not refundable) for the card. The majority of transport fares in London are now paid by contactless bank card or ApplePay/GooglePay - which gives the cheapest fare and has no up-front cost. HopOn-HopOff bus tour is an excellent way of getting an orientation but should not be considered as a transport method. The normal service buses are infinitely more frequent and vastly cheaper.

If you want to get between central London and Paris then Eurostar is by far the best way to do it. But if you want to get between Southampton and Paris, it really would not be my recomendation. The transfer across London is a faff for an able bodied person. There are direct flights between Southampton and Paris

Long distance rail fares. You have to balance price against flexibiity. The cheapest tickets are called "advance" (it's a particular ticket type, not simply that you bought it ahead of time). These can be very cheap but if you miss the train it is worthless, it cannot be used on a different service. With the uncertainties of airport arrival and immigration, if you chose this I would want to pick a departure time a long time after scheduled landing - four hours at least to give breathing room. For the return to London, where you can be much more certain of your plan, an "advance" fare will be the best option. Start searching with LNER now, they sell tickets earlier than other operators. The walk-up single is £69 (valid from 0910 to 1459 weekdays, anytime weekends), much more in weekday rush hours. There are no return fares on this route. As stated above, the simplest way from Heathrow to Kings Cross is Piccadilly line. Direct. Just use a contactless bank card / smartphone / smartwatch top operate the platform gate, do NOT buy a paper ticket for this.

Anywhere within the central loop of the circle line (the yellow line on the London tube map) is central and will have good transport options.

I've stayed in various Premier Inns, and on occasion have been given a Premier Plus room. I've never been able to see any difference between the room types.... The infrastructure is the same, either the whole hotel has air con (all newer properties do) or the whole hotel doesn't - it does not vary by room. I've never noticed a hair dryer in any of their properties, but as I am completely bald I haven't looked very hard!

If your flight is booked by a third party (which this is), the airline will not talk to you directly. Any change has to be arranged through the agency that booked the flight. As mentioned above, at some time (varies between 24-48 hours) before departure, the "control" is handed over the airline. Don't assume that a change at the airport will be easy. Some European airlines (British Airways being a leading example) will not allow you to make any changes on tickets (unless you had bought a full fare ticket directly from them) unless there is disruption of some sort

It's almost 100 miles from Nice.... Taxi will need a mortgage. Also, I'm not sure whether a Nice taxi driver is licensed to take a fare into Italy. In comparison it's only 30 miles from Genoa.

To emphasise the point above about Christmas day itself. Folk from other countries are often astonished at how much the UK totally closes down on that day. Many folk arrive into Heathrow and are shocked to find no public transport whatsoever - only a few taxis with a surcharge. You'll have a great time visiting around then so long as you don't book any travel for Dec 25 and you book eating arrangements for that Christmas Day long in advance (like now).