gumshoe958

Intercity trains are still running every 30 minutes between Schiphol Airport and Schiedam Centrum, which is very close to Rotterdam. From there you can either transfer to the Rotterdam Metro or take a cab to your accommodation.

Quite a few cruises start in Edinburgh over the summer, mainly on the high end small ship lines like Windstar, Seabourn, Azamara, Regent and Oceania. Even a TA to Boston! Newcastle only seems to have one, on August 29th on the Costa Favolosa, either 8 nights ending in Dover or 12 nights ending in Amsterdam.

Any option other than the direct flight from Southampton takes at least five hours once you factor in the journey to London, Heathrow or Gatwick, time to check in for the Eurostar or flight and the journey into central Paris if you fly. The Southampton flight is a no-brainer in terms of time and convenience, although fares can be quite high at weekends.

Easiest - fly. There’s one direct flight a day from Southampton to Paris Orly, on Eastern Airways, perfectly timed for cruisers at around 10:30am. Flight time 1 hour 20 minutes. Otherwise you’re looking at a train, coach, cab or private transfer into London from where the Eurostar train to Paris runs frequently - but total journey time is a minimum of 5-6 hours.

The 8.15 bus should be fine, but you can add the Change & Go supplement during the booking process if you wish. After deplaning you will first clear passport control. Assuming you have a biometric US passport (most now are) you can use the automatic E-gates rather than queue for an immigration officer. You just put your passport in the machine, look at the camera and hopefully it matches your face and lets you through. After that you reclaim your bags and walk through customs, then you’re landside. If you arrive at Terminal 2 or 3 (all US airlines and Virgin) you’ll need to make your way via the underground walkways to the Central Bus Station. It’s a 5-10 minute walk and clearly signed.

Off-peak and super off-peak tickets never sell out. You can buy them on the day if you want, or you can buy them in advance online and add a seat reservation (free).

I agree. But given that a Civitavecchia stop is non-negotiable because Rome is the big draw on that circuit for most Americans, I suspect Royal would consider those ports would add too much mileage for too little gain.

Bear in mind Southampton to Tilbury is 120 miles, so at least a two-and-a-half hour drive (more if the M25 motorway is jammed up which it often is) and I wouldn’t expect much change from £200, if any.

Because of their size, O-class are limited in the ports they can visit. They’re too big for Greece or the Adriatic so they’re pretty much limited to the western Med circuit.

To add - it might make more sense to stay at Gatwick rather than Southampton the night before your flight. There are plenty of airport hotels, and it would mean a later start without the worry of delays on the roads or trains.

Southampton to Gatwick is a 2 hour journey by train or car and you’ll presumably want to be at the airport by around 9. The train would be cheapest - direct services leave Southampton Central at 6.08 (arrive 8.12) or 7.12 (arrive 9.09). (This is Mon-Sat. There is no viable train option on a Sunday.) Otherwise it’s a taxi or private car transfer but I would expect that to cost £150-200 and take around the same time - maybe longer if the traffic’s bad, which it often is.

The fast train from Dover to London St Pancras takes just over an hour and runs every hour, so it’s entirely doable as long as the ship’s in port long enough. The problem is choosing what to see in London. It’s a huge place and the sights are very spread out, so you won’t even scratch the surface in a day. It’s one city where a HOHO bus tour is worth considering.

It’s doable, but you have very little margin for error if there are any delays in disembarking. You’d really need to be in a cab by 7.30 at the latest. Much depends on your attitude to risk and the implications of missing your flight. But no, I wouldn’t anticipate any customs or immigration delays unless the UK Border Force is doing random spot checks, which it occasionally does.

So true. And why I never, ever, sail P&O.

Tipping isn’t mandatory or expected like it is in the US. But if you must, £1 a bag is fine.

Very easy walk, even with luggage. It’s half a mile, so 10-15 minutes.

Tram #26. You’ll see the stop just across the street that runs past the terminal. You need the stop on the side of the tracks nearest the terminal. The #26 is the only tram that serves that stop so you can’t go wrong. They run every 7-10 minutes. Alternatively just walk - it’s only 10-15 minutes.

Yes, hotel prices everywhere have shot up since Covid but in Amsterdam they’re off the scale this summer. The convenience and simplicity of the trains actually make Schiphol and neighbouring Hoofddorp a very attractive proposition as the Doubletree next to Centraal station is in no way worth the €384 it’s charging for a random Saturday night in July. But people are clearly paying, so …

Train from Southampton to Windsor is a bit slow but not complicated at all - just one easy transfer at London Waterloo. Southampton to Waterloo and Waterloo to Windsor & Eton Riverside both run every 30 minutes. Total journey time about 2 hrs 30 min each way. Alternatively rent a car, there’s a couple of places in town near the cruise terminals or a wider selection at the airport which is a 5 minute train or 20 minute cab ride from the city centre.

This number is allegedly open for 6 more minutes (8pm UK, midday PST): +44 3717 81 81 81 Failing that it will reopen at 8am UK, midnight PST.

There is a 9:45am service which still has 2 seats available so you could call up and ask to be moved on to that one.

Yes, the US requires you to reclaim your baggage and clear customs and passport control at the port of entry before re-checking it for your onward flight. The procedure in the UK and EU is different.

As long as you’re booked on one ticket from Copenhagen to Chicago, your luggage will be checked through regardless of whether you transfer in London or the EU and you won’t have to retrieve and re-check it. If you choose Heathrow, you’ll be able to stay airside and won’t have to clear passport control. You will have to clear security again, and you may have to change terminals depending on which airline(s) you use, but that’ll be by bus and you’ll stay airside.

I suspect you mean the army were standing in for Border Force if you were arriving. Completely separate to security, which affects departing passengers.

In the UK there is a long-running series of train strikes which do cause major disruption, but for cruisers there are always alternatives to get to/from Southampton, London or Heathrow so there’s no huge cause for concern. And the law requires unions to give at least two weeks’ notice of a strike so there’s always time to make new plans. There is a separate series of strikes by security personnel at Heathrow. These, up till now, haven’t caused any major problems for travellers as they’ve only affected Terminal 5 (British Airways) and the airport has just moved staff around to cover striking workers. However the next wave of strikes, starting on June 24 and spanning 31 days across the summer, will involve more staff and also affect Terminal 3 (American, Delta, Virgin) so it’s possible there may be more of an impact. How much, we just don’t know. But certainly one to be aware of if you’re due to fly out of Heathrow in June, July or August.