gumshoe958

Southampton Airport is about a 20 minute cab ride from the port. It’s a small, easy to navigate airport so you can comfortably arrive and check in 60-90 minutes before your flight. You’ll almost certainly be expected to disembark by about 9.30, possibly earlier depending on the ship, so even if you’re last off you should be at the airport by 10 at the latest. And potentially much earlier - 8.30 is perfectly doable if you’re in an early group to disembark. Heathrow, on the other hand, is a good 90 minute to 2 hour drive (and potentially more if the traffic’s bad), and is a vast airport so you’d be well advised to check in at least 2 hours before your flight. If you’re not self disembarking I wouldn’t risk a flight that leaves before 1.30/2pm.

No, it’s instead of Independence (2025) which is instead of Anthem (2024).

Not quite true - you could also change at Chichester which is between the two. Not really much point in doing so though.

As soon as possible really - prices only go one way. But 3 months should be fine.

There will be replacement buses, probably more than enough, and anyone who wants one will be able to get one. But the big unknown is how long you’ll have to queue if hundreds of cruise passengers arrive within an hour or so with all their luggage. An 8 coach train can hold 700-odd passengers, at least ten busloads, and it takes time to load ten buses full of people and luggage. It may be absolutely fine but I stand by my suggestion to get a taxi straight to Southampton Airport Parkway, purely to avoid the potential hassle.

National Express coaches to Heathrow run roughly every 2 hours. So there’s normally a 9:45, then an 11:45 and a 1:35. You can pre-book tickets online at www.nationalexpress.com - and indeed you’d be strongly advised to do so as coaches can and do sell out. Do not assume there’ll be extra coaches. There’s always the possibility of traffic delays so be sure to allow enough time. For a 5pm flight the 9:45 or 11:45 would be fine. Make sure you check which terminal your flight leaves from and book accordingly as National Express has separate stops at Heathrow Central (for T2 & T3), T4 and T5, all of which are some distance apart.

@John Bull will know better than me but if you ask the driver to drop you off at the main station entrance on the London-bound side (across the tracks from the airport), I don’t believe there’s a charge. Like you I never use taxis if I can avoid it, but on this occasion I’d make an exception.

The fast Waterloo trains are actually starting from Southampton Airport Parkway that day. I’d be minded to get a taxi straight from the port to there, avoiding the buses altogether. Rail replacement buses are generally best avoided, particularly with luggage. There’ll presumably be a queueing system outside Southampton Central and at peak time for cruise passengers (8am-11am) I would expect the queue to be pretty long.

You can only pay to reserve the front five rows I believe. Otherwise it’s a free-for-all.

That’s really down to personal preference. I guess most people would prefer not to sit next to the toilet, and the front is presumably most popular (hence why they generously let you pay extra to sit there). But unless you absolutely have to sit up front, there’s no reason to pay any extra.

Sadly National Express closed all their ticket offices at Heathrow during the pandemic and never reopened them. All ticketing issues now have to be resolved by phone.

Of course they have. They’d be fired pretty quickly if they failed to stick to the official company line and revealed confidential information that could affect the stock price before it’s announced to the markets.

You need to post in the roll call for your sailing.

It should be, but the big unknown is baggage reclaim which can be very hit or miss at LHR. On a bad day it’s not unknown to wait an hour for your luggage to appear. Border control is normally pretty quick as long as you have a biometric passport and are eligible to use the automated e-gates.

Makes sense to me. The UK cruise market tends to skew older and more traditional (see Cunard, P&O, Fred.Olsen, Princess) so X feels like a better fit.

Even if the QM2 is 24 hours late (which is so unlikely it’s almost certain not to happen) you’d still be able to make it. As it is you’ve got more than 24 hours to make a 3 hour journey. You’ll be fine.

Which is exactly what they want. Jason Liberty’s dastardly plan is working.

Yes, there will be a lot. School seems to be optional for many kids since Covid.

Longer cruise in a cheaper cabin for me every time. Far better value for money. Most suites are hugely overpriced for what you get but Royal knows there are plenty of people who’ll overpay $$$$$ just to get “the best”.

Yes, as @Globaliser says because the flights have only recently opened, BA hasn’t yet loaded the cheaper fare buckets (knowing full well there’s easy money to be made from people who feel they HAVE to book the moment flights go on sale). Looking at BA flights two Sundays before yours, they’re available from £61 ($79). So just give it a couple of weeks or so and you’ll see fares tumble. There’s no reason whatsoever to go via AMS.

As posted on the wiki, Uber operates in Southampton or - for a more relaxed arrival - consider staying the night at LHR then heading down to Southampton refreshed in the morning. The Sofitel is a very nice hotel connected directly to T5 or there are cheaper options a short bus or taxi ride away.

There is a taxi rank at Southampton coach station, but there’s no guarantee that any cabs will be waiting that late. Uber operates in Southampton though, so that would be an obvious solution. @PORT ROYALmakes a good suggestion though. There is a very nice (albeit not especially cheap) hotel, the Sofitel, connected directly to T5 and a multitude of other hotels to suit all tastes and budgets a short bus or taxi ride away.

Hi Dan, Yes there should be luggage carts (or trolleys as they’re known in the UK) available in the reclaim hall. At T4, National Express serves bus stops 13 & 14 outside the exit from the arrivals hall, on the same level. So a very short walk. You should easily make the coach, but please note it departs T4 at 4:15 - make sure when booking you select Terminal 4, NOT Heathrow Central Bus Station as they are nowhere near each other.

Bayley can promise whatever he likes in the full knowledge that he’ll be long gone by 2029/30 and it’ll be someone else deciding whether there’s another WC or not. This is the same Bayley who promised that Icon of the Seas would debut in the UK. His promises are completely and utterly empty but hey, it makes for good PR.

The same Michael Bayley who said this two years ago: "I promise you will bring Icon of the seas into Southampton. The UK will be the first country and market that we will bring this incredible ship into [when it launches] in ’23." The reality? Southampton’s been downgraded to Independence then Liberty. So I’m afraid I don’t believe anything the man says. He’ll say anything to get some PR, knowing full well it means nothing. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I’d be amazed if there’s ever another world cruise. This one was nowhere near full, reportedly made a loss and is completely and utterly at odds with Royal’s current strategy.