gumshoe958

Sure, no problem.

Just go to any of the specialty restaurants as soon as possible after you board. The maitre d’ will make all your reservations for you.

Ok, if you fly British Airways from Heathrow T5 with carry-on only, you need to be at security no less than 35 minutes before departure time. So that’s 12.15pm for the 12.50 flight. The 9am coach is due in to LHR T5 at 10.45 so you’d have 90 minutes of wiggle room. Perfectly doable I think but YMMV.

It’s conceivable that you’ll be booked on an indirect flight via another European hub eg Paris or Amsterdam, in which case the connecting flight could arrive at any number of British airports, at any time of day. Come back when you know the itinerary and we’ll happily advise on transport options.

@victory2020 If your AA flight into LHR is on time it’s doable but you haven’t got a lot of wiggle room if it’s late. The big unknown is how long it takes to clear immigration. If you have a US passport you can use the automatic passport gates which may or may not have a line. If they don’t and you’re a fast walker, you could do plane to bus in less than 30 minutes. National Express offer a ‘Change & Go’ add-on for £5 which lets you board any available bus 12 hours either side of the one you booked, which might be worth considering. As for a 9.20 flight from Southampton, again it’s doable if the ship’s on time, you’re off early by about 7.30 and you have a mobile boarding pass so can go straight to security without queueing for a check-in agent. SOU is a small airport and is fast and easy to navigate. But again, you’re relying on everything going to plan. Depends on your attitude to risk.

Thankfully most CC users won’t have to suffer the misfortune of experiencing T4 as I don’t think any transatlantic flights use it. It’s mainly Air France, KLM, Qatar and some other Middle Eastern & Asian airlines. American, Delta & Virgin use T3. United, JetBlue & Air Canada use T2. British Airways use T5 & T3.

Tipping is less prevalent in the UK than it is in the US. 10-15% is absolutely fine for a cab driver. They’ll be fine with US$.

@victory2020 You need to check which terminal at Heathrow your flight uses. There are three entirely separate National Express stops serving Terminals 2/3, 4 and 5. It’s a vast airport and you can’t just walk between terminals. The Southampton coaches stop at Terminals 2/3 and 5, but not 4.

It’s perfectly doable, yes. There should be plenty of taxis at the port, or you can use Uber.

Delta always use Terminal 3, and you should book a coach from T2/3. There is an underground passageway with moving walkways that’ll take you directly from T3 arrivals to the elevators up to the bus station, it’s a 5 minute walk. To my knowledge National Express haven’t been affected by any strikes. The trains have, and some local buses in London, but not NX.

Any London taxi (they’re known as black cabs) will seat 5 passengers and has wide doors and room for a walker plus luggage. They’re very spacious. Or - Uber (choose an Uber XL which seats 6). Or - you could try booking a Select+ car with https://www.addisonlee.com With good traffic it’s a 15 minute journey so I would aim to leave between 7 and 7.15am to allow for rush hour (although you should beat the worst of it).

See the excellent post #8 by @John Bull for your options for getting between the Southampton cruise terminals and Heathrow Airport. But in short, if you want a direct transfer from ship to plane, your options are either (a) the ship’s transfer coach, (b) a pre-booked private car transfer or (c) a cab to the National Express station from where you can catch a scheduled coach to LHR.

There’s more to see in Chester but you could actually do both - Port Sunlight’s on the train line between Liverpool & Chester so you could easily get off, look around for an hour or so then continue on to Chester. The trains are very frequent and the Liverpool cruise terminal is only a 5-10 minute walk from the nearest station (James Street).

There’s a Novotel and an Ibis Budget half way along the walk between the Horizon terminal and the coach station - they’d be most convenient. Many cruisers also recommend the Premier Inn Southampton West Quay (note there are several other Premier Inns in Southampton so check it’s the right one), the Leonardo and the Holiday Inn which are slightly further away but all easily walkable from both the coach station and terminal.

Probably. It depends on your terminal. Horizon - 10-15 mins City - 15 mins Mayflower - 20-25 mins Ocean - 20-25 mins QE2 - not really walkable All involve a fairly uninspiring walk through industrial docks and retail parks, with some busy roads to cross (although there are pedestrian crossings).

I’ve never done it but I guess it depends how interested you are in the history of Guinness! It’ll certainly be more exclusive than the standard tour which is extremely popular.

No-one ever boards any Royal ship before 10am. 10.30 is usually the absolute earliest, and then it’s only Pinnacles, suite guests and people who’ve bought the Key. Typically 11am or just before is when general boarding starts for everyone else.

@tj_shopper In answer to your question about Uber, £150-200 is the ballpark total amount for 4 XL cars - so about £40-50 per car. (At this precise moment it’s quoting £41.95 from Terminal 5, but obviously that varies.) In my experience it’s rare that hotels anywhere have good, up-to-date information about local buses so I’m not surprised they gave you the wrong details. The Hoppa used to serve that hotel but they seem to have cut back their network post-Covid. The number 7 will be much cheaper, anyway. I see no reason why you wouldn’t make the 11:10pm bus unless your flight’s late.

Ok, the good news is there are local bus services, even late at night: Route 4 runs from Heathrow Central bus station (for Terminals 2 & 3) every hour all night, and the Route 7 runs from Terminal 5 every hour until just after midnight. Both routes stop very close to the HIE T5. (You don’t say which airline you’re flying but if it’s Aegean you’ll arrive at Terminal 2 or if it’s British Airways it’ll be Terminal 5.) Alternatively there will be Ubers available but you’ll need 4 XL cars so there may be a wait, and you’re looking at the £150-200 mark for all of you. The bus is currently £2 per person.

It is. But ignore the ludicrously overpriced ship’s tour, book direct and you’ll pay less than a third of the price. https://www.guinness-storehouse.com/en/home There are regular cheap trains into Dublin from the station at Dun Laoghaire which is very close to the port.

If you’re on a TA with Barcelona the final destination, you will have to go through passport control even if the ship has called at other Spanish ports en route. There may or may not be a queue but if you carry your own bags and you’re off early it shouldn’t be too bad. I’d expect disembarkation to be well underway by 7.

I’d imagine they’ll start self-assist disembarkation before 7am. Centraal station is a 5-10 minute cab or tram ride or an easy 15-20 minute walk from the ship (assuming Silhouette docks at the main passenger terminal) so you’ll easily make it as long as you’re off by 8.30.

Just leave him in Playmakers all day.

Either a taxi from Southampton to Portsmouth (it’s about 20 miles, a half hour drive) or there are normally two trains an hour (taking 40-60 mins), although you’d need a cab to and from the station at each end.

Weymouth and Portsmouth are about 80 miles apart - around a 2 hour drive or 2.5 hours by train.