Port depart times

I have been looking into a BI cruise for this year or next and looking at the arrival times in the ports. Some are as early as 6:30am. Are people really getting off the boat at that time or is that just when the boat starts to pull in? If so, how long does it usually take to get off the ship? Wondering in order to think out planning times of excursions. If it's a tender port how long does that take? I'm thinking of the Royal Princess this summer and it says 5:00am on day it gets back in port. How long does it take to get off the ship? trying to think of what time the flight home should be booked at Heathrow.

If a tender port the process would vary by cruise line. If it shows 6:30 AM (seems very early) I would plan on maybe first tender starting 7:30 AM. If docked about the same timing.

A flight out of Heathrow depends where you are ending the cruise, and day of week. We usually book a flight at Noon or slightly after that. We don't like stress so even if an earlier flight seems doable we know things can go wrong including bad traffic or a delayed ships arrival. But more information is needed as to what day of the week you will arrive and where. Again I would error on the side of having pad.

Also remember that no one knows if there will be even more increased airport security by the time you take your flight. We know what it is today but not tomorrow (by tomorrow I mean next year).

So again I pad it.

Keith

At the end of a cruise, you can disembark more quickly by opting to handle your own luggage ("Unassisted"). This can shave half-an-hour or more off the time to get ashore since you won't be wasting time searching for your bags. You will also be first in any queue for onward transport

If a tender port the process would vary by cruise line. If it shows 6:30 AM (seems very early) I would plan on maybe first tender starting 7:30 AM. If docked about the same timing.

 

A flight out of Heathrow depends where you are ending the cruise, and day of week. We usually book a flight at Noon or slightly after that. We don't like stress so even if an earlier flight seems doable we know things can go wrong including bad traffic or a delayed ships arrival. But more information is needed as to what day of the week you will arrive and where. Again I would error on the side of having pad.

 

Also remember that no one knows if there will be even more increased airport security by the time you take your flight. We know what it is today but not tomorrow (by tomorrow I mean next year).

 

So again I pad it.

 

Keith

If I go this year, it will be Southampton on a Friday Aug 17, we dock at 5:00am and I'm just traveling with a carry-on. I would rather pack really lite than deal with a checked bag. If I went next year then I would be leaving out of Dublin (Thurs Aug 8) and they get in at 7:00. That airport is much closer than the London one though.

Arrival times can be misleading - especially on disembarkation day. Unfortunately there seems to be no uniformity about how to display the time - sometimes it's when the ship arrives (so disembarking at that time would require a parachute and wet-suit ;p ), sometimes its the anticipated start of disembarkation.

For Southampton, a rule-of-thumb regardless of the quoted arrival time is unassisted disembarkation from or just before 7am & the first tranche of regular disembarkation from 7.30. Not always, but in most cases.

As Bob's post, unassisted disembarkation gives you not only that approx. half-hour head-start, it also guarantees no long lines for elevators, immigration, etc and no rugby scrum for checked luggage or hunt for it if it's misplaced..

A flight out of Heathrow at noon or even a little earlier should be OK on a weekend if you disembark unassisted with a pre-booked private transfer car (about £85) waiting for you.

I'd aim for a 1pm flight at the earliest during the week, because traffic is a lot heavier & can turn a 90 minute drive into a drive of 2.5hrs plus. Most cruise lines recommend not using their coach transfers for flights before 12.30 / 1pm.

For a flight after about 2pm you can consider the cheapest way to get to LHR, by direct Nat Express bus - that'd cost about £7 for a taxi to Southampton coach station and about £20 pp for the bus. https://www.nationalexpress.com/en

All that said, you'll avoid worry by taking a much later flight if one is available.

Sorry, can't help re timings of UK ports-of-call, I don't plan to cruise the UK until I'm old enough & senile enough to be a danger on the road ;)

JB :)

We were on Princess on the same itinerary last summer and also arrived back in Southampton at 5 am, but people weren't disembarking until around 7 am. (We disembarked at 7:30 am with a transfer tour that went via Stonehenge. Later flights allow you to do some touring around Salisbury or Windsor on the way to Heathrow.)

However, the days that we were in port early, we were also off the ship early. We arrived in St. Peter Port at 6:30 am and were on a tender at 7 am. (We went on a morning bike tour.) In Cobh, we were scheduled in at 7:30 am and our eCoach tour was scheduled to leave no later than 8 am. Etc.

ETA: The later we were in port, the longer it took to get off the ship, as everybody else was out of bed and ready to go too. There were queues.

Arrival times can be misleading - especially on disembarkation day. Unfortunately there seems to be no uniformity about how to display the time - sometimes it's when the ship arrives (so disembarking at that time would require a parachute and wet-suit ;p ), sometimes its the anticipated start of disembarkation.

 

For Southampton, a rule-of-thumb regardless of the quoted arrival time is unassisted disembarkation from or just before 7am & the first tranche of regular disembarkation from 7.30. Not always, but in most cases.

As Bob's post, unassisted disembarkation gives you not only that approx. half-hour head-start, it also guarantees no long lines for elevators, immigration, etc and no rugby scrum for checked luggage or hunt for it if it's misplaced..

 

A flight out of Heathrow at noon or even a little earlier should be OK on a weekend if you disembark unassisted with a pre-booked private transfer car (about £85) waiting for you.

I'd aim for a 1pm flight at the earliest during the week, because traffic is a lot heavier & can turn a 90 minute drive into a drive of 2.5hrs plus. Most cruise lines recommend not using their coach transfers for flights before 12.30 / 1pm.

For a flight after about 2pm you can consider the cheapest way to get to LHR, by direct Nat Express bus - that'd cost about £7 for a taxi to Southampton coach station and about £20 pp for the bus. https://www.nationalexpress.com/en

 

All that said, you'll avoid worry by taking a much later flight if one is available.

 

Sorry, can't help re timings of UK ports-of-call, I don't plan to cruise the UK until I'm old enough & senile enough to be a danger on the road ;)

 

JB :)

I don't like the anxiety and stress of worrying about missing the flight home so I was even thinking about taking a late flight like 10:00pm. I was thinking of doing something on the way there or once near the city but was thinking what do I do with my luggage. Not so much fun to sight see with all that stuff.

I don't like the anxiety and stress of worrying about missing the flight home so I was even thinking about taking a late flight like 10:00pm. I was thinking of doing something on the way there or once near the city but was thinking what do I do with my luggage. Not so much fun to sight see with all that stuff.

They have organized transfer tours & they store your luggage on the bus

the Cruise line may offer them as well as Londontoolkit site

I don't like the anxiety and stress of worrying about missing the flight home so I was even thinking about taking a late flight like 10:00pm. I was thinking of doing something on the way there or once near the city but was thinking what do I do with my luggage. Not so much fun to sight see with all that stuff.

One of these tour-transfers would fill the gap nicely

https://www.londontoolkit.com/travel/southampton_to_london_shared_bus.html

They're independently-run by an established & respected coach operator, they collect at your cruise terminal, & drop off at all LHR terminals around 5 / 5.30pm

Or your ship might offer a tour-transfer.

JB :)

One of these tour-transfers would fill the gap nicely

https://www.londontoolkit.com/travel/southampton_to_london_shared_bus.html

They're independently-run by an established & respected coach operator, they collect at your cruise terminal, & drop off at all LHR terminals around 5 / 5.30pm

 

Or your ship might offer a tour-transfer.

 

JB :)

Yes, last year Princess offered transfer tours that had you at the airport just before 2 pm -- which were good for us as our flight was around 5 pm and the londontoolkit.com transfer runs later. (Also, we had OBC to use up.)

Something to think about, I was surprised how much cheaper our flight was coming home the day after disembarkation. We are going to able to do a full day tour, be dropped off at a hotel near Heathrow, have a leisurely breakfast and fly home. Our tour is with International Friends. I saved enough on the plane fare to pay for hotel and then some.

Just a thought.