Need Help with Transition from Flight to Ship

[BHappy2Day]

Hubby and I have booked 2 staterooms 25 June-7 July 2013 12-day Baltic Cruise on RCCL Adventure of the Seas with son and his girlfriend. We live near DC and Dulles airport, which is an obvious starting point for non-stop to Heathrow, and I have found an outbound United non-stop flight leaving at 10 pm on 23 June and arriving the next day around 10:30 am--perfect timing for a Transatlantic flight, I think. Arriving a day early gives us some jet-lag recovery time in England.

 

The ship debarks some 100 miles or so south of Heathrow, in Southampton.

 

There are some important details I don't have enough experience with. We are not that cost-sensitive (to a point;))--what we really want hassle-free travel--that is my main goal in trip planning. We want to land and go directly to a hotel.

 

Here are my questions for those who have experience with this:

 

What are the advantages and disadvantages of booking through Choice Air? I do not see an advantage price-wise for Business Class.

 

Should I have RCCL handle airport transfer to hotel and transfer to airport? Has anyone done this for Heathrow-to-Southampton?

 

Does it make sense to stay at or near the airport and get an RCCL transfer the next day?

 

Is there a fairly hassle-free alternative to having RCCL handle everything?

 

Should we stay that first night in London or Southampton? Hubby and I have been to London for our honeymoon. I think we are doing an RCCL post-cruise Windsor Castle and airport transfer excursion.

 

Anyone stayed in Southampton? Any recommendations?

 

Thank you so much for any help!!!

[kenish]

Start out by reading the sticky about Choice Air. There are several active threads on the topic too. Flying in a day early mitigates some of the risks of Choice Air. That said, if there is no price difference it makes no sense to involve a third party. Book directly with the airliine.

 

I have no experience with Southampton but cruiseline transfers are rarely a good value.

[CruiserBruce]

I agree with reading up on Choice Air, and that rarely are cruise line transfers and hotels a good deal.

 

If you go over to the British Isles board, you will see all sorts of hotel and transport info.

[6rugrats]

Is there a reason you wouldn't consider the flight that departs at 9:25 a.m.?

[Globaliser]

Should we stay that first night in London or Southampton? Hubby and I have been to London for our honeymoon. I think we are doing an RCCL post-cruise Windsor Castle and airport transfer excursion.

 

Anyone stayed in Southampton? Any recommendations?

If you are not that price sensitive, stay in London. It'll be more fun to have 24 hours in London than in Southampton. There are always new things to see and do in London. Then in the morning, take the fast train from Waterloo to Southampton Central - and think about whether you'd want to splurge for first class for a bit of extra comfort. (It's a pity that it's not a weekend, when the train company has a very good deal for first class travel.)

 

If you do decide to stay in Southampton, you might try clicking here when search is working, running the search and looking through some of the accumulated wisdom on that forum.

[sandij]

I too like a worry free trip, try to keep tabs on the expenses but my state of mine is more important. Our one trip out of Southhampton we had a Princess cruise and had them pick us up at the airport, we stayed after the cruise in London and also had them do the pick up and arrange the hotel and take us back to the airport in a couple days. It was lovely and we got to relax and enjoy.

[fantasy51]

I quickly googled 'Heathrow to southampton' and came up with lots of options. This page is very helpful to give you background, so you know why you might choose a more expensive option in order to save lots of hassle. For example, if you wanted to go by train from Heathrow, it would be cheap but you would first need to struggle with your luggage around the underground, carrying it up a few stairs, perhaps change lines to get to the right station for Southampton, etc. Once in Southampton you'd need to get a taxi to take you from the railway station to the port. Better to pay more!

http://www.londontoolkit.com/travel/heathrow_southampton.htm

(In case this web address is not allowed, go to londontoolkit dot com and search.)

[Shak]

Transportation to Southampton or Harwich is very expensive. Royal Caribbean used to offer transfers from Victoria Coach Station to either port. Victoria Coach Station is a couple of blocks from Victoria Train Station.

 

If you go in early and stay by the airport I believe you can buy transfers for that location. If you buy Choice Air transfers from the airport may be included but you'll have to check.

 

Another option for transportation is go to your roll call and ask if anyone wants to get private transportation or you could use public transportation.

 

Shak