Harwich Cruise Train

[5onadime]

Any experience with this? We are sailing on celebrity Infinity next summer and we have been thinking about taking this. But. In my head I picture an entire train load of people heading to check in at the same time. I was wondering about taking regular train from liverpool street station and changing at manningtree. Is this difficult? It looks like only 5 minutes between the trains the good news is that I will be traveling with my husband and three teenage boys. So I probably wouldn't have to carry a suitcase :-)

[5onadime]

Another question. We are scheduled to dock at 4:00 am. If we had a private car and were off the ship by 7:00 would we be able to make a 12:25 flight. That is the last flight of the day for our destination

[John Bull]

The train that leaves Manningtree is on a branch line & it's scheduled for people who want to make that change. So if the train from Liverpool Street station is a few minutes late, it will wait.

 

You have to switch to the next platform by taking stairs down, under the line, & stairs up to the next platform. There's no elevator. Makes it difficult for some folk who can't haul their own luggage, but since you're taking four porters with you ....... :)

 

In the other direction - from Harwich international to Liverpool Street - the change is very simple, from one side of the platform to the other.

 

It's a great deal cheaper than the cruise special.

 

.................................................................

 

In the wee small hours, the drive to either Heathrow or Gatwick is 2 hours or a little less.

But even if you self-disembark (haul your own luggage) & are away by say 7.15 there's a significant risk you'll get fouled-up in the commuter traffic, take twice as long, & miss your flight.

Unless it's a saturday or a sunday.

 

What day/date is your return?

Are you flying from Heathrow or Gatwick?

If you miss that flight are your tickets transferable?

 

JB :)

Edited November 13, 2013 by John Bull

[5onadime]

Thank you so very very much. You absolutely cleared things up in my head! I think we will not try to make that flight. I guess we will just have to stay another day.

[cougfan]

We took the train from Liverpool Street that would have got us to Harwich just before the cruise train. There were a few problems though and we missed the change at Manningtree and had to wait for the next train, 40 minutes or so. We also couldn't make a flight on the day we got off of our cruise. Because of work going on the train tracks, the trains were replaced by a bus service, so we shared a car service back to London and spent the afternoon visiting The HMS Belfast and touring the Tower Bridge.

[John Bull]

Thank you so very very much. You absolutely cleared things up in my head! I think we will not try to make that flight. I guess we will just have to stay another day.

 

Wise decision.:)

 

Just to clarify, it's more likely you'd make that flight than miss it, even on a weekday.

But a "balance-of-probability" isn't a good basis to work on.

Although there's never any cast-iron guarantees, if several thousand dollars-worth of flight tickets are at stake I'd want the odds seriously-stacked in my favour.

 

I'd suggest taking the train (no need for the cruise special) back to London, & either overnite near Liverpool Street (south of is more convenient than north of) or stash your luggage at the station, spend the day in London, & head for an airport hotel that evening.

 

JB :)

[kelmac]

John Bull has it 100% correct. We took the "regular" 11:00am train from Liverpool Street Station, made the connection in Manningtree, and arrived right next to the ship at Harwich International station (total time = 1:17 minutes). You have five minutes to move your luggage off the first train, down the platform to the stairs that lead down under the tracks, and up to the next platform. We did this in about 2 minutes with no problem (we have no mobility issues).

The price was only £ 8 per person each way. The "Cruise Train" does not stop in Manningtree and so it is a bit more convenient, however it is more expensive and crowded with loads of people + luggage. This past summer it was £ 49 per person each way. It gets to Harwich International five minutes faster than the hourly schedule regular trains and usually leaves after noon, but before 13:00.

At the end of the cruise (BtoB), we used a car service -- we needed to get to Southampton to board the QM2 for our TA back to NYC, so the whole train thing was too slow and complex for that transfer.

 

Good Luck!

Kel:)

[Ashland]

After our cruise we took I believe the approx 8:30am train to Liverpool Street Station and then took a taxi to our hotel.(Kensington area)...The opportunity to spend even one night in London is a wise choice..Luckily we were spending a week....Enjoy !!

[SixOneTwo]

We did the Manningtree connection both ways this summer. On the way to Harwich, there were actually a few men on the platform in uniforms offering to help up and down the stairs with luggage. On the way back to London, the train stopped at Manningtree, but we were told we didn't have to change trains. Not sure why, but we got to London on time as planned.

 

$8 London to Harwich and about $16 Harwich to London (we paid slightly more for an earlier departing train).

 

It was INCREDIBLY easy and I wouldn't do it any other way in the future.

 

Oh, and there was NOT a big rush of people getting off the train and checking in to the ship. It was very relaxed and I would say the number of Celebrity reps to passengers in the terminal was about 1:1.

[AVAD]

Thanks to all--good info. We are sailing Celebrity from Harwich this summer and planned to take either the bus or train, but I did not know there was a "cruise train" that stopped at the port.

Does it leave only on cruise days and is it different from the regular daily trains to Harwich?

Thanks.

[Traveling Library]

We took the cruise train from Harwich to London. They only run when there is a ship in port. The train goes directly from the port to Liverpool Street Station. You do not have to change in Manningtree. I think the cruise specials left at 8:03 and 9:03am. We would do this again. Very relaxing and fun to see the countryside.

[Twickenham]

Thanks to all--good info. We are sailing Celebrity from Harwich this summer and planned to take either the bus or train, but I did not know there was a "cruise train" that stopped at the port.

Does it leave only on cruise days and is it different from the regular daily trains to Harwich?

Thanks.

 

Just to be clear, the only difference between the cruise train and the regular trains is that you don't need to change at Manningtree. Both stop at Harwich International station, where the cruise port is.

[kelmac]

Thanks to all--good info. We are sailing Celebrity from Harwich this summer and planned to take either the bus or train, but I did not know there was a "cruise train" that stopped at the port.

Does it leave only on cruise days and is it different from the regular daily trains to Harwich?

Thanks.

 

AVAD,

 

Every day of the year, trains run from Liverpool Street Station to Harwich International. These trains all require a transfer at Manningtree. The Cruise Train only runs when there is a ship in port, that port is about 50 meters from the Harwich International train station.

 

Here is the site you can check schedules and purchase tickets. If you purchase in advance, the price is less. It will be a while before the Cruise Train will show up on the schedule:

 

http://ojp.nationalrail.co.uk/service/planjourney/search

 

Good Luck,

Kel:)

[DorneyBoy]

I think what should be underlined with regards Harwich by train is at Harwich International the platform is just yards from the cruise terminal but in London the Liverpool Street rail terminus is very inconvenient.

 

Liverpool Street is very inconvenient,stressful or expensive and time consuming going direct from Heathrow Airport. Most hotels that leisure travellers in London stay in will be in a hotel district far from Liverpool Street.

 

The amount of money in question about whether cruise train or stopping train will probably be insignificant to the relative savings by choosing your London hotel location carefully and fully factoring in the costs of getting between London hotel and Liverpool Street and London hotel and your London airport.

Edited November 15, 2013 by DorneyBoy

[kelmac]

I think what should be underlined with regards Harwich by train is at Harwich International the platform is just yards from the cruise terminal but in London the Liverpool Street rail terminus is very inconvenient.

 

Liverpool Street is very inconvenient,stressful or expensive and time consuming going direct from Heathrow Airport. Most hotels that leisure travellers in London stay in will be in a hotel district far from Liverpool Street.

 

The amount of money in question about whether cruise train or stopping train will probably be insignificant to the relative savings by choosing your London hotel location carefully and fully factoring in the costs of getting between London hotel and Liverpool Street and London hotel and your London airport.

 

Good point! We stayed at the Hilton DoubleTree in the Russel Square area and used a Cab to get to Liverpool Street Station. Taking the "tube" to the train station is easy, except when you have cruise luggage; don't try it.:eek:

 

This YouTube video does give you a look at the cruise port in Harwich. By the way, to a North American, we would say "Har Witch", but in the UK it is pronounced " Har-ich ". :)

 

 

Have fun,

Kel

[AVAD]

Thanks so much to everyone for clearing up most of my questions.i am sure we will take the train. After reading the first posts, I was all set to stay pre-cruise near the Liverpool Street station, but now I am not so sure. Isn't the Liverpool Street Station near the Tower of London? My husband and I travel with 1 large bag each and a backpack, so we don't normally have a baggage problem, but I know lots of stairs could be problematic.

If the station is very stressful and difficult, will we need a cab even if we stay near the area? My original plans were to to stay near Victoria Station for convenience (and budget) sake.

Forgive my ignorance of trains, but does this train to Harwich only originate from Liverpool Street? Do I understand that starting from another station (like Victoria) and switching at Liverpool Station is what makes it difficult?

I appreciate your insights.

Ava

[Turtles06]

Forgive my ignorance of trains, but does this train to Harwich only originate from Liverpool Street? Do I understand that starting from another station (like Victoria) and switching at Liverpool Station is what makes it difficult?

I appreciate your insights.

Ava

 

I believe that what can make the train trip from London to Harwich on NON-embarkation day difficult is that you must change trains in Maningtree, which requires taking your luggage up some stairs to another platform. (I will say, though, that we recently sailed from Harwich on the Infinity TA, and someone we met on board said he had changed trains in Colchester, where the second train was on the same level. I hadn't read that on here, so you might want to do a search.)

 

On the actual day the ship leaves, from what I've read on here the "cruise train" runs directly from Liverpool Street Station to Harwich, and no change of trains is necessary.

 

(BTW, we went directly from Heathrow to Harwich the day before sailing, using Harwich Taxis. Pricier than the train, yes, but we weren't going into London itself and the convenience after an overnight flight was well worth it. The service that we received from Harwich Taxis was excellent, and I would highly recommend them.)

[John Bull]

Thanks so much to everyone for clearing up most of my questions.i am sure we will take the train. After reading the first posts, I was all set to stay pre-cruise near the Liverpool Street station, but now I am not so sure.

 

Isn't the Liverpool Street Station near the Tower of London?

About a 15-20 min walk to Tower of London, ditto places like St Paul's & Shakespeare's Globe Theatre.

Much the same as Victoria being about a 15 to 20 min walk to Big Ben & Westminster Abbey, though there are rather more sights at that end of central London - Liverpool Street end is mainly the business/banking end of central London.

Westminster, near the London Eye (eg the County Hall hotels) is probably most convenient for sight-seeing.

Any hotel will be close to some sights but further from others. But, even for areas further out, travel to & around central London is fast, frequent & inexpensive by tube.

 

 

As a rule-of-thumb, if you're in central London for only one night, it's probably easier to choose a hotel close to your transportation into or out of London. For a longer stay, perhaps put more emphasis on convenience to the sights, including a main ho-ho route & a tube station.

 

My husband and I travel with 1 large bag each and a backpack, so we don't normally have a baggage problem, but I know lots of stairs could be problematic.

Liverpool Street station, no worries.

Travelling to the station depends very much on your specific journey. For most tube stations there are elevators and/or escalators, but some involve stairs. And your journey might involve switching tube trains. Needs a Londoner for best advice on routing with luggage, that might include a cab all or part of the way.

But don't get stressed out - it's all a whole lot easier than most London virgins anticipate.:)

 

If the station is very stressful and difficult, will we need a cab even if we stay near the area?

The station is very easy, you'll only need a cab (or tube) if it's too far for you to walk with your luggage.

 

 

My original plans were to to stay near Victoria Station for convenience (and budget) sake.

Convenience depends on where you're travelling from & to.

From Gatwick airport, Victoria is easy by train or bus.

From Heathrow it's easy by bus, very inconvenient by train, surprisingly easy in-bound by tube, even with luggage.

 

To Liverpool Street it's quite simple by tube, no changes.

But with luggage, you needs a Londoner to tell you how easy those tube stations.

 

Forgive my ignorance of trains, but does this train to Harwich only originate from Liverpool Street? Do I understand that starting from another station (like Victoria) and switching at Liverpool Station is what makes it difficult?

London has a ring of main line terminus stations around its centre. Harwich is north-east from London, so it's served by Liverpool Street station - which is in the north-east corner of central London. Victoria is in the south-west corner, and serves places to the south & south-west like Dover & Gatwick.

Not all as simple as that but yes, for Harwich the Liverpool Street station is the closest to central London. So you need to get to Liverpool Street. By tube or taxi or shanks's, depending where you start from.

 

I appreciate your insights.

 

Ava

 

There are just so many options, any attempt to provide detail starts to make it all look horribly complicated.

It isn't.:)

And if you choose the poorest option, it'll only cost you a few minutes, or a short taxi ride or two.

Post again when you've selected - or even booked - a hotel, & we'll advise on best transportation to/from that hotel. Include your airport details.

 

Some useful websites:

http://www.theoriginaltour.com/tour-information/tour-info.htm

 

http://www.theoriginaltour.com/UserFiles/OriginalLondonTourMap(2).pdf

(the yellow route covers the main sights)

 

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/standard-tube-map.pdf

 

http://www.londontoolkit.com/

 

 

JB :)

[John Bull]

i believe that what can make the train trip from london to harwich on non-embarkation day difficult is that you must change trains in maningtree, which requires taking your luggage up some stairs to another platform. (i will say, though, that we recently sailed from harwich on the infinity ta, and someone we met on board said he had changed trains in colchester, where the second train was on the same level. I hadn't read that on here, so you might want to do a search.

yes, a different train and a change at colchester is possible. But the cost is close to that of the direct cruise-special.

 

on the actual day the ship leaves, from what i've read on here the "cruise train" runs directly from liverpool street station to harwich, and no change of trains is necessary.

correct. But quite a lot more expensive than the regular train.

 

(btw, we went directly from heathrow to harwich the day before sailing, using harwich taxis. Pricier than the train, yes, but we weren't going into london itself and the convenience after an overnight flight was well worth it. The service that we received from harwich taxis was excellent, and i would highly recommend them.)

yep, travel by public transport between heathrow (or gatwick) & harwich is via a double change in central london - no fun unless you plan to spend a day or two there.

a private transfer, which by-passes london, although it can be more expensive is a much better bet. Cheaper than ship's transfer for a party of three or more, possibly even for a couple.

 

and an operator based at the port end (eg harwich taxis) is generally better value than an airport-based outfit.

 

 

jb :)

absence of caps is down to a glitch, not my poor grammar.;)

Edited November 15, 2013 by John Bull

[kelmac]

Thanks so much to everyone for clearing up most of my questions.i am sure we will take the train. After reading the first posts, I was all set to stay pre-cruise near the Liverpool Street station, but now I am not so sure. Isn't the Liverpool Street Station near the Tower of London? My husband and I travel with 1 large bag each and a backpack, so we don't normally have a baggage problem, but I know lots of stairs could be problematic.

If the station is very stressful and difficult, will we need a cab even if we stay near the area? My original plans were to to stay near Victoria Station for convenience (and budget) sake.

Forgive my ignorance of trains, but does this train to Harwich only originate from Liverpool Street? Do I understand that starting from another station (like Victoria) and switching at Liverpool Station is what makes it difficult?

I appreciate your insights.

Ava

 

I think anywhere in Central London is fine for your hotel location! For sight seeing, the "tube" is wonderful and fun. To get to Liverpool Street station (and yes, this is the only train station offering trains to Harwich), just take a cab. (cruise luggage is not fun on the tube)

Below is a nice map showing the different train stations in London, and the areas they serve:

 

http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/css/OfficialNationalRailmapsmall.pdf

 

All this transportation stuff looks complex, but really it's easy. The great people of the UK have wonderful public transportation systems, and we fine it fun and convenient sans the automobile. By the way, we used Hotwire to find our hotel. London is very expensive, however, we only paid $96 a night through Hotwire, for a four star hotel **** two blocks from the British Museum.

 

Enjoy!

Kel:)

[DorneyBoy]

I think anywhere in Central London is fine for your hotel location! just take a cab. (cruise luggage is not fun on the tube)

:)

 

Indicative black cab taxi fares 2013 to some popular hotel districts in Londob (in US$)

 

Liverpool Street - Tower of London $US10.50

Liverpool Street - County Hall $US20

Liverpool Street - Victoria $US24

Liverpool Street - Kings Cross St Pancras $US24

Liverpool Street - Marble Arch $US32

Liverpool Street - Paddington $US36

Liverpool Street - Kensington Earls Court/Gloucester Road $US40

[Curly-Q]

Well, this is certainly a very informative thread, so I'll add my questions:

 

We've booked a Harwich Infinity cruise next October and and pre-cruise stay in a wonderful apartment near the Jubilee line/Bermondsey station. We'll be arriving at Heathrow T-4 either on Saturday or Sunday and wondering what would be the best way to get to Bermondsey station from there, especially with manageable luggage in tow and keeping costs down?

 

Also, we plan to take the train (regular or cruise) to the cruise terminal and are wondering if we should catch the train at Liverpool, or follow the Jubilee around to Stratford and make the train connection there--which seems easy enough looking at the map, but not sure?

 

We are staying the night of the cruise return at Heathrow. We will need to plan our exit from Harwich to Heathrow, but there's no rush since we'll be staying the night before flying out the next day. Using a private car service is not high on our list since we have the time to get to Heathrow. Don't know which would be better-- the cruise or regular train or cruise bus service?

 

Thanks for the help and suggestions!!!

[Cruising-along]

Very informative thread! I really appreciate all the advice here. We had thought we would take the cruise train, but we didn't know how easy it would be to take the "regular" train. Thank you to all who posted photos and videos too. :)

[Twickenham]

We've booked a Harwich Infinity cruise next October and and pre-cruise stay in a wonderful apartment near the Jubilee line/Bermondsey station. We'll be arriving at Heathrow T-4 either on Saturday or Sunday and wondering what would be the best way to get to Bermondsey station from there, especially with manageable luggage in tow and keeping costs down?

 

If you think you can manage your luggage on the underground, it's just one transfer from LHR to Bermondsey (change at Green Park). Certainly that would be your cheapest option.

 

Also, we plan to take the train (regular or cruise) to the cruise terminal and are wondering if we should catch the train at Liverpool, or follow the Jubilee around to Stratford and make the train connection there--which seems easy enough looking at the map, but not sure?

 

I believe you'd still have to backtrack to Liverpool Street station from Stratford. Might as well just start off at Liverpool St.

 

We are staying the night of the cruise return at Heathrow. We will need to plan our exit from Harwich to Heathrow, but there's no rush since we'll be staying the night before flying out the next day. Using a private car service is not high on our list since we have the time to get to Heathrow. Don't know which would be better-- the cruise or regular train or cruise bus service?

 

Depending on what time you're flying out the next day, you could look at train back to Liverpool St., staying in London that night somewhere convenient to either the Picadilly tube line or Paddington (for the Heathrow Express/Connect trains), then just going to LHR the next day.

[kelmac]

Well, this is certainly a very informative thread, so I'll add my questions:

 

We've booked a Harwich Infinity cruise next October and and pre-cruise stay in a wonderful apartment near the Jubilee line/Bermondsey station. We'll be arriving at Heathrow T-4 either on Saturday or Sunday and wondering what would be the best way to get to Bermondsey station from there, especially with manageable luggage in tow and keeping costs down?

 

Also, we plan to take the train (regular or cruise) to the cruise terminal and are wondering if we should catch the train at Liverpool, or follow the Jubilee around to Stratford and make the train connection there--which seems easy enough looking at the map, but not sure?

 

We are staying the night of the cruise return at Heathrow. We will need to plan our exit from Harwich to Heathrow, but there's no rush since we'll be staying the night before flying out the next day. Using a private car service is not high on our list since we have the time to get to Heathrow. Don't know which would be better-- the cruise or regular train or cruise bus service?

 

Thanks for the help and suggestions!!!

 

I personally would not take cruise luggage on the tube; it's difficult to move through the small passageways and you really get in the way of the locals trying to go to and from work.

 

This would be the way I would do it:

 

-- take the Heathrow Express from the airport to Paddington

-- take a cab from Paddington to your hotel (flat)

-- use the tube for sight-seeing

-- take a cab to Liverpool Street Station

-- take a regular train to Harwich

-- take the return train Harwich to Liverpool Street Station

-- take a cab to a hotel near Paddington

-- take the Heathrow Express back to Heathrow

 

What you save by not taking the "Cruise Train" you can use to pay for Taxi Cabs.

 

Enjoy!

Kel:)