London to Paris

[dstroke27]

We took a mediterranean  cruise a few years ago, started in Barcelona and ended in Venice, we loved it!!!

Want to cruise Europe again, but also want to visit Paris. I heard you can take the train from London to Paris and back in the same day.

Looking for suggestions on cruises from London??

[gnome12]

12 minutes ago, dstroke27 said:

We took a mediterranean  cruise a few years ago, started in Barcelona and ended in Venice, we loved it!!!

Want to cruise Europe again, but also want to visit Paris. I heard you can take the train from London to Paris and back in the same day.

Looking for suggestions on cruises from London??

I have no comments on cruises from London (except to note that most ships cruise from Southampton and a few from Tilbury; none from London itself).

 

However, as regards Paris, why would you bother trying to do this in one day? Spend a few days in Paris and least. And why return to London? why not fly home from Paris? Or alternatively, fly into Paris, spend a few days, take the Eurostar to London, spend a few days there and then cruise.

 

Just my opinion.

[dogs4fun]

59 minutes ago, gnome12 said:

However, as regards Paris, why would you bother trying to do this in one day? Spend a few days in Paris and least. And why return to London? why not fly home from Paris? Or alternatively, fly into Paris, spend a few days, take the Eurostar to London, spend a few days there and then cruise.

Totally agree - do a pre or post cruise in Paris. Eurostar is the way to go!

1 hour ago, dstroke27 said:

We took a mediterranean  cruise a few years ago, started in Barcelona and ended in Venice, we loved it!!!

Want to cruise Europe again, but also want to visit Paris. I heard you can take the train from London to Paris and back in the same day.

Looking for suggestions on cruises from London??

London to Paris in one day via train is really not a viable option if you are docked in Southampton (where most cruise ships dock). You would need transportation from Southampton to London (this takes, at a minimum, over 2 hours) and then get yourself over to St. Pancras for the Eurostar to Paris. The Eurostar takes about 2 hrs, 15 mins to reach Paris. You would then have to reverse to get back to your ship in Southampton. Leaves virtually no time to see any of the magnificent sights Paris has to offer. Per gnome's post, recommend a pre or post visit.

Edited April 1, 2019 by dogs4fun

[simplyrubies]

It is also important to note that you can't just arrive at the train station 5-10 minutes before your train departs as if you were planning to travel from one French city to another - you need to allow enough time to pass through check in and customs, seeing as you are moving from one country to another. Even when the UK was part of the EU, there have always been border checks, so you would need to ensure that you add on enough time to get this all done - probably 30 minutes to 1 hour.

[JBare]

Most cruises labelled as London actually leave from Southampton, maybe Dover as you are probably aware. However Silversea cruises do regular cruises starting and ending right in the heart of London, pricey but spectacular.

 

 

[GastroGnome]

There is a cruise dock at Greenwich in the heart of London (near London City Airport).  It isn't much in use yet but will expand significantly.

 

If you dock at Dover you can go from Ashford International to Paris.  If you dock at Southampton you would probably be better going from St Pancras.  Alternatively you can fly from Southampton Airport, or from Heathrow or Gatwick.  I travel to Paris and back for business regularly.  To be honest flying is quicker and gives slightly more time on the ground; but is more expensive.  With check in security etc you will be able to spend an absolute maximum of about 5 hours in Paris.

 

I would echo Gnome12 - try an overnight.

[dstroke27]

im sorry i was not clear, we were thinking of arriving in London a few days before we cruise. This way we could see London and Paris.

Still looking for suggestions on cruises from London?

[JBare]

If you include Southampton and Dover as London, Royal Caribbean, Holland America, P&O, Cunard, Princess, Aida, Celebrity all sail regularly. No one can predict what you may want to see or do but there's The Baltic, Scandinavian countries and Russia, Norway and the Arctic Circle, The Azores, Portugal, Northern Spain and France, Western Med probably as far as Naples.

[GastroGnome]

If you want to sail from Greenwich specifically - Viking Ocean and Azmara currently list as departing from there.  Viking also depart from London Tilbury.  CMV depart from Tilbury and Harwich (as well as Southampton, Dover etc).

 

The thing is there are so many options, going so many places that a reccommendation is really difficult.

[John Bull]

Yes, London to Paris and back by Eurostar train in a very very long day is possible, and some folk do it.

Whether it's worth the effort depends whether you want to just tick Paris off your bucket-list, or give it some of the time it deserves.

 

There's a wide range of cruises from what cruise lines call "London",  but what I'll call "Southern England ports", which includes Southampton (most ships), Dover (some ships), Harwich (do any ships use Harwich now?), Tilbury (mainly small ships), Greenwich (small ships) and bang slap in central London (small ships),
The furthest from central London (Southampton) is only 90 minutes away, so no big transfer time or costs or problems. 

 

The UK is a little distant from the Mediterranean so will include a number of sea-days, but is a decent starting point for Baltic cruises - Copenhagen, Stockholm, St Petersburg etc.

Most Baltic cruises from the UK are 12 - 14 days.

 

But to include both London and Paris, here's another option to throw into the mix..............

Spend your pre-cruise time in London as planned.

The last port-of-call for many cruises from Southampton (& perhaps those other "London" cruise ports) to the Med. is Le Havre, 2 hrs from Paris. Or for the Baltic it's Zeebrugge (Bruges) in Belgium,  I guess around 2 - 3 hours from Paris.

By prior arrangement with the cruise line, a number of passengers disembark at that last port-of-call, spend a few days post-cruise in Paris, and fly home from there. That saves most of the cost and a stack of time, compared to disembarking next morning in Southampton and retracing your steps via the Eurostar train or an airplane back across the English Channel for Paris.  

 

JB