Transatlantics from Barbados to Southampton

[heatherb1958]

We are considering the transatlantic on Arvia flying from Manchester  to  Barbados sailing back to Southampton. 

Does P&O include a coach transfer back to departure airport at no extra cost 🤔.  

We have only sailed round trip out  of SOU and also done the Azura round trip with flights to Tenerife. 

Cheers

[kalos]

Yes done that cruise twice and dropped back at Man airport on return .

[silkworms]

We are on this very same journey now. We are due in Soton on Sunday. We have one more call in La Coruna tomorrow.

 

I cannot praise Arvia enough. She is a fabulous vessel. We are wondering if we can ever do a normal P and O ship again!  The dining venue options are amazing. Would recommend to all of you. I am really surprised how much we love it.

 

However, we have just received a letter in the cabin stating that Border Force need to see all guests and we are required to attend a face to face inspection on board prior to leaving on Sunday. Has anyone come across this before? We have sailed loads of transatlantics and never had to do this.
 

It’s no problem because we are booked on the coach to take us back to airport we flew from,

to the OP, go for it, it’s fantastic.

 

[Peanut006]

2 hours ago, heatherb1958 said:

We are considering the transatlantic on Arvia flying from Manchester  to  Barbados sailing back to Southampton. 

Does P&O include a coach transfer back to departure airport at no extra cost 🤔.  

We have only sailed round trip out  of SOU and also done the Azura round trip with flights to Tenerife. 

Cheers

We are booked on Arvia Transatlantic in March 2024 and we have a coach transfer back to Manchester included.

 

Michelle

[TigerB]

31 minutes ago, Peanut006 said:

We are booked on Arvia Transatlantic in March 2024 and we have a coach transfer back to Manchester included.

 

Michelle

 

We are on the same cruise, flying to Antigua from Manchester.

We booked when we were on board in January; however, no mention was made of a coach transfer back to Manchester.

 

Questions:

1)  Is it included for free, or do you give up OBC for it?

2)  Do they use a coach with a wheelchair lift? I would anticipate they don't.

 

Thanks 🙂

[BrianI]

The coach is free but you need to book it so P&O know how many they need to cater for.

There will be many coaches going to Manchester airport, maybe ten or more. Don’t know how many would have wheelchair access. Suggest you request it when you book.

Brian

[Peanut006]

43 minutes ago, TigerB said:

 

We are on the same cruise, flying to Antigua from Manchester.

We booked when we were on board in January; however, no mention was made of a coach transfer back to Manchester.

 

Questions:

1)  Is it included for free, or do you give up OBC for it?

2)  Do they use a coach with a wheelchair lift? I would anticipate they don't.

 

Thanks 🙂

1) It was included for free.

2) I don’t know about the wheelchair lift. I have MS and can at the moment just about manage to get on the coach. I am taking a wheel and mobility scooter with me.

 

Michelle

[TigerB]

6 hours ago, BrianI said:

The coach is free but you need to book it so P&O know how many they need to cater for.

There will be many coaches going to Manchester airport, maybe ten or more. Don’t know how many would have wheelchair access. Suggest you request it when you book.

Brian

 

6 hours ago, Peanut006 said:

1) It was included for free.

2) I don’t know about the wheelchair lift. I have MS and can at the moment just about manage to get on the coach. I am taking a wheel and mobility scooter with me.

 

Michelle

 

Thanks both of you; I'll call tomorrow.

 

My wife also has MS, Michelle, but cannot manage steps; so it would have to be one of those coaches with the wheelchair lift at the side and near the back, or an adapted minibus.

I didn't realise there would be that many, Brian. With so many passengers going back that route, the law of averages would suggest there would be more than my wife who cannot transfer; so I would hope they provide accessible vehicles.

 

[Peanut006]

7 hours ago, TigerB said:

 

 

Thanks both of you; I'll call tomorrow.

 

My wife also has MS, Michelle, but cannot manage steps; so it would have to be one of those coaches with the wheelchair lift at the side and near the back, or an adapted minibus.

I didn't realise there would be that many, Brian. With so many passengers going back that route, the law of averages would suggest there would be more than my wife who cannot transfer; so I would hope they provide accessible vehicles.

 

I would be interested to know about the wheelchair lift as the use of my legs is diminishing rapidly. I can’t use my left leg at all now and just drag it along. Who knows where I might be with it by March next year. Looking forward to the cruise though

 

Michelle

[TigerB]

1 hour ago, Peanut006 said:

I would be interested to know about the wheelchair lift as the use of my legs is diminishing rapidly. I can’t use my left leg at all now and just drag it along. Who knows where I might be with it by March next year. Looking forward to the cruise though

 

Michelle

 

Same as my wife; she calls it her chicken leg as the muscle is wasting away!

 

I'll post again after I've spoken to them.

Edited March 31, 2023 by TigerB

[TigerB]

2 hours ago, Peanut006 said:

I would be interested to know about the wheelchair lift as the use of my legs is diminishing rapidly. I can’t use my left leg at all now and just drag it along. Who knows where I might be with it by March next year. Looking forward to the cruise though

 

Michelle

 

I've just come off the phone. I can't be fully awake yet as was caught out by the (not heard before) virtual assistant, Paulie(?). "Hello, hello; am I speaking to a human"?😂

 

Anyway, long story short, we're booked onto the coach transfer and a request has been forwarded to Cruise Connect for accessible assistance.

 

For belt and braces, I will send an updated medical assistance form to request such assistance in addition to what has already been requested for the flight.

[Peanut006]

1 hour ago, TigerB said:

 

I've just come off the phone. I can't be fully awake yet as was caught out by the (not heard before) virtual assistant, Paulie(?). "Hello, hello; am I speaking to a human"?😂

 

Anyway, long story short, we're booked onto the coach transfer and a request has been forwarded to Cruise Connect for accessible assistance.

 

For belt and braces, I will send an updated medical assistance form to request such assistance in addition to what has already been requested for the flight.

We have just come off Azura four weeks ago. I filled in all the assistance forms for P & O and we were given private transfers to the ship from the airport and back. Private transfers for passengers requiring a ramp were also provided. We had assistance to board the aircraft too. 
 

Michelle

[terrierjohn]

1 hour ago, TigerB said:

 

I've just come off the phone. I can't be fully awake yet as was caught out by the (not heard before) virtual assistant, Paulie(?). "Hello, hello; am I speaking to a human"?😂

 

Anyway, long story short, we're booked onto the coach transfer and a request has been forwarded to Cruise Connect for accessible assistance.

 

For belt and braces, I will send an updated medical assistance form to request such assistance in addition to what has already been requested for the flight.

I assume the coaches are provided by Intercruises, not sure whether they have wheelchair access, however I understand that Eavseway do, but only room for one wheelchair space alongside the driver.

[TigerB]

47 minutes ago, Peanut006 said:

We have just come off Azura four weeks ago. I filled in all the assistance forms for P & O and we were given private transfers to the ship from the airport and back. Private transfers for passengers requiring a ramp were also provided. We had assistance to board the aircraft too. 
 

Michelle

 

37 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

I assume the coaches are provided by Intercruises, not sure whether they have wheelchair access, however I understand that Eavseway do, but only room for one wheelchair space alongside the driver.

 

We've never had a problem on fly-cruises before as they provide the mini-buses for the short trip from the airport to the berth, and back again.

When cruising from and back to Southampton though, we've never bothered with the Intercruises coach transfer from near us as they are not wheelchair accessible, and we prefer to make our own way down anyway.

 

For this cruise, given that we fly out from Manchester and cruise back to Southampton, we were going to get our daughter and son-in-law to come down and pick us up, which would mean us paying for a hotel for them the night before, and meals for them, as well as fuel. We really don't fancy going back up north by train, via That London, with all our luggage. So, when I discovered that they include a coach back to the airport, I thought that could be a better and cheaper option.

 

John, I don't know if the coaches are provided by Intercruises but the chap mentioned Cruise Connect; unless they are just the company that sort the logistics. I would hope though, given the number of passengers to return to Manchester, that they provide a service for wheelchair users. If, at a later date, we get the 'nah, can't do that' response, there will be emails.

 

 

[heatherb1958]

Thanks for all the replies folks.

I had forgotten they use Intercruises, we have only used Eavesway so far,   would hope the transfer back is actually to the airport and not their pick up point for our area which is not convenient  . Mmmm , food for thought. 

 

To those who need a suitable transfer  hope you get sorted.

[BrianI]

For those where transfer to the airport is not convenient one option to consider, albeit at a small cost, is to do a one way car rental to your home. Enterprise have a depot near the docks and many locations around the UK.

Brian

[TigerB]

1 hour ago, BrianI said:

For those where transfer to the airport is not convenient one option to consider, albeit at a small cost, is to do a one way car rental to your home. Enterprise have a depot near the docks and many locations around the UK.

Brian

 

That was our first consideration; however, we arrive back on a Sunday so they are closed.

[lebreos]

On 3/30/2023 at 2:24 PM, silkworms said:

However, we have just received a letter in the cabin stating that Border Force need to see all guests and we are required to attend a face to face inspection on board prior to leaving on Sunday. Has anyone come across this before? We have sailed loads of transatlantics and never had to do this.
 

 

We have had this - basically they come onboard last sea days and you all troop down to one of the MDR and present yourselves and your passports in a 1 way system. your given an allotted time to arrive and it was fairly routine and painless for us..

[heatherb1958]

2 hours ago, TigerB said:

 

That was our first consideration; however, we arrive back on a Sunday so they are closed.

 

Many years ago we hired a car one way in the UK. . In my research it was easier to check prices  from airport  to airport , Southampton Airport is cheap by uber , we have done that from  SOU airport to port in recent years . I am always thinking outside of the box as my mantra is there is a solution to every problem 😆.  

[TigerB]

18 minutes ago, heatherb1958 said:

 

Many years ago we hired a car one way in the UK. . In my research it was easier to check prices  from airport  to airport , Southampton Airport is cheap by uber , we have done that from  SOU airport to port in recent years . I am always thinking outside of the box as my mantra is there is a solution to every problem 😆.  

 

That's a consideration, thanks for that.👍

 

[Bill Y]

13 hours ago, lebreos said:

We have had this - basically they come onboard last sea days and you all troop down to one of the MDR and present yourselves and your passports in a 1 way system. your given an allotted time to arrive and it was fairly routine and painless for us..

Yes we too had this once, Just a jolly for the immigration staff, two flew out to the Azores and cruised back,

 

This was some years ago, the first time we had flown to the USA and cruised back and was concerned that there was no immigration formalities in leaving the USA, where previously years before when exiting at airports having passport stamped or handing back a slip of paper. I asked these officials about did the UK let the USA know that we had returned, they did not have a clue how things worked, they were just there to spend a few hours looking at passports while their breakfast digested before lunch. Nice work if you can get it, I wonder if they have to bid for these assignments?

[Son of Anarchy]

1 hour ago, Bill Y said:

Yes we too had this once, Just a jolly for the immigration staff, two flew out to the Azores and cruised back,

 

This was some years ago, the first time we had flown to the USA and cruised back and was concerned that there was no immigration formalities in leaving the USA, where previously years before when exiting at airports having passport stamped or handing back a slip of paper. I asked these officials about did the UK let the USA know that we had returned, they did not have a clue how things worked, they were just there to spend a few hours looking at passports while their breakfast digested before lunch. Nice work if you can get it, I wonder if they have to bid for these assignments?

Back in the days of Queen Mary  and QE1, UK customs used to send two officers on board from New York to UK in order to clear the first class passengers prior to arrival at Southampton.  Apparently they would share a second classic cabin using it as their office to do the paperwork en route. Probably a plum job. 

[Bill Y]

26 minutes ago, Son of Anarchy said:

Back in the days of Queen Mary  and QE1, UK customs used to send two officers on board from New York to UK in order to clear the first class passengers prior to arrival at Southampton.  Apparently they would share a second classic cabin using it as their office to do the paperwork en route. Probably a plum job. 

Not much productivity then only the first class done although the captains were heavy footed in them days. The two we had were male and female so surly not a dirty cruise.