Extending in London and Paris

[letz_cruise]

We are thinking of extending 3 days in London ande 3 days in Paris and flying home from there. Any experiences, advice. 
 

Thanks. 

[Turtles06]

Check out the British Isles and France Port of Call forums

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/148-british-isleswestern-europe/

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/462-france-ports/

 

 

[BirdTravels]

20 minutes ago, letz_cruise said:

We are thinking of extending 3 days in London ande 3 days in Paris and flying home from there. Any experiences, advice. Thanks. 

We normally catch the first Eurostar from London to Paris in the morning (getting in around lunch time). You need to be able to handle your luggage in the London Underground and Paris Metro between your hotel and the train stations.

 

On arrival day, you need to get from the port to London (we normally catch the train from Southampton Central to Waterloo) and catch a cab from Waterloo to our hotel. Black cabs don't have a boot, so you need to keep all of your luggage with you. There is also a National Bus service (which is cheaper) from Southampton to London. 

 

So,,, 3 days may sound like a lot of time, but you eat up some of that time just moving around. 

[complawyer]

just remember, its about an hour+ from  london to soutghampton, and hour 1/2 from paris to le harve.  just watch your times.

[letz_cruise]

5 hours ago, Turtles06 said:

Check out the British Isles and France Port of Call forums

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/148-british-isleswestern-europe/

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/462-france-ports/

 

 

Thank-you!

[John Bull]

If your ship is sailing from Southampton and your final port-of-call is Le Havre (or Cherbourg), it's easiest and most-economical to disembark the ship there and take the train to Paris. You'll be in Paris waaay  before the ship gets to Southampton. Or hours before it even leaves Le H or Cherbourg if you're prepared to forego the sights of Normandy - giving you nigh-on two days in Paris without the need to extend. And you'll avoid avoid the cost of the drag back from Southampton to London for Eurostar to Paris or the more-expensive flight to Paris from Southampton.

 

"Open jaw" (aka multi-city) return tickets for flights from home to London & back home from Paris work out at the mid-price of return tickets to either, but have  to be booked with the same airline or its Air Alliance partners.

 

You do need the OK from the cruise line - most of them will give the OK,  some charge an admin fee. 

But NCL is one cruise line that doesn't allow it.

 

JB 🙂

[letz_cruise]

21 minutes ago, John Bull said:

If your ship is sailing from Southampton and your final port-of-call is Le Havre (or Cherbourg), it's easiest and most-economical to disembark the ship there and take the train to Paris. You'll be in Paris waaay  before the ship gets to Southampton. Or hours before it even leaves Le H or Cherbourg if you're prepared to forego the sights of Normandy - giving you nigh-on two days in Paris without the need to extend. And you'll avoid avoid the cost of the drag back from Southampton to London for Eurostar to Paris or the more-expensive flight to Paris from Southampton.

 

"Open jaw" (aka multi-city) return tickets for flights from home to London & back home from Paris work out at the mid-price of return tickets to either, but have  to be booked with the same airline or its Air Alliance partners.

 

You do need the OK from the cruise line - most of them will give the OK,  some charge an admin fee. 

But NCL is one cruise line that doesn't allow it.

 

JB 🙂

Thanks. That sounds good. 

[Globaliser]

Do you have to do both London and Paris after the cruise? I don't know whether you're asking as part of planning for the end of your Norwegian Getaway trans-Atlantic cruise in April 2024.

 

If you're doing a round-trip cruise from Southampton, then one approach would be to do London before the cruise and Paris after the cruise, although the details still depend on itinerary and cruise line.

[onyx007]

What cruise are you on ?

[WendyVF]

I would advise doing any land trip prior to your cruise if possible.  Last year we did 3 days in London after a 10 day port intensive cruise and we were all exhausted.  We managed to see the London highlights but really wished we had done it on the front end.