Post Cruise Southampton To Heathrow Princess Transfer Drop Off Point

[hpeabody]

I have tried unsuccesfuly to find the answer to my querry.  The Off-Shore non Princess people are worthless.  They just post from their script and are unable to answer specific questions.  I have tried the search here on CC including the Europe/British Isles forum and it is way to wide.  I was able to find find Princess' contracted transfer company (I think) I emailed them, no reply.  I had a horrible and unexpected bad experience the last time I had a Princess transfer to Heathrow.  I am alone, a little debilitated, lacking strength, so I have difficulty shlepping luggage.  I hope it has changed, or I will have to do a more expensive private transfer.

 

My specific querry is...  Does the Princess transfer bus stop at the arrivals area of each terminal or at a single drop point for the whole airport, which was my previous bad experience that I am trying to avoid again.  If it is a single drop point, what is the latest/current drop point?  I am hoping someone has some recent experience they can share.  TIA

[LeeW]

When we did this last fall they had separate buses to the different terminals.  Dropoff for US flights was in front of T2 checkin area.  Close, and there were both porters and free carts there for luggage (although squeezing the brake on the free cart can be difficult after a while).  The agents at checkin printed and applied luggage tags without removing bags from the cart, then we wheeled it to a belt location and dropped luggage off.  Then normal security processing.

 

For Europe dropoff should be T5 (haven't done this one yet).

[erber]

We did the Southampton to Heathrow transfer 2 weeks ago. We were going to Terminal 3.They have separate buses for different terminals. We were dropped off for Terminals 2 and 3 (which are right next to each other). My husband got a luggage cart (they are complimentary and plentiful) and then we went inside to find the appropriate check in. There was a fair amount of walking, but having the luggage cart was immensely helpful.

[hpeabody]

15 minutes ago, LeeW said:

When we did this last fall they had separate buses to the different terminals.  Dropoff for US flights was in front of T2 checkin area.  Close, and there were both porters and free carts there for luggage (although squeezing the brake on the free cart can be difficult after a while).  The agents at checkin printed and applied luggage tags without removing bags from the cart, then we wheeled it to a belt location and dropped luggage off.  Then normal security processing.

 

For Europe dropoff should be T5 (haven't done this one yet).

 

WOW! That is exactly what I was hoping to hear.  I am departing on a United International flight from T2.  My previous experience was being dropped somewhere underground in a parking structure then having to shlepp in passages & elevators/lifts to my terminal for check-In. No carts, no help, just OYO.  It was horrible for me.   I do not remember what terminals were, but I think maybe 2 and 3 were involved.

[hpeabody]

4 minutes ago, erber said:

We did the Southampton to Heathrow transfer 2 weeks ago. We were going to Terminal 3.They have separate buses for different terminals. We were dropped off for Terminals 2 and 3 (which are right next to each other). My husband got a luggage cart (they are complimentary and plentiful) and then we went inside to find the appropriate check in. There was a fair amount of walking, but having the luggage cart was immensely helpful.

 

Was it underground or at the departure areas of each T2 and T3

[hpeabody]

47 minutes ago, hpeabody said:

I have tried unsuccesfuly to find the answer to my querry.  The Off-Shore non Princess people are worthless.  They just post from their script and are unable to answer specific questions.  I have tried the search here on CC including the Europe/British Isles forum and it is way to wide.  I was able to find find Princess' contracted transfer company (I think) I emailed them, no reply.  I had a horrible and unexpected bad experience the last time I had a Princess transfer to Heathrow.  I am alone, a little debilitated, lacking strength, so I have difficulty shlepping luggage.  I hope it has changed, or I will have to do a more expensive private transfer.

 

My specific querry is...  Does the Princess transfer bus stop at the arrivals area of each terminal or at a single drop point for the whole airport, which was my previous bad experience that I am trying to avoid again.  If it is a single drop point, what is the latest/current drop point?  I am hoping someone has some recent experience they can share.  TIA

OOPS, too late to edit

"Does the Princess transfer bus stop at the arrivals area" should be departures area.

[LeeW]

For us, United checkin was just inside the door they dropped us off at.  Kind of weird terminal - huge row of separate identical stations, all with tiny electronic signs above them saying which airline.  So actually identifying United was hard from the entrance to the terminal.  Once we got a bit closer it was easy.  Premier line was much slower than regular line.

[hpeabody]

13 minutes ago, LeeW said:

For us, United checkin was just inside the door they dropped us off at.  Kind of weird terminal - huge row of separate identical stations, all with tiny electronic signs above them saying which airline.  So actually identifying United was hard from the entrance to the terminal.  Once we got a bit closer it was easy.  Premier line was much slower than regular line.

Thank you.  I now know to look at the tiny signs.  Signage in airports to me is SO IMPORTANT. Some airports are not that great.   I appreciate the warning.  I am in Polaris.  I looked up Premier line and that applies to me it seems.  Probably slower because agents are taking a little more care/time with each PAX.  I imagine it varies with the number of arriving PAX all at the same time. 

[erber]

31 minutes ago, hpeabody said:

 

Was it underground or at the departure areas of each T2 and T3

We were dropped off at the curb,  and there was a big sign telling you which door to enter for your specific airline. Then we went inside and had to look for the airline check in. There were a lot of check in kiosks and check in areas for each airline. After that we had walk again to find the security area to go through. After going through security we then had to walk to a giant to waiting area. This was an area with tons of stores and food outlets etc around it as the specific gates are not announced until much closer to boarding time. 

[hpeabody]

9 minutes ago, erber said:

We were dropped off at the curb,  and there was a big sign telling you which door to enter for your specific airline. Then we went inside and had to look for the airline check in. There were a lot of check in kiosks and check in areas for each airline. After that we had walk again to find the security area to go through. After going through security we then had to walk to a giant to waiting area. This was an area with tons of stores and food outlets etc around it as the specific gates are not announced until much closer to boarding time. 

Thank you so much, great info.  I am feeling so much better about this now.  I expect the walking/waiting in line/queue. 

[threebluestars]

If you enter your flight plans in the personaliser, they will be able to sort you onto a bus for the correct location and time.

[hpeabody]

9 minutes ago, threebluestars said:

If you enter your flight plans in the personaliser, they will be able to sort you onto a bus for the correct location and time.

 

Oooooh, yes, thank you for this tip.  I used EZAir and will check that that is sufficient.

[pink845]

On June 14th, we took the transfer from Southampton to Heathrow.  When you fill out the form Princess provides you several days prior to the last day, you indicate your flight time and carrier and flight number.  We were directed to a bus that takes us to Terminal 2 departures. We had a late departure so we indicated that we would take the transfer departing at 9.20 am.  Luggage carts right there at Terminal 2 departures.  Easy.  We were early and proceeded to our lounge to relax and have something to eat.