Portsmouth back to Heathrow

[Keldvm]

Hello! We arrive back in Portsmouth on 8 September and are looking for options back to Heathrow.  We don't fly until the 9th and are booked at an airpots Hilton.  We'd like to see Stonehenge on the way back.  There is a shore excursion that does this but I thought I'd ask if there are other private companies that we could look at before we just book through Virgin.

 

Cheers!

Kelly

[kaysha2004]

Take the Virgin transfer for $35 per person.  I had booked a private transfer and it cost $200 that I have now cancelled.

[gumshoe958]

Unfortunately Portsmouth isn’t geared up for a range of private shore excursions the way Southampton is, as it’s a far less busy cruise port.
 

If you were arriving in Southampton, International Friends offers exactly what you’re looking for - a transfer from the port to your airport hotel at LHR stopping at Stonehenge en route.

 

Sadly they don’t operate from Portsmouth though, and I’m not aware of another company that does. So on this occasion you’re probably best using Virgin’s own excursion.

 

[Hammer61]

On 8/11/2024 at 5:42 AM, Keldvm said:

We'd like to see Stonehenge on the way back.

On our cruise, Virgin offer an excursion on disembarkation day with Heathrow airport drop off, its a visit to Salsbury and its Cathedral and Stonehenge, you do need (Virgin recommends) to be booked on a flight departing after 6-30pm though!  

 

 

[monn_a]

I struggled with the same decisions.  I ended up using both of the options listed above. I am using International Friends to get from LHR to Portsmough (the day before the cruise). It's taking me to Southampton and I'll get a car to my hotel.  Post cruise I originally had an excursion that would end at the airport but when the transfers posted I canceled the excursion and am now taking the transfer to LHR from the ship. I couldn't believe how hard it is to get to the cruise ports and how expensive it is. 

[Harters]

4 hours ago, monn_a said:

how hard it is to get to the cruise ports and how expensive it is

I presume those two facts are very connected. We live in a capitalist society. 😃

Edited August 18 by Harters

[Globaliser]

5 hours ago, monn_a said:

I couldn't believe how hard it is to get to the cruise ports and how expensive it is. 

 

If you fly to one city and then start your cruise in a different city altogether, this is almost inevitable.

 

One analogy is flying to New York City and cruising from Philadelphia. (Or maybe that should be the other way around.)

[Cotswold Eagle]

6 hours ago, monn_a said:

I couldn't believe how hard it is to get to the cruise ports and how expensive it is. 

There are, of course, public transport options between Southampton/Portsmouth and London, but many of our American friends seem reluctant to use them 😀

[gumshoe958]

1 hour ago, Cotswold Eagle said:

There are, of course, public transport options between Southampton/Portsmouth and London, but many of our American friends seem reluctant to use them 😀

Yes, if anything Portsmouth is even easier to get to from London than Southampton as National Express coaches stop right outside the port as opposed to a cab ride away. 

Heathrow, however, is trickier by public transport. And with far fewer cruises than Southampton, transfer and excursion options from Portsmouth are more limited as the demand simply isn’t there.

 

Edited August 18 by gumshoe958