British Isles Cruise - Need a lot of information

[DavidRoss]

Hi All,

My wife and I are taking the British Isles cruise this September. We want to fly over from Chicago on 8/30 or 8/31 and fly back on 9/10.

I am trying to get some good information on hotels and transportation. Here are some of my questions:

1. Is it best to fly to London Heathrow or Gatwick?
2. Lodging information - what are recommendations of places to stay? Hotel? Airbnb? etc?
3. Transportation (Disney wants $270 per person round trip for transportation) recommendations. Can you take a train or bus to the cruise port? Is there some sort of a multi-day transportation pass? We are not opposed to using public transportation but want it to not be too difficult because we will have luggage, etc.

Thanks for any help you can give.

 

[BadPinkTink]

1. Is it best to fly to London Heathrow or Gatwick?

That depends on your route / airline
Heathrow is located west of London and Gatwick is located south of London. Heathrow is a a very large airport with a huge variety of routes and airlines but may be more expensive due to airport taxes which the airlines have to pay. Gatwick is alot smaller and has less variety of routes and airlines and flights may be cheaper due to lower airport taxes

2. Lodging information - what are recommendations of places to stay? Hotel? Airbnb? etc?

Again that depends on your plans, there are hotels are both Gatwick and Heathrow and a huge amount of hotels in all budgets in London.

3. Transportation (Disney wants $270 per person round trip for transportation) recommendations. Can you take a train or bus to the cruise port? Is there some sort of a multi-day transportation pass? We are not opposed to using public transportation but want it to not be too difficult because we will have luggage, etc.

There is no direct transport to Dover port from either Heathrow or Gatwick. You will need to take the train or tube into central London and then get a train to Dover port.

You should check out this thread https://www.disboards.com/threads/disney-magic-12-nt-british-isles-cruise-2017.3623371/ one of the 2017 Bristish Isles Cruisers is writing up her trip report, day by day, with a huge amount of info.

You should also check out this thread https://www.disboards.com/threads/7-night-british-isles-sept-2-2018.3587712/ it is the cruise meets thread for your cruise, where you can meet your fellow cruisers

 

[Alura21]

Hi! So I've never taken this cruise but when I did fly to London for vacation I did fly out of Chicago. What I can say is Heathrow is the main airport. Think of it as O'hare to Midway. Gatwick from what I understand is a little closer to the city. Heathrow is about 20-30 minutes away. Lodging wise, London has it all. Hostels to hotels royals stay at. When I went I stayed at a national hostel where for basically 2 weeks it was $500. Clean rooms and close to the tube. While it was a dorm they do have private rooms you can book. I can't really give any info transportation to Dover. But I can say that the trains are very nice and I don't think I went on one that was ever very late, unlike amtrak where I've been 2 hours late to a destination before.

 

[Kate_45]

I'm afraid it's the opposite Alura. Yes Heathrow is the bigger airport, but it is also closer to central London. You will feel the cost difference if you get a taxi in. In terms of time taken Heathrow can be anything from 15 minutes on the heathrow express train, or over 45 minutes on the London underground. There are also slower trains (heathrow connect) which are in between. At Gatwick there isn't an underground option as it's out in the countryside, but plenty of slow and express trains. I would probably look at the price of flights to each from where you're coming, in order to decide. For both airports you need to head into central London to get the train down to dover (taxi from station to terminal unless you fancy a 25min walk with luggage ). The train journey will be easy to navigate at the airports, but only you know how you feel with luggage. Gatwick has the advantage of going in to the same station that you would use to go to Dover. From Heathrow you would have to change on the tube/underground (or get a taxi from the London Paddington rank to your hotel).

In terms of accommodation It really depends what you're after. Are you planning on staying a few days and sightseeing or do you just want an overnight before the cruise? What time of day will you get in? You could choose to a) stay at an airport hotel and travel from there, b) head into London to break up the journey and stay somewhere near Victoria or London bridge (or Paddington if Heathrow) or c) get the journey over and done with all at once and spend the night on the south coast before a restful embarkation day. I would probably go for b. I can't advise any further with hotels as I don't know your budget and what sort of hotels you like.

You can buy train tickets in advance online to save money and book the seats you want. If you are planning on travelling around in London it would be worth getting an oyster card on arrival and loading it up with money for cheaper fares. You can return the card at the end to get your deposit back.

I'm sure others can advise on private car transfers from airport to cruise terminal.