How far is it?

[LINDATHEPOOH]

We are taking the Queen Mary 2 from NY to Southampton. We would like to go to London for a few hours to see a few sights(Buckingham Palace,Big Ben,etc). How far is it and how long would it take? We are also booked to leave the same day from Dover on the Disney 7 day British Isles cruise then we take the Disney WBTA cruise back to NY. Am I insane to try this?

 

[chmurf]

If you don't have dedicated transportation, you will need to take the train to London to get from Southampton to Dover anyway, but the journey itself will take you a good 4 hours between ports if all goes well. And I'd allow at least 5hrs to be on the safe side. (1h30 from first port to London + 70 minutes from London to Dover, + wait times + connections + transfer from, and to ports)

Onboard time is 4pm at Dover, meaning you need to check in earlier than that.

Disembarkation time for the QM2 is between 8:45 m and 11am depending on how long it will take you to clear Customs (can be as early as 7:30am if you carry your own luggage off the ship)

you might need to arrange for an early disembarkation time as soon as you're onboard QM2

Depending on that time, and your check in time at Dover, you may just have barely enough time to make it between ports, and this might even be tight, should you disembark late or have any issue on the trains or navigating through stations to make train connections

So I think visiting London between QM2 and DCL is taking a huge risk, and might not even be doable. (And I would strongly advise against it)

 

[Scillycruisers]

Agree with PP. I wouldn't try it - you have a long journey already which will be via London if on the train. You would have to do something with your luggage and getting around London can be very time consuming!

 

[LINDATHEPOOH]

I really appreciate both your responses. Since posting my question, my husband came up with the idea of us going to London the day our ship is in Dover. We are doing b2b cruises that are both on the Disney Magic. If we can book the same cabin for both cruises we should be able to leave our luggage in our room. From what I see on the web, it's not too far to get from Dover to London then back to Dover on time. We'd probably see about hiring a car service to take us. Does that sound more reasonable?

 

[Woodview]

I think you have no idea of the time scale involved on your travel plan to visit London.

The time that it takes to get to see these different sights takes "time " and doing it on your own is crazy .

( 1 ) From Ship to train , ( 2 ) Train station to London , (3 ) Find your way to underground train & the correct

Tube line to your visit sights . ( 4 ) Walk to sights ....... through crowds doing the same as you .

( 5 ) Find Restrooms ..... coffee break , Rest Break ..

THEN

Do Journey in Reverse to get back to Ship.


...........................

Remember THE SHIP Will SAIL ..... without you........... ( 10.min grace time will be given IF YOU

HAVE MADE CONTACT.

............................

I would do a tour of Southampton & a visit to Portsmouth

I would do a Tour of Dover Castle & The " Hop on Hop off " bus Tour.

 

[LINDATHEPOOH]

Woodview, what if we hired a tour service to pick us up at the port in Dover, go to London, see a few sights, then get back to Dover before the ship sails. Does it still sound undoable? It's just that this will be our only time we come to England and we wanted to try and see the main sights.

 

[disneyholic family]

Woodview, what if we hired a tour service to pick us up at the port in Dover, go to London, see a few sights, then get back to Dover before the ship sails. Does it still sound undoable? It's just that this will be our only time we come to England and we wanted to try and see the main sights.

to get from the QM2 to the Disney Magic, if it were me, i'd hire a private car service to get me from one port to the other.

.

 

[BadPinkTink]

I lived in London for 4 years. I agree with PP, just forget about trying to see London sights. It will take all your time to get from Southampton to London, and London to Dover.

It would be different if you had an over between disembarking one ship and embarking on the other, but on the same day? theres no way would I attempt sight seeing in London.

 

[chmurf]

If we can book the same cabin for both cruises we should be able to leave our luggage in our room. From what I see on the web, it's not too far to get from Dover to London then back to Dover on time. We'd probably see about hiring a car service to take us. Does that sound more reasonable?

Reasonable ? Absolutely not.

London to Dover is 80 miles. That may sound close by American Standards, but this is the Old Continent.
It will take over 2 hours to get from the port of Dover to London, and 2hrs back, granted that there is low traffic, no roadwork, no nothing.

Even if you're off the ship by 9am, you'll need to be back at the port by 2pm or before.

that leaves you 5 hours to go from Dover to London and back, which is at least a 4hrs return trip by car.

You have 1hr to visit London, 2 hrs at best. And that will not be enough time to just pass by points of interest in the city.

Let me be blunt, that's a perfect recipe if you want to stand on the shoreline and wave at your WBTA ship sailing away. Well, I guess you'll have plenty of time to visit London then ...

 

[LINDATHEPOOH]

OMG!! LMAO!! You made my day chmurf! All I could think of was the Keeping Up Appearances episode where Hyacinth missed the QE2 and was standing on the pier yelling for the ship to turn around and pick her up! I'm disappointed because like I said this will be our only trip to Europe. Well, at least I tried.

 

[Scillycruisers]

Dover Castle is well worth a visit and much easier to get to )

 

[Woodview]

Now that you have got over the shock .....to your plans ....... fill us in on the other stops

And I am sure that more Good / Pleasant advice on sightseeing will be given .

Remember to check out the organized coach tours from the Ships.

Just to let you know I live in Cork and about a15 min drive from Cobh ( cove ) where

the Titanic sailed from & now these days Cruise Liners berth at the Quay Side .

We stand at the Quay side & watch people , like you , re join the ship after a good day sightseeing .

 

[LINDATHEPOOH]

Now that you have got over the shock .....to your plans ....... fill us in on the other stops

And I am sure that more Good / Pleasant advice on sightseeing will be given .

Remember to check out the organized coach tours from the Ships.

Just to let you know I live in Cork and about a15 min drive from Cobh ( cove ) where

the Titanic sailed from & now these days Cruise Liners berth at the Quay Side .

We stand at the Quay side & watch people , like you , re join the ship after a good day sightseeing .

Thank you for asking, Woodview. Firstly, it's me and my husband. We live in Florida. We'll be flying into New York then taking the Queen Mary 2 to Southampton,UK. We then board the Disney Magic for a 7 night British Isles cruise. It stops at Cork, Dublin, Greenock, Liverpool(Yeah,Yeah,Yeah!), then back to Dover. We will be taking the Magic back to the states on a 11 night west bound transatlantic cruise. It stops at Portland (never heard of it), Cork again, then off to the ocean. And you already know my London plans fell apart!!

 

[Woodview]

Now here is an idea Meet me in Cork ( Ringaskiddy .... a 15 min drive away from my home Or

Cobh ....pronounced ( COVE ) a 20 min drive away .

I am in Florida on Hwy 27 between I-4 & Hwy 192 till 5th June

If you wish P.M. me