UK Air/Ground Transportation & Accomodations Help

[DVCinderella]

Hi all...

We are booked on the British Isles cruise in June and I would greatly appreciate any advice on flying from NY to London area airports (first time flying to Europe). The cruise departs on a Sunday. Should we fly out on a Friday night or Saturday day? Obviously I'm looking for best airfare, but I'm seeing about $1,000pp r/t. For June, what would be a good r/t fare (don't mind 1 stop)? Any preferred airlines, or ones to avoid?

If we fly into Heathrow, where should we stay? If we get in Saturday morning, what can/should we do?
If we fly into Gatwick, where should we stay? If we get in Saturday morning, what can/should we do?

Any advice on squeezing in some touring time while dealing with the jetlag would be greatly appreciated (I will have two 11yo in tow).

Are there hotels in either area that DCL offers transfers from? What other ground transportation options should we look into, both in terms of getting to/from the ship and any touring time we might have before or after the cruise.

TIA for any and all advice!

Liz

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

Hi all...

We are booked on the British Isles cruise in June and I would greatly appreciate any advice on flying from NY to London area airports (first time flying to Europe). The cruise departs on a Sunday. Should we fly out on a Friday night or Saturday day? Obviously I'm looking for best airfare, but I'm seeing about $1,000pp r/t. For June, what would be a good r/t fare (don't mind 1 stop)? Any preferred airlines, or ones to avoid?

If we fly into Heathrow, where should we stay? If we get in Saturday morning, what can/should we do?
If we fly into Gatwick, where should we stay? If we get in Saturday morning, what can/should we do?

Any advice on squeezing in some touring time while dealing with the jetlag would be greatly appreciated (I will have two 11yo in tow).

Are there hotels in either area that DCL offers transfers from? What other ground transportation options should we look into, both in terms of getting to/from the ship and any touring time we might have before or after the cruise.

TIA for any and all advice!

Liz

I live and work in London.

Flights there can be delays book with a carrier with a large fleet and give a few days buffer.

Staying at Hotel we have hundred of hotels. Do not stay at Heathrow or gatwick. Stay in London there is so much to do there even if you just walk around, there isn't at the airports.

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

A lot depends on what you want to do in London. So firstly avoid construction sites we have many. We have Crossrail being built. Avoid Paddington. Bond Street. Tottenham Court Road. Also Victoria has some construction

Marble Arch the Thistle there is good and close to Oxford street and HOHO. Bayswater and Kensington are good. The Premier inn County Hall is popular. Many on my Dover cruise this year stayed there.

To get to Dover train is best. You can go from St Pancras, or Victoria to Dover priory and a taxi. Dover itself is OK but unless you want to go to its castle do not stay there.

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

Lots of information on London and trains to and from airports and Dover, with Dover photos and embarkation videos are on my trip report here or on my blog both called. To Russia with Mickey Bars. Google will find them.

 

[dcassetta]

You said that you're flying from New York, does that mean the New York City area airports? You might look to see if driving to Boston or Philadelphia would save you a little money on tickets. A thousand dollars a ticket seems a little high, but not unreasonably so.

Both Heathrow and Gatwick have easy connections into London. I preferred Gatwick only because it's a smaller airport, easier to navigate, and immigration there never seems to get backed up. However, as Heathrow is the larger airport it will offer you more options.

In my opinion, night flights are easier for dealing with jet lag. You'll board the plane in the evening, hopefully get some sleep on the flight, and then arrive in London in the morning. My best recommendation then is to get up and get going with the sun. Go out and see some of the sites of London, take a walking tour, visit a museum, but don't lay in the hotel room and sleep. The best way to get on London time is to stay up that first day.

The easiest trains to Dover are from the St. Pancras station, and the area around St. Pancras/Kings Cross has lots of hotel possibilities. You can also get to St. Pancras directly from either Heathrow or Gatwick airport.

Many, many hotel possibilities in London. I find Thistle hotels to be very nice. You'll also find familiar American chains like Marriott, Hilton and Holiday Inn. London is an extraordinarily expensive city to visit, so shop around for a good deal on a hotel. You might check with Disney to see if they are doing pre-or post days, and which hotels they recommend. They may also be providing coach transportation to Dover.

For 11 year-olds I might have several recommendations depending on their interests. The science Museum and the British Museum are terrific and have exhibits aimed particularly at kids. The Tower of London is definitely worth a visit, make sure and take a tour with one of the yeoman warders. Greenwich is fascinating, and you can take a cruise down the Thames to get there. If they are Harry Potter fans you can take a trip out to Leavesden studios to see the Harry Potter sets, or take a walking tour of London that highlights places where they filmed the movies (www.walks.com). Make sure and take a visit to platform 9 3/4 at Kings Cross.

There's so much to see in London, perhaps you can find a way to extend your schedule and stay a few more days.

 

[holula]

As a joke, I used to call Heathrow "third world Heathrow". It has MUCH improved in recent years, and it's a much bigger airport than Gatwick with a ton more flight choices so I would pick Heathrow over Gatwick.

I would also take the overnight flight. Flying during the day is generally horrible for jet lag and you will lose a whole day flying. At least you can see some of London if you take the overnight flight.

I would NOT recommend staying in the St Pancras/Kings Cross area. It's not a great area of London. I would figure out what I wanted to do/see in London before I decided on a hotel. You don't want to have to travel across the city to see something if you don't have to!

 

[IBelieveInTheMagic]

Just wanted to mention (in case others are following too) - we *do* recommend staying near St. Pancras in London and felt the area was wonderful. We stayed at the Premier Inn St. Pancras for four nights after our DCL cruise last July and loved it. It's a fairly new hotel and at the time was in the top 10 of *all* hotels in London on Trip Advisor with awesome reviews and very reasonable rates. I chose it because it was a five minute walk to St. Pancras, very easy and made getting to sites very easy in London via the Tube. My BFF lives in London and we had no issues at all and to be clear as well it was a safe area.

Great advice to perhaps figure out what's most important to you. We wanted a safe area, easy access to the tube and getting the Eurostar to Paris for a full day and back, and a nice hotel but reasonable. It met all our needs.

I'd fly on Friday to allow more time so your body also gets over jet lag easier too. Our cruise left out of Copenhagen on a Monday and we flew arrived on Friday and it was perfect. Also $1000 would feel cheap to me - seriously so that's a great price We left from Heathrow after our time in London (cruise debarked in Dover) and we used a totallydriven.uk (or something like that) and pre-arranged a pick up to Heathrow and it was very easy and I think I paid about $50 for the 3 of us to be picked up in a minivan with our luggage to Heathrow so that was worth it to me.

Have a great time,
Heather

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

You said that you're flying from New York, does that mean the New York City area airports? You might look to see if driving to Boston or Philadelphia would save you a little money on tickets. A thousand dollars a ticket seems a little high, but not unreasonably so.

Both Heathrow and Gatwick have easy connections into London. I preferred Gatwick only because it's a smaller airport, easier to navigate, and immigration there never seems to get backed up. However, as Heathrow is the larger airport it will offer you more options.

In my opinion, night flights are easier for dealing with jet lag. You'll board the plane in the evening, hopefully get some sleep on the flight, and then arrive in London in the morning. My best recommendation then is to get up and get going with the sun. Go out and see some of the sites of London, take a walking tour, visit a museum, but don't lay in the hotel room and sleep. The best way to get on London time is to stay up that first day.

The easiest trains to Dover are from the St. Pancras station, and the area around St. Pancras/Kings Cross has lots of hotel possibilities. You can also get to St. Pancras directly from either Heathrow or Gatwick airport.

Many, many hotel possibilities in London. I find Thistle hotels to be very nice. You'll also find familiar American chains like Marriott, Hilton and Holiday Inn. London is an extraordinarily expensive city to visit, so shop around for a good deal on a hotel. You might check with Disney to see if they are doing pre-or post days, and which hotels they recommend. They may also be providing coach transportation to Dover.

For 11 year-olds I might have several recommendations depending on their interests. The science Museum and the British Museum are terrific and have exhibits aimed particularly at kids. The Tower of London is definitely worth a visit, make sure and take a tour with one of the yeoman warders. Greenwich is fascinating, and you can take a cruise down the Thames to get there. If they are Harry Potter fans you can take a trip out to Leavesden studios to see the Harry Potter sets, or take a walking tour of London that highlights places where they filmed the movies (www.walks.com). Make sure and take a visit to platform 9 3/4 at Kings Cross.

There's so much to see in London, perhaps you can find a way to extend your schedule and stay a few more days.

As a joke, I used to call Heathrow "third world Heathrow". It has MUCH improved in recent years, and it's a much bigger airport than Gatwick with a ton more flight choices so I would pick Heathrow over Gatwick.

I would also take the overnight flight. Flying during the day is generally horrible for jet lag and you will lose a whole day flying. At least you can see some of London if you take the overnight flight.

I would NOT recommend staying in the St Pancras/Kings Cross area. It's not a great area of London. I would figure out what I wanted to do/see in London before I decided on a hotel. You don't want to have to travel across the city to see something if you don't have to!

Just wanted to mention (in case others are following too) - we *do* recommend staying near St. Pancras in London and felt the area was wonderful. We stayed at the Premier Inn St. Pancras for four nights after our DCL cruise last July and loved it. It's a fairly new hotel and at the time was in the top 10 of *all* hotels in London on Trip Advisor with awesome reviews and very reasonable rates. I chose it because it was a five minute walk to St. Pancras, very easy and made getting to sites very easy in London via the Tube. My BFF lives in London and we had no issues at all and to be clear as well it was a safe area.

Great advice to perhaps figure out what's most important to you. We wanted a safe area, easy access to the tube and getting the Eurostar to Paris for a full day and back, and a nice hotel but reasonable. It met all our needs.

I'd fly on Friday to allow more time so your body also gets over jet lag easier too. Our cruise left out of Copenhagen on a Monday and we flew arrived on Friday and it was perfect. Also $1000 would feel cheap to me - seriously so that's a great price We left from Heathrow after our time in London (cruise debarked in Dover) and we used a totallydriven.uk (or something like that) and pre-arranged a pick up to Heathrow and it was very easy and I think I paid about $50 for the 3 of us to be picked up in a minivan with our luggage to Heathrow so that was worth it to me.

Have a great time,
Heather

Just a reminder. I live and work in and around London.

These are good posts but a couple of corrections.

Kings Cross / St Pancras has improved a lot, whilst maybe not up to the high level of other areas, there is vast improvements. I wouldn't write it off.

Where it says direct Heathrow to St Pancras, yes , but only Tube on the Piccadilly line and escalators , not great with cruise luggage. The others Gatwick to Victoria or Gatwick to St Pancras are bigger trains. The Hearhrow express takes you to Paddington West London.

Generally most of London are safe, a few places have issues, but rare. Staying in central London is safe, avoid construction sites. Avoid staying at airports nothing to do there. Both airports have excellent immigration.

 

[nrexxma44]

I lived in London for 3 years, and echo the recommendations here. I would definitely recommend the night flight, and Heathrow is going to offer you more choices for flights. The bus/train/underground system is excellent, and the easiest way to get around London. I would recommend hopping on the big red tour bus, and seeing all the sites of London. It is one of those hop on and off tour buses and a great way to see everything.They are double decker buses, and if you catch a bright sunny day it can be a very enjoyable way to tour London. Enjoy and let me know if you have more questions