Heathrow <--> Southampton UK

Disney Cruise Line
1

UK tips: Planning travel for July 2027 with DAS DD, would like advice on the easiest arrival/departure plan with a 24hr layover from Heathrow (flight from US) to our DCL cruise at Southampton.

Should we book a night near Heathrow on each end? I understand it’s about 1 hr 15 min by train to Southampton?

Time for a possible day excursion into London? I expect our flight in will arrive very early morning. Drop luggage at hotel and take a train into the city?

Thanks in advance for any local knowledge and advice!

1 Like
2

We did a transatlantic cruise last November and had about 24 hours in London. We stayed at a hotel at Heathrow. We just took a train into London and hopped on one of the double decker tour busses! It was fun and easy since we were very travel weary.

I highly recommend using DCL transport if possible. They picked up our luggage around 7am then we met in the lobby at our 9:30 assigned time and were pulling out of the hotel by 10:00. It was a beautiful drive to Southampton and we walked in, checked in and right onto the ship!

3 Likes
3

I had to look it up, Sofitel Heathrow. You can book yourself and then call DCL to add transportation.

4 Likes
4

Aha! I’m booking on my own, without a travel agent, so I didn’t know there were select hotels that have DCL transport. Heathrow Sofitel sounds perfect! I’ll give DCL a call within a few days to nail down details. Thanks!

2 Likes
5

I think you are relatively travel sophisticated. I would recommend the Elizabethan line to get yourselves into London. The Heathrow Express is unnecessarily expensive and is not that much easier/simpler.

6

:rofl: this is the one we took!

1 Like
7

The Elizabethan line to the airport is less than a decade old, so for a long, long time the Healthrow Express was the way to go. I think they just cornered the advertising market!

2 Likes
8

:smiley: I don’t know about sophisticated, but I did travel overseas a lot YEARS ago in the 1980s and 1990s, before my kids were born.

Now I’m daydreaming about squeezing in a London show on our day of debarkation, which should get us tired enough to sleep on the flight home the next day. Hmmmmmm…

4 Likes
9

I really wanted to do this but couldn’t fit it in!

1 Like
10

No sleeping on the flight home! Stayyy awakeeee (queue Mary Poppins!)

1 Like
11

It seems DCL chat doesn’t work on weekends.

I was checking with them to confirm which Heathrow hotels that DCL offered Southampton port transportation to/from, since this info didn’t seem to exist on their website. Fortunately our cruise is 14 months away!

2 Likes
12

This link on Ground Transportation states that if you book a hotel through Disney transport can be booked between aiport, hotel & port. It has some details on how to navigate specifically to the Sofitel London Heathrow Hotel since it has direct access to Heathrow.
https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/guest-services/ground-transportation/

Then this page re: pre-and-post cruise hotel stays lists the Sofitel as one of 4 options for Southampton. But the other 3 don’t appear to be close to Heathrow. And can’t confirm how it works exactly for Southampton, but every other port the hotels that they list through Disney have an option to add ground transport to the port. But you’ll need to call DCL (or chat them) when they are online. I know their phone lines are open weekends until 8pm ET but no idea of chat.
https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/ports/southampton-england/