twin98

We were thinking of the 12:50 pm out of CDG but were going to check on what the cruise line charged
for the transfer one way.. Found out yesterday we could not take it to SH.
Then going to price out fares.SH seems much much more pricier then out of Heathrow.
Paris Orly..? Is this a much closer smaller airport then CDG?
The cruise line did not think it was wise to take the 9:30
flight out of SH. They said we could get off at 7 7:30 but they really do not advise any flights before 1 pm. I suppose we are on our own like you said at 7:30 cabbing it.
If everything goes smoothly we could make the 9:30 am.
If not we could most certainly make 12:50
pm at CDG

twin98

Thank you again!!!!

parisbyphoto

It is easier to get to central Paris from Orly than CDG (cheaper taxi etc). It is closer to Paris. It is smaller than CDG but still a pretty large airport.

Gordon_R

Not sure what you mean by making the 12:50pm out of CDG. You realise that CDG (Charles de Gaulle) is the principal airport in Paris? Do you instead mean a 12:50pm flight from LHR (London Heathrow)?

>>They said we could get off at 7 7:30 but they really do not advise any flights before 1 pm.<<
This would apply to LHR, but certainly not to flights out of SOU. If they tell you otherwise, they are simply displaying a complete ignorance of local conditions.

Obviously price will come into your decision - you can get very cheap flights from Southampton if booked sufficiently far in advance, but as it's a smaller airport with less competition than the London airports, prices can become much less attractive as the seats get sold.

Palenque

Flying has its perils if that finicky volcano shoots its wad over the U.K. - then you are basically stuck in the U.K. as Eurostar trains will be full - try to get a Flybe (? airline name) as they i guess can fly thru volcanic ash

But booking flights these days has a risk attached for the time being.

OTOH Eurostar trains have had their myriad problems recently as well.

From Southampton you can also take a few-hour catamaran ferry (or from nearby Portsmouth) to France and then a few-hour train ride to Paris.

janisj

Oh -PQ - do try to be practical will you?? What would they do w/ the luggage as foot passengers on the ferry and the train in France. If they can't handle trains/taxis to St Pancras your idea would be infinitely more difficult.

twin98: You keep asking the cruise line customer service folks these questions and you just get more and more confused. They are not in England - they are in a call center someplace. They probably didn't even know there is an airport about 5 miles from where your ship docks.

You simply have to decide <B>(1)</B> pay for your own inexpensive taxi to Southampton and fly out at 09:30 -- or -- <B>(2)</B> Let the cruise arrange your transfer to Heathrow for a later flight.

In your decision consider -- Southampton is a MUCH smaller/easier airport and Orly is smaller than CDG and closer to central Paris. Heathrow has more flight options.

Everything else is just complicating things.

twin98

janisj, you really hit it on the nose!! These cruise people had no idea there was an
airport & they had no idea how far Heathrow or Gatwick even was from SH.
Yes I met LHR not CDG.
I think far much better to be at a larger airport then a small one in case we get grounded.
Yes.. There is the issue of the volcano but we can't worry about that right now. I think we are much better off on a plane vs. a train.
I think the 12:5o flight will be fine with the cruise transfer.
Thanks.

Palenque

Oh -PQ - do try to be practical will you?? What would they do w/ the luggage as foot passengers on the ferry and the train in France. If they can't handle trains/taxis to St Pancras your idea would be infinitely more difficult.>

well they would get in a taxi at the port and go to the train station nearby and blast into Paris - sounds easier actually to me then Schlepping out to some airport - the boarding process - baggage retrieval - walking to the taxi ranks and then paying big bucks for a taxi into Paris, etc.

Plus there is whether you recongize it or not the chance of the volcano blowing its smoke and them being grounded in Southampton - one of Europe's very worst looking cities IME.

PatrickLondon

>>well they would get in a taxi at the port and go to the train station nearby and blast into Paris<<

Not from Southampton. Still got to get from Waterloo to St Pancras.

Gordon_R

I think PQ meant crossing the channel in a ferry from Southampton then getting a taxi/train on the French side. Problem is that there are NO ferries from Southampton to France(!). You'd need to go to either Portsmouth or Poole first. Either way, a vastly inferior plan to flying out of Southampton (or if the times/prices are not suitable, LHR).

At least the OP has been dissuaded from trying to take the Eurostar, which was also a bad choice for their particular circumstances.

Palenque

no doubt flying from So'hampton is the best but if the volcano causes havoc ferries to Normandy are a good back up rather than being stranded in Southampton or Britain if the goal is to get to Paris.

Gordon_R

Old news - the volcano has packed it in, at least for now.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/...no/default.stm

Palenque

But the news just said another even larger Icelandic volcano could soon blow its wad - then two ash-spewing volcanos to think about - even if one goes dormat for a while.

Oh airlines just love these volcanos!

Palenque

Passengers suffer on stuck Chunnel trains » Kuwait Times Website
Dec 20, 2009 ... Passengers suffer on stuck Chunnel trains ... The company provides train service linking London to Paris and Brussels. ...
www.kuwaittimes.net/read_news.php?newsid

<The "Chunnel" is the tunnel under the English Channel that the train (the Eurostar) travels through (the term isn't really used much any more). The "chunnel" is not a train.>

Well i always chuckle when non-Americans chastise Americans for using what has become the vernacular here for the Eurostar trains that go under the Chunnel - a term that i dare say is used more commonly by Americans to describe the Channel Tunnel - technically 'Chunnel trains should be - The Channel Tunnel Rail Link or CTRL i think.

And in Kuwait i guess they speak like us - in the headline 'stuck on Chunnel trains' and that term - with a lower-case t on tunnel is completely correct IMO - trains that go thru the Chunnel, what it seems Americans most often called the Channel Tunnel.

anyway the first think someone does when they see the word Chunnel is to corrrect us - correct us for using what is the vernacular term for the tunnel - so i chuckle.

BTW The term Chunnel was apparently coined by a British newspaper.

chartley

Hmm Chunnel.

Is that the term they use in 'Frisco?

janisj

PQ does

Josser

It's his King Charles' head.
He can't resist using the silly term and daring us to correct him.

I can't believe that this thread is still running.
I hear the anguished cries of a dead horse being flogged

walkinaround

we britons used to be very critical when we heard 'chunnel'. immediately after some wiseguy spoiled our party and pointed out that the bbc and other british media have used this term, our chastising is now convoluted, bizarre and takes many words to explain (usually we need to call flannerUK in to explain it for us - he specialises in esoteric explanations)...something like:

"although the bbc has apparently used this term in the past, we britons would like to make you aware that this term is not currently in our commonly accepted parlance vis a vis the accepted UK and isle of man english as defined in the oxbridge-moronic dictionary of proper english usage for the whole nation except for northern ireland, the inner labidides and man city supporters" (the last bit added to give it a dash of flanner-like dry ironic humour).

oh dear..it was so much simpler when we used to just say:

"it's not called the chunnel, you stupid american"

why does someone have to come along and ruin EVERYTHING for us?

Palenque

chartley on May 31, 10 at 2:56pm
Hmm Chunnel.

Is that the term they use in 'Frisco?

janisj on May 31, 10 at 3:01pm
PQ does

Janis - you were not paying attention when satire was explained in your English 101 class?

And 'Frisco' is a good analogy, along with the Big Apple, etc.