walkinaround

I hear you. I was just joking. Great if you have the time.

jc_uk

Whenever I travel to Heathrow by car (either myself or taxi) I allow myself 1 1/2 hours. I take the A3 option however if going via Southampton the M3 option will be the appropriate choice.I've made it sub 1 hour on occasions but that was me driving and hoping there were few unmarked police cars about. The A3 is pretty much straightforward, barely congested since the Hindhead Tunnel and the only trouble is as soon as you hit the M25. The M3 can be more congested but not significantly so and again, the problems only really occur once you reach the M25. This is the where the problem lies. The M25 is notorious for slow traffic and almost gridlock, there is no rhyme nor reason for when problems occur, there is no particularly well defined rush hour as it's always busy. A weekend journey will be quieter and a 4 am jaunt will certainly be a breeze but I've given up on driving for those early flights, I much prefer an overnight stay at an airport hotel rather than getting up at some ungodly hour.

So, to answer the OP's question. You will need to be at Heathrow by 12.30 pm. Factor in a 1 1/2 journey from Southampton port to Heathrow so that means leaving Southampton at 11.00 am. So far, only you have the answer as to whether that is doable as no-one knows your arrival time at the cruise terminal and more importantly, how long it takes to disembark.

Did you undetake any research about timings before booking your return flight on the same day that your cruise ends? I know that sounds terribly condescending but I'm someone who likes to factor in a bit of a cushion when multiple transport in one day is involved as the knock on effect of a delay can be a horrendously expensive and stressful experience.

Southam

Why not check for international connections from Southampton airport? No trans-Atlantic flights that I could see, but a connection through an international gateway is probably easier than land transport to London.

janisj

>>Why not check for international connections from Southampton airport? <<

I'm pretty sure that ship has sailed. If they are on a cruise and know what time their flight is . . . both were booked long ago. Let's just wait for the OP to come back and fill in the details . . .

willit

Southampton airport has a very short runway - too small for even a normally fuelled 737. There are connections available via Schipol with KLM, but for the past few years these have proved far more expensive than flying directly from London.

sea2sea

Thank you for all the great replies. Although, some of you are making me a little nervous. I've never had trouble getting off a cruise ship in the morning and making it to an afternoon flight in any other city. However, the more research I do, I'm finding Southampton to London isn't always predictable and father than most cruise port cities from the airport. The idea of spending the night and flying out the next day or booking another flight is not an option. Asking the car service is a good idea.. maybe I can try emailing them as well. Cruise ship transfer was almost 4 times as much as hiring a car service. We are docking around 7am and on a very large cruise ship. The cruise ship has our departure time and flight from LHR so they know we need to be off the ship early. We scheduled our car service for 10am and wondering if that is enough time to get to LHR for an International flight. We are departing on a British Airways flight to the US. TIA.

walkinaround

Nobody can say for sure but I think you have a reasonable plan assuming that you can get off the boat and be ready to leave with your 10am departure plan. You've got some contingency there so I think you'll be ok. Terminal 5 LHR with BA allows you the fasted time from the M25 motorway to the gate. Bag drop and security are usually very fast. The only delay that I have had is one time when my phone boarding pass would not let me through the automatic gates just before security. I then had to go through the single manual check queue stuck behind many families. That blew about 10 minutes. I don't think that's a common problem.

willit

Barring a freak occurance, this will be plenty of time.

sea2sea

Thank you for the reassurance, I feel pretty good about it now. It will most likely work out. May even move the pick up time to 9AM.