• Trip: London and Cruise through Norway (RC’s Anthem of the Seas)
• Dates: August 26 – September 7, 2022
• Who: Me (Jess), Lisa (well, for now), Brittany, Rebecca, Gigi, and Rachel

Fair warning – This is a lot of text, without a lot (or any) of photos. This is truly a planning post.

As I mentioned in my first post of this series, there were six of us on this trip. We booked this Aug/Sept 2022 trip in March 2021, so it was early 2022 before we really started to plan out this trip. The first order of business was the actual dates of travel. Our cruise was August 28 – September 4, but we all wanted a couple of days to spend in London. This would be the first trip to the UK for half of us, so we wanted to make the most of it.

Gigi, Brittany, and Rachel all decided that they all had enough PTO to head over early and spend a few days in Scotland before the cruise. Myself, Lisa, and Rebecca didn’t have as much time off and decided to leave Friday, August 26th. All of us would fly back together on September 7th. After lots of looking, we actually found a nonstop from Tampa to Gatwick (and back) on British Airways.

Once we had our flights, my anxious tendencies came through. I can go with the flow. If someone else is making a plan, I’m happy to give my input and then be an easy traveler. I’m also of the mindset that if there’s something I absolutely want to do, I have no problem doing it myself. That said, if no one else is making a plan, I will jump in. Ultimately, my anxiety needs to know two things….. how I’m getting from Point A to Point B and where I’m laying my head at night. Once I know that, I’m cool.

This group was being pretty chill, so I started doing some research. Through various blogs and other travel websites, I realized that we needed to find a way to get from London to Southampton and then the opposite when we debarked. It’s about an hour and half to two hours regardless of how you go. With us being a group of six women, I didn’t think lugging suitcases on trains or buses would be the best bet. Plus, with a limited amount of time, we should maximize our travel. We wanted to see some sights!

Pre-Cruise

Again, travel websites and good ole Google gave me tons of ideas on the types of things we could do on our way to Southampton. After so many options popping up and going through them, the idea of a private tour intrigued me. Eventually, I came across International Friends and their private group tour options. They have a lot of tour options and the ability to customize your tour. The best part is direct pick up from your hotel in London and/or the airport. After a few exchanges (they are extremely responsive), we had a suggested itinerary that included picking up the Scotland trio at a hotel in London (they were taking a train in from Scotland the night before), picking up the Later Arrival trio at Gatwick, driving/touring Winchester, driving to and seeing Stonehenge, driving/touring Salisbury, and then drop-off at our hotel in Southampton. It turns out that none of the ladies who had been to England before had ever done any of those things, so everyone was on board! We easily booked it and that was settled.

In looking for lodging for one night in Southampton, we wanted something clean, cheap, and comfortable. Again, I looked through all the travel booking sites (despite what so many people say, I’ve had good experiences). While there were several hotels that offered a shuttle to the port, most of them had the “Due to COVID, some of our amenities may not be offered at this time” warning. It was difficult to get an answer from a lot of places, some outright said they hadn’t reinstated the shuttle service, and I noticed a lot of the reviews mentioned no shuttle. From there, I tried to find as close to the port as possible, so we could get a quick taxi. Eventually, I got offered a really great deal for the Moxy Southampton. When I say, great, I mean, GREAT. It was ridiculously inexpensive. Beyond that, it’s a Marriott boutique brand, had decent reviews, looked cute on their actual website, was next door to a shopping complex, and was really close to the port. Because of said great deal, we booked through Priceline. Also, because of horror stories (despite my good experiences), I contacted the hotel directly to confirm our reservations. They were also extremely helpful and responsive. The plan was to spend our one night there and taxi to the port the next morning to board our ship!

Post-Cruise

Our cruise was a full week, so lodging and transportation was not an issue there. Once we debarked, though, we were looking at the same conundrum – how to get back to London and where to stay for the three nights. Again, my fellow travelers were really chill, so I went back to my trusty websites for ideas. I landed on one QUICK.

Fairly soon after we booked this cruise (and well before we actually made any other plans), I made the discovery that Southampton is not that far from Highclere Castle. If you don’t know what that is, it’s also known as Downton Abbey. If you don’t know what Downton Abbey is, I can’t help you, lol. To say that I am a fan is an understatement. It became my mission to make a visit happen. I told my travel group that I’d be finding a way to go, even if I needed to do it on my own. Luckily, everyone was open to the idea of going. At the time, only Gigi and Lisa had seen it besides me, but the other three were game.

As I had began looking for transportation options, I did notice several companies that offered Downton Abbey tours. In fact, our good friends at International Friends had a few tours, including private ones. Just as I had before, I inquired about the option of picking us up at the port, taking us on a tour of all the Downton Abbey sights, and then dropping us off at our hotel in London. They had a great plan suggested for us, immediately. I got easy “Yes”s from everyone and booked that as well. This included me booking our separate tickets to Highclere Castle, which wasn’t included in the price of the tour.

As we had the way to get back to London, we needed a place to be dropped off! My friends who had been to London had ideas on what areas of the city they wanted to stay in. My goal was to stay in one of those areas, but make it as economical as possible. Again, Priceline helped me out. We found a decent rate for the Strand Palace Hotel in the Covent Garden area. It’s been recently renovated, it’s in a recommend neighborhood of the city, and it was one of the hotels that would guarantee two beds for us. Once again, I contacted the hotel directly to verify our reservations. Once I got confirmation, I also printed that email (and the Moxy one) so that I’d have solid proof if anything happened.

The rest of the plan for while we were in the city was pretty loose. We knew we’d like to do a Hop-On, Hop-Off, see Buckingham Palace, and see as many of the major tourist points as possible. However, we were also fine with playing it by ear once we got there (see, I can go with the flow!).

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London/Norway 2022 Trip Report (August 26 – September 7, 2022)
– The Beginning (Wild Hair)
– The Planning Process (England)
– The Planning Process (Norway)
– Pre-Trip Panic (August 24, 2022)
– Day 0: Leave for London (August 26, 2022)
– Day 1: London Arrival and Tour of Countryside (August 27, 2022)
– Day 2: Southampton and Board the Anthem (August 28, 2022)
– Day 3: Sea Day (August 29, 2022)
– Day 4: Stavanger, Norway (August 30, 2022)
– Day 5: Flam, Norway (August 31, 2022)
– Day 6: Olden, Norway (September 1, 2022)
– Day 7: Bergen, Norway (September 2, 2022)
– Day 8: Sea Day (September 3, 2022)
– Day 9: Disembark and Downton Abbey Tour (September 4, 2022)
– Day 10: London: Buckingham Palace and Covent Garden (September 5, 2022)
– Day 11: London: Hop On, Hop Off and West End (September 6, 2022)
– Day 12: Leaving London (September 7, 2022)
– Trip Wrap-Up: Final Thoughts

Related Reviews
– International Friends (Private Tour: Winchester, Stonehenge, and Salisbury)
– International Friends (Private Tour: Downton Abbey filming locations, Cotswolds & Highclere Castle)
– Moxy Southampton Hotel
– Royal Caribbean – Anthem of the Seas
– Strand Palace Hotel