Planning Trip to UK from the US in June 2022 - Should I Use a Travel Advisor?

[Maribeau]

Hey everyone! My (fully vaccinated and boosted) family of 4 is planning a two week trip from the US to the United Kingdom in June of 2022, to include a 7 day sailing on the Anthem of the Seas. Within the last few days I have booked the cruise and the airfare, but I’m starting to feel a little “out of my league” with getting all of the details in line for the other days and also making sure that I get (and stay) current on the ever-changing travel restrictions/requirements. 

We’ve cruised on Disney at 7 times, but have never traveled across the Atlantic or cruised on Royal Caribbean. I feel like I need some help to get the rest of the vacation put together and to get my “ducks in a row” for documentation and international travel requirements, etc.

I have never used a travel agent/advisor before. Is this the kind of stuff that they can help with? If so, are there specific folks/agencies who come highly recommended by this board/site?

(My apologies if this sort of inquiry is not appropriate or allowed!)

Thanks!

Karen

[JLMoran]

A travel agent can definitely help with this kind of planning. But you will probably want to find one who specializes more in land travel than cruising, simply because a cruise-focused agent will know the cruise lines, the ports, and maybe some nearby hotels to stay at, but not necessarily how to parlay the pre- / post-cruise into a good stay where you visit the areas of most interest to you, and stay in hotels that are nice but fit your budget and are close enough to where you want go.

Alternately, since you're already familiar with cruising and its all-inclusive nature, you could look into one of the all-inclusive land tour companies that are plentiful in the UK. They're somewhat pricey, but if there's a particular set of places you want to go and you're looking to do it over a week, this can be an option to consider. I had looked at a few such for doing a tour of Ireland (Paddywagon Tours, Elegant Ireland Tours, etc), and the price included stays in hotels or B&B-style residences each night, two meals a day, admission to the various locations that required tickets, and a good amount of time at each location. Could end up being less expensive overall than booking everything individually.

[AshleyDillo]

You are fortunate that your first overseas experience will be to the United Kingdom. It is VERY easy to navigate there on your own and get around. I don't think it's necessary to use a travel agent if you know exactly what you want to see and do there and have the time to plan, but it could be helpful if you want to look into a land tour where all of the logistics are handled for you.

The sponsor of this site is MEI Travel (https://mei-travel.com/). If you reach out to them they can probably hook you up with a travel agent most experienced with travel to the UK and you can also transfer your cruise booking to them so everything is handled with one agent.  

It all really depends on how much work and effort YOU want to put into all the detailed planning.

[BesaidCruiser]

On 2/13/2022 at 6:38 AM, Maribeau said:

Hey everyone! My (fully vaccinated and boosted) family of 4 is planning a two week trip from the US to the United Kingdom in June of 2022, to include a 7 day sailing on the Anthem of the Seas.

I feel like I need some help to get the rest of the vacation put together and to get my “ducks in a row” for documentation and international travel requirements, etc.

First happy to hear that i`m Sailing from Southhampton 5th of Lune, Anthem of the Seas as well.

A Travelagent, especialy when your saying you don`t know anything about the requirements at UK, what documentation you need, i would say "Use a Travel Agent." I`m from Europe Switzerland, i don`t use one cause over here a Agent can cost a lot of Money and i`ve been to the UK (London) before.

Do you need a Travelagent for a trip to London? No. You are starting from USA right? So i guess your Airport will be Heathrow. There are always enough Taxi to bring you to your Hotel or the the Center. At the Center of London, you have many Hop on Hop off Busses (If you don`t know them feel free to ask.)

I have one example for a Tour i`m Planing for my Family From Buckingham Palace, you can go through St. James Park, it will be about 1.3 km until Westminster Abby, fromd there 200 meters away ist Big Ben, from there over London Bridge you go to the Eye of London (Big "Wheelthing") it`s 1.70 km from Big Ben and you have a very good view at Big Ben. Than you walk to Cleopetras Needle 800 meters(Obelisk from Egypt, just two in the World, one in London and one in NY City). Than again 1.65 km is Trafalgar Square. To go to Tower Bridge i would take one of those Hop on Hop off Busses.

Feel free to ask any Question.

[Ampurp85]

For a place like the UK, you can get away with planning on your own if that's something you considered. Depending on the days and what you want to do, they have wonderful day tours. Or you can use a travel agent. But it is important to know what you want to do and whether it suits everyone. I normally start my UK vacations in Dublin or Edinburgh, I hate flying into Heathrow. Dublin and Edinburgh are completely walkable in my opinion, London requires a bit more to public transport to navigate. If it is children involved, I would say focus on one place and plan around that. You don't want to book an expensive all-inclusive and the children not want to see boring history stuff.... which I am in to, but I am an adult. 

[Ray]

You say its a 2 week trip! Does this include travel days?