We booked a Princess Transfer to Heathrow and was assigned to disembarkation group Pink 2 which had a meeting time of 6:30am at the Wheelhouse bar. As our flight was scheduled to depart at 12:05, I felt it was more convenient to book the transfer with Princess than using local transportation.
While our group was not express walk-off (which means we still had to pick up our luggage at the terminal), we still had plenty of time. The bus finally left at 8am and we arrived at Heathrow at 10:15am. This gave us enough time to check out the United lounge at Heathrow. Check out the photos below. Much nicer and had more food and beverage options than the LAX United lounge.
Our flight to Los Angeles had a connection in Toronto and a layover of about 2 hours. After this experience, I have to say the U.S. border entry process in Toronto is a nightmare.
Here's how the process works: 1) you have to scan your passport in a kiosk, 2) you have to wait for your name to show on a screen indicating your luggage has been transferred, 3) you then pass through a customs and immigration agent to check your passport, and 4) you fall in line at another security checkpoint.
By the time we got to step 4, it was about 30 minutes before our plane was scheduled to depart. If we had remained in line, we wouldn't have made our flight. Fortunately, the agents were probably used to this situation by now and were calling passengers whose flights were about to depart and made them go in front of the line. We made it to our gate as the plane was already boarding. If I had known about this situation, I would have booked a longer layover or not connect in Toronto at all. I heard later from other passengers that it is the same situation in Montreal so better not connect in Canada at all.
Thankfully, we arrived back safely in Los Angeles later that evening to end an otherwise memorable and enjoyable cruise.
No comments:
Post a Comment