Why Southampton?

Not a huge question in the scheme of things...just a "wonder why"?

Ships that leave for Baltic cruises seem to leave from Southampton, when it would be "closer" to the shipping channels to sail from Dover or Harwich?

Any reason???

I have sailed from both for Baltic or Norwegian fjords cruises. Perhaps size of ship is restricted.

Maybe because there are a lot of P&O and Cunard Fjord Baltic cruises - whose home port is Southampton?

Size of port. The berth at Harwich is for one ship and next to the ferry terminal. The berth at Dover is in Western Docks and isn't geared up for 'big' ships. There are 4 terminals(might be 5!) at Southampton, so lots more ship facilities.

Access. All 3 ports are around 70 miles from London. Southampton is by far the easiest to get to from LHR and LGW and London.

I've done Norway and Baltic from Southampton and it is no problem at all. Assuming you sailaway about 5pm, you would be passing Harwich (if you were that close to shore) early next morning anyway.

Simon

Thanks for the replies...understand now!

For the 2016 season it would appear that Royal Caribbean and Celebrity and even Fred Olsen and in fact everyone is pulling out of Harwich, This seems absolutely silly to me, Southampton is much to busy anyway, the road systems down there are a joke. You can sit for ages in traffic in Southampton and not get anywhere. Harwich is so easy, Rail station right on the port, you can get out of a train and straight onto a ship, roads are pretty good, I have never had any problems.

So one has to ask what has Harwich Port done to scare everyone away. To my mind, and I know I am biased (I live about 20miles from Harwich) is that Harwich is an ideal port, close to London and not to far from Airports and loads of site seeing activities.

I suspect that money might be playing a part in this. One of American lines has stated that people don't want to go to the Baltic at the moment. If this is the case why are they sailing there from Southampton.

So one has to ask what has Harwich Port done to scare everyone away. To my mind, and I know I am biased (I live about 20miles from Harwich) is that Harwich is an ideal port, close to London and not to far from Airports and loads of site seeing activities.

I even say that as a Londoner living in central London (and therefore in much the same position as anyone who's doing a pre-cruise stay in central London). It's even worse for those who need to transfer between Harwich and Heathrow - as a broad generalisation, it's twice the distance and takes twice the time as the journey to/from Southampton.

Not a huge question in the scheme of things...just a "wonder why"?

 

Ships that leave for Baltic cruises seem to leave from Southampton, when it would be "closer" to the shipping channels to sail from Dover or Harwich?

 

Any reason???

Sorry to dispel any other posters comments but, it's all about MONEY.....

Actually it makes even more sense to sail from the North so Fred Olsen sails from Liverpool, Rosyth and Newcastle. Boudicca is about to be based in Rosyth for the next few cruises.

In one sentence: Compared to Southampton, Harwich is a nightmare to get to/from.

 

I even say that as a Londoner living in central London (and therefore in much the same position as anyone who's doing a pre-cruise stay in central London). It's even worse for those who need to transfer between Harwich and Heathrow - as a broad generalisation, it's twice the distance and takes twice the time as the journey to/from Southampton.

I disagree it is easy to get to Harwich from London, get on the train takes you straight there apart from a very easy change at manningtree. In some cases you don't even have to change, because they put on special cruise trains from London.

As someone has suggested I suspect that it does come down to one thing Money.

Its alright to go from Northern ports for those that reside in that area, but for the likes of myself and others that live in the East and South of the Country northern ports are a definite no no. In my eyes anyway.

Harwich is ideally suituated. Never had any trouble with traffic or anything getting to Harwich, unlike Southampton, terrible place when there are several boats in.

In one sentence: Compared to Southampton, Harwich is a nightmare to get to/from.

 

I even say that as a Londoner living in central London (and therefore in much the same position as anyone who's doing a pre-cruise stay in central London). It's even worse for those who need to transfer between Harwich and Heathrow - as a broad generalisation, it's twice the distance and takes twice the time as the journey to/from Southampton.

Comparing journey times - they are pretty much the same at around 1 hour 20 mins by train or 1 hour 50 mins by road. Southampton does have more trains though. However there is no need for a taxi from the station in Harwich.

I disagree it is easy to get to Harwich from London, get on the train takes you straight there apart from a very easy change at manningtree. In some cases you don't even have to change, because they put on special cruise trains from London.

As someone has suggested I suspect that it does come down to one thing Money.

Its alright to go from Northern ports for those that reside in that area, but for the likes of myself and others that live in the East and South of the Country northern ports are a definite no no. In my eyes anyway.

Harwich is ideally suituated. Never had any trouble with traffic or anything getting to Harwich, unlike Southampton, terrible place when there are several boats in.

So it's OK for everyone in the north to have to drive/train/fly down to Harwich or Southampton to take virtually any cruise bar a few that leave from Northern ports, but it's a No No for you to have to travel!!!!!

I disagree it is easy to get to Harwich from London, get on the train takes you straight there apart from a very easy change at manningtree. In some cases you don't even have to change, because they put on special cruise trains from London.

As someone has suggested I suspect that it does come down to one thing Money.

Its alright to go from Northern ports for those that reside in that area, but for the likes of myself and others that live in the East and South of the Country northern ports are a definite no no. In my eyes anyway.

Harwich is ideally suituated. Never had any trouble with traffic or anything getting to Harwich, unlike Southampton, terrible place when there are several boats in.

Says the man from Ipswitch...

From London it's a wash Southampton/Harwich.

From a major airport, Southampton wins hands down

Says the man from Ipswitch...

From London it's a wash Southampton/Harwich.

From a major airport, Southampton wins hands down

Yep, sadly Harwich is difficult and time-consuming from London's airports, especially compared to the direct services to Southampton.

But thats not the reason for favouring Southampton.

The historic reason for a preference for Southampton is its unique double tide, extensive water frontage and sheltered location, but the main reason for cruise lines nowadays is that they have invested in Southampton's port infrastructure, with Ocean Terminal and the re-vamp of City Terminal being funded by the cruise lines.

They have confidence in the long-term future of Southampton.

JB :)