Transfer to Southampton Port

Arriving Heathrow for cruise sailing from Southampton port. Oceania's transfer is exorbitant price per person, and taxi rate is about $140. Any suggestions? Any info from experience re what taxi company to use and whether to book on line will be appreciated.

A lot of CC members use www.smithsforairports.com

Expect it to cost about £80 - £90.

Some members also use www.aquacars.co.uk or www.westquaycars.com

All three are based at the Southampton end, so you tend to get better service than from one of the dozens of Heathrow-based outfits.

Don't simply hail a cab from the rank at the airport - for that sort of distance it'll cost an arm & a leg. :eek:

If you're happy with a bus (coach) service (similar vehicles to those used by Oceania & the other cruise lines) it'll cost under £20 per person with

http://www.nationalexpress.com/home.aspx

But bear in mind that...............

There's limited frequency,

You are strongly advised to pre-book, but subject to availability you can switch to a later coach if you're delayed.

Allow 90 minutes+ to clear airport formalities.

Depending which cruise terminal, a taxi from Southampton coach station will cost a max of £10.

There's also a train option, but the journey starts with a RailAir bus from Heathrow to the nearest direct mainline station - so the total journey time is the same as the simple direct Nat Express coach and costs the same as a private transfer for two. Not recommended, but useful as a Plan B

JB :)

If you wanted to spend a day or two in London, you could use the train services. But if you want to go directly from Heathrow to Southampton, then some of the other services are probably cheaper and quicker.

You can have some info here:\

https://www.londontoolkit.com/travel/heathrow_southampton.htm

We would give a very strong recommendation for listening to the advice of John Bull's post. He is in a position to have lots of first hand knowledge and we would take his advice to the bank :).

Hank

P.S. JB, you owe me a Guinness for this post :)

We would give a very strong recommendation for listening to the advice of John Bull's post. He is in a position to have lots of first hand knowledge and we would take his advice to the bank :).

 

Hank

P.S. JB, you owe me a Guinness for this post :)

Ditto what Hank says about JB's post.

PS. JB, you owe me a Real Ale for this post...;p;p

Thanks, John Bull - very useful info. Do recommended UK taxis accept credit cards? What is appropriate gratuity for UK taxis these days?

Do you have similar tip for other end of cruise - Copenhagen port to airport?

Thanks, John Bull - very useful info. Do recommended UK taxis accept credit cards? What is appropriate gratuity for UK taxis these days?

Do you have similar tip for other end of cruise - Copenhagen port to airport?

Some do, some don't, those that do may surcharge. Check with the individual operators.

(Apparently London's black cabs all accept plastic & no surcharge, but that's not relevant to a Heathrow / Southampton transfer.)

For a Southampton / Heathrow transfer we usually give the driver £5. I suspect that most North Americans give double that or more, so to save some money it might be worth practising a Brit accent ;p

But zilch if the service isn't up-to-scratch.

In the UK, tips are the jam & not the bread-and-butter.

Hank & Dave - I'd happily buy you both a pint. But only if you switch away from that treacle & that washing-up water. :p

JB :)

Thanks again, Dan.

Already have reply from Smith's (£17 plus £7 car parking) and have asked about credit card.

I lived in England for five years in the 70s but left my accent there. Are the pubs offering IPAs these days?

Please note my other question in earlier post.

"Do you have similar tip for other end of cruise - Copenhagen port to airport?"

Arriving Heathrow for cruise sailing from Southampton port. Oceania's transfer is exorbitant price per person, and taxi rate is about $140. Any suggestions? Any info from experience re what taxi company to use and whether to book on line will be appreciated.

Definitely seem to be less expensive options but the only caveat I throw out there is... our one and only trip from London to Southampton (10/25/14) there was a football game that severely backed up traffic getting us to the ship late. Since it was a Princess transfer, they waited on us. So before you book private just make sure there is not a hot game. (For all I know they may all be hot games) Of course since all the buses were late, even the private cars probably made it in time to catch the ship.

Thanks again, Dan.

 

Already have reply from Smith's (£17 plus £7 car parking) and have asked about credit card.

I lived in England for five years in the 70s but left my accent there. Are the pubs offering IPAs these days?

Please note my other question in earlier post.

"Do you have similar tip for other end of cruise - Copenhagen port to airport?"

Was £17 a typo ???? :confused:

Or were you quoted from Southampton airport to the pier?

Cos it's nearly 60 miles from Heathrow, and waaaaay more than £17.

JB :)

India Pale Ale.

Yes, it's still around but not as popular as it was.

Mainly in bottles, but some breweries still produce it in cask. Including Fuller's (London) and Wetherspoons.

Strong golden hoppy beer though I used to prefer Double Diamond, an English pale ale.

Read and learn, Hank and Dave :p

Typo it was. Smith's quoted £71 plus £7 car parking to Southampton. Your estimate of £80 - £90 in your first post was right on.

Still interested in any port to airport taxi info in Copenhagen, if you have it.

We are spending a few days in Kensington before the cruise. Would Smiths be a good choice going from Heathrow to Kensington or would a taxi be better. thanks

We are spending a few days in Kensington before the cruise. Would Smiths be a good choice going from Heathrow to Kensington or would a taxi be better. thanks

No, Smiths are based near Southampton so a Heathrow to London job is way out of their area.

Hopefully a Londoner can suggest one of the London or Heathrow operators such as justairports.com or you could use Uber.

At a guess the cost should be in the order of £40 to £45

Do book with one of the private hire (private transfer) operators.

You could just jump into one of the iconic "London taxis" on the taxi rank at the airport terminal, but their rates are a lot higher (half as much again) than a pre-booked car. That's OK for short hops within central London, but best avoided for the 15 mile journey from Heathrow to Ken.

JB :)

John Bull, Thanks for your advice. Looking forward to London. happy cruising

Working with Smith's for transfer to Southampton, priced £71 plus £7 car parking.

Got Copenhagen taxi info from KFFKP Tourist Information.

Thanks for assist. Keep up the good work.

Smith's stopped responding to booking process. Went with AquaCars - quickly booked at same price.

Last year we booked seats on the National Express coach from London Victoria to Southampton.

Booked perhaps 3 months in advance and I paid GBP 22 for 2 seats and extra luggage.

Departures are reasonably frequent.

From Southampton coach terminal it was less than GBP 10 for a taxi to the cruise terminal.

Taxi tank is just outside the bus stop.