Transatlantic crossing - a few more questions

- Has anybody taken the transfer from Southampton to London? Is it worth the price?

- What are those Black & White and Ascot balls?

- What's a roll call?

- Has anybody taken the transfer from Southampton to London? Is it worth the price?

 

Hello - I would also like to know more about the transfer to London - where did you find any information on that - we are having difficulty in finding the best way to get to Manchester on November 11th after our November 5th crossing......Thanks!

Hello - I would also like to know more about the transfer to London - where did you find any information on that - we are having difficulty in finding the best way to get to Manchester on November 11th after our November 5th crossing......Thanks![/font]

The best way would be to get a taxi from the Cruise Terminal to Southmapton Airport for £15 and fly with either BA Connect (part of British Airways) http://www.ba.com or FlyBe http://www.flybe.com. We found this can be cheaper than booking via CruiseConnect (Cunard's agent).

I hope this helps.

Eddie

I fly down to Southampton a good deal with my work.

Avoid using flybe if you can. They have very strict luggage limits and regulations and have a habit of charging excess luggage. Also they do tend to suffer a lot of delays, although less recently.

I've not had any such problems with British Airways Connect. Good reliable service without surcharges for everything!

Thank you for your replies, however it seems that there are no flights from Southampton to London on BA connect (or regular BA) on Saturday November 11th. Nothing with Flybe either.

Not sure if it's just this particular Saturday that's problematic or any Saturday, but we just don't seem to be able to get out of Southampton unless we drive (long way to Manchester). :(

Any other ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks again.

Nicola

I'd like to know about the xfer by bus sold aboard.

Hi Pualista

Sorry no one has given any answers to your questions, I will try to give you a starting point.

It is probably worth doing a search on the forum for your question about transfer to London as there are so many opinions on it.

I have not used the Cunard transfer service in the UK as I think it is expensive and would just jump on the train from Southampton to London, but then I live in the UK and this is easy enough for me to do. Many other people point out that it is very convenient and they feel the price is not that excessive.

On QM2 the balls relate to ball room dancing and are centered around the Queens Room. If you are a big dancer you will love them, even not they are fun to watch. It is all part of the ocean liner experience.

A roll call is an on line list of people going on a particular cruise/crossing. It can mean that you will already know some other passengers before you even get on board and you get the oportunity to arrange joint travel, say share a private car to London insted of using the Cunard transfer. There is a section for "Roll Calls" in the Cruise Critic forum, Cunard does not have it's own page in there so often they also end up in the Cunard forum pages.

I'd like to know about the xfer by bus sold aboard.

Yes, me too - I was hoping you could tell me where you have seen this service as I also might be interested, as the flights don't seem to be convenient.

Thanks

My wife and I transferred from (June '06 Med cruise)Southampton to London by coach(bus), I believe it was about 75.00USD each, it dropped us at Victoria station. The trip was just under two hours and we really enjoyed it, our coach was not crowded, and we saw a lot of countryside on the way to London and saw London from the outside to the centre. We booked this through Cunard while onboard, a taxi direct to Heathrow may have been about the same price or even cheaper, but we had two days in London before our return to Canada. Keep in mind you will handle your luggage by yourself, after disembarking you will pick it up in the terminal and take it to the coach(luggage carts available). Same at Victoria station you will get it from the bus and take it to stand in line for taxi(no luggage carts that we could see). Nice to note, there were Cunard reps at Victoria station, pointing out directions and helping with cabs. I believe you had the choice to also go to Waterloo station or direct to Heathrow by coach for similar dollars.

Enjoy your cruise.

I have not used the Cunard transfer service in the UK as I think it is expensive and would just jump on the train from Southampton to London, but then I live in the UK and this is easy enough for me to do. Many other people point out that it is very convenient and they feel the price is not that excessive.

We have booked for our first Cunard transfer this December. It is quite expensive (£138.00 for two); it only goes from Leeds - about three quarters of an hour by taxi; they don't guarantee it runs until 46 days before you travel. BUT it takes you straight to the boat; it's not a lot more than the train; there aren't such dire restrictions on baggage as there are by air; At the end of the cruise you get called to disembark earlier; there's more chance of the ship's departure being delayed if your coach is held up than there is if you're making your own way.

The company that organises these transfers is Cruise Connect. Their phone no is +44 20 7462 1579, fax is +44 20 7637 7570 and email cunard@intercruises.com.

I can't recommend these people - I've never travelled with them - but in December I'm one of those people who feel that what they are offering is reasonable value.

You will find that National Express Coaches run a similar service to Cunard and are considerably cheaper http://www.nationalexpress.com/home/hp.cfm

Make sure you go for the direct coaches though not those with long stops in between.

Chris and Pam

I have booked a train ticket for GBP1.50 by http://www.megatrain.com. If yu want to take the bus, look up http://www.megabus.co.uk (same fares)

On the return I will book a coach trip from Southampton to Heathrow by http://www.nationalexpress.co.uk (GBP14 instead of GBP44 offered by Cunard)

I find these Cunard transfers a huge rip off and rather arrange it myself. It's a typical example of raising revenue over our backs

Last year our QE2 cruise ended with an overnight in Amsterdam. However the ship was docked far away from the city at a container terminal somewhere in the boonies. (no taxi connection too). The free shuttle service bus even got lost on it's way back to the ship ,-))

Aparently they had forgotten what to do with this big group of disembarking Dutch pax. At first they offered a transfer (about 30-45 minutes) to Amsterdam central station for EUR45. Something which was refused by everybody. In the end the price went down to EUR20, still pretty expensive but there was no other option.

Reint

Thanks all of you for the replies and specially transat jon for bringing the subject back to focus and the comprehensive answer.

N.Y. Cruiser.

I saw it in someone’s post here, as being sold aboard like any other shore excursion

Nova Scotian,

“Keep in mind you will handle your luggage by yourself, after disembarking you will pick it up in the terminal and take it to the coach(luggage carts available)”

I wasn’t expecting this. I found the greatest advantage over going by myself would be Cunard taking care of the luggage in Southampton! How far will I have to carry it? Is it true that those with this kind of arrangement disembark first?

Thank you for your replies, however it seems that there are no flights from Southampton to London on BA connect (or regular BA) on Saturday November 11th. Nothing with Flybe either.

 

Not sure if it's just this particular Saturday that's problematic or any Saturday, but we just don't seem to be able to get out of Southampton unless we drive (long way to Manchester). :(

I thought you would want to fly direct to Manchester and you can ceratinly do that as I have checked. There is a flight at 10.20 ish and you cold get that if you disembark vis Self Help.

I thought you would want to fly direct to Manchester and you can ceratinly do that as I have checked. There is a flight at 10.20 ish and you cold get that if you disembark vis Self Help.

Hi - I guess I've been lead to believe that more time is necessary to allow for the ship docking late, etc. Do you really think I could make a 10.20am flight from a 9am docking? I would love it if it's possible but I have my doubts......

We docked at 8.15 am and the Self Help people were off by 8.45. That would give you plenty of time to get the airport which is only 20 mons drive away. I appreciate it is a bit tight. An alternative is to get to Southampton Central Railway station and get to London Waterloo. You can then take a taxi or the Tube to London Euston and get a train to Manchester. I prefr traind to the bus.

Has anyone taken the "London and Paris Holiday" after the crossing? Cunard takes you from the ship to London for 2 days then to Paris for 2 days....all transfers, hotels, tours, etc.

It sounds interesting....!

....all transfers, hotels, tours, etc.

It sounds interesting....!

Unless you want to be regimented into Cunard excursions I think that you could probably do it very much better (and cheaper) by arranging your own package. Cunard should be able to book you on a later flight from Europe (I don't know if they could arrange a flight from Paris, it might mean returning from London); Take a transfer to London, train, coach or even a Cunard transfer; Spend the time you want in London; take the Eurostar train from the centre of London to the centre of Paris and then spend some time in Paris.

I would prefer taking the train from Southampton Central(Virgin Trains) to Manchester via Birmingham New Street (change there for connecting train to Manchester). Example depart Sat 11/11/06 Southampton 10.15am->Birmingh 12.45pm/ Connect 1.20pm-> Manchester Piccadilly 3.02pm.

Fares Standard Pounds 62.00 First Pounds 121.00

http://www.virgintrains.co.uk

Hi Parsifal

For a wider choice of train schedules use http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/. This is the company that owns the tracks so gives connections for all the different rail operators.

Done a quick look and I see prices as low as £16.50 single.

we booked through national express from southhampton to victoria station london, you cannot beat this price, since we got a fun fare it was £2.

that's right £2 how sweet is that!

I took the train from Southampton to London (Waterloo Station) and it was fine. A cab from the cruise terminal to the train station was about $10; the train itself was $65 for first class; I bought the ticket on-line from Britrail months ahead of time. The first-class had compartments like you see on Agatha Christie and Harry Potter movies. There was plenty of room; only two of us in the 6-person compartment. The regular coaches looked full, but there was room for luggage at the back of the coach car (lots of luggage piled up), so first class was not really needed. I kept my luggage with me in the compartment, where there was plenty of room. It took about 1 1/2 hours and was a nice way to see the English countryside.