transportaion from London hotel to port

we're booked on our first trip to Europe in MAy and we're staying a couple of days in London our problem is getting from the hotel to the port

we checked with royal Caribbean and they do transport but only from 2 or 3 hotels and the price for the 2 of us would be almost 1000

but those hotels are now closed so our other choice is

Hilton London I cant remember the rest but that would be a private transport at 300 for the both of us

but if its a private transport why couldn't they pick us up at the Rembrandt a friend of ours goes to London a lot and recommends it

otherwise does anyone know of a transport that will pick us up at the Rembrandt to the port

from the port back to the airport is no problem--we can do a one way with RC

any advice would be greatly appreciated

thanks all

we're booked on our first trip to Europe in MAy and we're staying a couple of days in London our problem is getting from the hotel to the port

 

we checked with royal Caribbean and they do transport but only from 2 or 3 hotels and the price for the 2 of us would be almost 1000

but those hotels are now closed so our other choice is

 

Hilton London I cant remember the rest but that would be a private transport at 300 for the both of us

 

but if its a private transport why couldn't they pick us up at the Rembrandt a friend of ours goes to London a lot and recommends it

 

otherwise does anyone know of a transport that will pick us up at the Rembrandt to the port

 

from the port back to the airport is no problem--we can do a one way with RC

 

any advice would be greatly appreciated

 

thanks all

You may want to go over to the Ports of Call Forums and click on Europe and then click on British Isles/Western Europe and ask your question or do a Search.

Which port? There is a bus that runs...see here http://www.londontoolkit.com/travel/harwich_fromlondon_shuttle.html

This question will be better answered in your roll call or in the ports forum under England. Just FYI. Have a fun trip.

You can easily get the train there!

Get on and relax all the way to the coast.

You get to Southampton Central and then outside there is a taxi rank and the fare to the port is approx £10

Just checked on the website and it takes about 2 1/2 hrs and cheapest ticket is about £16+ depending on what you pick.

Just do a search on Southern Rail and put in where you want to get on in London and then Southampton Central as final point.

If going from London Victoria to Southampton there is no changes.

That is what we've done the last couple of times we did a TA from UK to US

you could always just get a private car service it will be about 100 GBP

they will pick you up at the hotel |& drop you at the port

Option is to take a taxi to the coach station get the National Express to Southampton bus terminal then a taxi to the port

The Rembrandt is an excellent hotel but fairly pricy. If you are on a budget, I suggest that you shop around for a lower cost alternative. The Premier Inn at waterloo (near the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey and the London Eye) comes well recommended for a lot less money. There are many others as well - that is just one example.

http://www.premierinn.com/en/hotel/LONWAT/london-waterloo-westminster-bridge

As said - A coach from Victoria coach station to Southampton (with a taxi at either end) is the cheapest option, while a private hire car direct from your hotel to the port is the easiest.

We recommend http://www.totallydriven.co.uk for private transfers.

The Rembrandt is several steps above the Premere Inna which are strictly budget hotels.

We recommend http://www.totallydriven.co.uk for private transfers.

The Rembrandt is several steps above the Premere Inna which are strictly budget hotels.

Agreed - you get what you pay for.

thanks for all the helpful replies

a couple of you suggested a private car service

could someone recommend one Ill have to check out "totally driven" is that the name of a car service or is it just a name that handles a several different companies

I know though my husband would love to take the train--trains are his hobby

is it hard to get luggage we'll have 2 carry ons and 2good sized pieces

thanks again for all at the help

thanks for the link for totally driven

this site looks really good and easy

but could some one please help with the money conversion

just for a standard car its --whatever your symbol is for the US dollar

I don't have that key on my computer

hope this make sense any way symbol for our dollar 122--127--it looks like you get a discount if you pay cash--which we can do since were exchanging money before we leave the states

thanks again for the help

I use

$$ = USD or CAD

GBP for the British pound

E for the Euro

not much confusion that way ;)

thanks for the link for totally driven

 

this site looks really good and easy

but could some one please help with the money conversion

just for a standard car its --whatever your symbol is for the US dollar

I don't have that key on my computer

hope this make sense any way symbol for our dollar 122--127--it looks like you get a discount if you pay cash--which we can do since were exchanging money before we leave the states

thanks again for the help

The british pound i costs approximately $1.53 today

Totally driven gives a discount for paying on line and also for booking early. We usually book 5-6 months before we leave for London to get the best rate.

I know though my husband would love to take the train--trains are his hobby

 

is it hard to get luggage we'll have 2 carry ons and 2good sized pieces

 

thanks again for all at the help

The train is easy. Take a taxi to Waterloo, then it's a level walk to the platforms (I'm pretty sure there are luggage carts as well). At Southampton it's an easy 10-minute taxi ride from the train station to the dock.

I don't know if it's the same on your side of the pond, but for a quick and easy conversion, I just enter a GBP amount into Google (with the pound sign in front) and it automatically converts it to Dollars for me. Works the other way round too.

Our keyboards and screens have Dollar and Euro signs as well as Pounds, but they do not show up correctly on American screens.

Premier Inn is a budget hotel chain and we love it! Use them all the time when we go to the UK.

This was from Premier Inn, Southampton, West Quay.

[YOUTUBE]NFUtrUcYPZs [/YOUTUBE]

You can easily get the train there!

Get on and relax all the way to the coast.

You get to Southampton Central and then outside there is a taxi rank and the fare to the port is approx £10

 

Just checked on the website and it takes about 2 1/2 hrs and cheapest ticket is about £16+ depending on what you pick.

 

Just do a search on Southern Rail and put in where you want to get on in London and then Southampton Central as final point.

 

If going from London Victoria to Southampton there is no changes.

Victoria is not the station you want if you're going to Southampton. While there is one slow train (2½ hr) from Victoria, there are 3 much faster (1½ hr) trains per hour from London Waterloo.

Bottom line to get to Southampton by public transit:

• Train: From London Waterloo, 3 trains/hr, takes 1½ hrs. Booking hint, use 'Megatrain.com' certain departures can be as little as a couple of £
  
• Train: From London Victoria, 1 train/hr (ex Sun), takes 2½ hrs. Sundays requires a change of train at Clapham Jct (a real pain). Booking hint, use Southernrail.com, there are often weekend deals.
  
• Train: From London Paddington, 1 train/hr, takes 1h45m. Requires a change at Reading
  
• Coach: From London Victoria Coach Stn, appx 1 coach/hr, takes 2¼ hrs. Booking hint; don't select "Southampton Cruise Terminal", that's only for Fred Olsen cruises
  

http://www.nationalrail.co.uk (trains)

http://www.nationalexpress.com (coaches)

Last handy hint;

press (and hold) alt, then type 0163 on the keypad and release alt. Voila the £ symbol. Alt+0128 is the Euro symbol €

Just get the train easy cheap and direct

The train is cheap and easy; but if you prefer car service talk it up on your roll call to see if there is another couple staying near you - a larger car would not cost that much more, making the per couple cost a lot better.

Smiths for Airports is one of the best known car services, but there are many - with web sites you can check on line.

Our keyboards and screens have Dollar and Euro signs as well as Pounds, but they do not show up correctly on American screens.

- For a £ sign, press and hold down the ALT key and then type 0163 on the keypad;

- For a € sign, press and hold down the ALT key and then type 0128 on the keypad;

- For a $ sign, press and hold down the ALT key and then type 0036 (or just 36) on the keypad.

Victoria is not the station you want if you're going to Southampton. While there is one slow train (2½ hr) from Victoria, there are 3 much faster (1½ hr) trains per hour from London Waterloo.

 

Bottom line to get to Southampton by public transit:

 

• Train: From London Waterloo, 3 trains/hr, takes 1½ hrs. Booking hint, use 'Megatrain.com' certain departures can be as little as a couple of £
  
• Train: From London Victoria, 1 train/hr (ex Sun), takes 2½ hrs. Sundays requires a change of train at Clapham Jct (a real pain). Booking hint, use Southernrail.com, there are often weekend deals.
  
• Train: From London Paddington, 1 train/hr, takes 1h45m. Requires a change at Reading
  
• Coach: From London Victoria Coach Stn, appx 1 coach/hr, takes 2¼ hrs. Booking hint; don't select "Southampton Cruise Terminal", that's only for Fred Olsen cruises
  

 

http://www.nationalrail.co.uk (trains)

http://www.nationalexpress.com (coaches)

 

Last handy hint;

press (and hold) alt, then type 0163 on the keypad and release alt. Voila the £ symbol. Alt+0128 is the Euro symbol €

I have looked at train options from Waterloo. Is there adequate luggage stowage on these trains? We'd most likely have 3-4 large cases and two small cases/rucksacks for two people (spending 3 nights London pre-cruise / 10 night transatlantic / 1 night Miami post-cruise)

I have looked at train options from Waterloo. Is there adequate luggage stowage on these trains? We'd most likely have 3-4 large cases and two small cases/rucksacks for two people (spending 3 nights London pre-cruise / 10 night transatlantic / 1 night Miami post-cruise)

Unless you're travelling during rush hour, it'll be pretty empty.

Unless you're travelling during rush hour, it'll be pretty empty.

Would probably target a 1030ish train on a Thursday

Would probably target a 1030ish train on a Thursday

Walk-up fare Waterloo to Southampton is around £40, and as Scottbee's post there are three trains per hour.

But to expand on Scottbee's mention of

http://uk.megabus.com/megatrain.aspx

you can pre-purchase tickets on that website for around £6 to £10.

That represents a saving of around £65 per couple :)

The website is run by a consortium of travel operators, including South West Trains, who operate this route. The objective is to maximise sales of seats on under-utilised trains.

Must be pre-booked (available from about 8 weeks out), no changes, no cancellations. More important, available on only a few trains per day. But two of those trains comfortably suit a cruise departure - the 09.39am (arrives Southampton 11.12am, you'll get to your cruise terminal just as boarding starts) or at 11.39 (arrives Southampton 1.15pm). Do a dummy booking for a weekday in the coming few weeks for full details.

No megatrain tickets for sundays, no megatrain tickets for mornings in the Southampton to London direction, no megatrain tickets to/from airports, they have no need to promote those routes/times.

JB :)

Walk-up fare Waterloo to Southampton is around £40, and as Scottbee's post there are three trains per hour.

 

But to expand on Scottbee's mention of

http://uk.megabus.com/megatrain.aspx

you can pre-purchase tickets on that website for around £6 to £10.

That represents a saving of around £65 per couple :)

The website is run by a consortium of travel operators, including South West Trains, who operate this route. The objective is to maximise sales of seats on under-utilised trains.

Must be pre-booked (available from about 8 weeks out), no changes, no cancellations. More important, available on only a few trains per day. But two of those trains comfortably suit a cruise departure - the 09.39am (arrives Southampton 11.12am, you'll get to your cruise terminal just as boarding starts) or at 11.39 (arrives Southampton 1.15pm). Do a dummy booking for a weekday in the coming few weeks for full details.

 

No megatrain tickets for sundays, no megatrain tickets for mornings in the Southampton to London direction, no megatrain tickets to/from airports, they have no need to promote those routes/times.)

The Megatrain tickets are a great deal John, used them last time we were there.

Walk-up fare Waterloo to Southampton is around £40, and as Scottbee's post there are three trains per hour.

 

But to expand on Scottbee's mention of

http://uk.megabus.com/megatrain.aspx

you can pre-purchase tickets on that website for around £6 to £10.

That represents a saving of around £65 per couple :)

The website is run by a consortium of travel operators, including South West Trains, who operate this route. The objective is to maximise sales of seats on under-utilised trains.

Must be pre-booked (available from about 8 weeks out), no changes, no cancellations. More important, available on only a few trains per day. But two of those trains comfortably suit a cruise departure - the 09.39am (arrives Southampton 11.12am, you'll get to your cruise terminal just as boarding starts) or at 11.39 (arrives Southampton 1.15pm). Do a dummy booking for a weekday in the coming few weeks for full details.

 

No megatrain tickets for sundays, no megatrain tickets for mornings in the Southampton to London direction, no megatrain tickets to/from airports, they have no need to promote those routes/times.

 

JB :)

I had already found the pricing through megatrain, and it is indeed attractive. I would have no qualms about taking the train, but my general experience in the UK is that there is little baggage stowage space for large cases. I don't relish having to constantly move/shuffle cases, or get barked at by a conductor that bags are not properly stowed.

I'm finding car services direct from London to the pier for about £100-125 for two, which may be worth the premium vs taking two taxis and a train and all the schlepping. Give bags to porter at hotel, go to brekkies, have porter/driver load bags at hotel have driver/longshoreman unload bags at pier ..... An appealing option when traveling with anywhere between 4-6 pieces of baggage total :D