Transport to Southampton cruiseport

Hi John, next May we arrive in Gatwick and need to get to Southampton. Train? Bus? We arrive the day before our cruise so we must make our way there on our own. What do you suggest?

Last time we stayed at the Holiday Inn but we were cruising on Celebrity and the ship was right through the gate within walking distance. This time we are cruising on the Royal Princess. Which hotel do you suggest to be within walking distance to the pier where it stops? If none, then which pier do we have to take a taxi to?

Thank you for all your help! :D

Hi John, next May we arrive in Gatwick and need to get to Southampton. Train? Bus? We arrive the day before our cruise so we must make our way there on our own. What do you suggest?

 

Last time we stayed at the Holiday Inn but we were cruising on Celebrity and the ship was right through the gate within walking distance. This time we are cruising on the Royal Princess. Which hotel do you suggest to be within walking distance to the pier where it stops? If none, then which pier do we have to take a taxi to?

 

Thank you for all your help! :D

Gatwick to Southampton - simplest & quite inexpensive is by train.

Direct hourly service from the airport's South Terminal, journey time just under 2 hours, cost upwards of £8. There are more frequent services, but they involve changes & are more expensive.

Only problem is on Sundays, when there is no direct service.

http://ojp.nationalrail.co.uk/service/planjourney/search

On a Sunday (or any other day of the week) there's a direct Nat Express coach service, costing about £18. But frequency is very poor (a coach every two or three hours) & journey time 2hrs 45. Booking is essential

http://www.nationalexpress.com/

........................................................................................

Princess normally sail out of Ocean Terminal or Mayflower Terminal - definitely not out of City Terminal which is the one by Hol Inn.

No hotel sensibly walkable to either terminal with luggage, but both are just a £6 to £10 taxi ride from any city centre hotel, so don't let whichever cruise terminal dictate your choice of city centre hotel.

JB :).

That's great. We arrive at 6:50am on a Friday, so we will be able to take the first train available once we go through customs.

We are confused as to where is city center? We would like to stay in a hotel in the center so we can walk around and not so much of a walk because we'll be exhausted by late afternoon (or sooner).

Could you name one landmark or hotel that is city center?

Thank you.

 

Could you name one landmark or hotel that is city center?

Thank you.

The Bargate, which was the original northern city gate set in the city walls (some sections remain & can be walked) is now the centre of town, set between the old town & the post-war main shopping street of Above Bar.

The West Quay Mall is a big shopping mall near the Bargate, the Premier Inn West Quay is the other side of the mall.

https://www.google.com/maps?saddr=W+Bargate&daddr=W+Bargate&hl=en&ll=50.902072,-1.403375&spn=0.010325,0.024955&sll=50.903073,-1.404147&sspn=0.005135,0.012478&geocode=Fbu3CAMdj5Lq_w%3BFdq3CAMdtpLq_w&oq=High+Street&t=h&dirflg=w&mra=dme&mrsp=0&sz=17&z=16&iwloc=A

Or on the thumbnail map at the bottom of this website, just below the yellow D.

http://www.londontoolkit.com/travel/southampton_accommodation.htm

JB :)

Thank you for the link, that's a great map. Since we already went to the mall and walked that entire area, we'll do something different and stay at Ennios. Sounds interesting. :D

I just read that Ennios doesn't have a lift? yikes! :eek:

My poor husband would have to climb the stairs with two heavy luggages!? That's terrible :(

JB,

Thanks so much! Still working on it.... :-)

Hi Again JB

Am looking at National Express in November (weekend) are UKL25.20.

Am I doing something wrong, and I too late for the cheaper prices ?

Last time I paid about 25% of that price.

Thanks So much, Matt

Hi John Bull. You are a wealth of information! We are thinking of staying at the Premier Inn West Quay a day prior to embarkation of our cruise. Does Premier Inn West Quay offer transport from the hotel to the cruise terminal/dock? Thank you!

Hi John Bull. You are a wealth of information! We are thinking of staying at the Premier Inn West Quay a day prior to embarkation of our cruise. Does Premier Inn West Quay offer transport from the hotel to the cruise terminal/dock? Thank you!

Not JB--he's on vacation.

We are staying at the PI-WQ also --my understanding is that they will call a taxi for you or taxis will be available in front of the hotel. They do not have a shuttle service.

Hi Again JB

 

Am looking at National Express in November (weekend) are UKL25.20.

 

Am I doing something wrong, and I too late for the cheaper prices ?

 

Last time I paid about 25% of that price.

 

Thanks So much, Matt

Not JB either

I think the FUN FARES come out maybe 3 mths prior I would just keep checking

Lyn

Hi John Bull. You are a wealth of information! We are thinking of staying at the Premier Inn West Quay a day prior to embarkation of our cruise. Does Premier Inn West Quay offer transport from the hotel to the cruise terminal/dock? Thank you!

I stay there regularly and there is definitely no shuttle nor have I ever seen taxis lined up in front of the hotel as suggested by someone else. We usually just ring our own taxi from West Quay Cars but I'm sure if there's someone at Reception they will be able to help. The Reception area is mainly automated but at busy times there is also someone there.

Thank you, tartanexile81 and Alaskanb! I appreciate your responses.

We took the train from the Waterloo station and it was great. Many times to choose from, as well as on time and comfortable. Signage is very clear. No trouble finding the right track and train at the huge terminal.

We took a cab over the river to Waterloo from our hotel and then another short cab ride at the S.ampton train station to the port. It was a fun experience.

Could you please tell me the time you departed Waterloo Station and arrived into Southampton Station?

Thanks!

Hi Again JB

 

Am looking at National Express in November (weekend) are UKL25.20.

 

Am I doing something wrong, and I too late for the cheaper prices ?

 

Last time I paid about 25% of that price.

 

Thanks So much, Matt

Hi, Matt,

Standard Nat Express rates to Southampton are around £18 pp one-way from Heathrow, a little less from central London even though it's further.

No fun-fares from Heathrow (or Gatwick), because they're committed travellers.

Promo fun-fares from central London (can be as low as just £1) aren't usually available til something like 12 weeks out - so you're too early, not too late. Try some dummy bookings for about 10 to 16 weeks from now & you should see the difference.

Could you please tell me the time you departed Waterloo Station and arrived into Southampton Station?

Thanks!

Hi,

About 3 trains per hour.

http://ojp.nationalrail.co.uk/service/planjourney/search

Fast trains (only three stops) take about 1hour 15, slower trains (stop at lots of stations) take about 15-20 minutes longer.

It's the same fare for slow or fast, though http://www.megatrain.com only offer silly-cheap advance-purchase fares on a limited number of the slower trains.

JB :)

Could you please tell me the time you departed Waterloo Station and arrived into Southampton Station?

Thanks!

Three direct trains an hour; really too numerous to paste here; but if you visit http://nationalrail.co.uk you can type in London Waterloo to Southampton Central.

Depending on where you're staying in London there is also (albeit slightly slower) hourly service from London Victoria; and one-change (at Reading) service from Paddington. If I were staying near the latter stations, I wouldn't bother to get to Waterloo.

Hello all, this is a very informative thread and just what I was looking for.

We need to transfer from Heathrow T2 to Southampton for a stay at the Novotel for a night before cruising in November.

It looks like the Novotel is very walkable from the National Express bus station, am I correct? Maybe 1/2 mile or less?

HOWEVER... when I check the National Express bus schedule, I'm not sure if this makes sense. Our flight arrives at 8:35. I think the chances of our making a 9:30 am coach are pretty slim with immigration and baggage. Am I right? The next direct coach isn't until 11:30... after an overnight flight I doubt we will be too keen on sitting around the airport for an hour or more waiting for a bus. Am I looking at this right? Date of arrival is Sat. Nov 1.

So given all that, does anyone have a car transfer service they recommend?

Hello all, this is a very informative thread and just what I was looking for.

 

We need to transfer from Heathrow T2 to Southampton for a stay at the Novotel for a night before cruising in November.

 

It looks like the Novotel is very walkable from the National Express bus station, am I correct? Maybe 1/2 mile or less?

 

HOWEVER... when I check the National Express bus schedule, I'm not sure if this makes sense. Our flight arrives at 8:35. I think the chances of our making a 9:30 am coach are pretty slim with immigration and baggage. Am I right? The next direct coach isn't until 11:30... after an overnight flight I doubt we will be too keen on sitting around the airport for an hour or more waiting for a bus. Am I looking at this right? Date of arrival is Sat. Nov 1.

 

So given all that, does anyone have a car transfer service they recommend?

Yes, Novotel is very walkable from the coach station, effectively just across a retail park parking lot, no more than 5 mins & on level ground.

Yes, you appear to be reading the Nat Express timetable correctly. And 55 minutes from scheduled touchdown to bus station (including a well-signed 5 - 10 min walk from T2 to bus station) would give you only about a 10% chance of making the 9.30 unless your flight were significantly early. A 9.30 ticket is good for the 11.30 coach, subject to seats being available & a small admin charge, but frankly that would be more hope than expectation. It's much more likely that after formalities etc your wait for the 11.30 would be about 90 minutes or less.

If you choose a private transfer it'll cost about £90 one-way. best bets are http://www.smithsforairports.com or http://www.westquaycars.com

Both are frequently recommended on CC, both are based at the Southampton end so tend to be more personal, more reliable & better value than those based at the airport.

Don't simply take a taxi from the rank at the airport or it'll cost you your house :eek:

JB :)

Thanks JB. It's so nice to get confirmation of my thinking from someone who's actually there.

Will discuss with hubby - he tends to be cranky after an overnight flight so I think he'll vote for the car service despite the higher cost. Appreciate the recommendations.

............. he tends to be cranky after an overnight flight.

So what makes him different from the rest of us? :D

JB :)

Hello all, this is a very informative thread and just what I was looking for.

 

We need to transfer from Heathrow T2 to Southampton for a stay at the Novotel for a night before cruising in November.

 

It looks like the Novotel is very walkable from the National Express bus station, am I correct? Maybe 1/2 mile or less?

 

HOWEVER... when I check the National Express bus schedule, I'm not sure if this makes sense. Our flight arrives at 8:35. I think the chances of our making a 9:30 am coach are pretty slim with immigration and baggage. Am I right? The next direct coach isn't until 11:30... after an overnight flight I doubt we will be too keen on sitting around the airport for an hour or more waiting for a bus. Am I looking at this right? Date of arrival is Sat. Nov 1.

 

So given all that, does anyone have a car transfer service they recommend?

Other options are the bus to Woking (operated by National Express), followed by the train to Southampton Central - which is right across the street from the Novotel. Bus is twice hourly, trains are 3x/hourly; so plenty of connections.

Or, the RailAir bus to Reading followed by train to Southampton Central; RailAir bus to Reading is 3x/hour; train is 2x/hour (one direct, one requiring a change at Basingstoke)

If I may add another car service option, I used http://www.mandptaxis.co.uk and had perfect results. It was for my cruise a few weeks ago. The service was very reasonable and I had contacted multiple agencies for quotes. Timely Email responses, and when I had a flight change the night before arriving in London they adjusted their schedule to meet me. Very professional and I found this company from another poster here on cruisecritic. I also used them after our cruise for transportation to our London hotel. I highly recommend them!

Thanks for the recommendation of M and P taxis BrenGina. I e mailed them for a quote for a transfer from an address in Central London to Southampton for 6 of us and they replied within minutes and their quote was much less than Smiths and also less than all the London car service companies I contacted.

If I may add another car service option, I used http://www.mandptaxis.co.uk and had perfect results. It was for my cruise a few weeks ago. The service was very reasonable and I had contacted multiple agencies for quotes. Timely Email responses, and when I had a flight change the night before arriving in London they adjusted their schedule to meet me. Very professional and I found this company from another poster here on cruisecritic. I also used them after our cruise for transportation to our London hotel. I highly recommend them!

A small local operator I didn't know about.

But for background, like Smiths & West Quay, they're based near Southampton.

And the smaller family-run provincial operators do tend to offer a more reliable service at more competitive rates than those based in London or at London's airports.

Good to have another worthy operator recommended on CC. :)

JB :)

Just so you have all your options, this is how close the coach station is to the Novotel.

https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?saddr=Harbour+Parade&daddr=Unknown+road&hl=en&ll=50.905617,-1.411293&spn=0.003829,0.009431&sll=50.908486,-1.409297&sspn=0.007658,0.018861&geocode=FazCCAMdmH_q_w%3BFbXBCAMdp2jq_w&t=h&dirflg=w&mra=me&mrsp=1&sz=16&z=17

The double red arrow symbol at the top of the map above the Novotel is the train station, so thats close too.

Simon