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Southampton Port


suni
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Hi - I've been researching this myself as we will be on a cruise from Southampton in May.

 

Seems people are saying either book a car from

http://www.smithsforairports.com/index.html

 

Or bus via http://coach.nationalexpress.com/nxbooking/journey-search?searchSessionKey=1396850470783

 

Good luck!

 

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The easiest is to take the National Express bus from Victoria Coach Station. Very economical - from £5 to about £12 depending upon the time and date. Then in Southampton, it is just a quick cab ride to the port. Look at http://www.nationalexpress.com

 

What I like about the bus is just load the luggage underneath and sit back. No worrying about changes or stops or someone making off with one of our suitcases.

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Please help. What is the easiest / simplest way to get from downtown London to the port . I had no idea it was so far away from the city!

 

After researching the options we decided to simply join the ship transfer coach at Victoria Coach station in the city and make the day trip much simpler by being delivered directly to the ship. No worries about luggage or transfers in Southampton and cost was about $50 USD I believe.

 

Our decision was partly due to the fact we will be in London 6 days precruise and will be venturing a good deal including a day trip to Salisbury/Stonhenge. Seems like an opportunity to let someone else deal with the logistics on the final day there.

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Please help. What is the easiest / simplest way to get from downtown London to the port. I had no idea it was so far away from the city!
That's because Southampton is not London. It's a completely different city almost 100 miles away from London. Cruise lines routinely lie about this.

 

The "easiest/simplest way" depends critically on where in central London you're starting from, and whether you're prepared to take public transport.

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Southampton is a city in its own right with a population of about 250 000 and really it probably shouldn't be called London on US lines itineraries - but I guess it sells cruises. It can take around 90 minutes by a fast train, longer by road. The London toolkit is a good source of information and here's a link to it:

 

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

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Southampton is a city in its own right with a population of about 250 000 and really it probably shouldn't be called London on US lines itineraries - but I guess it sells cruises. It can take around 90 minutes by a fast train, longer by road. The London toolkit is a good source of information and here's a link to it:

 

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

 

 

Its a bit like them calling Warnemunde (Berlin) and Le Harve (Paris). Crafty.

 

 

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Please help. What is the easiest / simplest way to get from downtown London to the port . I had no idea it was so far away from the city!

 

 

It will depend partly on your budget and how many passengers. The coach from Victoria as has been said is good value. The train comes next but involves carrying your bags at points and either a change of trains or a tube to Waterloo, train to Southampton then a cab to the ship. The next is probably the cruise line transfer but if there are more than 2 people then a private car would most likely be by far the easiest and a reasonable price.

 

If you look on this board there are many recommendations for private transfers.

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Blimy!

National express coach from London Victoria coach station to Southampton, GBP 15.- for 2 passengers. Add GBP 10.- for taxi from Southampton bus station to the ship makes GBP 25.- one way.

Cunard partner "Cruise Connect" : GBP 116.- for 2 pax one way.

National express + taxi, just under 3 hours.

Cruise Connect coach travel time not specified.

:)

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Coaches (buses) from London Victoria to Southampton are operated by http://www.nationalexpress.com/home.aspx

Regular fare about £16, and often silly-cheap promos called Fun Fares.

At about 2.5 hours, much slower than the train.

Because the buses don't have elastic sides you're very strongly advised to pre-book. Do check the luggage limitations.

If you do book, your destination is Southampton coach station. Not cruise ship terminal, which doesn't apply to your sailing. A taxi from the rank at the coach station or central rail station to your ship (City Cruise Terminal) is a short hop costing little more than the minimum of about £5.

 

There are trains from London Victoria and London Paddington rail stations, but for reasons I'll not bore you with, they're not popular - most people use the South-West Trains service from London Waterloo station.

 

Standard fare from Waterloo is about £38 one-way, they run every 20 to 30 minutes & the journey time is about 75 minutes to 90 minutes, depending on the number of stops.

Timetable at http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/

 

But if you buy train tickets in advance through http://uk.megabus.com/megatrain.aspx the cost can be anywhere between just £1 and £10.

Megatrain is a bucket-seat subsidiary of South West Trains and other operators, set up to promote & market off-peak travel, and your money is safe.

Yes, there are limitations.

You must buy in advance and specify a train time.

They're only available for a limited number of those trains - typically one every two hours.

Not available on sundays, or on any morning trains in the opposite (Southampton to Waterloo) direction.

All of the time choices are on the slower "stopping" trains so journey time of about 90 minutes.

Nonetheless they represent exceptional savings

There will be a choice of two or three trains to suit your sailing, and I see a saving of up to £70 per couple well worth the extra 15 minutes journey time.

And yes, those who've bought silly-cheap Megatrain tickets will be travelling on the same train as others who've paid full fare.

In the unlikely event that you screw up and miss your chosen train you simply bin those silly-cheap but now worthless tickets, & buy full-price tickets at the station for the next train. A saving of up to £70 per couple versus a small risk of wasting up to £20. To me it's a no-brainer.

 

Hailing a London taxi in the street to take you to Southampton will cost you your house.

A pre-booked private transfer with http://www.smithsforairports.com or http://www.westquaycars.com would cost around £140

 

Just my fourpenn'orth.

 

JB :)

Edited by John Bull
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Coaches (buses) from London Victoria to Southampton are operated by

 

Last warning, if you book on National Express, make sure you select "SOUTHAMPTON COACH STATION" and not "CRUISE TERMINAL". The "CRUISE TERMINAL" selection is only certain days, and is the cruise terminal for Fred Olson Cruises, which is not likely what you're on.

 

Personal opinion, train (megatrain) is the way to go. Bigger more comfortable seats and a shade under an hour faster vs the coach.

 

If you're near Victoria station in London to start with, there's an hourly train, which is crazy cheap on the weekends, and takes a similar time to the coach.

 

If you're near Paddington Station, you may as well just take the Paddington-Reading-Southampton train connection, vs a taxi/tube to Waterloo or Victoria; it'll work out to be faster and probably similarly priced.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Not sure if it is easiest but 2 years ago we went from Victoria Station to Southampton via southern railway. about 2.5 to 3 hours each way, but no changes.

 

If you book at the right time the price is the same as the bus.

 

E

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Not sure if it is easiest but 2 years ago we went from Victoria Station to Southampton via southern railway. about 2.5 to 3 hours each way, but no changes.

 

If you book at the right time the price is the same as the bus.

 

E

 

Yes, hinted in my post.

Two ways by train from Victoria:

 

1. Via a change at Clapham Junction, where you switch to a train that originated just two or three miles away at Waterloo. Same sort of standard fares as trains from Waterloo, but the change at Clapham Junction can be a pain with luggage and there's no cheap ticketing. Even with a hotel in Victoria, few take this route.

 

2. The Southern Trains service from Victoria mentioned by Shemp, this is an hourly service direct to Southampton & although no Megatrain tix on this route the standard fare is low (about £20) and you can get advance tickets for as little as £8 to £10. The big downside is that it takes a circuitous route, via Gatwick Airport almost to the south coast & then turns west. Two sides of a triangle. So, as Shemp's post, journey time is about 2.5 hours, which makes it less popular than trains from Waterloo.

But worth consideration by those staying in Victoria, and it's a much prettier route once you've left London.

 

JB :)

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  • 3 weeks later...

Just want to chime in and mention that I've now book one-way car hire from Heathrow to our Southampton B&B for £73 total. Thanks to this forum :thumbup: I've determined that our NatWest cost will be £40 (changeable fare in case flight or custom delay) + £20 overweight bags fare (we're packing to flight limit which is hight than NatWest's) + taxi from bus station to B&B. For a few pounds more, the flexibility of door to door private car seems worth it...

 

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We found the train to be easy enough for us even with our "cruise size" suitcases.;) And it was a fun experience. Very comfortable. Took a cab ride to Waterloo station from our hotel. FAST Train to Southampton and caught a cab right to the ship.

 

Easiest would be the cruise transfers, but I think you still have to meet at Victoria Staion to catch their bus. Not sure about all cruiselines.

 

We chose not to do the bus ..we aren't keen on long bus rides. And we'd still would have needed the cabs on either end.

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I read a Princess review recently and the person said it was a nightmare at Victoria Coach station because so many people had booked the transfer and of course the coach station is incredibly busy and short of space anyway. They didn't reach Southampton till 3:30 so it put us off doing that. If I find the review I'll post a link to it but thought it was worth mentioning here anyway.

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They didn't reach Southampton till 3:30 so it put us off doing that..

 

 

I can attest to that. I called the cruiseline and asked about transfers, cost and timing included from London. And yes they weren't going to leave Victoria Station until after noon. And predicted time of arrival was between 2:30 and 3:30. :rolleyes:

 

We took the train and were in our room, already having lunch, sitting on the verandah relaxing with a glass of wine, when a coach arrived with their London transfer people. We recognized a couple we met at our precruise hotel, so we knew this was the Victoria Station bus. Not the airport transfer. Whew....glad we did it on our own. Gave us literally hours more on the ship to relax.

Edited by eandj
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  • 1 month later...
We found the train to be easy enough for us even with our "cruise size" suitcases.;) And it was a fun experience. Very comfortable. Took a cab ride to Waterloo station from our hotel. FAST Train to Southampton and caught a cab right to the ship.

 

Easiest would be the cruise transfers, but I think you still have to meet at Victoria Staion to catch their bus. Not sure about all cruiselines.

 

We chose not to do the bus ..we aren't keen on long bus rides. And we'd still would have needed the cabs on either end.

 

We have decided that we don't want to risk the insane traffic delaying is London. Canceled the private driver.

Can you please provide any other details I need? We are staying in County Hall area of London and need to get to Southampton dock Monday by 10:30 am . Can I buy tickets in advance? Will the taxi in Southampton be able to get us close to the ship? We will have a lot of luggage. Thx for you help.

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We have decided that we don't want to risk the insane traffic delaying is London. Canceled the private driver.

Can you please provide any other details I need? We are staying in County Hall area of London and need to get to Southampton dock Monday by 10:30 am . Can I buy tickets in advance? Will the taxi in Southampton be able to get us close to the ship? We will have a lot of luggage. Thx for you help.

 

The train, as per my earlier post.

Your hotel is only a 5 minute walk from London's Waterloo station, for direct trains to Southampton Central.

Buy tickets at the station for about £39, 2 to 3 trains per hour.

Or, depending on your date, pre-book thro Megatrain for as little as £10 These tickets on a limited number of trains, but there's one that would suit.

 

Taxi will take you to luggage drop-off & terminal entrance.

 

You may have a specific reason for being at the ship by 10.30, but registration & embarkation is unlikely to start before 11.30

 

BTW, Exile & eandj - a noon departure suggests to me that they were using coach/coaches for back-to-back transfers - bring departing cruisers from ship to Victoria, & take new cruisers to the ship. Kerrching ;)

 

JB :)

Edited by John Bull
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  • 4 weeks later...
The train, as per my earlier post.

Your hotel is only a 5 minute walk from London's Waterloo station, for direct trains to Southampton Central.

Buy tickets at the station for about £39, 2 to 3 trains per hour.

Or, depending on your date, pre-book thro Megatrain for as little as £10 These tickets on a limited number of trains, but there's one that would suit.

 

Taxi will take you to luggage drop-off & terminal entrance.

 

You may have a specific reason for being at the ship by 10.30, but registration & embarkation is unlikely to start before 11.30

 

BTW, Exile & eandj - a noon departure suggests to me that they were using coach/coaches for back-to-back transfers - bring departing cruisers from ship to Victoria, & take new cruisers to the ship. Kerrching ;)

 

JB :)

 

 

Thank you! We will get to Waterloo and take the train to Southampton. We have early embarkation, so I would like to be there by 11 am to get settled. This will be on a Monday. I imagine the traffic is heavy on a Monday so the idea of avoiding a driver is quite appealing.

Any other input is appreciated.

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We just returned from our British Isles cruise on Princess. We flew from Dublin to Heathrow before the cruise and used Smith for Airports to get from Heathrow to Southampton. They were great and the cost was 73 BPS for 4 people with a lot of luggage.

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