Southampton to London after QM2 crossing

My family and I will be arriving in Southampton on the QM2 in August. We arrive on a Saturday, and need to figure out transportation to our hotel in London (London Marriott Hotel Kensington). There are five of us: my wife and myself, my son (age 12), my daughter (age 8), and my mother.

Any recommendations on our best options to get from Southampton to London? If it was just my wife and myself, I think we would just take the train. But since the kids are coming along, i'm a bit concerned about our luggage situation. I don't expect to travel light, since we will be on Cunard.

Should I go with the train? Cruise line transfer to London? Pre-book a car service (Smiths for Airports seems popular based on some searches in this forum)?

Any suggestions on getting from our hotel in London to Heathrow?

Usually we advise using Megatrain to get tickets for the Southampton - London trains for as little as £1 each. However, Megatrain is not available in the mornings in that direction, so 'normal' fare would be about £35 each (thick end of £180 for all of you). I'm pretty sure you will get a car service for that (or thereabouts), also with the added convienience of door to door service. Apart from Smiths try http://www.westquaycars.com too.

Simon

So we are just back from a mini-cruise from Southampton, and decided to take the train from London Waterloo to/from Southampton Central. Our experience was:

Outbound travelling on a week day, no problems whatsoever, short taxi ride from the station to the ship and we were there.

Inbound (back to London) we travelled today (Sunday), and we had nothing but problems. Our train was cancelled with no explanation, so we had to take an alternative tran route, which terminated before London because of engineering works, so we had to take a crowded replacement bus service, before catching a local train for the final part of the journey into London, where we had to stand for the 40 minute journey. All these issues, doubled our return journey time. :(

Sorry, ranting a bit here, so in a nutshell if travelling at the weekend, check for train engineering works. We are going again from Southampton in June, so we are going to research some alternative options this time.

OP: if you decide to use a private car service, I highly recommend Smiths for Airports. Based on recommendations on this board, we used them a couple of years ago for our transfer from London to Southampton, and they were fabulous.

Enjoy your trip!

I would use a car service too. Just make sure that they know that there will be five people plus luggage, so that they will provide an adequate car.

We did a trans-Atlantic on the QM about 2 years ago and took the Cunard transportation to London and it was $59 (US) per person for the transfer. From the main station in London we then took a cab to our hotel and that was about pounds.

Check out www.internationalfriends.co.uk. They only go embarkment and disembarkment days. They pick you up at the dock and take you to certain London hotels, LHR and LHR hotels. They have a couple of tours to choose from, a great way to see other parts of England on the way to London hotel.

I have use www.justairports.com a private car service from/to LHR and London hotel, use your hotel's postal code to get a quote.

Thanks for all of the great advice and ideas. I think i'll save the train for a future trip when my daughter is older or my wife and I are traveling alone. I'm going to get some quotes from some of the car services recommended here and compare to using the the Cunard Bus Transfer/Taxi option. Thanks again!

Usually we advise using Megatrain to get tickets for the Southampton - London trains for as little as £1 each. However, Megatrain is not available in the mornings in that direction, so 'normal' fare would be about £35 each (thick end of £180 for all of you).

A cheap option towards London in the morning is the National Express coach service, with tickets usually around £5 if booked early enough.

The coach takes a little longer than the train, but not an awful lot longer, and is direct to Victoria coach station.

However I wouldn't recommend it for the OP with a young family, but it might be suitable for others who happen upon this thread.

A cheap option towards London in the morning is the National Express coach service, with tickets usually around £5 if booked early enough.

 

The coach takes a little longer than the train, but not an awful lot longer, and is direct to Victoria coach station.

 

However I wouldn't recommend it for the OP with a young family, but it might be suitable for others who happen upon this thread.

I must admit, thats why I didn't include it as an option this time. What with mucking about at Victoria Coach station then somehow getting to Kensington (tube/bus/taxi), I just thought it would be more practical to have a door to door car service in this instance.

Simon

I was looking for a transfer + tour from Southhampton to London.

Was very excited to see the recommendations for International Friends. Unfortunately for me, they do not meet all cruise ships, including the Queen Mary 2, which will be bringing me from NY to Southhampton.

Any other suggestions?

Thanks -

Elaine

It depends on what you want to see and how much you want to spend.

One possibility would be to take the train to Salisbury, leave your luggage at the Cat Tavern, near to the station, and take a HOHO to Stonehenge. Then you could take a train to London from Salisbury. If you had time you could visit the magnificent cathedral as well - they do a good lunch there.

Have a look at this thread for more detail. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2489959

I was looking for a transfer + tour from Southhampton to London.

Was very excited to see the recommendations for International Friends. Unfortunately for me, they do not meet all cruise ships, including the Queen Mary 2, which will be bringing me from NY to Southhampton.

 

Any other suggestions?

 

Thanks -

Elaine

Hi Elaine,

Check this port schedule.

http://www.southamptonvts.co.uk/live_information/shipping_movements_and_cruise_ship_schedule/cruise_ship_schedule/

If your ship arrives same-day as one which is serviced by International Friends, you can choose unassisted early disembarkation, jump into a taxi to that ship's berth, & take the Int. Friends bus.

You do face the risk that if your ship is late or your disembarkation delayed you will miss the bus. Should that happen it's no problem getting to London by train, but you would forfeit the Int Friends' fare.

Alternatively Bob's suggestion for Stonehenge.

Unfortunately no similar option for Windsor because by train it's more complicated and no left-luggage facilities. For Windsor you could book the National Express bus to Heathrow (about £20 per person), stash your luggage at any terminal, taxi to Windsor (about £30 one-way), taxi back to Heathrow, collect your luggage and a variety of transport options to central London. But that's an awful lot of effort & cost.

Or a private transfer broadly along the same lines as the Int Friends' tour-transfer. That would be costly, but if you could find sharers via your RollCall.........................

JB :)

Check out www.internationalfriends.co.uk. They only go embarkment and disembarkment days. They pick you up at the dock and take you to certain London hotels, LHR and LHR hotels. They have a couple of tours to choose from, a great way to see other parts of England on the way to London hotel.

 

I have use www.justairports.com a private car service from/to LHR and London hotel, use your hotel's postal code to get a quote.

FYI- Checked international friends site. They do not meet all ships - and N:(T the Queen Mary

Elaine

Hi

Was poking around trying to find out about weather.

Turns out that in addition to weather, there were reports of the stability of the ship during bad weather.

Very happy to report that the QM2 is excellent under ANY conditions.

Hopefully, I copied the right link

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=897060

Elaine

Hi Elaine,

Check this port schedule. http://www.southamptonvts.co.uk/live_information/shipping_movements_and_cruise_ship_schedule/cruise_ship_schedule/ (Thanks, John!)

If your ship arrives same-day as one which is serviced by International Friends..... (does not meet the QM2) .....

Alternatively Bob's suggestion for Stonehenge.

Unfortunately no similar option for Windsor.....

Or a private transfer broadly along the same lines as the Int Friends' tour-transfer.That would be costly, but if you could find sharers via your RollCall.........................

JB :)

Hey John - and everyone else -

Interested in a private transfer? I've organized excursions before, and would be happy to share in a transfer tour with other ship mateys

Elaine

Interested in a private transfer? I've organized excursions before, and would be happy to share in a transfer tour with other ship mateys

You'll need to post in the roll call thread for your cruise. These posts aren't allowed on the ports of call boards - see http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=508317 for example.

Very confused, sorry, I thought this WAS the roll call thread. So with whom am I conversing on this board???

Will check.

Thanks

Very confused, sorry, I thought this WAS the roll call thread. So with whom am I conversing on this board???

Very confused, sorry, I thought this WAS the roll call thread. So with whom am I conversing on this board???

Will check.

Thanks

That explains why you're asking whether I want to tour-share.

I don't - I live about 20 miles from Stonehenge ;)

As per the header at the top of the page, this is the Britain / Western Europe ports forum - cruisers asking about the ports they're visiting, and locals and cruisers who've "been there, done that" answering.

Scroll to the bottom of the page to "forum jump", where British Isles / Western Europe is In the box. Click on the arrow alongside it to bring up all the forums. Scroll up that list to RollCalls & click on your cruise line's RollCalls That'll take you to your ship & sailing date.

Easy when you know how :)

JB :)

Usually we advise using Megatrain to get tickets for the Southampton - London trains for as little as £1 each. However, Megatrain is not available in the mornings in that direction, so 'normal' fare would be about £35 each (thick end of £180 for all of you).

And Megatrain tickets to and from Southampton will cease to exist from the 20th August when the new franchise holder takes over.

And Megatrain tickets to and from Southampton will cease to exist from the 20th August when the new franchise holder takes over.

Let's see whether the new franchise holder can work some Hong Kong magic.