Portsmouth Ferry to Caen

Our ship is docking at Southampton at 5 a.m. How long would it take to get to Portsmouth to catch a 8:15 a.m. ferry? Doable?

Depends when you can get off the ship.

You need to be at the docks in Portsmouth in advance to check in and walk (I assume?) onto the ship.

Journey from Southampton if you get a clear run is 30/40 minutes by prebooked car, but that would only work on a Sunday, timing-wise, as the stretch of road between the 2 cities is one of the most notoriously busy in the U.K. At rush hour, which is roughly 6.30 - 9.00 weekdays. Saturdays I'd allow 45/60 mins.

You might get lucky and hit a clear run, and be done in half an hour, but it's not a risk I'd be happy to take.

Brittany Ferries say:

There is a minimum 45 minute check-in prior to departure. Please check your ticket as this time may vary.

So unless you can be sure to be off the ship by 06:30, I would look for an alternative. There are flights from Southampton Airport to France which may be suitable. Thinking about it - At that time on a Saturday morning, there would be very little traffic. You need to be there fro 07:30, so there may be some wiggle room if you can debark fairly quickly. It may be worth contacting Aquacars for their opinion and a quote.

I also see that the Pool to Cherbourg ferry has a slightly later sailing time and the drive may be easier - a local would give better advice though.

It may be safer to book the night sailing.

Our ship is docking at Southampton at 5 a.m. How long would it take to get to Portsmouth to catch a 8:15 a.m. ferry? Doable?

The chances of making that ferry are pretty poor - far to slim to commit.

Forget the 5am arrival time, first disembarkation (unassisted, haul your own bags from your cabin) is around 7am, though I've heard of as early as 6.30am.

As South Coast Girl's post, the route is busy busy busy on weekdays at commuter time, though at 7am you would be ahead of most commuters, and the ferry terminal is adjacent the motorway before you hit serious Portsmouth city traffic, so travel time of 30 to 40 minutes should be achievable.

But minimum check-in time for the ferry is 45 minutes before sailing (you can't walk from the ferry terminal to the ferry, & that's when the last shuttle-bus leaves the ferry terminal).

So you're likely to have barely 30 minutes for that 30 to 40 minute drive to Portsmouth, and I'd put the chances at worse than 50/50.

On a random date in May 2017 there's a 9am hi-speed ferry from Portsmouth to Cherbourg, arrives 2 hours before that ferry to Caen arrives. For the US D-Day beaches Cherbourg is as convenient as Caen, for driving south it's only a little less convenient, for driving to Paris it adds something over an hour to the drive time.

For that 9am (ie at the ferry terminal 8.15) fast-ferry you'd need to be amongst the first off the ship (unassisted) & with a car waiting, but even on a weekday the time should be enough though with little wiggle-time.

There are also ferries Portsmouth to Le Havre and St Malo, and Poole to Cherbourg, but on the random date I used the timings didn't suit.

Alternatively if your destination is Paris there's the Eurostar train from London, or direct flights from Southampton airport with Flybe.

If you want any further advice it would help to know your ship, your disembarkation date, and your plans for France.

JB :)

We recently got off an early morning ferry in Portsmouth and drove to Southampton. The traffic was horrendous in both directions and I wouldn't risk rushing for a ferry at that time of day in that area

Hi there. I thought I might mention if the cruise you're on stops in France (i.e. Le Havre) as its last port of call, it might be worthwhile to disembark there. You will miss one night on the cruise, but we found it worth it when we did this on our British Isles cruise.

You have to have permission from the cruise line to do so and well in advance. It is a pretty common thing to do as a number of cruisers want to spend post cruise days in Paris.

Good luck planning!

Melissa