Transport from London to Southampton

[kcgolfer]

We are taking transatlantic cruise in October from Southampton England to Tampa. Any information would be helpful for the following:

-best and cheapest way from Gatwick into London's Victoria Station (staying a few days before voyage); then from Victoria Station to Southampton cruise terminal.

Thank you

KCGolfer

[pcur]

Don't know about Gatwick, but from Victoria to Southampton, check the National Express bus web site.

http://www.nationalexpress.com/

Click on the "going to London" link mid-right on the page. Then click on "Funfares". These are amazing values! London Central is Victoria Station, and one of the other funfare stops is Southampton. You can get fares for 1GBP one way. I couldn't believe it when I saw them, and there's a selection of several times.

Keep an eye on this thread along with me:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=397289

Someone posted about a free shuttle to the "terminal" and I asked for more info. Worst case is the taxi is the equivalent of $10 US for the ride over. I checked the fares with Southampton's latest taxi fares, and Globaliser (our resident UK expert on these boards) confirmed my estimate.

[English Tim]

Check out the mega train site, where fares from London to Southampton are available from £1 (incredible value). http://www.megatrain.com/

To get to London Victoria by coach / bus can take a long time depending on the traffic. The train is usually much quicker.

[Globaliser]

Originally Posted by kcgolfer

-best and cheapest way from Gatwick into London's Victoria Station (staying a few days before voyage); then from Victoria Station to Southampton cruise terminal.

Best, or cheapest? You don't often get both at once.

My recommendations are Gatwick Express train from Gatwick to Victoria, and then the Southern Railway train from Victoria to Southampton. That usually runs once an hour during the day on weekdays.

This is on the assumption that you're staying somewhere very near Victoria railway station, and that you don't want to transfer to another railway station but deliberately want to go from Victoria simply because it's right there. (I've seen the information in your other thread.) If you're not going to be near Victoria, then the train from Waterloo to Southampton is a better bet.

[pcur]

I just checked megatrain, and the Saturday fares (we leave from Southampton on the Millie on a Saturday) are between 2 and 4 GBP, which is very good. However, it leaves from the London Waterloo station, which is not convenient to us.

I would think the traffic going out of London on a Saturday would be reasonable. Is this a good assumtion? If so, the bus is OK for us from the Victoria bus station.

Nearer to our sailing date I'll recheck the schedules and prices between train and bus.

[English Tim]

What a tortuous journey it would be from Victoria to Southampton. That would be ok if you had all day to travel! If one had to depart from Victoria, I would change at Clapham Junction, but hey, start from Watertloo. It's much better.

[Globaliser]

Originally Posted by Botham

That would be ok if you had all day to travel!

It's only a little over an hour more than the Waterloo to Southampton train. For people in the specific position of the OP, that may be a small price to pay for the absence of hassle.

[Broch]

Originally Posted by kcgolfer

We are taking transatlantic cruise in October from Southampton England to Tampa. Any information would be helpful for the following:

-best and cheapest way from Gatwick into London's Victoria Station (staying a few days before voyage); then from Victoria Station to Southampton cruise terminal.

Thank you

KCGolfer

Without doubt the Gatwick Express is best for your first journey. For the journey from Victoria to Southampton Royal Caribbean Cruises use Trina Tours for their transfers and they will transport you direct from Victoria to Southampton. As we are using the Flights through Royal Caribbean for our next years cruise our transfers are included in our flight price but I see from their brochure the return price is £40 See RCCL Mediterranian Brochure or Trina Tours or e mail royalconnections@trinatours.co.uk. Now this may only be for RCCL bookings I do not know as I have not used this address. Their Telephone number is 0131 226 8515 or 00441312268515 outside UK

[Christine Cruisin]

We just returned from a 10 day cruise with a pre-cruise stay in London. May not be the "cheapest" but by far the best and most reliable was Woodford Chauffers. We (and many others from the ship) used their services. All I can say is EXCELLENT service. We personally used them from Gatwick to our London hotel. Than again on to Southampton to the ship. We had them pick us up in Southampton for a wonderful 6 hour tour/trip back to Gatwick for our flight out the next day. They will pick up more than one couple, making the trip not that much more than the train. Would be happy to answer any questions you have. Also know they have just acquired a bus and took care of a party of 25 on our cruise.

Originally Posted by kcgolfer

We are taking transatlantic cruise in October from Southampton England to Tampa. Any information would be helpful for the following:

-best and cheapest way from Gatwick into London's Victoria Station (staying a few days before voyage); then from Victoria Station to Southampton cruise terminal.

Thank you

KCGolfer

[travellgirl]

About how long is the trip form Southampton to Heathrow? We are arriving in London and staying three nights precruise, then going to Southampton and need to get back to Heathrow. I have contacted a company that has transportation from Heathrow to the hotel in London, then from London to Southampton, but does not provide transporation from Southampton back to Heathrow. We can take the transfer from RCCL, but would prefer to take a private car.
Thanks for any advice and suggestions.

[Christine Cruisin]

I cannot recommend highly enough Woodford Chauffers!! Cheryl is the expert on cruise pickups. They will do anything you need to anywhere you want to go. They can accomodate however many you want, so you can double up and save some money. We took them from Gatwick to London, London to Southampton and than at the end of the cruise from Southampton to Gatwick on a delightful four hour tour returning to Gatwick. They were always early, cars wonderful and very professional service. Just used them last month and would not hesitate to recommend them to anyone. If you have any questions, I'd be more than happy to answer.

[travellgirl]

Thank you. i have emailed Woodford. This is just what we are looking for.

[Christine Cruisin]

I know you won't be sorry. Woodford was always on time (or early) and Cherly gives you prompt email replies with all information you need in the confirmation. On the 2nd of our 3rd segments with Woodford they picked my husband and I and another couple we met on the CC board up at separate hotels (no extra charge for pick up at the two hotels) transported us to Southampton in about two hours. We left at 9am from London and arrived in Southampton at about 11am. About the same price as the ship big bus transfer at Noon from London. We arrived before the hoards (nice terminal in Southamptoin) and were on board in time for the buffet!! Happy Trip!!

[keep on cruising]

We used Eddie Manning http://www.limo.co.uk/ for our transfers on our August cruise. We used his services four timesand had 3 different drivers. All were great, prompt and very informative.

We were picked up at Gatwick and taken to our London hotel. Four days later. we were picked up at the hotel and taken to Southhampton. On the way we did a side trip to Stonehenge and to Salisbury to see the Cathedral.

After the cruise, we went from the port to Windsor Castle for a four hour tour of the Castle and the area. Eddie provided us with a cell phone so that we could contact him if we were delayed or in the event we wanted to be picked up early. Afterwards, we went to our hotel.

The next morning, he picked us up to take us to our airport.

I definitely recommend this service. It was very efficient, the Mercedes SUV's were very clean and comfortable. It made our vacation even more enjoyable since we were able to see areas outside of London and didn't have the hassle of handling our luggage.

[Christine Cruisin]

Look to be a bit more expensive than Woodford, but glad you had good experience also.
P.S. I can highly recommend the Arora Hotel at Gatwick for a pre-flight night (see my comments on Tripadvisor.com). I got a great price on Priceline.com and they have and excellent free shuttle, just a ten minute trip to the North Terminal.

[travellgirl]

I have gotten a response from Eddie Manning. Thanks for the suggestion.

[keep on cruising]

[quote=Christine Cruisin]Look to be a bit more expensive than Woodford, but glad you had good experience also.]

I looked at the quote we got from Woodford and they were actually higher for the same itinerary.

travellgirl

If you decide to use Eddie, I hope you enjoy the trips as much as we did.

[cjskids]

Originally Posted by Christine Cruisin

I cannot recommend highly enough Woodford Chauffers!! Cheryl is the expert on cruise pickups. They will do anything you need to anywhere you want to go. They can accomodate however many you want, so you can double up and save some money. We took them from Gatwick to London, London to Southampton and than at the end of the cruise from Southampton to Gatwick on a delightful four hour tour returning to Gatwick. They were always early, cars wonderful and very professional service. Just used them last month and would not hesitate to recommend them to anyone. If you have any questions, I'd be more than happy to answer.

I can second this as we used them last summer for our trip from London to Southampton and then a pick up and side trip from Southampton to Heathrow. Fantastic service, easy to deal with, and great drivers.

[CoolUK]

There is a train service from Gatwick direct into London Victoria and the station is by the Airport.

To get from London to Southampton you will need to get a train from Waterloo Station (London) normally around platform 14. The fast train will get you to Southampton in about one hour and then its a short taxi ride to the port.

You could also get a coach from London to Southampton. The National Express service covers the route.

Hope that helps

[We2Cruzers]

Hello,
Iwould appreciate it if soeone would post the email address or web address for Woodford Chauffers.
Thanks much,
LK