b2b Southampton Process if you get off ship!

Help (Cut Krusty slack- first post)

We going on a 2018 transatlantic on Royal from Fort Lauderdale to Southampton then taking staying on board to do a British Isle Cruse. My question is about the procedure if we wish to get off the ship to look around Southamption. Does the ship need to zero out like in US ports or can we just get off and re-board when we wish?

Bonus points for tips on what to do if we want to walk around some :D

Thanks for any help.

KC

Hi Krusty

I don't know the answer to your question but welcome to CC, love your user name!

ML

UK Customs will board, usually after the Azores, so you are cleared before arrival. So when you arrive in Southampton you can do as you please.

UK Customs will board, usually after the Azores, so you are cleared before arrival. So when you arrive in Southampton you can do as you please.

Good news Thanks for the quick reply.

We were on the Royal in 2015 doing the same cruise. At that time we all had to go to the Princess Theater (there were almost 800 of us) by 10 am. After we were cleared we got off the ship. I don't remember if we could have gotten off earlier if we had wanted to. Probably could have. They give you something to say you are an in transit passenger so when you get back on you can go through a different entrance than all the new passengers.

Anyways... what we did was walk around Southampton. A guard at the terminal suggested we go to Tudor House. It is an old house built in the late 15th century. It was interesting. We also saw walking around the harbor area old medieval walls. We found our way up to West Quay shopping mall and had lunch in the food court. Then walked around an area that had stores on both sides of a former street now a pedestrian walkway. I don't remember what it was called. It was a nice day and very easy to do as it is all close to the port.

Enjoy the cruise! It is wonderful.

Help (Cut Krusty slack- first post)

We going on a 2018 transatlantic on Royal from Fort Lauderdale to Southampton then taking staying on board to do a British Isle Cruse. My question is about the procedure if we wish to get off the ship to look around Southamption. Does the ship need to zero out like in US ports or can we just get off and re-board when we wish?

 

Bonus points for tips on what to do if we want to walk around some :D

 

Thanks for any help.

KC

There are lots of things to see and do in Southampton. Here's some excepts from my 2016 Live From thread:

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June 18, 2016

Turnaround day was nice. Unlike the ones in the US, where you have to go through immigration, you get your new card the night before and do what you want. Both cards are functional all day. We went out and beeped out with the old card, beeped back in with the new card – even the photos transferred with no problem. The ship docked in the Mayflower terminal. The furthest one north along the river just before the container port. About 2 miles to the center of town. Lots of taxis available at the port even when we got off late. (Judy got her 20% off sushi massage that morning.)

The quickest and easiest way into town is once outside the port gate, turn right on the main road (West Quay I believe) till you get to Ikea. Then cut through the Ikea parking garage and into the West Quay mall which puts you in the town center above Bar Gate. All the things you need are right there. The Odeon movie theater is also very close to the right of the port gate as well. There is also a McDonalds with free wifi to the right about 2 blocks and several starbucks in town. Most restaurants and shops in the downtown area have various forms of free wifi as well. We ended up at Slug and Lettuce for fish and chips, but the fish was way too greasy for me. Fryer temp was way off. Had a nice cold hard cider that was really, really good though.

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Trip Advisor has a lot of things to do. You can wander around town and see the walls, have a pint and some fish and chips - wander through IKEA to see what Brits buy (like we did), catch a movie at the movie theater within walking distance of the port (we did that once), catch a ferry to the Isle of Wight, catch a train to Portsmouth, catch a train to see Stonehenge (did that once too).

Southampton is one of our favorite ports to visit and embark/disembark from...

There are lots of things to see and do in Southampton. Here's some excepts from my 2016 Live From thread:

 

----------

 

June 18, 2016

 

Turnaround day was nice. Unlike the ones in the US, where you have to go through immigration, you get your new card the night before and do what you want. Both cards are functional all day.

 

The quickest and easiest way into town is once outside the port gate, turn right on the main road (West Quay I believe) till you get to Ikea. ..

 

Southampton is one of our favorite ports to visit and embark/disembark from...

Thanks for this ccrain, very helpful. Just one more question--we booked the whole 27 day cruise (TA then BI), not 2 separate segments. Do we still get a new card on turnaround day?

Thanks again

KC

Thanks for this ccrain, very helpful. Just one more question--we booked the whole 27 day cruise (TA then BI), not 2 separate segments. Do we still get a new card on turnaround day?

 

Thanks again

KC

Only if you change cabins.

Thanks for this ccrain, very helpful. Just one more question--we booked the whole 27 day cruise (TA then BI), not 2 separate segments. Do we still get a new card on turnaround day?

 

Thanks again

KC

Maybe, maybe not. We've booked separate cruises and have not gotten cards at every port. We've booked combined logicals and gotten new cards. No rhyme or reason and I can't remember how it went each time we've been through Southampton.

A letter in your cabin the night before will tell you exactly what to do. Just keep your In-Transit card handy at all times. We carried our passports as well. Sometimes you hit a on-shore staff member who doesn't know what's happening with In-Transits and they try to put you in the check-in ques.

Since you are doing the TA like we did in 2013, here's some threads from that cruise in case you are interested:

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1834545

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1843068

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1855208

On our recent turnaround in Southampton we did an independent walking tour. It turned out to be tour of historic Titanic sites and was simply fabulous. I don’t know the guy’s name but do recall that he was waiting for us at the gate he said he would be. We docked at a different place and took a cab to get to him.

If I were you I would check toursbylocalsdotcom.

Welcome to CC, and enjoy!

Last fall we took a ship's tour to Winchester on turn around day so we left as a group at 9 a.m.

I'm pretty sure we could have gone ashore any time we wished if we hadn't booked a tour. We had a terrible turn around day in 2014. There was a large number of b2b passengers, and some of them didn't go to the theatre at the assigned time. Passenger Services was paging a number of people continually and in different languages, and they still didn't show up. We sat there for over an hour and a half before they finally showed up. This not only inconvenienced the b2b passengers, but it also delayed embarkation for the new passengers.

For that reason we now get off the ship on turn around day even if we just go ashore for a short time.

We enjoy the historic area of Southampton, and it's very near the dock. You can find maps of the walking tour online and in the historic walled area.