Embarkation changed from Tilbury to Southampton

[Pearl64]

We had everything in place for our embarkation on the Regatta out of Tilbury! Now it seems as if that has changed to Southampton. We are arriving at Heathrow one day early. We were planning on staying in the Tower Hill area which will be out of the way. We also had Simply airports arranged to take us from Tower Hill to Tilbury! Again will not help.

 

Dilemmas: What to do with one day in London? Should we come into London and stay near Victoria someplace and go from there the day before our cruise. I am sure we could find something that could occupy us for the day. And, then the day of the cruise use the bus from Victoria to Southampton. Have no idea of cost.

 

OR: From Heathrow (arriving at 7am) head to Southampton and do something there for the day and then get to the port the following day. I have no idea what there is around Southampton. We have been to Bath and Stonehenge. Also, I do not know anything about transport from Heathrow to Southampton.

 

I know another alternative is to see Windsor Castle and stay somewhere near Heathrow the night before.

 

All you Brits had helped me figure out Tilbury which was for naught. Now I am open to suggestions for going out of Southampton.

 

There will be two of us with one checked bag and one carryon apiece. We are fairly mobile. Thanks so much. I guess if I looked on the bright side of things--at least the change happened six weeks out instead of the day of! Thank heavens I did not get the room that I had to pay for it ahead of time! Hopefully, I can back out of Simply Airports if I need to.

 

I guess I just need to breathe deeply and weigh my options.

 

Thanks again.

 

Pearl

[Globaliser]

What a pain that the cruise line has changed departure city on you so close to the sailing date. I would be making a strong complaint. There are some people whose complete travel arrangements would have been different if they'd known the ship was to sail from Southampton rather than London.

 

Are you intending to meet family in London? Or have I got you confused with another member?

 

If you are, one option is the minimalist one: Don't change any of the arrangements you've already made. On the morning of the cruise, just get a taxi to Waterloo station and take a train to Southampton Central (two fast trains every hour during weekday daytimes, taking about 1¼ hours). When you get there, it's a short taxi ride to the any of the cruise terminals.

[Pearl64]

No, we are not meeting anyone in London. I have reservations at the Novotel Tower Bridge and have SimplyAirports taking us there. We were then going to use Fenchurch Street Station to get to Tilbury. Now I did check that we could take the train from Fenchurch Street the other direction to Southampton. A little pricey but doable. OR we could change our hotel to one in Victoria (I have checked--availibility and 10 pounds cheaper), still use Simply Airports to get us there, do our touring in London as planned, and then take the bus to Southampton from Victoria Bus station. I can get the funsaver for 6 pounds each.

 

Does the latter make any sense to do?

 

Globaliser, you have been so helpful so far. It is greatly appreciated especially with this last "little" tweak in the plans!

 

Pearl

[Pearl64]

Globaliser and anyone else who knows how to get to Southampton,

 

I think we have narrowed this down to either taking the bus from Victoria Bus Station and staying near there the night before to Southampton

 

OR

 

Staying near Waterloo Station and taking the train to Southampton

 

Which would be better? We will have luggage to consider. I know the train from Waterloo takes less time.

 

What is the best way to buy the tickets and to get the lowest price? I have looked on these boards and checked sites but I am soooo confused. I see National express, national rail, megabus, Can someone make this simple for me?

 

Thanks for all of your help. I just hope the cruise line doesn't decide to switch us to Dover!

 

Pearl

[LHT28]

Globaliser and anyone else who knows how to get to Southampton,

 

I think we have narrowed this down to either taking the bus from Victoria Bus Station and staying near there the night before to Southampton

 

Pearl

 

Take the bus ..they stow your bags & you can get the FUN FARES depending on your day/time of travel

http://www.nationalexpress.com/coach/Offers/funfares.cfm buy online

I would go to Southampton from LHR & relax

[Globaliser]

Staying near Waterloo Station and taking the train to Southampton

Of the two options, this is what I would do, personally - but there is a certain amount of "and hang the expense" involved in that.

 

Waterloo is a good location from which to see a number of central London sights in limited time. Personally, I would just buy a normal ticket for Waterloo-Southampton on the day of travel, whenever I arrive at the station. On this route, all the normal fares are walk-up fares so there is no benefit to buying in advance. The advantage is that you can turn up to Waterloo whenever suits you, without having to run to someone else's schedule, and get the next fast train. Usually, there's an average wait of 15 minutes for the next fast train.

 

The one exception to that is booking a cheap ticket via megatrain. The tickets are cheap. However, you are fixed to taking a specific train - so you have no flexibility. Megatrain does not normally sell tickets on the fast trains, so your journey time will be a bit longer. And (if you're travelling at the weekend) you have no opportunity to take advantage of the cheap onboard upgrade to first class.

 

If you decide to take the coach, you may be able to get the cheap "fun fares" Victoria-Southampton. But AFAIK there are no "fun fares" offered for journeys to/from the airport, if you were to take LHT28's suggestion of travelling directly from Heathrow to Southampton.

[Pearl64]

Thank you Globaliser. You have been so helpful with the London portion of the trip. I can get the fun fare prices (or at least last night I could) for the bus. We will get all of these changes worked out and will have a good time in London.

 

Pearl

[Globaliser]

Glad that the (re-)plan is starting to come together. Let us know if you need any more help.

[Pearl64]

Thank you again, Globaliser. Can you enlighten me about these onbaord upgrades to first class? Online the price was well over 100 pounds each. I did get a price for regular passage for about 70 pounds for both of us. Currently we have reservations at the Novotel Tower Hill. I see that there is a Novotel Waterloo. Would that be a good choice? Or are there other possibilities that would be close to the station? Are we able to wheel our luggage from the hotel to the station or should we get a cab and if so, how much would that be?

 

Again, you are making this replanning much easier.

 

Pearl

[Globaliser]

Can you enlighten me about these onbaord upgrades to first class?

See here on the South West Trains website:-

Weekend First Upgrade

Upgrade from Standard Class to First Class, at weekends and public holidays, for just £5.00 per person. Just take a seat in First Class and buy your upgrade from the Guard. (The upgrade is not available for Advance ticket holders.)

As there are no Advance fares on the Waterloo-Southampton route, this means that every Standard Class ticket (other than Megatrain) should qualify for Weekend First.

 

The Novotel Waterloo is actually nowhere near Waterloo station. However, the Park Plaza County Hall is close to the front of the station and well regarded by many CC members, and there is now a new Park Plaza literally across the street (I think it's the Park Plaza Westminster Bridge). There are a couple of other hotels in the County Hall complex itself. You should be able to wheel your luggage to the station from any of these.

[Pearl64]

Thank you, Globaliser! I was able to get reservations at the Park Plaza Westminster Bridge. We will then stroll over to the train station the following morning to catch the train to Southampton. This sounds like the easiest way to do this.

 

Again, thank you. We are looking forward to spending the day in London.

 

Just another bump in the road. . . .

 

Pearl

[Freecall]

It depends upon what kind of things interest you. Clearly London has more to offer than Southampton but from your post you have been to the UK (London?) before so how about getting off the beaten track.

 

How about heading direct to Southampton, checking into your hotel to get rid of your luggage and then catching the Red Funnel Ferry over to the Isle of Wight. You could enjoy a relaxing day in and around Cowes and maybe enjoy a pub lunch heading back to your hotel when you get tired.

 

Just an idea.