Southampton port meeting point and restaurants on Sunday

[Cruising...our happy place]

Young friends, who are from Portsmouth, will drive to the Southampton port for the first time -- to meet us Sunday May 14th after we disembark from the Norwegian Jade. Is there an obvious meeting point for friends to pick us up? Are they able to wait in a parking lot before we are outside? Since we have a 3:30pm flight from the Southampton airport, what restaurants, in the area, would you recommend for brunch or lunch? Thanks.

 

 

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[aquilegia]

Which dock are you returning to? There are four in Southampton.

[Bob++]

Portsmouth is not far away - they are practically locals. Are they driving you to Heathrow? If so remember that you need to be there by 1:30 latest. It is a 1½ hour drive if there are no holdups.

[tartanexile81]

It's the City Cruise Terminal that Norwegian Jade will be using according to the Southampton port website. Long time since I sailed from there so I'll not offer advice but now they know the terminal sure others can help

[Ergates The Ant]

The easiest thing for your friends to do is park and wait in Mayflower Park, just outside the gates to the dock and just moments from City Cruise Terminal. If you phone them when you are outside the terminal with your luggage, they can drive round to the front of the terminal drop off / pick up point and collect you.

Look on Tripadvisor for suggestions of what sort of place you would like to eat in. If you want fairly prompt service and easy parking, there are several eateries inside West Quay Mall which will be open by Sunday lunchtime, and you should therefore have time to have a meal and still leave in good time for your flight.

If you are planning a traditional Sunday lunch in a pub or similar, these can be very popular, so you might need to book a table in advance for as early as possible, to ensure you have time to get to the airport for check in.

[tartanexile81]

I wouldn't stop for lunch in Southampton. What if there was a problem en route to Heathrow? Brunch might be possible but if you MUST be at Heathrow for 1:30, I'd aim to leave Southampton no later than 10:30 to build in a cushion. I'd have breakfast onboard then just have a coffee at Heathrow or in Southampton (somewhere like this https://www.facebook.com/No.4CoffeeWineBar)

[Cruising...our happy place]

Thanks for all the feedback. Just to reaffirm from my original posting, we will be flying out of Southampton Airport not Heathrow. Good to know about City Cruise Terminal.

 

 

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[John Bull]

As the Exile's post, Jade berths at City cruise terminal

There's no problem with them driving into the port (Herbert Walker Avenue, Dock Gate 8) & right up to the terminal door. But they can't officially park thereabouts & they'll get chased away if they stay there too long with no sign of their passengers.

 

The Ant has the answer. Park in the perimeter road of Mayflower Park. The vehicle entrance is on Town Quay opposite Bugle Street at Royal Pier & is shared with the Red Funnel Isle of Wight ferry traffic. Sensible parking charge. Park as close as they can to the far end of the park, overlooking the ship. They can then walk out at that end of the park right by Dock Gate 8. The terminal entrance is only about 300 yards inside the gate.

If you can make contact by phone that's so much easier, they can then drive from their parking spot to the terminal door to meet you. But it'll be choc-a-bloc with people and if there's no means of making contact they won't know when you'll be off the ship, so if you can manage your luggage for 300 yards it's probably best to meet at the dock gate (Dock Gate 8, by the Holiday Inn) where there are no crowds & you can see each-other very easily.

 

Two good pubs near the Mayflower Park vehicle entrance :

The Dancing Man (aka The Wool House) is right opposite. Historic little stone building, built 13th century & had many uses over the centuries. Plenty of outside tables.

The Duke of Wellington is a hundred yards up Bugle Street, which is alongside the Wool House. Built about the same time, been a pub for about 800 years. Has a small beer garden.

Both offer sunday roast lunches - if sunday roast isn't your scene the Duke of Wellington has a wider menu.

 

Yes, follow the Ant's advice & book sunday lunch at one of those pubs, or any other pub - sunday lunches do get very busy. A week's notice is usually OK, your friends can do it by phone or internet, no payment or card numbers or anything like that when booking.

 

Problem is that on sundays pubs don't open til noon, nor do those restaurants which even open at all on a sunday.

And you'll be clear of the ship by about 9.30am even with a late disembarkation slot.

I think the Holiday Inn is open for coffees or breakfast for non-residents, or Red Funnel's ferry terminal has a coffee shop (the Steam café Bar) which I'm pretty certain will be open on a sunday morning.

Or the Tudor Merchant's House in Bugle Street (just up from the Duke of Wellington) opens at 10am Well worth an hour or two to look round, and has a tea-room on-site.

There are a few other interesting bits nearby too - the town walls, the Medieval Merchant's House, Westgate Hall, etc

 

Easiest parking for all these places is at Mayflower Park, makes it all very easy.

 

http://www.dancingmanbrewery.co.uk/

http://www.southampton-pubs.co.uk/dukeofwellington/

http://www.redfunnel.co.uk/why-choose-us/steam-coffee-company/

https://tudorhouseandgarden.com/

 

In this google streetview, taken from Mayflower Park, Ovation OTS is in Jade's berth.

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/dir/50.8992194,-1.4103931/The+Dancing+Man+Brewery,+Bugle+Street,+Southampton/Duke+of+Wellington,+Bugle+Street,+Southampton/Tudor+House+%26+Garden,+Bugle+Street,+Southampton/@50.898015,-1.4107658,3a,37.5y,332.25h,86.26t/data=!3m10!1e1!3m8!1sX3B_RiwLzKFEumX5e5bvwQ!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo3.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DX3B_RiwLzKFEumX5e5bvwQ%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D28.669441%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656!9m2!1b1!2i40!4m21!4m20!1m0!1m5!1m1!1s0x487476c85395c4fd:0x4b1421cfd1880d09!2m2!1d-1.4061379!2d50.8975005!1m5!1m1!1s0x487476c84aa6f739:0xed95fa535dada20b!2m2!1d-1.4062034!2d50.8983397!1m5!1m1!1s0x487476b627d52e11:0xbf8613e484c943d!2m2!1d-1.405928!2d50.899583!3e2

 

Last check-in for most flights from Southampton airport is 45 mins before departure, and it's about a 20 minute drive to the airport. So best to head for the airport about 2pm.

 

JB :)

[Cruising...our happy place]

JB, outstanding! Thank you. I will send to our friends .... with the other helpful reminders.

 

 

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[John Bull]

No worries :)

 

Best to also include this short URL for the google map / streetview in case the long one in my post doesn't work off this thread due to being abbreviated by Cruise Critic

 

https://goo.gl/maps/KY1CRSwABkn

 

JB :)

[Cruising...our happy place]

[emoji106][emoji106][emoji106] JB

 

 

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