Southampton parking - CPS or Parking4cruises?

[john watson]

3 hours ago, Threeleggedtoad said:

Thanks for explaining. I have several future cruises booked 2019 & 2020, I have not booked the parking for those cruises yet. So I will wait and see what happens in three weeks. Must admit I feel quite anxious as our boarding time is 2:30.

 

The CPS "queue" has lengthened over the years, in my opinion, because they were so convenient.  You just drove directly to the terminal and the luggage guys took your cases and the CPS people more or less just got in your car and drove off giving you a receipt while you simply got out.  As more people booked the system could not work as smoothly.  Too many passengers turned up early creating a "peak demand" period.  In addition with people complaining about damage, irrespective of whether it was justified or not they seem to have introduced a photographic element and other arrangements which take more time for each car.  The "car jockeys" (do not know what they are technically known as)  all return in mini buses from where they park the cars to collect the next wave.  This creates a situation where you might be a bit unlucky and have to wait for the next group to return.

 

If you turn up a bit later I suspect you will be processed more quickly.  Personally, I am happy with a hotel parking pre-cruise stay and taxi transfer at the Holiday Inn Herbert Walker Avenue.  You park in their car park in a space of your choosing at the rear of the hotel and keep your keys.  As in all longer term parking scenarios you would not want to be turning up with an extremely expensive car.

 

Regards John

[jeanlyon]

It';s hardly difficult with P4C!  Drop other passengers off with the baggage, drive 100 yards to the short term.  Book the car in and walk back - 2 minutes.  No queues.

[Harry Peterson]

9 minutes ago, jeanlyon said:

It';s hardly difficult with P4C!  Drop other passengers off with the baggage, drive 100 yards to the short term.  Book the car in and walk back - 2 minutes.  No queues.

Sounds simple. Does someone take all the suitcases away there and then, or do you have to get them somewhere yourself?

 

One of the big pluses with CPS for me has always been getting rid of the cases so easily.

[terrierjohn]

Just now, docco said:

Sounds simple. Does someone take all the suitcases away there and then, or do you have to get them somewhere yourself?

 

One of the big pluses with CPS for me has always been getting rid of the cases so easily.

Its exactly the same system, you will be directed to a lane for non CPS parking and the porters will take your luggage.

[Rotherham_Cruiser]

Always found CPS excellent convenience wise but a bit pricey.

 

Worth it though

[john watson]

On 11/12/2018 at 10:55 PM, docco said:

Tempted by P4C - though the risks of anything happening to the car are increased by its longer journey outside the perimeter of the port. 

 

Has one considered the proportion of "longer journey outside the perimeter of the port" which has been very competently completed by the wife?

 

Lol John

Edited November 16, 2018 by john watson
grandma

[Harry Peterson]

30 minutes ago, john watson said:

 

Has one considered the proportion of "longer journey outside the perimeter of the port" which has been very competently completed by the wife?

 

Lol John

Well, yes John.  But my wife doesn't drive like a maniac - drivers paid to shift as many cars as possible in a limited amount of time do tend to, though.  🙂

[terrierjohn]

Just now, docco said:

Well, yes John.  But my wife doesn't drive like a maniac - drivers paid to shift as many cars as possible in a limited amount of time do tend to, though.  🙂

The same comment could also apply to CPS, and they handle far more cars than P4C.

[Harry Peterson]

6 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

The same comment could also apply to CPS, and they handle far more cars than P4C.

It certainly does.  I just feel (perhaps wrongly) that the CPS journey carries fewer traffic risks than the P4C one.

[terrierjohn]

16 minutes ago, docco said:

It certainly does.  I just feel (perhaps wrongly) that the CPS journey carries fewer traffic risks than the P4C one.

Have you ever driven on Herbert Walker ave. towards dock gate 20?

[TangoYork]

The reason there are queues with CPS and they sometimes have to use holding areas could largely be due to the fact that ships are much larger now with more passengers arriving at the port. We have never had a problem and have always driven straight to the terminal. However, we never cruise on the large ships.

[terrierjohn]

1 hour ago, TangoYork said:

The reason there are queues with CPS and they sometimes have to use holding areas could largely be due to the fact that ships are much larger now with more passengers arriving at the port. We have never had a problem and have always driven straight to the terminal. However, we never cruise on the large ships.

RCI ships are bigger still, but you rarely queue for more a minute or two.

[FiftyOnePlus]

On 11/12/2018 at 7:59 PM, docco said:

Always used CPS up to now - it's a slick, efficient service. 

 

But it's also extremely expensive, and Parking4cruises seems to offer something very similar indeed for considerably less money.  Almost as convenient (not quite) and with vehicles parked in "our secure parking site, which is less than three miles away from all Southampton cruise terminals."

 

Obviously not quite up to the standards of CPS (parking within the port and no need to phone or text to get the car brought back) but it is a lot cheaper.

 

Anybody with experience of both care to share recent experiences to help people (and me) decide between the two?

 

 

We have just used Parking 4 Cruises on our last cruise (a week ago)  and I have to say, the service was magnificent.

 

You arrive at the terminal and empty your car of luggage, then drive to the carpark which is a stones throw away. There you hand your car over and then walk back to the terminal. It is literally over the road....a zebra crossing.

 

On arriving back in Southampton, we walked out of the terminal to the carpark and our car was there waiting for us. No need to call or text......

Our car was nearer to us than the CPS cars were.

 

Yes, the car is driven by the staff and taken to a carpark just around the corner......but we are fine with that. No different to MOT guy or garage guy driving it.

 

CPS for our cruise quoted £280

Parking for Cruises was less than half that for better service.

 

No brainer for us and we will definitely use them again.

 

Oh....and the other plus is....if the ship goes to a different terminal than advertised, P4C will bring your car to you there whereas with CPS you would need transfers back to your car

Edited December 16, 2018 by FiftyOnePlus

[FiftyOnePlus]

On 11/15/2018 at 9:53 PM, docco said:

Sounds simple. Does someone take all the suitcases away there and then, or do you have to get them somewhere yourself?

 

One of the big pluses with CPS for me has always been getting rid of the cases so easily.

 

Its exactly the same....you drop cases off at the terminal as soon as you arrive and the porters take them away. You dont see them again until they are outside your cabin.

 

You then drive over the road, hand over the car, and walk back to the terminal.....its a 2 min walk over a road.....the same road CPS users have to walk over.

 

No queues, no waiting, no transfers, no messing.

Its the easiest process Ive ever been through.

 

[majortom10]

14 hours ago, FiftyOnePlus said:

 

 

We have just used Parking 4 Cruises on our last cruise (a week ago)  and I have to say, the service was magnificent.

 

You arrive at the terminal and empty your car of luggage, then drive to the carpark which is a stones throw away. There you hand your car over and then walk back to the terminal. It is literally over the road....a zebra crossing.

 

On arriving back in Southampton, we walked out of the terminal to the carpark and our car was there waiting for us. No need to call or text......

Our car was nearer to us than the CPS cars were.

 

Yes, the car is driven by the staff and taken to a carpark just around the corner......but we are fine with that. No different to MOT guy or garage guy driving it.

 

CPS for our cruise quoted £280

Parking for Cruises was less than half that for better service.

 

No brainer for us and we will definitely use them again.

 

Oh....and the other plus is....if the ship goes to a different terminal than advertised, P4C will bring your car to you there whereas with CPS you would need transfers back to your car

 

We use P4C and find them excellent but your comment about CPS is incorrect we have parked with CPS in the past and returned to a different terminal and had our cars delivered to the new terminal. CPS also drive your car and park it within the port area and then return it to the car park for disembarkation. The only time this may happen is for short 2-3 night cruises where you park your car yourself and it stays there until you return but this is not the company practice for longer cruises.

[Harry Peterson]

Thanks for all the contributions to this thread.  I was on the point of booking with P4C, but then I looked at the reviews on their own website.

 

Most are very positive, but a surprising number of them make references to cars being affected by bird droppings - particularly seagulls.  Corrosive stuff - particularly for newer cars with water-based paints.

 

Anybody had any such problems with them (or with CPS)?

[majortom10]

3 hours ago, docco said:

Thanks for all the contributions to this thread.  I was on the point of booking with P4C, but then I looked at the reviews on their own website.

 

Most are very positive, but a surprising number of them make references to cars being affected by bird droppings - particularly seagulls.  Corrosive stuff - particularly for newer cars with water-based paints.

 

Anybody had any such problems with them (or with CPS)?

Yes you could get the same problems, as I have in the past, with car covered in all sorts even when parked with CPS. All cars are parked around the port, which is a working port, or nearby and surprisingly birds dont know the difference of cars parked with CPS or P4C so you could pay lots more for parking with CPS but end up with the same problem. You will also see that if you pay slightly more than Budget price and pay Standard price it includes "vehicle spray down on pick up day" which will both be far cheaper than CPS.

[Selbourne]

18 hours ago, docco said:

Thanks for all the contributions to this thread.  I was on the point of booking with P4C, but then I looked at the reviews on their own website.

 

Most are very positive, but a surprising number of them make references to cars being affected by bird droppings - particularly seagulls.  Corrosive stuff - particularly for newer cars with water-based paints.

 

Anybody had any such problems with them (or with CPS)?

You get exactly the same with CPS. If it’s not bird droppings it’s a grimy film caused by dust from a grain (or similar) terminal.

 

We have used CPS countless times but had become frustrated at several things. Firstly, the queueing system deployed for the large ships. Even arriving very early you can be held in stacking lanes and they don’t start the booking in process until a bit late for my liking if you have priority boarding. At Mayflower terminal they don’t have the space to do that, so you do tend to drive straight in, but when you get caught by it you feel as though you have lost the advantage of your early arrival. Secondly the  grime or bird droppings (see above). My wife is a wheelchair user and we diligently ticked the disabled box which should mean that the car is parked by the key booth on return, but it never was. The last time we used them we were in a car park that was some walk from the terminal and our car was in the furthest zone of that car park. Thank God we had the assistance of a porter. Once our car incurred a dent in the door. CPS paid up eventually but it was a battle. 

 

Having read reviews of Parking4Cruises on here we tried them for a 24 night cruise. We declined the ‘free’ parking with CPS, getting an extra £260 OBC and booked Parking4Cruises for £120, so we were £140 up on the deal. I dropped my wife off in the drop off lane (no queues, no stacking) along with the suitcases (which the porters removed immediately). I drove over the road to the short stay car park and found the Parking4Cruises operative. The only problem was that the lady (who I think was new) took an age to check in the one car ahead of me, photographing it (slowly) from every angle. Unfortunately, the elderly couple whose car it was were also asking multiple questions (all of which could have been answered by reading their website) which took even longer. I suspect that, like me, they were first time users. It did occur to me that had there been multiple cars waiting ahead of me I would have found the wait to be excessive. Anyhow, it did give me time to take multiple photos myself of our expensive brand new car (which we were slightly apprehensive leaving with a new company). After the lady had photographed our car I walked back over to the terminal (2 mins) and the assistance guys were waiting to take us on to the ship, so it was seamless. 

 

On return to Southampton I just walked over to the short stay car park (pushing my wife in the wheelchair and a porter wheeling our luggage on a trolley) and was hugely impressed to find that our car was parked on its own, away from others, in order to facilitate easier wheelchair access. Less of a walk than with CPS. The car was also clean and free of damage. 

 

Overall, we found it far better than CPS so on return home I called my friendly P&O Personal Cruise Specialist and changed all my future bookings to no parking (adding yet more OBC to all of our bookings), cancelled all my CPS bookings via an email to them (no cost) and booked with Parking4Cruises at a 5% loyalty discount. I was a few hundred quid up as a result. I left one short cruise with CPS as they were cheaper but on longer cruises Parking4Cruises are around half the price of CPS.

Edited December 18, 2018 by Selbourne

[Harry Peterson]

1 hour ago, Selbourne said:

You get exactly the same with CPS. If it’s not bird droppings it’s a grimy film caused by dust from a grain (or similar) terminal.

 

We have used CPS countless times but had become frustrated at several things. Firstly, the queueing system deployed for the large ships. Even arriving very early you can be held in stacking lanes and they don’t start the booking in process until a bit late for my liking if you have priority boarding. At Mayflower terminal they don’t have the space to do that, so you do tend to drive straight in, but when you get caught by it you feel as though you have lost the advantage of your early arrival. Secondly the  grime or bird droppings (see above). My wife is a wheelchair user and we diligently ticked the disabled box which should mean that the car is parked by the key booth on return, but it never was. The last time we used them we were in a car park that was some walk from the terminal and our car was in the furthest zone of that car park. Thank God we had the assistance of a porter. Once our car incurred a dent in the door. CPS paid up eventually but it was a battle. 

 

Having read reviews of Parking4Cruises on here we tried them for a 24 night cruise. We declined the ‘free’ parking with CPS, getting an extra £260 OBC and booked Parking4Cruises for £120, so we were £140 up on the deal. I dropped my wife off in the drop off lane (no queues, no stacking) along with the suitcases (which the porters removed immediately). I drove over the road to the short stay car park and found the Parking4Cruises operative. The only problem was that the lady (who I think was new) took an age to check in the one car ahead of me, photographing it (slowly) from every angle. Unfortunately, the elderly couple whose car it was were also asking multiple questions (all of which could have been answered by reading their website) which took even longer. I suspect that, like me, they were first time users. It did occur to me that had there been multiple cars waiting ahead of me I would have found the wait to be excessive. Anyhow, it did give me time to take multiple photos myself of our expensive brand new car (which we were slightly apprehensive leaving with a new company). After the lady had photographed our car I walked back over to the terminal (2 mins) and the assistance guys were waiting to take us on to the ship, so it was seamless. 

 

On return to Southampton I just walked over to the short stay car park (pushing my wife in the wheelchair and a porter wheeling our luggage on a trolley) and was hugely impressed to find that our car was parked on its own, away from others, in order to facilitate easier wheelchair access. Less of a walk than with CPS. The car was also clean and free of damage. 

 

Overall, we found it far better than CPS so on return home I called my friendly P&O Personal Cruise Specialist and changed all my future bookings to no parking (adding yet more OBC to all of our bookings), cancelled all my CPS bookings via an email to them (no cost) and booked with Parking4Cruises at a 5% loyalty discount. I was a few hundred quid up as a result. I left one short cruise with CPS as they were cheaper but on longer cruises Parking4Cruises are around half the price of CPS.

Thanks for that, Selbourne.  I appreciate the detail.  Like you, I've always used CPS for its efficiency (apart from the odd trial with other operators) but P4C looks to be a worthy competitor.

[jeanlyon]

Yes, came back to a car covered in grime when using CPS, but not with P4C, however, that might just be luck.  As someone else said, it's a working port.

[Harry Peterson]

Just checking on where P4C park the cars, and it appears to be here:

 

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Southampton/@50.9093941,-1.3836802,164m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x48738957be152909:0xa78c5a6a4cda71f0!8m2!3d50.9097004!4d-1.4043509
 

Just one thing puzzles me - how on earth do they get out of those cars once parked, or in again?  Out of a window and onto the roof maybe?

[terrierjohn]

1 hour ago, docco said:

Just checking on where P4C park the cars, and it appears to be here:

 

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Southampton/@50.9093941,-1.3836802,164m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x48738957be152909:0xa78c5a6a4cda71f0!8m2!3d50.9097004!4d-1.4043509
 

Just one thing puzzles me - how on earth do they get out of those cars once parked, or in again?  Out of a window and onto the roof maybe?

If you check other parking around the port area shown on this same map, some of which will be CPS, you will see that these are also very tightly parked as well.

[Harry Peterson]

2 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

If you check other parking around the port area shown on this same map, some of which will be CPS, you will see that these are also very tightly parked as well.

I’m sure they are.  But I’m still genuinely puzzled as to how the driver can out of the car once it’s parked or into it again later. Seriously, climbing in and out of the window and across the roof seems the only way to do it!

[terrierjohn]

13 minutes ago, docco said:

I’m sure they are.  But I’m still genuinely puzzled as to how the driver can out of the car once it’s parked or into it again later. Seriously, climbing in and out of the window and across the roof seems the only way to do it!

You will note they are parked in blocks which presumably relate to specific cruises, and they are presumably parked and unparked with the drivers side open.  So no need for climbing in or out of Windows.

Edited December 20, 2018 by terrierjohn

[majortom10]

n/a

Edited December 21, 2018 by majortom10