Transfer: Southampton—London (incl. LHR/LGW) train, car, other?

[fstuff1]

Arriving to South Hampton on Ncl at beginning of May.

Flying back to jfk but Haven't bought plane Tix yet.

 

1) Which is the better/easier airport to leave from?

 

2) best way from cruise terminal to airport? (65miles Heathrow, 90 miles Gatwick)

Uber?

How much would it cost to each?

 

Edited April 9, 2023 by fstuff1

[John Bull]

4 hours ago, fstuff1 said:

Arriving to South Hampton on Ncl at beginning of May.

Flying back to jfk but Haven't bought plane Tix yet.

 

1) Which is the better/easier airport to leave from?

 

2) best way from cruise terminal to airport? (65miles Heathrow, 90 miles Gatwick)

Uber?

How much would it cost to each?

 

 

More flight choices at LHR, but LGW is less hectic.

Direct National Express coach is easiest to LHR, direct train is easiest to LGW, journey time to each is about 2 hrs/.

By car, LGW would cost about £25 more than to LHR.

 

But best not be too concerned about any travel-to-airport differences - choose your best-value / most convenient /  most suitably-timed flight & your preferred air carrier, and your London airport will be whichever it happens to be.

 

JB 🙂

 

[fstuff1]

3 hours ago, John Bull said:

 

More flight choices at LHR, but LGW is less hectic.

Direct National Express coach is easiest to LHR, direct train is easiest to LGW, journey time to each is about 2 hrs/.

By car, LGW would cost about £25 more than to LHR.

 

But best not be too concerned about any travel-to-airport differences - choose your best-value / most convenient /  most suitably-timed flight & your preferred air carrier, and your London airport will be whichever it happens to be.

 

JB 🙂

 

thx.

How easy is it to get to the train station from the cruise terminal?

and how far is it?

[njkruzer]

20 minutes ago, fstuff1 said:

thx.

How easy is it to get to the train station from the cruise terminal?

and how far is it?

About a mile or so.  I wouldn't walk it with luggage.  You have to leave the terminal area first and the walk to station. 

[John Bull]

3 hours ago, fstuff1 said:

thx.

How easy is it to get to the train station from the cruise terminal?

and how far is it?

 

Depends which cruise terminal.

 https://www.southamptonvts.co.uk/Live_Information/Shipping_Movements_and_Cruise_Ship_Schedule/Cruise_Ship_Schedule/

 

QE 11 terminal is deep in the docks, needs a taxi

Mayflower 20 min walk, taxi probably best with luggage.

Ocean  25 to 30 minutes, quite pleasant walk

Horizon and City terminals 15-20 min walk.

The whole way (except QE11) is on sidewalks, routing is quite simple. Level ground, a couple of major roads to cross but with pedestrian lights.

London-bound trains are on the far side of the station (elevators)

 

By taxi £7 to £12,

Even the fittest would choose a taxi in inclement weather.

 

JB 🙂

[fstuff1]

12 hours ago, John Bull said:

 

Depends which cruise terminal.

 https://www.southamptonvts.co.uk/Live_Information/Shipping_Movements_and_Cruise_Ship_Schedule/Cruise_Ship_Schedule/

 

QE 11 terminal is deep in the docks, needs a taxi

Mayflower 20 min walk, taxi probably best with luggage.

Ocean  25 to 30 minutes, quite pleasant walk

Horizon and City terminals 15-20 min walk.

The whole way (except QE11) is on sidewalks, routing is quite simple. Level ground, a couple of major roads to cross but with pedestrian lights.

London-bound trains are on the far side of the station (elevators)

 

By taxi £7 to £12,

Even the fittest would choose a taxi in inclement weather.

 

JB 🙂

 

thx.

seems ncl uses Horizon terminal so walking it is unless it's raining.

(male, 1 carry on, 1 backpack)

[rtdiva]

Am I missing something?

Plans are to sail into SH, spend a few days, fly out from SH to Dublin.

Is there a problem with SH airport?  No one mentions flying from there. Is it not international? Can we fly back to the states from SH?
Do we hire a taxi from the cruise port to the SH airport? 

A

 

[njkruzer]

11 minutes ago, rtdiva said:

Am I missing something?

Plans are to sail into SH, spend a few days, fly out from SH to Dublin.

Is there a problem with SH airport?  No one mentions flying from there. Is it not international? Can we fly back to the states from SH?
Do we hire a taxi from the cruise port to the SH airport? 

A

 

I think your flight choices are limited.

[John Bull]

50 minutes ago, rtdiva said:

Am I missing something?

Plans are to sail into SH, spend a few days, fly out from SH to Dublin.

Is there a problem with SH airport?  No one mentions flying from there. Is it not international? Can we fly back to the states from SH?
Do we hire a taxi from the cruise port to the SH airport? 

A

 

 

 

Hi,

Southampton airport (SOU) is a regional airport with domestic and European flights.

So you can fly to Dublin (DUB), two / three flights per day.

 

No direct long-haul flights - trans-Atlantic fliers from cruises use London Heathrow or London Gatwick (LHR or LGW) 

But you can fly from DUB direct to a number of US airports.

 

Southampton cruise terminals are about a 20 minute drive to SOU airport, a taxi from the rank at cruise terminals will cost £20 - £25.

Or a train from Southampton Central station to the airport takes 10 mins & costs £5 per person, three train per hour but unless you walk to the station (15 to 25 mins depending which cruise terminal) it's hardly worth messing with taxi to station & train to the airport.

 

JB 🙂

Edited April 12, 2023 by John Bull

[rtdiva]

10 minutes ago, John Bull said:

 

 

Hi,

Southampton airport (SOU) is a regional airport with domestic and European flights.

So you can fly to Dublin (DUB), two / three flights per day.

 

No direct long-haul flights - trans-Atlantic fliers from cruises use London Heathrow or London Gatwick (LHR or LGW) 

But you can fly from DUB direct to a number of US airports.

 

Southampton cruise terminals are about a 20 minute drive to SOU airport, a taxi from the rank at cruise terminals will cost £20 - £25.

Or a train from Southampton Central station to the airport takes 10 mins & costs £5 per person, three train per hour but unless you walk to the station (15 to 25 mins depending which cruise terminal) it's hardly worth messing with taxi to station & train to the airport.

 

JB 🙂

We are flying to Dublin to catch an “Irish Intensive “ cruise porting back to Southhampton, thus the question. Had thought about leaving the ship from Ireland to fly home. We r old,  finding travel complications complicated and ( just paid our taxes) costly. 
 

I’ve read your information over the years, thanks.

A

[cruisegirlkat]

On 4/8/2023 at 1:33 AM, gumshoe958 said:

 

Any London taxi (they’re known as black cabs) will seat 5 passengers and has wide doors and room for a walker plus luggage. They’re very spacious.

Or - Uber (choose an Uber XL which seats 6).

 

Or - you could try booking a Select+ car with https://www.addisonlee.com

 

With good traffic it’s a 15 minute journey so I would aim to leave between 7 and 7.15am to allow for rush hour (although you should beat the worst of it).

 

 

Gumshoe958,  Thank you very much for your help.  Sorry for the delay in replying.  My stupid bank was sold to another one and I’ve spent several days trying to get all of the utility vendors that I have ACH / auto payments with changed over to the new bank.  It’s been very trying, I got them all changed but I’ll have to track down my social security payments for April and May as I couldn’t get them changed over in time.  Apparently, the bank was thinking more about their schedule and not the social security department’s schedule, SMH. 

   

I sent a request to Addison Lee and awaiting an answer.  Thank you again for your help.  Kat

[bra98sda]

Hi All,

 

I have a quote for private 32 seat coach from central London to Southampton with return from the cruise port back to LHR. I filled out a quote request via London Toolkit, and the company I was farmed out to has been super responsive. Does anyone here have any feedback on First Choice Bus? firstchoicebus.com
 

Additionally, does anyone here have a recommendation for a private company to transfer 14 adults? The transfer request is for central London hotel to Southampton hotel. The return is from the Southampton cruise port to the Sofitel at LHR terminal 5.

[John Bull]

5 hours ago, bra98sda said:

Hi All,

 

I have a quote for private 32 seat coach from central London to Southampton with return from the cruise port back to LHR. I filled out a quote request via London Toolkit, and the company I was farmed out to has been super responsive. Does anyone here have any feedback on First Choice Bus? firstchoicebus.com
 

Additionally, does anyone here have a recommendation for a private company to transfer 14 adults? The transfer request is for central London hotel to Southampton hotel. The return is from the Southampton cruise port to the Sofitel at LHR terminal 5.

 

First Choice Bus is a company I don't know altho its name is similar to well-known First Bus Group, which operate local fare-stage buses in many parts of the UK.

 

Altho London Toolkit is an excellent resource for tourists, the private transfer services which they promote have tended to be expensive (someone's got to pay for their website 😏), so it's well worth getting at least a couple of other quotes

 

Can I suggest the following long-established & reputable coach operators.....

 

At the Southampton end

https://nxts.nationalexpress.com/lucketts-travel

(Lucketts have recently teamed-up with National Express)

https://princesscoaches.co.uk/welcome

(Causes a little confusion with cruisers when they provide cruise transfers, but the name is merely coincidental)

https://www.angelacoaches.co.uk/

http://www.travel-gemini.co.uk/

https://nxts.nationalexpress.com/solent-coaches

(another link-up with Nat Express)

 

At the London end

https://nxts.nationalexpress.com/the-kings-ferry

(another link-up with Nat Express)

https://www.andersontravel.co.uk/

https://www.westbus.co.uk/

https://www.citycircleuk.com/ppc/coach-hire

https://nxts.nationalexpress.com/clarkes-of-london/

(another link-up with Nat Express)

 

You could also try https://nxts.nationalexpress.com/coach-hire but I guess that would simply be passed to one of their partners 

 

JB 🙂

[bra98sda]

On 4/19/2023 at 2:26 AM, John Bull said:

 

First Choice Bus is a company I don't know altho its name is similar to well-known First Bus Group, which operate local fare-stage buses in many parts of the UK.

 

Altho London Toolkit is an excellent resource for tourists, the private transfer services which they promote have tended to be expensive (someone's got to pay for their website 😏), so it's well worth getting at least a couple of other quotes

 

Can I suggest the following long-established & reputable coach operators.....

 

At the Southampton end

https://nxts.nationalexpress.com/lucketts-travel

(Lucketts have recently teamed-up with National Express)

https://princesscoaches.co.uk/welcome

(Causes a little confusion with cruisers when they provide cruise transfers, but the name is merely coincidental)

https://www.angelacoaches.co.uk/

http://www.travel-gemini.co.uk/

https://nxts.nationalexpress.com/solent-coaches

(another link-up with Nat Express)

 

At the London end

https://nxts.nationalexpress.com/the-kings-ferry

(another link-up with Nat Express)

https://www.andersontravel.co.uk/

https://www.westbus.co.uk/

https://www.citycircleuk.com/ppc/coach-hire

https://nxts.nationalexpress.com/clarkes-of-london/

(another link-up with Nat Express)

 

You could also try https://nxts.nationalexpress.com/coach-hire but I guess that would simply be passed to one of their partners 

 

JB 🙂

 

[bra98sda]

Thank you so much!!! 
 

[susan0623]

I need to figure out transportation from the Southampton cruise port (Oceania Marina) to London (JW Marriott Grosvenor House) on June 21.  It's for myself and my husband and we can handle our luggage pretty well but not up or down huge subway stairs or for farther than about 1/2 mile.  

 

Sorry if this has already been asked and answered.  I did not read all 24 pages on this thread!!

 

Any help is much appreciated!

[njkruzer]

40 minutes ago, susan0623 said:

I need to figure out transportation from the Southampton cruise port (Oceania Marina) to London (JW Marriott Grosvenor House) on June 21.  It's for myself and my husband and we can handle our luggage pretty well but not up or down huge subway stairs or for farther than about 1/2 mile.  

 

Sorry if this has already been asked and answered.  I did not read all 24 pages on this thread!!

 

Any help is much appreciated!

We used Meadway cars from Marriott Grosvenor Square to Southampton,  City Terminal,  in October.  It was pricey,  about £230 for a vehicle that sat 7 plus luggage which we shared with another couple we found on the cc roll call.  No interest in schlepping luggage on the train.  Would've needed a cab to the train and then to hotel.  Told it was a commuter train and no real luggage storage.  Also used them from LHR to hotel. 

[susan0623]

1 hour ago, njkruzer said:

We used Meadway cars from Marriott Grosvenor Square to Southampton,  City Terminal,  in October.  It was pricey,  about £230 for a vehicle that sat 7 plus luggage which we shared with another couple we found on the cc roll call.  No interest in schlepping luggage on the train.  Would've needed a cab to the train and then to hotel.  Told it was a commuter train and no real luggage storage.  Also used them from LHR to hotel. 

Thank you!

[Globaliser]

6 hours ago, susan0623 said:

I need to figure out transportation from the Southampton cruise port (Oceania Marina) to London (JW Marriott Grosvenor House) on June 21.  It's for myself and my husband and we can handle our luggage pretty well but not up or down huge subway stairs or for farther than about 1/2 mile.

 

If you don't need a private car all the way, then it sounds like the public transport option would work too: taxi to Southampton Central station, train to London Waterloo, taxi to the JW Marriott Grosvenor House. It would be rather less pricey.

 

5 hours ago, njkruzer said:

Told it was a commuter train and no real luggage storage.

 

This is true, but I don't understand why it's such a big deal for anyone who can handle their own luggage. There is almost no step up into the train, and many thousands of people take suitcases on these trains every day even though there's no dedicated luggage storage. It's no worse than taking the Tube with suitcases, which is also done by many thousands of people every day. You just improvise, and everyone else improvises around you.

[John Bull]

12 hours ago, susan0623 said:

I need to figure out transportation from the Southampton cruise port (Oceania Marina) to London (JW Marriott Grosvenor House) on June 21.  It's for myself and my husband and we can handle our luggage pretty well but not up or down huge subway stairs or for farther than about 1/2 mile.  

 

Sorry if this has already been asked and answered.  I did not read all 24 pages on this thread!!

 

Any help is much appreciated!

 

6 hours ago, Globaliser said:

 

If you don't need a private car all the way, then it sounds like the public transport option would work too: taxi to Southampton Central station, train to London Waterloo, taxi to the JW Marriott Grosvenor House. It would be rather less pricey.

 

 

This is true, but I don't understand why it's such a big deal for anyone who can handle their own luggage. There is almost no step up into the train, and many thousands of people take suitcases on these trains every day even though there's no dedicated luggage storage. It's no worse than taking the Tube with suitcases, which is also done by many thousands of people every day. You just improvise, and everyone else improvises around you.

 

North American visitors do tend to fret unnecessarily about their luggage on trains. And as an admittedly-infrequent user of the Tube I rate luggage on trains very much easier.

Cumbersome perhaps at commuter time, but you'll be travelling in the opposite direction to the lemmings and starting from the terminus. And in the unlikely event that you do have to stash your luggage at the end of the carriage there are only a few stops between London Waterloo and central Southampton, so if you want you can go stand by it as you approach a station.

 

I reckon taxi about £20 for the 3 miles to London Waterloo, £9 pp to £14.50* pp for the train to Southampton, and no more than £10 for a taxi from Southampton Central to any cruise terminal or city centre hotel. That's about £50 to £60 versus £230+ for a door-to-door private transfer.

* Walk-up train fares are well over £50 pp. But advance tickets (buy them up to about 12 weeks before travel) are a fraction of that walk-up fare. You have to specify what time train, and your ticket is only good for that train - if you miss it your tickets are trash and you'll be paying the full walk-up fare.

https://ojp.nationalrail.co.uk/service/timesandfares/WAT/SOU/210623/0900/dep#outwardJump

 

Your money & your convenience, I'm just pointing out the pros & cons

 

JB 🙂

[cc cruiser]

Thanks for all of the help that you provided all of us on this thread!

 

We are arriving on Saturday, May 6, Coronation Day, for our cruise that leaves on May 8. We plan on staying in the Southampton area until our cruise. So we will be taking the bus to Southampton from Heathrow. I am just wondering if there is any talk about delays and interruptions on the bus system due to the coronation.

[John Bull]

6 hours ago, cc cruiser said:

Thanks for all of the help that you provided all of us on this thread!

 

We are arriving on Saturday, May 6, Coronation Day, for our cruise that leaves on May 8. We plan on staying in the Southampton area until our cruise. So we will be taking the bus to Southampton from Heathrow. I am just wondering if there is any talk about delays and interruptions on the bus system due to the coronation.

 

The coronation shouldn't have a noticeable effect on traffic from Heathrow to Southampton.

But those N.E. buses, like buses from London to all parts of the country, start their journey at Victoria coach station - less than a mile from Buckingham Palace.

NE be used to dealing with such events (last sunday's London Marathon ended even closer to Buckingham Palace) but you really need an answer from a Londoner about the likelihood of delays between Victoria & Heathrow

 

JB 🙂

[fstuff1]

On 4/26/2023 at 8:19 AM, John Bull said:

I reckon taxi about £20 for the 3 miles to London Waterloo, £9 pp to £14.50* pp for the train to Southampton, and no more than £10 for a taxi from Southampton Central to any cruise terminal or city centre hotel. That's about £50 to £60 versus £230+ for a door-to-door private transfer.

* Walk-up train fares are well over £50 pp. But advance tickets (buy them up to about 12 weeks before travel) are a fraction of that walk-up fare. You have to specify what time train, and your ticket is only good for that train - if you miss it your tickets are trash and you'll be paying the full walk-up fare.

https://ojp.nationalrail.co.uk/service/timesandfares/WAT/SOU/210623/0900/dep#outwardJump

 

Your money & your convenience, I'm just pointing out the pros & cons

 

JB 🙂

Holy christ... South Hampton Central to Gatwick is $13.50 but anytime fares is $42.

Thx for the tip!

 

So I need the app for advanced purchase?

And how far in advance do I have to buy it?

Edited April 27, 2023 by fstuff1

[Globaliser]

9 hours ago, John Bull said:

NE be used to dealing with such events (last sunday's London Marathon ended even closer to Buckingham Palace) but you really need an answer from a Londoner about the likelihood of delays between Victoria & Heathrow

 

A Londoner's approach: que sera, sera. On any day with extensive road closures, expect delays on the roads. But it looks like cc cruiser could take a 2-day delay and still be OK for their cruise. However bad the roads are on 6 May, I doubt that they will be that bad.

[Globaliser]

1 hour ago, fstuff1 said:

South Hampton Central to Gatwick ...

 

So I need the app for advanced purchase?

And how far in advance do I have to buy it?

 

I think I can guarantee that your ship will not be at South Hampton. But you've been told this before.

 

You can buy Advance tickets on the train operating company's web page; you're not required to have the app. AIUI, the number of Advance tickets may be limited, so if they've sold out, you may be too late.