Coaches from Gatwick to Southhampton

[go noles]

Arrive Gatwick at 0730 from US on a Sunday morning.  Celebrity transfer is $100.00 each and departs airport at 1100.  National Express has one leaving at 1015 that arrives Southampton at 1310 for $16.00 each.  Here are my questions.

Is National Express reliable and do they run on time?

Do you think a 1015 departure is doable after a flight from US?

Are taxis readily available at the Southampton station to take us to pier how far, how much etc?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Rover8]

 

 

Doing the same thing ourselves and we opted for the train.

https://www.thetrainline.com/train-times/gatwick-airport-to-southampton-central

 

There's a lot of good info in these pages.

 https://www.londontoolkit.com/travel/southampton_cruise_terminal.htm

[sddsddean]

1 hour ago, go noles said:

Arrive Gatwick at 0730 from US on a Sunday morning.  Celebrity transfer is $100.00 each and departs airport at 1100.  National Express has one leaving at 1015 that arrives Southampton at 1310 for $16.00 each.  Here are my questions.

Is National Express reliable and do they run on time? Yes

Do you think a 1015 departure is doable after a flight from US?Yes

Are taxis readily available at the Southampton station to take us to pier how far, how much etc?Yes. Celeb uses City Cruise terminal. You could walk it in 15 mins; thats how close it is! Taxi will be £7.

Thanks in advance.

Simon

 

[John Bull]

Same as Simon's answer.

 

Yes, you should have no problem making the 10.15 coach.

BTW it then goes to the north terminal & leaves there at 10.45. So if you do miss it by the skin of your teeth you can use the inter-terminal shuttle to catch up with it.

Yes, Nat Express are reliable & prompt, subject of course to road conditions.

 

Yes, there's a taxi rank at Southampton coach station. (no double-t in "Southampton") 

Not always a taxi there but they constantly swing by. I suggest one of you head straight to the rank while the other collects luggage from the driver. If you choose your coach seats (small extra charge) get them near the front. A more comfortable ride, not close to the bathroom, and gives you a head-start to be first at the taxi rank. 

Or save your £7 & walk to the terminal.

 

Celeb and RCI do gouge their passengers on Southampton transfer fees - Princess charge something over $60.

 

JB 

 

[sddsddean]

To help you out, heres a link to the walking route from the coach station to the cruise terminal.

https://goo.gl/maps/y8CwEe3k5j4oCAny8

Note that when you get near the roundabout by Mayflower Park, you don't have to do that '2 sides of a triangle' wiggle, but can walk straight through the Holiday Inn car park.

 

Simon

[wheezedr]

Have done this several times and either taxi was present or one showed up in a couple minutes. Not a terrible walk but taxis will show up regularly.

[Chocolate Teapot]

I once took the National Express coach from Gatwick to Southampton and seem to recall there was the possibility to pay a small supplement on the ticket, which meant that if you missed your coach, you could take the next one. 

[John Bull]

10 minutes ago, Chocolate Teapot said:

I once took the National Express coach from Gatwick to Southampton and seem to recall there was the possibility to pay a small supplement on the ticket, which meant that if you missed your coach, you could take the next one. 

 

Yes, applies to Nat Express journeys from airports only.

Nat Express appreciates that it's impossible to forecast when you'll be ready to catch a coach from an airport, so if you're delayed (or indeed if you're super-early) you can switch to a different coach for a £5 admin fee.

Not relevant to the OP cos the next coach will almost-certainly be too late for their cruise.

And only applies to journeys from airports. From any other stop, your ticket is only good for the coach that you've booked.

 

JB    

[shofer]

We did the National Express from the Heathrow to London and from London to Southampton.  Bought the tickets online and it worked beautifully.  There's always some anxiety when doing something for the first time but would do this again in a second.

[Adventures ahead]

Is it necessary to pre-purchase National Express tickets?  We're two couples arriving at Heathrow approximately 9:30am Aug 3 and will be spending two nights at the Holiday Inn prior to our cruise. We'll also need to build in time to find the bus terminal from Terminal 2.

[sddsddean]

Strictly speaking, you don’t have to pre purchase, but we always recommend it as the tickets do sell out. I would always pre purchase. After exiting customs etc at T2, follow the signs to ‘Central Bus Station’...it’s about a 10 minute walk.

 

Simon

[John Bull]

1 minute ago, Adventures ahead said:

Is it necessary to pre-purchase National Express tickets?  We're two couples arriving at Heathrow approximately 9:30am Aug 3 and will be spending two nights at the Holiday Inn prior to our cruise. We'll also need to build in time to find the bus terminal from Terminal 2.

 

Best to pre-book, though you can probably leave it til closer to the day. But I suggest you don't just walk-up for a ticket - the buses don't have elastic sides & they don't lay on more buses to cope with increased demand.

 

Heathrow central bus station is a well-signed walk of about 10 mins from T2, your timing difficulties are more about your flight arriving on time and the time to clear airport formalities.

I suggest you allow a minimum of 2hrs 15 mins from scheduled arrival time to bus station.

 

Bear in mind that, as above, you can switch to an earlier or later bus subject to availability.

If you have a cautious nature, book for a later bus & switch to an earlier one (subject to availability) if you're in time for it. That way you'll probably be able to take an earlier bus but you're guaranteed your seats on the later one.. But if you book an early bus and miss it, you'll have to cross your fingers that the next one isn't fully-booked.

 

JB 

 

[sddsddean]

Not a very clear video for directions, but you get the general idea!

 

 

Simon

[Adventures ahead]

Thanks for the replies! Very helpful.

[Globaliser]

9 hours ago, Adventures ahead said:

We're two couples arriving at Heathrow approximately 9:30am Aug 3 and will be spending two nights at the Holiday Inn prior to our cruise. We'll also need to build in time to find the bus terminal from Terminal 2.

 

Slightly more broadly, is there a particular reason why you're staying at the airport for two nights before going to Southampton? The more conventional approach would be to go to London and stay there before transferring to Southampton on the morning of the cruise departure.

[Cotswold Eagle]

6 minutes ago, Globaliser said:

 

Slightly more broadly, is there a particular reason why you're staying at the airport for two nights before going to Southampton? The more conventional approach would be to go to London and stay there before transferring to Southampton on the morning of the cruise departure.

I think the Holiday Inn referred to is the one in Southampton, not at LHR? 

[Globaliser]

23 minutes ago, Cotswold Eagle said:

I think the Holiday Inn referred to is the one in Southampton, not at LHR? 

 

Ah, that would make sense - thanks.

[Adventures ahead]

15 hours ago, Globaliser said:

 

Slightly more broadly, is there a particular reason why you're staying at the airport for two nights before going to Southampton? The more conventional approach would be to go to London and stay there before transferring to Southampton on the morning of the cruise departure.

Yes, we're travelling straight to Southampton from LHR. We've visited London before and will go again, just not on this trip.

[Globaliser]

28 minutes ago, Adventures ahead said:

Yes, we're travelling straight to Southampton from LHR. We've visited London before and will go again, just not on this trip.

 

Sorry: as Cotswold Eagle pointed out, I misunderstood your plans. I thought the Holiday Inn you're staying at is at Heathrow rather than Southampton.

[Adventures ahead]

Thanks for your replies.  Apologies to the OP for hijacking the thread re: Gatwick.