Changing Ships in Southampton

[RumAndCoconuts]

Hello all,

 First time P&O cruisers here. It's Celebrity's fault. 😁 We had booked a 12 Day Baltic for 2024 and two weeks later they notified us there was a pricing error and were charging us 4x the rate. The agent we booked through went to bat for us but resulted in nothing. We are elite members and I asked if they would at the very least offer a bit of FCC...NOPE. They missed a trick there. To have offered us FCC would have ensured we would sail with them...but they've now ensured we will not. 

 So we are on the 14 night Baltic cruise in May....and finally getting to the crux of my question... (why say in 10 words what you can in 57 right?) 

 We will be transferring ships in Southampton next spring. Coming off the Transatlantic on Anthem of the Seas and boarding  Britannia same day. Any insight on the logistics of this? Any help/advice/warnings would be appreciated.

  

 

 

[Winifred 22]

No issues you may not be able to board P&O until the afternoon depending on you allocated boarding time. It will be easy to get a taxi between terminals . Britannia is likely to sail from Ocean Terminal which is a taxi ride away from where R C use. If she is at Mayflower you may be able to walk. 

[Britboys]

If you have a few hours to kill, the Leonardo Royal Southampton Grand Harbour Hotel, which is a stone's throw from where RCI dock, always used to offer a paid 'Cruise Lounge' option. It might be worth contacting them, Southamptongrandharbour@leonardohotels.co.uk .

[RumAndCoconuts]

Thanks to both of you for this. I know we will want to walk into town to get a few things...would you know if we can drop off our bags even though we may not be able to board?

 

[AndyMichelle]

4 hours ago, RumAndCoconuts said:

Thanks to both of you for this. I know we will want to walk into town to get a few things...would you know if we can drop off our bags even though we may not be able to board?

 

I think you can drop your bags from about 11?

Trying to do it earlier causes problems with the disembarkation from the previous cruise. 

Have a great time. 

Andy 

[Winifred 22]

Yes the baggage drop opens at 11 before that the pods will be closed and not manned. 

[AndyMichelle]

2 minutes ago, Winifred 22 said:

Yes the baggage drop opens at 11 before that the pods will be closed and not manned. 

Thank you for confirming. 

I just recall quite a few passengers turning up with luggage as we were trying to disembark about 9.30, it was chaotic to say the least... 

Andy 

[Megabear2]

1 hour ago, AndyMichelle said:

Thank you for confirming. 

I just recall quite a few passengers turning up with luggage as we were trying to disembark about 9.30, it was chaotic to say the least... 

Andy 

Totally agree and they also hindered access for  vehicles coming in to pick up.

[Waju]

On 7/21/2023 at 9:39 AM, Britboys said:

If you have a few hours to kill, the Leonardo Royal Southampton Grand Harbour Hotel, which is a stone's throw from where RCI dock, always used to offer a paid 'Cruise Lounge' option. It might be worth contacting them, Southamptongrandharbour@leonardohotels.co.uk .

Just wanted to 'chip in' and say what a great idea this is - I've just looked on the hotel website and can't find any mention of it though - but for a local hotel to offer lounge facilities similar to the paid for airport lounges is a great idea.  It would be perfect for those who arrive early in Southampton due to train/flight times or having to leave hotels at 10am and not being able to board till later in the afternoon.

 

To pay a few pounds to be able to sit and have coffee/snacks in comfort sounds perfect to me.

[Britboys]

5 hours ago, Waju said:

Just wanted to 'chip in' and say what a great idea this is - I've just looked on the hotel website and can't find any mention of it though - but for a local hotel to offer lounge facilities similar to the paid for airport lounges is a great idea.  It would be perfect for those who arrive early in Southampton due to train/flight times or having to leave hotels at 10am and not being able to board till later in the afternoon.

 

To pay a few pounds to be able to sit and have coffee/snacks in comfort sounds perfect to me.

I don't know whether they do it any more since it changed hands but for anyone with a fair bit of time to kill, it would probably be worth calling them to see.

With the number and size of ships using Southampton now, they probably wouldn't want to advertise it as they might be overrun - like the paid-for airport lounges often are now.

[Thejuggler]

It is possible to book hotel rooms for the day.  Dayrooms and Dayuse are two options.

 

Otherwise most hotels have public bars you can while away a few hours in for the price of a drink.

[Waju]

2 hours ago, Britboys said:

I don't know whether they do it any more since it changed hands but for anyone with a fair bit of time to kill, it would probably be worth calling them to see.

With the number and size of ships using Southampton now, they probably wouldn't want to advertise it as they might be overrun - like the paid-for airport lounges often are now.

I think they're missing a trick - it would be a good money earner for some of the bigger hotels with large rooms doing nothing all day!

[Winifred 22]

18 minutes ago, Waju said:

I think they're missing a trick - it would be a good money earner for some of the bigger hotels with large rooms doing nothing all day!

Definitely 

[kalos]

 

Dayuse.co.uk  may be of use to some of you ? 

 

 

https://www.dayuse.co.uk/s/united-kingdom/england/southampton/southampton?selectedAddress=Southampton&sluggableAddress=Southampton&checkinDate=2023-07-29

[Britboys]

16 minutes ago, kalos said:

 

Dayuse.co.uk  may be of use to some of you ? 

 

 

https://www.dayuse.co.uk/s/united-kingdom/england/southampton/southampton?selectedAddress=Southampton&sluggableAddress=Southampton&checkinDate=2023-07-29

We won't ask why you know about this Kalos...🤔😉🤭

[GSPG]

Once you disembark from Anthem, and if it’s the City Cruise terminal berth 101, depending on luggage my suggestion once off the ship is to turn right and walk to the Holiday Inn which is the nearest building to this berth.

 

Inside the doorway there is plenty of seating, a bar, food (if you need it!), toilets and possibly an area that may look after your luggage for a while so you can wander around.

 

As an aside, we are looking to book the same cruise on Britannia to the Baltics, and will be staying overnight in this hotel so could even say hello to you if we see you in the reception foyer.

[Britboys]

2 minutes ago, GSPG said:

Once you disembark from Anthem, and if it’s the City Cruise terminal berth 101, depending on luggage my suggestion once off the ship is to turn right and walk to the Holiday Inn which is the nearest building to this berth.

 

Inside the doorway there is plenty of seating, a bar, food (if you need it!), toilets and possibly an area that may look after your luggage for a while so you can wander around.

 

As an aside, we are looking to book the same cruise on Britannia to the Baltics, and will be staying overnight in this hotel so could even say hello to you if we see you in the reception foyer.

Depending how many ships are in though, the Holiday Inn public areas can get really busy...

[RumAndCoconuts]

On 7/28/2023 at 11:09 AM, GSPG said:

Once you disembark from Anthem, and if it’s the City Cruise terminal berth 101, depending on luggage my suggestion once off the ship is to turn right and walk to the Holiday Inn which is the nearest building to this berth.

 

Inside the doorway there is plenty of seating, a bar, food (if you need it!), toilets and possibly an area that may look after your luggage for a while so you can wander around.

 

As an aside, we are looking to book the same cruise on Britannia to the Baltics, and will be staying overnight in this hotel so could even say hello to you if we see you in the reception foyer.

Great advice thank you. We'd only need to kill about 90 to 120 minutes I would hope then we could drop off our bags. We do want to pop into town and pick up a bottle of something each to take on the ship as well as my favourite tea bags 😁 

  Do let me know if you end up booking on the Britannia 🙂

[GSPG]

16 hours ago, RumAndCoconuts said:

Great advice thank you. We'd only need to kill about 90 to 120 minutes I would hope then we could drop off our bags. We do want to pop into town and pick up a bottle of something each to take on the ship as well as my favourite tea bags 😁 

  Do let me know if you end up booking on the Britannia 🙂

Okay will do. I’ll send you a message to follow up this.

[GSPG]

18 hours ago, RumAndCoconuts said:

Great advice thank you. We'd only need to kill about 90 to 120 minutes I would hope then we could drop off our bags. We do want to pop into town and pick up a bottle of something each to take on the ship as well as my favourite tea bags 😁 

  Do let me know if you end up booking on the Britannia 🙂

Just tried to message to test it as I have never tried this before, but it said the function was disabled?

[RumAndCoconuts]

2 hours ago, GSPG said:

Just tried to message to test it as I have never tried this before, but it said the function was disabled?

yes it seems to be! I just tried to message you back.

 But I've found the Anthem Transatlantic group! Thanks for the tip! 

[GSPG]

19 minutes ago, RumAndCoconuts said:

yes it seems to be! I just tried to message you back.

 But I've found the Anthem Transatlantic group! Thanks for the tip! 

It’s all working well then!

All I can do is once we book the cruise (it won’t be for a while yet probably) and Holiday Inn, I’ll try to contact you again.

[Britboys]

4 hours ago, GSPG said:

Just tried to message to test it as I have never tried this before, but it said the function was disabled?

I think this is a permanent thing on this site - I don't think there is a way to message other members.

[heatherb1958]

We have done many side to side cruises out of Southampton  i.e. transferred from one ship to another as opposed to a 'back to back' where you stay on the same ship for the following cruise .

In October 2021 we transferred from Anthem to Britannia, Anthem was at City Terminal and Brittania was at the Mayflower, P&O  were still doing Covid testing at the dock then so what we did then is not the same as what we do now in 2023 .

The idea for calling into the Holiday Inn on Herbert walker avenue and purchasing coffee etc is a good one whilst you wait but there is no guarantee for luggage storage whilst you go off  into town for purchases and as others have said that hotel gets busy . Whichever way you look at it at some point a taxi is going to be required to get you to the second ship  and also depends on your boarding time for the second ship. 

If we have a late boarding time for the second ship we take a taxi to the Standing order Wetherspoons on the high street , spend a couple of hours there taking it in turns to watch the luggage while each of us goes shopping for supplies if required, we have food and drinks then when ready take an Uber to the next ship. If we have an early boarding time for the second ship we just stay onboard the first one until last call then take a taxi to the next one .