Eavesway coach travel to Southampton

[pennib]

After years travelling from Manchester to Barbados for our Christmas cruises we finally ran out of patience in 2022 when there were horrendous delays. So we have booked a 35 nighter on Ventura from Southampton. We have looked into using Eavesway coach travel but have some questions. Please note that I have spoken to Eavesway but did not get sufficient information to feel comfortable about booking. 
we are travelling from Warrington and there are 2 pick up point fairly near but they are both in motorway service areas. Has anyone been to them and picked up a coach there? How early do you need to be ready to receive the coach? Is it like 3 hours before like at the airport? Can anyone give us some comfort that a coach booking will work . If not what are the alternatives, if any?

[Rupert2251]

23 minutes ago, pennib said:

After years travelling from Manchester to Barbados for our Christmas cruises we finally ran out of patience in 2022 when there were horrendous delays. So we have booked a 35 nighter on Ventura from Southampton. We have looked into using Eavesway coach travel but have some questions. Please note that I have spoken to Eavesway but did not get sufficient information to feel comfortable about booking. 
we are travelling from Warrington and there are 2 pick up point fairly near but they are both in motorway service areas. Has anyone been to them and picked up a coach there? How early do you need to be ready to receive the coach? Is it like 3 hours before like at the airport? Can anyone give us some comfort that a coach booking will work . If not what are the alternatives, if any?

We have used Eavesway many times. We travel from Keele services in Staffordshire, our pick up time from there is usually 08:45. We use a local company to take us to M6 South bound, we like to be there about 1 hour before the coach is due. Never had any problems with them, you have a contact number to ring direct to the office if the coach is running late.

[happy v]

47 minutes ago, pennib said:

After years travelling from Manchester to Barbados for our Christmas cruises we finally ran out of patience in 2022 when there were horrendous delays. So we have booked a 35 nighter on Ventura from Southampton. We have looked into using Eavesway coach travel but have some questions. Please note that I have spoken to Eavesway but did not get sufficient information to feel comfortable about booking. 
we are travelling from Warrington and there are 2 pick up point fairly near but they are both in motorway service areas. Has anyone been to them and picked up a coach there? How early do you need to be ready to receive the coach? Is it like 3 hours before like at the airport? Can anyone give us some comfort that a coach booking will work . If not what are the alternatives, if any?

Do P&O not provide a complimentary coach?

[pennib]

Not as far as I know unless it is part of the booking circumstances. However, my questions would still apply!!

[Josy1953]

We have used Eavesway many times when cruising with Princess and Cunard from Keele M6 and usually arrive about 20 / 30 minutes before the scheduled time and get a coffee while we are waiting.

 

When we have booked with P&O we have usually been booked with Cruise Connect as part of the booking with P&O and the cruise that we booked for later this year on P&O includes Cruise Connect travel ( see our booking confirmation below )

[majortom10]

1 hour ago, pennib said:

Not as far as I know unless it is part of the booking circumstances. However, my questions would still apply!!

If you are booking a Select fare then you will have the option of free parking, onboard credit or free coach travel to Southampton and return. The company P&O use is Intercruises and not Eavesway which lost the contract a few years back.

[JeanieC,Aston]

3 hours ago, pennib said:

After years travelling from Manchester to Barbados for our Christmas cruises we finally ran out of patience in 2022 when there were horrendous delays. So we have booked a 35 nighter on Ventura from Southampton. We have looked into using Eavesway coach travel but have some questions. Please note that I have spoken to Eavesway but did not get sufficient information to feel comfortable about booking. 
we are travelling from Warrington and there are 2 pick up point fairly near but they are both in motorway service areas. Has anyone been to them and picked up a coach there? How early do you need to be ready to receive the coach? Is it like 3 hours before like at the airport? Can anyone give us some comfort that a coach booking will work . If not what are the alternatives, if any?

I have used Eavesway many times from Burtonwood Services,,pick up usually 07:45.

Get ther 20/30 mins before for a coffee in Starbucks and get the paper from WH Smith.

 

Used ‘free’ coach a couple of times,usually with Ellisons coaches,lovely coaches,,,but they pick up at 09:15 so a later arrival in Southampton.

 

Eavesway is about £180 for two of use,,,,do the math to see if it’s better to take OBC and book Eavesway or take ‘free’ coach.

[Red Ray]

On 7/21/2023 at 8:10 PM, majortom10 said:

If you are booking a Select fare then you will have the option of free parking, onboard credit or free coach travel to Southampton and return. The company P&O use is Intercruises and not Eavesway which lost the contract a few years back.

Eavesway certainly took us from Preston to Southampton in May for Arcadia...

[FangedRose]

2 hours ago, Red Ray said:

Eavesway certainly took us from Preston to Southampton in May for Arcadia...

You must have booked, and paid, independently.

 

If you take the free coach option Instead of obc or free car parking you have to use Intercruise. P&O transferred official partner status to Intercruise from Eavesway many, many years ago.

[Red Ray]

2 minutes ago, FangedRose said:

You must have booked, and paid, independently.

 

If you take the free coach option Instead of obc or free car parking you have to use Intercruise. P&O transferred official partner status to Intercruise from Eavesway many, many years ago.

Yes that's correct. We always take the OBC and book Eavesway - find them far better than Intercruise.

[FangedRose]

8 minutes ago, Red Ray said:

Yes that's correct. We always take the OBC and book Eavesway - find them far better than Intercruise.

I've had the opposite experience. Traveled with Eavesway twice. No end of problems, changing pick up point (after other arrangements had been made), unloading wrong luggage at wrong drop off point, vehicles breaking down, having to change vehicles twice in one journey, speeding etc. Never had any trouble with Intercruise (any problems there was were caused by passengers). They always use Ellisons coaches too.

 

They no longer pick up anywhere further north than Preston, so no use for majority of country anyway.

Edited July 24, 2023 by FangedRose

[JeanieC,Aston]

1 hour ago, FangedRose said:

I've had the opposite experience. Traveled with Eavesway twice. No end of problems, changing pick up point (after other arrangements had been made), unloading wrong luggage at wrong drop off point, vehicles breaking down, having to change vehicles twice in one journey, speeding etc. Never had any trouble with Intercruise (any problems there was were caused by passengers). They always use Ellisons coaches too.

 

They no longer pick up anywhere further north than Preston, so no use for majority of country anyway.

I have traveled north of 20 cruises with Eavesway and not had one problem.
Intercruises do use Ellisons from the NW but they often use clapped out coaches from firms along the south coast for the return,,,,,I know I’ve used them.
Pre covid I asked a Ellisons coach driver for the WiFi password,,,sorry no WiFi H&S.

 

Eavesway terminated the contract they had with P&O a few years ago as P&O got greedy wanting more of Eavesway cut.

Then P&O started playing silly beggars with Eavesway customers with petty rules,,,making them wait to board,calling them last to debark etc.

 

Eavesway customers remember that,me included,and stayed loyal to Eavesway.

 

Its only lately that P&O upped their game with Intercruises,,,they used to use the cheapest most clapped out oldest coaches going.

 

The relations are better now,,,they allocate ALL coaches passengers the same debarkation time,,,,,before 08:00.

 

ps,They pick up in Blackpool,,,I never knew the majority of the country lived north of Blackpool?

Edited July 24, 2023 by JeanieC,Aston

[FangedRose]

1 hour ago, JeanieC,Aston said:

I have traveled north of 20 cruises with Eavesway and not had one problem.
Intercruises do use Ellisons from the NW but they often use clapped out coaches from firms along the south coast for the return,,,,,I know I’ve used them.
Pre covid I asked a Ellisons coach driver for the WiFi password,,,sorry no WiFi H&S.

 

Eavesway terminated the contract they had with P&O a few years ago as P&O got greedy wanting more of Eavesway cut.

Then P&O started playing silly beggars with Eavesway customers with petty rules,,,making them wait to board,calling them last to debark etc.

 

Eavesway customers remember that,me included,and stayed loyal to Eavesway.

 

Its only lately that P&O upped their game with Intercruises,,they used to use the cheapest most clapped out oldest coaches going.

 

The relations are better now,,,they allocate ALL coaches passengers the same debarkation time,,,,,before 08:00.

 

ps,They pick up in Blackpool,,,I never knew the majority of the country lived north of Blackpool?

I live about 1 1/2 hrs north of Blackpool, and I'm still in England, and then there is Scotland. So yes, most of the country is north of Blackpool.

 

Assigning the more comfortable and newer coaches to those travelling further is just common sense. I've never had a clapped out coaches for the return journey from Intercruise. Unlike one of the two Eavesway transfers which broke down.

 

As for P&O playing silly beggars with Eavesway, why shouldn't the company they have a professional partnership with get priority? Those travelling by Eavesway are considered as independent travellers, and as such get no assistance from P&O if anything does go wrong, like the couple on my last pre-covid cruise who had their luggage unloaded at the wrong ship, and were left with nothing until they could go shopping at the first port. They were told that if it had been an Intercruise bus they would have had a generous allowance to spend in the onboard shops.

[elmsliebev]

we used Eavesway on March this year for an MSC cruise. They picked us up in Blackpool, the starting point for that particular route. We had to be there 15 mins before the alloted time. We did have 3 or 4 stops, Preston bus station and then service station but it was very comfortable, wifi on board, no issues. 

[JeanieC,Aston]

2 hours ago, FangedRose said:

I live about 1 1/2 hrs north of Blackpool, and I'm still in England, and then there is Scotland. So yes, most of the country is north of Blackpool.

 

Assigning the more comfortable and newer coaches to those travelling further is just common sense. I've never had a clapped out coaches for the return journey from Intercruise. Unlike one of the two Eavesway transfers which broke down.

 

As for P&O playing silly beggars with Eavesway, why shouldn't the company they have a professional partnership with get priority? Those travelling by Eavesway are considered as independent travellers, and as such get no assistance from P&O if anything does go wrong, like the couple on my last pre-covid cruise who had their luggage unloaded at the wrong ship, and were left with nothing until they could go shopping at the first port. They were told that if it had been an Intercruise bus they would have had a generous allowance to spend in the onboard shops.

As you say Carlisle is not in Scotland,,,,,so no most of the country is not north of Blackpool,,,it’s probably at least (at a guess) 40 million out.

Last time I looked England is one Country,,Scotland another.

 

Having priority Is different than being penalised by a petulant company.

P&O used to proactively be unreasonable to Eavesway passengers not Eavesway the company.

[FangedRose]

Just now, JeanieC,Aston said:

As you say Carlisle is not in Scotland,,,,,so no most of the country is not north of Blackpool,,,it’s probably at least (at a guess) 40 million out.

Last time I looked England is one Country,,Scotland another.

 

Having priority Is different than being penalised by a petulant company.

P&O used to proactively be unreasonable to Eavesway passengers not Eavesway the company.

Are you for real? You saying Scotland is not part of the UK? Of course Scotland is (still) part of this country.

[JeanieC,Aston]

Just now, FangedRose said:

Are you for real? You saying Scotland is not part of the UK? Of course Scotland is (still) part of this country.

Scotland is not part of England.,,,,you never mentioned the UK.

And I still believe most people including Scotland live south of Blackpool.

The population of Scotland is 5.5m add in a few towns north of Blackpool are you still saying most of the UK is north of Blackpool when the population of the UK is 65m plus.

 

 

[Ranchi]

We certainly got a rattler from Intercruises on one occasion from Washington (think famous British heavyweight boxer who advertised aftershave & you’ll get the coach name.) It hadn’t been cleaned from the previous night’s school run (sweetie papers all over.) The return coach was better. The second (& final) time we used them the coach was modern and well appointed. We don’t use the coach now because the pick up locations are no longer convenient. 

 

[FangedRose]

17 minutes ago, JeanieC,Aston said:

Scotland is not part of England.,,,,you never mentioned the UK.

And I still believe most people including Scotland live south of Blackpool.

The population of Scotland is 5.5m add in a few towns north of Blackpool are you still saying most of the UK is north of Blackpool when the population of the UK is 65m plus.

 

 

By that reasoning coaches should only pick up from London, Birmingham and maybe Manchester. I never mentioned population, I was referring to area, the size of the landmass. 

 

I never said Scotland was part of England. We live in the UK. The UK is the country. Check the cover of your passport.

Edited July 24, 2023 by FangedRose

[JeanieC,Aston]

10 minutes ago, FangedRose said:

By that reasoning coaches should only pick up from London, Birmingham and maybe Manchester. I never mentioned population, I was referring to area, the size of the landmass. 

 

I never said Scotland was part of England. We live in the UK. The UK is the country. Check the cover of your passport.

Nice swerve!!

[Ardennais]

1 hour ago, FangedRose said:

By that reasoning coaches should only pick up from London, Birmingham and maybe Manchester. I never mentioned population, I was referring to area, the size of the landmass. 

 

I never said Scotland was part of England. We live in the UK. The UK is the country. Check the cover of your passport.

I understood straight away that you meant landmass and not population. 

[Josy1953]

We have travelled with Eavesway and with Intercruises and have had old rattle boxes with both in the past.  Neither of us like to drive long distances now so we have used Intercruises and Eavesway this year and both had excellent modern coaches but my only criticism of Eavesway would be that their coaches are not ideal for anyone with mobility issues because there are only 2 or 3 seats (immediately behind the driver) for people who cannot manage stairs, these seats have to be prebooked. 

On our recent journey back from Southampton an older gentleman with walking sticks had to negotiate the stairs (which are narrow and wind round) with great difficulty because the seats below had been reserved but weren't actually used because the couple who had booked them had to leave the ship in Norway due to illness but the driver said that for insurance reasons only the passengers who had pre-booked those seats could use them.

[heathstockton4]

we used Eavesway last year from Burtonwood (Warrington) and was advised to use them rather than the "free" service offered by P&O, better coaches apparently and the coach we were on was superb, very impressed.

 

We are just in the process of booking Ioana from Southampton next April and will book Eavesway again.

[JeanieC,Aston]

10 hours ago, heathstockton4 said:

we used Eavesway last year from Burtonwood (Warrington) and was advised to use them rather than the "free" service offered by P&O, better coaches apparently and the coach we were on was superb, very impressed.

 

We are just in the process of booking Ioana from Southampton next April and will book Eavesway again.

Hi.

If you ring them to book they will let you know if you have loyalty discount from previous use.

[daiB]

On 7/21/2023 at 5:51 PM, happy v said:

Do P&O not provide a complimentary coach?

Yes