Graeme1873

Our relatives used Southampton airports cruise parking on a recent trip and said they thought it was very well organised and very good value. Haven’t used it ourselves as we live very close to the docks so no need for parking but might be worth a look? https://www.southamptonairport.com/parking/cruise-parking/

How long have you got in Port? Although Highclere is only 45 mins from the terminal, as ex Londoner says the A34 is not a great road and every so often there are accidents on it that shut the road. Suppose it depends if you fancy taking the chance. We had friends from US who stopped in Southampton on a transatlantic back to back and we took them here for the day. https://janeaustens.house They loved it but unfortunately don’t think there are any organised tours so would need to get a cab there and back. Again it’s about 40 mins from the port but avoids the A34. Only takes an hour or so to go round the house but there is a nice pub in the village for lunch. Anyway just a suggestion. Hope you find something interesting to do with your time on the South Coast 👍 Another great thing to do is go and visit the Mary Rose in Portsmouth but that does really need a whole day to fully appreciate it. cheers Donald

Living in Hampshire one of the things we like to do every so often is visit Jane Austen”s house in Chawton. This is where she wrote many of her most famous novels and is in a really nice quaint English village. It’s very interesting and doesn’t take too long to go round the house (an hour / 90 mins) and there is a nice pub to get lunch. Only problem would be transport. It is in the general direction of London / Heathrow but a bit off the beaten track. I guess the only feasible option would be to get a taxi/ cab and ask them to wait for you while you go round the house, and then continue on to Heathrow. https://janeaustens.house Anyway just thought I’d add this as something potentially slightly different. cheers Graeme

Yeah it’s fantastic isn’t it. I actually work on the aviation industry and the airport owners have sone really ambitious plans. The main thing about the runway extension is that it will allow larger, fully laden aircraft to use the airport . It won’t cope with wide bodies from US but I can see connections from other UK / European hubs opening up very soon. Already KLM offer connecting flights to their network through Schipol but there are only a couple of flights a day. Tbh we are quite lucky living where we do with all the transport options and having the Cruise port on our doorstep is another massive bonus.

Yeah that’s true although hopefully the planners will bear this in mind if the line ever does get connected to the airport. Not holding my breath mind you 😂 Also with Southampton airport having extended their runway it should open up a lot more routes and perhaps offer some new options via connections for our US friends.

Yeah the strikes are really annoying as the service into Waterloo is so convenient and it’s quite relaxing travelling through the Hampshire and Surrey countryside. I actually travel up to London from Southampton Parkway on the train for work once a week and as long as you avoid the planned strike days my experience is that the service is still really good. I agree however the lack of a direct line from Heathrow and the uncertainty means it’s probably not worth considering at this time. Our local paper has said however that there are plans to create a direct line from Heathrow to Southampton which will be a huge step forward. https://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/23787985.direct-train-heathrow-southampton-one-step-closer/

Hi there Living in Southampton we regularly travel up and back to Heathrow. Unfortunately there is no direct rail line (yet) so the options are a bit limited. Taxi Definitely the easiest way but by far the most expensive. When we don’t drive ourselves we normally pay about £110 (c$140) one way using a local Southampton taxi firm. They are normally cheaper then the limo companies so let me know if you want me to send you the details of the firm we use. National Express As someone has said before they are reliable and clean and very good value. The coach station is right in the city near the waterfront so if you are staying at one of the main hotels you will be quite close but may need a taxi if you have lots of luggage. Heathrow Rail Air There is a regular coach service from T5 to Woking Station from whee you can pick up the train to Southampton Central - the trains run every 30 mins or so. Again the station is quite handy for the hotels but prob not walkable. We’ve used this a few times and it generally runs well although depending on connections it can take a bit longer. https://www.railair.com/timetables/RA2 Hope that helps Donald

That’s a really good idea. Hadn’t heard of Men’s Sheds before but seems to be a great way to meet people and keep busy 👍 will defo look into it. Yes you are right. I’ll hopefully appreciate it even more 👍

Oh that’s a shame. I think they are great mementos and we bought a similar one of Queen Victoria this summer on our trip to Spain. Anyway guess I’ll need to go down the repair route. Here’s hoping 🙏

I know - I am gutted ☹️ I did think about trying to repair it but I’m hopeless at that sort of thing ! 🙈. Perhaps I could take it to a model shop and see if they can help?

Hi there. Bit of an odd question. I have managed to drop and break our much loved model of the QM2 that we purchased on our first transatlantic voyage a few years ago - see photo. Is anyone aware of whether these are still sold on board and if there is any way to purchase one without actually being on the ship? I did reach out to Cunard and while they did respond and tried to answer they basically said you have to be on board the ship to buy gifts and couldn’t confirm whether they were till sold. We do have another trip on QM 2 booked for summer 2025 so worst case will just wait til then and see. thanks Donald

Brill - thanks for that 👍

Cheers that’s great and perfect for us. 👍😀

Hi there My Wife and I are booked on a 21 night Southampton round trip voyage on QM2 in July 2025. The itinerary is Southampton, Norway, Iceland, Halifax NS, New York and Southampton. We both really enjoy going to the theatre show each night and I was wondering, given the length of the trip and the fact it is basically a trip to New York followed by a separate transatlantic voyage back to Southampton, is there a chance that we will have repeat performances of shows some nights on our trip? We were hoping to see a different show each night but not sure how the entertainment works on these longer voyages as we have only done 7 night trips before. Appreciate any insight you can provide. Thanks Donald