qm2 in july

[elsabeth]

Hi

I am a newbie to cruising. I am travelling with elderly relatives from Southampton to NY on the QM2 in July. My question is about getting to Southampton from North London. At the moment I have been told the coachconnect bus is only picking up at Heathrow. Has anyone used a taxi service to travel down there? I would appreciate any ideas. As an alternative I am also wondering about sending the luggage on ahead and taking the train. Has anyone done this?

Thanks

[Zipper25]

Hi. Elsabeth

 

We too are newbies to cruising and will be joining the QM2 for the Med Cruise in August. Coming all the way from Perth in Western Australia we wanted to be sure that all was arranged. The Cunard Australian website gives a web address and telephone number for CruiseConnect in London. We called this number only to be told that the service was only for those passengers who had booked in the UK. We had a very circular arguement about the fact that this was the number quoted by Cunard and that I was to be in the UK for one week prior to sailing date, but there seemed to be a "jobsworth" mentality that was sticking to rules no matter what. I pressed the point and was eventually told that I could use the service but that I had to use my local travel agent in Australia. Guess what? The price differential was about 15 pounds per head! I called back and eventually they agreed to take my booking but on the condition that they could not be held responsible for delayed flights and the like. (This despite the fact that we would be in the UK for a week prior to departure.) Seemed a little silly that they were happy to take a booking from someone who would have travel from, say, Yorkshire, but not from someone who had only to travel from The Strand.

 

Currently the coach is due to depart from the Thistle Hotel in Victoria but this will be confirmed nearer the date as the operation of the service is subject to minimum numbers. (I note that my credit card has already been charged, however.) If the minimum numbers are not met then alternate arrangements will, apparently be made, though I have no idea what these will be.

 

The whole thing seems very hit and miss and so I am now a little worried to hear that the advertised service from Central London will not be running in July.

 

Does anyone else have any info re this service or should I consider cancelling and using another mode of travel to S'hampton?

[iris]

I too tried to book the cruiseconnect bus to Southampton and was told it was for people with hotel packages only. The next time I called they said I could book it for $82.00. But when it got faxed to my ta it was 210.00 a person! They say something different each time, I see there are minivans for hire at about $200.00 with a driver to southampton. Maybe if enough people get together for the aug 15 we can do it without them(cunard)

[Zipper25]

That would have been an excellent idea, Iris, had I not already been charged for the transfer. I'll see what transpires a month out from departure and take it from there. I'll certainly keep your idea in mind, though. However, this doesn't help Elsabeth.

[elsabeth]

Hi

It is interesting to see that several people are having similar transport problems. Iris' suggestion about sharing a minivan might be an option for us. Are there any people travelling on July 11 from the north London area who would be interested in sharing the cost?

[hedyc]

Have not yet worked out details of how to get from London to Southampton but would love to hear about options and costs. There are two of us coming from Canada.

[DanZ]

We just used a van service when we arrived in Southampton on 6/15:

 

https://secure.ac/chauffeur/bookings.htm

 

They charged 180 British pound for 4 passengers (45 Pounds pp), eight pieces of luggage and four pieces of hand baggage to central London. It was a far better offer than what Cunard promotes.

 

Happy travels.

[iris]

Great if you have 4 people! I would love to find another couple to do yhis on Aug 15!

[susietb]

Try atstaxis.co.uk we are using them for our QE 2 cruise. They charge 75 pounds to pick two people up at Heathrow to the ship in Southampton and I think 70 pounds to return to central London from the pier.