Sending luggage to the ship

[tring]

We are toying with the idea of booking a translocation cruise, so we would need to get to Southampton outbound, returning to Manchester Airport at the end of the cruise.

 

Manchester is easy as it is taxiable from home, but Southampton is a different matter. We would much prefer to get the train south and spend two or three nights with elderly relatives (who live near Southampton) prior to the cruise, but are not happy about taking all our luggage on the train, and more to the point, round the tube system in London.

 

I think there is a carrier who will transport luggage direct to a ship, but it would need to be collected, (if that is what they do), a good number of days before we cruise. Does anyone know if there is a company that does that, if they are reliable and what the approximate cost would be for one suitcase?

 

Any advice appreciated.

[Mark_T]

These are the people that Fred recommend :

 

http://www.thebaggagehandlingcompany.co.uk/find_out_more.html

 

Have not used them personally but know people who have and they seemed happy with the service.

 

You'll need to call them though as the prices they advertise are based on collection and return at the end of your cruise and you only need half of that service.

 

The whole thing costs £60 per bag so hopefully less than that in your case ...

[Cruising Nomads]

Were you aware that Cross Country Trains run a direct service from Manchester to Southampton?

[tring]

Thanks for the replies.

 

I will look into alternative train routes that may avoid London. A Manchester start is no good to us as we are on the Wirral, so need Liverpool as a start point and Portsmouth harbour as finish. It may be possible to change at somewhere more user friendly than London, but the London routes are much quicker which is useful, as our total journey adds another couple of hours + waiting time. We travel down to Portsmouth by train at times, but have always used the inter city service to London. It is surprising how often you have to walk up/down stairs, even in mainline stations to get to/from the underground. The other option is a taxi through London from Euston to Waterloo mmmmm.....

 

Getting large cases on trains is often difficult these days as modern trains do not have much luggage space.

[tring]

Just adding a reply to my question in case anyone else is thinking the same!

 

I have rang, the baggage handling company - thank you for the details Mark. They say it would cost £36 one way as a standard price for the UK and their website says they collect 3-4 days prior to the cruise. We would need an earlier collection date and have been assurred that would be OK.

 

Definately sounds the best option, but I have some uncertainty about leaving a case to be transport to the terminal as we would not want to risk loosing it before the cruise. Does anyone else have any knowledge of their reliability, either first hand or by word of mouth from people who have used them?

 

Just thinking, that if the service is reliable, it could be much better than taking a car to Southampton and paying the extortionate parking fees, even on round trip cruises.

Edited January 29, 2014 by tring

[LandC]

My brother used a taxi recently to get from Euston to Waterloo. The cost was £15, but of course it varies according to the amount of traffic. Whatever you decide to do, I hope you enjoy your cruise!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

[tring]

Thanks LandC. Must admit I thought the fare would be more than that - it seem a long way when negotiating the tube. I suspect the main problem could be traffic. It would not be rush hour, but snarl ups could happen any time in London, another possibility though.

 

Cheers

[bobby67]

I have used this company on a number of occasions and have found them to be efficient and reliable. Carolyn