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Car Parking at Southampton


Jack Staff
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We've use ABP twice.

 

You park right next to the ship in a secure part of the port, plenty of staff to tell you where to park, take your luggage as soon as you get out of the car and then a 30 second - 1 minute stroll to the check in.

 

When we get back we carry our own luggage off and it means we can be in the car and on the road within 15 minutes of stepping onto the gangway off the ship. You pay a bit extra to park on site but for us it's worth the premium over having to wait for shuttle buses to car parks off site.

 

There are often promo codes for discounts with ABP.

 

One tip, when driving to the port have in mind how many other ships are in port that day, what events are on, and if Southampton FC are playing at home. Last summer we sailed on Eclipse the same day as Ventura, Queen Elizabeth were sailing, A home match and a University Open day. It took us over an hour to do the last 2 miles around the Southampton Ring Road to reach the gate to the port. Access to the port if approaching from the East along the ring road involves a right turn across a dual carriageway to enter the port and this can lead to a bit of a queue. The previous year it only took us 10 minues.

Edited by DYKWIA
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We used AB Parking last year as well. The car park was so close to the terminal we could see our car from the bar on the ship.

We were very impressed with the service. They directed us to the parking space and were there waiting to take our cases from us. They made sure we knew where to walk to and we were about a minute from the terminal.

Well worth it.

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For those that are familiar with the port, how close is the Holiday Inn (the one very near the water) to the actual port entrance.

 

We are sailing on MSC in September and are trying to decide if we should return rental car the night before and just walk to port.

 

We only have 1 carry-on size roller bag each, so don't mind walking.

 

Thanks for any insights.

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To the port entrance gates, probably 200 metres, to check in about 420 metres.

 

Great view of the ships from most of the bedrooms, its great to wake up in the morning and see Eclipse a couple of hundred metres away!

 

And not far to West Quay shoppeng for any last minute purchases.

 

Enjoy

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Those that have sailed with Celebrity from Southampton - can you advise on where best to park the car?

 

Any discount codes may also be welcomed.

 

We were quoted £136 for 18 nights parking at ABP for Xmas/New Year cruise. We then booked the Marriot Meon Valley Hotel instead, at a total cost of £212.88 - that gave a day's B&B before the cruise, evening meal, up to 28 days free parking and taxi transfers to/from the port. Given that we hit heavy M6 traffic travelling from north of Edinburgh, we would have missed the cruise departure had we left home on the day of departure so the increased cost of £76 for peace of mind, proper food (as opposed to motorway service station fast food and chocolate!) and a decent night's sleep was well worth the extra cost.

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As others have said many local (and not so local) hotels offer parking packages costing little more than parking. Most of them include pre and post cruise transfers back to your hotel.

 

We are booked in the Holiday Inn for convenience next cruise but the one after when we may have a little more flexible time pre cruise we may look at one of the less local country house hotels that offer packages including dinner, bed, breakfast and parking.

 

Technically we have loads of time to drive down cruise day but why get stressed? As another post said, the difference between parking and hotel and parking is really minimal - we have found pretty much the same when flying from LHR too.

 

X has offered some free parking as a booking perk before now, no use to us as we want to stay over the night before, but worth looking out for if you do live quite close to the port...

Edited by chemmo
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As others have said many local (and not so local) hotels offer parking packages costing little more than parking. Most of them include pre and post cruise transfers back to your hotel.

 

We are booked in the Holiday Inn for convenience next cruise but the one after when we may have a little more flexible time pre cruise we may look at one of the less local country house hotels that offer packages including dinner, bed, breakfast and parking.

 

Technically we have loads of time to drive down cruise day but why get stressed? As another post said, the difference between parking and hotel and parking is really minimal - we have found pretty much the same when flying from LHR too.

 

X has offered some free parking as a booking perk before now, no use to us as we want to stay over the night before, but worth looking out for if you do live quite close to the port...

 

 

Hi,

 

We did Eclipse last October and got part parking as part of the deal. We booked a hotel near the university with breakfast for £80 for 2. Took about 15 mins to drive to the port on the morning of the cruise.

 

David

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Another vote for ABP. Once you have used them they send regular discount code. Supremely convenient and no fuss.

We had free car parking via Celebrity using ABP. I remember having to ring them, as I was being charged the full amount, until I was told how to fill the form in to claim the free parking. Unfortunately I cannot remember what I had to do to get it free!!:eek:

We travelled down on the previous day (Friday)for our 25th July sailing. What we didn't anticipate was that it was the first day of the school holidays in the majority of the U.K. It took us 9 hrs to travel from West Yorkshire and the last few miles from M27 took 90 minutes in very heavy rain.

Next cruise we are travelling down by train on the previous day, so avoiding the hassle.

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