Wheelchair taxi in Southhampton

[GRBlizz]

We are cruising Celebrity Apex out of Southhampton in April. Hubby uses a power wheelchair full time, and cannot walk at all.

 

We will be staying in London for two nights before the cruise, and wanted to take the train to Southhampton on embarkation morning. I see that the train is completely accessible (yay, UK!) but it does not go to the cruise port. So here's the question:

 

Will we be able to find a wheelchair accessible taxi at the Southhampton train station, or is there any way to make a reservation for one in advance?

 

I assume the walk from train to ship is too long? Luggage is not an issue because I will also be taking his manual chair, and that makes a great luggage cart. So we could walk if not too far.

 

Thanks for any advice.

[John Bull]

I'm a local, but don't know my stuff about wheelchairs (my time will come )

 

There are two standards of taxi in the UK - "hackney carriages" and "private hire taxis"

 

Hackney carriages are very strictly regulated, and can be hailed in the street or ply for hire on taxi stands such as the station. They have an illuminated roof sign and in Southampton they're always white. For journeys within the city their meters are set at rates dictated by the council.

71 of Southampton's 283  hackney carriages are wheelchair-accessible.

But I don't know whether "wheelchair-accessible"  would include powered wheelchairs or scooters.

 

Private hire taxis are also regulated but less-strictly. They cannot be hailed in the street, they have to be pre-booked. This is reinforced by many drivers with signs on the doors - "no booking, no ride". They can be any colour except white, they carry a small taxi licence plate on the rear fender but no other taxi signage. They have meters, usually set a little cheaper than hackney cabs for local trips, but can negotiate fixed rates for longer journeys.  Almost without exception private transfers between Southampton and London, London airports, etc are operated by private hire taxis. And Ubers are private hire taxis.

There are hundreds of private hire taxis in Southampton, a proportion of them are accessible, some specialise in accessible vehicles.

 

You can pre-book, though that's difficult to predict when arriving by train - and I'm none-too sure whether pre-booking means a higher fare for your very very short hop to the ship.

If no accessible taxi is on the rank when you arrive, just ask one of the drivers to call one up. They're a generally helpful crowd.

Or perhaps just jot down these phone numbers ..............  

http://www.southamptontaxis.org/blog/226/Accessible-White-Taxis-Southampton-City

https://freedomcabs.co.uk/

http://www.go-mobility.co.uk/

http://www.accessiblecountryside.org.uk/hampshire-taxis

 

Trains from London arrive at Platform 4, the station exit for cruise terminals is directly off Platform 4 

 

Celebrity's berth is at City Cruise Terminal (berth 101).

The regular fare for a taxi taken from the rank at the station is around £6 to £7.

On foot it's just under a mile from the station, on pretty level ground and the two road crossings are assisted by traffic lights.

But you'd sure be unhappy if the battery died on the way.

https://goo.gl/maps/BvEZqeHKpHoepKwh9

 

JB 

 

 

[GRBlizz]

Thank you so much! This is just what I needed, and sets my mind at ease,. We will plan to hail a wheelchair taxi when we arrive, and if that doesn't work the walk is not too long either for me or for hubby's wheelchair if we start the day fully charged!

[Bob++]

My wife uses a power chair, but she can walk short distances. On our first cruise with a chair, we hired one that was delivered to the ship. This was mainly because we left it too late to get a disabled cabin and needed a folding chair (her own is too wide for a standard cabin).

 

On subsequent cruises we have booked disabled cabins so she has been able to use her own chair and it has worked out really well. The only problems have been with shuttles where it seems that only a few of the buses have ramps, but any wheelchair user will be used to dealing with this kind of problem.

 

On board ship, the staff couldn't have been more helpful. Having a chair, rather than a buggy was a definite advantage, especially on the lifts and being able to walk a little, really helped with some of the steep ramps we encountered - I am sure your hubby is used to it, but my wife simply refused to drive down some of them.