Transfer to Port from home location

[imperialwizard]

Hi, Not new to cruising, but new to both P&O and Southampton sailings.

Whats the opinion of our UK members ,or even better Scottish members in the 

best option for travelling to Southampton.We are not sailing until next July but

we were giving some thought to our travel plans from the Glasgow area.So far

looked at both air travel and cruise connect coach service.Anyone have any personal

experiences or recommendations.Thanks in advance.

[Jennizor]

We have always travelled to Southampton with Cruise Connect. It has always been excellent. Coaches are very good, always been on time. We get picked up from the Macron stadium in Bolton, just a short taxi ride from home. The weight restrictions are relaxed (to a degree). The driver loads them on the coach and the next time you see them they are in your cabin. From Bolton to Southampton there is just one Service Station stop, obviously there will be more for you. Hopefully going on the 25th of this month, fingers crossed.

[davecttr]

Whatever you do travel down the day before departure. That way you don't suffer the stress of transport delays.

[Satellite city]

41 minutes ago, Jennizor said:

We have always travelled to Southampton with Cruise Connect. It has always been excellent. Coaches are very good, always been on time. We get picked up from the Macron stadium in Bolton, just a short taxi ride from home. The weight restrictions are relaxed (to a degree). The driver loads them on the coach and the next time you see them they are in your cabin. From Bolton to Southampton there is just one Service Station stop, obviously there will be more for you. Hopefully going on the 25th of this month, fingers crossed.

We are Bolton too.  How long is the journey and what is it like?

 

going next year so trying to decide if train or coach is best (train would be day before)

[showingdiva]

From Scotland, Glasgow Central - Birmingham New Street (Avanti), then to Southampton Central (XC).  If you can hold your nerve for an Advance Single (either standard or first) then you should get a decent deal (I've got booked for £81 one way).

 

Do go down the day before.   Scotland to Southampton by train is at least 6.5 hours).  The stress isn't worth it on the day.

Edited September 3, 2021 by showingdiva

[Jennizor]

Hi Satellite City, it usually takes 4 and a half to 5 hours with the one stop, obviously dependent on traffic on the day.

[Satellite city]

13 minutes ago, Jennizor said:

Hi Satellite City, it usually takes 4 and a half to 5 hours with the one stop, obviously dependent on traffic on the day.

I can probably get through a chunk of an audiobook in that time, as long as the whole coach aren’t in a chorus of 8 million green bottles hanging on the wall 😂

[wowzz]

6 hours ago, imperialwizard said:

Hi, Not new to cruising, but new to both P&O and Southampton sailings.

Whats the opinion of our UK members ,or even better Scottish members in the 

best option for travelling to Southampton.We are not sailing until next July but

we were giving some thought to our travel plans from the Glasgow area.So far

looked at both air travel and cruise connect coach service.Anyone have any personal

experiences or recommendations.Thanks in advance.

From Glasgow you are looking at a 9 to 10 hour coach journey.  Not too bad when going to your cruise,  but a long way back on your return.

I would take the train every time,  but travel down the day before. 

[janny444]

Hi....we take the coach from Preston....tried alternative ways....self drive....train but now would always take the coach transfer....less stressful. You would have to go the day before if travelling by train/self drive....extra cost.... and even then it may not be stress free/incident free.

Our holiday starts when we board the coach at Preston...bye bye luggage....see you in the cabin....no hassling with all the cases as you do on the train.

As been stated the worse part is the journey home but for us a relatively small price to pay for a more relaxing travelling experience.

It is now a case....no coach....no cruise

[wowzz]

9 minutes ago, janny444 said:

Hi....we take the coach from Preston....tried alternative ways....self drive....train but now would always take the coach transfer....less stressful. You would have to go the day before if travelling by train/self drive....extra cost.... and even then it may not be stress free/incident free.

Our holiday starts when we board the coach at Preston...bye bye luggage....see you in the cabin....no hassling with all the cases as you do on the train.

As been stated the worse part is the journey home but for us a relatively small price to pay for a more relaxing travelling experience.

It is now a case....no coach....no cruise

It's another two hours further to Glasgow - that makes for a long, long coach journey!

[Son of Anarchy]

Bear in mind with the train that there may be engineering works on your day of travel which could include replacement bus service for part of the journey ☹️,  From Glasgow I would travel the day before. 

[john watson]

2 hours ago, Son of Anarchy said:

Bear in mind with the train that there may be engineering works on your day of travel which could include replacement bus service for part of the journey ☹️,  From Glasgow I would travel the day before. 

 

Most engineering work on the railways is pushed onto weekends, so if you are travelling Saturday, Sunday or Bank Holiday Monday this is a likely scenario.  Less so mid-week in my experience.  Irrespective of this a single night at the minimum in a Southampton hotel is a must.  Seat reservations are sometimes compulsory on this type of train service.

 

No sure of how much this will still be in place at the time of your travel but there was a post on the P&O section about a passenger who tested positive for Covid at the quayside and was refused boarding. They had travelled there by coach but the entire coach was refused boarding.

 

Rome2rio is a good website for long journey ideas.

 

Regards John.

[scarlet ohara]

Hi, we’ve travelled to Southampton several times from Central Scotland by all means. The main drawback of the coach is that it leaves Glasgow (Buchanan Stret) at 3/3.30am. It starts in Edinburgh so even earlier there. There’s not usually many passengers so a choice of good seats. Everyone tends to snooze till the first stop at Carlisle, a couple of hours later. There can be several pickups, Lancaster, Preston and often a lot of passengers in Bolton which is often the last pickup. Although sometimes we’ve had other stops further south. If there have been no hold ups in traffic you can end up with a long stop at a service station about an hour- hour and a half from Southampton to time arrival about 2pm. If there are delays the ship will wait if it’s the official P&O coach. Going home is in reverse but it’s a long long day. We arrived in Glasgow at 8.30pm and still had another hour in the train to get home. We prefer flying- Flybe went from Glasgow and Edinburgh direct to Southampton-much quicker but it had become very expensive. There was usually a flight around noon which was plenty time. I don’t know what the flight schedules are post Covid. I would always fly the day before just bin case of delays- it wasn’t known as flymaybe for nothing! The train has various options- can get a direct train from Newcastle to Southampton with CrossCountry so Glas/Edin to Newcastle then change- usually same platform or adjoining so no need for stairs or bridges to cross the tracks. It’s also a long day but one you are on it’s quite comfortable particularly if you get an advance ticket for first class (with a railcard). Again, I’m not sure what the current timetables are

Driving over a couple of days with some sightseeing/visiting relatives on the way is ok too, but again is a drag on the way home. Although it’s much quicker driving home than on the coach.

We don’t have any cruises booked at present but will no doubt go back to it. While Covid is around, our preference would be to drive to minimise contact with others and avoid congestion in service stations etc

[wowzz]

5 hours ago, scarlet ohara said:

Hi, we’ve travelled to Southampton several times from Central Scotland by all means. The main drawback of the coach is that it leaves Glasgow (Buchanan Stret) at 3/3.30am. It starts in Edinburgh so even earlier there. There’s not usually many passengers so a choice of good seats. Everyone tends to snooze till the first stop at Carlisle, a couple of hours later. There can be several pickups, Lancaster, Preston and often a lot of passengers in Bolton which is often the last pickup. Although sometimes we’ve had other stops further south. If there have been no hold ups in traffic you can end up with a long stop at a service station about an hour- hour and a half from Southampton to time arrival about 2pm. If there are delays the ship will wait if it’s the official P&O coach. Going home is in reverse but it’s a long long day. We arrived in Glasgow at 8.30pm and still had another hour in the train to get home. We prefer flying- Flybe went from Glasgow and Edinburgh direct to Southampton-much quicker but it had become very expensive. There was usually a flight around noon which was plenty time. I don’t know what the flight schedules are post Covid. I would always fly the day before just bin case of delays- it wasn’t known as flymaybe for nothing! The train has various options- can get a direct train from Newcastle to Southampton with CrossCountry so Glas/Edin to Newcastle then change- usually same platform or adjoining so no need for stairs or bridges to cross the tracks. It’s also a long day but one you are on it’s quite comfortable particularly if you get an advance ticket for first class (with a railcard). Again, I’m not sure what the current timetables are

Driving over a couple of days with some sightseeing/visiting relatives on the way is ok too, but again is a drag on the way home. Although it’s much quicker driving home than on the coach.

We don’t have any cruises booked at present but will no doubt go back to it. While Covid is around, our preference would be to drive to minimise contact with others and avoid congestion in service stations etc

Nice to hear from someone who has done the journey.  

Driving down to Southampton over two days seems the best bet, and driving back over one day is doable, with plenty of stops.  At least there is no jet lag to  worry about!

[imperialwizard]

Thanks to everyone for your comments and advice.Especially Scarlet for the knowledge and views on travelling from north of the border.I was coming round to coach was the way to go after chatting to our TA..until they said about the 330 am departure out of Glasgow which Scarlet also referenced...so the jury is still out🤔

[Son of Anarchy]

There's also the Caledonian Sleeper.  We've used it a few times travelling to Glasgow.  Not sure of the times these days, but you arrive at Euston about 08:00ish giving you plenty of time to get across to Waterloo and then Southampton.  

[emam]

We get the coach from Washington Services (classed as Newcastle) on the A1. The coach is usually quite full from here. It leaves at 6.00 a.m. travels to Scotch Corner for a pickup, where you can do a quick snack/toilet run. Usually by then the coach is full. Then there's a break for the driver and one for lunch. Normally it would be then onto the terminal. At the terminal in normal times there's only a few minutes before queuing for check in (even gone straight there before) then straight to security which again doesn't take long. We are usually on the ship by 2:00 p.m.(15 minutes from queuing to get off coach) with our bags waiting at the door when we get there.

 

There's a hotel right next door to the coach pickup point. So another idea is that you could drive down to Washington the day before, stay overnight and then travel by coach from there. 

[scarlet ohara]

One thought we’ve had was to drive to Bolton and stay overnight in the Premier inn at the football stadium where the pick up is. The bus left there about 8am which is a much more sensible start. Even stating in Carlisle about 6am would give a better nights sleep.,On the way home, driving from Bolton would avoid a rest stop around Carlisle because of the driver hours which just seems to delay getting home. We can also drive a more direct route home via the motorways, takes about 4hours from Bolton, rather going into the centre of Glasgow. We haven’t done that option yet though. Flying home is definitely the quickest and probably our preference