Southampton taxis

[gah_cruise]

Sailing from and returning to Southampton this summer. On both days there are 5 ships docked. Will getting a taxi from/to our hotel in the city (Southampton) be a potentially long wait?

Edited June 6, 2023 by gah_cruise

[Lady Arwen]

Sorry, but “in the city” I assume you’re referring to London?

[gah_cruise]

1 minute ago, Lady Arwen said:

Sorry, but “in the city” I assume you’re referring to London?

No ... Southampton (it is a city)

[Josy1953]

When we are staying at a hotel in Southampton we ask the front desk at the hotel the evening before sailing to book a taxi to take us to the port the next day.  We have found that if there are several ships in port then it can be difficult to get a taxi if we haven't booked one beforehand.

[gah_cruise]

2 minutes ago, Josy1953 said:

When we are staying at a hotel in Southampton we ask the front desk at the hotel the evening before sailing to book a taxi to take us to the port the next day.  We have found that if there are several ships in port then it can be difficult to get a taxi if we haven't booked one beforehand.

Thanks....how about on your return...do you book in advance or wait at the taxi rank?

[Lady Arwen]

10 minutes ago, gah_cruise said:

No ... Southampton (it is a city)

Yes, I know that.  You didn’t specify, so I wanted to be sure.  Been there many times and will be back in September.

[Josy1953]

4 minutes ago, gah_cruise said:

Thanks....how about on your return...do you book in advance or wait at the taxi rank?

We always self disembark and get a taxi from the taxi rank.

[gah_cruise]

1 minute ago, Lady Arwen said:

Yes, I know that.  You didn’t specify, so I wanted to be sure.  Been there many times and will be back in September.

okay, the post is edited accordingly to prevent confusion...so did you use taxis? 

[Lady Arwen]

1 minute ago, gah_cruise said:

okay, the post is edited accordingly to prevent confusion...so did you use taxis? 

We always stay at Moxy Hotel and they get a cab for us.  We just ask.  We either use Blackberry Cars or a Princess transfer upon disembarking.

[ehogan]

We stayed at the Premier Inn West Quay and there is a phone by the elevators to order a cab or you can pre order online at Radio Taxi Southampton.

[gfkcruiser]

On 6/6/2023 at 1:21 PM, gah_cruise said:

Sailing from and returning to Southampton this summer. On both days there are 5 ships docked. Will getting a taxi from/to our hotel in the city (Southampton) be a potentially long wait?

What hotel are you staying?  Many are a short walk from terminal.

[gah_cruise]

Just now, gfkcruiser said:

What hotel are you staying?  Many are a short walk from terminal.

Holiday Inn,,,,no way I am walking with my wife's suitcases 😃

[gfkcruiser]

Just now, gah_cruise said:

Holiday Inn,,,,no way I am walking with my wife's suitcases 😃

We were on Celebrity and The Holiday Inn is at the cruise terminal - a very short walk.  Look on Google maps.  However,  your ship may be at a different berth.  Check out which berth your ship arrives.  

[scottbee]

On 6/6/2023 at 10:21 AM, gah_cruise said:

Sailing from and returning to Southampton this summer. On both days there are 5 ships docked. Will getting a taxi from/to our hotel in the city (Southampton) be a potentially long wait?

You'll want to check which dock you're scheduled at, but if it's the City Cruise Terminal (Royal/Celebrity), the Holiday Inn is next door.  A taxi ride would take 30 seconds.  You'd spend more time loading the cases into the car than if you just walked it.

 

[Harters]

On 6/6/2023 at 6:41 PM, Josy1953 said:

get a taxi from the taxi rank.

When we were last there (2017) there were more taxis in the rank than private hire vehicles waiting for pre-booked trips. By the by, I got a bollocking from some port jobsworth for parking in the cab rank and taking up an "official" space, while we loaded the bags. The fact that the signage couldnt be seen because it was blocked by a minibus cut no ice with the a&sewipe.

[T-2]

The Holiday Inn sounds like such an easy solution, may I join in and ask if there is any suggestions for the best way to get there if arriving from Heathrow, bringing cruise luggage.  Is there any easy way to do Windsor Castle if we come in a day early, from Southampton to Windor-?  It's a long trip from overseas, we like to arrive an extra day early for 'just in case' of any hiccups or delays. And that seemed like the most tempting day outing. Hoping someone has experience trying this?

Edited June 12, 2023 by T-2

[Globaliser]

3 hours ago, T-2 said:

Is there any easy way to do Windsor Castle if we come in a day early, from Southampton to Windor-?  It's a long trip from overseas, we like to arrive an extra day early for 'just in case' of any hiccups or delays. And that seemed like the most tempting day outing.

 

Windsor is almost right next to Heathrow; they even built the castle underneath the flight path. So it doesn't make any sense to go from Heathrow to Southampton, and then to make a day trip from Southampton to Windsor. In any case, if "a day early" means that you're only going to spend one night in Southampton before the cruise, you haven't got time to do a day trip to Windsor. Even with an early morning arrival at Heathrow, you wouldn't be in your Southampton hotel before about midday, which leaves you with too little time to visit Windsor that day; and on the day of the cruise departure you will at best only have the morning before you have to check in, so you have too little time that day.

 

If you specifically want to visit Windsor before the cruise, either stay there or at Heathrow when you arrive, and then transfer to Southampton the next morning in time to check in for the cruise.

[John Bull]

Windsor from Heathrow is about 8 miles, from Southampton it's over 60 miles.

So Heathrow to Southampton to Windsor to Southampton would be about 180 miles !!

 

Depending on your flight arrival time, in theory you could stash your luggage at your Heathrow terminal, taxi to Windsor (20 minutes), 2 - 3 hours in Windsor, back to Heathrow, collect your luggage and early evening https://www.nationalexpress.com/en bus to Southampton, and stay at Holiday Inn (Herbert Walker Avenue, not one of the city;s H.I.Express's) or another nearby hotel.

But after a red-eye flight you'd probably regret doing all that the same day.

 

So heed Globaliser's advice, book a hotel at Heathrow or central Windsor. drop your luggage at your hotel & explore Windsor & its castle. Pre-booked taxi to Windsor about £30 - £35 (by public transport it's slow & convoluted).

A Heathrow hotel is much more economical than Windsor, but it's typical boring airport hotel-land whereas Windsor is an attractive & historic town - altho by that evening you might just want to hit the sack early.

Next morning either back to Heathrow for a Nat Express bus to Southampton or if you choose a Windsor hotel and you're feeling flush perhaps a pre-booked private transfer (£130- £150?)

 

JB 🙂

[T-2]

That is excellent advice, our convoluted transatlantic red eye flight has us landing at noon the day before the cruise, I will see how long it takes to get through the airport, super thanks.