Southampton-London Transfers - Airport (LHR/LGW) - NEW THREAD!

[PORT ROYAL]

15 hours ago, sciteach11 said:

Can anyone recommend a private transfer that can accommodate a large family (6 people) and provides carseats or boosters for young children? We haven't booked a London hotel yet so our pick up spot is flexible, and we will be embarking from Southhampton.

Consider

1. National Express Coach Heathrow to Southhampton, overnight hotel at Southampton, cab to pier.

2. Overnight Airport Hotel Heathrow, National Express Coach Heathrow to Southampton, cab to pier 

 

Extra…

The Concierge at one’s Hotel will arrange (and price) the required transport, as this is a small part of the work undertaken by a Concierge 

Edited July 31 by PORT ROYAL
Extra

[sciteach11]

6 hours ago, PORT ROYAL said:

Consider

1. National Express Coach Heathrow to Southhampton, overnight hotel at Southampton, cab to pier.

2. Overnight Airport Hotel Heathrow, National Express Coach Heathrow to Southampton, cab to pier 

 

Extra…

The Concierge at one’s Hotel will arrange (and price) the required transport, as this is a small part of the work undertaken by a Concierge 

Thank you! We are hoping to spend a couple of days in London before we embark, but we could take the tube back to the airport for a shuttle if necessary. A hotel in Southhampton the last night might be smart!

[Globaliser]

1 hour ago, sciteach11 said:

We are hoping to spend a couple of days in London before we embark, but we could take the tube back to the airport for a shuttle if necessary.

 

If you've gone into central London, there's almost never any point in going back to the airport to get the cruise line's transfer. (It's a real misnomer to call that "a shuttle", given that it's a couple of hours on the road.)

 

From central London, simply take the train to Southampton (to be precise, from London Waterloo station), then a cab to the pier. You really don't have to go the night before, either. That assumes that the age and composition of the group doesn't make that impracticable. But if you can contemplate all taking the Tube from central London to the airport with your luggage, you'll have no problem taking the train to Southampton.

[sciteach11]

21 minutes ago, Globaliser said:

 

If you've gone into central London, there's almost never any point in going back to the airport to get the cruise line's transfer. (It's a real misnomer to call that "a shuttle", given that it's a couple of hours on the road.)

 

From central London, simply take the train to Southampton (to be precise, from London Waterloo station), then a cab to the pier. You really don't have to go the night before, either. That assumes that the age and composition of the group doesn't make that impracticable. But if you can contemplate all taking the Tube from central London to the airport with your luggage, you'll have no problem taking the train to Southampton.

Ok good to know! I definitely think we can do that. For some reason people on other boards seem to be hesitant to take the train, but we’re doing some train travel in Switzerland after the cruise so we have to make our luggage train friendly! Not needing/carrying a car seat will make that easier.

[Globaliser]

On 7/31/2024 at 9:37 PM, sciteach11 said:

For some reason people on other boards seem to be hesitant to take the train ...

 

Maybe they think it's like Amtrak? 🙂

[SkippersCruisersMN]

We are back from our cruise from Southampton on the Anthem of the Seas and wanted to share what we did for transportation. We stayed at the H10 Hotel in Waterloo London for a couple of days pre-cruise and were able to walk to the Waterloo Train station with our rolling luggage from here. We booked the train tickets the first day they came out from LNER on the 9:05am - 10:22am train (London Waterloo station to Southampton Central station). We got a great rate for first class (Under 50 USD for the two of us). With lots of luggage it was helpful to have the extra room. We walked from the Southampton train-station to the cruiseport. It was about a 15-20 minute walk. For our return we took the Royal Caribbean transfer for a 2:35pm flight back to the US. Be sure to ask about this as soon as you get on the ship. Later in the cruise we heard people trying to book it and they were told it was full. They had us off the ship by 7:30 and we breezed through debarkation. The bus ride was smooth and we were at the airport about 4 hours early. We thought this was extra early but Heathrow had plenty of shopping and dining options to fill our time. 

[PhD-iva]

 

Hi, thank you in advance for any advice you can provide. I will be disembarking Oceania Sirena on 28 August and have flights booked out of Heathrow to Dallas, departing 13:05. My schedule is very tight at home, so it’s important that I not miss my flight. Can you recommend a good car service?  I can self-disembark as early as possible. The itinerary says that we arrive in Southampton at 6 AM.
Thank you again!

[PhD-iva]

5 hours ago, PhD-iva said:

 

 

Hi, thank you in advance for any advice you can provide. I will be disembarking Oceania Sirena on 28 August and have flights booked out of Heathrow to Dallas, departing 13:05. My schedule is very tight at home, so it’s important that I not miss my flight. Can you recommend a good car service?  I can self-disembark as early as possible. The itinerary says that we arrive in Southampton at 6 AM.
Thank you again!

I saw a recommendation for blackberrycars.com elsewhere on this forum, so I’ve sent a booking request. Thx!

[jbirds]

13 hours ago, PhD-iva said:

I saw a recommendation for blackberrycars.com elsewhere on this forum, so I’ve sent a booking request. Thx!

We used blackberry cars last month and they were great. The hardest thing was finding the driver in the crowd of arrivals 😂, but he called immediately to touch base with us.

[avatexrs]

On 8/2/2024 at 5:13 AM, SkippersCruisersMN said:

We are back from our cruise from Southampton on the Anthem of the Seas and wanted to share what we did for transportation. We stayed at the H10 Hotel in Waterloo London for a couple of days pre-cruise and were able to walk to the Waterloo Train station with our rolling luggage from here. We booked the train tickets the first day they came out from LNER on the 9:05am - 10:22am train (London Waterloo station to Southampton Central station). We got a great rate for first class (Under 50 USD for the two of us). With lots of luggage it was helpful to have the extra room. We walked from the Southampton train-station to the cruiseport. It was about a 15-20 minute walk. For our return we took the Royal Caribbean transfer for a 2:35pm flight back to the US. Be sure to ask about this as soon as you get on the ship. Later in the cruise we heard people trying to book it and they were told it was full. They had us off the ship by 7:30 and we breezed through debarkation. The bus ride was smooth and we were at the airport about 4 hours early. We thought this was extra early but Heathrow had plenty of shopping and dining options to fill our time. 

 

How much did you have to pay for the Royal Caribbean transfers?

[comettgirl]

On 11/5/2023 at 4:12 PM, Shiba_Lover said:

If you choose to stay in Southampton the evening before the cruise - check out the WhiteStar tavern and inn.  It is named so because many passengers and crew would dine here before sailing on the line's ships.  It has rooms named after their ships (yes, including a Titanic room).  We are actually staying here this coming June 2024 before our cruise out of Southampton.

 

History of The White Star pub and hotel in Southampto (whitestartavern.co.uk)  

How was your stay at the White Star Tavern and Inn. We are booked there for 5 nights before our cruise in September 2024!!!  Not long to go! 

[Shiba_Lover]

12 hours ago, comettgirl said:

How was your stay at the White Star Tavern and Inn. We are booked there for 5 nights before our cruise in September 2024!!!  Not long to go! 

We actually changed to a different hotel when we discovered they did not have air conditioning.  We moved to Leonardo Grand Harbor.  This hotel was quite nice.  Walking distance to everything, good size rooms, had A/C, included breakfast which was good.  We did walk past the white star tavern and it looked like a nice place although I can see what people are saying - if it was a Friday or Saturday night, the rooms would likely get quite a bit of noise as it is on the main Street, which had a lot of bars and there was a dance club right outside of it.  But, I think all the bars/clubs close by midnight.    So if you are not concerned about the potential for the street noise, I would give it a go as September should not need A/C in the rooms.

[TMLAalum]

LGW to Southampton? Tentatively we can fly to LGW from DUB on Ryanair (I know🙃) but how easy is it to travel from there without backtracking to London?

[gumshoe958]

2 minutes ago, TMLAalum said:

LGW to Southampton? Tentatively we can fly to LGW from DUB on Ryanair (I know🙃) but how easy is it to travel from there without backtracking to London?

As of June there are no direct trains from LGW to Southampton any more, but it’s a very simple same platform change at Barnham or Havant. Trains run every 30 minutes (hourly on Sundays). Absolutely no need to go via London.

[SEA DOGY]

On 7/13/2024 at 12:13 PM, hellokittyluver said:

Just back from the Celebrity Apex. Took the train from Waterloo Station to Southampton Central. I had purchased the tickets on-line for the cheaper price. It was super easy. I was worried for nothing. At disembarkation, I used Blackberry cars for the trip back to LHR. The driver called me and it was super easy to find him at the port. I would recommend both. 

[SEA DOGY]

Just now, SEA DOGY said:

On 7/13/2024 at 12:13 PM, hellokittyluver said:

Just back from the Celebrity Apex. Took the train from Waterloo Station to Southampton Central. I had purchased the tickets on-line for the cheaper price. It was super easy. I was worried for nothing. At disembarkation, I used Blackberry cars for the trip back to LHR. The driver called me and it was super easy to find him at the port. I would recommend both. 

Hello. We are using this company Blackberry next month pick us up at Heathrow and bring us back to Heathrow after our cruise is anything you can suggest or advise this is our first time sailing in this port Southampton. T I A 

[hellokittyluver]

12 hours ago, SEA DOGY said:

Hello. We are using this company Blackberry next month pick us up at Heathrow and bring us back to Heathrow after our cruise is anything you can suggest or advise this is our first time sailing in this port Southampton. T I A 

We used this service after debarking from the Celebrity Apex at Southampton. As we were walking off the ship, the driver called me on my iPhone and said he was on his way. He called me when he got in front of the waiting area and picked us up, actually a little early which was great! He was a very safe driver and drove us to LHR airport. He even new the shortcuts because the traffic was backing up on the weekday morning drive. This is not a black car service, it is more like an upgraded UBER ride. His car was clean and he was very nice and I felt very safe. I would recommend this service. Hope this helps!

[SEA DOGY]

7 hours ago, hellokittyluver said:

We used this service after debarking from the Celebrity Apex at Southampton. As we were walking off the ship, the driver called me on my iPhone and said he was on his way. He called me when he got in front of the waiting area and picked us up, actually a little early which was great! He was a very safe driver and drove us to LHR airport. He even new the shortcuts because the traffic was backing up on the weekday morning drive. This is not a black car service, it is more like an upgraded UBER ride. His car was clean and he was very nice and I felt very safe. I would recommend this service. Hope this helps!

Thank you.  Can you please tell me how long it takes to get to LHR ?

Our flight back home U.S is 2:30.    TIA 

[irishgal432]

On 8/2/2024 at 6:13 AM, SkippersCruisersMN said:

We are back from our cruise from Southampton on the Anthem of the Seas and wanted to share what we did for transportation. We stayed at the H10 Hotel in Waterloo London for a couple of days pre-cruise and were able to walk to the Waterloo Train station with our rolling luggage from here. We booked the train tickets the first day they came out from LNER on the 9:05am - 10:22am train (London Waterloo station to Southampton Central station). We got a great rate for first class (Under 50 USD for the two of us). With lots of luggage it was helpful to have the extra room. We walked from the Southampton train-station to the cruiseport. It was about a 15-20 minute walk. For our return we took the Royal Caribbean transfer for a 2:35pm flight back to the US. Be sure to ask about this as soon as you get on the ship. Later in the cruise we heard people trying to book it and they were told it was full. They had us off the ship by 7:30 and we breezed through debarkation. The bus ride was smooth and we were at the airport about 4 hours early. We thought this was extra early but Heathrow had plenty of shopping and dining options to fill our time. 

Thank you for your comment.  We are staying close to waterloo and may try this option.  We will have one large suitcase and i small carryon.  Would that fit in the standard car?

[kflietst]

8 hours ago, SEA DOGY said:

Thank you.  Can you please tell me how long it takes to get to LHR ?

Our flight back home U.S is 2:30.    TIA 

Following this question too.

[gumshoe958]

10 hours ago, SEA DOGY said:

Thank you.  Can you please tell me how long it takes to get to LHR ?

Our flight back home U.S is 2:30.    TIA 

The drive from Southampton to Heathrow typically takes about 90 minutes, assuming no delays en route. But best to allow 2 hours in case of traffic. A 2:30pm flight is absolutely fine.

[irishgal432]

I am trying to book a train from Waterloo to Sou.  I am in US and cant seem to pay with my credit card.  Any tips on trying to get the train booked.

[gumshoe958]

1 hour ago, irishgal432 said:

I am trying to book a train from Waterloo to Sou.  I am in US and cant seem to pay with my credit card.  Any tips on trying to get the train booked.

The South Western Railway website doesn’t allow bookings from addresses outside the UK unfortunately.

 

Try https://www.lner.co.uk which does. Different train company, but still sells tickets for any British rail journey.

 

Just ignore the warning it’ll show that the train is fully reserved and you may have to stand. SWR trains never have seat reservations so it’s irrelevant.

 

Edited August 26 by gumshoe958

[irishgal432]

1 minute ago, gumshoe958 said:

The South Western Railway website doesn’t allow bookings from addresses outside the UK unfortunately.

 

Try www.lner.co.uk which does. Different train company, but still sells tickets for any British rail journey.

 

Just ignore the warning it’ll show that the train is fully reserved and you may have to stand. SWR trains never have seat reservations so it’s irrelevant.

Thank you.  I was concerned about that message for sure. Can you explain the way luggage works?  We will have 1 small carryone, purse size and 1 large suitcasse each.

[gumshoe958]

7 minutes ago, irishgal432 said:

Thank you.  I was concerned about that message for sure. Can you explain the way luggage works?  We will have 1 small carryone, purse size and 1 large suitcasse each.

They are primarily commuter trains so they don’t have dedicated luggage space.

 

Carry-ons can go in the racks above the seats but you’ll just have to find room for large cases where you can around your seat. It’s rarely an issue at off-peak times when the trains are nowhere near full.

 

The closest US comparison would be something like the Long Island Railroad or Metro North in New York.

 

Edited August 26 by gumshoe958