Taxi queue at Southampton. Pre-book?

[TouchstoneFeste]

How long should we allow to queue for a taxi to the Southampton Central train station? Should we pre-book? (As always, sorry if this has been answered a million times, but I couldn't find anything specific here or on the British Isles forum.)

 

We'll be disembarking in Southampton on December 10. We're Queens Grill, so will be disembarking early-ish. We're not on a time crunch and don't want to self-disembark; but I will want to purchase the train tickets in advance. The question is: is it advisable to book a taxi in advance? My wife would feel more comfortable knowing someone will be waiting for us, but I'm inclined to think it's not needed for such a short jaunt. We haven't needed a taxi in past trips so I'm not clear on how quickly the taxi queue would move.

[John Bull]

Queen Mary 2 is scheduled to berth at QE11 Cruise Terminal, which is deep in the docks and over 2 miles from Southampton Central station.

But the good news is that she's the only cruise ship scheduled to port that day 🙂

https://www.southamptonvts.co.uk/Live_Information/Shipping_Movements_and_Cruise_Ship_Schedule/Cruise_Ship_Schedule/ so there'll be no competition from other cruise ships.

You are very unlikely to face a long slow queue for a taxi.

And the problem with a pre-booked taxi (yes they can be pre-booked even for that short journey) is that if you don't closely liaise with the operator you can find yourself watching taxis come & go while you are waiting for a taxi which doesn't arrive at the pre-booked time or the driver isn't waiting where you expect him to be.

 

Yes, pre-book your train tickets, Advance ticket fares are fluid - as the date gets close they usually increase significantly. They are currently available for your date and assuming that's to London Waterloo it will save about £40 per person.

But as you're probably aware Advance tickets are only good for the train time that you booked, and there's a small risk of other potential delays such as late ship arrival or a snag in disembarkation formalities - so don't cut the timing too tight. A train at about 9.00 to 9.30 should give you enough wiggle-time.

 

If the ship doesn't allocate you to an early disembarkation time, go to Guest Relations with the luggage labels that were delivered to your cabin and ask for an early slot, citing your onward travel arrangements.

 

Bon Voyage

 

JB 🙂

[TouchstoneFeste]

1 hour ago, John Bull said:

Queen Mary 2 is scheduled to berth at QE11 Cruise Terminal, which is deep in the docks and over 2 miles from Southampton Central station.

But the good news is that she's the only cruise ship scheduled to port that day 🙂

https://www.southamptonvts.co.uk/Live_Information/Shipping_Movements_and_Cruise_Ship_Schedule/Cruise_Ship_Schedule/ so there'll be no competition from other cruise ships.

You are very unlikely to face a long slow queue for a taxi.

And the problem with a pre-booked taxi (yes they can be pre-booked even for that short journey) is that if you don't closely liaise with the operator you can find yourself watching taxis come & go while you are waiting for a taxi which doesn't arrive at the pre-booked time or the driver isn't waiting where you expect him to be.

 

Yes, pre-book your train tickets, Advance ticket fares are fluid - as the date gets close they usually increase significantly. They are currently available for your date and assuming that's to London Waterloo it will save about £40 per person.

But as you're probably aware Advance tickets are only good for the train time that you booked, and there's a small risk of other potential delays such as late ship arrival or a snag in disembarkation formalities - so don't cut the timing too tight. A train at about 9.00 to 9.30 should give you enough wiggle-time.

 

If the ship doesn't allocate you to an early disembarkation time, go to Guest Relations with the luggage labels that were delivered to your cabin and ask for an early slot, citing your onward travel arrangements.

 

Bon Voyage

 

JB 🙂

Thanks, JB. Of course you had the answers. FWIW, we're actually heading to Bath. Because of our fare class, we should be among the first people off the ship who aren't self-disembarking. Based on your advice I'll get 9:11am tickets. Based on your advice a while back, I'll also get 10:11am tickets, just in case :)

[John Bull]

36 minutes ago, TouchstoneFeste said:

Thanks, JB. Of course you had the answers. FWIW, we're actually heading to Bath. Because of our fare class, we should be among the first people off the ship who aren't self-disembarking. Based on your advice I'll get 9:11am tickets. Based on your advice a while back, I'll also get 10:11am tickets, just in case 🙂

 

 

Often buying Advance tickets for two trains & throwing one away is a good plan - it gives flexibility yet still saves money over anytime or off-peak tickets .

 

But for your travel from Southampton to Bath (station name is Bath Spa), Advance tickets are showing at £19.00 - so by my maths Advance tickets for two trains cost £38.00 whereas off-peak tickets bought in advance or at the station cost just £34.30 and are good for any direct train from 8.23 am onwards.

 

JB 🙂

[Planning to cruise]

Whenever we have had a pre booked taxi we have had to call them from the terminal to say we are there and often are required to say where we are standing.  The vehicles dont pull into a rank to wait.   

[devolve]

Pre booked taxi, will need you to call them once you have your luggage and you are waiting outside, we only waited a few minutes for ours to arrive, they will arrive in a separate lane to the other taxis.