Train after disembarkation in Southampton?

We are doing a translantic cruise in March on Britannia and are considering travelling home by train. It is a lot cheaper to buy an advance ticket but wonder what is the earliest time one can expect to reach the rail station? (I know it isn t far but am concerened that there might be a long queue for Taxis.

Also on P and O advice page it states that you can usually self disembark fairly early. Has anyone had experience of self disembarking and will P and O give us a time slot or do we just form a queue?

What would anyone who has done similar advise a reasonable time to book an advance ticket for?

I know there is the slight possibility that if Britannia docks late then we will have wasted our ticket but am hoping this is unlikely.

Look at getting an off peak ticket, which won't restrict you to a particular train. It costs a little more than the very cheapest but you will be able to relax more, have breakfast et

An off peak single would cost £100 rather than £30 !! We are trying to weigh up risking an advance ticket which would get us home quicker and cost less or travelling by Cruise Connect coach.

The one way coach was very efficient on our recent return to Southampton on Oceana after her summer in the Med. And it's free :)

If it were me, I think I'd opt for that

We usually do the coach option but on this occasion the coach isn t free as it is a translantic.(A free coach will take people back to Gatwick which is fine if you drive!) We may end up taking the coach but just wondered trying the train which would be quicker.

Also on P and O advice page it states that you can usually self disembark fairly early. Has anyone had experience of self disembarking and will P and O give us a time slot or do we just form a queue?

I have done self disembarkation a few times.

You just keep your bags in the cabin rather than put them out.

Next morning you have to be off by 8am when normal disembarkation starts or wait until it finishes.

I go down for the early fixed breakfast sitting, rather than face the hell that is the buffet. I let the waiter know I want to be quick, and it is no problem to be finished with time to leave just before 8.

I have never seen more than a couple of other people self disembarking, let alone a queue. So straight through the baggage hall and out into one of the waiting taxis. 5 minutes tops from ship to taxi.

Occasionally the lifts are out of service as they are being used by crew, so you need to take your luggage down the ramps. You need to be able to take all your luggage in one go.

Frankly an awful lot better than sitting around waiting.

Thanks Insanemagnet

That sounds encouraging!

Thanks Insanemagnet

 

That sounds encouraging!

Hello we always self disembark, but on our last cruise due to the number of cases we had to use the regular system.

Self disembarkation is by far the best option and I would strongly encourage you to do it because; you get to keep your cases, it is only a short way to terminal, there is no frustrated waiting to get off, there are lots of cabs waiting so no queue.

I do disagree with Insanemagnet regarding the queues, there has always been a queue and the self disembarkation has always been around 7-7.30. Having said this once the doors open the queue moves incredibly quickly. So maybe Insanemagnet got there after the initial rush.

I love being home (Midlands) by 11am and being able to get on with my day, rather than sitting around lounges.

I hope this helps.

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We sometimes use the train and tend to book on the 9:46 and there is a world of difference between an anytime ticket and the cheap tickets we get 12 weeks before the journey. Track them on the train operators website - in my case Cross Country - and you can get an amazing deal.

We find that the 9:46 is usually the first train to have cheaper tickets available and we just ask P&O for an early disembark time and make sure our luggage really stands out in the baggage hall. There's not usually a queue for taxis at that stage but if there is we phone West Quay Cars and they come and pick us up.

We sometimes use the train and tend to book on the 9:46 and there is a world of difference between an anytime ticket and the cheap tickets we get 12 weeks before the journey. Track them on the train operators website - in my case Cross Country - and you can get an amazing deal.

 

 

 

We find that the 9:46 is usually the first train to have cheaper tickets available and we just ask P&O for an early disembark time and make sure our luggage really stands out in the baggage hall. There's not usually a queue for taxis at that stage but if there is we phone West Quay Cars and they come and pick us up.

I second that about the baggage, I spent 40 mins looking for mine last cruise [emoji53] I'm going t to get a florist to make me some big bows [emoji23]

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I self disembarked from Azura a few years ago after a fabulous 2 week Med cruise and remember being up early, ready for the day, left case in cabin whilst I went for breakfast, come back, collected case and was in a queue to disembark early, got a taxi to the airport and was in Glasgow for just after 11am

I live in the Midlands but was going to a show in Glasgow the same day I got back to the UK and it was quicker for me to get to Glasgow by flying then it would take to get home to Staffordshire -1 hour 15 min to fly or 3 hours 15 mins by direct train !!

Thank you for all the helpful comments. We will definately give it a try. The 9 47 train from Southampton that you mention, Tartanexile81 is our preferred train anyway as we change at Derby instead of Birmingham.:):)

Just one more query. A couple of you mention that your luggage needs to stand out to easily identify it in the baggage hall but surely if you self disembark you carry it off yourself so don t need to look for it in the baggage hall?

If you are getting a train at 9.47 I would suggest that you have time to do either self disembarkation or regular, whichever you prefer.

With self disembarkation you will have to cart your luggage around and will probably be off the ship and at the station far too early, possibly 8am?

I would suggest regular disembarkation, a leisurely breakfast and leave the ship around 9am. The station is only 10 mins by cab.

Ask your cabin steward for a disembarkation time of around 8.30am just to be safe and to allow for a queue. If you don't get it, go to reception and they will change your allocated slot, no questions asked.

We have never had any issue in the luggage hall

Just one more query. A couple of you mention that your luggage needs to stand out to easily identify it in the baggage hall but surely if you self disembark you carry it off yourself so don t need to look for it in the baggage hall?

No if you self disembark you take your own luggage. It was only on our last cruise we did the normal process because of the duration and number of cases we had. I have to say the whole process was far from leisurely and we had several priority benefits - for me it's self disembarkation every time if you can.

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I think we will self disembark. I would sooner wait at the train station than have problems looking for luggage! Usually there are no problems but on our last cruise one of our suitcases had been put in the wrong area in the baggage hall.We found it eventually but wouldn t want to risk that happening if I had a certain train to catch!

I do disagree with Insanemagnet regarding the queues, there has always been a queue and the self disembarkation has always been around 7-7.30. Having said this once the doors open the queue moves incredibly quickly. So maybe Insanemagnet got there after the initial rush.

I self disembark just before it closes for that option at 8am. There is nobody else leaving at that time, just a people starting to assemble for the normal disembarkation starting after 8am.

On our last cruise the earliest normal disembarkation time was 9.15.....!

I self disembark just before it closes for that option at 8am. There is nobody else leaving at that time, just a people starting to assemble for the normal disembarkation starting after 8am.

Sounds wise!

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On our last cruise the earliest normal disembarkation time was 9.15.....!

Ours was something similar which was further exacerbated by a late docking at Southampton [emoji53]

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Thank you everyone for your helpful replies- all very useful:)

Thank you everyone for your helpful replies- all very useful:)

Just one more thing. If it's a weekday, I'd allow longer than 10 minutes for the taxi journey to the station if it's a weekday, as it will be in the rush hour and Southampton can get pretty congested.

Thanks for that JH. Fortunately we will be disembarking on a saturday

Our normal disembarkation time (according to our P and O holiday booklet states that disembarkation is usually between 9 and 11am.)Florry when you mentioned that the normal disembarkation time for you was 9 15 do you know what time people could self disembark?

Advance rail tickets will be on sale next week and still undecided whether to catch train and self disembark or do the cruise connect option?

Self disembarkation normally starts around 7:15 to 8:00. Remember you have to carry ALL your luggage off with you. This is assuming the ship docks on time and there are no delays due to weather, etc.

Brian.