How good is the coach transfer?

We are toying with a cruise at the end of May and, rather than drive down to Southampton, we are considering using their coach transfer. Have never done so before and are just wondering what people think of it terms of convenience and the journey. I.e Does it do hundreds of stops and takes 10 hrs to do what you can do in 4? (Onlt ask as we did a transfer for a coach holiday that was like that once!)

Thanks

P.A. Would be coming from Keele Services we think

We have twice traveled down to Southampton on the coach from Durham. The first time it was with Eavesway and the last time with Cruise Connect.

The first time we had three stops for a break and to stretch your legs which we thought was great and we were disappointed with the Cruise Connect one as he only made two stops even though the traffic was good. This resulted in us sitting twice for three hours on the coach which we think is unreasonable and are looking to cruise now with Fred from Newcastle.

The coaches are very clean and modern with toilet facilities and blinds etc. As a guide maybe for you we only had two pickup/drop off stops and the journey started at 7am arriving at the dock just after 2pm.

Many seem to be very content with the coach service but on the two occasions that we travelled by coach it was a total disaster and the journey took twice as long and is far less pleasant as when we drive to Southampton. On the one occasion as we were one of the last pickups and the coach was pretty full the four in our party were split up all over the coach and the children weren't at all happy with that. We vowed never again to use the coach and will always drive to Southampton even if it necessitates and overnight stay in the city.

I wish we still had the option of a free return rail journey instead as we used to enjoy in the good old days of Canberra. Though not perfect it was a far more enjoyable option than the coach.

We have only ever used the "free coach travel" once and whilst the actual service was OK we have never used it since. We were picked up at Keele Services on the M6 at a time when we struggled to get a taxi to take us to the services due to school runs. When we got on the coach at 10am some had been on the coach since 5am and we had only been on the coach for 15 minutes and stopped at the next services for a break of 45 minutes. On our return we were dropped off on Northbound services at Keele and could not get a taxi company pick us up there the only way we could do it is to carry our suitcases across the bridge to the southbound side and then carry them through lorry park and up to a side road of the services where the taxi met us. We also didn't like the fact that we didn't get to Southampton until between 2-3pm.

Hi, well we have now taken the plunge and booked ! Have no idea how that happened, but are very excited to be returning to Britannia and the same cabin we had last time :D

Will have to speak nicely to family re the pick up from Keele.

Not too worried about the time down there as last time the cabin we were in said a 4pm boarding time so this may be earlier!

Just a bit stunned that we have booked this, but we have decided that life is too short and cruises not many :D

Despite being very unsure the first time we now quite enjoy it. There is no hassle whatsoever, give your luggage to the driver, next time you see it is in your cabin. I think you usually do 3/4 pick-ups and these can be used for comfort stops.

We now treat it as part of the holiday and take nice snacks, chocolates and drink and just relax until we arrive.

Despite being very unsure the first time we now quite enjoy it. There is no hassle whatsoever, give your luggage to the driver, next time you see it is in your cabin. I think you usually do 3/4 pick

We, too like the fact that you hand your luggage to the coach driver and next time you see it, it is in your cabin. We pick the coach up at Woodhall(Sheffield) and usually only have 1 or 2 pick ups/stops on the way down. We particularly like the fact that we are off the ship quite quickly with little effort.We have just returned from Britannia(this time we caught the train home) which is now our favourite ship! We would always choose the coach option for select fare. Enjoy your cruise!

We used the coach transfer service for the first time last September. We found it excellent. The coach was due to leave from Bolton at 9.30, we arrived at 9.00 and several people had already boarded. Everyone was there by 9.15 so we left early. Our next stop was Keele where we had a quick pick up. We stopped for a break of around 40 mins at lunchtime and then another short stop bacause we were ahead of schedule. We arrived in Southampton around 3pm. We did have a short delay then as the boarding bridge had come adrift from Britannia but we were in our cabin with our luggage by 4pm. We had a lovely, amusing driver. We are doing the trip again in May to board Azura, hopefully we will have another good experience.

Cruise Connect are now the contracted transfer company for P&O. Going to take them from Southampton to Heathrow next year, post Adonia. Are they ok? Had a bad experience with Eavesway a couple of years ago, multiple ship servicing, had to wait 3 hours on the coach at Southampton, never again.:evilsmile:

We have done the coach connect quite a few times and also we have driven to to Southampton and parked..

We live "up north" so the minus point of driving yourself is that you need to set off the day before...find somewhere to stay overnight. So whatever length of time on the connect coach it is nowhere near as long as doing that. The coach picks you up....luggage loaded...not seen again until it is at your cabin door...wonderful....very little ...if any hassle. Coach picks us up at 7:45 at Preston... arrive Southampton 14:00 ish....arrive nicely relaxed. We now find that driving is becoming such a nightmare that there is very little enjoyment in it.

We drive to Southampton in the summer and use the coach in the winter. We have always used Eavesway and found them great we last used them in January leaving Burtonwood Services Warrington at 815 arriving at the ship at 145. Comfortable modern coaches with wi fi, pleasant competent drivers. Never had any problems with Eavesway and would certainly recommend them.

Agree totally with Janny444. We always select the coach option as it is far less stressful than driving down the previous day. Never had any problems with Cruise Connect or Eavesway ( apart from heavy traffic on return journey but handled well by coach operator). I am pleased that Britannia has good reviews on here, as like Presto2, we seem to have booked for the beginning of May on the spur of the moment as we wanted to try Britannia.

Agree totally with Janny444. We always select the coach option as it is far less stressful than driving down the previous day. Never had any problems with Cruise Connect or Eavesway ( apart from heavy traffic on return journey but handled well by coach operator). I am pleased that Britannia has good reviews on here, as like Presto2, we seem to have booked for the beginning of May on the spur of the moment as we wanted to try Britannia.

You won't be disappointed :

Have used both Eavesway and CruiseConnect from Blackpool and had decent journeys with both. 2-3 stops each time and, as has been said before, we treat it as part of the holiday, take snacks, books etc and just relax. Would definitely use them again.