Southampton to Dover

[ricki]

I will post this on the destinations board, but thought I would ask for assistance from the knowledgeable Oceania board posters, too.

 

We disembark Marina in Southampton on July 29, 2013 and have to be in Dover to board another ship by 3 pm. Does anyone have suggestions on making the transfer. I understand it can be done by train, but the Southampton train to London goes to Waterloo Station, and we would have to take the underground to St. Pancras Station. With our luggage, this would be too difficult.

 

Has anyone hired a car and driven this? What about a car service or shuttle.

 

Thanks in advance for your suggestions!

 

Ricki

[LHT28]

I looked into doing the opposite route you either need to take the train to London then down to Dover or hire a car/driver for 300 to 400 GBP

I did not look at renting a car because DH will not drive on the other side of the road ;)

 

There is no easy way to do it

Good luck

Lyn

[Andromeda93]

Have you considered using a private transfer partway with one of the cruise ship transportation companies such as Silver Fleet? If you find it is prohibitively expensive to be taken all the way to Dover, perhaps they could collect you in Southampton and drop you in London at the appropriate station from which you could train to Dover more easily. I haven't used Silver Fleet yet but they've been discussed on both CC and TripAdvisor.

 

I've gotten a couple of private-journey quotes from them and they typically respond to email within a few days. They do require an upfront deposit/payment, but given they are sending a car for you from London that seems reasonable. Good luck!

 

http://www.silver-fleet.co.uk/

[ricki]

Thank you both for your responses. I will take a look at Silver Fleet. That's a very good suggestion to just transport us to London and take a train from there.

 

Ricki

[Balloon Man]

As a "local" it would be train-taxi-train-taxi for me. Take a taxi from the cruise terminal to Southampton station. Takes about 10 minutes. Train to London and then take a cab from one London station to the other. Quick, easy and not too expensive. All mainline stations in London have a taxi rank, usually with vehicles waiting. Again in Dover it's about a 15 minute taxi ride from the station to the harbour. Probably half the price of a private hire (but, I admit, not as convenient).

[rubysue]

We had the opposite situation in 2010. We disembarked in Dover, then had to get to Southampton for a TA on the QM2. However, we had a day in between. We rented a car in Dover (Europcar is a short distance from the pier and we took a taxi there with our bags). Even driving in a leisurely way and avoiding the Motorways and stopping for lunch, it was about five hours total of travel time. The Europcar office in Southampton is within throwing distance of the dock areas. It you are not adverse to driving on the left, this is a pleasant and more direct option and fairly reasonable (our rental was well less than $100 total at that time and that included GPS). The only concern I might have is that pick-up can be slow, so you would need to get there as soon as possible at disembarkation.

[greenamber]

I live close to London and use the underground, but I would not consider this with more than one piece of luggage. To travel from Waterloo to St Pancras you will also need to change lines. If you do decide to take the train from Dover, why not take a taxi to cross London, the journey should take about 20 minutes and get get to see a bit of London too.

[Janec16]

You can get transfers from port to port, google cruise transfers southampton to Dover, quite a few companies specialise in this, I priced up a for two people and it came out at about £215 not sure how this price compares to other options, but less hassle as its door to door.

 

Janec16

[LHT28]

There is also the national express bus http://www.nationalexpress.com/home.aspx

If you can catch the 8:30 am bus to Victoria station then the bus from Victoria station to Dover for 2pm arrival ... but the downside is that it takes 5.5 hrs

[ricki]

Thank you, everyone, for taking the time to post such diverse suggestions. I will explore each one and sees which is the simplest for us. I did check on hiring a car and it was very reasonable with National, less than 50 pounds, even to drop the car in Dover. We have driven in the UK before, so the change in driving sides isn't a concern. But, the train sounds the most enjoyable.

 

Again, great advice!

 

Ricki

[brian_uk]

Just Google Taxis in Southampton.

It seems as a Londoner ridiculous to attempt to go via London on the M3 which can be awful in the morning.

I am sure that there are many routes along the South Coast to get to Dover which although will take longer than Motorways are far more direct.

 

Brian

[Suite Travels]

Hi Ricki, I am trying to convince Dan to try the O line, but he is stuck on our mutual favorite. I want to do your trip which is the best of two lines.

 

We are off on the Crystal Serenity next Sunday MIA-LIS. We need to change to test drive a new line. Like that will be painful?

 

Everyday on the sea is good for me!

[Gemlea]

As a "local" it would be train-taxi-train-taxi for me. Take a taxi from the cruise terminal to Southampton station. Takes about 10 minutes. Train to London and then take a cab from one London station to the other. Quick, easy and not too expensive. All mainline stations in London have a taxi rank, usually with vehicles waiting. Again in Dover it's about a 15 minute taxi ride from the station to the harbour. Probably half the price of a private hire (but, I admit, not as convenient).

 

I've had first hand experience of multiple train / cab journeys and wouldn't consider it ever again if I had more than one case. Avoiding a rise in my blood pressure is worth every pound spent on private transfer. The suggestion to do this from the ship to your departure station in London is a good one.

 

Enjoy your cruise(s) !!;)

[globevest]

I've had first hand experience of multiple train / cab journeys and wouldn't consider it ever again if I had more than one case. Avoiding a rise in my blood pressure is worth every pound spent on private transfer. The suggestion to do this from the ship to your departure station in London is a good one.

Enjoy your cruise(s) !!;)

 

Very rare to see a post from a 'north ender' ;) Are they still called Preston North End? It is many, many years since this Barrow boy made that Saturday trip to see North End play. I see that there has been rare late season snow further up the M6.

Best wishes.

[hapicruisin]

There is also the national express bus http://www.nationalexpress.com/home.aspx

If you can catch the 8:30 am bus to Victoria station then the bus from Victoria station to Dover for 2pm arrival ... but the downside is that it takes 5.5 hrs

 

 

They only allow 1 x 20 K weight case each person plus handluggage, so for some it would not be an option.

[Andromeda93]

I'm amazed at how affordable it is to rent a car one-way between the two port cities. In America it seems like the rental agencies really, really gouge for a one-way dropoff. Perhaps there are frequent pax going both directions so it really isn't an issue for the car rental companies.

 

That said, never having driven on the right (and not willing to learn under a time crunch), I think I would avoid the stress and let someone else take care of it. The OP did say they've already driven in the UK so for them perhaps it might be a cost effective - if not the least stressful - option.

[LHT28]

They only allow 1 x 20 K weight case each person plus handluggage, so for some it would not be an option.

OK

for me it would not be a problem;) but it may not work for others

It was an option & the OP can decide what works best for them

 

Lyn

[LaCroisiereS'amuse]

Easiest way is South West Trains from Southampton to London Waterloo, then Southeastern Trains From Waterloo East to Dover Priory. Total journey time including twenty minutes connection time at Waterloo (plenty of time....I go through Waterloo every day!) is 3 and a half hours. You can buy tickets online, but I'm not sure if http://www.nationalrail.co.uk takes overseas credit cards, but you will be able to buy off peak fares, valid for an arrival in Waterloo for 1000 onwards, on the day in Southampton at Central station either by card or cash.

 

Don't bother with the Southeastern Highspeed service from St Pancras....it costs 15% or so more than the regular service from Charing Cross/Waterloo East/Victoria (and the regular Southeastern service is on equally modern & air conditioned trains....they're just a little slower) and you will lose more time getting yourself from Waterloo to St Pancras.

 

Check http://www.nationalrail.co.uk

http://www.southwesttrains.co.uk

http://www.southeasternrailway.co.uk

[Gemlea]

Very rare to see a post from a 'north ender' ;) Are they still called Preston North End? It is many, many years since this Barrow boy made that Saturday trip to see North End play. I see that there has been rare late season snow further up the M6.

Best wishes.

 

Yes, they are still Preston North End, and they are still playing at Deepdale - although not very well at the moment!!:rolleyes: We have snow and freezing winds here 'up North' at the moment. Ridiculous weather patterns. We are cruising Alaska in mid May and it can't be any colder there than it is here at the moment.

[globevest]

Yes, they are still Preston North End, and they are still playing at Deepdale - although not very well at the moment!!:rolleyes: We have snow and freezing winds here 'up North' at the moment. Ridiculous weather patterns. We are cruising Alaska in mid May and it can't be any colder there than it is here at the moment.

 

Gemlea,

Thanks for responding. Ah? Deepdale and Tom Finney, I remember them well. Those were the glory days:). Hope your weather improves soon. I see this morning that motorists are still stranded in Cumbria. Enjoy your Alaska cruise...it is still on our list of future cruises.....there are so many:rolleyes:. We are cruising Oceania Riviera from Miami to Barcelona in April....so close now...excitement is building.