southampton july 2016 independence of the seas

[henryhtc]

hi everyone,

 

we were wondering has anyone cruised with rci before from southampton ? the reason I ask is I am looking ahead at our options as how we get to southampton from just outside glasgow , we are thinking that coming down the day before would be the safe bet either by train or plane and booking into a hotel , but i see that there are several cruise docks in southampton and wondered what dock /terminal is likely to be used so as to plan for a hotel thats nearby.

 

cheers the noo

 

harry

[Cruisingthesuitelife]

Cruised several times from Southampton. They usually use berth 101 which is City Cruise Terminal. I can highly recommend Holiday Inn on Herbert Walker Avenue which is next to dock gate 8 - one of the entrances to City Cruise Terminal (the other entrance is dock gate 10).

Edited August 24, 2015 by Cruisingthesuitelife

[kevinyork]

Failing that recommendation the Premier Inn West Quay.

 

 

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[UK Cruiser2]

We have also sailed out of Southampton a few times and are again when we cruise on Anthem in Oct. We fly down from Newcastle with Flybe and stay overnight in the Grand Harbour Hotel just minutes from the cruise terminal.

[henryhtc]

thanks everyone for the quick responses. when you say the hotel is only minutes away is that by walking or taxi ? .. i assume on sail out day the area will be really busy if we get a hotel thats close by but the weather is horrid ...a typical british summers day .....and hence even if its walkable will it still be possible to get a taxi for a short journey ?

 

if thats going to be problematic would it be best to book something slightly further out ie def not walkable. there will be three of us with I assume three suitcases and assorted other luggage .

 

cheers the noo

harry

[kevinyork]

thanks everyone for the quick responses. when you say the hotel is only minutes away is that by walking or taxi ? .. i assume on sail out day the area will be really busy if we get a hotel thats close by but the weather is horrid ...a typical british summers day .....and hence even if its walkable will it still be possible to get a taxi for a short journey ?

 

 

 

if thats going to be problematic would it be best to book something slightly further out ie def not walkable. there will be three of us with I assume three suitcases and assorted other luggage .

 

 

 

cheers the noo

 

harry

 

 

All hotels mentioned above are walking distance. The Holiday Inn is spitting distance. However getting a taxi would be no problem either.

 

 

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[UK Cruiser2]

Yeah,same goes for Grand Harbour it is within walking distance but not worth it considering luggage to trail along. We use a taxi but its close so doesn't cost much £££ Suppose you could do a bit research EG trip advisor,google maps etc.before you make your choice

[Iron-Maiden's-No1-Fan]

Always travel down the night before, and staying in the premier inn☺ will be up at 4am to watch ship come into port,then breakfast and checkout at 12.. then over to park the car then check in

Edited August 24, 2015 by Iron-Maiden's-No1-Fan

[barneymag]

We always cruise from Southampton - only once did we travel on the day of embarkation. We have stayed at various Premier inns :) and also the Hilton .... never again :(:(

 

We used to drive down (5 to 6 hours for us depending on traffic) but now always book the train and find it way less stressful .... and when you consider fuel costs and your parking charges (can be £100+) we find it very cost effective as well ..... Last 3 times managed to get great deals on first class using "Two together" railcard if you book the full 3 months before travel :) Don't think I would go back to driving down now.

 

As others have said premier inn west quay or premier inn central and taxi only costs between £5 to £10

Edited August 24, 2015 by barneymag

[Cruisingthesuitelife]

thanks everyone for the quick responses. when you say the hotel is only minutes away is that by walking or taxi ? .. i assume on sail out day the area will be really busy if we get a hotel thats close by but the weather is horrid ...a typical british summers day .....and hence even if its walkable will it still be possible to get a taxi for a short journey ?

 

if thats going to be problematic would it be best to book something slightly further out ie def not walkable. there will be three of us with I assume three suitcases and assorted other luggage .

 

cheers the noo

harry

 

At the Holiday Inn, I asked for a room at the back of the hotel which overlooks the terminal - had a perfect view of the ships. If you want to walk, you can, it is safe to do so and wouldn't take too long. However, on one trip I needed to make a quick stop at the nearby retail park, so I went via there, had a 5 minute stop and it was still under £8! The hotel called the taxi for me and there wasn't any issue with the short trip at all - even if I had only wanted to go straight to the port!

 

Here is a view from the room for one of my stays:

 

[Micky1]

Hi Henry we live in Saltcoats we have driven and flown. We drove through the night last time and it was great plus this allows you to take quite a bit of luggage as youre not restricted to weight. When we flew down it was expensive although we managed to get a deal by constantly reviewing the Flybe site, the timings of the flights were not great, we flew down the day before and stayed at the Premier Inn on the way home we spent a whole day waiting to fly home, they would not let us get an earlier flight even when we offered to pay the difference. Would definately drive again I found it by far the easiest option, roads were quiet left at 10 at night and was in Southampton by 6 the next morning. Couple of hours sleep, freshened up then boarded .

Edited August 24, 2015 by Micky1

[sddsddean]

For info I just had a quick look at fares. Train is about £160 return, flybe about £125 return. Taxi from Southampton airport to city centre would be around £25-£30, so works out about the same. I'd take the train...less security hassle, you can take what you want and only one change at Wolverhampton. Trip is just over 6 hours, but easily doable on the Friday and return 2 weeks later on the Saturday.

 

Simon

Edited August 25, 2015 by sddsddean

[sxphil]

We stayed http://www.bw-chilworthmanor.co.uk/parkandcruise/

 

Lovely relaxing Hotel and they provide a cab for the short drop off and pick up

[UK Cruiser2]

We always cruise from Southampton - only once did we travel on the day of embarkation. We have stayed at various Premier inns :) and also the Hilton .... never again :(:(

 

We used to drive down (5 to 6 hours for us depending on traffic) but now always book the train and find it way less stressful .... and when you consider fuel costs and your parking charges (can be £100+) we find it very cost effective as well ..... Last 3 times managed to get great deals on first class using "Two together" railcard if you book the full 3 months before travel :) Don't think I would go back to driving down now.

 

As others have said premier inn west quay or premier inn central and taxi only costs between £5 to £10

 

We are flying down,50 mins from Newcastle but are getting the train back. Theres a direct one Southampton-Newcastle no changes :)

[henryhtc]

hi everyone and thanks for all the great replies,

well weve booked after much searching , we needed a three beroom , and they where mostly all bokked , but managed to get a night in the novotel. it looks liek its pretty close to the docks , not that weve finalised our travel plans yet , weve def ruled out the idea of driving down so its train or plane or bus/ coach ..eavseway coaches do a coach from glasgow right to the port but it leaves glasgow at 4 in the mornin gof the cruise , i reckon that would make it a very long day , hence im favouring day before and the train looks like theres a train that has 1 change in wolverhampton , though if im reading the train website correctly wed only have less than 10 minutes or the likes to swap trains or be waiting a goodly while for the next one ...travelling via london seems to make it alot dearer . anyway ive got months to plan this all at least the hotel is booked with free cancelaltion as long as we do so before 24hrs of day .

cheers again

only 310 days to go ...lol not that im counting

[henryhtc]

please excuse the typink ellors on the above post , I typed it from my phone and without my reading glasses ,I can spell honest , I just cant type and never will on a phone .

 

cheers the noo

 

harry

[DaisyDoo246]

We arrived back off the Allure on Sunday and booked Independence whilst onboard for 30th July next year.....it's our favourite ship and looking forward to it already :)

[motif]

We arrived back off the Allure on Sunday and booked Independence whilst onboard for 30th July next year.....it's our favourite ship and looking forward to it already :)

 

You should pop over and say hi...

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2185165 :)

[Grandma Dazzles]

Stayed at the Holiday Inn a few years ago. Worked out well. Bar and dinner the night before was fine. We were with friends from England who drove us down and stayed the night too.

 

Morning of the cruise it was truly pouring with rain. Might have been walking distance, but no one was walking! Our friends drove us, but there definitely was a line of cabs waiting to take people to the ship.

[Alohaaloha]

Grand Harbour and the Novotel for us- both really close to the cruise terminal.

 

 

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[Touristbay]

We went by train to Southampton from Glasgow last year and changed at Wolverhampton. The only problem was there was signalling problems on the line and we had 2 mins interchange time, my poor hubby had to run up the stairs and across the platform with two extremely heavy suitcases (no luggage restriction lol) so next time we will go by train again but I am going to book it separately with the train line, i.e. Glasgow/Wolverhampton return and Wolverhampton Southampton return and leave around 1hr gap which will let us get off for a bite to eat without being stressed. We stayed at the Ibis budget hotel - needed a taxi to the port but was walking distance to many bars and restaurants the night before the cruise.

Edited September 6, 2015 by Touristbay