Getting a taxi from Southampton

[Fyrefly]

Hi all,

 

We're thinking of doing a transfer from our London hotel to Southampton with a stop by Stonehenge for the way down, but we're a bit unsure about how to handle the return trip. We're thinking of taking the National Express bus back to save a bit of money and taking it directly to Heathrow for our flight home. The trick lies in getting from the cruise terminal to the bus terminal. It sounds like we can expect that to be about 10 pounds, but can anyone weigh in on how hard it's going to be to get a local taxi? Can we expect to get off the ship and there will be a taxi stand? Could it be hours because all the taxis are prebooked? We don't want to end up missing our bus and by extension our plane because it turns out taxis are impossible.

 

Thanks!

[John Bull]

There are taxi ranks at all cruise piers.

Those on the rank aren't pre-booked. And all are available for short journeys such as to the rail or coach (bus) station, it's part of their licence terms.

As a general rule there are more taxis than passengers at the start of disembarkation (about 7am unassisted, from 7.30 assisted) but later there's often a line from time to time as passengers exceed taxis, but no worse than 10 to 15 minutes.

 

If it's going to play on your mind, surprisingly I believe you can pre-book a private transfer even for that short distance - will cost you pennies more. Try http://www.westquaycars.com

 

The earliest coach that you can make (a little risky) is 7.45am, the next 9.45am

What ship & date, what time coach are you planning to take, and what's your flight time?

 

JB :)

[Fyrefly]

Wonderful! Having never been to the city I wasn't sure what to expect.

 

We will be disembarking on June 18th from the Celebrity Eclipse. I was thinking of taking the 9:45 coach to Heathrow which should put us there around noon I think, and our flight back to the states is at 3:40. A bit of waiting around that day but I would rather be bored for an hour or two than be worried about missing a connection.

[rosepetals]

Wonderful! Having never been to the city I wasn't sure what to expect.

 

We will be disembarking on June 18th from the Celebrity Eclipse. I was thinking of taking the 9:45 coach to Heathrow which should put us there around noon I think, and our flight back to the states is at 3:40. A bit of waiting around that day but I would rather be bored for an hour or two than be worried about missing a connection.

 

You may want to look up our roll call for this cruise. There are cc members arranging private transfers from the ship to Heathrow on June 18th that you could share.

[John Bull]

You have stacks of time.

If the weather's fine you could walk from your berth (City Cruise Terminal) in less than a 20 minutes, all on level ground.

 

The next coach isn't until 11.30 - that one would work too, but the last of the disembarking passengers are usually thrown off the ship by about 10am and you don't want to be stuck in Southampton with your luggage for an hour or two on a sunday morning, so the 9.45 probably makes more sense. But do book in advance.

 

Or consider rosepetal's suggestion & see if there are potential sharers for a private transfer - splitting the cost between four would cost about the same as the coach or a little less.

 

JB :).

[yaletownboy]

JB is this true for all cruise terminals when a ship disembarks? looking to disembark from Ocean Terminal and head to the rail without pre-booking a taxi at the earliest time possible. :-)

[John Bull]

JB is this true for all cruise terminals when a ship disembarks? looking to disembark from Ocean Terminal and head to the rail without pre-booking a taxi at the earliest time possible. :-)

 

 

Same routine at all four cruise terminals

 

JB :)

[durante]

There are always taxis waiting at the taxi ranks outside the terminals. No point in booking as you don't always know exactly when you will be getting off the ship.

Do book the National Express coach in advance, it does get full, and also picks up people at Southampton Uni and Winchester on the way. We always go for the 9.45 am to Heathrow after a cruise, (for us, not to catch flights, but purely because the journey is quicker than going into Victoria, and we have quicker tube links to get home on the Piccadilly line from Heathrow). The coach stops at Terminal 5 first, then 4, then finally T2/3, so make sure you book the exact Terminal you want for your flight. The coach driver checks the tickets and puts the luggage into different areas in the hold according to which terminal.

[Formerly known as Seabee]

Last summer we took a taxi to the bus terminal. No problem and no wait. I had booked the 9:45 bus but we arrived at the bus terminal at 8:00. There was a bus departing, I believe at 8:15 and we asked if we could get on...answer was yes.

 

 

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[aquilegia]

You don't have to know what time you're getting off the ship before prebooking a taxi. These firms have taxis galore shuttling to and fro. We always use West Quay taxis and the drill when you're prebooked is to ring them when you exit the baggage hall and they will give you the registration number of the taxi they're sending. They come very quickly and the drivers will ring you if they get there before you've reached the rank.

[yaletownboy]

Same routine at all four cruise terminals

 

JB :)

 

Thanks JB

 

Is there a legal amount they have to charge? meaning, are the taxis metered or is it an unscrupulous caution of checking what the price is before you hop into a taxi?

[John Bull]

Thanks JB

 

Is there a legal amount they have to charge? meaning, are the taxis metered or is it an unscrupulous caution of checking what the price is before you hop into a taxi?

 

Yes, those lined-up at the pier are metered for all fares within the city boundary, same as those at taxi ranks or hailed in the street, and the fares are set by the city council.. Fudging the meter isn't worth losing their licence.

For journeys beyond the city eg Heathrow the fare is negotiable, but for those longer journeys it's much cheaper to pre-book a private transfer.

 

A minor matter - in order to join the line at the pier they are currently charged a port fee of £1 which I believe they're allowed to include in the fare, next month that gets replaced by an annual fee & I don't know how that's handled. No fee for pre-booked cars or for dropping-off.

 

JB :)

[yaletownboy]

Thanks JB! Did anyone ever tell you that you're the BEST! :D