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Driving to Southampton

shopping girl

By shopping girl,
in P&O Cruises ( UK )

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tom_uk

tom_uk

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I’ll support the idea of staying at a Travel lodge or P Inn the night before, part-way on the journey. But don’t try to do too much that evening. Have dinner at home, then just drive for a few hours. I would have thought that somewhere south of Nottingham and north of Northampton would be ideal.

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NSWP

NSWP

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While we are on the subject, after attending a wedding pm on the Friday will be driving from Bourton on the Water on a Saturday morning to Southampton, return rental car and board Sapphire Princess for 4pm sailng.

 

Should that be a fairly easy journey? Around 2.5 hours?

 

Thank you.

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BrianI

BrianI

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While we are on the subject, after attending a wedding pm on the Friday will be driving from Bourton on the Water on a Saturday morning to Southampton, return rental car and board Sapphire Princess for 4pm sailng.

 

Should that be a fairly easy journey? Around 2.5 hours?

 

Thank you.

It's about 90 miles so around 2 hours or just over depending on traffic. Head towards Oxford and then pick up the A34.

Brian

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shopping girl

shopping girl

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Thank you for all the advice it is much appreciated. DO you think I should book a travel lodge or premier inn or should we just see how far we can drive and stop and hopefully we will get a room. I worried about booking incase we do not get that far or we feel we can travel further. :confused:

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ann141

ann141

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Thank you for all the advice it is much appreciated. DO you think I should book a travel lodge or premier inn or should we just see how far we can drive and stop and hopefully we will get a room. I worried about booking incase we do not get that far or we feel we can travel further. :confused:

 

I would book in advance because occasionally the hotels are full and then you would have to find one even further on!

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DamianG

DamianG

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We've used the Mercure Daventry Court Hotel a couple of times. It's not far off the M1 and from there it is easy to get on to the A34. It is around 110 miles to Southampton from Daventry so not too bad a drive for your onward journey.

With all the 50mph speed restrictions plus the usual Friday night traffic it may be a more reachable/attainable overnight stopping place than further South?

Good luck with your plans & have a great cruise.

Damian

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NSWP

NSWP

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It's about 90 miles so around 2 hours or just over depending on traffic. Head towards Oxford and then pick up the A34.

Brian

 

 

Thanks Brian, been into Southampton before, but your advice re travel times helps me out.:hearteyes:

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janny444

janny444

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Hopefully around 7pm when traffic has quieted down a little

 

Hi...'fraid I am the sort of person who cannot cope with being on the last minute for any sort of meeting/rendezvous etc so I would try and get down as far as possible. Not sure if one can check in extremely late in Travel lodges ...Premier Inns but for peace of mind I would do that. In fact I think we drive all the way down so that we are in the right place at the right time.

Friends of ours travelled down the day before ...put up in an hotel overnight 100 miles or so out from cruise terminal...had a leisurely breakfast...then they got caught up in an horrific traffic accident jam where they didn't move an inch for hours which resulted in them missing the cruise.

I know that this is an extreme case and 99.99% of the time everything goes smoothly but "stuff" happens.

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marchie1053

marchie1053

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Hi we are sailing on Britannia on 30th September we are driving from Newcastle to Southampton. We have never drove to Southampton before we have always used Eavesway travel. We are parking car with CPS.

 

Our boarding time is 1.30pm we are thinking of leaving at 4am I am hoping this will give us enough time to drive down. Unfortunaty we cannot drive down the day before as we have our own business and my husband needs to be at work that day.

 

We could have got coach travel through P&O I was wondering wether to change to coach but they now use a company called inter cruise and when I have looked at reviews they are not very good apparently. Has anyone travelled with them? Also they do not leave Newcastle until 6-7am therefore we have been informed we would not be at the ship until between 3-4pm. When we travelled with Eavesway we left Newcastle at 5am.

 

I may just be feeling anxious as the cruise is 4 weeks away and we have never driven to Southampton before and just worried incase we get held up.

 

Could someone please put my mind at rest either to drive or go by coach. :confused:

 

Apart from this dilemma I can't wait for our cruise so close now :D

 

We drove to Southampton from north of Edinburgh in December 2015, a few days after the Forth Bridge was closed to cars from 05:00 each day, whilst repairs were carried out. To make sure we were well clear, we left home shortly after 03:00! As we reached the M6, overhead gantry signs appeared 'Traffic Jams in 100 miles. 1 Hour delays'. Since this was before 05:00, I assumed the signs were an error - well if you count the delay as being 56 minutes instead of an hour, they were! Well before the Threlwell viaduct, and from about 05:20, traffic just ground to a halt - no accidents or roadworks/lane closures - just pure traffic volumes! Despite driving at the 70mph limit whenever I could (and taking only a 45 minutes break in the West Midlands for a late breakfast), we did not reach Southampton until about 14:45, almost 12 hours from set off on a 500 mile journey! Fortunately, it was the day before the cruise departure - otherwise we would have missed the boat - literally! I would be very tempted to drive as far south as you can sensibly manage the night before and take a Premier Inn or similar booking - late arrival/early departure to be safe and worry-free. The prices are cheap enough not to feel too bad about an 05:00 departure! But that 2-3 hours 'head start' on the day of the cruise gives you a good margin in case of the unexpected! I have taken many (trouble-free) journeys where I can remember very little of the detail - with our Southampton trip, I can recall virtually every detail! The irony is, before I moved to Scotland, I lived about 11 miles away from Southampton Docks!

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shopping girl

shopping girl

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Thank you all for your advice. We are considering just paying for the coach travel to Southampton ourselves just incase my husband does not leave work on time as often happens due to having our own business. Would rather be safe than sorry I would be devastated if we missed the ship especially as I am celebrating my 50th birthday. I have digested all of the advice and I think paying for the coach is my preferred option. Normally pay for it anyway if it's not offered through cruise it's just one of those things at time of booking we thought we would drive but things happen and now coach is better option. If we missed ship it would cost more to meet it and we will miss 3 days as is at sea!

 

Thank you everyone :cool:

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janny444

janny444

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Hi..i.f you are considering booking the coach transfer I would do it sooner rather than later...I think you can privately book the coach and be guaranteed a seat up to a certain date cut off point and then after it is a case "if there is room". Phone Eavesway/Intercruises....not sure if both companies are doing your cruise transfer... to check.

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Florry

Florry

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Thank you all for your advice. We are considering just paying for the coach travel to Southampton ourselves just incase my husband does not leave work on time as often happens due to having our own business. Would rather be safe than sorry I would be devastated if we missed the ship especially as I am celebrating my 50th birthday. I have digested all of the advice and I think paying for the coach is my preferred option. Normally pay for it anyway if it's not offered through cruise it's just one of those things at time of booking we thought we would drive but things happen and now coach is better option. If we missed ship it would cost more to meet it and we will miss 3 days as is at sea!

 

 

 

Thank you everyone :cool:

 

 

 

My hubby is also celebrating his 50th on this cruise [emoji2]

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

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