Southampton / London Hotels

[Thebosn1]

Hi All,

I FINALLY booked my first TA on the wonderful new Carnival Mardi Gras.  The cruise is September of next year.  For those who have sailed from Southampton before, do you usually stay near the port or in London?  I am coming in about 2-3 days prior to the cruise.  

 

Also, how far in advance would you recommend booking a hotel?

 

Thanks,

 

Jim

[megr1125]

If you're coming in a couple days ahead, stay in London and then either head to Southampton the night before, or morning of.  That's what I am doing-a couple nights in London and then 1 night in Southampton so I can see my ship. There's probably more in London to entertain you!! LOL

I'll be taking the National Express bus as they'll assist with bags.  I'm sailing this fall.  

[Turtles06]

Wherever you stay, I would book a refundable rate as soon as you can.  You will often get a much better price the earlier you book, but if rates should go down, you can still take advantage of the price drop.  Generally, bookings don't open until about a year ahead; just keep checking the web sites of the hotels in which you are interested.

 

As for where to stay -- London is of course one of the world's greatest and most interesting cities.  I would stay at least several days in London.  We generally like to be in our departure port at least the day before, so we go down to Southampton the day before the ship leaves.  If you haven't been there before, there are a few things to see, and perhaps you may even want to take the time to visit Salisbury and Stonehenge, which are not that far away.

[Thebosn1]

17 minutes ago, Turtles06 said:

Wherever you stay, I would book a refundable rate as soon as you can.  You will often get a much better price the earlier you book, but if rates should go down, you can still take advantage of the price drop.  Generally, bookings don't open until about a year ahead; just keep checking the web sites of the hotels in which you are interested.

 

As for where to stay -- London is of course one of the world's greatest and most interesting cities.  I would stay at least several days in London.  We generally like to be in our departure port at least the day before, so we go down to Southampton the day before the ship leaves.  If you haven't been there before, there are a few things to see, and perhaps you may even want to take the time to visit Salisbury and Stonehenge, which are not that far away.

Sound advise thank you.  I definitely want to try to see Stonehenge if I am that close.  

[Globaliser]

2 hours ago, Thebosn1 said:

For those who have sailed from Southampton before, do you usually stay near the port or in London?

 

Although I understand why some might want to stay in Southampton for a night before the cruise, and there are situations in which it definitely makes sense, travelling from London to Southampton on the morning of the cruise is pretty low risk. So you shouldn't worry if you are in London already and you want to spend all those pre-cruise nights in London. Except in very unusual circumstances, we wouldn't plan to go to Southampton any earlier than the morning of the cruise, and neither would other London-based cruising friends.

[Thebosn1]

1 minute ago, Globaliser said:

 

Although I understand why some might want to stay in Southampton for a night before the cruise, and there are situations in which it definitely makes sense, travelling from London to Southampton on the morning of the cruise is pretty low risk. So you shouldn't worry if you are in London already and you want to spend all those pre-cruise nights in London. Except in very unusual circumstances, we wouldn't plan to go to Southampton any earlier than the morning of the cruise, and neither would other London-based cruising friends.

Thanks.  Something to think about.  I don't think we sail until 5 PM.

[John Bull]

55 minutes ago, megr1125 said:

If you're coming in a couple days ahead, stay in London and then either head to Southampton the night before, or morning of.  That's what I am doing-a couple nights in London and then 1 night in Southampton so I can see my ship. There's probably more in London to entertain you!! LOL

I'll be taking the National Express bus as they'll assist with bags.  I'm sailing this fall.  

 

 

That all makes sense.

 

Altho there's a lot more to England than London, you really need a couple of days minimum in the big bad city.

Londoners usually travel to Southampton on the morning of their cruise, and if you did the same you'd have the previous full day & evening in London. You'd be heading to Southampton at about 10 - 11am on cruise morning, so no sightseeing time that day.

 

But that last night in central London might make a lot less sense when you see the prices of accommodation 

In which case, RCI cruisers tend to stay at Southampton's 

- Holiday Inn (on Herbert Walker Avenue, not the HI Express's cos they're out on the city limits). Rooms at the back overlook the ship at its berth, rooms at the front look down Southampton Water so you can watch the ship sail in*)

- Grand Harbour Hotel. (prices approaching London prices).

- Premier Inn West Quay. Britain's most successful mid-range chain of hotels. Also easy walking distance. (There are two other Premier Inns in Southampton centre, P I West Quay is the most convenient)

- for something a little more quirky, Ennio's or The Pig in the Wall. 

All the above walkable to RCI's usual cruise terminal.

All the hotels on this link are convenient to the city centre & no worse than an £8 taxi ride to the ship.

https://www.londontoolkit.com/travel/southampton_accommodation.htm

(lots of useful info about London, and transfer options, on other pages of that London Toolkit website). 

 

Be aware that the Southampton Boat Show, the largest boat show in the UK, is held mid-September adjacent your cruise terminal and hotels anywhere in the city book-out. 

I don't yet have the dates for 2020, but it runs for 10 days plus a week or more of setting-up, so unless your date is in the last week of September I suggest you book soonest. Do it, but on a website that allows free cancellation, even before you know whether you want a night in Southampton.

 

JB 

* Assuming you're up and about at around 5am 

  

Edited May 1, 2019 by John Bull

[Alaskanb]

As we have visited London numerous times we choose to stay in Southampton and do a day trip by train to places like Winchester, Salisbury, Stonehenge, etc. This fall we are planning on either Chichester by train or the Isle of Wight by ferry. 

[Thebosn1]

2 minutes ago, John Bull said:

 

 

That all makes sense.

 

Altho there's a lot more to England than London, you really need a couple of days minimum in the big bad city.

Londoners usually travel to Southampton on the morning of their cruise, and if you did the same you'd have the previous full day & evening in London. You'd be heading to Southampton at about 10 - 11am on cruise morning, so no sightseeing time that day.

 

But that last night in central London might make a lot less sense when you see the prices of accommodation 

In which case, RCI cruisers tend to stay at Southampton's 

- Holiday Inn (on Herbert Walker Avenue, not the HI Express's cos they're out on the city limits). Rooms at the back overlook the ship at its berth, rooms at the front look down Southampton Water so you can watch the ship sail in*)

- Grand Harbour Hotel. (prices approaching London prices).

- Premier Inn West Quay. Britain's most successful mid-range chain of hotels. Also easy walking distance. (There are two other Premier Inns in Southampton centre, P I West Quay is the most convenient)

- for something a little more quirky, Ennio's or The Pig in the Wall. 

All the above walkable to RCI's usual cruise terminal.

All the hotels on this link are convenient to the city centre & no worse than an £8 taxi ride to the ship.

https://www.londontoolkit.com/travel/southampton_accommodation.htm

(lots of useful info about London, and transfer options, on other pages of that London Toolkit website). 

 

Be aware that the Southampton Boat Show, the largest boat show in the UK, is held mid-September adjacent your cruise terminal and hotels anywhere in the city book-out. 

I don't yet have the dates for 2020, but it runs for 10 days plus a week or more of setting-up, so unless your date is in the last week of September I suggest you book soonest. Do it, but on a website that allows free cancellation, even before you know whether you want a night in Southampton.

 

JB 

  

Fantastic information, I appreciate it.  Thank you.

[Turtles06]

The Holiday Inn on Herbert Walker Avenue (in John Bull’s list above) is definitely a good choice for a pre-cruise night in Southampton.  Here are my comments about it after our stay there last fall:

 

 

[tartanexile81]

We always stay in the Premeir Inn West Quay. It's in a great location, a good price for early booking (£35 for next year for my dates) and rooms are perfectly comfortable.  Booking opens 11 months in advance but I keep an eye on the site so I book first day reservations open. As others have said,  book the flexible prices and if prices drop cancel and re-book. 

 

I love spending the night before the cruise in Southampton. In your circumstances I'd do a tour to Windsor, Stonehenge and Salisbury on the day before, and on the morning of the cruise walk Southampton City Walls before heading to the terminal. Southampton itself doesn't have a great deal to offer. 

[WatchHill]

When leaving on a cruise from Southampton, we always do an overnight flight from BOS and then check into our London hotel for a few days. On our last cruise, we headed to Southampton a day prior to the cruise, taking coach from Victoria.  Once in Southampton, we walked to the Novotel [first time there and would do it again] checked in early and then meandered to the small historic district, visited the Tudor House and had a great meal at Duke of Wellington.  On prior trips to England, we have rented a car, so our pre-cruise plans were different, though they always include a few days in London to adjust to time the change and visit some sights before we explored other regions. 

 

Note: Unlike in the US, where you need to build up points to get any hotel  perks, I've found that joining European hotel sites give immediate perks, even small discounted rates. I did this for the Novotel and got a superiors room, including breakfast at about 10% off the posted non-member rate. I've belonged to the Shaftsbury Hotel family in London, and get upgraded to Club Class. It's also nice to experience non-US hotels.

 

Next big travel plan to England will be a family wedding in Bournemouth - its outside of cruise season, but we still plan to spend at least a week exploring the area.

 

Darcy

 

Darcy

[Thebosn1]

This is all very helpful.  We will probably stay in London until the night before or day of the cruise.  What is the section or area of the city for a first time visitor to stay in?  Something sort of central to some of the normal tourist sights.    

[Alaskanb]

1 hour ago, Thebosn1 said:

This is all very helpful.  We will probably stay in London until the night before or day of the cruise.  What is the section or area of the city for a first time visitor to stay in?  Something sort of central to some of the normal tourist sights.    

So many normal tourist sites. #1 is to get a good map of London then I suggest you decide how you want to get to Southampton from London then find a hotel close to that. For example if you want to go by train then you will want to stay in the Waterloo area which is close to the London Eye and across the river from Big Ben, House of Parliament, Buckingham Palace etc. If you are planning to use a Princess transfer then stay closer to the Victoria Coach station.

Lots of threads on Cruise Critic about it. 

Also recommend you become familiar with the Underground system and preplan how you will get from A to B etc. 

Good website to start research https://www.londontoolkit.com

Edited May 3, 2019 by Alaskanb

[geoherb]

We stayed in Kensington two years ago. That was walking distance to Kensington Palace, Hyde Park, the Natural History Museum, and the Victoria and Albert Museum. We stayed in Waterloo last year. That was walking distance to Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, Imperial War Museum, the Tate Modern, and the London Eye. Any hotel within the Circle Line will be within walking distance of a lot of attractions. The best bet will be to determine which ones are priorities for you. Shakespeare's Globe and Tate Modern were my priorities last year. The Tate Modern had a fantastic Picasso exhibit going on that we wanted to see.

 

My other advice is to try to have as much time as possible in London. The first afternoon after an overnight flight is sort of a waste. We arrived on a Sunday two years ago and were able to check in around noon at our hotel. We made walked around the Trafalgar Square area and made it to evensong at Westminster Abbey. But we were too tired to do anything else that afternoon and made it an early night. Last year, we had a daytime flight. We landed at Heathrow around 8 p.m. and got to our hotel around 11 p.m. We awoke fresh in the morning ready to go.

 

[shofer]

We are so sorry we didn't plan for more time in London.  The day you arrive is a write off.  Once we checked in, DH did not want to leave as he didn't sleep on the flight.  Booked the Grosvenor online for a great deal and it was quite convenient to Buckingham Palace and Westminster Abbey.