Remain on the ship in Southampton?

[Tonopah]

I searched for this (the “search” now just cycles and cycles on both my iPad and MacBook) and asked in the roll call thread to no avail. 

 

 We will be on a round trip crossing next year. Must we disembark in Southampton? I’d love to stay on the ship and have her (nearly) all to ourselves for a few hours.

[frankp01]

Someone else will have to answer definitively, but my hunch is you would not have to leave the ship. Since immigration (eastbound) is handled en route, there'd be no reason to have to vacate the ship. 

[exlondoner]

You can stay on the ship. But I wouldn't expect lunch in the restaurant unless you are in the Grills.

[Tonopah]

21 minutes ago, exlondoner said:

You can stay on the ship. But I wouldn't expect lunch in the restaurant unless you are in the Grills.

Thanks. That’s not a problem. It’s just nice to consider our options.

[frankp01]

Kings Court and the Golden Lion would be open for lunch, in case you weren't aware.

[majortom10]

You will not be forced to disembark and then wait in terminal and then embark again in Southampton like we are forced to do so in New York when we do roundtrip TAs.

[princeton123211]

As others have said, you can on the Southampton side. Having done it once though I would most likely get off and walk around Southampton a bit and grab lunch. The ship gets very quiet-- pools are roped off, bars are closed, cleaning equipment all over the hallways, etc. Wasn't nearly as fun as we'd thought it would be. Things pick back up again around 1-2pm which is when I would head back to start enjoying the ship again. 

 

Friends of ours hired a car service to take them to Highclere Castle (of Downton Abbey fame) which is about a 40 minute drive from the ship. They took a tour, grabbed a quick bite and got back to the ship for departure. Would have also done that in hindsight. 

[MarkBearSF]

Yes you can stay. My husband never leaves the ship. I inevitably need to pick up something or other from Boots (a drug store) and take the free shuttle to the nearby West Quay Mall.

I remember that they did serve lunch in Britannia to passengers in transit only, but with abbreviated hours (10:30-noon?) And the Pub Lunch was still available in the Golden Lion, of course.

[AnnieC]

We've just done a back-to-back and stayed on board. It's an excellent opportunity to catch up with the laundry (never seen the laundry room empty before) plus the internet speeds up no end. Newspapers will be available to buy on board (only UK ones, I think).

 

[Tonopah]

Lots to think about. If most things are closed on the ship that might change things. We have zero interest in shopping. We lived in England for several years and were just there last year, so there aren’t many tourist-y things we’d do. I don’t know. We’ll play it by ear.

[MarkBearSF]

I don't remember things being closed or roped off. The Golden Lion was open. I don't know about the pools because we never use them.

Of course, the shops and casino were closed as we were in port and there were no scheduled activities or lectures.

It was quiet (and great feeling that the ship was ours) but not desolate. I'm expecting when we do a roundtrip next year that Steve will still stay aboard - and I'll probably dash off to Boots (and maybe buy a gift for our housesitter at the mall)

Edited June 25, 2019 by MarkBearSF

[VintageCCG]

I went ashore in Southampton between eastbound and westbound legs of a return trans-Atlantic voyage. Had lunch with some relatives in Gosport, who offered that 10 hours in Southampton is about 8 hours too long. lol

You'd miss the chance to have a walkabout ... visit a local pub, pop over to historic Portsmouth or Poole or the Isle of Wight, pick up some local delicacies in the grocery store for the return voyage, visit a bookshop.
With two weeks aboard, I would look for opportunities for a brief change of pace.

[Tonopah]

4 minutes ago, VintageCCG said:

You'd miss the chance to have a walkabout ... visit a local pub, pop over to historic Portsmouth or Poole or the Isle of Wight, pick up some local delicacies in the grocery store for the return voyage, visit a bookshop.
 

 

These are good points. There are some delicacies we enjoy (Mars bars, Aeros, Bacon crisps). We’re always up for a decent pint...or two.

[VintageCCG]

One vexing aspect I discovered was that Southampton bizarrely bans car rental agencies to open Sunday mornings in the vicinity of the docks, notwithstanding the thousands of potential clients.
I had to catch a cab to the airport to collect my rental car, which was a waste of time and money.
Of course, one could navigate within Soton without a rental car.

 

[Phil50]

I get to Southampton regularly with my job, it’s not a bad city but not enough to do for 10 hours. The Titanic museum is excellent though. That can easily use up a couple of hours. 

[IDB37]

Maybe consider taking a train to Brockenhurst &/or Lymington in the nearby New Forest National Park.

 

They are both very scenic and the train journey is only 20/45 minutes respectively.

 

(Southampton Central Train station is a five minute taxi ride, or a thirty minute walk if you're feeling energetic).

 

 

[tv24]

I hope you will be able to stay on board if that is your desire.  A few years ago we were on a crossing from Hamburg to NYC and when we reached Southampton, we wanted to stay on board for a lazy day enjoying the lovely QM2.  Instead we were forced to hang out in the champagne bar for a while, and then sent off the ship to the depressing terminal.  Then we had to wait to go through security and re-board.  We were told it was obligatory, even for a large group of disabled passengers who were stressed by this off-and-on experience.  No explanation offered.  So much for our lazy day on board.

[Underwatr]

16 hours ago, VintageCCG said:

One vexing aspect I discovered was that Southampton bizarrely bans car rental agencies to open Sunday mornings in the vicinity of the docks, notwithstanding the thousands of potential clients.
I had to catch a cab to the airport to collect my rental car, which was a waste of time and money.
Of course, one could navigate within Soton without a rental car.

 

Hertz near the port was open this past Sunday but only until noon. I would have had to return at the airport. Our plans ended up to remain local so I canceled the reservation.

 

From an earlier booking there, another issue to note with the Hertz local office for the port is that for some reason the Uber app refuses to let you select it as a pick-up location. It moves the pickup point about a half mile away.

[esrs]

5 hours ago, tv24 said:

I hope you will be able to stay on board if that is your desire.  A few years ago we were on a crossing from Hamburg to NYC and when we reached Southampton, we wanted to stay on board for a lazy day enjoying the lovely QM2.  Instead we were forced to hang out in the champagne bar for a while, and then sent off the ship to the depressing terminal.  Then we had to wait to go through security and re-board.  We were told it was obligatory, even for a large group of disabled passengers who were stressed by this off-and-on experience.  No explanation offered.  So much for our lazy day on board.

This is a bit disturbing, we are on Q921C (New York - Southampton  via Canada/Iceland then Southampton/Guernsey/Southampton) and thought we'd spend the day we're in Southampton doing laundry.  But looking at our Booking Confirmation it does say "disembark" for that day.  We'll ask when we get on the ship to see if there is a workaround.  😞

[exlondoner]

13 minutes ago, esrs said:

This is a bit disturbing, we are on Q921C (New York - Southampton  via Canada/Iceland then Southampton/Guernsey/Southampton) and thought we'd spend the day we're in Southampton doing laundry.  But looking at our Booking Confirmation it does say "disembark" for that day.  We'll ask when we get on the ship to see if there is a workaround.  😞

 

I bet it'll be fine. Though I haven't done it personally, I know of a number of,people who have stayed on board in Soton.

[tv24]

I do hope that my experience was a one-off for Southampton.

[esrs]

Really hoping we'll be able to stay on board - I don't want my husband's birthday to be spoiled by having to sit in the terminal and go through security again! 🙂

 

[2Oldpeopleinlove]

Call us boring, but we're looking forward to getting off in Southhampton to go to Boots for the much-higher-quality soft plastic toothpicks we brought home from the UK last March and are out of! Those we can get in the States aren't nearly as good.

 

of course a pint in a decent pub won't be a hardship, either.

[exlondoner]

If they are plastic, they may be phased out. 

[bluemarble]

I think we have a pattern here. Last time I was in Southampton on a turn-around day, I had just enough time after my other activities ashore to squeeze in a trip to Boots to pick up some benadryl. The supply I brought from New York was just about out. Boots is our go-to place in Southampton for various sundries we might need for the return trip.