Advice for getting to Southampton From Worcester?

[sidekick180]

My Sister has just booked a cruise on Brittania 26th April 2020. It will be her first ever cruise and she is a solo traveller. I'm really excited for her but also very jealous. She is obviously excited too, but also a bit anxious. Partly because she has never been on a cruise before, but also because she is travelling on her own. I have told her that she will absolutely love it and will probably get the cruise bug.

I have only been on two cruises myself so far. Third one is coming up in July this year on Ventura. Can't wait for that, especially as it has been booked for over a year.

I have a question for you experienced cruisers.

My sister lives in Malvern, Worcestershire and when she booked the cruise she phoned and asked if she could stay at my place in Dorset. Obviously I would have said yes, and would have taken her to Southampton myself. Trouble is, I am away that weekend, so this is not an option now. Basically, I would like to ask if anyone can recommend the best method of travel for her to get down to Southampton from Worcestershire?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I just want to try to help make her cruise as stress free as possible.

Thanks in advance.

[AndyMichelle]

4 minutes ago, sidekick180 said:

My Sister has just booked a cruise on Brittania 26th April 2020. It will be her first ever cruise and she is a solo traveller. I'm really excited for her but also very jealous. She is obviously excited too, but also a bit anxious. Partly because she has never been on a cruise before, but also because she is travelling on her own. I have told her that she will absolutely love it and will probably get the cruise bug.

I have only been on two cruises myself so far. Third one is coming up in July this year on Ventura. Can't wait for that, especially as it has been booked for over a year.

I have a question for you experienced cruisers.

My sister lives in Malvern, Worcestershire and when she booked the cruise she phoned and asked if she could stay at my place in Dorset. Obviously I would have said yes, and would have taken her to Southampton myself. Trouble is, I am away that weekend, so this is not an option now. Basically, I would like to ask if anyone can recommend the best method of travel for her to get down to Southampton from Worcestershire?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I just want to try to help make her cruise as stress free as possible.

Thanks in advance.

Oh what a shame, she gets on as we get off, would have happily met her for a coffee in Southampton and showed her the ropes and boarded with her. 

She has plenty of travel options, driving and parking is easy enough, coaches sem to pick up everywhere and trains will get her very close to the docks. 

Others will give more specific details I'm sure. 

I hope she has a fantastic time. 

Andy 

[ann141]

If she wanted to catch the train, several trains go from Malvern to Southampton (just change at Oxford) then it is easy to get a taxi to the ship.We tend to stay the night before a cruise in Southampton but if she didn t want to stay I would recommend her getting a very early train to arrive in Southampton about 11am and either have a coffee in the Costa opposite the staion , get a taxi to the ship or if a nice day walk to the West Quays shopping centre for a while and get a taxi from there.If she tells the taxi driver which ship she is sailing on they will know where to take her!

[grapau27]

18 minutes ago, sidekick180 said:

My Sister has just booked a cruise on Brittania 26th April 2020. It will be her first ever cruise and she is a solo traveller. I'm really excited for her but also very jealous. She is obviously excited too, but also a bit anxious. Partly because she has never been on a cruise before, but also because she is travelling on her own. I have told her that she will absolutely love it and will probably get the cruise bug.

I have only been on two cruises myself so far. Third one is coming up in July this year on Ventura. Can't wait for that, especially as it has been booked for over a year.

I have a question for you experienced cruisers.

My sister lives in Malvern, Worcestershire and when she booked the cruise she phoned and asked if she could stay at my place in Dorset. Obviously I would have said yes, and would have taken her to Southampton myself. Trouble is, I am away that weekend, so this is not an option now. Basically, I would like to ask if anyone can recommend the best method of travel for her to get down to Southampton from Worcestershire?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I just want to try to help make her cruise as stress free as possible.

Thanks in advance.

I think her best bet would be to book a stay and park deal with a hotel near Southampton which offers a free taxi to the port and free taxi back to the hotel after the cruise to pick up her car.

We used Hotel Meon Valley last time but the Holiday Inn at Winchester is popular too.

Graham

[ann141]

3 minutes ago, ann141 said:

If she wanted to catch the train, several trains go from Malvern to Southampton (just change at Oxford) then it is easy to get a taxi to the ship.We tend to stay the night before a cruise in Southampton but if she didn t want to stay I would recommend her getting a very early train to arrive in Southampton about 11am and either have a coffee in the Costa opposite the staion , get a taxi to the ship or if a nice day walk to the West Quays shopping centre for a while and get a taxi from there.If she tells the taxi driver which ship she is sailing on they will know where to take her!

I have just realised that april 26 is a sunday which is not the best day to catch a train (engineering works delays etc)If she feels ok to stay overnight in Southampton I would recommend staying the saturday night.Premier Inn and Travelodge are reasonable and West Quay Premier Inn is particularlyl popular with cruisers.

[showingdiva]

Train from either Cheltenham Spa - Southampton Central (one change at Reading)

or Birmingham New Street - Southampton Central (direct and frequent).   Just checked Saturday 25th April and there seem to be no planned engineering shenanigans that day (so far).

 

Stay overnight somewhere central - Premier Inn West Quay.  The adjoining Co-op will be open Sunday morning for anything last minute.   Britannia is due at Ocean Terminal, but Arcadia and Queen Victoria also in the same day at Mayflower and QEII respectively, so if she's going to stay the night before (very advisable .. no-one wants any unnecessary stress on the day of embarkation), then she may need to think about booking a hotel sooner rather than later.

Edited February 15, 2020 by showingdiva

[stephen@stoneyard.co.uk]

I do Worcester to Southampton reasonably regularly. If your sister can manage her own luggage by train the easiest option could be one of the direct trains from the Malvern stations to Southampton Central. There are a couple of these a day but not Sunday. They are not the best train but it means you do not have to manage luggage in the middle of the journey. One of these train departs just before 11AM and arrives just after 2.30PM on Saturdays. 
 

My choice is to get better trains. If you can change trains the easiest place is Oxford.  It has always been the same platform for me. You could change at Reading for the same trains but it is now a big station with lots of platforms. Birmingham New Street is a very big station and busy. I personally would not change at Cheltenham Spa as the Malvern to Cheltenham service is so sparse. 
 

I always go the day before and book a hotel in the centre of Southampton.  There are many ranging from budget to five stars. Taxis are readily available in Southampton and I think UBER operates in the city. Taxis to and from the dock, train station or hotels are less than £10.  My favourite place to stay is a sea view room at the Grand Harbour Hotel (not Harbour Hotel) as you can see you ship arrive early morning or docked when you get up late morning. I believe some room at the Holiday Inn have the same benefit. 
 

I also drive depending on my plans. Again I book a hotel for the night before my cruise.  You have two options, park at the hotel the night before the cruise and then park at the cruise terminal for the cruise. Alternatively park at the hotel the night before the cruise and for the duration of the cruise. For me both options work and the price has always been roughly the same. If you read threads on here people will tell you their preferred parking or hotel option is the only choice and why no other possible option is acceptable at all. That may well be true for them. 
 

It is possible to drive on the morning of departure from Malvern to Southampton.  I have done it a few times. I now just don’t like the hassle on the morning of departure and the small risk I could miss the ship.  It does save on the cost of a hotel. At the moment there are roadworks around Southampton.  Allegedly one bridge closure led to the longest diversion in British driving history. I planned my journey so as to get through an hour before the road closure. 

Other  people might be able to advise if there is a P&O provided coach option from Worcestershire. These run on the morning of the cruise but hopefully the ship would wait if a coach P&O provided was delayed. Personally I would not consider that option but I am coach phobic. 

 

Malvern to Southampton is not a bad start to a holiday. There are people who travel from far further away in the North of England and Scotland. They will have had very long and potentially stressful journeys. It is often the conversation on the first evening. 
 

Best wishes, Stephen 

Edited February 16, 2020 by stephen@stoneyard.co.uk

[janny444]

Hi....not sure how feasible this would be but would it be possible to use the cruise connect coach from Birmingham or Warwick....possibly by taxi to either of those then the cruise connect coach....if it can be done then it saves any anxiety....messing about or staying overnight on your own....especially with it being her first cruise