Merged -Southampton Cruise - Parking and/or hotel

[Marga.Anders]

Hi,

 

Which is best for parking AB Parking or Parking4Cruises?  

Any discount codes available?

[sddsddean]

'Best' depends on what you want.

 

ABP - Sometimes included in your cruise fare. Park in a car park beside or near the ship. Put your luggage in a van to be delivered to ship. Walk to check in with your carry ons. You keep your keys. Coming back, collect luggage, walk to car, load up and drive away.

 

P4C - Drive to terminal and give your luggage to porters. Drive to short stay car park by terminal (normally no more than 100yds). Give your car to P4C staff, who will take loads of photos and take your car to secure store approx 3 miles away. You walk back to terminal. Coming back, collect luggage, walk to short stay car park, load up and drive away.

 

We have use both and have no problems with either. Main difference is P4C is usually 10-20% cheaper, but if you get APB included in your cruise, that makes more sense.

 

Simon

[Marga.Anders]

Thank you. 

Main concern is on the day we leave the ship we have very limited time to drive to our ferry. 

So looking for a 'quick getaway' 🙂

[sddsddean]

2 hours ago, Marga.Anders said:

Thank you. 

Main concern is on the day we leave the ship we have very limited time to drive to our ferry. 

So looking for a 'quick getaway' 🙂

With both options, whether you do self disembark (earliest possible) or not, the car will be there waiting for you. What time is your ferry check in and where from?

 

Simon

[Marga.Anders]

11am at Dover. 

I read some Google reviews about tbere being total parking chaos when everyone tries to leave at tbe same time at ABP

Edited February 12, 2023 by Marga.Anders

[Marga.Anders]

I am on a RCL cruise from Southampton in September.

We are trying to decide between either parking at the cruise terminal or booking a hotel with parking facilities for the duration of the cruise.

Very important to us is that on the last day of the cruise, we are able to get to our car and leave quickly due to a ferry in Dover we must catch at 11.00am (check-in).

Can anybody share their experience with this? I was planning to book AB Parking at the terminal but the Google Reviews are saying that it took 1,5 hours to get off the parking lot due to congested traffic. 

[Host Hattie]

That's going to be a rush, have you already booked the ferry ? I would recommend a later time if possible. 

[Host Hattie]

There's some discussion in this thread about the journey between Southampton and Dover, what date are you travelling?

 

 

[gumshoe958]

1 minute ago, Host Hattie said:

That's going to be a rush, have you already booked the ferry ? I would recommend a later time if possible. 

Agree 100%.
 

It’s a 2.5 hour drive even if the traffic’s good - and the quickest route is via the M25 motorway which is notorious for delays.

 

I would seriously rethink this, otherwise you risk spending your whole cruise worrying about whether you’ll make it.

 

If you really have no choice I would consider booking parking at the Doubletree by Hilton Southampton which is right next to the M3 motorway and should allow for a fast getaway. Use a cab to take you there from the ship.

[sddsddean]

Personally, I've never had a problem getting out of the car parks. However, I echo the other comments about time to get to Dover. It would take an absolute minimum of 3 hours for the trip, which means you must allow at least 4 hours plus check in at Dover. Assume you are not going to leave Southampton until after rush hour (say 9am), that means the absolute earliest ferry I would go for is 2pm and preferably a bit later. I don't see that using a hotel to park the car would make much difference. You are still going to struggle to get an 11am ferry. I am a truck driver, so I know what our roads are like. Please re book your ferry time.

 

Simon

[Marga.Anders]

I am assuming we can walk off the ship at 7am and get to Dover well before 11am. This is check-in, the ferry leaves at 12. 

The ticket allows for one later ferry if necessary. But I will think about changing the ticket. 

Thank you all. 

[Host Hattie]

Have you done the journey before? 

[Marga.Anders]

3 hours ago, Host Hattie said:

There's some discussion in this thread about the journey between Southampton and Dover, what date are you travelling?

 

 

September 21st

[Marga.Anders]

Just now, Host Hattie said:

Have you done the journey before? 

No 🙂

[Host Hattie]

1 minute ago, Marga.Anders said:

September 21st

Thursday, could be worse, it could be a Friday. 

[Marga.Anders]

If I book Hilton Doubletree and park there, wouldn't the taxi to the hotel also get stuck in traffic? 

Bit worried now 🙂 Might rebook to the 2pm ferry even though we can take a later one anyway.

Its the ferry to Duinkerke

[gumshoe958]

18 minutes ago, Marga.Anders said:

If I book Hilton Doubletree and park there, wouldn't the taxi to the hotel also get stuck in traffic? 

Bit worried now 🙂 Might rebook to the 2pm ferry even though we can take a later one anyway.

Its the ferry to Duinkerke

If you’re off the ship early, the traffic around Southampton shouldn’t be a problem.

 

But you’ll be heading up the M3 towards London at rush hour, round the M25 which is notoriously unpredictable and into Dover where queues for the ferry terminal are by no means unknown.

 

Changing to a 2pm ferry would be very sensible. You can have breakfast on the ship, take a break en route and still have decent contingency time in case of delays.

[John Bull]

If you're prepared to disembark unassisted (haul your own bags from your cabin) you can be off an RCL ship at about 7am.

That puts you ahead of the herd in the cruise terminal and hopefully out of the port gate at 7.30..

 

Even so, on a thursday at that time of day you'll be mixing with commuters on the M3 and around the 25 London orbital road before the traffic eases  when you peel off onto the M20, about 93 miles into your  150 mile drive,

Google puts journey time on a thursday morning at between 2hrs 40 mins & 3hrs 50 mins, which demonstrates how variable the traffic is, even without a major hold-up like an accident. 

So with a 7.30 start you'll probably arrive at Dover ferryport between 10.10 and 12,.20. Mebbe it'll work, mebbe it won't.

 

Since you have the option I agree that you should switch to the 2pm ferry, giving you an extra two hours..

But to give yourselves the widest possible window I still recommend that you disembark unassisted at 7am. 

 

JB 🙂

[sddsddean]

Yep, agree with JB. Do self disembark and book the later ferry...and hope the French fishermen don't blockade Calais and Dunkerque!! Stick with the car park by the ship, as thats walking distance. I can't see any advantage to leaving the car at a hotel.

 

Simon

[Simon-t]

We've never had any delays leaving the parking at Southampton - always quick and efficient. I agree with others about travel time to Dover. M3, M25, M20 is almost a list of top traffic delay hotspots! And as has been said, there are often delays getting into the ferry port at Dover when you are there.