Train travel Manchester to Southampton?

[Fox trotter]

Has anyone used the train to get from Manchester to Southampton? We are thinking about this as an alternative to coach travel. 

 

On our embarkation date, which is a Sunday, I see there is a train operated by Cross Country, leaving at 08.35 arriving 12.45 which seems ok, and there are two later trains which would get us there on time, just in case we miss the earlier one. The ticket price seems reasonable, cheaper than the coach, so it does seem to be a good option.

 

I would be interested to know if anyone has used this service and we're they happy with it? Any downsides to it?

 

[Aulanis]

We used to use it from Birmingham to Soton  then they changed the times so our train from Preston didnt get to Birmingham in time.   It was fine  and they even have decent luggage space.   Having said that we still went the day before sailing so had to factor in the hotel and evening meals  so worked out the similar price to the coach.

       Main drawback would have to be Rail Strikes  if you book to get early fair they only need 2 weeks to call a strike and if that happens to hit your travel day its probably too late to get a coach.  Though from manchester you could get national express?

Edited April 14 by Aulanis

[Harters]

31 minutes ago, Fox trotter said:

which is a Sunday

Bear in mind that Sunday is a day when work on the track and signalling often takes place, so trains may be slower, or be diverted onto a different route. 

 

Personally I would always travel to a cruise port the day before (if in the UK) or two  days (if outside the UK). We've just booked a cruise from/to Southampton for next year. We'll drive down the day before. When we last did this (2018), we found a lovely hotel near Winchester which really set us up for the cruise. 

[RedgeToo]

Tbh. I wouldn't trust the train service and would go the day before 

 

When I considered using the train to get to Southampton cruise terminal, I found it was cheaper to fly to Heathrow, stop over night, and get the coach the following day

 

In a month I'll be driving down because I have parking included