Southhampton

[TheBigErn]

We are planning a Norway DCL cruise leaving out of Southhampton 2026. I assume we will fly to London the day before and make our way to the port.

Looking for suggestions of how to get to/from London and where to stay the night before the cruise in Southhampton. Also, would you fly home from London the day back in port?

Any other suggestions welcome. Thanks.

 

[tidefan]

We cruised out of Southampton (albeit on Princess) a couple summers ago. Just took the train from Waterloo to Southampton Central, then a cheap taxi to the port. Super easy and the train takes about and hour and fifteen minutes...

 

[jimmymc]

There are trains from the major London stations to Southampton. I think most people do this the morning of their cruise and take a taxi to the ship. You could even walk if you have time.

I would fly home if the flight was at 2 pm or later. Disney will probably offer direct transfers to the airport, or you can take a bus from the center of town. There's no direct train, but you can also take connections.

 

[ThatCubT]

I did a P&O Cruise from Southampton in December 2024 and got the train from the north of the country. Whilst my journey went fine by UK train standards, my friends from central London did not. So I do highly recommend you get there the night before.

Trains are frequent, just over an hour, and the port is a short taxi drive away, so you'll be fine!

 

[princesscinderella]

We did an Iceland cruise in 2023 out of Southampton and we booked a car service with twelve transfers. I had also used them previously for a British isles cruise from Southampton in 2019 and they had great communication and were right on time. The train workers were striking the day of embarkation for the Iceland cruise so I was so thankful we didn’t plan to take the train. There’s five of us so a private transfer is worth the money for us.

 

[Mommb]

To take a train from Heathrow to Southampton, you would need to travel to a train station on in central London, then switch trains. With luggage and jet lag, that could be a challenge.

My husband and I have cruised twice on DCL out of Southampton. We took flights that left the US in the morning and arrived in the evening, then stayed in the Hilton Garden Inn at the airport. We found that by going to sleep shortly after arrival, we weren’t as exhausted as when we arrive in Europe in the morning.

For one cruise, in the morning we took an International Friends small-group bus that picked us up at the hotel and stopped at Stonehenge for a few hours on the way to Southampton. You could do that on embarkation day, since it dropped people off at the port by 1:30, but we arrived the day before the cruise and walked around Southampton the rest of the day. For the next cruise, we took a car service to hotel in London for a day, then used International Friends for a bus from our hotel in London to our hotel in Southampton. Both times we stayed at the Leonardo Royal Southampton Grand Harbor and pre-booked a taxi to the port on embarkation day.

 

[MonaMN]

When I researched this before, Disney had partnered with hotels where you could catch a bus to the port.

I have also heard others recommend taking transportation to Southampton the night before just to avoid any issues with the train/traffic/etc.

 

[Mommb]

We took the Disney Cruise bus back to Heathrow after our cruises. We might have saved money with other transportation, but wanted the convenience of knowing exactly where and when to catch the bus.

 

[Bad Pink Tink 2.0]

Ive done 2 Disney cruise from Southampton. I fly from Ireland the day before and stay overnight in Southampton and then walk to the cruise terminal from my hotel.

 

[TheBigErn]

Ive done 2 Disney cruise from Southampton. I fly from Ireland the day before and stay overnight in Southampton and then walk to the cruise terminal from my hotel.

which hotel?

 

[Bad Pink Tink 2.0]

which hotel?

Theres a few hotels within walking distance. Theres a group of 3 hotels, Ibis Central, Ibis Budget and Novotel which are beside McDonalds and TGI Fridays. They are about 10 minutes walk to Horizon Terminal. Holiday Inn Southampton is also about 10 minutes walk from Horizon Terminal.

Premier Inn West Quay and Leonardo Royal Hotel Southampton Grand Harbour are also walking distance, but maybe nearer to 15 to 20 minutes, as they are on the other side the road and you need to wait for cross walks.

All the hotels I have mentioned have an easy walk along footpaths direct to Horizon Terminal.

 

[Geomom]

In 8/23, we flew into Heathrow 2 days before cruise. Took the National Express bus from Heathrow to Southampton. (Booked in advance with the 'change and go' option...which we used as we got thru customs quicker than expected.). The bus made a few stops, but we didn't need to change buses. I assume you can get a taxi from the bus depot, but it was a sunny day, so we walked our luggage the 1/2 mile to our Southampton hotel--the Moxi. It was another sunny day for the 1 mile walk to the cruise terminal, so we did that....with our adult kids complaining the whole way.

We did Disney transport to airport on way home, we had a late afternoon flight. I can't remember the recommended earliest flight time, but I think it's 2pm?

 

[msmama]

I'm big on seeing as much as I can before and after a cruise, so just throwing this out there. A few years ago I was looking into private transfers from London to Southhampton that would stop at Windsor, Stonehenge, and/or Salisbury. I didn't end up using them as I ended up coming from the other direction, but I like recommending them anyway.