sea2sea

Wow, so many responses and great ideas/information. I will have to look into everything mentioned. Thank you everyone!

PalenQ

Taxis probably can't handle 4 people with bags - a car service will as will have mini-van or whatever is needed. Car service will be waiting for you whenever you land - taxis you join the queue. A car service as janis recommends (janis is one of Fodor's all things U.K. absolute experts) to Waterloo is the easiest if not cheapest as the Feltham rail link would seem to be but would be the most seem less and meeting you whenever you land is great. I've never taken a car service or taxi but always public transit so like to mention the Feltham option for folks like me - I walk to that station from Terminal 4. Whatever servicve janis recommends is good as gold IMO.

janisj

>>This sounds very reasonable. Is a car service the same as a taxi?,

No - a taxi and a car service are not the same thing. justairports.com is a very reliable service -- it MUST be pre-booked before you travel. A regular tazi in from the airport will cost up to twice as much.



(Pal: >>Taxis probably can't handle 4 people with bags<< Of course they can.

>>Well actually Feltham Station is about 1/2 mile from Terminal 4 <<. relatively, very few US flights land at T-4 and from say T-3 or T-5 it is a much longer drive)

sea2sea

We are keeping our Southampton hotel reservation as we are not able to cancel. Also nervous about getting to Southampton the morning of the cruise from London. We are boarding our ship by 11am. Most likely I will go with the car service into London and then again a car service, train or bus to Southampton. It's going to be difficult with the luggage situation. Will have 2 large checked and 4 carryons. Thank you to everyone for your expertise and input. Will get quotes and most likely go with car service unless it's crazy expensive. I don't mind using the train or bus if it's a big savings but again, the luggage could be a problem.

janisj

>>and then again a car service, train or bus to Southampton<<

A car service Waterloo Station to Southampton would be nuts. During the afternoon commute it would be a 3 hour drive from central London and possibly longer.

You have 4 people and only two large pieces of luggage (plus the carryons) so you should be able to manage the train just fine.

Odin

PalenQ

As the train no doubt originates at Waterloo - a dead-end terminus you should be able to board first and have the choice of seats though with a party of 4 I would make seat reservations ahead of time or when you get to Waterloo. Should be plenty of room for luggage if you board early.

Odin

PalenQ

Even better - just show up early and nab seats of your choice.

LancasterLad

South West aren't much better.

It's not so much the train company, it's the Unions that are the problem, far too many of them. One for this, one for that, another for something else...It just takes one to go on Strike and the whole system is potentially screwed.

LancasterLad

A labyrinth of spider webs......enjoy the sunshine in St James Park.

vickiebypass

Another thought - most cruise lines offer bus (coach) transportation from Victoria Coach station directly to the ship in Southampton. I think it's around $40 per person? You have to reserve a spot (your travel agent should contact the cruise line and ask about "transfers from Victoria Station to Southampton") in advance and then just show up with your luggage. The luggage is loaded on the bus for you, and 2 hours later you're in Southampton at your ship's pier. The luggage is unloaded from the bus and you (or a porter) wheel it into the embarkation hall. Last summer I sailed from Southampton on the Queen Victoria and spent a few days in London beforehand, so the coach was great. (I tried to work out trains but with the luggage, timing, etc it didn't make sense for me.) I've also taken a car service to Southampton, which is quite nice and faster than the bus, but also more expensive (for a single traveler; however, since there are 4 of you, a car service like justairports might make the most sense.)

sea2sea

This is becoming far too complicated. I think we will leave the visit to V&A for another time. My daughter will be disappointed, as she really wants to see the special Dior exhibition but she is moving to Europe later this year so I'm sure she can make a trip back to London!

So, now with all the train strikes and uncertainty with luggage and making it to Southampton for our cruise, we are thinking our best bet would be the National Coach Express from Heathrow. I'll need to find exactly which terminal we are landing at in order to book the bus. We are landing from an International flight originating from San Francisco on BA. I suppose I can ask the airline. The Coach Express lists several different locations/terminals at Heathrow.

Thank you everyone for all your great information and tips!

Gyhtson

janisj

You will almost certainly land at T-5 (but your booking should tell you that)

And ditto - you cannot simply walk into the Dior and need pre-booked, timed tickets. Since you don't know exactly what time you would land/get a gate/ clear Immigration/travel in to London there is no way you could know what time to book the ticket. Plus the Exhibition is already sold out for many dates.

So you better off just traveling straight on to Southampton.

willit

Sea2Sea - If any help, I can tell you that I live close to Southampton, and fly in and out of Heathrow fairly frquently. I always use the National Express coaches - if you don't have too much luggage, and you can book far enough in advance, they are often very reasonable. If JanisJ is correct about you flying into T5, it is only around 90 minutes to Southampton Central. If there are 4 of you, and you have more than 2 bags each, a private hire, prebooked car may work out easier and possibly only a little more expensive and will take you direct to your hotel.
If you've decided against London (a sensible idea in my opinion), and you are not too jet lagged, I highly recommend visiting Winchester for the Afternoon/Evening. It is only about 20 minutes by train form Southampton, has a ridiculous amount of historicalsites, and is very scenic.

sea2sea

Wow, thank you for letting me know about the Dior exhibit being so difficult to get into! So glad we didn't go through all that, just to find out she couldn't view the collection. She's still interested in V & A, but the Dior collection made it all the more special. It does make her feel better knowing that she hardly had a chance anyway so it's easier to let it go.

I'm now leaning towards a car service. Waiting to hear back from Smith and Just Airports. However "Just Airports" doesn't seem to have a return from Southampton cruise port. We wanted to do the National Express coaches but we have to be at the Heathrow for a 2:45 flight and worry we may not be able to disembark, get a taxi, take it to the bus station and check into our bus by 8am to make the trip to Heathrow on time. Better to have a car waiting for us at the pier.

Thanks again!

jc_uk

I think you're wise to drop the London visit. In my opinion, going straight to Southampton would be the best arrangement. If you use a car service (also called a taxi service but different to a taxi that you can flag down, it's never referred to as a car service, usually a minicab but I always refer to it as a taxi because I know what II'm differentiating between). A Southampton based company will charge around £120 for an estate vehicle which should be sufficient, there are plenty online just do a search for taxi service from Heathrow to Southampton.

Southampton itself doesn't have much to offer the tourist, it's a scruffy port city that constantly lives in the shadow of it's more interesting and popular neighbour city, Portsmouth (I may be somewhat biased here!) but it does benefit from being close to the fantastic New Forest National Park. If you land at Heathrow at 11 am you theoretically could find yourself in Southampton by early to mid afternoon. Dropping your bags off at the hotel you could take the short train journey to Brockenhurst (voted most beautiful village to live in the UK) From here you can pick up the open topped tour bus that tours around the park on various routes (I'm assuming you're visiting at a time when the weather is good) The New Forest Tour - The best way to discover the New Forest

An afternoon spent touring the New Forest is a fantastic start to your holiday and will be a good way to deal with jetlag, far, far less stressful than trying to deal with London, luggage etc.

janisj

>>it's never referred to as a car service<<

Yes they are usually called 'minicabs' by locals. But they are very often referred to a 'car services' within the hospitality industry. Maybe because to foreign visitors 'minicab' just sounds weird/wrong. So when a hotel is asked to recommend a car service they know exactly what is meant. Justairports refers to themselves as a 'Transfer Service'.

>>£120 for an estate vehicle<<. Translation if needed, an Estate is a station wagon and a Saloon is a sedan. (two languages separated . . . )

Gyhtson