Taking the train from London to Southampton to board a cruise ship
 

We will be in London for a stay prior to a cruise departing from Southampton.

Is taking the train from Fenchurch Street Railway St to Southampton a feasible way to travel between London and the cruise port? It looks like there might be one change of trains along the two hour trip - we will have some luggage, but not so much that we can't roll it along.

I am assuming we would need to go to Southampton Central (SOU). Anyone know how far it is from the Southampton Station to the cruise ships? It doesn't look too far, but I haven't ever been there, and I know maps can sometimes be deceptive.

Or would we be better off arranging some other mode of transport? Bus? Car? We will be making this trip on a Saturday morning in June, if that makes any difference.

Looking for an economical, but not stressful, way to get where we are going. Am more than happy to pay extra to avoid "stressful," but we are experienced travelers, and do not need coddling.

I would assume you would be leaving from Waterloo Station in London.

Check out Megatrain from Waterloo. If you pre-purchase, this must be the best deal in London. It seems to me that it is not far from the train station to the ships - we took a taxi but I think it may have been walkable. The taxi was not much at any rate.

That's probably right - I see that is the station that would serve Southampton. We will be departing from the City Centre - would we take the train from our nearest station (Fenchurch) to Waterloo?

Fenchurch St is the terminus for trains to the Essex coast, so it won't help you. Depending on the luggage you need to take, you'd either take a taxi to Waterloo, or (if you wanted to go by tube) the tube from Tower Hill (stairs down to the trains) to Westminster, then change to the Jubilee Line (escalators down) to Waterloo (escalators up to the mainline station level).

Southampton has four widely separated cruise terminals. Two, Ocean Terminal and QEII Terminal, accessible via gate 4, are located at the Eastern Docks, while the others, Mayflower Terminal and City Terminal, accessible via gates 8, 10 or 20, can be found at the Western Docks. Both are about a five-minute taxi ride from the Southampton Central railway station, which is close to the city center.

Don't attempt to walk it with luggage (about 30 minutes), there are some scary roads to cross along the way. The CityLink Bus Service you'll see as you exit Central Station goes to the Town Quay and is run by Red Funnel lines; it used to be free but is now £1 for non-Red Funnel customers, payable to the driver.

I'd recommend you take a taxi.

I'm certain you paid plenty for that cruise. Why scrimp when it comes to transportation? Take a taxi from the train station.

Haha - you are totally right about paying a lot for the cruise - and we will gladly pay for a taxi to the pier.

Also - a taxi to the Waterloo Station from our flat in London.

Thanks to all for the info.