We sailed on Celebrity Apex on a Norwegian fjords cruise two weeks ago. The original cruise…read moreterminal was City Center terminal however it was subsequently moved over to Horizon a few days before we were set to sail. It was a non issue as both terminals are nearby to each other. The Horizon cruise terminal is the newer one of the two. We pulled our 24 inch luggage over from a nearby hotel. Took about 15 minutes. We had planned to walk our luggage onto the ship. But then a cruise terminal worker suggested we not as the luggage probably couldn't fit onto the X-ray conveyor belt. We checked the luggage instead. Easy peasy as they tagged the luggage right then and there. It was a seamless process as we checked in using Celebrity's app while home. At the cruise terminal we showed our passports with the app and we're allowed to board. Typically we'll ask for early boarding to take advantage of the lunch buffet onboard. We showed up at 11:20am with a 11:30am embarkation. The day we disembarked was just as seamless. We walked off the ship with our luggage. Thank goodness it was at a downhill slant all the way down into the cruise terminal. A cruise employee acted as the traffic controller instructing passengers where to go depending on your previously transportation arrangements. We met our private transport past the pedestrian crossing. In and out within 10-15 minutes. Back to London for a post stay. Took about 1 hour 50 minutes due to traffic.

Very nice experience with the port. Easy drop via uber and promptly in the queue for boarding…read more Similar experience coming off the boat - quickly into the bus and off we go.

Not to be confused with Mouth Wets Trains, which are a truly mouthwatering prospect…read more These multicoloured trains are mostly red but also yellow and blue, which makes a really interesting color combination. They basically did everything from London to the southwestern tip and all along the South Coast from Portsmouth and Southampton to the West. This train-chain has the most destinations in this region, although the North Coast of Cornwall and Devon and Somerset were woefully under-represented. But the rest of the region was pretty well attended too, except for the coastline from Weymouth down to Torquay which again was under represented by these services. They were operated by Stagecoach which is why they look like the Stagecoach buses, and are expensive. They took over other little local franchises and were taken over by South Western Railway in 2017. It was part of the privatization of British Rail which basically ruined trains for the whole country. Southwestern at least has more traditional looking trains and colours and operates a much lesser part of the region. So it's kind of sad. The only reason I give it a higher rating is because of the colors.

Aptly named South West Trains dominates the rails at lovely Waterloo Station, with services to the…read moresouth and west of England. Destinations include Weymouth, Portsmouth, Exeter St. Davids, Bristol Temple Meads and Reading. They also operate former Underground stock on the Isle of Wight between Ryde Pier Head and Shanklin. I've had the opportunity to ride the line from Reading to Waterloo, which stops at only eleventy billion stations. What is usually a 30 minute journey on the Great Western line to Paddington is an hour and a half on the South West line to Waterloo. I swear, some of these aren't even real stations. They just stop there because they can! But if you need to be at Waterloo, this could be helpful. And the Waterloo to Hampton Court line is useful. It stops at the Wimbledon District Line station on separate platforms. Platforms have an easy to read "next train" board and my experience was that the trains arrived and departed at the scheduled times. The South West trains I've ridden were clean and well kept with a surprisingly low amount of litter or graffiti. On board information screens were quite useful. Helpfully, many South West stations in the London Transport Area (including Wimbledon and Hampton Court) have Oyster Readers. If you're traveling in this area (check first), you might be able to save a huge bunch of £!

The station was very very crowded. There were machines to purchase train tickets, with a card, but…read morewe stood on line to be sure we got on the correct train. There was a wide gate on the left to scan our tickets & get onto the track. Announcements were made regarding the trains arrival & tracks. Local trains stop here as well. There were benches to sit & wait. We asked where the best place to stand & were told if we wanted a seat to move towards the back. The floor was marked with which train car was stopping. Once the train arrived, we dragged luggage up one step and left it piled up to the side, thankfully, we did not have to lift our luggage overhead. There were plenty of seats and clean restrooms. We got off at Waterloo, the last stop.

The main train station servicing the city of Southampton, we took a South Western Railway train to…read moreLondon on a Sunday morning here after getting off of our Norwegian cruise boat. It's about 1 mile from the cruise port, and we decided to grab a taxi. It cost about £7 for the short trip, and was dropped off about 1 hour before our scheduled trip. We had already purchased our tickets on-line through the South Western Railway website, and for two adult tickets to go to Central London cost £18.40 for the two of us. You can either print out the QR code tickets or put it on your Apple wallet. You need the QR code to scan as you enter the station, but there is no gate that prevents it. The train station was pretty empty when we got there, but began to get more crowded as the departure time approached. Northbound is on the other side of the station (Track 2) from where you enter, and there is an elevator to the skybridge that goes to the other side. Everything is outside, so having a warm coat for a brisk January English morning was mandatory. There are clear electronic displays giving arrival times for the trains. The best part was that the station had free high-speed wi-fi, and we took full advantage of it. The train came right on-time (around 8:23) and we left promptly at 8:26. It was open seating, and there were a total of 10 cars, so there was plenty of seats. We sat at car 5, and was able to put our standard carry-on bags on top of the luggage racks above each seat. Folks who had large checked bags, just used their seat next to them to store their luggage. The seats were relatively comfortable, and each had standard british electric sockets that worked. The train itself had wi-fi throughout our trip (speed of about 5mb or so). The announcements were made in English only, were very clear. The conductor checked our ticket halfway through the trip (around 9:35). I had folded my paper QR code so it became unreadable, but was able to use the backup from my email to get scanned. We had a few stops (Fareham at 8:40; Havant at 9:06; Guildford at 9:38; Clapham Junction at 10:14). Our final stop was Waterloo at 10:49, at which time we could enter the London Underground. First, you had to exit the South Western train area, and they require you to show your ticket to do that.

We had a one night stay before our cruise. I redeemed Marriott Bonvoy points…read more The hotel is conveniently located near the Southampton cruise terminal. The hotel suggested we take a cab but we managed to pull our 24 inch luggage from the hotel. We cut through the Holiday Inn parking lot. I wouldn't recommend you walking unless you're very mobile. It took us under 15 minutes. We enjoyed the hotel. Very upbeat. We noticed a photo booth on the mezzanine and table tennis. We had a choice of 500 points or food credit $10 per person. I took the food credit as we were going to eat before leaving for the terminal the next morning. Spent about another $12 USD out of pocket. Standard breakfast food options. We also had hotel bar food for dinner the day we checked in after the two fish and chip places suggested by the hotel didn't work out. Ordered: * hubby had chicken wings * I had Mac n cheese balls * BIL had chicken curry * sis had egg rolls We each were given a free cocktail voucher. It was like a fruit punch. Also got local beer. There's a shopping center across the street. It was a Sunday so stores closed early.

Location is fantastic! Easy to get to from public transport, across from the mall, and near the…read moreseaside. The docks, historic sites, and restaurants are just a short walk. The bar on the ground floor is pretty cool and I enjoyed all the decor. We were given a complementary welcome drink, which was greatly appreciated. The room was comfortable and the bathroom was nice. Unfortunately, I only had about 90 minutes of sleep due to going to bed late and needing to get up early to catch a bus back to Heathrow. The bed and pillows were lovely and there was nice lighting, even a motion sensitive light under the bed so you didn't trip over things in the dark. I wouldn't hesitate to book this hotel again. It was nicer than I anticipated and felt "cool" and "trendy." Drink were a bit pricy but there are countless options within a short walk.

A good option for lunch, different than other Southampton lunches. A relaxed yet classy setting…read more Limited menu but good options. Had some pork scratchings while waiting for my friend, they were tasty with ample apple aauce. Shared with my friend a pork roll and toastie. Both were above and beyond the stanrd. Pork roll with large with high quality, not ground pork. The toastie was also two steps above typical fare. Ser ice was both professional and friendly.

The Pig in the Wall is a delight! One of a line of boutique hotels/restaurants in southern England…read morethat offer eclectic rooms and menus. The "Pig" in Southampton is literally in the wall- the medieval city walls that protected Southampton's port area from French attacks. The 12 rooms are well appointed and very comfortable. All are unique. Ours was #12, up under the eaves. Ancient timber beams exposed and dormer windows giving a nice view of the cities cruise port on one side and the city rooftops to the other. Water boiler, coffee maker, glasses and fridge. Very good WiFi in the room and lounge. The lounge/ restaurant has a full bar and very nice cocktail, cider, beer, and wine selection. The dinner menu was small, interesting and delicious. The Chef went over my wife's allergy list and "revised " a menu she could order from just for her. Everything we had was excellent. Service was attentive and helpful. The setting was something we all imagined about dining in a countryside British pub.

ADVICE: TAKE PHOTOS (EVERY ANGLE) AND VIDEO OF THE CAR YOU RENT!!! If you don't document…read moreabsolutely every possible piece of damage, no matter how small or insignificant, they will try to lay the damage on YOU. (I'm not the only person to say this in a review). CONVENIENT LOCATION TO CRUISE TERMINAL AND TRAIN STATION We dropped a car off at the Southampton location before a cruise and picked another one up after a cruise. It is within walking distance or an approx £10 taxi ride from the cruise terminal. It's also within walking distance of the train station and many hotels. THEY PUT THE BLAME ON US FOR DAMAGE WE DIDN'T DO HOWEVER...When we dropped a car off that we'd originally rented in London, they walked around the car and claimed the black plastic that goes over the wheel well was 'popped out'. Looking at it, you could barely see it. It definitely wasn't something we'd noticed picking the car up, but if you stood at the right angle, you could see it was SLIGHTLY protruding. It's also something you could likely pop back in with a bang from the side of your fist. Long story short, the rep filed a report, scaring us with phrases like "You could be responsible for the full cost of the car". (WHATTT???) We did have insurance through our credit card, but we still weren't sure if they would cover it or how much we'd be on the hook for, even though it wasn't something we did. Fortunately, we had some photos time-stamped from the pick-up in London, albeit, not the best angles. At this point, we were BOILING MAD since we'd had the car less than 24 hours and had NOTHING to do with the damage. DEALING WITH THE CLAIM ATE INTO OUR PRECIOUS VACATION TIME Over the next month while on a cruise and UK vacation, we spent many hours (and wifi data) on communications between ourselves, Enterprise and our credit card insurance, trying to straighten out the situation. It really took a toll on our vacation enjoyment. THANK GOODNESS FOR THE PHOTOS Fortunately, after about 3-4 weeks, much mental anguish and aggravation, due to our photos and explanations, the claim was waived. However, I'm sure some unfortunate future customer will have the same claim put on them. CARS ARE NOT CLEANED/CHECKED WELL When we picked up another car AFTER our cruise and we exclaimed our displeasure about the needless aggravation we'd been through, the rep claimed that THIS car "was perfect". Well, inside this "perfect" car we found a half bottle of orange juice, a water bottle, museum tickets, a penny and a complete leather wallet with someone's cash, cards and driver's license, so obviously, the interior had not been cleaned and checked. "Perfect", huh??!!! Due to our rough experience on the first rental, for our rental after the cruise, we took out the Enterprise insurance, so if anything happened, we'd only be on the hook for £100. It added a lot of cost to the rental, but gave us peace of mind. Nothing happened to the car and we both took photos of every angle, as well as video to cover ourselves in the event they tried to pull the same shenanigans. AVOID ENTERPRISE AND THEIR SKETCHY PRACTICES I would avoid renting from Enterprise as reading reviews, this seems to be a standard practice. We booked the rental through a large membership store in the USA and I will be letting them know that Enterprise is a rather shifty company.

As a occasionsl user of Enterprise for many years i had grown to trust them as a fair and…read morereasonable company. But my latest experience has shocked me and changed my opinion. I hired a van for 24 hours from Southampton and returned it in Brighton to move house. When I picked up the van unfortunately I trusted the person handing it over and didn't carefully check everything. On handing back I was faced with a load of items that I had allegedly done in 24 hours including taking the spare wheel and inflation kit and numerous small dents and scrapes. I know that I had no incidents during the rental. This led to an invoice for £2000 of damage, 'conveniently' the total that I could be liable for. Luckily I had insurance to cover this but still I am disgusted by their actions. So beware of this Enterprise scam especially if you hire in Southampton. Also, I wrote with my concerns to the CEO but as you might expect there has been no response. AVOID

This is a newly built Premier Inn hotel. I stayed here for one night on business as I had a night…read morefield survey in the area. The first thing I noticed beside the smell of the new furniture was the willingness of all member of staff to help and the never-absent smile on their faces.I used both pay-and-display street parking and the adjacent multistory car park building to park my hire car. I enjoyed my stay in this hotel and I recommend it for anyone who is looking for a central location to the rail station and the university.

It's good, but it is little how to say simple?! I can not…read morefind hairdryer and soft home shoes there.

Honest and reliable service…read more Used to go from Gatwick to Southampton cruise port. Very easy to book and option to pay cash after the trip. Very professional and intellectual driver/ operator. Better than Uber and cheaper than taxi! Would use again for sure.

From the owner: We we specialise in providing profesional and relaiable airport transfers services by supplying…read more executive cars for very affordable prices. Covering Southampton, Eastleigh, Chandlers Ford, Winchester and surroundings. Over 10 years expierience, very knowledgeable drivers, friendly, polite, helpfull airpiort shuttle service.