It was a really hot day as we crossed the sea to the Isle of Wight. We are so sorry we missed the…read moreisland's Pride festival over 15/17 July Prides are colourful and family friendly. The departure area at Southsea is kindly described as no frills functional. If you'd like a coffee it's Costa out of a machine and if it's a rest room then you must leave, go across the road to another, publicly controlled facility, equally kindly described as functional. Most publicly controlled facilities/services in England have been wilfully ruined by the government in office some 11 years out of a warped ideology and much is already gone not to return. Woe betide if you need medical or emergency dental help and if your not a uk subject please be well insured - getting any prompt dental treatment is nigh on impossible (and not accidental) in the worlds 5th richest economy. It's a rum do to vote yourself to be poorer but the working poor and the super rich carried the day. When the truth outs, and it will, it won't be a pretty sight. In the UK the working poor receive more state benefits than unemployed folk - yet bizarrely taxpayers subsidise the super rich. The hovercraft staff are a friendly bunch and once on the island side there's at least decent rest room facilities and it looks a little bit more modern and pleasant. The craft itself is impressive, quite spacious within, not noisy and comfy seating. Dis and embarkation are very straightforward. It has a top speed of around 50 knots so it can move at a lick. All in all t'was a grand day out.

The family at AtlasAdventured highly recommends this experience!…read moreWe traveled from Portsmouth Southsea to Ryde in August of 2023. We originally planned on taking the ferry, but when we found out about the hovercraft we just couldn't pass up the opportunity! As of 2023, this is the world's only commercial hovercraft! Tickets were more expensive than the ferry, but you got there a lot faster. It was 80 pounds round-trip for our family, with our 4 year old being able to ride for free (it is cheaper if you get a roundtrip ticket for same day use). The ride took about 10 min. There is a Hoverbus that will provide transportation to the Hoverport. You can find the Hoverbus stops on their website. The waiting room on the Southsea side was nice and the staff were friendly. There are restrooms and a Costa coffee machine. They do recommend you show up 15 minutes early. The staff on board was super friendly and there is space for your luggage. It was a smooth ride, and so much fun! The location in Ryde was not so pleasant. We arrived about an hour before our departure time due to us taking public transportation to get there. Once we got ourselves settled in the waiting room, my husband went to leave to go get our toddler some snacks, and was yelled at by the lady at the desk, threatening him that if he left the building he would have to purchase another ticket or would not be allowed on the hovercraft. If we had known that you were not allowed to exit the building we would have dragged our luggage, in the rain, to a nearby restaurant and waited! I could not believe how rude this lady was. I scoured their site and other reviews, and nowhere does it say that you cannot leave the building, and this particular woman has been very rude to countless people. Maybe it's time for someone in charge to reprimand this person. She is ruining a lot of people's experiences. I would have given a 5 star review if not for this individual. Once we got out of the waiting room and onto the hovercraft, it was such a great experience. Just watching the hovercraft pull up and onto the sand is so cool. I thought it would be loud, but they do a good job of dampening the noise while inside the hovercraft.! If we ever go back to the Isle of Wight, this is definitely the mode of transportation we will use to get there.

As far as ferry crossings go, seamless. Immaculate. Piece of cake checking in. No hassle or…read moredrama. Arrived quite early and instead of making us wait just loaded us straight on the next ferry. When you get on the ferry seems to have thought about everything even though only a short crossing. Dog friendly zones, teen zone, a Greggs, Costa, snacks and selection of alcoholic beverages. Toilets immaculate. Seating areas well thought out. Really impressed. Apart from the rude crappy service from Costa. Abrupt, stroppy and not helpful. When they finished their overall service they proceeded to stand and have a proper go at a member of the team over the rota or something. Not on. It was a case of "whoa" who shot your cat. Rude mares. Would have been 5* for all the other parts Costa dragged it down to 3*. Disembarking was super quick easy and no dramas. Big thumbs up and thanks!

If you're not prepared to swim, there are 3 ways to cross from the mainland to the Isle of Wight…read morewith dry feet. Thr girlfriend and I had done the hovercraft, which was fun and the fastest crossing as a passenger On our weekend trip this weekend, we took the car and chose the Portsmouth to Fishbourne route as it's the shorter of the car ferry journeys (Red Funnel leave from Southampton) The route is well signposted from the M27 and we encountered no traffic, coming down for the 8pm ferry on a Friday night. Nice to see that, especially as it was the weekend of the IOW round the island race On arrival, we were directed to a lane to wait for the ferry. There was no mention of the 45 minute delay we then noticed on the large dot matrix sign. The time for the next ferry was also wrong as it was for 19.30 and we arrived at 19.45. There were no announcements or explanations about the delay but one of the marshalls we spoke to at least tried to be helpful but perhaps, they could try and keep their customers informed a bit better We popped into Greggs, located in the car park area, for a little nibble. There's also a Costa Coffee available The other slight annoyance was the lack of firm marshalling when the time came to board. There wasn't enough vigilance to stop some naughty cars from cutting in line ahead of other cars which had arrived before them The journey itself was pleasant enough with some light refreshments available though we chose to enjoy the lovely sun-dappled views of the Solent from the outdoor promenade deck Incidentally, the 3rd way to cross over is by catamaran to Ryde

Redfunnel ferries operates Isle of Wight crossings from Southampton to East Cowes…read more To get the review started Red Funnel is much cheaper than Wightlink the other ferry provider to the Isle of Wight by around 50% ... The ferries are much nicer (as nice as ferries can get) with a cafe serving hot, fresh food and a coffee shop and bar. The staff are also very friendly. So if you are planning to go to the Isle of Wight I would recommend Red Funnel for price and service.

Cheaper than I remember. If you're flexible on times that you can travel then you can pick up…read moretickets for a reasonable price. Definitely cheaper than Wightlink (presumably because it's a longer crossing and most people just want to get there). We paid £46 for a car and four people on a five day return over half term week. We booked at the end of August and I was pleasantly surprised at the price, because I'm sure last time I went (a few years ago) it was £70. The negatives are that the ferry 'terminals' are poor quality. There is a coffee bar on the southampton side, but apart from vending machines there was nowhere to buy a quick bar of choccie or similar. East Cowes was truly miserable, but then it was raining and dusk at the time! Nowhere to get a hot drink while waiting for the ferry though. The crossing itself was uneventful, hardly going to compete with the cross channel ferries, but given it's a short hop then you can go prepared with reading material/things to entertain the kids etc.

This is the first time we travelled with Brittany Ferries as for a life time we were loyal to Irish…read moreFerries even after they sacked all their Irish workers, shafted the lot even them even workers who gave over 30 years service. I can't explain why we stayed so loyal and now - in fact for a long time - there's nothing at all Irish about Irish Ferries, it just happens to be a company that operates to and from Ireland staffed by agency labour recruited as low paid as possible from Central Europe, while the bloke who owns it who I think is Irish is well on the way to being a billionaire. He'll not miss our trade. We travelled with IF in May for the last time, the food was lousy and way overpriced, the coffee was foul and the ship was tatty; in fact it had nowt going for it. Our loyalty is gone. We are gone. Stena and Brittany now. The food was pretty good on Brittany Ferries to/from Spain, the French staff were welcoming, efficient, darn friendly and they give guests good deals.

Don't book with Direct Ferries/BRITTANY FERRIES On Dec21st…read more2019 we booked a one way crossing from LeHavre to Portsmouth with Direct Ferries/ Brittany ferries ( DFP132260866 ) . Due to Covid can't go and almost 2 years later can't get a refund. Gene Blake - Canada

Went on a cruise day out - Isle of Wight Garlic Festival on a Sunday, price around £34.00. Ferry to…read moreRyde, walk along the pier, catch coach, drop off at the Festival, ticket included, pick up & return ferry journey. The driver gave a commentary on the way there & back, on the return journey went a slightly different way. All booked through the Gosport Ferry Website. Coffee, Booze & snacks available.

Very efficient, loads of sailings, freindly service, takes 35 minutes, book on line (don't worry…read moreabout their request to print off the booking confirmation, they'll accept your booking reference as evidence and print off a ticket in the office). Not cheap, but then what is? Fantastic views of Lymington and Yarmouth from the decks. The lounges are comfy with big picture windows. Excellent trip and well worth it for an easy way to have a scout round the Isle of Wight. Recommended.

One of the worst ferry terminals I've had the pleasure to spend time at. The building has no cash…read morepoint and the coffeeshop has no working card machine! (12th November 2013). The saving grace is that the building has a toilet! My tip bring hard cash if you find yourself stuck here for an hour or so.

Small terminal with little to offer, would recommend hanging around in town until your ferry is due.read more

We used the Queen Elizabeth II Cruise terminal as our embarkation and disembarkation points for our…read morecruise. It was convenient and efficient and not what I was expecting at all. We were going to walk to the terminal from our hotel but our desk agent at the hotel we stayed at advised us to not do that. I'm glad we didn't because it may seem like a short walk on the map, but it is not very short at all. I'm used to walking with my suitcases for 15 or more minutes but the sheer twists and turns and barricades, I would suggest taking a ride. I was surprised when the cab arrived at the terminal. This is an actual terminal. There were lanes for the different kinds of drop offs. The luggage area was clearly marked. There were a plethora of people guiding people to the areas in which they needed to be. There was a small waiting area down here if your assigned time hadn't hit yet. We checked in and took an escalator up the stairs, where we went through security, like at the airport. There was plenty of seating up here if you had to wait to embark. We did not, so I forgot to take any pictures. We then proceeding down an enclosed gangway that snaked/switch-backed down to the door of our ship. When we disembarked our ship, we did the exact same thing in reverse and went to a different area behind the check in for customs and luggage collection. We took a coach to Heathrow after that, which was very easy to find because there are plenty of people working and guiding you in the correct direction.

Arriving into the Queen Elizabeth II Cruise terminal in Southampton on the Queen Mary 2 was a…read morefairly pleasant experience. The terminal is sheltered protecting you from the elements. Bags are easy to located and the lines for taxis move quickly. They have it well organized. The terminal is about 2 miles from downtown and a taxi between the terminal and the train station is about £15. The terminal is not as grand as the one in new York and doesn't afford pleasant views of the ship itself (at least not from where QM2 was docked.