Topic: Southampton cruise boss admits Liverpool is better destination

QUOTE:

firstly mr. Swinton shall we get the name of the ship right,its the queen mary 2 you will be seeing ,the largest & busiest cruise port in the country,southampton ,gave a more than rousing and found farewell to the q.e.2 last november.
I think this stupid arguement is getting a little childish.southampton is this countries premier cruise port for very good reasons ,it has the capacity,the facilities,the geographical location and the experience.it has to be somewhere and it just happens to be southampton.its a fact so lets live with it.the worlds largest cruise operator obviously is ,having invested millions there.
This is not to say cruise ships cannot call elsewhere,as with in the great days of ocean
liners but there has to be a focal point it makes economic sense.if the cruise companies can make money out of ports elsewhere such as liverpool they surely will.
A word of warning to southampton though,their experience and facilities are superb,i know i have experienced them several times,but those facilities should not be allowed to slip(the q.e.2 terminal is in dire need of a makeover) and their waterfront,potentially a superb facility for the city is very scruffy.other cities ,including liverpool and near neighbour portsmouth are making the very most of theirs.southampton yours is a mess and its all owned by abp!

is there anybody been on the queen mary 2 can you tell me what they were during the day isd it just casual wear or do they wear fancy clothes as i would like to wear trousers trainers and so forth but my husband thinks i should wear trouser suits and so forth please tell

QUOTE:

Andy A, Wigan;
Well, Liverpool would suit us and save us around £250 in Eavesway coach fares per cruise (which would be an added incentive to go on some of the shorter ones).

Nice to hear from a couple of fellow Wiganers too

Andy
Surely a quicker, cheaper and certainly more convenient way from Wigan to Southampton would be by car. It's only about 220 miles which should only take about 4 hours and cost around £100 round trip for petrol plus £100 for parking - a saving of £50 plus convenience.
OR - am I being naive and missing something?

cheers
Harvey

Harvey

We always go to Southampton by car from Chester on a good day it takes about 3 1/2 hours with no stopping.
On some cruises we will go the day before and stop somewhere on the way down this extends the holiday by a day or two if we do the same on the return
The people who complain over the cost of getting to southampton should not be going on cruises if they thing the cost of travelling is to much

Emlyn

im not complaining about the cruise we have to travel form scotland and if we fancy that cruise which we do as my husband fell ill last year and this was his wish we are going on the translantic cruise to new york im only saying the timetable for the planes sdo not come out until the may or june so we cant book the hotel until then if the cruise was from scotland we would have done that :mad:

QUOTE:

Harvey

We always go to Southampton by car from Chester on a good day it takes about 3 1/2 hours with no stopping.
On some cruises we will go the day before and stop somewhere on the way down this extends the holiday by a day or two if we do the same on the return
The people who complain over the cost of getting to southampton should not be going on cruises if they thing the cost of travelling is to much

Emlyn

Hi Emlyn

We too travel from Chester to Southampton with Eavesway, cost is not so much of an issue as the sheer inconvenience of a 500 mile (return) journey when we have a major port, LIVERPOOL, virtually on our doorstep.

You will notice that most rejections of Liverpool, as a cruise turn-around facility, are voiced by our Southern 'cousins.'

OK L'pool is not very handy for northern Europe destinations, but as most of the popular destinations head south, L'pool is just as convenient as a departure port for the 'Med' as S'ton - and, just a reminder, Liverpool has centuries of experience at it, and was the major UK port for the trans-atlantic market for generations, compare how many vessels bear Liverpool on their stern, including the major ships of the day.

It's no use boasting that Southampton and Portsmouth are the UK's 'premier ports' - that's 'spin' and brain-washing by the money-shufflers who have a vested interest.

A lot of money has been invested in Liverpool as well and the possibility of it being upgraded as an alternative to Southampton is making the money-bags cringe a bit - retention of Soton may suit them but it doesn't suit us living up here north of Watford Gap and the sooner they get the message, the better.

On reading about certain popular cruises featured in Cruise News, a couple of things stood out.

Most were at 'knock-down' prices and, in the case of 'Independence of the Seas,' one particular cruise included free coach transfer to the port (Southampton) plus on board credit.

At least one cruise line has realised what an imposition and inconvenience a southern English port is to residents of northern England, Wales and, worse still for Scottish residents and for Irish residents - forget it.

Another penny that has not yet dropped, in the cruise line fraternity, is that whilst some will offer free car parking, but will not offer, as an alternative, free return coach travel, so as free parking is around £100 for 14 days - coach travel with Eavesway is only a few quid more, (and easier on the environment by using one vehicle instead of many cars) so what's the big deal?

Come on Emlyn, support the northern cause, you owe no loyalty to a departure point hundreds of miles away.

Gordon

QUOTE:

Andy
Surely a quicker, cheaper and certainly more convenient way from Wigan to Southampton would be by car. It's only about 220 miles which should only take about 4 hours and cost around £100 round trip for petrol plus £100 for parking - a saving of £50 plus convenience.
OR - am I being naive and missing something?

cheers
Harvey

Hi Harvey,

Agree in principle but:
(1) I only drive a Fiesta so 3 of us plus luggage is a pretty tight squeeze.
(2) We tend to go as a family, so my parents and brother are usually with us and it's nice to all go together.
(3) I drive 80 miles per day to and from work so anything which involves me not driving (my Mrs doesn't) is a plus.
(4) I always think (maybe incorrectly) that the ship would wait for a coach in the event of a delay whereas it wouldn't for an individual.
(5) I enjoy the coach down..!! I just think it should be "offered" along with the free car parking which seems to be available with virtually every cruise these days.

Cheers

Andy

I'm very fond of Liverpool, as I've said before. I like to arrive at my departure point the day before and start my holiday by having a relaxing day looking around and Liverpool has great museums and a nice atmosphere although I've never needed to stay overnight. We need the choice really, it takes about two hours from here to Liverpool but about three times that to So'ton. The greener option is either Liverpool or Hull for me.
Liz
x

QUOTE:

Hi Harvey,

Agree in principle but:
(1) I only drive a Fiesta so 3 of us plus luggage is a pretty tight squeeze.
(2) We tend to go as a family, so my parents and brother are usually with us and it's nice to all go together.
(3) I drive 80 miles per day to and from work so anything which involves me not driving (my Mrs doesn't) is a plus.
(4) I always think (maybe incorrectly) that the ship would wait for a coach in the event of a delay whereas it wouldn't for an individual.
(5) I enjoy the coach down..!! I just think it should be "offered" along with the free car parking which seems to be available with virtually every cruise these days.

Cheers

Andy

Point(s) taken Andy. I said I was maybe naive.

cheers
Harvey

Yes Liverpool would be easier for people living in the north, I live in chester and went to liverpool the other day with my wife and I was glad to get out of the City shopping area Liverpool one! what have the planners done
Ok so Southampton is 250 miles(4 hours Max) by car from Chester and 500 miles (51/2 Hours) by cruise conect, and you do have the problem of road works and breakdowns but well planned an overnight stop at a hotel makes the journey a pleasure We are going in July and have booked well in advance at a travellodge in Newbury (30miles) from Southampton for £9.00 the night and we make an extra day of the holiday and we can then get onto the ship as soon as embarkation starts and with priority boarding we will be in the Lido on the QV bt 12.00 noon almost a full day on the ship.

Think and plan ahead
Emlyn Chester

QUOTE:

im not complaining about the cruise we have to travel form scotland and if we fancy that cruise which we do as my husband fell ill last year and this was his wish we are going on the translantic cruise to new york im only saying the timetable for the planes sdo not come out until the may or june so we cant book the hotel until then if the cruise was from scotland we would have done that :mad:

Beth

You do your Country no justice by meekly accepting Southampton as the be-all-and-end-all-of maritime ports.

My goodness, what a trek, from the northern end of the UK to a southernmost English town - you surely would need another holiday to recover from the last one.

Would you expect potential cruise passengers, living in the bottom end of the British Isles, to trek all the way up to Scotland to join a cruise ship - NO?

You mentioned New York as a favoured destination.
For centuries, Liverpool was the premier departure port for transatlantic crossings long before Southampton.

Southampton, Portsmouth and Plymouth were very handy, geographically, for fending off the French and sorting-out the Spanish in days of yore by Elizabeth I, and my old fellow countryman, Henry VIII (from Anglesey.)
Oh! and of course for sending-off the D-Day invasion fleet.

Those marauding nations, of past history, either did not have charts of the Irish and North seas in order to plunder Scotland, or maybe they were aware of the fierce reputation of those resident tribes.

And what has happened since?

White Star and Cunard, and others, 'jacked-in' Liverpool as their 'home' port - nothing personal, its just business, pulled-up their respective corporate anchors and moved south where the weather is fairer and pockets deeper.

The trouble is, the move only suits the investors and company directors and, of course, those customers living within easy travelling distance from those southern ports.

Judging by the increasing tonnage of cruise vessels plus the increasing number of cruise companies using them, one can visualise the Solent becoming the maritime equivalent of the M25 with an additional hazard of one of the British islands obstructing its entrance and exit.

Time for an alternative port to ease the pressure on S'ton?

Gordon Rhys