Fly-cruise parking Southampton: one-way bookings explained

Some cruise customers fly out of the UK to embark in another port (Barcelona, Miami, Athens) and sail back to Southampton. Others sail out of Southampton and fly home from another port. Both are fly-cruise patterns, and both need a one-way parking booking rather than a standard return.

We support fly-cruise one-way bookings. This page covers how they work.

The two fly-cruise patterns

The two common patterns:

Fly out, sail back. You drive to Southampton airport (or a London airport), fly to the cruise embarkation port, sail back to Southampton. Your car was not at Southampton during the outbound leg; you arrive at Southampton at the end of the cruise and collect.

Sail out, fly back. You drive to Southampton, embark, sail to a foreign port, fly home from there. Your car was at Southampton from the day you boarded; you do not return for it after the cruise.

Both patterns are supported. The booking flow asks for the departure and return methods, and you can select Fly for either or both.

How to book a fly-cruise one-way

In the booking flow, the departure and return steps each ask for the method:

• Drive (the standard option).
• Fly (the fly-cruise option).

Select Fly for the leg that does not involve our service.

For sail-out, fly-back: Select Drive as the departure method (you arrive at Southampton on cruise day) and Fly as the return method (you do not come back). The booking ends at the handover.

For fly-out, sail-back: Select Fly as the departure method (you arrive at Southampton on cruise return day, not embarkation day) and Drive as the return method (you collect your car and drive home). The booking starts at the return.

The price

Fly-cruise one-way bookings are priced on the standard daily rate for the duration the car is with us, not on the cruise length.

For sail-out, fly-back: the car is with us from the day you embarked to the day you collect after returning home from your overseas flight. That may be the cruise length plus an extra day or two for the return journey.

For fly-out, sail-back: the car is with us from the day you drop it (often a few days before your cruise return) to the day you collect after the cruise docks at Southampton.

The booking flow calculates the price based on the dates you set, not the cruise length.

Why fly-cruise is a different booking

The standard Southampton cruise parking booking assumes you drive in for the embarkation and drive out after the cruise returns. The car is at our compound from drop-off to collection.

A fly-cruise pattern means the car arrives or leaves at a different time than the cruise. The booking needs to reflect that, so we have the right capacity planned and the right driver available for the relevant handover.

Common fly-cruise scenarios

A few real patterns we see.

Mediterranean fly-cruise from Barcelona, returning to Southampton. Customer flies to Barcelona from Heathrow, takes the cruise, sails back to Southampton, collects the car. The car was not at our compound during the flight or the outbound cruise leg; it was at Heathrow long-stay. The booking with us covers the return-and-collect side only.

Caribbean fly-cruise from Miami, returning to Southampton. Same pattern, different ports. Car is with us only for the return.

Round-trip cruise that ends at a foreign port. Customer sails from Southampton, ends the cruise in a foreign port, flies home. Car is with us only for the duration of the cruise to the disembarkation point.

Transatlantic crossing. Common Cunard Queen Mary 2 pattern. Customer flies to New York, sails back to Southampton on the QM2. Car is with us for the return half only.

What we need to know

For a fly-cruise booking, the booking flow asks for slightly different details than a standard round-trip:

• The cruise embarkation date and port.
• The cruise return date and port.
• Which leg involves a flight (departure, return, or both for a one-way fly trip).
• The dates you want the car with us (drop-off and collection).

The drop-off date may not be the cruise start date, and the collection date may not be the cruise end date. The booking flow handles both.

Handover timing

For sail-out, fly-back: the standard handover at the cruise terminal on your embarkation day. No collection from us until you arrange it (you fly home, drive back to Southampton later, collect the car).

For fly-out, sail-back: no embarkation handover (you are not at Southampton then). Drop-off at our compound on a date that suits you. The collection happens at the cruise terminal short-stay car park the day your ship returns to Southampton, the same as a standard Meet & Greet return.

What we cannot do

A few honest limits:

We cannot transport the customer to or from an airport. The fly-cruise booking covers the parking side only.

We cannot guarantee a specific handover slot for unusual collection dates. The standard 07:00 to 16:30 slot system applies on the days your handover happens.

We cannot extend the booking beyond the dates set without a price adjustment. If your return flight is delayed and the car needs to stay longer, the extra days are charged at the standard daily rate.

Pricing example

For a 14-night fly-cruise where the car is with us only for the return (7 days actual storage):

• 7 days storage on Meet & Greet at our flat rate.
• Single handover at the cruise terminal on the return day.
• The flat published rate per day applies.

The booking shows the price clearly before card details.

Booking

The quote tool handles fly-cruise patterns. The flow asks for the departure and return method on the first step.

For complicated fly-cruise patterns (multi-port itineraries, unusual flight arrangements), the contact page has the email and phone for a conversation before booking.