What happens at a Southampton Park & Ride shuttle pickup

Park & Ride is the cheaper of the two cruise parking services at most operators, including ours. The compound is three miles from the port and the shuttle takes you to the terminal. This page covers exactly how that works on the day.

At the compound

You drive to our compound, the address is on your booking confirmation. Approach is straightforward from the A33.

The compound is gated and CCTV-monitored. You drive in, follow signs to the visitor parking, and a member of our team directs you to your bay.

The handover

Same process as Meet & Greet: body-cammed walk-around with the driver.

The compound is a working car-handover site, not a customer waiting area. The whole interaction at the compound is built to be short.

The shuttle

After the handover, you board the shuttle. The shuttle runs to match the cruise embarkation windows for that day. Your booking is scheduled into a shuttle slot that lands you at the terminal in time for check-in.

The shuttle has space for typical cruise luggage (two cases per passenger plus hand luggage is standard). Larger or unusual luggage is fine if flagged at booking.

The journey to the terminal is about ten minutes in normal traffic, slightly longer at peak departure times (Saturday mornings in summer can stretch to fifteen minutes).

At the terminal

The shuttle drops you at the cruise terminal short-stay car park, the same location as Meet & Greet drop-off. From there, the walk to the gangway is the standard 20 yards.

Our shuttle driver helps with loading and unloading luggage at both ends. Porter assistance at the cruise terminal itself is provided by the cruise line and ABP staff.

The return

When your ship docks, text or call the number on your booking confirmation. We dispatch the shuttle to meet you at the terminal short-stay car park.

The shuttle takes you back to the compound. At the compound, you collect the keys, do a brief return walk-around to confirm the car's condition, and drive home.

Real timings

For a typical 4 pm cruise sailing:

• 12:30 pm: arrive at the compound for handover.
• 12:35 pm: handover complete, board shuttle.
• 12:50 pm: shuttle arrives at the cruise terminal.
• 1:00 pm: through check-in.
• 4:00 pm: cruise departs.

Total time from car park to ship: about 30 minutes.

On return, working backwards from docking:

• 8:00 am: ship docks at the terminal.
• 8:30 am: through customs and immigration.
• 8:35 am: call us from the terminal exit.
• 8:50 am: shuttle arrives at the terminal.
• 9:05 am: shuttle arrives at the compound.
• 9:10 am: return walk-around complete, on the road home.

Compared with Meet & Greet

The trade-off vs Meet & Greet is the shuttle leg at each end. Two ten-minute shuttles plus a brief boarding wait. In exchange, the price is typically 25 to 40 percent lower.

For most customers on cruises of 5 nights or longer, Park & Ride is the value choice if you are travelling reasonably light. For shorter cruises, the price gap is smaller and Meet & Greet often wins.

What if you miss the shuttle

If you arrive at the compound after your booked shuttle has left, the next available shuttle picks you up. No charge.

If you arrive at the compound with very little time before your cruise check-in closes, call us before arriving. We can sometimes work out a faster turnaround.

Pricing

Park & Ride is priced flat at our published rate. The shuttle is included; there is no separate charge for it. The pricing page shows the rate.

Booking

The quote returns the price for your specific dates. The booking flow asks for your cruise line, ship, and terminal, and assigns you a handover slot at the compound plus a shuttle to the terminal.

For pre-booking questions about Park & Ride specifically, the contact page has the phone and email.