One Thing After Another
May 2017

We recently made a 7-day Atlantic crossing on the QM2 from Southampton to New York City. (More information to follow.)

On board we heard the misfortunes of some travelers who had spent time in London and were considering how to get to Southampton. They had too much luggage to take aboard the usual train to the port.

• With two wheeled carry-ons, we have no such concerns, but we have realized that not everyone travels light – this was just down the corridor from where we wheeled ours into our cabin.

• However, on our first Cunard crossing, when we returned from Germany in 1991, on the QE2, we took a boat train from London to Southampton. The porter unloaded our bags from the taxi at Waterloo Station and the next time we saw them was when we entered our cabin.

It was first class all the way, includinbg cocktails and hors d'oeuvres. In fact, this very civilized service was available until about ten years ago, when it was canceled due to lack of demand.

So they considered renting a car and driving down.

• I asked if they had experience driving on the other side of the road, and they said they had done so in Grand Cayman. We've been to Grand Cayman, and although we had no occasion to drive then, I have driven in Great Britain and Ireland and knew that there was a great difference between London – or even Dublin – and George Town. It takes some time to retrain the reflexes to react properly, and London is not a good training ground

They came to the same conclusion and engaged an UberXL. The driver couldn't wait in front of the hotel, and in the confusion of schlepping all their bags to where he was able to park around the corner, two remained in the lobby. They were safe there but their absence wasn’t noticed until the unloading at the Southampton Holiday Inn. The two bags’ solitary taxi ride to join their companions cost £200.

However, by then it had been realized that somehow the reservation was actually at a Holiday Inn in Northampton, which wasn't, as one might hope, just north of nearby Middlehampton.

And, with three ships totaling 8,000 passengers departing the next day, there were no vacancies at the Southampton Holiday Inn. I didn't hear if they were able to cancel the other reservation without penalty, but the hotel they finally were able to book was in a distant suburb, on the opposite side of the city from the port.

At least they didn't miss the boat.