Port of Southampton transfers

Southampton Cruise Terminal Transfers

Southampton is around half an hour from Brockenhurst, which makes the New Forest one of the easiest places in the country to start a cruise from. We run door-to-door transfers to all five terminals — Ocean, QEII, Mayflower, Horizon and City — with the terminal, the gate and the luggage agreed before the day.

Our lowest published fare for this journey, one way. Your pickup point sets your price and most journeys are quoted above this; airport drop-off and car park charges are extra. Your written quote confirms the final fare.

Request quote See all fares

Based in Brockenhurst, covering the New Forest

1 Sutton Place, Brockenhurst. We collect from every village in the forest, not just the base.

Licensed private hire operator

Licence 225, held by King Transfer, issued by New Forest District Council.

DBS checked drivers

Drivers are licensed by the council and enhanced DBS checked as a condition of that licence.

Fully insured

Private hire insurance is held on the vehicles we operate.

11+ active vehicles

Saloons, estates and six seaters, so a group booking does not usually depend on one car being free.

Check your terminal, not your cruise line

Cruise lines are not tied to a terminal. The Port Authority decides which ship berths where, so the same ship can sail from a different terminal on a different date. Ocean and QEII are in the Eastern Docks; Mayflower, Horizon and City are in the Western Docks, on the far side of the city centre. Arriving at the wrong one on a turnaround morning is not a five-minute fix.

Your booking confirmation has the terminal on it. Send it to us with your quote request and the driver goes to the right gate.

The five Southampton cruise terminals

Berths, docks and postcodes, so you can check yours against your booking confirmation.

Southampton cruise terminals with berth number, dock, gate and postcode
Terminal	Berth	Dock	Gate	Postcode
Ocean Cruise TerminalThe port's largest turnaround terminal, and the busiest on a Saturday changeover.	46-49	Eastern Docks	Gate 4	SO14 3QN
Queen Elizabeth II (QEII) TerminalShares the Gate 4 approach with Ocean, so the two are close together once you are inside.	38/39	Eastern Docks	Gate 4	SO14 3GG
Mayflower Cruise TerminalWestern Docks, a different entrance from Ocean and QEII on the other side of the city centre.	106	Western Docks	Gates 8, 10 and 20	SO15 1HJ
Horizon Cruise TerminalThe newest terminal, built as a joint venture between MSC Cruises and Norwegian Cruise Line.	102	Western Docks	Gates 8, 10 and 20	SO15 1HJ
City Cruise TerminalWestern Docks, next to Mayflower and Horizon.	101	Western Docks	Gates 8, 10 and 20	SO15 1HJ

Terminal details checked 3 August 2026 against published port guides. Berth and gate allocations are set by the port and change, so always confirm against your own cruise booking and the Port of Southampton cruise schedule.

Timing a sailing day from the New Forest

Cruise lines give you a boarding window rather than a single check-in time, and on a turnaround day they mean it. Arriving two hours early does not get you on board two hours early — it gets you held outside a terminal that is still disembarking the previous sailing. We time the pickup to land you inside your window, not before it.

From Brockenhurst the run is short enough that this is easy to get right. The variable is not the road, it is the docks themselves: on a busy Saturday with three ships turning around, the approach to Gate 4 or Gate 8 queues. We build that in rather than discovering it with your bags in the boot.

Cruise luggage is not airport luggage

This is the difference that catches people out when they book a car by passenger count alone. Airlines cap what you can bring; a cruise does not, so cruise passengers routinely travel with larger and heavier cases, plus formal wear, plus the things you take on a two-week holiday that you would never take on a flight.

Four passengers with cruise luggage is not the same booking as four passengers with airport luggage. Tell us how many cases and roughly what size when you request the quote, and we allocate the vehicle around the bags rather than around the head count.

Coming home: disembarkation runs late

Ships dock early in the morning, but you do not walk off when they do. Disembarkation is staggered by luggage tag across several hours, and the time your cruise line allocates is what determines when you actually reach the terminal doors.

Give us that allocated time rather than the ship's arrival time when you book the return. They are different figures, and booking against the wrong one means either a driver waiting or you waiting. Your cruise line issues the disembarkation time on board or with your documents.

Ship and flight together

Cruise and flight on the same day

A good share of this work is not a simple home-to-ship run. It is a flight into Heathrow or Southampton and straight on to the docks, or a ship home and straight out to a flight the same afternoon.

Flight to ship

Land, clear the terminal, then a single journey to your berth. Give us the flight number and we time the pickup from the landing.

Ship to flight

Disembark and go straight to the airport. Southampton Airport is about twenty minutes from the docks; Heathrow around an hour and a half.

Overnight either side

Where the timings will not meet, we will say so at quote stage rather than after you have booked the flight.

Groups and families

Multi-cabin family sailings often mean several pickups. Send them together and we will work out the vehicles across the group.

Cruise transfer FAQ

Which Southampton cruise terminal will my ship sail from?

Check your cruise line's booking confirmation, and check it again a few days before you sail. The Port Authority decides which ship uses which terminal, not the cruise line, so the same ship can sail from a different terminal on a different date. It matters: Ocean and QEII are in the Eastern Docks, while Mayflower, Horizon and City are in the Western Docks on the other side of the city.

How far is Southampton cruise port from Brockenhurst?

Roughly half an hour in normal traffic, going east on the A337 to the M27 and then into the docks. It is one of the shortest journeys we run, which is why cruise transfers are usually the easiest part of a sailing day to arrange.

Can you take us to the ship and collect us from a flight afterwards?

Yes, and the reverse. Ship-to-flight and flight-to-ship connections on the same day are a regular part of this work — Southampton Airport is twenty minutes from the docks and Heathrow around an hour and a half. Send both legs in one request so we can check the timings against each other before quoting.

Cruise luggage is heavier than airport luggage. Is that a problem?

Not if you tell us. Cruise passengers routinely travel with more and larger cases than air passengers, because there is no airline weight limit to hold them back. Give us the number and rough size of the cases along with the passenger count and we will allocate a vehicle that actually fits them.

What time should we arrive at the terminal?

Your cruise line gives you a boarding window, and arriving inside it rather than early is genuinely better — turnaround days are busy and the terminals hold people outside if you arrive before your slot. Tell us the window and we will time the pickup to land you inside it.

Do you collect from the terminal when we come home?

Yes. Disembarkation is staggered by luggage tag and runs across the morning, so give us the disembarkation time your cruise line has allocated rather than the ship's arrival time — those are not the same thing, and the gap can be substantial.

Sailing from Southampton? Send us the terminal.

Pickup address, terminal, boarding window, passengers and how many cases. We will confirm a fixed fare before anything is booked.

Request a quote 0300 014 5464