Southampton Cruise Port Parking or a Transfer? We Worked Out the Real Cost
A queue of taxis waiting for passengers to disembark from a cruise ship in Southampton
As we take customers from Lichfield down to Southampton for cruises throughout the year, we get asked the same question often. Would it have been cheaper to drive down and park?
It is a fair question and we have never had a proper answer to give, so we sat down and worked it out honestly. Here is what driving yourself to Southampton cruise port actually costs in 2026, what a transfer costs, and where the line falls between them.
Fair warning before you read on. For a couple on a one week cruise, driving yourself is cheaper. We are not going to pretend otherwise. But the numbers change quite a lot once you have four or more people, or a longer sailing, and that is where it gets interesting.
What Southampton cruise port parking costs in 2026
Southampton has five cruise terminals and a genuinely confusing number of parking options. They fall into three groups.
On port parking, right at the terminal. This is CPS and ABParking. CPS handles P&O, Cunard and Princess. ABParking covers Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, MSC, NCL, Fred Olsen and Disney. Depending on the operator and terminal you either hand the car over or self park a short walk away, and it is there when you step off. For a 7 night cruise expect somewhere around £135 to £155, and CPS often bundles parking into Select Price fares so check what you have already paid for before booking anything.
Off port with a shuttle. Southampton Cruise Parking Services and similar operators sit a few minutes away and run a shuttle. Rates start around £75 for eight days. Triangle Park and Walk is roughly £60 to £80 for 7 nights and is an easy walk to Ocean Terminal, though with luggage the other terminals are more of a taxi hop than a stroll.
City centre multi storeys. The cheapest option and the one most people do not think of. Westquay is listed at around £15 per 24 hours, so £105 for a week or £210 for a fortnight, and Southampton City Council multi storeys work out cheaper still over a week. Check the current tariffs directly before relying on them, and bear in mind there could be security issues with leaving a car overnight in a city centre multi storey.
One thing worth saying plainly. These prices move about a lot depending on your sailing date and how far ahead you book. Treat the figures above as the shape of it rather than a quote. Prices checked August 2026.
What it costs to drive there from Lichfield
Lichfield to Southampton is about 148 miles each way, so call it 300 miles there and back. On a good day it is two and a half hours. On a Saturday in August with the M40 and the A34 doing what they do, it is closer to three and a half.
At today’s average of 160.9p a litre for petrol, a car doing 45 miles to the gallon will use around £50 of fuel for the round trip. A diesel doing 50 to the gallon lands in much the same place at 180.4p a litre. Fuel prices checked 3rd August 2026.
So the drive yourself total for a 7 night cruise looks like this.
City centre multi storey: £50 fuel plus £41 to £105 parking, £91 to £155 in total.
Off port with a shuttle: £50 fuel plus £60 to £80 parking, £110 to £130 in total.
On port at the terminal: £50 fuel plus £135 to £155 parking, £185 to £205 in total.
What a transfer costs
Our Southampton fare is £280 each way for one to three passengers and £345 each way for four or more. That is £560 or £690 for a return. We drop and collect right next to the ship. Often there are people waiting to take your bags the second we unload the V-Class.
So for two people on a week’s cruise, driving yourself and using an off port car park costs around £120 and a return transfer costs £560. There is no clever way to present that. Driving is cheaper and if the budget is what matters, drive.
When driving yourself makes more sense
We would rather tell you this straight than have you find out afterwards.
Drive yourself if you are one or two people, on a cruise of a week or less, happy behind the wheel for three hours each way, and you have somewhere sensible to leave the car. Add in that you might want the car for a night in a Southampton hotel beforehand and it makes even more sense. On those numbers a transfer is a luxury rather than a decision.
When a transfer starts to make sense
There are two situations where the gap narrows enough to change the decision, and they are more common than you would think.
When you are four to six people
This is the big one. Six adults with cruise luggage do not fit in one normal car. You are taking two, which means two lots of fuel at around £100, two lots of parking at £270 to £310 on port, and two people who have to drive rather than start the holiday. That is £370 to £410 and you arrive in convoy hoping you both found the same car park. Our four plus fare is £690 return for everyone in one vehicle with the luggage, which is a difference of £280 to £320 across six people. Call it £50 a head to have nobody driving and everybody dropped at the terminal door.
When the cruise is a long one
Parking charges keep running while you are at sea. A fixed fare does not. Fourteen nights on port parking is roughly £210 to £280, so a couple driving themselves is looking at £260 to £330 rather than the £185 to £205 they would pay for a week. The gap to a transfer narrows every night you are away.
There is also the question of leaving the car sitting there. One customer told us their Tesla was flat on their return after a fortnight away, so if you drive an EV it is worth leaving it with plenty of charge and checking the right settings before you go.
The part that does not show up in the numbers
The cost comparison misses the thing most people actually book us for.
A cruise out of Southampton usually wants you checked in somewhere between late morning and mid afternoon, which from Lichfield means leaving early and arriving having already done a three hour drive before the holiday starts. Coming home is worse. You disembark early, often having been up since six, and then face the M3, the A34 and the M40 back up to Staffordshire on a body clock that is still somewhere off the coast of Portugal. That is the drive we would least like to do ourselves.
If your holiday realistically starts when you sit down and not when you park, that is worth something. Whether it is worth the difference is your call and we would rather you made it with the real figures in front of you.
Southampton cruise transfer questions we get asked
How much is a taxi to Southampton cruise terminal from the Midlands?
Our fare from Lichfield and the surrounding area is £280 each way for one to three passengers and £345 each way for four to six.
Is it cheaper to park at Southampton cruise port or get a transfer?
For one or two people on a short cruise, parking is cheaper, usually by a few hundred pounds. For groups of four to six who would otherwise need two cars, or on cruises of two weeks and longer, the gap narrows considerably.
How long does it take to get from Lichfield to Southampton cruise port?
Around two and a half hours when the roads are clear and up to three and a half on a busy summer weekend. We build the traffic in rather than hoping.
Where do you drop off at Southampton?
Right next to the ship. There is no shuttle bus and no walk with the cases.
Can you collect us when the ship comes back?
Yes, we do so on a regular basis. You will be given a disembarkation time and we will be at the ship in plenty of time for that. Staying in touch with an updated location is key here.
Where can we take you?
If you are sailing from Southampton and want to work out whether a transfer makes sense for your group, get in touch and we will give you a fixed price with no surprises. If the numbers say drive, we will tell you that too.
Prices and fuel costs correct as of 3rd August 2026. Parking charges vary by sailing date and how far ahead you book, so please check with your parking provider before relying on the figures here.