We book the car parks we would use ourselves

What we actually do

We hold contracts with independent car park operators around Southampton Cruise Port, Portsmouth Ferry Port, Gatwick and Heathrow. They own the land and run the sites. We buy space from them in advance and sell it to you, usually well below what you would pay driving up to the gate.

That means two things worth knowing. First, when you book with us your space is confirmed with the operator before we take your money — you are not turning up and hoping. Second, if something goes wrong on the day, you call us and we sort it out with the operator, rather than being handed between two companies.

How a site gets on this website

Someone from our team drives to the site, parks, and walks the perimeter. We look at four things, and all four have to pass:

1. The fence and the barrier. Gated entry with number plate recognition. We do not list open fields, roadside verges or unsecured overflow land, whatever the price.
2. The cameras and the staffing. Recorded CCTV with footage kept for at least 30 days, and a person on site whenever the barrier is open.
3. The insurance. Current motor trade insurance covering customer vehicles while they are in the operator's care. We ask to see the certificate, not just be told it exists.
4. The transfer. For park and ride sites, we ride the transfer ourselves and time it. The number on our website is the number we measured, not the number we were given.

Why Southampton

Southampton is the busiest cruise port in the UK. Its five terminals — Ocean, City, Mayflower, Horizon and QEII — are split between the Eastern and Western Docks, and the one your ship uses is set by berth number, not by cruise line. We are based a few minutes from the docks, which is why our Southampton pricing goes down to single nights and up past thirty — we know the ships, the terminals and the traffic.

Portsmouth, Gatwick and Heathrow came later, because our Southampton customers kept asking. Plenty of South Coast cruises now start with a flight, and it made no sense to send people elsewhere for that leg.

Straight pricing

The price you see when you search is the price you pay. We do not add a booking fee at checkout, we do not charge for paying by card, and we publish our full price list on every location page so you can check the number before you commit.

Our cancellation terms are on the cancellations page in plain English. They are not the most generous in the industry and we do not pretend otherwise — but they are the same before you book as after.

The company

South Cruise Parking is a trading name of Southampton Park and Cruise Limited, registered in England and Wales under company number 17171469. Registered office: Back of the Walls, Southampton SO14 3LS.

You can check our entry on the public register at Companies House. We would rather you did.