Photos of Cruise Port Southampton and Independence of the Seas

This week we are going beyond the ships themselves and looking at the cruise port of Southampton, England. Now, few people set out with the goal of spending their vacation/holiday in Southampton. However, it is Britain’s primary cruise port and so cruisers often spend time there before or after a cruise.

While Southampton is not a tourist destination, it is tourist friendly. There are a variety of hotels and places to eat. In addition since Southampton is the large shopping center for southern England, it has lots of stores ranging from traditional high street stores to vast modern shopping malls.

Due to the fact that Southampton was - - and still is - - an import seaport, it was heavily bombed during World War II. Consequently, much of the city dates from the post-war period. However, I was surprised to find how many historic properties still exist. Indeed, Southampton reportedly has the most amount of medieval city walls in England.

Southampton is also not far from a number of places of interest including Stonehenge, the Isle of Wight, the naval museums at Portsmouth, Salisbury cathedral, and Winchester. A little further away but still within day trip range is the metropolis of London and all it has to offer.

My photo tour of Southampton begins at http://beyondships.com/Ports-Southampton-1.html

One of the ships that sails out of Southampton is Royal Caribbean’s Independence of the Seas. Now the world’s second largest cruise ship, Independence has modern lines but with a hint of the style of traditional ships, especially in the bow area. This lends itself to photographs and I have now added a page of photos of her taken in Florida and in Southampton to the Independence of the Seas section of Beyondships. It appears at http://beyondships.com/RCI-IOS-Photos1.html