Southampton gridlocked...

[AndyMichelle]

Sympathies for anyone boarding or disembarking in Southampton today. 

The town has been gridlocked for large parts of the day due apparently to cruise traffic. 

Buses, coaches and taxis are all affected. 

Let's hope everyone managed to board. 

Andy 

[molecrochip]

The ‘official’ Southampton City Council reason is that border force carried out an ‘all passenger’ check this morning on all ships arriving.

 

This led to delays disembarking which meant port services were not ready for arrivals.

 

Additionally, an incident at the toll bridge booths, and a broken down car near IKEA caused a perfect storm.

[Megabear2]

Oh dear. Apparently four ships in today Balmoral, Anthem, Virtuosa and Britannia.  Another  four tomorrow including Iona, Sky Princess and Celebrity Silhouette. I'm looking at four on Sunday including Arvia and Anthem with my dreaded late check in time.  My other half is already stressing about getting me there on time with no trains meaning extra traffic, if this makes the local news he will have me camping out in the park overnight!

[Pippa04]

Football on Saturday, single lane traffic for those coming in from west via Totton direction - people will be in desperate need of their holidays!

[purplesea]

We were due to travel up by train tomorrow, but there are no trains down here either today or tomorrow, so we have had no option but to come by road.

I have now got another thing on my to-do list for when I return - get a refund off the train company.

 

[CarlaMarie]

1 hour ago, molecrochip said:

The ‘official’ Southampton City Council reason is that border force carried out an ‘all passenger’ check this morning on all ships arriving.

 

This led to delays disembarking which meant port services were not ready for arrivals.

 

Additionally, an incident at the toll bridge booths, and a broken down car near IKEA caused a perfect storm.

 

Parents got off Britannia on time without any issues and did not see Border force at the terminal this morning. However the traffic was bad and was building up considerably.

[AndyMichelle]

1 minute ago, CarlaMarie said:

 

Parents got off Britannia on time without any issues and did not see Border force at the terminal this morning. However the traffic was bad and was building up considerably.

I had a feeling the councils line was possibly just trying to pass the buck... 

Southampton roads are poor at the best of times and struggle to cope with this amount of ships, it only needs minor things like a car breaking down and the world stops... 

Andy 

[Bill Y]

1 hour ago, molecrochip said:

The ‘official’ Southampton City Council reason is that border force carried out an ‘all passenger’ check this morning on all ships arriving.

 

This led to delays disembarking which meant port services were not ready for arrivals.

 

Additionally, an incident at the toll bridge booths, and a broken down car near IKEA caused a perfect storm.

Sorry for anyone caught up in this, just what you don't need at the start of a holiday.

 

Did not think that boarder force were still working to rule, or is it an intelligence lead operation, word on the streets that people were being switched from small boats to bigger ones?

[Turtles06]

According to this article, problems might continue throughout the summer:

 

https://www.cruisehive.com/massive-cruise-port-traffic-backup-due-to-security-checks/101296

[Bob++]

Only two ships on the day we sail thank goodness.

 

https://www.southamptonvts.co.uk/Live_Information/Shipping_Movements_and_Cruise_Ship_Schedule/Cruise_Ship_Schedule/

Edited May 16, 2023 by Bob++