Cruise coach delays

In today’s news I see there has been a major traffic delay, 12hrs so far, due to a bomb scare on the M3 near Southampton. On our next cruise we are using Eavesway coaches to arrive to & depart from Southampton & it got me wondering just how long will the ship wait if we were to get caught in something like this?

Maybe a question to ask P&O themselves as you will probably get lots of different answers based on people's individual experiences. A cruise line might sail with 4/5 passengers who have not arrived but if they were 30 down I am sure they would wait a lot longer. Cruise ships rarely sail at maximum speed so in most cases, lost time can be made up.

Maybe the time to check what your insurance covers (or does not) - just look at the news today about most travel insurance policies NOT covering peoples excess costs as a result of the much-publicised Ryanair cancellations. I have often thought that a lot of people purchase travel insurance without looking into exactly what they are buying.

They may be less likely to wait for you than those booked on the official Intercruises coaches as part of their cruise package.

I seem to remember that a few years ago they sailed without a lot of passengers, who were held up because of flooded roads. The reason we are always stay close to Southampton pre cruise. Usually at the Holiday Inn, Winchester!

I wondered about that, were there any ships sailing today?

No there were no cruises out today which was lucky for two reasons. One because of the M3 closure but we also have the boat show on and Saints at home to Man U.

To be honest the traffic in Southampton wasn't as bad as I thought it would be today but that was probably because most of it was parked on the M3 ;)

I think P&O will look at this type of issue on a case by case basis. They know how many people are due on each sailing and if say the M3 shut and by normal sailing time 500 people were missing they will likely hang on. If it were fewer then they should be less inclined to do so. The important bit about when you get delayed is to phone and let them know your predicament and then at least they realise that you are not simply a no show.

Regards John

Echoing the overnight stay in Winchester for people on long journeys as you just don't know the traffic conditions etc... If its a P and O coach it may well be a different matter. A bit like the tours. If one of their own is late they will wait. Very important to check the small print in the insurance details. Having said that we travelled down the night before to be held up for 40 minutes within sight of the ship two weeks ago.

We were one of those cars in the M3 yesterday but we were heading north. It took us 3 and a half hours to get from Dorset to Winchester (a 60 minute journey). In fact, it took the majority of that time to do 5 miles. Winchester was absolutely gridlocked as everything was coming off there and trying to get through the town and back onto the M3. Took us 45 minutes just to get to the outskirts of Winchester from the M3 (1.5 miles) so I would imagine that staying there overnight would have been a bit of a concern too.

I think a lot of people missed the football match in Southampton but luckily no cruises!!

We were one of those cars in the M3 yesterday but we were heading north. It took us 3 and a half hours to get from Dorset to Winchester (a 60 minute journey). In fact, it took the majority of that time to do 5 miles. Winchester was absolutely gridlocked as everything was coming off there and trying to get through the town and back onto the M3. Took us 45 minutes just to get to the outskirts of Winchester from the M3 (1.5 miles) so I would imagine that staying there overnight would have been a bit of a concern too.

 

I think a lot of people missed the match in Southampton but luckily no cruises

Yep - I live in Winchester and when something like yesterday's incident occurs, you are no better off being here believe me!

I live three miles from the Southampton outskirts and the night before a cruise we go to a hotel in Southampton within fifteen minutes walk of the ships just in case. The hotel cost is worth it for peace of mind meaning at worse we have a small walk with suitcases and at best a cooked breakfast and a leisurely morning.

Yes, we pay for a hotel the night before too, next to the docks. If a taxi in Southampton can't get to the docks in time, well no one is going to get on board ;) We couldn't cope with the stress of driving down from North Yorkshire the morning of a cruise, just so we arrive at the terminal at our so called allotted time... even if we left home at 6am to arrive around lunchtime, that's not enough leeway for motorway closures, as this proves.

It's good to hear there were no cruise ships yesterday, so no ones holiday ruined

Quite a few years ago...when eavesway were the official coach company..I seem to remember one winter, there had been a lot of snowfall and quite a few coaches were caught up in it, and delayed. The ship waited quite a few hours I believe.