How long does disembarkment usually take in Southampton?

[mconthehighseas]

Our  next cruise will end in Southampton, and we have arranged to be picked up at the terminal.  Our driver wants to know what time to be there, and I am clueless.  
I have no idea how long it will take to get luggage, clear customs, etc. Some ports are quicker than others.

With a 6 am arrival, does anyone have a recommendation  for what to tell our driver?
And don't worry, I will make sure s/he knows that things can change, depending on weather, world events, etc.

[gnome12]

What is your previous port?

[Bob++]

Where are you going, and what time do you need to be there?

[Host Hattie]

What ship are you on ?

[John Bull]

You're getting more questions than answers

Here's another 😄

What's the ship's itinerary? If it's round-Britain, immigration & customs won't be particularly interested.

And another - the day/date of your disembarkation. That will affect the number of ships turning round on the same day, and other traffic heading the same way as you.

The other questions are also pertinent - the bigger the ship the more prospects of a delay, and if you need to get to somewhere by a certain time (eg a flight) that may dictate when you need to be heading out of the port gate.

 

Forget 6am - that'll be the time that the ship is scheduled to tie-up.

The norm is about 7am for disembarking unassisted (haul your own bags from your cabin), then tranches from 7.30 to about 9.30.

 

But in round terms

- Southampton is usually pretty quick. Some folk have jumped in on a big delay last week when Immigration decided to do an exceptional mass check and pretty-well brought the city centre to a standstill. I still don't know whether that was targeted at folk leaving cruises  or joining them. Suffice it to say that was the exception rather than the rule, and with the flack that they got from residents & businesses & the local authority it's safe to say they won't be doing that again for a very long time.

- I think that now all ships in Southampton disembark their passengers in tranches at about 15 minute intervals to avoid congestion. If you're allocated an awkward disembarkation time you can ask at Guest Relations for a different time-slot (and coloured bag labels to suit), citing your onward transportation.

- Those who disembark early won't be delayed, the later you disembark the more likely you'll feel the knock-on effect of any earlier delays

- In my experience  dealing with luggage in Southampton is very efficient (but make sure your coloured labels are firmly attached to your bags)

- Immigration is the most likely pinch-point, but rarely a big delay.

- Customs is simply a walk-thru that you probably won't even notice, only a delay if a customs officer or his four-legged friend wants a word

- there can be a line for taxis, but that won't affect you.

 

- 10 mins to 30 mins from gangway to terminal exit is the average.

 

JB 🙂 

[mconthehighseas]

That was fast!  I'm used to waiting a day for one answer, and I got lots - thanks to all of you.
Thank you John Bull, your replies make the others make more sense to me. 
I appreciate all the info you include.

The cruise starts in Iceland, so it is international. We will be in Brugge/Bruges the day before.

We arrive on a Sunday, so I'm guessing that will mean more ships in port, but I will look that up.
We will be on the Norwegian Prima, which is bigger than many ships, but not the biggest.
We aren't catching a plane, so we don't need to be anywhere at a specific time.

So the biggest question will be when will the ship schedule us to debark, and that could get decided as late as the day before.
 

Thank you all again

[John Bull]

8 hours ago, mconthehighseas said:

That was fast!  I'm used to waiting a day for one answer, and I got lots - thanks to all of you.
Thank you John Bull, your replies make the others make more sense to me. 
I appreciate all the info you include.

The cruise starts in Iceland, so it is international. We will be in Brugge/Bruges the day before.

We arrive on a Sunday, so I'm guessing that will mean more ships in port, but I will look that up.
We will be on the Norwegian Prima, which is bigger than many ships, but not the biggest.
We aren't catching a plane, so we don't need to be anywhere at a specific time.

So the biggest question will be when will the ship schedule us to debark, and that could get decided as late as the day before.
 

Thank you all again

 

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

 

JB 🙂

[Jaymuxman]

We were on a transatlantic from Fort Lauderdale. We had driver pick us up at 9:15 am and were at LHR by 10:40. We were in no hurry to disembark since we knew we were being picked at 9:15 am.

 

[milolii]

Good thread.  We disembark in July.  

We will walk off with our luggage. 
Island Princess, 2200 passengers

US citizens

We arrive from Greenock (two days before) 

We scheduled the driver for 0800, is this reasonable?

Ty 

[Bob++]

On 5/18/2023 at 1:44 PM, mconthehighseas said:

The cruise starts in Iceland, so it is international. We will be in Brugge/Bruges the day before.

We arrive on a Sunday, so I'm guessing that will mean more ships in port, but I will look that up.
We will be on the Norwegian Prima, which is bigger than many ships, but not the biggest.
We aren't catching a plane, so we don't need to be anywhere at a specific time.

So the biggest question will be when will the ship schedule us to debark, and that could get decided as late as the day before.

It's entirely up to you, but I would be in no great hurry to get ashore. When we arrive at Southampton, we have our car parked in the adjacent car park so we take our time, have some breakfast, and by the time we make our way down the ramps, all the hurry-up-and-go people have left. You will have to get through passport control/immigration but customs, as JB said, are normally pretty perfunctory.