BOUDICCA, QUEEN ELIZABETH, BALMORAL & ORIANA - 5 Jan 2012
A very windy day saw BOUDICCA, BALMORAL, QUEEN ELIZABETH and ORIANA at Southampton. BOUDICCA was supposed to have called at Portsmouth initially to disembark her passengers and then sail up to Southampton's QE II Terminal later in the morning to embark passengers for her next cruise. However she went straight to Southampton berthing at Ocean Terminal 46 just before 06:00 and QUEEN ELIZABETH berthed shortly thereafter at QE II Terminal. ORIANA at Mayflower Terminal 106 and BALMORAL at City Terminal 101 had arrived earlier.
The tug VORTEX was keeping BOUDICCA alongside. Perhaps the swap in terminals was due to the strong winds [ WNW 40 kph gusting 67 kph at 13:00], BOUDICCA being smaller and therefore less prone to windage. Other vessels alongside included THV PATRICIA, EEMS SKY, ENFORCER, MAPLE ISLAND, HMS DARING and just caught AUTOSTAR departing. [ORIANA departed on her world cruise approx 18:30] 5 January 2010