Cruise parking with a roof box: how it works

Some cruise customers arrive at Southampton with a roof box (top box, cargo box) mounted on the roof of the car. This is common for family cruises and longer trips where the boot capacity is not enough. The parking process works, with one specific consideration: vehicle height. This page covers it.

The basics

Yes, you can park a car with a roof box for a Southampton cruise. The roof box stays attached during storage in our compound.

The handover process is the standard 2-minute walk-around plus body-cam record of the walk-around.

The height surcharge

A standard car is under 2 metres in height. A car with a roof box mounted is often taller.

If your vehicle plus roof box is over 2 metres in height, the oversize vehicle surcharge applies. The surcharge is typically £3 to £5 per day, shown at booking.

If your vehicle plus roof box is under 2 metres, no surcharge. Most modest roof boxes on standard saloons or hatchbacks come in under the limit; some larger boxes on tall SUVs do not.

If you are unsure, measure the total height before booking and add it to the booking notes. We confirm the surcharge applies (or does not) before card details.

What to put in the roof box

The roof box is part of the vehicle for storage purposes. Anything in the roof box stays there during the cruise.

Two things worth thinking about:

Items you might need on the cruise. If your cruise gear is in the roof box rather than the boot, you need to unload it at the cruise terminal before handover. The driver assists if needed.

Items you do not need on the cruise. Camping gear, walking sticks, kit you will not use. These can stay in the roof box.

The roof box is not insured separately from the vehicle. Anything inside is at the same risk as anything in the boot (i.e., not covered by our public liability insurance for theft of contents).

On the day

A typical pattern with a roof box:

• Drive to the cruise terminal with the roof box mounted.
• At the short-stay car park, our driver does the body-cammed walk-around, noting the roof box.
• The body-cam record of the walk-around captures the roof box condition.
• You unload anything from the box you want for the cruise.
• Keys to the driver.

The driver then takes the car (with the roof box) to our compound. The roof box stays mounted for the duration.

On return

Same process in reverse. The car returns with the roof box, the contents you left, and the standard return walk-around.

What about taking the roof box off

A few customers prefer to remove the roof box before handover (e.g., they only used it for the drive to Southampton with extra gear). This is fine but you do it; we do not remove roof boxes.

If you do remove it at the terminal, you need somewhere to leave it (in the car if it fits, or with friends who came to drop you off). It is rare for customers to do this.

What does not work

A few things:

• Vehicles that exceed our compound's maximum height even with the roof box removed. Very tall vehicles (some motorhomes, oversized vans) do not fit our compound regardless. Flag at booking.

• Loose items strapped to the roof. The roof box itself is fine. Loose items strapped to the roof are not parking-friendly.

• Bikes on a roof bar. Bikes on a roof rack add height. If the bike-plus-rack-plus-roof exceeds 2 metres, oversize surcharge applies, plus we cannot insure the bikes themselves.

Booking

The quote returns the standard rate. The booking flow asks for vehicle dimensions; add a note about the roof box if you want to confirm the height calculation.

For specific questions about a vehicle plus roof-box situation, the contact page has the office number.