Fans Queue for Hours to Book TT 2026 Crossings

It’s TT ticket day and the great online queue has returned.

TT fans hoping to book their ferry travel for the 2026 races faced virtual gridlock this morning, with some reporting wait times of up to four hours on the Isle of Man Steam Packet website.

The company released bookings for all 2026 sailings at 8.30am today (Monday), covering the full TT fortnight — with practice week set to run from May 25 to 31 and race week from June 1 to 7.

But with demand surging, most users were redirected to a white-screen ‘virtual waiting room’ where a bespoke ‘estimated wait time’ stared back at them like a blank scoreboard at Bray Hill. Oh wait, that’s gone hasn’t it?

One hopeful booker moaned: ‘I’ve been waiting since 7.30am and it’s not changed — still a four hour wait. It needs to be improved.’

Others had a smoother ride, with one punter saying: ‘All sorted for next year! The lady on the phone was very useful and the website didn’t crash like last year!’

The Steam Packet said the virtual queue was needed to manage the volume of traffic and give users ‘the best possible online experience’.

The 2025 TT is just around the corner, but clearly, fans are already racing ahead to 2026.