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I'm thinking about using the Dover - Boulogne crossing in a few weeks and I wondered what the service was like. Do any Backroomers have any experiences or views they'd like to share?
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I have used the Portsmouth - Le Havre route a few times. That vessel is an old P+O Dover ship, so fairly dated interior. UK and Polish officers, Portuguese in the kitchens, bars etc. Pretty efficient all round, though.
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Dover Boulogne is a new route with a 1 hour crossing on a High Speed ferry SFAIK. Haven't seen any reviews yet and it is pricey - I have checked!
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>>Dover Boulogne is a new route with a 1 hour crossing on a High Speed ferry SFAIK. Haven't seen any reviews yet and it is pricey - I have checked!
Are you sure? I thought it's now a two hour crossing with LD Lines. It used to be just under an hour with Speedferries but they went bust what with the fuel prices going north and their monster monster engines. They owe me one crossing ticket and I keep getting the emails from the administrators saying as an unsecured creditor I won't be getting too much of that back! Shame as Speedferries really did bring down the cross Channel prices but now they're gone it's becoming more expensive. I now use Norfolk Line, Dover to Dunkerque and enjoy the leisurely dawdle and an easy potter down to Boulogne in a leisurely 30 - 35 minutes.
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I am probably slightly wrong about the timing of the journey. They are using this
www.ldlines.co.uk/norman-arrow.html
and the sailings from Dover are under 4 hours apart so they are crossing to Blgn, docking, unloading/loading and getting back to Dover, unloading and re -loading in 3 3/4 hours overall so that actual crossing time can't be much over an hour.
Edited by Armitage Shanks {p} on 12/06/2009 at 23:28
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The fast ferry is actually one hour each way
www.ldlines.co.uk/dover-boulogne.html
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As a former Speedferries user, I tried LD Lines about six weeks ago coming from France and as NeilS says it was a slow old ferry taking almost two hours. What was noticeable is that it took them an age to dock it in Boulogne although it left on time and was quick enough at the Dover end. I think a faster boat may be promised for the summer but I shall probably go back to Norfolk Line as Dunkirk has a varied choice of restaurants and is quite pleasant these days.
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OK ... a few things as a regular user of the LD Lines Dover-Boulogne service.
Firstly, the "traditional" ship, Cote D'Albatre is relatively new, built around 2005/2006 if I remeber rightly. It is liveried as Transmanche Ferries and was transferred to the new route from Newhaven-Dieppe in February when the new route started. It can get a bit crowded on peak sailings, but is generally OK. Catering facilities are limited, though. The crossing takes 1h 45min, but with docking and unloading I usually reckon that from leaving port to driving off at the other end it's more like 2h 15m
As of last Saturday (6 June) the new High Speed Catamaran, Norman Arrow was introduced. This is the largest vessel of its type in Europe, and any comparisons with the old Speedferries Speed One should be forgotten! Journey time port to port is 1 hour.
As for fares, as with all of the ferry operators, fare structures are demand-driven. I recently managed to get a return crossing on Norman Arrow booked for August at £55 return, but have also paid considerably more because I left booking later than I should have done.
Berthing time in Boulogne should become less of an issue once the whole operation moves to the new ro-ro terminal there, which is due to pen in July.
Just as an aside, watch out for a new Ramsgate-Boulogne high-speed service proposed to by run by a company called Euroferries. It's been a long time coming, and still not finally confirmed, but their vessel has been spotted in the Canary Islands in new Euroferries livery. Nothing much on their website yet, but if it happens, it should make prices even more competitive.
Hope this is helpful ... I've suddenly realised that I must be turning into a ferry geek!
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Thanks to all for your replies. On balance I think I will use another service this time but look again for a trip in September.
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