|
Also check www.directferries.com as I managed to book a crossing this week for less than if I'd used Norfolk Lines own website. www.ferrysavers.com is another similar site.
|
I have just booked a week away in July, going out on Speedferries for £39 and coming back on Eurotunnel for £55. Not bad I didnt think.
As for question 2 on breakdown cover, the last time I got it (my current Alfa has 3 yrs AA inc European) I bought it from Eurotunnel even though I didnt cross with them, they were the cheapest at the time, worth a try.
|
Do the reasonable prices quoted above and the mention of fares being at an 'historic low' relate only to Dover crossings and the tunnel? I ask because my experience - my expat friends also - of fares on the western channel, ie via Brittany Ferries after the demise of P and O on the Portsmouth-Le Havre route, is that prices have have rocketed.
Lots of people from my part of south western France now seem to be putting up with the extra driving and using Speedferries. Am I right in thinking they still use hovercraft? I only ask because it used to be said that hovercraft can damage car suspension, even on a short trip.
|
The western channel routes are indeed expensive. I am actually going from near Portsmouth to the Loire, but going via Dover. The price I got for the Portsmouth crossing was £260 single, so the extra 200 miles or so isn't going to cost the £221 saving!!
Speedferries uses a catamaran, no one uses hovercrafts across the channel anymore.
|
Just a word of warning to anyone that gets seasick. The catamarans are absolutely horrendous in anything other than calm seas. I had one of the most miserable hours of my life coming back Calais - Dover a couple of years ago on a hoverspeed cat. I was feeling hugely sick the whole way, and everytime it crashed through a wave, another buckets worth of icy seawater was thrown over me.
Horrible time, and it absolutely ruined the suit I was wearing. Oh if I had only thought to take some motion-sickness pills beforehand. I've now told work that I'll swim if necessary, but I'm not going on a cat again!
G
|
|
|
The western channel routes are indeed expensive. I am actually going from near Portsmouth to the Loire, but going via Dover. The price I got for the Portsmouth crossing was £260 single, so the extra 200 miles or so isn't going to cost the £221 saving!!
You should try LD LInes. I'm travelling to Le Havre on Sunday and it has cost me £197.00 return - £30 is for my dog - with a cabin out and Club Class return. Far cheaper than Brittany Ferries who wanted over £400 to Caen, and that included the discount for their Property Owner's Club.
|
|
Cheers for that Robbie. Very reasonable, but I've booked now, plus not that convinient for this trip but worth bearing in mind for future crossings.
|
Norfolk Line have a special promo on now, just got the Email.
I have started to use them since PO hiked the charges, despite the longer crossing time, the unloading has been quicker so the actual time penalty is small. The worse bit is that the boat frequency is about every 2 hrs. (I just turn up and go, combined with a much later back up booking if it is a busy time).
Food is good value, if not as sophisticated as Langhams restaurant.
Absence of kids is a big plus.
--
pmh (was peter)
|
Yes, thanks Robbie, I'll keep them in mind too.
Have to agree about the peculiar motion of the cats. I used to be a regular - for convenience - on Condor services to the Channel Islands and St Malo and never really got used to it, even when the sea was fairly flat.
|
Forget west country routes - a complete rip off IMHO. I stumped up the thick end of five hundred pounds last year for a return night boat with one of the operators. Never again.
We go Dover using Sea France, cheap at £100 return, reliable, clean, pleasant staff. Nice french feel as well, lovely coffee and pain au chocolate to get the mood going for about 3 euros IIRC. The crossing is about 1 hour 15 mins, just about right to have a bit of a rest before motoring on.
Exiting the port at Dover on return the worst bit. But then you can pretty much take it for granted that you will get held up somewhere now, in this country at least.
|
Just booked a return for car & us in August with SF and was pleasantly surprised that cost was 'only' £115 - a big drop from previous years. The fun is now getting personal and vehicular travel insurance, which will probably be another £180 or so combined.
A pre-existing medical condition makes it difficult to even get a quote.
--
I wasna fu but just had plenty.
|
|
I've just done a trip with LD Lines and it was the most horrific experience I've had on a ferry. Cars were packed in so tight a number were reporting damage, no decent restaurant, most of the staff are Eastern European with scant English; what would happen in an emergency I shudder to think. Also, the boat is the ex- Dover/Calais Aquitaine, which is totally unsuitable IMHO for a 5-hour plus overnight crossing. Only about 60 cabins available in all, so Robbie was very lucky to get one - but he'll be turned out of it 1 hour before docking in Le Havre.
My advice would be not to use them - others may have had better experiences (but unlikely as I understand a report in the Mail has panned them too).
Terry
--
Terry
|
I returned from France on Sunday afternoon with LD Lines and I was pleasantly surprised. The cabin on the outward journey was very comfortable and I slept well. The boat was clean and loading was fine. Having Charley with me we were loaded one of the first and right at the front with plenty of room. I had dinner but was not impressed with the underdone cauliflower in sauce. Breakfast was excellent and you could help yourself to as much as you wanted: eggs, bacon, sausages, hash browns, tomato. The bacon was very good, and not fatty.
The return from Le Havre went well, but I shall be writing to complain about lack of care for loading the car with a pet on board. There is a charge of £30 for a pet and it has to remain in the car for the whole journey. The loaders couldn't have cared less, unlike at Portsmouth, and we were placed in the middle of rows of cars so it was impossible for a check to be made without examining every vehicle. The Information Desk said they did not check pets, unlike P&O who stated in their blurb that staff checked animals during the voyage. Six hours or so is a long time for a dog to be left unattended in a car.
I shall travel with LD Lines again if I receive a satisfactory reply to my complaint.
|
This is a follow up to my last post.
I wrote to LD lines - via e.mail - and had a reply, within an hour, expressing concern and saying Le Havre would be contacted. I have just received a reply from Le Havre apologising and saying that they are improving their service for pet travel and offering me a free crossing for two and Charley.
Excellent result and I can't praise them too highly for the way in which they handled my complaint.
|
Things often go wrong, but how a company responds to complaints is often a good indicator. Hope the free trip goes well, and we'll all benefit from the competition.
As an EFL teacher I'll bear in mind that there is a market in teaching English to their Eastern European staff when I return to the south coast from living abroad.
|
|
I'd have thought HM Customs would get a bit tense about you bringing Charley into the country
|
I'd have thought HM Customs would get a bit tense about you bringing Charley into the country
Have I missed something here?
|
charlie has a meaning in slang.
try googling for charlie drugs
|
charlie has a meaning in slang. try googling for charlie drugs
I must have led a very sheltered life);
|
|
|
most of the staff are Eastern European with scant English;what would happen in an emergency I shudder to think. Also, the boat is the ex- Dover/Calais Aquitaine, which is totally unsuitable IMHO for a 5-hour plus overnight crossing. Only about 60 cabins available in all, so Robbie was very lucky to get one - but he'll be turned out of it 1 hour before docking in Le Havre.
The staff are Poruguese, not East Europeans. Although I suppose the Portuguese language is easily mistaken for such.
I wouldn't take your advice about not using LD Lines. Have you ever travelled with Brittany Ferries? It's nigh on impossible to get out of your car as they are packed so tightly. BF don't respond to complaints, in my experience..
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
