Santander Ferry

[vindiboy]

I have been looking at A FERRY .COM for a crossing Poole to Santander on 7th Jan 14 one way and for my 6-5 metre van 3 mtrs high van including a cabin came in at £300 DFS, that seems very cheap and would save money on a Dover Calais crossing taking in consideration the mileage and fuel costs. The cabin is a four berth inboard one, an outboard cabin adds £60 to the price, so what happens with the cabin, there are only two of us traveling so would that mean the other two bunks would be taken by strangers ,ie would we have to share it, I can't find any info on the web page and have not done Santander before ? I do not really fancy the long sea crossing but may consider doing it.

 

[Siimplyloco]

I have been looking at A FERRY .COM for a crossing Poole to Santander on 7th Jan 14 one way and for my 6-5 metre van 3 mtrs high van including a cabin came in at £300 DFS, that seems very cheap and would save money on a Dover Calais crossing taking in consideration the mileage and fuel costs. The cabin is a four berth inboard one, an outboard cabin adds £60 to the price, so what happens with the cabin, there are only two of us traveling so would that mean the other two bunks would be taken by strangers ,ie would we have to share it, I can't find any info on the web page and have not done Santander before ? I do not really fancy the long sea crossing but may consider doing it.

We've travelled on LD lines many times, usually Portsmouth - Le havre, and the price is for the cabin. You get to stretch out if there are only two of you! We travelled on Brittany Ferries last March, car and caravan was £507 one way, so the DFDS/LD price is pretty damn good!
John

 

[chrisinbrighton]

That seems very cheap ! Do the allow dogs in certain cabins ? I know when I did Italy Greece they had but needed to be booked way in advance. could not find anything on the DFS website thanks

 

[vindiboy]

That seems very cheap ! Do the allow dogs in certain cabins ? I know when I did Italy Greece they had but needed to be booked way in advance. could not find anything on the DFS website thanks

I don't know about dogs in cabins as I have never done this crossing before and no longer have a dog ,but I would be surprised if dogs were allowed . I believe they have kennels on the ship for dogs but that is just supposition as I think I read about it somewhere and no doubt it would cost money.

 

[Siimplyloco]

That seems very cheap ! Do the allow dogs in certain cabins ? I know when I did Italy Greece they had but needed to be booked way in advance. could not find anything on the DFS website thanks

I looked at it yesterday as we are considering it. No pet facilities at this time. Brittany have great facilities for pets but you get what you pay for...
John

 

[carol]

No way will they expect you to share a cabin! If you pay for a 4 berth it's all yours. Enjoy :wave:

 

[Pauljenny]

We left UK on 9th Nov .
Looked at the reduced sailings and £ 600+ from Pompey and the LD came in at £ 400 + for our 6.5 x3.5 M/H .

Then we checked the weather report and did not fancy vomiting our way to Spain ,thankyou .

Paid £ 47 for the Myferry Dover Calais .Almost had the boat to ourselves .

Civilised drive through France in 3 easy driving days and through Spain... Burgos ... Seville... to The Algarve in 2 more easy days on empty roads , ( Busy round Salamanca and Seville )

The AP1 from San Sebastien to Vitoria avoids the snowline ,which could be a problem now.

Total Tolls 93 € Cost of additional fuel by going through france ... 120 € tops.

Allowed us to have good , cheap lunches in the "Routiers and Hostales ,so no need to do any heavy .in-van evening meals .

And not one sick bag !

 

[vindiboy]

We left UK on 9th Nov .
Looked at the reduced sailings and £ 600+ from Pompey and the LD came in at £ 400 + for our 6.5 x3.5 M/H .

Then we checked the weather report and did not fancy vomiting our way to Spain ,thankyou .

Paid £ 47 for the Myferry Dover Calais .Almost had the boat to ourselves .

Civilised drive through France in 3 easy driving days and through Spain... Burgos ... Seville... to The Algarve in 2 more easy days on empty roads , ( Busy round Salamanca and Seville )

The AP1 from San Sebastien to Vitoria avoids the snowline ,which could be a problem now.

Total Tolls 93 € Cost of additional fuel by going through france ... 120 € tops.

Allowed us to have good , cheap lunches in the "Routiers and Hostales ,so no need to do any heavy .in-van evening meals .

And not one sick bag !

Dover Calais is our usual prefered route too ,and you are right about the rough sea crossing to Santander and I don't use the toll roads so lots of choices here so I have to make a decision soon, I have been looking at Newhaven Dieppe too, I have done this crossing before but it too is a long trip 6 hours as I remember.

Session Ended

 

[Pauljenny]

Calais

Don't envy you .

Northern France looks prety damn chilly . It was no bundle of fun 2 weeks ago, either !

Just clog on until you cross Le Loire . Good luck and have a safe ,boring journey.

 

[vindiboy]

Don't envy you .

Northern France looks prety damn chilly . It was no bundle of fun 2 weeks ago, either !

Just clog on until you cross Le Loire . Good luck and have a safe ,boring journey.

There speaks a fine weather camper LOL,
Yes it does get a tad chilly on the way through France in Winter but that is why we have Winterised vans and heaters isn't it ? Boring ??? never !!

 

[oldpolicehouse]

Hello
I was thinking of this crossing myself and wondered about the 4 berth cabin thing.
I rang up and they assured me a 4 berth cabin booked for only 2 people was for the sole use of 2
Didn't fancy sharing with a couple of strangers.

Blue Skies

 

[antiquesam]

It wasn't so warm in the South of France last week, it was -2 in Toulouse last Thursday night and it must have been around freezing down on the plains in Spain.

 

[maxi77]

That seems very cheap ! Do the allow dogs in certain cabins ? I know when I did Italy Greece they had but needed to be booked way in advance. could not find anything on the DFS website thanks

I don't know about dogs in cabins as I have never done this crossing before and no longer have a dog ,but I would be surprised if dogs were allowed . I believe they have kennels on the ship for dogs but that is just supposition as I think I read about it somewhere and no doubt it would cost money.

Not only do they have kennels but they have excellent dog friendly cabins. The ships are all stabilised

 

[Siimplyloco]

Not only do they have kennels but they have excellent dog friendly cabins. The ships are all stabilised

The Pont Aven has dog kennels on the top deck along with a dog promenade. We used that ferry last March. Visiting/walking your dog in a force 10 would be tricky! The other boat - to Bilbao I think - has a few cabins where you can take your dog with you. Every time I looked they were booked up months ahead!
John

 

[Deleted member 25439]

If this is the new route by LD Lines than I'm not convinced it will actually be running yet. I tried to book a few weeks ago and it wasn't taking bookings. I registered for a newsletter but haven't received anything yet. Just had a look at their site this morning and I still can't book onto it.

 

[mark61]

A friend is booked on that service on the 17 Dec.

Just tried myself and certainly seems they are taking bookings. Went through the process up to make payment point.

 

[shawbags]

There speaks a fine weather camper LOL,
Yes it does get a tad chilly on the way through France in Winter but that is why we have Winterised vans and heaters isn't it ? Boring ??? never !!

View attachment 19058View attachment 19059View attachment 19060View attachment 19061View attachment 19062View attachment 19063

How wonderful it must be to wake up to such beauty whilst tucked up warm in a motorhome , when I first started , waking up to that weather in a VW campervan just didn't seem the same , wake up looking like :sleep-040: freezing my nuts off and drafts coming through every gap , door seals , canvas roof ect , arguing about who was going to get from under the layers of blankets to turn the gas ring on :scared: , them were the days :lol-049: , it funny now but it wasn't then .

 

[El Veterano]

Don't envy you .

Northern France looks prety damn chilly . It was no bundle of fun 2 weeks ago, either !

Just clog on until you cross Le Loire . Good luck and have a safe ,boring journey.

Mate, there's nothing boring about driving through France, they're a load of nutters AND they drive on the wrong side of the road. But I would prefer that to bobbing about like a cork for 24 hours, plus there is no way that it would cost 600 squids in fuel there and back.
Which ever route should be your preference have a safe one

 

[shawbags]

I have been looking at A FERRY .COM for a crossing Poole to Santander on 7th Jan 14 one way and for my 6-5 metre van 3 mtrs high van including a cabin came in at £300 DFS, that seems very cheap and would save money on a Dover Calais crossing taking in consideration the mileage and fuel costs. The cabin is a four berth inboard one, an outboard cabin adds £60 to the price, so what happens with the cabin, there are only two of us traveling so would that mean the other two bunks would be taken by strangers ,ie would we have to share it, I can't find any info on the web page and have not done Santander before ? I do not really fancy the long sea crossing but may consider doing it.

I have been told that sharing is common on other European crossings , Greece , Italy ect , I've never heard of ferries from the UK doing that but I would always check , as you have , just keep ya fingers crossed , £300 is very cheap for such a large motorhome I have a C15 citroen romahome and I was quoted the same price for December ,cheers chris.

 

[shawbags]

Just done a quote with Brittany ferries £344 December 11th , Chris.