Santander Ferry

vindiboy said:
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 !!

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It's a fair cop ! We are softies and were thrown out of Yorkshire for complaining about the weather .

We overwinter down here and then set off North when the weather warms up , full timing for half the year .

Our van is winterised and we needed all of it when we were blown off Islay in Mid Sept and spent 5 days ,mid Oct, at the Marsden Jazz festival ,in the Pennines .

We have all our fun and adventures over the summer and , after all that ,just wish for a relaxed and boring journey back .... Cos we are Knackered !

Hope your adventures are all pleasant ones .
 
Hamburg ferry

I did the Cookshaven (Hamburg) ferry to Felixstowe when it still ran and thought I had the cabin to myself until I went back down there after supper and found five hairy arsed blokes in the other beds!
 
mark61 said:
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.
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Thanks Mark, but I just tried again and the LD Lines website says that they will be taking 2014 bookings from 10th December.

The Aferry.com site would give me an outward trip for Jan 2014 but nothing after Jan.
 
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We came back from Spain on the Pont Aven last September and very pleasant it was too. Everyone said it would be rough actually it was as smooth a crossing as anything, maybe we were just lucky.
If you wanted to be a real cheapscape you could save money by not booking a cabin and take your sleeping-bag and settle down on one of the many settees. We saw quite a few people doing this, no problems. They have toilets with showers in too.
I was baffled by the prices in the 'duty free' shop, much cheaper to get whisky in my local Sainsburys. Can't understand why they still bother.
 
We are sailing plymouth to roscoff in May.£358 return, 7 metre burstner, including overnight cabin on way over....this looks a good deal, Brittany ferries through caravan club
 
kennya said:
We are sailing plymouth to roscoff in May.£358 return, 7 metre burstner, including overnight cabin on way over....this looks a good deal, Brittany ferries through caravan club
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Looks like a brilliant deal.
 
We are also considering trying this crossing around Jan/Feb time, thinking of just booking one way & worry about which way to come back when we are sitting in the sunshine. Done the long drive down for the last 7 years since we retired, tried various routes, had our share of good & bad weather, done it by having a few long days driving & also taking a couple of weeks. Now just want to get somewhere & park up for at least a month to just relax. Probably have a bit of time on a campsite, wildcamped most of the time on previous trips but for a nice relaxed break it is nice to be parked up with a hook up, & spend the time doing other things than trying to find somewhere nice to stop.
 
Poole - Santander

Last time I looked LD Lines said that their 2014 schedule would be available to book online from 10th December. Now it says it will be available from 13th December. Is anyone intending to use this crossing in 2014 and if so have you booked it yet with anyone?
 
Eurotunnel?...

Having sailed from Zeebrugge to Dover in a Force 10 some 37 yrs ago, when 2 young children (not mine) threw-up across my plate of burgers, chips and beans before we had left the quayside and after I sailed from Hook of Holland to Felixtowe on a Sea-Cat more recently, when crew members were sat huddled in a circle on the floor of the Duty Free Shop, to the sound of smashing crockery, I became acutely aware of the need to find a method of transport which would not effect my semi-circular canals quite as much, and bingo, I found it this summer.

It's called 'EuroTunnel', brilliant, you simply drive to Dover, drive on the train, the doors close and ~1hr 10 minutes later you're in Calais, the train stops, you drive off and head South, couldn't be easier.

And the bonus is, you will probably still have your breakfast where it is supposed to be as you disembark, and not clutched in a brown-paper bag for immenent disposal.

Give it a try, you won't be disappointed.

Captain Biggles :plane:
 
We came back via Eurostar (-the van :( ) this year and we where very impressed with the speed of of it, if not the luxury. A bit basic but clean.

Richard
 
I do not agree with you,fares are set at a profitable rate,shop prices are ridiculous,food and coffee on the ferries in our experience is abismal,no wonder people take their own,we have only done the shorter crossings ie Dover. Calais or Dunkerque and Newhaven Dieppe and Portsmouth Caen so Don,t know about other crossings,but suspect things are much the same.
 
Whilst on the subject of booking ferries....Ive often wondered......Theres a note on the booking Brittany Ferries form ,which says all overnight crossings must have a cabin booked and when all the cabins are allocated,then you can book a seat. Is there really a point in the booking 'window' at which this occurs? e.g. the last 100 bookings or something,before boat capacity is reached,but cabins have gone?
Also,...we've never used a ferry,always Eurotunnel. It seems so easy,quick and smooth and you can even have a quick nap if needed . Access to the roads south is very simple for this old git to follow! But we might try Newhaven/dieppe with the over 60's discount ,this year.It will save about £15 on fuel and also save time on the journey south.
 
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Looking at the LD Lines Ferry operating the Poole-Santander crossing I think it could be a very long 26 hours. The ship has a small bar, a self service cafeteria, a cinema and a small duty free shop.
On the question of drink prices all ferries are making excess profits on there alcohol. Bar prices are higher than Wetherspoons, which is incredible when you bear in mind they are buying duty free. As a lad visiting my father on board ship he would not allow me to have dry ginger in my Scotch as it was more expensive than Scotch.
 
Well,bu***r me ,I went to have a look at the Brit Ferry site,and youre right! I mustve read that the first time about 2 yrs ago,and glazed over it each time afterwards! I was thinking accomodation meant 'cabin' !What a pillock(I am!) Thanks!:)
 
Right in the high season,July 2014! Portsmouth to Santander/Bilbao. Oh well ,we'll go that way in 2015 then!(and i'll book it very early!)
 
I am afraid I can't show the same enthusiasm as others for a particular ferry company. I take a return crossing of the Southern Channel at least once a fortnight, and to be honest I want a bed, a meal and, on a night crossing, a night cap. Everyone down to the local transport caff serves fresh coffee nowadays, even Wetherspoons manage it, but I have to say that LD Lines full English breakfast doesn't need reheating in a microwave provided by the ferry for the purpose.
 
I help out a friend by driving a Sprinter when his regular guys can't. It is a bind, because it means I have had to register as self employed and go through the ritual of completing accounts and self assessment, all for a few £'000's a year, but it gets me out.
As a freight driver on a crossing taking in excess of 4 hours they have to provide a berth in a 4 berth cabin. I have never shared with more than one other on LD but regularly get crammed in with 3 others on Brittany, presumably to make room for the tourist trade, and as their cabins are smaller, and on the Normandie noisier with car alarms going off all night, it is less comfortable.
 
I don't think I understand the your comment on cabins. Drivers use the same inside cabins as anyone else who are prepared to pay for them and everyone is lumped in together, at least I hope so if the noises coming from adjacent cabins are anything to go by. On the Mont St. Michel we use the cabins on decks 7 and 8, and on the Normandie on decks 5 and 6. That is the problem, in so far as they will, understandably, sell the space to make a few quid in the summer and then beg freight to use them in winter, when they are the only people around.
 
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