rmab Posted October 6, 2008 Share Posted October 6, 2008 Hi all I am a bit new to all of this and wondered if there was any advice on ferry crossings and how to get a good deal. We plan to do Portsmouth / Bilbao next July and wondered if there were any tips or advice that would help with the planning? Such as WHEN to book the ferry and WHO to book it through. We are members of the Caravan Club, have a Unity Card or could just book on line. Any thoughts much appreciated. Richard ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patricia Posted October 6, 2008 Share Posted October 6, 2008 I usually "shop around" online to see who is giving the good deals but also use P&O a lot as I have concessions. Lots of people I know swear by the Caravan Club or the Camping and Caravanning Club. Some use the Camping Cheques booking service also. Obviously if you have decided to travel to Bilbao there is only one carrier, P&O, and they often have good deals in December and January. Having said that July is about as expensive as you can get! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David B Posted October 6, 2008 Share Posted October 6, 2008 Brittany ferries are starting up a Portsmouth to Santander service in ?April? 2009 I believe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted October 6, 2008 Share Posted October 6, 2008 A waste of money IMO, you can drive down for a fraction of the cost and its a lot more pleasant then the Bay of Biscay.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colinfrier Posted October 6, 2008 Share Posted October 6, 2008 Don't accept you can do the trip at a fraction of the cost Fuel.Tolls,Ferry etc to Bilbao would be about £350 ish let alone wear and tear on you vehicle so returns at non peak times look like good value and it's a pleasent trip. Colin Frier Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted October 6, 2008 Share Posted October 6, 2008 A July return is over £1000.But its not only the money Pleasant? I disagree, I have done it only the once and vowed never to again. Lots of drunks on cheap returns thinking they are on a cruise.... combined with bad weather and said drunks throwing up, no thanks! *-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Dwight Posted October 6, 2008 Share Posted October 6, 2008 I agree with judgemental. £350 will buy even at todays prices around 1800miles worth of fuel, Ferry approx £85 what tolls, your on holiday why use motorways. Anyway the drive down through France is part of the Holiday. I have just had a quote for Ferry to France first week Dec £55 for the car then thought what will it be for the Motorhome? the same price. £1000 for ferry fare alone, thats half the cost of our 2 month trip to France last year. David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ron. Posted October 6, 2008 Share Posted October 6, 2008 Have to agree with a lot that has been said already. We used to do this trip often but now drive it, even in the winter. Costs aside, we found the trip itself not very nice, with on P&O at least, pokey, unclean and smelly cabins. Even upgrading to a suite we had to find someone to clean it properly, which is when we gave up on them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bertieburstner Posted October 6, 2008 Share Posted October 6, 2008 Going to France is great if you have the time. If you are on a limited break (we have 2 weeks max) it's along way to get to Spain. Two days minimum on v. boring motorways. Agree with p & o last time we went on Portsmouth Bilbao loads thought they were on a real cruise and dressed up for the evening. Unfortunately they then proceeded to get very very drunk. Then the captain announced the toilets were blocked! They didn't work for about 3 hours. We began to get very worried! Trouble is Brittany is expensive. :-( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmab Posted October 6, 2008 Author Share Posted October 6, 2008 Yes just looked and it's £894, but with a two week window and Spain as our target for this holiday I would choose not to drive down (done several times before). Will try the Caravan Club though. Any tips for driving in Spain in a motorhome for a newbie? Richard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parkmoy Posted October 6, 2008 Share Posted October 6, 2008 Any tips for driving in Spain in a motorhome for a newbie? I've just done 3000 miles in Spain and I found the roads brilliant. Lots of motorways/dual carriageways and mostly toll free if you keep away from the eastern side. Cruise control really proved its worth on them. Even the smaller roads seemed well surfaced and very empty when compared to ours. I found the Spanish drivers mostly very good though they don't seem to take much notice of your indicators 8-) If you're RHD just get your passenger to watch your blind spot closely when changing lanes. There also seemed to be a penchant in some places for going through on red at pedestrian crossings when they weren't being used. Overall I found it quite a relaxing experience with maybe the Madrid ring road a bit more stressful (lol) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hopesy Posted October 6, 2008 Share Posted October 6, 2008 Got to say we came back from Bilbao to Portsmouth and yes it's more expensive but we thought it was am excellent end to our holiday very relaxing (perhaps we had a good crossing and it allowed us a bit of extra time in the sun!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colinfrier Posted October 6, 2008 Share Posted October 6, 2008 Driving in Spain 1st rule DRIVE ON THE RIGHT Keep high viz jackets easyily to hand for all passengers,2 warning triangles,spare bulbs,all vehicle docs with you,Spanish drivers are courteous but eratic expect the unexpected carefull if going off main roads town centres and villages can be very narrow!! lights on in tunnels,Garda don't issue warnings just fines so watch speed limits they often reduce 100.80,60,40 kph on the main road when nearing a junction favorite spot for speed traps.Seat belts and drink driving. Don't be scared it all common sense realy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malc d Posted October 6, 2008 Share Posted October 6, 2008 rmab - 2008-10-06 5:16 PM Yes just looked and it's £894, but with a two week window and Spain as our target for this holiday I would choose not to drive down (done several times before). Will try the Caravan Club though. Any tips for driving in Spain in a motorhome for a newbie? Richard Make sure you've got reflective jackets for all on board which you must put on if you get out on the road. I'm also pretty sure that it's one country where you are obliged to carry spare spectacles if you wear them for driving. :-| Sorry - I see I have duplicated the jacket bit from previous post :-( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel B Posted October 7, 2008 Share Posted October 7, 2008 We used to use MTC (originally called Motorhome Ticket Club) as they could usually beat everyone else's prices for ferries. As we now use Tesco vouchers for the Chunnel we don't bother with the ferry at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted October 8, 2008 Share Posted October 8, 2008 As mentioned by Mel B, we use MTC for ferry bookings http://www.ferrytickets.net We travel at quite short notice and choose Portsmouth-commencing crossings and Brittany Ferries (to France not Spain). For us, MTC have proved efficient and seem to offer the best discount that's available. Booking on-line directly with the ferry company will normally only provide undiscounted fares. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ike Posted October 8, 2008 Share Posted October 8, 2008 We too used to use MTC and found then very good. However the C&CC say they will beat any offer and we have used them several times now. We always go dover/Calais. C&CC seem to get a special deal eg if you want to change your booking or cancel they have different/cheaper admin charges than MTC whom last time we used them wanted £25 to change a booking, saying this charge was imposed by the ferry company. Turned out not to be true as we changed the booking ourselves at the port for about £5.ike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.