JayM Posted July 1, 2009 Share Posted July 1, 2009 Hi all, Is it just me or do I get the feeling I'm getting ripped off? Regards my planned 2 week trip to France in September. Could someone please tell me the cheapest and best way to go. I have gone on to lots of sites to get a quote and all I'm getting is £400-£550 for a crossing. I only want to cross the channel not take shares in it! We are members of the Caravan club and I have just got a quote for £442 from Portsmouth to Le Harve. We are in Southampton so the ferries are on my doorstep at Portsmouth. But I think I will be driving to Dover to catch the train unless someone can convince me otherwise. It would be interesting to see how you guys get on when you cross. P.S ( I hope I don't get the attentions of Handyman to accuse me of being a "Skinflint") Only joking, your views are welcome as well Handyman, what would we do without you. Happy driving John & Mary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordThornber Posted July 1, 2009 Share Posted July 1, 2009 Try this lot.. http://www.ferrysavers.co.uk/?gclid=CMnztObr9JcCFc0a3godbG6iCQ I think you'll find most folk, (well some would argue just for the sake of it), would agree that there is no "right" time to book a ferry. My experiences are varied but have always found booking relatively late as you are, is dearer. We were once faced with paying £350 for the crossing you mention, my wife rang me to say the website was showing £150 and should she book it, answer, YES!! A couple of days later it was back to £350. So generally, earlier booking is cheaper, in my opinion. Martyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
messerschmitt owner Posted July 1, 2009 Share Posted July 1, 2009 my experience is that P&O are currently cheapest on Dover - Calais (£75 in July return and £75 in December return) - LD lines fast ferry to Boulogne is close at about £95. I gave up using Portsmouth once P&O gave up there as the price doubled overnight with the new operators and has remained extortionate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Momma Posted July 1, 2009 Share Posted July 1, 2009 I booked my ferry crossing to Spain (in 3 weeks time) through the Caravan Club. At the time of booking (9 months ago) there were early booking deals which I received. A few months later when the Ferry company isued it's new 2009 sailings schedule it offered further 'early booking' discounts which, unbeknown to me were better than the original deal that I had received. The first that I knew about it was when the Caravan Club wrote to me and advised that they had cancelled my original booking and then re-booked at the better discounted rate, everything else remained the same, time and dates of sailing, cabin class etc. Well done the caravan club as I would not have been any the wiser if it had remained unchanged. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randonneur Posted July 1, 2009 Share Posted July 1, 2009 Try the new fast ferry with LD Lines from Dover to Boulogne, they are now taking motorhomes, there was 1 lorry on so we asked if they took motorhomes and the answer was yes. We used them to come back to France in a car and they were excellent, they had only just started running that weekend so everything was new, even the ship/boat whatever they class it as. Martin checked on the price in July as we had already booked with P & O just to compare and it was £48 one way so I presume a return is going to work out cheaper. I can thoroughly recommend it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordThornber Posted July 1, 2009 Share Posted July 1, 2009 messerschmitt owner - 2009-07-01 10:20 AM I gave up using Portsmouth once P&O gave up there as the price doubled overnight with the new operators and has remained extortionate. Of course what you consider extortionate may be my polar opposite, but I don't consider LD Lines to be extortionate by any stretch. In fact, on the whole we've found them to better value than P&O. A frequent sail we make is Le Havre to Portsmouth single and whilst we've not always been able to take the sailing due to it's crossing time, it's been as cheap as £110. Not bad in my opinion for a 6hrs+ sailing. Perhaps you need to have another look at their prices or am I out of touch? Martyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aj8one Posted July 1, 2009 Share Posted July 1, 2009 Off to france /spain this sunday dover calias p& o ferry 3.45am return 25th july 18.00 booked 6 weeks ago via caravan club site cost £75.20 result alan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
messerschmitt owner Posted July 1, 2009 Share Posted July 1, 2009 Martyn I looked - £330 for 16 July to 24 July - which outweighs the hassle of travelling to Dover for a £75 crossing. Having a 4.6tonner which is 7.54m long and 3.15m high has its disadvantages at times ;) I know le havre is closer to me, closer to paris too, the Normandy coast is nicer than the Pas de Calais but this year it is Pas de Calais on a £75 fare - I'll only use an extra £50 in fuel tops to go to Dover and back, so total is £125 as opposed to £330. Their Boulogne fast ferry was £91 and if I'd known I would have booked it over the P&O ferry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted July 1, 2009 Share Posted July 1, 2009 As ever, you will need to do your research. Simple general principles are:1 Do not book through any intermediaries.2 Whenever possible try to travel mid week.3 Travel out after 12:00.4 Travel home before 14:00.5 Be prepared to travel to Dover.1 Is because most of them (i.e. the clubs) tend to have allocations at discounted prices, so will not have access to the lowest price crossings. A further disadvantage is that if you need to travel at a different date from that booked you cannot change the booking yourself, because the club (or whoever) is the booker, and only the booker can make changes.2, 3, 4 and 5 Is because that is where the cheapest fares tend to be. When you get onto the P&O, Seafrance or Norfolk Lines sites, be prepared to play around with different times and days. Also, do read the conditions attaching to the various "flexible" tickets on offer, as the extra cost of a flexible ticket may be more than the penalty charge for changing an inflexible ticket. (You'll see what I mean! :-)) The ferry operators think they are running airlines, and price tickets according to demand at the time you book. Thus, if a particular ferry is getting full, the price of a ticket rises. However, that ferry may only be full because a group travelling together have all booked onto it. The one before, or after, or at the same time the next day, or different operator's ferry, may be nearly empty, and thus cheaper.We live closer to Newhaven than Dover, but Newhaven-Dieppe is currently being operated by LD Lines (Louis Dreyfus Armateurs), and it is far cheaper to cross via Dover. It doesn't take that much longer overall, as the book in time at Newhaven is 90 minutes (I kid you not!) whereas at Dover it is around 30 minutes. The N-D crossing is around 4 hours, and D-C is about 90 minutes. We can drive to Newhaven in well under an hour, whereas Dover takes about two hours. So, to France via Newhaven; say six hours from leaving home, and via Dover; say four and a half hours from leaving home, albeit about 90 minutes driving time further North. However, if you take say, Rouen, as a first destination, the result is roughly parity in travelling times whereas, the last time I looked, the ticket was around £100 cheaper via Dover, less a bit for fuel. We are not in a hurry, and even with the euro at its present value £100 is the price of a very good meal in France for two. No-brainer, innit? :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Posted July 1, 2009 Share Posted July 1, 2009 I would add that taking a monster motorhome with a garage is exceedingly cheaper than taking a moderate motorhome with a trailer. Dover - Calais wins every time but you need to compare on-line prices and phone line prices for both P&O and SeaFrance. C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordThornber Posted July 1, 2009 Share Posted July 1, 2009 Brian quite rightly says don't use intermediaries for two good reasons. However, in my experience of using them, (3 times), it has been a positive experience and that's why I put the link in for Ferrysavers. They've been around for a while now in case you may not know. If you're someone who may have an extreme/moderate risk aversion regarding making alterations to your booking, don't use them. If you're quite confident in making your sailing time, use them. Providing of course that they're more competitive than booking with a club or direct for that matter. The three occasions I've used them I've saved between 10% - 15%. Martyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
W3526602 Posted July 1, 2009 Share Posted July 1, 2009 Hi, We live in Swansea, a long way from Dover, have a cottage just a few miles from St Malo. Would you believe it is QUICKER door to door, to take the tunnel. And that is without breaking any speed limits. And by the time you have a few TESCO vouchers, its a lot cheaper. Our latest trip back started at 20.30 hours, cos were were bored siting around waiting. We poodled thru France, scarcely saw another vehicle. Arrived at Calais in time for a cup of coffee before they let us onto a train a long time before we were scheduled to depart. I think they got a woman out of bed so she could check our dog. Then we had to waste time in UK, as we were stopping over at our daughter's in Milton Keynes, and didn't want to delay them leaving for work at 0900 hours. 602 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michele Posted July 1, 2009 Share Posted July 1, 2009 Don't know if its the cheapest or one of the best ways . WE use the Tunnel we buy 10 trips costing 390. So £39 each time we cross in the car if you take the M/H then they add on £9 E/Way . £390 and you can travel anytime so when we book ours for the year we always jump straight in with the summer holiday dates . Lots of people on here do it . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bounty hunter Posted July 1, 2009 Share Posted July 1, 2009 We are booked to sail via P&O, Dover - Calais return, in Sept and paid £82 for an 8 metre van. Have just put same dates and times in and quoted price is now £75. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trooper Posted July 1, 2009 Share Posted July 1, 2009 WE travel with sea France, 3 returns in a year, travel when we like except certain peak periods, get you on present or next ferry, cost us £32 per crossing, used one return so far this year. This works well for as as we don't have to plan any dates. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JayM Posted July 2, 2009 Author Share Posted July 2, 2009 bounty hunter - 2009-07-01 9:47 PM We are booked to sail via P&O, Dover - Calais return, in Sept and paid £82 for an 8 metre van. Have just put same dates and times in and quoted price is now £75. John Well!! That sorts that one out then doesn't it. I was hell bent on going going from Portsmouth because of my plans.I finish work on Friday at 18.00pm, I was hoping for a 22.00 hrs crossing or there abouts as I'm only 20mins from port. But having to pay £500 for a crossing has put paid to that. But all you lovely guys have decided this for us. With all your help and suggestions we've decided to go from Calais,now whether thats by ferry or train we don't know yet, probably ferry. So I'm going now to do a bit more detective work and the next time I write will be to let you know what I've done- probably sailing from Poole! Thanks again for all your comments. Happy driving John & Mary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralph Posted July 2, 2009 Share Posted July 2, 2009 Booked with P&O for September. £62.50 return, Dover / Calais, 7 metre van. Do I get the prize for the cheapest crossing (or biggest skinflint)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Posted July 2, 2009 Share Posted July 2, 2009 Hi we live in Southampton as well but are using the Tunnel for our trip to France in August going out on 3rd returning 27th with our 11m RV and small tow-car. Total cost £269.00p LD Lines Portsmouth - LeHavre £765.85p Brittainy Ferries Portsmouth - Caen £598.00p Sea France Dover - Calais £358.00p Norfolkline Dover - Dunkirk £287.00p Regards Pat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.