Caravan Club 2011 Rates

[Mel B]

stantheman - 2010-11-30 3:51 PM

 

mirage - 2010-11-28 8:56 PM

 

I was at Crystal Palace Caravan Club Site in October...

 

How can you afford to stay inside the 'pollution zone' with a motorhome these days?

 

It obviously depends if you are classed as a 'polluter' or not. I certainly would not go anywhere near if we had an older 'van and had to pay the 'tax'.

[Mike B.]

MOTH - 2010-11-30 9:31 AM

 

I'm afraid that it is simple supply and demand.

If the CC can pretty much fill all of their pitches each year with hundreds if not thousands chasing the more sought after sites, then they will increase the prices.

That said, I shall remain a member as we do enjoy the high standard set by the CC.

That said, the only thing that could tempt me to move to C&CC is if the CC become more dog intolerant. I was reprimanded this autumn because my dog peed against a bit of heather in front of a warden! ( we had just been around the dog walk but "Rowan" my Cairn terrier cocks her leg at everything ) I did tell the wardens that they had gone one step too far in the upkeep of "their" site. >:-(

 

This is rediculous-how was the dog supposed to know it was the wardens turn?!

 

We only stay in because of the CL network and never stay on CC sites-In a motorhome with shower and toilet, why pay the extortionate prices the CC ask for a pitch/person. However on saying that they do save me a fortune on ferry prices which invariably are cheaper than booking direct. As it's £40 membership next year and they have saved me over £300 on ferry fares for next summer I don't think I can complain about the membership fee

Mike

[Arthur Brown]

Hi

This is the second attempt to post a reply. We are members of the CC. We used to be members of the C and CC but for reasons I will not go into here I ceased membership. However, both clubs have to make a charge which sustains their existence. The truth is that whichever club we are members of we wish to partake of the facilities. We have to accept that that price will be at a sustainable level. This may not please us but at least we have sites we can go to. We recently stayed at Crystal Palace and it is useful for access to the capital. Some have made comment of the 'tools' available to staff like the little tractors etc. If we want wardens to provide a good site then we have to accept they need the tools to do it.

I guess the bottom line is that if you don't like it then don't renew your membership. You have the ultimate sanction in relation to your desire. All of that said, stop winging and enjoy whichever club you have membership of. They provide a known expectation and have a forward booking system from which we can enjoy the satisfaction of having a site booked in advance so that tonights stopover is not in question. This is also available from private sites so stop blagging the clubs and book what you want.

End of rant

Art

[rupert123]

Spot on Arthur, if you do not like it do not join. We have not used their sites much this year because most of out time has been spent in europe but when we tour in the UK always use them. Today booked three nights at York and price was £46 which I reckon for site in the town is great value. A couple of years ago we stayed on a CL just off Holy Island and this was £10 with just a hookup and a tap. Rarely use CL's or indeed aires in europe, leave them to people who like to 'slum it'. Incidently Tony the CC do take tents when the site allows it, two I can think of are Edinburgh and Tintagel

[mel wood]

Tony Jones - 2010-11-30 10:04 AM

 

 

Ah, but that's the point - they don't WANT "campers" (ie people with tents), they're not allowed. But nor do they want people who use their caravans or motorhomes the way "campers" do: freedom-loving, minimum rules, spur-of-the moment, short stays, moving on next morning, etc. They want beautifully-manicured little "garden cities," with everything perfect, including the vehicles people stay in, and everything booked and planned well in advance.

 

Tony, unusually for you, you're being somewhat unfair and inaccurate.

 

I don't know if you have ever been a CC member or stayed on CC sites.

 

As has been pointed out by others, some CC sites do provide tent pitches for non-members.

 

More to the point, from September through till this month, we have stayed on number of CC sites for one or two nights. THIS HAS NOT BEEN A PROBLEM. On some occasions we phoned on the day asking if there was a pitch available for one night. (We phoned rather than just turn up because we did not want to arrive, find it full then have to find another site late in the evening.) In ALL cases wardens/assistants were MOST HELPFUL, including when we said we would be arriving after Reception had closed.

 

On other moot point : in January we are going to a baptism in Ellsmere Port which will necessitate an overnight stay nearby on the previous evening. Absolutely NO PROBLEMS booking at CC Cheshire Fairoaks. (We would have stayed at CCC Delamere Forest but because it is a weekend only a minimum of 2 nights is bookable at a CCC site even in Low Season).

 

Neither Club is perfect ( no organisation is) but we find benefits of being in both clubs outweigh any frustrations.

[Rayjsj]

Another thing i like about the Caravan Club are the 'late arrivals area's' (not all sites have them, but quite a lot do) these are available for ANY Member who arrives too late to book in, NOT just ones who have 'Pre-booked' , if the site IS fully booked you can move on in the morning, only paying the 'per person' charge. (just like an 'aire'). Some wardens may not like it (i've only experienced one...but i suspect he was ex CCC). AND they are spending a lot of OUR (members) money back into the Infastructure. And NOT on building 'Holiday lodges'.

Try arriving late (or early) AND 'un-booked' at a CCC site. It's not a pleasant experience.

Ray

[RogP]

not defending them , but you may find their 'actions' are because they are a club and not a business.

 

As a Club they may find it difficult to secure money for their investment in the network so essentially they have to generate their own money. As such they need to then insure they actually have that money when they need hence what appears to be large gold filled coffers.

 

The company I work for was originally club and at one point (about 15 years) we had accumultated £150m sitting in bank accounts and that was becuase we couldn't secure loans to pay for the IT investment we had to have in order to move the buisness on.

 

Once we changed to a PLC investors were throwing money at us , but then we had to satisfy shareholders make ever more profit , pay for the loans etc etc etc.

 

just a thought.

[Rayjsj]

ooopppsss ! double posting....server on a 'go slow'.

Ray

[Tony Jones]

mel wood - 2010-12-01 9:40 AM

 

Tony, unusually for you, you're being somewhat unfair and inaccurate.

 

I don't know if you have ever been a CC member or stayed on CC sites.

 

As has been pointed out by others, some CC sites do provide tent pitches for non-members.

 

More to the point, from September through till this month, we have stayed on number of CC sites for one or two nights. THIS HAS NOT BEEN A PROBLEM. On some occasions we phoned on the day asking if there was a pitch available for one night. (We phoned rather than just turn up because we did not want to arrive, find it full then have to find another site late in the evening.) In ALL cases wardens/assistants were MOST HELPFUL, including when we said we would be arriving after Reception had closed.

 

On other moot point : in January we are going to a baptism in Ellsmere Port which will necessitate an overnight stay nearby on the previous evening. Absolutely NO PROBLEMS booking at CC Cheshire Fairoaks. (We would have stayed at CCC Delamere Forest but because it is a weekend only a minimum of 2 nights is bookable at a CCC site even in Low Season).

 

Neither Club is perfect ( no organisation is) but we find benefits of being in both clubs outweigh any frustrations.

 

Thanks for the correction Mel. It's good to hear that the CC has become more flexible since I was last a member - which admittedly is quite a few years ago. And from what people ar saying on this thread, if I were interested in using Club Sites nowadays (rather than just CSs) I would certainly consider switching back to the CC.

I don't think I'd ever be in both clubs, as either one can usually provide a place (Site or CL/CS) wherever I'd need to be.

[Mel B]

rupert123 - 2010-11-30 11:32 PM

Rarely use CL's or indeed aires in europe, leave them to people who like to 'slum it'.

 

... big yawn .... getting boring this 'people who use aires' bashing, Rupert :-S

 

If you don't want to use them, that's fine, but stop insulting those of us who do, there's a good teddybear.

[rupert123]

Mel B - 2010-12-01 9:20 PM

 

rupert123 - 2010-11-30 11:32 PM

Rarely use CL's or indeed aires in europe, leave them to people who like to 'slum it'.

 

... big yawn .... getting boring this 'people who use aires' bashing, Rupert :-S

 

If you don't want to use them, that's fine, but stop insulting those of us who do, there's a good teddybear.

 

You are right of course but the only reason I do it is because every time someone asks about campsites up pop the only use aires, cl,s etc brigade, as happened on this thread. They seem to be trying to convince them selves that it is the best way. The answer is easy stop trying to make a point about aires everytime a campsite question comes up and I will not mention them either.

[pepe63xnotuse]

Rayjsj - 2010-12-01 11:09 AM

 

Another thing i like about the Caravan Club are the 'late arrivals area's' (not all sites have them, but quite a lot do) these are available for ANY Member who arrives too late to book in, NOT just ones who have 'Pre-booked' , if the site IS fully booked you can move on in the morning, only paying the 'per person' charge...

Ray

 

This is handy to know!(..as I didn't realise you could do this! :$ )

..I always thought the "late arrivals areas" were for "booked" folk that were..erm..well..arriving late. ;-)

[Mel B]

rupert123 - 2010-12-02 1:00 PM

 

Mel B - 2010-12-01 9:20 PM

 

rupert123 - 2010-11-30 11:32 PM

Rarely use CL's or indeed aires in europe, leave them to people who like to 'slum it'.

 

... big yawn .... getting boring this 'people who use aires' bashing, Rupert :-S

 

If you don't want to use them, that's fine, but stop insulting those of us who do, there's a good teddybear.

 

You are right of course but the only reason I do it is because every time someone asks about campsites up pop the only use aires, cl,s etc brigade, as happened on this thread. They seem to be trying to convince them selves that it is the best way. The answer is easy stop trying to make a point about aires everytime a campsite question comes up and I will not mention them either.

 

Some people don't know about aires so telling them how good they can be is okay isn't it? It's not as if it's 'banned', or that they say that all people who use campsites are 'slumming' it - but I've certainly been on some that were less than acceptable and I don't ask for much! You don't like aires, we get it, you've said it enough times, but please just stop telling everyone that they are 'slumming' it when they use them as it is incorrect, that's all. You have a certain view about them, but making out that all aires are all like 'slums' is extremely unfair, both to the towns etc providing the aires and those who use them. :-S

[Rayjsj]

pepe63 - 2010-12-02 1:27 PM

 

 

This is handy to know!(..as I didn't realise you could do this! :$ )

..I always thought the "late arrivals areas" were for "booked" folk that were..erm..well..arriving late. ;-)

 

I think that if they were not 'Full up' you WOULD be expected to take a site for the following night, but of course you could just be 'on your way somewhere else', and have only needed one night,and some wardens might make you pay the site fee also (especially if you 'hooked up' and used all the facilities.) BUT you still got a single night. Ray

[rupert123]

Mel B I had the funny idea this was a forum and you were allowed to give you view, it may not be yours but that is not the point. In MY opinion aires are an inferior place to camp so in MY opinion, 'slumming it'. Now as I have said I do use them so am perfectly prepared to slum it along with others if nessacary. However if others take a differant view that is fine by me but I will still argue the point, if it is OK with you of course.

[Mel B]

rupert, shame you haven't been to some of the wonderful aires we have then, you would certainly change your mind on 'slumming'! At least that means there'll be space on them for me! :-D

[rupert123]

Mel B - 2010-12-03 9:07 PM

 

rupert, shame you haven't been to some of the wonderful aires we have then, you would certainly change your mind on 'slumming'! At least that means there'll be space on them for me! :-D

 

I think Mel this would make an interesting new thread to get others take on it. My problem has always been that yes, their are some decent aires but they are to few and far between and rarely where I am at the time. I have heard quoted many times the freedom that using aires gives you but feel the oposite is true. I can nearly always find a good campsite but rarely a good aire unless I am prepared to go out of my way so restricting where I go. The other point is that in nearly all cases if I go to a good aire these days it is always full or very crowded. I do use stellplatz in Germany a lot more because they are much better organised, although you nearly always have to pay which would not go down well with a lot of aires users.

[Derek Uzzell]

rupert123 - 2010-12-04 11:52 AM

 

Mel B - 2010-12-03 9:07 PM

 

rupert, shame you haven't been to some of the wonderful aires we have then, you would certainly change your mind on 'slumming'! At least that means there'll be space on them for me! :-D

 

I think Mel this would make an interesting new thread to get others take on it. My problem has always been that yes, their are some decent aires but they are to few and far between and rarely where I am at the time. I have heard quoted many times the freedom that using aires gives you but feel the oposite is true. I can nearly always find a good campsite but rarely a good aire unless I am prepared to go out of my way so restricting where I go. The other point is that in nearly all cases if I go to a good aire these days it is always full or very crowded. I do use stellplatz in Germany a lot more because they are much better organised, although you nearly always have to pay which would not go down well with a lot of aires users.

 

Incredible though it might seem, I've got a good deal of sympathy with rupert1234's views about aires in general. I'd even suggest that his use of the word "slumming" is apt.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slumming

[Mel B]

... not sure which 'definition' of slumming you're referring to there Derek! :$ (lol)

[Hopesy]

Rayjsj - 2010-12-01 11:09 AM

 

Another thing i like about the Caravan Club are the 'late arrivals area's' (not all sites have them, but quite a lot do) these are available for ANY Member who arrives too late to book in, NOT just ones who have 'Pre-booked' , if the site IS fully booked you can move on in the morning, only paying the 'per person' charge. (just like an 'aire'). Some wardens may not like it (i've only experienced one...but i suspect he was ex CCC). AND they are spending a lot of OUR (members) money back into the Infastructure. And NOT on building 'Holiday lodges'.

Try arriving late (or early) AND 'un-booked' at a CCC site. It's not a pleasant experience.

Ray

 

 

Thanks for this, didn't know about this facility. I'll read the small print in the long rule book next time i'm suffering form insomnia. There's still helpful and interesting tips and hints on this forum despite the petty bickering of the few B-)