CC or CCC?

[nowtelse2do]

laimeduck - 2012-01-25 5:57 PM

 

nuevoboy - 2012-01-25 5:42 PM

 

laimeduck - 2012-01-25 5:13 PM

 

malc d - 2012-01-25 3:50 PM

 

 

 

 

;-)

 

Malc - Flattery will get you everywhere :-D :-D

My Avatar was first used some years ago - about 1956 I think, although that does depict me slightly... but only slightly... older than I was then. Lets just say that I've had a bus pass for a couple of years or three :D :D

 

..and did the title of the magazine the character appeared on, have any bearing on your choosing it, I wonder? ;-)

:-D :-D :-D *-) *-) *-)

 

 

All the three of you are 'mad' (lol) (lol)

 

Dave

[Colin Leake]

1footinthegrave - 2012-01-25 11:13 PM

 

Only belong to CCC for the very occasional CS on our way up and down to Dover, but....

 

If you want to have the most frustrating times then go with the CCC, they have re-vamped their find a pitch website. If I had had a gun I would have probably blown my brains out rather than wade through all the multiple choices of what outfit I had, then after putting in the dates of my chosen stay comparing three, then astonished to find only one of the three even open, and no "details" to compare in any event. All this so we could find an overnight whilst we looked at other vans. Sheet bloody madness. Another reason to keep going abroad. ( That's if there's any Diesel in the south west )

 

Oh and as for facilities I simply don't get it, you've paid God knows what for your van with all mod cons, why do you need facilities, trotting across a field in your dressing gown and the missus in her curlers.

 

Simple my wife uses our very fine shower as a food storage area fitted out with plastic crates that enable her to pack enough food to last a year, yet still insists on visiting supermarkets whilst on holiday. It is not unknown forms to arrive back with more food than we set out with. For my part I'm responsible for the beer and wine provisions which may well I confess take up a lotnof space for say a five week trip but at least we make a fair stab at drinking them all.

[Colin Leake]

Melvin - 2012-01-26 12:35 PM

 

I am afaid we are snobs, we only use Caravan Clubs sites

 

Same here. Naturally we only use the posh fully equipped CC sites rather than the cheep ones with no facilities and only volunteer wardens.

[Brian Kirby]

Gwendolyn - 2012-01-25 10:15 PM

 

As I said above, they "site" you as they regard it as a "service" to members, just a matter of courtesy. They don't do it from a perverse desire to be awkward. They see it as a positive thing.

 

If I have been unhappy with a pitch I have never had a courteous request to move refused.

Can't promise it will work everywhere, or at all times of day, but when arriving I tend to ask if there is any choice, and have generally been told which are vacant, or shown more than one. Common sense dictates that if one arrives along with several others, and a queue is developing, it is fairer not to ask, but otherwise, asking costs nothing! :-)

[Brian Kirby]

Colin Leake - 2012-01-25 10:42 PM

 

I would like to encourage all those who are undecided to join CCC leaving more space for my lady wife and I to enjoy the superior CC sites. More expensive for us oldies with no age related discounts but as my kids were fond of telling me when they wanted something expensive. "You get what you pay for Dad". It's true as well with the standard of the CC sites and their facilities in general being much higher than CCC sites. I'm afraid we are very conservative by nature. We like to know what we are going to get and we want the best.

Accepting that there is (er, at least, I think there is! :-)) a good deal of tongue-in-cheek in this post, although that is not denoted with a "smiley", and just in case anyone might take it too seriously, I have to say my - not extensive - experience of both clubs' sites, is that the standards, across the board, are in fact very close. It must be reasonably obvious that there is considerable variation from site to site within either club, with some being older, and more "tired", while others are new, or newly refurbished, and others again (most!) are somewhere between. So, as ever, comparisons are odious! :-)

 

Both clubs can suffer from obsessive grass cutting syndrome. Both have immaculately cleaned and maintained facilities, whatever their age. Both can suffer the "sergeant major" warden. Both can suffer the mis-matched couple (he on the mower, she (understandably) grumpily cleaning the toilets). Both can be a bit uneasy with those who just arrive unbooked (but note that the Canterbury and Salisbury sites, where many foreign visitors go and none book, just deal with the comings and goings almost like continental sites). CCC differs mainly because it accepts tents, so possibly has a younger average age present, but on the whole both provide quiet, well run, disciplined, secure, well laid out sites with at least good, and sometimes very good, facilities.

 

If I felt the need to choose between them, I think I'd pay more attention to the locations of their sites relative to the sorts of places I want to visit than to other differences because, for historic reasons, most are generally not ideal if you want to arrive and just walk from the site, due to their in-built assumption that you will have personal transport at your disposal.

[laimeduck]

Brian Kirby - 2012-01-26 6:03 PM

 

Colin Leake - 2012-01-25 10:42 PM

 

I would like to encourage all those who are undecided to join CCC leaving more space for my lady wife and I to enjoy the superior CC sites. More expensive for us oldies with no age related discounts but as my kids were fond of telling me when they wanted something expensive. "You get what you pay for Dad". It's true as well with the standard of the CC sites and their facilities in general being much higher than CCC sites. I'm afraid we are very conservative by nature. We like to know what we are going to get and we want the best.

Accepting that there is (er, at least, I think there is! :-)) a good deal of tongue-in-cheek in this post, although that is not denoted with a "smiley", and just in case anyone might take it too seriously, I have to say my - not extensive - experience of both clubs' sites, is that the standards, across the board, are in fact very close. It must be reasonably obvious that there is considerable variation from site to site within either club, with some being older, and more "tired", while others are new, or newly refurbished, and others again (most!) are somewhere between. So, as ever, comparisons are odious! :-)

 

Both clubs can suffer from obsessive grass cutting syndrome. Both have immaculately cleaned and maintained facilities, whatever their age. Both can suffer the "sergeant major" warden. Both can suffer the mis-matched couple (he on the mower, she (understandably) grumpily cleaning the toilets). Both can be a bit uneasy with those who just arrive unbooked (but note that the Canterbury and Salisbury sites, where many foreign visitors go and none book, just deal with the comings and goings almost like continental sites). CCC differs mainly because it accepts tents, so possibly has a younger average age present, but on the whole both provide quiet, well run, disciplined, secure, well laid out sites with at least good, and sometimes very good, facilities.

 

If I felt the need to choose between them, I think I'd pay more attention to the locations of their sites relative to the sorts of places I want to visit than to other differences because, for historic reasons, most are generally not ideal if you want to arrive and just walk from the site, due to their in-built assumption that you will have personal transport at your disposal.

 

Brian, as always, thanks for contributing a balanced & well reasoned summary - exactly what I wanted. :-D

I have never experienced the CC&C as a member, but will probably opt for them in 2012 for the few times we will use the van in the UK. It would appear that they offer a bit more variety in terms of members, ages, & outlook than the very comfortable CC.

Thanks again to most for the usefull contributions

[Gwendolyn]

Brian Kirby - 2012-01-26 6:03 PM

 

Both can suffer the "sergeant major" warden. Both can suffer the mis-matched couple (he on the mower, she (understandably) grumpily cleaning the toilets) .... on the whole both provide quiet, well run, disciplined, secure, well laid out sites with at least good, and sometimes very good, facilities.

 

If I felt the need to choose between them, I think I'd pay more attention to the locations of their sites relative to the sorts of places I want to visit than to other differences.....

 

Re the officious Wardens - I have a way of dealing with them – I praise them, fulsomely and sycophantically, and thank them for their warm welcome. They are usually quite taken aback, and perhaps a bit unsure….. usually works and they become a little less officious ….

 

My favourite site, bar none, is one I have loved for 26 years – even when the “facilities” were housed in a rather primitive shed, but always clean. A brand new block replaced that many years ago. Location is everything though. Had I to choose membership of one club, at the expense of the other, I would choose the club which owns that site.

 

And as for being shown to a pitch, the subject of some posts up-thread – well, it’s all in one’s perceptions. On arriving at that ‘bar none’ site, many moons ago, with young daughter and caravan, having booked in for the maximum time allowed [21? 28 nights? I forget] the Warden directed my husband, who was towing us down and helping us set up, to what she said was “a lovely pitch for your wife and daughter for their stay.” I didn’t think it a lovely pitch at all, and asked if I could be pitched on another – which I indicated to her. She was amazed, having chosen the first pitch for xyz reasons …. I disliked it for abc reasons, and wanted the one I had chosen for quite different reasons…. So we laughed at our differing perceptions… and she happily allowed me to use the pitch I wanted.

 

But, that was a long time ago! Have Wardens become grumpier; just as policemen have got younger???

 

[Guest 1footinthegrave]

I feel compelled to defend "grumpy" wardens, having spent the last 15 years of my working life in the leisure industry I can say that dealing with the whole range of human kind is enough to make anyone grumpy, we always used to say they were the one per-centers that made life difficult, but those are the ones that leave a long lasting bad taste, and make one grumpy, so don't always blame them, they may have just dealt with a one per-centre, trust me it's a thankless task at times . :'(

[LordThornber]

Melvin - 2012-01-26 12:35 PM

 

I am afaid we are snobs, we only use Caravan Clubs sites

 

So are we, only I'm not afraid to announce it 8-)

 

Martyn

[Guest 1footinthegrave]

LordThornber - 2012-01-26 7:44 PM

 

Melvin - 2012-01-26 12:35 PM

 

I am afaid we are snobs, we only use Caravan Clubs sites

 

So are we, only I'm not afraid to announce it 8-)

 

Martyn

 

Sounds like another very good reason to avoid it then, mind you I wager they turn there collective noses up when you turn up in a 2003 van. :D :D :D

[Robinhood]

laimeduck - 2012-01-26 6:35 PM

 

I have never experienced the CC&C as a member, but will probably opt for them in 2012 for the few times we will use the van in the UK. It would appear that they offer a bit more variety in terms of members, ages, & outlook than the very comfortable CC.

Thanks again to most for the usefull contributions

 

I'm a member of both clubs, and find that they both have their positive and negative points.

 

I'd disagree with only a small amount of Brian's post, in that I agree with other posters that, taken across the respective site portfolios, the CC facilities blocks are generally more consistent, and slightly "better".

 

OTOH, it does lead to a rather more "bland" experience - if dropped blindfolded in the loos at any CC site, it would be difficult to know which one you were on, the design and decor being so similar (down to the tiles and the shower curtains). Whilst this gives a consistent quality, I actually prefer (and travel to experience) a bit of variety. The C&CC facilities are always entirely adequate, but don't look like they've been cloned, and thus vary somewhat.

 

There are also too many CC sites that resemble large car parks, great expanses of limestone chippings having been deposited to create hard standings. In my experience, the C&CC sites retain a larger element of greenery, enhanced by the use off "grasscrete" or plastic underlay for hardstanding pitches. Broadway CC site is an example, IMO, of one of those that has been redeveloped to the detriment of the surroundings.

 

As to wardens/HSMs, we've met (only) a few grumpy ones, but they are by no means limited to one of the clubs. (I've also seen some of what they have to deal with, the behaviour of some vistors would make a saint grumpy!)

 

Whilst the C&CC HSMs will generally escort you to a pitch, frankly, in around 90% of circumstances I'm asked to make a choice on the way round, and if I'm not, I've never been refused a different pitch (where available) if I didn't like the one selected. One thing that influences this siting is that the C&CC will allow you to book a hard-standing pitch or not, and by vehicle length (the CC don't), hence the HSMs have to carry out SOME allocation.

 

The CC wardens generally let you choose your own pitch, but on a large number of occasions I've been told where exactly to pitch in relation to the pitch marker, even on large pitches (something that is generally less relevant for motorhomes than caravans, and largely against the CC central instructions, which allow you to pitch anywhere on the pitch subject to the requisite clearances).

 

We use both club's sites depending on location being visited, though we find it easier to get on C&CC sites in the Summer. There are more CC sites open all year, and with hardstandings available these support our year-round travels.

 

So, I get value out of (and would recommend) both clubs, BUT.....

 

....if I were to choose only one to join, it would be the C&CC. As above, I prefer the variety and ambience of their sites (precisely because they are more varied and less developed - others will feel differently), but the big plus for us is the ability to use Temporary Holiday Sites and DA rally sites from April through to October without booking, and without spending the cash requred for a full-facility site. Many of these are in excellent (sometimes unexpected) locations, and provide just the sort of unplanned (long) weekend or short stay that absolutely fits with why we have a 'van. I commend them to Jeremy and anybody who wants to see Britain, doesn't want to plan well in advance, and isn't reliant on site facilities (though, of course, some have the latter). The CC doesn't have equivalent possibilities (No THSs and Centre meets have to be booked).

 

One other advantage that has already been pointed out about the C&CC is the over-55s discount, which provides some very cheap nights out of the main holiday season (and I look forward to taking advantage of it in a good few years ;-) (lol) )

[LordThornber]

1footinthegrave - 2012-01-26 7:52 PM

 

LordThornber - 2012-01-26 7:44 PM

 

Melvin - 2012-01-26 12:35 PM

 

I am afaid we are snobs, we only use Caravan Clubs sites

 

So are we, only I'm not afraid to announce it 8-)

 

Martyn

 

Sounds like another very good reason to avoid it then, mind you I wager they turn there collective noses up when you turn up in a 2003 van. :D :D :D

 

 

Do you know, we've had funny reactions since we joined the CC? Joined in 1999 with an old but very clean and cared for VW, so of course they looked down on us.

 

In 2000 at the grand old age of 34 we bought brand new and of course the same thing happened, nobody spoke 'cos we were too rich.

 

Fast forward to 2003, another brand newie, no speaks.

 

Now, van almost 8 years young and me 47, they look down due the van age.

 

Lesson? No idea? Just thought I'd share....

 

Martyn

[Retread24800]

LordThornber - 2012-01-26 9:14 PM

1footinthegrave - 2012-01-26 7:52 PM

LordThornber - 2012-01-26 7:44 PM

Melvin - 2012-01-26 12:35 PM I am afaid we are snobs, we only use Caravan Clubs sites

So are we, only I'm not afraid to announce it 8-) Martyn

Sounds like another very good reason to avoid it then, mind you I wager they turn there collective noses up when you turn up in a 2003 van. :D :D :D

Do you know, we've had funny reactions since we joined the CC? Joined in 1999 with an old but very clean and cared for VW, so of course they looked down on us. In 2000 at the grand old age of 34 we bought brand new and of course the same thing happened, nobody spoke 'cos we were too rich. Fast forward to 2003, another brand newie, no speaks. Now, van almost 8 years young and me 47, they look down due the van age. Lesson? No idea? Just thought I'd share.... Martyn

By now I might be coming to the conclusion that peoples attitude had nothing to do with the age of your 'van........................

[LordThornber]

It's a fair comment Roger that you make.

 

However, in my defence, it's very well documented on here by myself, that I holiday for myself and my Wife - not to spend time with others discussing the merits of their latest cycle rack and its associated tie down straps..

 

And as for sharing yarns at the "veg prep". Well, may your God go with you.

 

Twice.

 

Martyn

[Retread24800]

LordThornber - 2012-01-26 9:35 PM It's a fair comment Roger that you make. However, in my defence, it's very well documented on here by myself, that I holiday for myself and my Wife - not to spend time with others discussing the merits of their latest cycle rack and its associated tie down straps.. And as for sharing yarns at the "veg prep". Well, may your God go with you. Twice. Martyn

I am with you there. :D

[Guest 1footinthegrave]

LordThornber - 2012-01-26 8:35 PM

 

It's a fair comment Roger that you make.

 

However, in my defence, it's very well documented on here by myself, that I holiday for myself and my Wife - not to spend time with others discussing the merits of their latest cycle rack and its associated tie down straps..

 

And as for sharing yarns at the "veg prep". Well, may your God go with you.

 

Twice.

 

Martyn

 

Like I said, 1 percenters, and vacuous too.

 

But happy to come on here and spout claptrap.

[mel wood]

It is such a pity that what was potentially a helpful thread for folks considering which Club to join has degenerated (in my opinion).

 

It would be lovely if all folks who post could be thoughtful, showing consideration, goodwill and respect to others, including those who have different views to their own.

 

I really don't know why some folks wish to make personal attacks on others.

 

At its best this Forum provides a wealth of useful and interesting comments.

 

Peace and love to all.

 

 

[Guest 1footinthegrave]

At least you'll know to avoid an attempt to engage in friendly chat with LordThornber, and other self confessed snobs should you decide to join the CC, could save an embarrassing moment or two. :D :D

[laimeduck]

mel wood - 2012-01-26 9:46 PM

 

It is such a pity that what was potentially a helpful thread for folks considering which Club to join has degenerated (in my opinion).

 

It would be lovely if all folks who post could be thoughtful, showing consideration, goodwill and respect to others, including those who have different views to their own.

 

I really don't know why some folks wish to make personal attacks on others.

 

At its best this Forum provides a wealth of useful and interesting comments.

 

Peace and love to all.

 

 

Mel..I agree...- ...Although I think everyone, bar one, was positive?

[duetto owner]

used to be a member of both found the CC were always much better, but there were a few god c&cc ones.

c&cc are vary a lot in standards where as cc always a good standard.

[Rayjsj]

Just another word in defence of the Caravan Club, Until last year I travelled around in a 23 year old Autosleeper Talisman (restored), I never ever felt like the 'poor' relation or was (as far as i know) ever discriminated against because of the vehicle i drove or Slept in. Lots of 'I used to have one of those' and even bumped into my vans 'original owner from new'. But never anything derogatory, from other campers or Wardens. So, we all have our 'likes and dislikes' but for me anyway it HAS to be the CC.

Not because i'm a snob or talk 'with a plum in my mouth' (i'm often called a 'Cockney so & so' i'm not, i actually come from Watford !!) but because I 'trust' the quality of the sites. Ray

[Colin Leake]

As regards fellow campers not speaking why not start the conversation. We have a posh new motorhome but strike up conversations with all and sundry quite happily. A dog is a good way to break the ice. On our last motorhome we had a logo incorporated into the original graphics "What Inheritance?". It resulted in our meeting a whole host of interesting people.

 

On the subject of grumpy wardens we stayed on one site on the way up to Scotland a few years ago that had the most officious warden ever with a permanently embarrassed wife. It was like staying in an episode of Faulty Towers! Best fun we have had for years devising ways to wind him up and one has to say that were were far from being the only ones to indulge in this entertaining pastime.

 

Life is very much what you make it and how one looks at it.