trickydicky Posted September 24, 2012 Share Posted September 24, 2012 just read brittainy ferries have suspended all their crossings (except poole - cherberg) for the foreseeable future. terrible news for all those of us that don't like the long drive to spain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonsea Posted September 24, 2012 Share Posted September 24, 2012 We have a few friends going tomorrow in cars so they not pleaseat a all john Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pelmetman Posted September 24, 2012 Share Posted September 24, 2012 SIL and hubby just had to drive from Brittany to Calais to get a P&O ferry home, when they text'd her that their crossing back to Poole had been cancelled...................not impressed as they live in Weymouth :D PS they have offered them petrol money and paid for the P&O ferry plus a complementary ticket ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike B. Posted September 24, 2012 Share Posted September 24, 2012 Hope it's sorted soon-at least before Christmas! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hawcara Posted September 24, 2012 Share Posted September 24, 2012 If you want an even bigger shock look at the fares for next year. If you live in Cornwall, it is still cheaper to go to Calais, with diesel expense than go from Plymouth to Roscoff. Time is a factor though. I have noticed a lot less vehicles coming through Plymouth recently and maybe this is the reason. Interestingly I think 2 singles (1 each way) is cheaper than a return, but this maybe made up by the fact that one journey may have an overnight element to it. :-S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 Assuming that Brittany Ferries survive, if you plan to travel a lot with that company it may be worthwhile financially joining their Travel Club (details on following webpage). http://www.brittany-ferries.co.uk/club-voyage-travel-club/join In theory and with everything else being equal, a booking involving a return-ticket or two separate single-ticket bookings that relate to exactly the same crossings as the return-ticket's should cost the same amount of money. Brittany Ferries does not actually price for a complete 'return-ticket', it prices separately for the outwards and return crossings and then adds those two prices together to produce an overall total. There are a number of variations that will affect the price of an individual crossing. These include any on-board accommodation (eg. cabins, reserved seating) specified, when in the 24-hour day the crossing takes place, when in the week the crossing takes place, when in the year the crossing takes place (August will inevitably be more expensive than February) and when the booking is made. The last factor could well result in the price of two single tickets booked at different times being less expensive overall than booking a return-ticket, but it could equally well result in the the two-singles price being more expensive than the return-ticket. Brittany Ferries on-line booking system shows prices by single crossing, so it should be easy enough to test whether booking two single-tickets will be cheaper than booking a return-ticket. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike88 Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 Hawcara - 2012-09-24 7:54 PM If you want an even bigger shock look at the fares for next year. If you live in Cornwall, it is still cheaper to go to Calais, with diesel expense than go from Plymouth to Roscoff. Time is a factor though. I have noticed a lot less vehicles coming through Plymouth recently and maybe this is the reason. Interestingly I think 2 singles (1 each way) is cheaper than a return, but this maybe made up by the fact that one journey may have an overnight element to it. :-S A week last Sunday the Plymouth to Santander ferry was packed to the rafters so there are plenty of people using Brittany Ferries on the Santander route. Next year the prices are bound to be higher as the euro has fallen against the pound. I'm not due back until the beginning of November so hopefully the dispute will be resolved by then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Jones Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 Derek Uzzell - 2012-09-25 7:59 AM Assuming that Brittany Ferries survive ..... Derek, that's really not the kind of thing I want to be hearing :'( We've booked for our first-ever Biscay crossing next June (and our first with BF for about 20yrs!). Only paid a small deposit so far, but even so ...! Next year the prices are bound to be higher as the euro has fallen against the pound. How do you work that out Mike? If the Euro FALLS against the pound, then you pay LESS pennies for each Euro. So anything originally costed in Euros (as I expect BFs fares are, being French) will require LESS pounds to buy, not more. And if the fare is originally costed in pounds, the exch rate makes no difference either way. Only a RISING Euro, with fares originally worked out in Euros, can make the sterling prices higher. Except, or course, that sterling prices will ALWAYS keep getting higher anyway, but that's more to do with rip-off Britain than the exchange rate (as Eddie never tires of telling us)! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike88 Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 Tony Jones - 2012-09-25 12:26 PM Derek Uzzell - 2012-09-25 7:59 AM Assuming that Brittany Ferries survive ..... Derek, that's really not the kind of thing I want to be hearing :'( We've booked for our first-ever Biscay crossing next June (and our first with BF for about 20yrs!). Only paid a small deposit so far, but even so ...! Next year the prices are bound to be higher as the euro has fallen against the pound. How do you work that out Mike? If the Euro FALLS against the pound, then you pay LESS pennies for each Euro. So anything originally costed in Euros (as I expect BFs fares are, being French) will require LESS pounds to buy, not more. And if the fare is originally costed in pounds, the exch rate makes no difference either way. Only a RISING Euro, with fares originally worked out in Euros, can make the sterling prices higher. Except, or course, that sterling prices will ALWAYS keep getting higher anyway, but that's more to do with rip-off Britain than the exchange rate (as Eddie never tires of telling us)! Because Brittany Ferries business is French and everything is costed in euros. The fuel price they pay is in dollars/converted back to euros and their operating costs are increased as we pay them in pounds and their costs are calculated in euros on a presumed exchange rate. Because Brittany Ferries charge customers only a few weeks before departure the income received from British customers must be far less than originally anticipated when prices were originally calculated due to falling rates of the euro against the pound. The upshot is that the operating costs of their business are likely to be far higher than could have been anticipated when they started selling their 2012 sailings. When operating costs rise higher fares are the inevitable consequence. Yes we do of course benefit from the exchange conversion but it seems evident that next year that advantage will have disappeared as there will be a higher pound to euro conversion rate built into their operating costs. In essence we will be required to pay more, not only for the reasons described, but also to offset BFs losses as a result of the millions it has cost them in relation to this latest dispute. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith T Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 Hawcara - 2012-09-24 7:54 PM If you want an even bigger shock look at the fares for next year. If you live in Cornwall, it is still cheaper to go to Calais, with diesel expense than go from Plymouth to Roscoff. Time is a factor though. I think 2 singles (1 each way) is cheaper than a return, but this maybe made up by the fact that one journey may have an overnight element to it. :-S Not sure about this, even ignoring the time factor.......I looked at a full price quote for Plymouth to Roscoff a few days ago, whichwas for outward Mid May, returning Mid July, and the best price was about £350. You would probably pay around £100 for the equivalent fare from Dover to Calais (OK I know that certain days DFDS may be better). The you have fuel of about 350miles each way, say for most of us about 25mpg, which would be up to £200, then at least an overhight each way.........well for most of us anyway, and it may well end you up on the 'wrong ' side of France, so there could be more fuel required over there . When we lived in Cornwall several years ago, I always checked out the prices from Uk at various ports across the south, and always ended up using Plymouth to Roscoff. As mentioned above there are considerable savings if you join the Britanny Travellers Club, including on many sailings a free or reduced price cabin, plus reductions on meals.......and you end up - to my way of thinking- in one of the most beautiful parts of France! I'm not sure about teh comment about 'return fares'...my checking suggested there were only single fares, and you could then take your choice of time/price and add them together for the return cost. Personally I would also rather drive across France anyday than do the route from Cornwall to Dover....both from Fuel price and the better driving conditions, as well as the lovely countryside. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 Tony Jones - 2012-09-25 12:26 PM Derek Uzzell - 2012-09-25 7:59 AM Assuming that Brittany Ferries survive ..... Derek, that's really not the kind of thing I want to be hearing... It's not something I'm keen on saying, as we use BF exclusively for Channel crossings, are members of the BF Travel Club and were hoping to visit France for a fortnight next month to replenish the heavily depleted Chez Uzzell wine reserves and to exercise my new metal knee-joint against the Transit's clutch-springs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malc d Posted October 1, 2012 Share Posted October 1, 2012 Rumours of chaos : We were due to come back Caen- Portsmouth today via Brittany Ferries. Fortunately my son had sent me a text a couple of days ago telling me about the strike. Camping Club told me to go to Calais as Brit Ferries had an ' arrangement ' with P & O and MyFerryLink, to get Brit Ferry customers home. Speaking to other Brits in northern France over the last couple of days I was told that Calais was " chaos - massive queues - heaving with travelers, trying to get home. And, don't even think about using the tunnel. So we got some food in, filled with water, emptied toilet etc in preparation for the long wait at Calais. ( sounded like we would be queuing for a day or so !) Got to Calais dock about 9: 15 this morning, place was very quiet - just a couple of cars waiting at check-in. ( I assumed that the Brit Ferry refugees were queued somewhere out of sight ). Went to check-in booth - waving my Brit Ferry voucher - and was sent straight through - into a lane where I was ushered onto a ship before I had time to switch off the ignition. Have never before boarded a ferry so fast. Quite a rough crossing - so I was quite glad that I was only on the boat for 90 minutes,( and not six and a half hours ). ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted October 2, 2012 Share Posted October 2, 2012 Strike over (for now!): http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/news/business/local-business/ferries-will-sail-from-today-as-strikes-are-called-off-by-unions-1-4322813 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-2211213/Brittany-Ferries-resumes-services-strike-causes-10-day-suspension.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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