johnnerontheroad Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 This may be of interest from Brittany Ferries must be to counter act LD Lines new route to Spain. New no-frills service from Portsmouth to Le Havre and Santander Dear Member As Club Voyage members, we are delighted that you are among the first to know that we will shortly be commencing a new no-frills service using a chartered vessel from Portsmouth to Le Havre and Santander. Branded as Brittany Ferries économie, this ship offers a service that is limited when compared to the cruise-style experience normally provided by Brittany Ferries – and this is reflected in the price. Nonetheless, customers can expect tasty French catering onboard (but with a limited choice) served by a bilingual French crew. The cabins will all have en-suite facilities, but without carpets, and there will be a lounge where seats can be reserved on overnight sailings. Pet owners will welcome the 13 pet-friendly cabins and there will be 2 specially equipped cabins for disabled passengers. There is a small bar and shop but entertainment will be restricted to a movie lounge, so we recommend bringing a book and some magazines. The public areas are smaller on this vessel compared to our cruise ferries and please note there is no play area or entertainment for children. From 25 March there will be a weekend service to Spain and then four return passenger sailings from Tuesday to Friday between Portsmouth and Le Havre. Fares for a car and two passengers will begin from as little as £79 each way to Le Havre and £169 each way (including reclining seats) to Santander. Not only that but as Club Voyage members you will receive 30% off these great fares. Payment and deposit terms remain the same. It is important to note that given the économie nature of this service there will be no discount for dining on board, likewise, there will be no breakfast allowance when taking an overnight cabin. The Brittany Ferries promise has always been about "choice" - we have ten routes, plus high-speed services, as well as cruise ferries - and this is taking the concept one step further. We hope you welcome this additional choice. I must emphasise that Brittany Ferries économie will not provide the same high level of service and facilities with which we have become associated but it will offer something altogether simpler and with exceptional value. We will contact you to let you know as soon as these services are available to book, which we hope will be by the end of the month. Yours sincerely Mike Bevens Group Commercial Director Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yeti Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 No need to purchase a cabin but their are recliner seats. With no facilities for children will this keep families away or will we have kids running wild? Estimated price for a motorhome approx £230 one way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 johnnerontheroad - 2014-02-13 12:34 PM This may be of interest from Brittany Ferries must be to counter act LD Lines new route to Spain... The ship that Brittany Ferries will use is named "Etretat" http://www.brittany-ferries.co.uk/economie and (as will be seen from this thread) this ship has, until recently, been operated by DFDS as "Norman Voyager" on the Portsmouth-Le Havre route. http://forums.bfenthusiasts.com/showthread.php?t=12412 More information on the ship here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MS_Norman_Voyager http://www.directferries.co.uk/dfds_seaways_norman_voyager.htm http://ldlines.co.uk/pdf/brochure/norman-voyager-e678.pdf http://www.ferry-site.dk/ferry.php?id=9420423 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 so its really a re introduced and renamed freight service? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 JudgeMental - 2014-02-13 1:55 PM so its really a re introduced and renamed freight service? I assume you are referring to the "Truckline" jokey comment on the BF Enthusiasts forum. Brittany Ferries bought Truckline Ferries in the 1980s and operated Truckline-branded ships until the early 2000s. Initially this was a freight-only service, but soon passengers began to be carried. We travelled to France once on a Truckline ferry. It was a very basic experience and, although the pricing was attractive, we never repeated the exercise. Norman Voyager/Etretat is a large ship with a capacity of over 500 passengers and, as will be apparent from the DFDS photos, has the usual facilities. All Brittany Ferries has done is take over a ship until now operated by DFDS, and will run it during the week to Le Havre and during the weekend to Santander. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caddies104 Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 Hi Did a rough quote, seems around £800 return for 2 people and Motorhome (7m) may save the travelling via Calais but still a lot.... As compared to £450 in petrol ...... Hope I worked it out right.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 Caddies104 - 2014-02-13 3:34 PM Hi Did a rough quote, seems around £800 return for 2 people and Motorhome (7m) may save the travelling via Calais but still a lot.... As compared to £450 in petrol ...... Hope I worked it out right.. £450 for fuel? If that is the return cost. as mine works out about that. and you still have a days driving when you get of the boat your costing sounds like the conventional price not the santander crossing? Someone else priced it a lot cheaper than that. but they would have to tranquilize with horse dope as part of the service before I would do it! and DFDS food bloomin awful..journey from hell me finks :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lennyhb Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 Just costed the Lehavre crossing £418 return (7m) £448 (8m) usually get a Calais crossing for £60-£70 and an extra £85 of fuel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike88 Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 Caddies104 - 2014-02-13 4:34 PM Hi Did a rough quote, seems around £800 return for 2 people and Motorhome (7m) may save the travelling via Calais but still a lot.... As compared to £450 in petrol ...... Hope I worked it out right.. That seems a lot. I belong to the travel club and even on the high class service I pay £690 for my return from Plymouth to Santander including a club class cabin which is normally costlier than the Portsmouth/Santander route. PM me if you want to use my travel club discount giving upwards of 10% off normal prices. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tea Cup Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 Derek Uzzell - 2014-02-13 1:49 PM johnnerontheroad - 2014-02-13 12:34 PM This may be of interest from Brittany Ferries must be to counter act LD Lines new route to Spain... The ship that Brittany Ferries will use is named "Etretat" http://www.brittany-ferries.co.uk/economie and (as will be seen from this thread) this ship has, until recently, been operated by DFDS as "Norman Voyager" on the Portsmouth-Le Havre route. http://forums.bfenthusiasts.com/showthread.php?t=12412 More information on the ship here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MS_Norman_Voyager http://www.directferries.co.uk/dfds_seaways_norman_voyager.htm http://ldlines.co.uk/pdf/brochure/norman-voyager-e678.pdf http://www.ferry-site.dk/ferry.php?id=9420423I think this is the ship that I was complaining about on another thread when it was operated by LD Lines. Insufficient cabins and seats when the ship is nearly full; so unless they have changed the passenger arrangements, this could be even more of a problem on the longer trips. The other issue is that they have to load the lorries first, and you often have to enter the ferry, do a U-turn and back up to the lorries, which can be a problem if like me you are not confident at reversing into dark-ish places. Though how the lorries manage the U-turns and end up inches away from the next truck I don't know. Any idea what ship LD Lines are going to use, or have they dropped the route? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tea Cup Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 I've just done a dummy booking Portsmouth-Le Havre and they are still advertising that the ship is the existing Norman Voyager. I did the same on the new Brittany Ferries economy, and THEY are advertising the ship that was the Norman Voyager under a new name. Mmmm. Funny ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnerontheroad Posted February 13, 2014 Author Share Posted February 13, 2014 Tea Cup - 2014-02-13 6:24 PM I've just done a dummy booking Portsmouth-Le Havre and they are still advertising that the ship is the existing Norman Voyager. I did the same on the new Brittany Ferries economy, and THEY are advertising the ship that was the Norman Voyager under a new name. Mmmm. Funny ... "We will contact you to let you know as soon as these services are available to book, which we hope will be by the end of the month." From my original post Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted February 14, 2014 Share Posted February 14, 2014 These July 2013 comments may be of interest http://www.bfenthusiasts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11929 As John says, it's not possible to book Brittany Ferries "économie" crossings at the moment. The ship is currently at Le Havre, but I don't know if it's actually being operated on the Portsmouth-Le Havre route or being refitted/repainted in preparation for Brittany Ferries taking it over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted February 14, 2014 Share Posted February 14, 2014 The Harwich - Denmark service discussed in that thread really is in a different league, have used it a few times.......if they could introduce the same service on these routes it would be great..but can't see a budget service doing it! The DFDS boats I have used over last few years while being pretty cheap, but delays not uncommon, boats in poor condition and disgusting food....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PJay Posted February 14, 2014 Share Posted February 14, 2014 BF do say that it is a "no frills" service, and that you will not get the same service as on the normal ferries.You can always take your own food, though would not fancy traveling to Spain, in a recling seat. Will be interesting to see how long the Spainish journey will take Think we will stick with the fast cat service, which suits us, for speed I am a club member with BF, so if any one wants to take advantage of 10% discount, just PM me PJay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted February 15, 2014 Share Posted February 15, 2014 The timetable for BF's new service is shown on their website http://www.brittany-ferries.co.uk/economie Portsmouth-Santander Depart Portsmouth - Saturday 08:15 --- Arrive Santander - Sunday 11:15 Depart Santander - Sunday 14:15 --- Arrive Portsmouth - Monday 15:15 So it's a 26-hour journey. (It may also be worth noting that the Monday/Tuesday Portsmouth-Le Havre-Portsmouth service will be freight-only.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted February 15, 2014 Share Posted February 15, 2014 And you wont make Med coast that day......Alicante still a 440 mile drive Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike88 Posted February 15, 2014 Share Posted February 15, 2014 True. But there's a great ACSI campsite at Aranjuez in the Palace grounds on the way down which is worthy of a few nights stop. My take on using the Santander route is the proximity of your home to the port of departure. For me a 500 mile plus round trip on a trunk road with 20 mph speed limits in places is a bad start to the beginning and end of a holiday. I have used the Santander route on countless occasions and have had only 2 rough trips but accept that it only takes one to put a lot of people off. In my view - and from my experience - the scaremongering over rough seas is overstated. Take a couple of Kwells and most would be fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sshortcircuit Posted February 15, 2014 Share Posted February 15, 2014 Mike88 - 2014-02-15 12:49 PM True. But there's a great ACSI campsite at Aranjuez in the Palace grounds on the way down which is worthy of a few nights stop. My take on using the Santander route is the proximity of your home to the port of departure. For me a 500 mile plus round trip on a trunk road with 20 mph speed limits in places is a bad start to the beginning and end of a holiday. I have used the Santander route on countless occasions and have had only 2 rough trips but accept that it only takes one to put a lot of people off. In my view - and from my experience - the scaremongering over rough seas is overstated. Take a couple of Kwells and most would be fine. Surely the time of year will have a bearing in the state of the seas and if you are a fair weather sailor then yes Kwells(?) will help. Just recall last year when ferries did not run because of the sea and travelers had to wait up to 10 days for an available ferry and that is not "scaremongering". Everybody has a choice but I am afraid the thought of hours "a rocking and rolling" is not in my book. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike88 Posted February 15, 2014 Share Posted February 15, 2014 sshortcircuit - 2014-02-15 2:02 PM Mike88 - 2014-02-15 12:49 PM True. But there's a great ACSI campsite at Aranjuez in the Palace grounds on the way down which is worthy of a few nights stop. My take on using the Santander route is the proximity of your home to the port of departure. For me a 500 mile plus round trip on a trunk road with 20 mph speed limits in places is a bad start to the beginning and end of a holiday. I have used the Santander route on countless occasions and have had only 2 rough trips but accept that it only takes one to put a lot of people off. In my view - and from my experience - the scaremongering over rough seas is overstated. Take a couple of Kwells and most would be fine. Surely the time of year will have a bearing in the state of the seas and if you are a fair weather sailor then yes Kwells(?) will help. Just recall last year when ferries did not run because of the sea and travelers had to wait up to 10 days for an available ferry and that is not "scaremongering". Everybody has a choice but I am afraid the thought of hours "a rocking and rolling" is not in my book. True. But I came back last November at a time when ferries were being cancelled. On the day I travelled the sea was like a millpond. It just shows how the picture can change from day to day. I think the clue is to take Kwells and a cabin as it definitely helps to lie flat. I wouldn't travel in a reclining seat. I think it is a question of who you believe - a person who uses the service or one who has read about how bad it can be. I've had some pretty horrendous drives through France in November so no route is without its potential difficulties. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted February 15, 2014 Share Posted February 15, 2014 But I can do it with one overnight in France and one in northern spain...so boat pointless from my perspective. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sean.clarke Posted February 15, 2014 Share Posted February 15, 2014 Not working out much cheaper for my use case, checked the other day when I was dreaming of my next break and it was something like £499 each way, just checked the economie and it came out at £430-£450 each way. Tunnel & fuel is going to work out far, far cheaper and if I wanted to save time (from where I live) I could pay a bit extra and go for the LDLines Portsmouth->Le Havre. Personally I would prefer the option of sailing there, getting off the boat ready for my adventure (maybe taking the drive back through France) but that's just too high a premium for a tag axle beast. Sounds like it me be another option for those with smaller vehicles, but for me I'll just sit back and enjoy the scenery and start my adventure earlier from France. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gocro Posted February 15, 2014 Share Posted February 15, 2014 sean.clarke - 2014-02-15 7:16 PM Not working out much cheaper for my use case, checked the other day when I was dreaming of my next break and it was something like £499 each way, just checked the economie and it came out at £430-£450 each way. Tunnel & fuel is going to work out far, far cheaper and if I wanted to save time (from where I live) I could pay a bit extra and go for the LDLines Portsmouth->Le Havre. Personally I would prefer the option of sailing there, getting off the boat ready for my adventure (maybe taking the drive back through France) but that's just too high a premium for a tag axle beast. Sounds like it me be another option for those with smaller vehicles, but for me I'll just sit back and enjoy the scenery and start my adventure earlier from France. It's been said already, despite the website being displayed, the discount prices wont show until the end of the month. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sean.clarke Posted February 15, 2014 Share Posted February 15, 2014 gocro - 2014-02-15 8:16 PM It's been said already, despite the website being displayed, the discount prices wont show until the end of the month. Ooops, sorry misread that bit :$ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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