chas Posted March 12, 2007 Share Posted March 12, 2007 Have read of many people saying how good Norfolkline prices are, and perhaps they are if heavly discounted by various clubs, but I have always travelled Seafrance. Have been checking the prices direct and for same day and time same motorhome Norfolkline= £90 Seafrance = £26 these are one way prices in June !!!! *-) chas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terry1956 Posted March 12, 2007 Share Posted March 12, 2007 Norfolk line, have been very silly with their prices of late, and are noway the best these days. The thing was that they were always very helpful, with advanced booking, missed crossings etc. Those days have gone and so as my custom. seafrance do do some good deals at the moment. terry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel E Posted March 12, 2007 Share Posted March 12, 2007 Travelled SeaFrance both ways around Christmas. We were warned of delays when we checked in, but then sat in the car parks for one and a half hours without any information. Same happened in both directions. No explanation for the delays. No information. No apology when we finally got on board. Almost as bad as the Chunnel! I'll be back to P&O - more sailings, better and bigger ships (so less likely to suffer weather delays) and we've never been delayed once in many years of travel with them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michele Posted March 12, 2007 Share Posted March 12, 2007 Mel E , can I ask what was wrong with the shuttle ?. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chas Posted March 12, 2007 Author Share Posted March 12, 2007 Hi Mel- Please dont think I have anything to do with Seafrance, but I was always given to understand that Seafrance had the most modern and largest ferries on the Calais route, this said whatever you are happy with go for it. Regards chas p.s just checked P.O price for same dates as above £50 ! 8-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
empress Posted March 12, 2007 Share Posted March 12, 2007 We crossed with Norfolk the last three years. This year their prices are much more expensive so to Sea France we have returned and just hope there won't be too many school parties aboard! Empress Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wingpete Posted March 12, 2007 Share Posted March 12, 2007 Norfolk want £399 for same crossing as P&O charge of £299. 8-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Zipadee Posted March 13, 2007 Share Posted March 13, 2007 I always book through a website www.aferry.to/ they compare the prices of all the ferry companies and Eurotunnel according to the time and date you wish to travel. Seafrance do seem to come out more favourable. For a weekend trip we go chunnel early sat morning (12.30ish am) back late sun for around £54 ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel E Posted March 13, 2007 Share Posted March 13, 2007 Michele, Anti-chunnel for the following reasons: - once you've checked in, queued to load, loaded and off-loaded, it's not much quicker than the boats - and you can get a meal on the boats. - we did the chunnel about 3 times and were delayed twice and heavily delayed a further trip by 'incidents in the tunnel'. 50% doesn't do it for me. - the last time we went that way, we turned up at check-in towing our small car on an A-frame - having checked before booking that there would be no problem - to have both check-in lady and lady supervisor, when summoned, start the conversation with a loud, declamatory: 'You can't do that!'. Whilst we persuaded them to check with Control (who immediately said yes, we could), we missed our departure. - and then there was the idiot who stuck a self-adhesive gas sticker warning on our wing mirror rather than window, successfully removing half the paint with the label. So you'll see why I'm not overly impressed. Frankly, they might as well fill it in for all the use it is! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michele Posted March 13, 2007 Share Posted March 13, 2007 Fair enough MelE, You have a good point about the waiting bit and the stickers and from previous correspondence you will know that I also have often come up against the NO CAN'T DO THAT BRIGADE...without good cause and like you found out they are often wrong but can't be seen to be saying so ... little Hitlers I call them. What is more infuriating is if they were aware or at least tried to take the time and get it right you wouldn't mind. BUT they blindly soldier on not giving a damm of the wake they leave and the reputation they loose. As for the waiting I seriously have yet not realised this is probably down to the fact that I,m just so happy to get away the time goes so fast. However I,m not sayig it doesn't happen. I suppose for us it's easy as it's a straight drive and another excuse is I,m not that good on the water although I do do it from time to time . The other thing is we get across & back for £39 not bad is it . you have to buy the 10 tickets in advance so sometimes we buy twenty. As for sticking the Gas sticker on the paint work no excuse although lately I have noticed we don't get one it's been the same the last few trip's replaced or seems to be by a little white dot now on the drivers side of the windscreen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Jones Posted March 13, 2007 Share Posted March 13, 2007 We nearly always use Seafrance nowadays for our "real" holidays." Somehow, the ferry seems part of the holiday in a way that the Tunnel can't quite manage! But wintertime day-trips (booze-cruises?) we do by Tunnel, as (a) it's quicker and (b) not as bouncy if the weather is bad. In fact, one of the guys at church has arranged a day-trip this Saturday - we've filled a coach (well, a few spare seats if anyone lives en-route from Essex to Folkstone!) & we're going to Le Touquet, which we've never visited in all our years of going to France. We're using the Tunnel for that. Is this the first-ever official Baptist Booze Cruise? T Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wingpete Posted March 13, 2007 Share Posted March 13, 2007 Used Sea France for trip this past Christmas, and found that they offered sailings on next boat out, as we were early for booked one. Can't complain about being kept waiting there. On the other subject one which I have strong views about, the Chanel Tunnel, I will never travel in it of my own volition. Since the very serious fire down there, the Chanel Tunnel Authority have refused to implement the improvements proposed by the French & UK Govmts,(following the Inquiry) to make the tunnel more safe from the effects of a similar outbreak of fire. There were particular reservations regarding fire safety during the design stages and subsequently. None of the fire experts advice was taken on. The then Chief Officer of Kent Fire Brigade opposed the re-opening without improvements, most strongly, but was overruled by the Tunnel Authority, who, because they are "An Authority" do not have to comply with Local Authorites in UK. A law unto themselves. So far, no fatalities, but remember what I have stated here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted March 13, 2007 Share Posted March 13, 2007 The only thing you can really say about the ferries (and the Shuttle) is that they all let you down from time to time, that they all try to conceal their prices so that simple comparisons are difficult, and that as soon as they realise they aren't filling their ferries as quickly as they'd like, they panic and start the special offers!All you can do, really, is try entering your trip details into all the websites and see who's cheapest. Do this all on the same day, with as little delay between the sites as possible, and take the cheapest. Apert from travelling in the early hours, weekday afternoons seem the to offer the best outward prices, and weekday mornings the best inward. However, outbound Fridays can be counted as weekend, and Mondays seem quite popular for incoming bookings. Tuesday - Thursday afternoons (say after 14:00) going out, and ditto mornings (before 12:00) coming back. Fiddle on the site that looks generally cheapest, if you don't like the above times, start there and then see how far you can move before you get penalised. Then re-check the nearest equivalent sailings on the other sites to see if they are any better.Once you've got the crossing you like, book it there and then. If the on line booking fails, get on the phone while it's still on screen. They continually adjust the prices as loads change, and I've seen the price go up £20 within two hours! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Posted March 13, 2007 Share Posted March 13, 2007 As well as our annual French tour we also do a charity run in November. Sea France have for many years given us tickets for the 4 car teams at half of whatever their best off price at the time was. So we stay with them! P&O were not interested. Never tried Norfolk. When there were the industrial disputes with miles of lorries queueing up for the Ferries, blockades etc the little man with the small Sea France van was driving up and down alongside the queue. One of our team shared his frustration and thoughts with the Sea France man who instructed us to follow him. We did, straight onto a boat and away! So they get our business. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.