FerryGuru

Prices out of Dover are going to rise, they need to so that the ferries can survive.  There is currently massive overcapacity and the artificially low prices that currently exist are slowly going to disappear as the number of departures is slowly reduced, currently P&O are looking at reducing the size of their fleet once the two new ships enter service from Finland.  What will happen to Seafrance is anyones guess at the moment.

Sadly the next couple of months are going to be hard for the ferry industry with the potential of job losses, withdrawn ships and price increases. LD Lines have announced that they are looking at their Dover route and the two ships have been placed back on the market. The two ships they have were only taken on a very short term contract which I believe is due to expire at the end of October, which coincides with the last bookings possible on LD Lines website when I checked a few days back. Reports are that the Le Havre route is also suffering. P&O Ferries have announced an internal review. They estimate about 50% overcapacity on the Dover routes at the moment with all operators. Currently their European Seaway (freighter) is laid up and only being used when the passenger ships cannot handle the loads. The crews are awaiting the outcome of the review in the Autumn that could see further reductions in the fleet. It is widely thought that more than just the old Pride of Dover and Pride of Calais will be withdrawn when replaced by the two new ships being built in Finland.

LD Lines are moving the Norman Spirit to Ramsgate and operating the ship to Ostend twice per day. This is in conjunction with TEF. TEF will apparently sell the freight space with LD Lines selling the passenger space etc. The ship is no stranger to Ramsgate having operated there as the Prins Filip on the Ramsgate to Ostend route, however not without incident. The ship regularly had issues in the port due to its size. The ex. Brave Merchant that is coming in to replace the Norman Spirit originally ran on the Irish Sea. The ship is no where near as big passenger wise and the estimate of 400 is on the high side and I would not want to be onboard. The ship is identical to P&O's European Endeavour (interior pictures can be found here). The ship essentially has one lounge / bar area, one restaurant and one reclining seat lounge.

The latest I have heard reference Seafrance. "STRUGGLING Dover Strait ferry operator SeaFrance is set to modify its plan for stemming loss-making at the company, raising expectations that it will substantially reduce its original target of 650 job cuts. The company will announce its plans at a works committee meeting on May 28 but has already indicated that it plans to keep four vessels in service instead of three, as announced in its original recovery plan. It has given no indication of the number of job cuts it will be making but has promised that there will be no straight dismissals among its 1,600-strong workforce. The majority CFDT union at the company said: "The plan which provided for 650 redundancies has been abandoned." The union estimated recently that the number of job losses could be limited to 150 if the company kept in service four vessels out of five and retained the fifth vessel in reserve for peak periods and replacement of the other vessels when they were out of service. The company has not gone as far as the union, however. It plans to keep three car ferries - the Rodin, Berlioz and Molière - in service and to put the freighter Nord-Pas de Calais in service on a "lightened" schedule. In the meantime, the company's financial situation has not eased. Management said that the company had lost more than ?3m ($4.1m) in April and ?13.5m since the start of the year. SeaFrance is not counting on a takeover to extricate itself from its difficulties, moreover. Deputy general manager Vincent Launay told a French newspaper that the offer presented by Brittany Ferries was being dealt with on a long-term basis by SeaFrance's owner, French national rail operator SNCF. "It is a long-term project, independent of the recovery plan which is very urgent," he said."

Listening to BBC News at lunchtime, the ferry companies are reporting that the strikes are costing them close to £1million per day and are currently putting together legal action to sue the individual fishermen rather than the Port of Calais/Dunkerque.  If I remember rightly when the fishermen blocked Le Havre and LD Lines did this they very soon backed down.

www.poferriesenthusiasts.co.uk is a website that I run by myself that focuses on P&O Ferries, the ships, history etc.  It is one of several websites that I run under the heading of the Ferry Enthusiast Network.  www.ferryenthusiasts.co.uk.

[quote user="cassis"]Oddly, ferryguru's link http://www.poferriesenthusiasts.co.uk/36houroffer.html does not seem to open on the page indicated when you hover on the link - some sort of redirect? It takes you here: http://www.poferries.com/tourist/content/pages/template/offers_ferry_offers_special_overnight_fare.htm which is the direct link that Clair posted. [/quote] Nothing, odd.  And not detrimental to anyone. It allows me to track how many visitors have gone through, either one is fine to use.  I was not permitted by the agreement I have with P&O to post the final link.

I have received the following email today regarding a special offer P&O Ferries have currently available. 'P&O Ferries have launched a special 36 hour fare on the Dover-Calais route. Customers can book the offer up to 30th March for travel between from now until 20th May excluding peak dates around Easter. The offer is £29 return for a car and up to 9 passengers for travel on Sundays to Thursdays with a £10 supplement for travel on Fridays and Saturdays. This is a great price for people looking to stay longer than just a day trip and for them to enjoy an overnight stay in France or Belgium. This offer isn't publicly available. Therefore you will need to use the specific link below in order to quote or book this offer.' P&O Ferries 36hr Offer Hope this helps Post edited by the moderators.

Not as yet, they have until the middle of february to come up with another rescue plan and put it forward to SNCF.  SNCF rejected the first plan.

I would say either Norfolkline or P&O as they are the more financially sound at the moment.  Seafrance is still in talks with SNCF regarding a rescue plan, the first being denied by SNCF

LD Lines have received approval from Seine Maritime to use the ship mv Cote d'Albatre on the Dover to Boulogne route along with the Dover to Dieppe route full time from Feb 2009. The vessel will be chartered by LD Lines from Transmanche Ferries. The Boulogne service was due to open in July when the new larger berths are built, but following sucessful berthing trials over three days the mv Cote d'Albatre was found to fit the old Speedferries berth well enough for a service to be operated. It would appear that Newhaven to Dieppe is being reduced down to just a ship service. It is planned to have the following - 2 round trips Dover to Boulogne and 1 Dover to Dieppe per 24 hours

LD Lines Yes the Norman Voyager was designed as a freight vessel rather than a full passenger vessel so yes I would avoid.  LD Lines operate the Norman Spirit which is an old Dover to Calais vessel so that should be a problem for you.  Foot Passenger wise they would bus you onto the car deck and then you can take a lift to each deck.  Car wise, the same.  The Norman Spirit operates the overnight sailing from Portsmouth each day and the afternoon sailing from Le Havre. Transmanche Ferries I have not really taken much notice on these ships, they do have passenger lifts from the car deck to the two passenger decks.  Foot passenger access is not good but car passengers should be ok.  Rumour has it that one of these ships will be opening the Dover to Boulogne route potentially as early as February.  There has been no full confirmation as to which ship will operate the route full time. Seafrance / P&O / Norfolkline These are pretty much ok for disabled.  Sometimes the lifts on the older ships come up in crew areas from the Car Deck but as you are escorted by a crew member you are fine.  Foot passenger wise you are best off with P&O as they have the more modern berths and therefore foot passenger gangways with lifts. Things you pretty much must do: Let the company know you are disabled and required special assistance.  You will be parked in a seperate lane on the quayside (normally with your hazards on) and then loaded first onto the ship thus allowing you the room to park near lifts and get out of the vehicle.  Added to this is the crew will also be on hand to help you.Turn up in plenty of time for your sailing.

Seafrance are currently in a position whereby they need money also. There are currently discussions in France that Seafrance are having financial issues.  Suprising as they have spent 125million euros on their new ship but this could have contributed.

No, the ferry at St. Nazaire is the Pont l'Abbe.  Used to operate the Plymouth to Roscoff route and has now been withdrawn from service, BF have a new ship due for delivery early next year for this route.

The Barfleur is having some work done inside, I think they are amending the restaurant setup.  Also the Barfleur is being used this year to cover on the Caen route whilst the regular ships are in refit.