Nearly Retired (I am now) Posted December 5, 2008 Share Posted December 5, 2008 Now that Speedferries has finally gone, I am a refugee cast adrift in the maelstrom of different fare offerings from different carriers and am looking for a lifeboat.My need is only for the short crossing route and as a test I tried out prices for the tunnel vs. ferries for a reasonable time of day each way for a week away in February. For a return the tunnel want £150 - ish and P&O and SeaFrance each want around £75 - ish. Not much contest there then.I then spotted the SeaFrance Season Ticket from around £30 per crossing at ANY time save a very few peak days - and they are just "days" not whole weeks simply blanked out at half-term or all of August and so on.They even say:"You don't need to book specific crossing times, you can turn up at the Port with your booking reference and we guarantee you a crossing on one of the next two departures (excluding peak dates..."This looks to me as near enough a Turn Up and Go Service for maybe £60 return (the precise figure depends on how many tickets you initially buy).Looks good - does anyone have any experience of using this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FerryGuru Posted December 6, 2008 Share Posted December 6, 2008 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nell Posted December 6, 2008 Share Posted December 6, 2008 A season ticket is not a lot of use if Sea France goes belly up just like speed ferries!!!!!I think I have just gone off season tickets and subscriptions having been caught by both Speed ferries and French News [:'(]Anyone taking bets on who is next to disappear with our money??? [Www] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pagnol81 Posted December 7, 2008 Share Posted December 7, 2008 We returned from France on the Seafrance Rodin last week, 11.05. There were less than a dozen cars, 8 caravans but quite a few lorries. We boarded late and left at 11.30. As we walked through the boat it smelt of stale bodies,cigarette smoke and BO. They didn't run the safety message.We had a tea and a cappacino, £1.75 each. The tea was barely warm water and a tea bag, the coffee was half a cup of froth, hardly any liquid and no taste. As I raised the teacup to my lips it smelt fishy. Needless to say we left the drinks. An English chap next to us had ordered a croque monsieur. After one bite he turned to his partner and said thats disgusting.It felt like a boat dying and smelt like it too!We will be trying PO next time, but suggest if you try Seafrance take a good book and your own food and drink! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robkat Posted December 8, 2008 Share Posted December 8, 2008 Well you must have chosen a duff sailing. We sailed to France on the Rodin on the 9.45am last Friday. We found it clean & free from smells. Hubby had an excellent FEB while I stuck with the continental!. However, we came back the following night on the Moliere - not great, but OK. We must hang on in there with these ferry crossings. We usually use the Newhaven/Dieppe crossing but hear this is now facing difficult time, so we need to support the ferries as much as poss. Use them or loose them!!Robkat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lavorgere Posted December 9, 2008 Share Posted December 9, 2008 Why not check the P&O season ticket offer currently available ? From £26 a single and you can buy 3, 6, or 9 returns to be used within 12 months. Not too many restrictions provided you don't have to travel at peak times and then you can pay a surcharge if necessary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nearly Retired (I am now) Posted December 9, 2008 Author Share Posted December 9, 2008 lavorgere: I didn't contact P&O because their website says:Dover-Calais Purchase 9 return tickets, any duration from £27 each way. It goes on to say they must all be used in a year - we go frequently but not 9 times every year.I'll give them a call. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lavorgere Posted December 11, 2008 Share Posted December 11, 2008 I had a long chat with P&O customer services before buying and was definitely told that you could buy the smaller numbers and also that you could allocate them to friends and family if you wanted to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheldonrobbo Posted December 12, 2008 Share Posted December 12, 2008 Beware buying too many advance tickets for sea france ....according to kent local news last night they too may be heading the way of speedferries sheldon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nearly Retired (I am now) Posted December 12, 2008 Author Share Posted December 12, 2008 Thanks for the info. I've taken a peek at a couple of news websites for SE Kent and won't even now think about a season ticket with SeaFrance for a good long while.In the meantime: (1) My claim to the credit card company for my Speedferries ticket(s), which together cost in excess of £100, was sent off around a week ago. I'll let you know how I get on.(2) The way the € exchange rate is going at present I think I'll be buying wine in my local Tesco and taking it to France with me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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