Paris Posted February 19, 2006 Share Posted February 19, 2006 Greetings from a very wet Sussex coastal town - it has been raining all day.In case you did not know - the new ferry the Cotes d'Albatre, built in Spain, iI think, will arrive in Newhaven shortly and commence sailings March/April. It has super-stabilisers and is semi- fast - the trip to Dieppe should take just over 3 hours. Trust there is a good 'driver'...We await with interest!Julia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paris Posted March 10, 2006 Author Share Posted March 10, 2006 The new ferry is now in service on the Newhaven - Dieppe route, as from 6th March. No doubt some of the locals will go to Dieppe for the day now, as it should be a little quicker than the old boats. I will await their reports...Julia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatherineS2 Posted March 11, 2006 Share Posted March 11, 2006 This is great news Julia, as we live in Heathfield and our house is near Forges-les-Eaux, both about 40 minutes from Newhaven and Dieppe respectively! This will save us the schlep to Dover and Calais. But the only problem is that I have just bought another 10 Eurotunnel single tickets, so won't be able to try out the new ferry just yet.I look forward to hearing how people have been getting on with the new service... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will Posted March 12, 2006 Share Posted March 12, 2006 I think a lot of people don't realise that this service has in fact been running for some 3-4 years - maybe even longer. It's only when a new ship arrives, and it makes a bit of news, that there is any publicity. Transmanche is a consortium of local authority interests, headed by the Conseil Generale de Seine Maritime, which owns the ferry port at Newhaven (though not the rest of the harbour) as well as the port of Dieppe. It is not at all good at running a ferry service - its marketing is appalling, it puts all sorts of obstacles in the way of booking, e.g. its web site seldom works, and it doesn't deal with hardly any booking agencies, it is not licensed to carry pets, - and its safety record is pretty poor as well. It has, for some time been looking for a proper shipping company to run the ferries on its behalf, as yet to no avail. There have been rumoured to have been discussions with LD Lines, which took over the P&O Portsmouth-Le Havre route, but these remain just rumours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Smith Posted March 12, 2006 Share Posted March 12, 2006 I hope it is better run than the Isle of Wight ferry, which seems to have employed Sub-Lieutenant Philips as captain.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robbie34 Posted March 12, 2006 Share Posted March 12, 2006 [quote user="Will the Conqueror"], it is not licensed to carry pets, - and its safety record is pretty poor as well. It has, for some time been looking for a proper shipping company to run the ferries on its behalf, as yet to no avail. There have been rumoured to have been discussions with LD Lines, which took over the P&O Portsmouth-Le Havre route, but these remain just rumours.[/quote]According to the DEFRA web site it is a licensed carrier. http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/quarantine/pets/procedures/support-info/euroutes-sea.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krill Posted March 12, 2006 Share Posted March 12, 2006 Would you happen to be from the I.O.W Dick, we lived there for 50 years Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paris Posted March 12, 2006 Author Share Posted March 12, 2006 It must be quite easy to book a sailing with this ferry - my husband has early monring coffee in the restaurant atSainsbury's Newhaven while I do the shopping. He chats to 1 elderly and 1 very elderly gentlemen who are regular foot passengers on the old ferries. I assume they just go to the dock-side booking office to book. I cannot understand the website at all. I picked up a new newsletter published by the tourism department of the Seine-Maritime, encouraging us to visit Dieppe, etc., which had no information on contacting the ferry company except re special short breaks.I am booked for main holidays this year with BF again...Julia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brilec Posted March 13, 2006 Share Posted March 13, 2006 [quote user="Dicksmith"]I hope it is better run than the Isle of Wight ferry, which seems to have employed Sub-Lieutenant Philips as captain....[/quote]"Left hand down a bit"The Transmanche website seems to have totally dissapeared, anyone know if is coming back? Or have they devised a new URL just to give a bit of a challenge to their potential customers? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will Posted March 13, 2006 Share Posted March 13, 2006 [quote user="Robbie34"]According to the DEFRA web site it is a licensed carrier. http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/quarantine/pets/procedures/support-info/euroutes-sea.htm [/quote]Well, if that's right that's good news. Maybe DEFRA should tell the company - my sister, who lives only just up the road from Newhaven, enquired about using the service when she collects a French rescue dog that has been with us while acquiring its passport but was told that it cannot carry dogs. But I shouldn't be surprised, as this seems to be the sort thing we have come to expect from Transmanche.Yes, you can book at the port, and you can telephone. But without advertising or a functioning web site, people don't know the telephone number - so rather than search it out will go to another carrier. Incidentally, the number in UK is 0800 917 12 01 and I believe you can book via www.aferryto.com which offers a 3-day return for a car and two people for £48. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will Posted March 13, 2006 Share Posted March 13, 2006 ...and Dick, the older Transmanche ships have had several encounters with immovable objects in the past, so with faster ships at their disposal (not literally I hope) we must wait and see.Edit - Transmanche says that its web site will be working again in April, but probably better to use the link above. Transmanche's own site has been even more unreliable than its ships. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robbie34 Posted March 13, 2006 Share Posted March 13, 2006 I don't know how long Transmanche have been licensed to carry pets as there has never been anything on their website, but it can't be for that long. I only noticed a couple of weeks ago when I was checking routes for a friend. I might have been tempted to use Transmanche, before I booked with LD Lines, if their name had appeared on the DEFRA website. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clarkkent Posted March 15, 2006 Share Posted March 15, 2006 [quote user="Will the Conqueror"] Yes, you can book at the port, and you can telephone. But without advertising or a functioning web site, people don't know the telephone number - so rather than search it out will go to another carrier. Incidentally, the number in UK is 0800 917 12 01 and I believe you can book via www.aferryto.com which offers a 3-day return for a car and two people for £48.[/quote]Thanks for telling us about www.aferryto.com, Will. I have just booked a 10 day trip - taking in Easter - via Newhaven/Dieppe for £82 return. When the reductions in mileage and time in both England and France are taken into account, this is as cheap as Speedferries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will Posted March 15, 2006 Share Posted March 15, 2006 That's great, and a very good price too. Let us know, after Easter, what you thought of the service, please. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bixy Posted March 15, 2006 Share Posted March 15, 2006 Mention of the I.O.W ferry reminds of the old schoolboy joke. What's brown and steaming and comes out of Cow(e)s backwards? Sorry.Patrick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kitty Posted March 15, 2006 Share Posted March 15, 2006 OK I know, I know, that I have a geography degree but remind where Newhaven is and Dieppe too... I usually do Portsmouth-Caen so how far are they away? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will Posted March 15, 2006 Share Posted March 15, 2006 Dieppe is about 100km to the east of Le Havre, and about 200km by road from Caen ferry port. It's on the Seine-Maritime coast, due north of Rouen. Newhaven is on the Sussex coast, a few miles east of Brighton, and about 60 miles from Portsmouth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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