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ANYONE TRAVELLED ON PO/LHV LD'S SHIP YET?


Danglar
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I travelled on it when it was in joint Stena/P&O management. I was on the bridge, having a new radar demonstrated. The ship suffered steering failure entering Calais and had to hurriedly drop anchor. I was told by a crew member this was a regular occurrence.

I am sure it is better maintained under its current ownership.

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Me and Mr Parlanchin are booked on the sunday night sailing with LD Lines, I am now really pertified if the steering goes and we end up in some dreadfull place like Wales or Ibiza. And Italian drivers are very aggressive too! I shall miss old Captain Waldorf on The Pride Of Portsmouth. I hear he applied for a job driving the open top tour bus in Stratford On Avon, I wonder if he got it?  I remember when I was a lad back in County Kildare, I wanted to be a bus driver or a Solicitor! Sadly I failed the LSD test, so a solicitor I became! It's terrible boring and very monagamus doing the same old things day in and day out! I would love a job in a garden centre, working with lovely bouganvilleas and Lavateras and doing all that topery with the little box hedges. They have a topery crocodile in Madame Ramettes (I love her) place in Firfol! I would love to have a hedge in the shape of a Mini Clubman.

I am washing Mr Parlanchins hair tonight for the trip, I want him looking his best!

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I have just returned to France using the LD Lines Ferry from Portsmouth to Le Havre.  My normal route is Plymouth to Roscoff but Brittany Ferries wanted to charge me about £160 single for car, driver and a 2-berth inside cabin.  LD Lines charged only £93 for car, driver and single berth outside cabin, but suggest it’s a special offer price only available in October.

 

At Portsmouth the LD Lines “Norman Spirit” was docked adjacent to Brittany Ferries “Mont St Michel” and I noticed both were the same size.  The “Norman Spirit” is a large ferry capable of accommodating several hundred passengers, but for our Wednesday night sailing there were probably no more than 50 of us! I think it’s probably aiming at the “freight plus any tourist who want” market, a bit like Norfolk Lines and Transmarche.

 

The ship appears to have been recently refurbished and most public areas are smart.  Presently LD Lines are only offering single or four berth cabins, so it’s only suitable for travellers on their own or families.  My cabin was originally fitted with two bunk berths, but now had just a large single bed, a separate settee, full bathroom with shower, wardrobe, chest of drawers and being an outside cabin, a window, all very sumptuous for the price.

 

The “Norman Spirit” has about five eateries (restaurant, self service café, snack bar, fast food outlet and so on), three bars, plus a “duty free” shop and a gift shop.  Unfortunately all that was open was one café and one bar, but probably that was reasonable given the limited passenger numbers.

 

The crew have clearly been to a charm school; there is a mix of French and English crew, all of whom are exceedingly pleasant and do their utmost to assist in any way. I guess their jobs depend on getting people to come back on the ship again.

 

So overall, a good experience if you want a large ship to yourself, smart accommodation but inevitably limited facilities.  October is an unusual time to start up a new ferry service, but I suppose that’s when the route became available, as P&O withdrew.  With such limited numbers I think its likely LD Lines will make a substantial loss on sailings until next summer and it's anyone’s guess how long they are prepared to wait.  Some areas of the ship were cordoned off whilst further refurbishment work was in progress, so clearly their intention is a long term commitment and the expectation of higher passenger numbers next year.  There is no evidence they are going to be any cheaper than other routes; I think their present “no frills service” adverts are just to cover the limited facilities presently offered whilst refurbishment continues.  I recommend you give it a try if the price is right.

 

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I am on the Norman Spirit now, It's great !

There are about 30 passengers onboard right now including me and Mr Parlanchin, It is really great to have the boat to yourself!

The staff are so nice, much nicer than any of the ejits on BF! When I went to pay for our meals in The Little Italy eating place, the gorgeous dusky maiden (I go all quare thinking of her)  said "your meal is compriments of LD lines Sir" I promptly said "I forgot me bottle of Chateau Neuf De Pap" she said "I will bring it to your table sir" I was even more pleased because the fat lad with the beard in front of me, had to pay!

You have to enter and exit at the rear entrance I noticed! I wonder why is that?

I like the pricing structure too, they don't have this stupid pay more the longer you stay like BF or PO. The single fare is exactly half of my return fare which was only 154 quids (no pound sign on this keyboard onboard the Boat) I hope they keep competative and all works out for them, they have made us feel very special on our journey, and I shall continue to use them on my trips to Belle Normandie.

LD Lines are great! Book Now and get a free leaflet about things you need to know!

I am writing a song about me wonderful experiences onboard LD's Norman Spirit after I have completed me emails this evening. It will heavily feature the lovely dusky maiden that has gained me affections and given me her phone number (maybe she can get me a discount on future bookings, who knows?) Me and Mr Parlanchin have had a great time on this trip (he never pulled though!)

LD  Lines are GREAT!

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Two interesting experiences with LD Line. I would imagine that they are out to impress and it is nice to see that they appear to have an eye to customer service. Long may it continue.

However, I have tried to book online from the UK with no success. Their site appears to be off line as far a bookings are concerned. I need to make a reservation in the next couple of days.

Any suggestions?

A

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I was wondering if one could quote me the size of the cabin on this ship.

I get the impression they have sockets for laptops to plug in. That would be good. What about a shop that sells newspapers , chocolate (yummy) , wine etc etc ?

Also , have LD Line got a policy on cancellation ?

If they cancel a crossing there ins't going to be another one until the following day (24 hours), not quite like with PO & BF when you have the the afternoon sailing option still available. This service looks as much risky as Transmanche's in winter.

Have they set up a policy of pre-advising passengers when cancellations occurr - and if so , how ? - or are they ready to take on the channel sea whatever the sea force ?

I remember calling Transmanche once at midnight, receiving confirmation the 8 am xing was ok, getting up at 4.30am to travel from London to Newhaven to find ...no ship. They had my telephone numbers but clearly the port staff did not care a jota about the passengers !

regards

Danglar

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Thanks for the info....we may check this out.

We do the short crossing in the summer and drive dow to Normandy. But in winter I prefer a shorter drive and not to get to the house too late in the day.....gives me chance to air things before its time to turn in.

As this is by all accounts quite a substantial ship (unlike Transmanche) I shouldn't foresee that Sea conditions will stand in its way very often. Last year we did a night crossing on Pride of Portsmouth and it hit Storm Force Ten. And I remember on another occasion when we docked at Le Havre in the dark in a really bad storm...really interesting to see the Tugs do their thing and the searchlight men on their buoys.

Transmanche is vulnerable because of the limited docking facilites in Dieppe and Newhaven. At Dieppe the berth is very exposed to the swell. The Hoverspeed service used to be able to sail up through the town into an inner berth if things got too bad...but the Ferry is too big for that I suppose.

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I notice that the web booking "form" has a charge of £5 for a standard seat.  Does this mean that passengers have allocated seats?  What happens if a passenger does not book a seat - do they have to stand?

Is this simply a way of obtaining an "extra" charge on top of the price of the crossing?

 

 

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I used the new LD Lines service this weekend. I went to France on Friday night as a foot passenger and returned on Sunday evening with a car.

Overall I was pretty impressed. Given that LD Lines only confirmed that they were taking on the route three weeks prior to going into service, I wasn't expecting much in the way of comfort etc. The ships has obviously been around a few years but is in very good condition, with several areas showing signs of recent refurbishment. Everything was spotlessly clean and there were plenty of friendly and helpful staff around. This is, I find, in marked contrast to P&O where they had realy let the state of the ships deteriorate in the last few months, to the point where everything had a decidedly tacky air.

I got talking to one of the catering crew. he told me that LD Lines took on most of the Portuguese catering crew who were previously with P&O, and that LD pay them more money and treat them better. He reckons that LD are committed to increasing the number of sailings to at least two a day, as one a day will not meet the demand.

As others have said, there are a number of areas of the ship that aren't yet operational, including the shop and various restaurants. By my reckoning, currently in operation are one bar, two cafe-bars and one restaurant. The other restaurants and shop are being prepared and should be opened during November.

There's a large lounge with "standard seats" - I booked one of these but they're not that comfortable, and as there weren't many passengers there was no shortage of padded seats to crash out on elsewhere. I was looking this evening at booking a crossing at the end of November, and noticed that a club class lounge and wider range of cabins will be available then. The Potuguese chap told me that where the P&O ships had 350-400 cabines each, this one has 50-60.

Pricing-wise, it looks very reasonable. Quote for a one-way crossing with car plus four passengers in late November was £130 including a four-berth cabin. Contrast this with Brittany Ferries, where the same thing is £181 without the cabin. I'm having to go Brittany Ferries for two reasons: I want a daytime crossing (easier with young kids) and we're taking a pet (LD aren't yet registered for this).

All in all a good start to the service, I think, and as someone who will soon be living not far from Le Havre I shall be watching it with interest!

Rob
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Thank you for that. That's the sort of feedback that's needed. I had heard from other sources that LD Lines' customer care was totally superior to P&O's on that route.

I think that without a comprehensive refit it will be difficult to increase the cabin accommodation to P&O/BF levels as the ship was designed for short crossings and has only limited accommodation. I did try a quote and got offered a cabin of a type not mentioned in the booking form (i.e. two berth), so it looks from the figures you mention as if about half of those available are in use at present and the rest are being brought into use for the near future.

If at least two crossings a day are planned then another ship will be needed, so maybe they can find one with a sensible number of cabins - it's this, and the timings, that are putting me off using the service at present (as well as the unfavourable fares for short-duration trips).

As a matter of interest, where do foot passengers check in at Portsmouth? Although LD Lines had a vehicle check-in kiosk there didn't seem to be any presence in the terminal building, at least last week.

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Regarding the cabins, I don't know whether they have plans to increase the number - as you say, they might perhaps look to buy or charter a second ship with more cabins. Of the many, many crossings I've done on this route, I've only ever used a cabin once - I found it so uncomfortable and the bed so noisy that I've never bothered since.

There is a foot passenger check-in desk at Portsmouth. If you go into the terminal via the main doors, it's over on the right-hand side, beyond where the Starbucks coffee bar/shop is (i.e. it's kind of opposite the BF check-in). I gatehr from overhearing one or two conversations that they've only just opened it - I think it used to be a space where they had slot machines.

Rob
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Just got back from a week's trip to France travelling LDL, and our reactions to the new service are mixed.  The fare was £246 with a cabin on both legs for two people with car.  Although this was claimed to be a promotional fare "free of accommodation", not sure what that meant though.  Out bound Friday night, return following Saturday.

 

Check in was quick and easy both ends, helped by very few passengers.  Only the lower car deck was in use and even this had space to spare.  The ferry reminds me of vessels as they used to be with large promenade decks on several levels around the stern and maybe even a sun deck, although that was closed off.  The interior was very clean although rust around the windows belied the age of the ferry.  Claimed to be a "recent fast and comfortable vessel" incidently.  There was a sense of adventure about the place as it was all so 'new' and different.  The cabin was as small as it can get for two berths and the shower (not used by us) was tiny.  All was spotless and worked well.  Although there was no soap on the return journey.  The outward journey was in winds of force 7 - gale force 8 and we slept as well as could in the circumstances, so the boat must be fairly stable.  The staff were generally friendly and helpful, although neither British nor French.  The captain (Webster) was British though.  There were many places to sit in addition to the recliners at the front.  All in all a very pleasant experience until....

 

On the out bound journey we teated ourselves to a cup of hot chocolate and a slice of cake each (no prices visible) before settling down - £8.00.

 

On the return a light snack for two (no drinks or other niceties) but with a side salad in lieu of vegetables (known as sidings[sic]) was £16.00 .  When we queried the expense we were told that it was good value - not good customer relations there.  It seems as though you can take as much as you want for a set price (which is why it is 'good' value), so I suggest that one plate and two sets of cutlery is the way to go.

 

The other niggle was that with an hour to go before we docked at Portsmouth, a tannoy announcement asked us to vacate our cabin, which we ignored, but then 10-15 mins later our cabin door was knocked upon and opened simultaneously by a crew member again asking us to vacate.  Firstly we had paid for a cabin for the voyage, not for 80% of it, and then to open the door without waiting for a response was unforgivable and downright rude.

 

The route is so convenient for us we will use it again (subject to pricing) but we will be more careful over using on board facilities.

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I have had another email from Chris Howe-Davis of LD Lines, thought it might be of interest to some of you who like me travel to France fairley regularly but for short periods,anything from 24 hours to 5 days.

Geoff,

Apologies for not responding to your last email for some time but it has been rather hectic getting things organised.

We have today introduced some duration based pricing for 2 and 5 day excursion plus also changed the unlimited stay pricing which hopefully you will find attractive.

 Cabin pricing unfortunately has increased due to the limited number of cabins we have available.

 Regards Chris

  Having looked at these new prices, they do indeed seem to be cheaper than BF and a definate reduction on there initial pricing structure.   However it does seem at least to be a swings and roundabouts situation as some of there unlimited stay fares seem to have risen.   I was a little confused with this new structure, although for me it is good, as I thought that there initial policy was for non durational stay  pricing, which was a definate way forward, at this end of the Channel.   However 10 out of 10, well maybe 9, at least LD are so far prepared to listen to its customers. I can't some how see BF doing that can you?  Anyway have a look at there prices, and see what you think, and please post your thoughts on here. As I will let Mr Howe-Davis know what the consensus is.

Geof

 

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Not sure where I posted about this before but anyway.

Here's one for Mr Howe-Davis :

Good news about cheaper short stay returns from Le Havre

But not so good news about the sudden hike in longer stay reservations though.

A week ago we saw a fare we liked but needed some more info about where we were staying and where we needed to be in the UK at certain dates (family !!)

A few days ago, the same 14 day return trip we planned was £30 dearer and today the same fare is now £48 dearer, so unless LD have another look at their prices, it's back to B.F for just a few quid more and a fair bit nearer to here we live here in Brittany.

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Any competition and choice on the Portsmouth to Caen/Le Havre crossing is to be encouraged.

However the single daily sailing is very restricitve. Due to shift working we normally travel on the Tuesday afternoon sailing returning on Thursday morning 9 days later. This crossing at the end of November is £174 on BF but the nearest crossing on LD is overnight so less time in France and costs £283.

If LD are looking for the regular traveller they need to introduce a discount scheme and further crossings. For the price difference I will put up with the happy little faces! and boring menus on BF.

Regards

Peter
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