Portsmouth-Le Havre ferry - press release received

[BJSLIV]

They should introduce pop over fares - w/e (not just 24hrs!!), 3 days and 5 days

Surely most of the beefing in the past was about why should you have to pay more for longer trips? Why not one fare irrespective of duration? etc etc . Which is what the have now delivered.

If they are only going to have  limited capacity they will have less scope for day-tripper/ short stays so will of necessity tend to operate in the longer stay end of the market, which will make it easier to operate the simpler fare structure.

Realistically an owners/ loyalty discount approach is probably the thing to push for. 

The major problem  with a viably priced bulk buy scheme  would be the scale of the cash outlay required. Even if the price were  to be pitched way below current levels (unlikely!) it would entail a commitment of well over £1000. That would pitch it into a league well above the tunnel's scheme.

[Nick Trollope]

[quote]Nick, Nice Idea as good as BF but cheaper. Just not very realistic I'm afraid. If LD Lines do as they say, a No Frils service at competitive rates I can go with that. They are at least taking notice o...[/quote]

If it is not cheaper, then what is the point? Why would I travel on a worse, more expensive ferry?

At the moment, LD's fares are about 30% higher than BF's (when we could actually check the prices). Perhaps you could ask your new friend if the prices are going to come down 40%.

This is the real world. No-one (LD included) gets a dress rehersal - if they haven't resarched their market (and it fairly obvious that they haven't) then I don't hold out much hope for a late-in-the-day injection of reality.

 

[croftside]

 

If it is not cheaper, then what is the point? Why would I travel on a worse, more expensive ferry?

 

Nick, you rather answered your own question,They have got to be cheaper than BF, but as LD say they are running a no frills service so  dont expect  the same kind of quality you get on the BF boats. All we want is a reliable, reasonably priced service to get us across this end of the channel. From what I understand they came into this late in the game, and I'm sure they did their research, but for obvoiuse reasons it is still ongoing and will be for sometime to guage the market and its requirements. Speedferries seem to have the Idea right, although they have had their problems, they run a no frills service at very competitive rates. And because of them they have forced the price of crossing down at their end of the channel. Competition is the only way we are likely to get a good deal up here!

Geof

[Will]

LD Lines is a freight carrier, that has now taken on a route that carries passengers as well. It needs to look not at Brittany Ferries (with which it is probably never going to be able to compete on a like-for-like basis), P&O (which failed on this route, though previously profitable) or Speedferries (which, arguably, has an unsustainable pricing policy), but at another freight company that has successfully added on passenger services - i.e. Norfolk Lines.

LD Lines has looked at how P&O ran the service, and has simplified it - running with one ship (albeit at the wrong times for passengers, though not for freight) and simplified the fare structure. The route was not profitable for P&O, and LD Lines does not want to have loss-making routes or services so it is hardly surprising that it has introduced its own fare structure modelled closely on what P&O charged, but with perceived 'savings' to the customer like not making accommodation compulsory on overnight crossings.

As a result, the sort of passengers who were interested in the service, i.e. those who feel that Brittany Ferries is too expensive for them, are disappointed with what LD Lines is offering.

I feel a little uneasy in one respect about the idea of meeting with individual potential customers (a 'user group' might be a good idea though) as this is really only trying to do, too late and on the cheap, the market research that they should have had carried out before announcing the service - just as Nick says. However, it is definitely a move in the right direction so I think should be encouraged, on the 'better late than never' principle.

If a discount scheme and/or special offer fares is favoured then I think what at all costs must be avoided is the sort of situation we had with P&O on that route, where discounts off the brochure prices ended up still costing passengers more than other special offer fares.

Chris Howe-Davies and I have also had an exchange of e-mails and we have both agreed that the sort of service I want, and enjoy with Brittany Ferries, is just not going to be on offer from LD Lines, at least in the near future. Costs would have to come down substantially, and frequency and facilities improve, in order to make this service attractive to most car or foot passengers.

[Owens88]

I used the overnight ferry from Fleetwod to Larne last year. That is predominantly a truckers boat, but comfortable with 2/3 lounges inc. a no-smoking.

1)Very good pricing by Irish Channel standards.

2)Everybody was in cabins. In fact the lounge areas were very quiet after about midnight so given the right sort of chairs one could have slept in them. The LD web site goes into very high prices if you need a cabin.

3)Free meal included (Full dinner and a full breakfast) but buy your own way at the bar. It wasn't the most exciting of menus but offred salads, fish and meat and kiddie stuff (the chef said he looked at the passenger list before cooking).

Obviously LD should offer some form of discount for loyalty (or a bigger one for pre-commitment). I just thought I would mention other 'no-frills' options.

John

 

[Will]

The Fleetwood-Larne route is run by Stena Line.

P&O North Sea Ferries had a rather similar 'all-inclusive' type of fare to that mentioned when I last travelled with them between Hull and Rotterdam. It seemed to work well, particularly for freight drivers, though it certainly was neither 'no-frills' nor cheap. It seems to be standard practice on many freight routes to include meals and, when appropriate, cabins.

The problem LD Lines has is that the ship has very few cabins, so they will obviously command a premium on overnight crossings due to suply and demand.

[andycorkhead1]

[quote]Just received this statement, issued today. "In connection with the Port authority of Le Havre, LD Lines is pleased to announce the opening of a new ferry service between Le Havre and Portsmouth sta...[/quote]

Non Starter the new  Le Havre service

Usualy try try to visit my house in normandy (Villedieu) every 6 weeks or so

for a week as I work 7 days a week between and 5 days

(ferry prices) is to short with about 12 hours door to door travel

Quickest crossing Sea cat from Portsmouth next quickest speed ferries Dover Boulogne

quotes brittany ferries (member) for tues to tues october 18-25 £166.88

LD Lines £186 or £245 with cabin as I don't like sleeping on a ferry or on the floor

Dover crossings an extra hour from M4 and less than 2 hours to Le Havre from Calais etc

Dover crossings from £38.00 return an extra £40.00 in fuel and about £20.00 road tolls to Le Havre

Andycorkhead

[andycorkhead1]

[quote]Just received this statement, issued today. "In connection with the Port authority of Le Havre, LD Lines is pleased to announce the opening of a new ferry service between Le Havre and Portsmouth sta...[/quote]

Non Starter the new  Le Havre service

Usualy try try to visit my house in normandy (Villedieu) every 6 weeks or so

for a week as I work 7 days a week between and 5 days

(ferry prices) is to short with about 12 hours door to door travel

Quickest crossing Sea cat from Portsmouth next quickest speed ferries Dover Boulogne

quotes brittany ferries (member) for tues to tues october 18-25 £166.88

LD Lines £186 or £245 with cabin as I don't like sleeping on a ferry or on the floor

Dover crossings an extra hour from M4 and less than 2 hours to Le Havre from Calais etc

Dover crossings from £38.00 return an extra £40.00 in fuel and about £20.00 road tolls to Le Havre

Andycorkhead

[Danglar]

[quote]They should introduce pop over fares - w/e (not just 24hrs!!), 3 days and 5 days Surely most of the beefing in the past was about why should you have to pay more for longer trips? Why not one fare ...[/quote]

"They should introduce pop over fares - w/e (not just 24hrs!!), 3 days and 5 days"

These fares sould be available to registered property owners only, not through Sunday newspaper offers.

Nor for bulk travel , by which I mean a coach operator sending over 50 daytrippers wanting to buy cheap beer.

Don;t think that by doing so it would through the whole price structure in disarray.

[Nick Trollope]

Just had another mailshot from LD - different booking website, looks like a 3rd-party site.

Get quote, exactly as before (LeH - Port, return out 25/10, back 30/10, 2 adults, 1 child, 2 4-berth cabin, exactly as I have booked with BF, apart from St Malo -Port - which is further). Donc;

BF price (from Sept) £206

LD price on day 1 of booking website £308

LD price today...... £380!!

I wonder if they read their emails?