Dick Smith Posted June 12, 2005 Share Posted June 12, 2005 One for those not in France only, but then if you are in France you might not be quite so interested. The Sunday Times online has an interesting article on ferry price-cutting athttp://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,176-1650243,00.htmlIt seems that the only people not getting the one-price for any length of stay message are Brittany Ferries (chizz) and the worst value crossing was with SeaFrance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Posted June 12, 2005 Share Posted June 12, 2005 Laugh, I almost tripped over my credit-card bill.Anyone else sorry that their house is in Normandy? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Linnorton Posted June 12, 2005 Share Posted June 12, 2005 Yes, very sorry that house is in Normandy when it comes to travelling to UK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Val_2 Posted June 12, 2005 Share Posted June 12, 2005 Bet thats some comfort to the 5000 passengers who were stranded at Roscoff all day Friday wishing they were elsewhere but France and it wasn't BF this time but Irish Ferries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatherineS2 Posted June 12, 2005 Share Posted June 12, 2005 I'm sorry - but I don't get the bit about Normandy. What do you mean? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Smith Posted June 12, 2005 Author Share Posted June 12, 2005 The fares on the Normandy routes are much higher, especially with Brittany Ferries. This means that those of us with homes in Normandy and Brittany either have a very long drive after a short, cheap crossing, or an expensive crossing. For comparison my crossing in July with BF will be over £350, and that includes Property Owner's Club discount. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Trollope Posted June 13, 2005 Share Posted June 13, 2005 [quote]The fares on the Normandy routes are much higher, especially with Brittany Ferries. This means that those of us with homes in Normandy and Brittany either have a very long drive after a short, cheap c...[/quote]I don't know how you manage it Dick, but for my trip St Malo - Portsmouth - Caen in early July, I paid £250, and that includes 2 cars (1 going into the UK only) & cabins etc etc.This is marginally more expensive than last yearHave you been nasty to someone? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Smith Posted June 13, 2005 Author Share Posted June 13, 2005 Mine falls into the school holiday period.... My last trip was about £250 in June. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Posted June 13, 2005 Share Posted June 13, 2005 I sent an e-mail to Mr Stavis about the western Channel routes and got the following reply: Dear Mr Hickson Thank you for your mail. I find it very likely that SpeedFerries will expand the business to many other routes in the future. The western Channel is one of the very likely early expansions. However, not this year, I am afraid. But I hope to be able to bring good news to you a later point in time. Best regards Curt Stavis Good news huh? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monika Posted June 13, 2005 Share Posted June 13, 2005 Does P & O still have a Ferry Service from Portsmouth to Caen. Are they much cheaper, in your experience, than Brittany Ferries and do they have something like Property owners abroad? I probably could find all this out on the Web but it is so much easier to hear it from all you experienced travellers. I think Brittany Ferries is owned by the department of Manche (our French Exchange Visitors from Cerisiy-la-Salle were allowed to visit the bridge because their canton had some kind of shares in it). Because of this they might not have the backing of a large company and their prices have to be higher. I like the "family" atmosphere on the Brittany Ferries and the Food is good, always a great start to our holiday!But that is good news if SpeedFerries would expand to Western ports. I would probably defect! After all the cheaper it is the more we can go to France. Monika Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Posted June 13, 2005 Share Posted June 13, 2005 P&O pulled out of the Portsmouth/Caen route and as a consequence BF fares have gone up by 30%. Nothing to do with size, all to do with being a monopoly and greedy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will Posted June 13, 2005 Share Posted June 13, 2005 P&O ran a service between Portsmouth and Caen for summer 2004 only, this was strictly a one-off. As it was reasonably successful, the company considered moving its Le Havre service to Caen, but this was knocked on the head by a decision to cease its western channel services. Brittany Ferries was to take over the Le Havre service, but the competition authorities prevented this. So P&O has been forced to continue the Le Havre service, but will definitely be pulling out in September. Fares on BF and P&O services were historically pretty much the same, but P&O has been doing some special offers to Le Havre for this final year. P&O used to have a service to Cherbourg too, but this was halved and then dropped altogether this year.Brittany Ferries was originally formed by a cooperative of farmers in Brittany, but there are more shareholders now. I don't know if the Manche conseil is one of them, but as we get a lot of information from them and I've never seen any mention of this I rather suspect not. The Manche conseil does run the services to the Channel Islands, while the Transmanche service between Dieppe and Newhaven is owned by the Seine Maritime conseil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iceni Posted June 13, 2005 Share Posted June 13, 2005 [quote]P&O pulled out of the Portsmouth/Caen route and as a consequence BF fares have gone up by 30%. Nothing to do with size, all to do with being a monopoly and greedy.[/quote]I guess that P&O pulled out because they could not make enough money. BF might argue that unless prices went up they too would be forced to pull out and where would you all be then ?If there are easy pickings to be had someone will fill the void left by P&O. Until then BF is just one of the options for crossing the channel. It may be the most convenient for many with a house or business in the NW but as with many things there is a premium to pay for convenience.Johnnot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will Posted June 13, 2005 Share Posted June 13, 2005 Further to the above, I have just received an e-mail saying that P&O is offering long stay returns on the Portsmouth to Le Havre route from £75 each way. Although that's not particularly great it will be interesting to see if Brittany Ferries offers any deals to compete. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Posted June 13, 2005 Share Posted June 13, 2005 I am sure they (BF) will. As long as your name is Tarquin and you drive a 1973 VW Campervan and your budgies name is Rover.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bilbo Posted June 14, 2005 Share Posted June 14, 2005 condor ferries operate from Poole and Weymouth to St Malo, the price is £159 for a car plus 2 in June, and then £218 throughout July and the remainder of the summer. not sure if thats a suitable service for all in brittany and normandy but it seems strange always moaning about BF when there is a choice. Plus i can imagine one curtis steiger from speedferries starts to evaluate the costs of fast ferry operation on the western channel we'll still see the pirates campaign remaining on the east. i'm in condors frequent traveller club and discounts do fluctuate with special offers, but i reckon they are value for money and their onboard staff are highly efficient. Any way i guess its not for me to join the moan, all i know is that i'm getting value for money Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Posted June 14, 2005 Share Posted June 14, 2005 I've just paid £290 from Portsmouth to Cherbourg on the BF fastcat. Speedferries Dover to Boulogne just £50 for the same dates! Now I know that it is a bit further, but £240 further?regardsSimon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ewa Posted June 14, 2005 Share Posted June 14, 2005 Just tried to book a return trip on P&O in August, Portsmouth-Le Havre, and were quoted over £400 return. Called their booking office and was told that the £75 each way is for a limited number of tickets - and they tried 3 days either side of the original dates to see if we could get the cheaper fares - but couldn't. So, Mr Stavis, here we come.... hope the dog can cross his legs for the longer drives each side of the channel as we're travelling from Exeter to Honfleur! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cs Posted June 14, 2005 Share Posted June 14, 2005 Hi folks, we went Tuesday May 10th from the UK to May 26th Poole to Cherbourg & back with Brittany Ferries at a cost of 284.06 with our property owners discount which included 5.00 discount for booking on line. Our friends joined us exactly one week later and including the 30.00 for the dog they paid 310.00 so in effect the journey cost them 280.00 - 4.06 cheaper than ours. We've decided that in future when booking on line we will check the cost without using property owners membership first as there may be a special offer available that works out cheaper. You live and learn I think is the saying !!! peeved cs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexis Posted June 15, 2005 Share Posted June 15, 2005 I went Calais - Dover in May and it was £300 cheaper going on Hoverspeed than to go by BF.I have always hated BF!Couldn't get on the PO North Sea Ferries site at all.Booked to go over at the end of August on the same route. It just needs a bit of thinking about...for passing London we travel early Sunday morning both ways.I have a feeling I paid 138€ but if I had gone at different times, it would have been cheaper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Val_2 Posted June 15, 2005 Share Posted June 15, 2005 Last year my sister was quoted over £500 for a 10-day return in mid august and couldn't afford it. This year she has booked for this period with BF (4passengers and very large 4x4) and it is £329 on the Plymouth/Roscoff return route. Suffice to say,both are day crossings so savings on cabins and seats too and both very convenient times for arrivals and departures both sides. No property owners members either and I just checked today and that price is still holding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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