Kevinmc Posted November 22, 2004 Share Posted November 22, 2004 Check out www.ferrysale.com They're now offering £49 return to Calais from 17 March right through to 22 December, with a £10 amendment fee.Shame they've dropped Newhaven/Dieppe though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David584 Posted November 23, 2004 Share Posted November 23, 2004 Now one would have thought that if ferry sale were advertising them at that price then Hoverspeed would do the same.I have just checked Hoverspeed's site and treid two test bookings.The first one is for Sautrday to Saturday: departureroutevesselarrival19/03/2005 10:00Dover / Calais81M SEACAT19/03/2005 12:0026/03/2005 14:15Calais / Dover81M SEACAT26/03/2005 14:15descriptionpricequantitytotaloutward journey Adult0.0010.00Car (up to 1.6m high)89.00189.00return journey More sharing options... Rita Posted November 23, 2004 Share Posted November 23, 2004 David,Did you actually go on the www.ferrysale.com website?I have just tested those dates and they definately came up as £49.00 return.We have used this site alot this year (however it has tended to be only 3-4 weeks prior that you can book) but we have never paid more than £49.00 return or (£25.00 each way if there were no cheap returns avail). It is a great service has always been on time with the exception of high winds in Sep so the crossing was cancelled however when we turned upto book in they gave us a card with our booking no. on and told us to go straight to Sea France. When we arrived there Sea France knew all about our booking being transferred so we had no problem at all. Unlike a few people we met that had booked through Speed Ferries which was also cancelled and had awful time trying to explain to Sea France.We would definately recommend using this site, especially as at the moment they are doing the offer of £49.00 return with the option of £10 fee to amend at a later date.Rita Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Kevinmc Posted November 24, 2004 Author Share Posted November 24, 2004 David HThe ferrysale site is Hoverspeed's own site. They've traditionally used it for selling surplus capacity at odd times. I've seen specific dates appear, disappear and appear again, all in the space of a week. I got caught out earlier this year when I had to book a single from Calais, the date disappeared from availability, so I paid £70 via the Hoverspeed site, only for the cheap fare to reappear the following day.If they can persuade people to pay the full published fare via the Hoverspeed website, they will. Meanwhile it's a handy way for Hoverspeed to bring in some money during a quiet booking month.Don't expect the ferrysale fares to be available after xmas. Kevinmc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... George Posted November 24, 2004 Share Posted November 24, 2004 "If anyone finds a £49.00 return fare, please let the rest of us know."DavidI have a booking for this Friday for £49 on Seacat via their Ferrysale web site, booked last week when Speedferries couldn't accomodate it. Oddly enough when the confirmation email didn't arrive, their website contact form (email) to Ferrysales was bounced back as undeliverable, so I contacted Hoverspeed by email who confirmed it without any problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... David584 Posted November 24, 2004 Share Posted November 24, 2004 Kevinmc I wondered what the "catch" was.GeorgeCongratulations on getting the £49.00 booking. I now see that the company's site redirects to the Ferry Sale site advertising the fares. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Baz Posted November 24, 2004 Share Posted November 24, 2004 I hope this starts a price war with the big players, it needed the likes of Hoverspeed and Speedferries to fight the battle for fairer fares across the channel. These two companies will hurt the others and rightly so, there have been too many price hikes for too long.Baz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Will Posted November 24, 2004 Share Posted November 24, 2004 [quote]I hope this starts a price war with the big players, it needed the likes of Hoverspeed and Speedferries to fight the battle for fairer fares across the channel. These two companies will hurt the othe...[/quote]Nice thought, but Ferrysale has been around for ages without making much of an impact on the standard fares. In fact last year Ferrysale was offering £19 fares: I remember mentioning that on this forum.Because Ferrysale is a bucket-shop operation run by Hoverspeed it doesn't normally offer fares very far in advance, and you won't find peak time popular crossings on the site. I'm sure it will offer post-Christmas fares in a few weeks time.Hoverspeed has never, as far as I know, operated its Newhaven/Dieppe fast ferry in the off-peak season, the weather conditions aren't really suitable on this longer route. Though I was at a high speed craft conference in England last week and somebody from Incat, which makes all of the fast ferries used on the channel - the only exception being the Fincantieri monohull used by Hoverspeed on the Dieppe run this year - was talking about running its catamarans in 13m significant wave height. Bear in mind that current operational limitations are 3m to 3.5m, at which people complain bitterly (on this forum) of feeling seasick.Hoverspeed has, though, announced its intention to cease running the fast ferry service between Newhaven and Dieppe and is hoping to be able to transfer the operation to Transmanche, the French consortium headed by the Seine Maritime Regional Council, which runs the conventional ferry between those two ports. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Andrewjspencer Posted November 27, 2004 Share Posted November 27, 2004 Thanks for the tip off about ferrysales.com - I had nearly forgotten them in all the euphoria surrounding Speedferries.We are looking to travel out on the 22nd and back on the 27th over Christmas so might combine both companies and still have change out of £50!Will - interested in your report on the Newhaven-Dieppe route - we used that route a few times and found it a good option for Normandie. Will Transmache use the Hoverspeed fastcraft fleet or the their traditional vessels?regards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Will Posted November 27, 2004 Share Posted November 27, 2004 As I understand it Hoverspeed's Dover-Calais route will probably be using the ship Hoverspeed used in 2004 running between Newhaven and Dieppe, plus another similar vessel, which will replace the catamarans (I think there were three running in the peak season. That will free up at least one catamaran, which I think Hoverspeed would like to charter to Transmanche to run between Newhaven and Dieppe. However, it's largely conjecture at this stage as nothing has yet been signed and sealed. Transmanche may be quite content to continue to run conventional ferries as fast craft bring all sorts of problems for operators, as P&O could tell you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... BJSLIV Posted November 27, 2004 Share Posted November 27, 2004 I would think that Transmanche will just keep the Sardinian tubs going for another year, they will have enough on their hands if /when their new hybrid crafts arrive next year(?).I don't know whether the political debate which ensued after the last election has been resolved. The new Socialaist team were at one time questioning the money being spent on Transmanche to the detriment of sociala expenditure on dry land. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... 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Rita Posted November 23, 2004 Share Posted November 23, 2004 David,Did you actually go on the www.ferrysale.com website?I have just tested those dates and they definately came up as £49.00 return.We have used this site alot this year (however it has tended to be only 3-4 weeks prior that you can book) but we have never paid more than £49.00 return or (£25.00 each way if there were no cheap returns avail). It is a great service has always been on time with the exception of high winds in Sep so the crossing was cancelled however when we turned upto book in they gave us a card with our booking no. on and told us to go straight to Sea France. When we arrived there Sea France knew all about our booking being transferred so we had no problem at all. Unlike a few people we met that had booked through Speed Ferries which was also cancelled and had awful time trying to explain to Sea France.We would definately recommend using this site, especially as at the moment they are doing the offer of £49.00 return with the option of £10 fee to amend at a later date.Rita Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevinmc Posted November 24, 2004 Author Share Posted November 24, 2004 David HThe ferrysale site is Hoverspeed's own site. They've traditionally used it for selling surplus capacity at odd times. I've seen specific dates appear, disappear and appear again, all in the space of a week. I got caught out earlier this year when I had to book a single from Calais, the date disappeared from availability, so I paid £70 via the Hoverspeed site, only for the cheap fare to reappear the following day.If they can persuade people to pay the full published fare via the Hoverspeed website, they will. Meanwhile it's a handy way for Hoverspeed to bring in some money during a quiet booking month.Don't expect the ferrysale fares to be available after xmas. Kevinmc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Posted November 24, 2004 Share Posted November 24, 2004 "If anyone finds a £49.00 return fare, please let the rest of us know."DavidI have a booking for this Friday for £49 on Seacat via their Ferrysale web site, booked last week when Speedferries couldn't accomodate it. Oddly enough when the confirmation email didn't arrive, their website contact form (email) to Ferrysales was bounced back as undeliverable, so I contacted Hoverspeed by email who confirmed it without any problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David584 Posted November 24, 2004 Share Posted November 24, 2004 Kevinmc I wondered what the "catch" was.GeorgeCongratulations on getting the £49.00 booking. I now see that the company's site redirects to the Ferry Sale site advertising the fares. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baz Posted November 24, 2004 Share Posted November 24, 2004 I hope this starts a price war with the big players, it needed the likes of Hoverspeed and Speedferries to fight the battle for fairer fares across the channel. These two companies will hurt the others and rightly so, there have been too many price hikes for too long.Baz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will Posted November 24, 2004 Share Posted November 24, 2004 [quote]I hope this starts a price war with the big players, it needed the likes of Hoverspeed and Speedferries to fight the battle for fairer fares across the channel. These two companies will hurt the othe...[/quote]Nice thought, but Ferrysale has been around for ages without making much of an impact on the standard fares. In fact last year Ferrysale was offering £19 fares: I remember mentioning that on this forum.Because Ferrysale is a bucket-shop operation run by Hoverspeed it doesn't normally offer fares very far in advance, and you won't find peak time popular crossings on the site. I'm sure it will offer post-Christmas fares in a few weeks time.Hoverspeed has never, as far as I know, operated its Newhaven/Dieppe fast ferry in the off-peak season, the weather conditions aren't really suitable on this longer route. Though I was at a high speed craft conference in England last week and somebody from Incat, which makes all of the fast ferries used on the channel - the only exception being the Fincantieri monohull used by Hoverspeed on the Dieppe run this year - was talking about running its catamarans in 13m significant wave height. Bear in mind that current operational limitations are 3m to 3.5m, at which people complain bitterly (on this forum) of feeling seasick.Hoverspeed has, though, announced its intention to cease running the fast ferry service between Newhaven and Dieppe and is hoping to be able to transfer the operation to Transmanche, the French consortium headed by the Seine Maritime Regional Council, which runs the conventional ferry between those two ports. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrewjspencer Posted November 27, 2004 Share Posted November 27, 2004 Thanks for the tip off about ferrysales.com - I had nearly forgotten them in all the euphoria surrounding Speedferries.We are looking to travel out on the 22nd and back on the 27th over Christmas so might combine both companies and still have change out of £50!Will - interested in your report on the Newhaven-Dieppe route - we used that route a few times and found it a good option for Normandie. Will Transmache use the Hoverspeed fastcraft fleet or the their traditional vessels?regards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will Posted November 27, 2004 Share Posted November 27, 2004 As I understand it Hoverspeed's Dover-Calais route will probably be using the ship Hoverspeed used in 2004 running between Newhaven and Dieppe, plus another similar vessel, which will replace the catamarans (I think there were three running in the peak season. That will free up at least one catamaran, which I think Hoverspeed would like to charter to Transmanche to run between Newhaven and Dieppe. However, it's largely conjecture at this stage as nothing has yet been signed and sealed. Transmanche may be quite content to continue to run conventional ferries as fast craft bring all sorts of problems for operators, as P&O could tell you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BJSLIV Posted November 27, 2004 Share Posted November 27, 2004 I would think that Transmanche will just keep the Sardinian tubs going for another year, they will have enough on their hands if /when their new hybrid crafts arrive next year(?).I don't know whether the political debate which ensued after the last election has been resolved. The new Socialaist team were at one time questioning the money being spent on Transmanche to the detriment of sociala expenditure on dry land. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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