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New ferry route


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I know its not Spain where you guys live but theres a new ferry service running out of Portsmouth to Bilbao, Its running side by side the P&O sevice so it could lead to cheaper fares. It starts middle of may, & the ferry is a good one as ive used it on another route. Hope it stands up to the Biscay. Thought i would tell how ever is interested as i use the P&O serice a lot and theres always a good few french cars on board. 
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Hi forum,

  I forgot to post the link

http://www.trasmediterranea.es/index.asp?section=home&lang=UK

Please keep this thread informed or mail me of what prices you get quoted as once its up and running we hope to get some good discounts as we use the spanish routes every week and get some discounts that we can pass on to other expats

ps we have a large furniture van returning to the UK from Bayonne end of this month if its any use to anyone on a return load basis.

 

regards

 

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Thanks for that, any competition on the Portsmouth routes is good news though having tried a quote it makes Brittany Ferries look like a bargain basement operation (well over 1000€ for a two-week trip with small car). The ships should be well up to the crossing, but as the last ferry trip I did to Spain was with BF on the Quiberon anything else would probably seem comfortable. It runs roughly every three days, making a rather irregular timetable, and the trip seems to take rather longer than P&O or BF for some reason.

As most of P&O's Bilbao passengers seem to be low-cost booze cruisers I'm not sure how it will fare - maybe it will follow LD Lines' lead and offer some competitive deals. I suspect it is primarily after the freight market, a lot of Spanish trucks come to Britain via Portsmouth.

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  • 2 weeks later...
Thought I'd take a look at this as it's the closest port to my place, 835.00 Euros (about £580 pounds?) for return, 2 people and car in May. I Fear it may not be much of a pressure on BF's prices but we can live in hope. They do say it's a mini cruise tho. Thanks for posting the info.
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[quote user="Cathy"]What are the road systems like from Bilbao to Bordeaux?  Are they tolls and if so are they expensive?[/quote]

It's tolls all the way - can't remember the cost though even though I have done the trip some 6 times.  Most expensive part is the first 10 miles on spainish side.

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What are the road systems like from Bilbao to Bordeaux?  Are they tolls and if so are they expensive?

Great road, 10 euros in france, & 8 euros in Spain. Bit like wacky races at the border but fun, Give me the spanish roads anyday.

 

 

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What are the road systems like from Bilbao to Bordeaux?  Are there tolls and if so are they expensive?

I asked this question in an earlier posting but have had mixed replies - on the one hand, the road is apparently bad and on the other, good.  Who is right?

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My reply was my opinion, I dont drive that road in a car its a commercial vehicle. Yes hilly and at times twisty on the spanish side but so what a roads a road, I do the route every other week. The only pain for me being in a right hand drive motor is the toll booths. Ok here goes

Jump onto the A8 in Bilbao, After 20 miles collect a ticket, After 30 miles hand back the ticket & pay toll 7 euros, After 20 miles pay another toll 1.50 euros, You then cross the border, Pay another toll 2.50 euros, After another 15 miles pay another toll 3 euros, Then another 20 miles you will have to pay the final toll 5 euros. The road then becomes the N10 which is free right upto Bordeaux. So in all 200 miles in total, With id say 4/5 speed cameras. Now ive guessed the tolls as i drive a bigger vehicle but there somewhere near for a car.

Hope this helps

 

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She arrived today on her maiden voyage the spanish super ferry Fortuny, She was due to sail to Bilbao but due to someone dropping a bollock it has been prevented from sailing with fare paying passengers untill it satisfies various deficiencies highlighted by Marine & Coastguard surveyors. So its now set sail back to Bilbao EMPTY, annoying quite a few people i guess.
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The ferry was built in Spain in 2001 and has been used on various routes mainly from the Spanish mainland to the Balearic islands, so although not on a 'maiden voyage' the ship is not exactly old. As she has not operated before outside Spanish waters, she had not previously been subject to a port state control inspection, which is a routine matter on any passenger ship (and many other ships) visiting Britain for the first time. European rules mean that the ferry company is responsible for arranging this inspection with the host state, and the operator apparently failed to do this.

The deficiencies included: Poorly presented fire and boat drill, Emergency fire fighting equipment not for immediate use, search and rescue plan had not been lodged by the Company with HM Coastguard as they are required to do, Stability to be confirmed as in compliance with SOLAS (the International Maritime Organization's Safety of Life at Sea Convention) and the Stockholm Agreement.

Most of these are documentation faults rather than actual safety defects.

A statement by the UK Maritime & Coastguard Agency said: "It is very unfortunate that this vessel simply turned up on our doorstep virtually unannounced. Safety on board such vessels are of crucial importance to us and a major inspection of the vessel by the UK authorities was required before entering service from a UK port. We have therefore no choice but to issue a prevention of operation notice preventing this vessel which does not meet the requirements of the EC Directive from operating. We apologise to any passenger that may be inconvenienced by this Notice, but we would reiterate that their safety is our first priority and the MCA will not compromise on such issues."

The ship arrived with 300 passengers onboard, who have been flown back to Spain.

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Sorry i meant the maiden voyage on the Portsmouth - Bilbao route, Ive been on the ship a few times on the Valencia - Palma route and was very impressed with the boat compared to other med routes, Hope they get it sorted soon as i think P&O need some compitition as they run the route at the moment for mainly booze cruisers and mini cruises so they seems to be plenty of vehicle space but no cabins.  
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  • 4 weeks later...
We got back last week after a two week stay in the Pyrenees and really

enjoyed this boat.  Swimming pool is great, not big but OK on the

top deck with a sliding roof.

Not as well stocked as the P & O boat but we thought very good value.

We were due to sail on the second sailing from Portsmouth and

eventually we managed it OK after a fraught time when the inspectors

stopped the boat carrying passengers.

Got a £150 refund fro all the messing about so ended up paying about £400 return.

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Hi Yorks

Your crazily long URL has made the page crazily wide.  You can avoid this by typing something like:

Harbour Video

then highlighting it and using the link tool to link to the URL.  Much better as it means everyone can read the page.  [;-)]

You could edit your post and try it now if you want to be really nice![:)]

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  • 4 weeks later...

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