MyFerryLink

[EuroTrash]

Apologies if this has been posted before - and mods, please feel free to change or delete this post if it seems like advertising - but I just got this email and I thought some people might like to save £10 if they do the Calais-Dover crossing.

"We’d like to invite you onboard the Rodin or Berlioz to trial the newest ferry service between Dover and Calais. You can save £10 on all of our each way crossings this year by booking with the offer code “LAUNCH”.

MyFerrylink is a completely new company offering you a serious alternative on the Dover-Calais route. With two sister superferries you are assured of consistent quality, and there’s the convenience of 16 services a day on the premier cross-channel route.

Contemporary design, spacious lounges and a unique continental atmosphere add to the enjoyment of the crossing. Eat, drink, shop and relax aboard the Rodin and the Berlioz.

We have no credit or debit card charges, no premium phone lines, sensible small print and, of course, great value fares. Travel with a car and upto 9 people from just £39 each way with the offer code “LAUNCH”.

We offer:

A warm and welcoming onboard experience

16 crossings a day between Dover & Calais

Twin sister superferries for a consistency of travel

No credit card charges and no fuel surcharges

Flexible travel and minimal small print

We look forward to welcoming you

onboard the Rodin or Berlioz soon!"

[powerdesal]

Interesting but what on earth is '' a unique continental atmosphere '' in respect of a ferry ?

[Théière]

Pushing and shoving at the tills instead of a very British orderly queue?

[Pierre ZFP]

So is it only P&O that accepts foot passengers now on the Dover-Calais route?  (apart from Eurostar of course)

[EuroTrash]

[quote user="powerdesal"]Interesting but what on earth is '' a unique continental atmosphere '' in respect of a ferry ?[/quote]

Well on the two occasions I have used them 'a unique continental atmosphere' seems to mean 'a very empty boat'. There can't have been more than 2 dozen passengers. Early days I know but they need supporting, I do hope they survive.

[Pickles]

An update: according to the BBC:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-22794222

The ferries are owned by Eurotunnel, which apparently bought them cheaply to keep out DFDS/LDS (I must've been asleep when that came out), leased to former SeaFrance staff (knew that) and now Eurotunnel is being required to get out of the operation.

[Chancer]

I travelled a couple of times with them recently, once with a French friend and we marvelled at how the alleged SCOP could even be paying their own wages let alone pay the overheads and make repayments on the boats, there were more crew than passengers and more crew than necessary for even a full boat, they were so underemployed that they were a bit peeved to actually have to perform very occasionally. One thing I am absolutely certain of is that none of the ex Seafrance employees actually put in €50K of their redundancy payments.

My pal convinced me that Eurotunnel were financing the whole thing to create a price war to make at least one of the competition go under or quit the route, we travelled for €22 which was actually a day return as I often do, I dont even travel back with another operator now just blatantly use them, they care not, even if they were charging €500 per crossing they would be subsidising the ticket.

However I actually came back with DFDS  and their boat was probably 80% full despite Myferrylinks fares being a lot lower excepting this particular 24 hr return which was £2 less.

I think that most people who book in advance are steering well clear of them and with good reason, I am only willing to chance the €22 or £22 day return fares booked at the very last minute.

[EuroTrash]

MyFerryLink never got off the ground (or should that be the waves) somehow, they've been going for the best part of a year and a lot regular cross Channel travellers have never even heard of them. Maybe they chose the wrong name.

[Chancer]

I think that the company is doing exactly what Eurotunnel wants it to do, the question is for how long and who will pick up the tab at the end of the day, it sure as hell wont be the syndicalistes and I expect Eurotunnel will have got the boats for a knock down price by promising to accomodate the SCOP but who is pumping money into the company I want to know.

Even if they arent making any repayments on the fleet they definitely are not even covering the fuel bill with sales, not even profit just sales, let alone the payroll and other overheads.

The whole deal was very fishy, and the longer they run empty boats with more crew than their competitors who have close to full boats at least in the summer, the fishier it becomes.

[Alan Zoff]

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/6d1d327c-ce73-11e2-8e16-00144feab7de.html#axzz2VT7YzzPV

Still have trouble trying to make a link...

[SC]

I travelled to the UK recently on MyFerryLink. When I booked I thought that it was a ticket site, I didn't realise that it was a ferry operator until I arrived at Calais.

At 24 hours notice I paid £35 one way when the other operators were charging over £100 (£29 if booked earlier). I've travelled LD from Le Havre and from St Nazaire and PO on the long crossings when they operated them.

The MyFerryLink was closer to a Brittany Ferries experience, nice ship and good reasonably priced food, and I would have no hesitation in recommending them over the other operators.

Steve

[JandM]

Given the caning this service has received recently I was expecting the worst when I turned up at Dover last month for the Calais crossing. In fact it was OK. The boat was more than half full, and the food, service and general feel of the ship were fine - or at least as fine as the others.

The one oddity was disembarking at Dover after the return trip. I got down to the car decks and found that the crew were already waving drivers off the boat. I was by no means one of the dawdlers at the back, and there were still a lot of people from the second half of the queue dodging the traffic trying to get to their cars - several children, at least one woman walking painfully slowly with sticks. Perhaps the lads wanted to knock off early, but it felt dangerous, and a tad cowboyish.