LD Lines new vessel

[Maricopa]

Hi all, I have recently been back to the UK, and used LD Lines as I usually do.  I thought those of you who may use or be thinking of using their service may be interested on my observations in relation to their new vessel.

 

Previously we have used the Norman Spirit (NS), and the new vessel is the Norman Voyager (NV).  They are now currently running both, so there is an afternoon and night crossing in each direction.

 

The new vessel is fitted out to a good standard, and the cabins are a notch up on the NS.  However that's about it for the plusses.[:(]

 

On the down side:

 

There is only one restaurant (tuckers and car drivers together) with one till, as opposed to three (including a separate one for truckers), and the NS main restaurant had two tills.  As a result the queues are long and the food quickly goes cold (not that it was particularly warm in the first place.

 

There is one tiny bar, manned by one person, as opposed to the very large multi-staffed bar, and this doubles as the coffee bar, as opposed to the separate one on the NS.

 

For those used to the multi-screened bar with the likes of Sky Sports, the NV has only one TV screen, showing a cut down version of Sky News.

 

For those who like that kind of thing, the shop is very small.

 

Finally, those cars that aren't carrying pets or with trailers, are parked on an OPEN deck, so your car can be covered in salt the next day.  The ramp to this deck is VERY steep, and some may find it a mental / and or physical challenge to drive up.

 

To end on a good point, on disembarking at both ends, the exit off the ship and out of the port was very quick.  Quickest I have ever known in fact.[:D]

 

PS.  There used to be a garage that was handy for topping up before you left France, just before you turned left to enter the port at Le Havre.  We gave up looking for it, then realised the bit of ground we were parked next to WAS where the garage should have been.  You would now need to use the one on the right as you enter Le Havre from the A131.

 

Edit: I have put the names the right way round[;-)][:$]

[Will]

The new ship is basically a freight ferry and is not really designed for the larger numbers of passengers that it has to carry with car traffic. There have been many adverse comments from passengers, on forums like this and on the company's own web site, mainly concerned with the ramp that Maricopa mentions and the lack of suitable accommodation for those travelling overnight without cabins. Another area of controversy has been the time taken for loading and unloading, so it is good to see that this, at least, may have been solved.

 

[Just Chris]

Not that it really matters, but have you got the vessel names the wrong way round?  I seem to remember travelling on the Norman Spirit last year - but I could be mistaken.  Either way, I think I prefer Brittany Ferries...

Chris

[Will]

Yes, the Norman Voyager is the new ship.

 

[Maricopa]

[quote user="ChrisnJulie"]Not that it really matters, but have you got the vessel names the wrong way round?  I seem to remember travelling on the Norman Spirit last year - but I could be mistaken.  [/quote]

My apologies.  It was two weeks ago that I returned, and that was the first time in 19 months since the last time I used the Norman Spirit.I have edited my original post, to avoid confusion for future users.

However, my points about the new vessel remain valid.

Will.  I agree about the freight aspect, my wifes cousin is a trucker and he said it is an Itialian company churning out this ferry design (validated perhaps by many dual language signs, one of which is Italian).

However, as it has only been in service a month, I haven't seen any other posts on this forum about this new ship, that's why I posted[8-)]

[Will]

You are right, it is a standard Italian freight ferry design, very similar to the newer Norse Merchant (Norfolk Lines subsidiary) pure freight ferries on the Irish Sea services, and Norfolk Lines will be operating an identical ship to Norman Voyager on its Rosyth-Zeebrugge freight services. There are (or will be) around 20 of these ships in service on various routes, all built by Visentini Shipyard near Venice.

I am surprised that there have not been more postings about it here. I haven't been on it myself, so can't say much (I tend to use Brittany Ferries) but I do know that there have been many adverse comments from a passenger viewpoint on forums like AngloInfo and Total France, as well as on the 'ship spotter' web sites.