Brittany Ferries

[Lapaix]

Although we find Brittany Ferries to be comfortable craft, we are getting a bit fed up with their prices - even allowing for being members of the Property Owners Abroad club and using special offers whenever possible. Has anyone heard of a Speedferries/Hovertravel type operation opening up in Portsmouth?  Fingers crossed! Lynda

[Nick Trollope]

I wouldn't hold your breath! I understand that Speedferries have promised a Western Channel service, but that is as far as it goes AFAIK.

Bill, will-the-conq, knows more than most on this subject. I suspect that his silence can mean only one thing .....

 

[Lapaix]

Perhaps us home owners abroad can get together to lobby them to start up a service - just think of the business they would have! Lynda

[Will]

There have certainly been rumours, but no signs of any firm action. As far as Speedferries are concerned although I certainly wouldn't rule out the possibility I think they will concentrate first on getting a second ship for the Dover-Boulogne service and solving the reliability issues there, which as companies like Hoverspeed and P&O have found are even more pronounced on the longer, rougher western channel routes. When Speedferries started there was a surplus of catamaran ferries available for cheap charter, but this is no longer the case, for various reasons. And for the longer crossings you really do need one of the latest-generation ships like Normandie Express, rather than the older, smaller (ex-warship) Speed One.

In the meantime, the most realistic alternative to Brittany Ferries in the post-P&O era is Transmanche between Dieppe and Newhaven. The western channel is indeed crying out for another operator.

You can get the best out of Brittany Ferries by avoiding the busiest times (i.e. British, and to a lesser extent, French school holidays and weekends and popular events like D-Day anniversary or Le Mans), not travelling overnight, limiting stays to 5 or 10 days and using the 'prices from' days (see brochure - usually Tuesdays) for travel where possible. Where there are several crossings per day, as on Portsmouth/Caen then early morning out of France, afternoon from Britain, offers best value. Although the St Malo route has historically been expensive, on occasions this year it has proved better value than Caen, as has Cherbourg. If you do this, then factor in extra driving time, fuel, wear and tear, motorway tolls, and possibly one or more overnight stays, then the cheaper shorter crossings don't provide quite such a great saving (though still enough for many people to justify using them).

[Lapaix]

As always, Will - a great reply!  However, we do all of that - only travelling out Tuesday afternoons, etc. but it still adds up over the year.  Another option for us would be the Southampton to Rennes flight, but they only operate Tuesdays, Thursday, Saturdays and Sundays,  so a Friday night to Sunday weekend is out of the question.  Hopefully, as this service gets more popular, they might increase flights.  Fingers crossed!  Lynda

[Will]

I agree about the flights Lynda. We're not far from Rennes, and I have had to go to Southampton twice in the last four weeks, so the flights should have been perfect. However, the timings made them an unworkable option for what I had to do in England. I also prefer to take a car as I need to take things to, and bring things back from, England. So Brittany Ferries it has to be.

As nearly all of my trips are for business, and so are chargeable or tax-deductible, the cost is much less of an issue for me - but even so at this time of the year the ships are pretty full, mostly with holiday or leisure travellers rather than others like me. So unless there is some serious low-cost competition on this part of the Channel I don't see anything changing price-wise.