Brittany ferries

[leothetiler]

I went online to book a Portsmouth-St Malo ferry crossing yesterday with Brittany ferries, and nearly fell off my seat when I saw the price!

Heading off to SW France, and what with a 3 year old and 6 year old wanted to keep the driving to a minimum.

Admittedly it was for the end of July 2012 with a car and an overnight cabin on the way out. (daytime crossing on return)

I maybe expected £450-£500, but for myself, wife and two kids it was £750! Am I just a little outdated with cross channel ferry prices or is that to be expected?

As that was over budget, I looked at Brittany ferries Portsmouth-Caen again with a night crossing and it was even dearer!

Am I just looking too early, or could it get even dearer?

[Puggit]

As a regular on the Portsmouth-Caen route, I find that quite incredible.

Mrs Puggit always books our crossings, and we are always travelling on odd days (ie not weekends). With overnight crossings it tends to come in sub-£400

[JulesV]

What day of the week are you trying to book?

Maybe try another day?

[hesnotthemessiah]

We had the same shock a few years ago. We travel that route quite often and we found a great way of getting there cheaper. We joined a the Ferry Travel Club, it costs around £12 a year and the prices are amazing compared to those normally advertised.

www.ferrytravelclub.com

Try it out, see what you think.

[Bluebarge]

leothetiler said:

I went online to book a Portsmouth-St Malo ferry crossing yesterday with Brittany ferries, and nearly fell off my seat when I saw the price!

Heading off to SW France, and what with a 3 year old and 6 year old wanted to keep the driving to a minimum.

Admittedly it was for the end of July 2012 with a car and an overnight cabin on the way out. (daytime crossing on return)

I maybe expected £450-£500, but for myself, wife and two kids it was £750! Am I just a little outdated with cross channel ferry prices or is that to be expected?

As that was over budget, I looked at Brittany ferries Portsmouth-Caen again with a night crossing and it was even dearer!

Am I just looking too early, or could it get even dearer?

No. I get the same prices for school holidays - it's a captive market for those heading to Britanny. However, seeing where you're based, you may find it better to do Dover-calais and blat down the autoroutes. That short crossing should be about £100, a stopover in a Novotel (family room for approx 90euros + kids stay free) and even with tolls and extra fuel you should still be quids in.

Use this site to calculate your travel times, find hotels etc - www.viamichelin.com

[Mark.]

Years ago we used to do lots of trips to France, being only about 8 miles from Portsmouth it was easy to get last ferry Friday out, car, cabin, last ferry back Saturday, cabin again etc. for about £80.
Just not economical sense now. We drive to the tunnel, do it that way. Save a fortune. Not really any good for Brittany though.

[Roo]

I used the overnight crossing this year on the same route. Afraid to say - never again.

Couldn't sleep and to say the cabins, even 4 berth upgraded ones, are tiny is an understatement.

Next year I'm back to Eurotunnel and driving down.

[tonym911]

Agree the CC ferries are shocking now, overcrowded and overpriced, the only glimmer of light was when Speedferries were operating a fast and cheap Dover-Boulogne service - until they got railroaded out of business by the big boys' dirty tricks campaign. Now we're back to the old cartel. Can't believe the OFT or the Monopolies lot haven't investigated this yet.

[Melman Giraffe]

Roo said:

I used the overnight crossing this year on the same route. Afraid to say - never again.

Couldn't sleep and to say the cabins, even 4 berth upgraded ones, are tiny is an understatement.

Next year I'm back to Eurotunnel and driving down.

^^^This. We head down to South Vendee and use this option

[IainZ]

Went on BF Portsmouth to Bilbao in August (just one way, drove home from there via Italy )

Cost a bit over £500 but have to say I we thoroughly enjoyed it & it was part of the holiday, but there was only two of us. Food etc was good & not hideously expensive for what it was.

There & back for a family of 4 would indeed be a bit pricey though.

A couple of years ago we did Portsmouth - St Malo overnight & then return from Cherbourg via the Sea Cat & ISTR that was over a bit over £500 for a family of 4. Outbound leg was fine, didn't much like the return though.

Edited by IainZ on Monday 26th September 16:21

[Puggit]

IainZ said:

Went on BF Portsmouth to Bilbao in August (just one way, drove home from there (via Italy )

Cost a bit over £500 but have to say I we thoroughly enjoyed it & it was part of the holiday, but there was only two of us. Food etc was good & not hideously expensive for what it was.

There & back for a family of 4 would indeed be a bit pricey though.

A couple of years ago we did Portsmouth - St Malo overnight & then return from Cherbourg via the Sea Cat & ISTR that was over a bit over £500 for a family of 4. Outbound leg was fine, didn't much like the return though.

Crossing the Bay of Biscay is fraught with 'danger' as it's got a fearsome reputation for storms and big waves.

We used to use SpeedFerries a lot, but after a force 4 crossing (that is all) swore never to go near it again. Big boats only for us now!!

[IainZ]

Puggit said:

Crossing the Bay of Biscay is fraught with 'danger' as it's got a fearsome reputation for storms and big waves.

We used to use SpeedFerries a lot, but after a force 4 crossing (that is all) swore never to go near it again. Big boats only for us now!!

Very true, especially in the winter, and we knew it could be a bit rough but we were lucky, it was as calm as ya like I believe BF are going to be running limited services down there all through the winter this year - wouldn't fancy it meself!

4 years ago (in August) we got delayed at Dover for over an hour because the weather was so bad. People wargling all over the boat , not nice . But then if you stay inside & try & eat & drink coffee in weather like that, what do you expect?

Took the kids out on deck, no problems.

[smack]

Puggit said:

IainZ said:

Went on BF Portsmouth to Bilbao in August (just one way, drove home from there (via Italy )

Cost a bit over £500 but have to say I we thoroughly enjoyed it & it was part of the holiday, but there was only two of us. Food etc was good & not hideously expensive for what it was.

There & back for a family of 4 would indeed be a bit pricey though.

A couple of years ago we did Portsmouth - St Malo overnight & then return from Cherbourg via the Sea Cat & ISTR that was over a bit over £500 for a family of 4. Outbound leg was fine, didn't much like the return though.

Crossing the Bay of Biscay is fraught with 'danger' as it's got a fearsome reputation for storms and big waves.

We used to use SpeedFerries a lot, but after a force 4 crossing (that is all) swore never to go near it again. Big boats only for us now!!

Had a Force 8-9 on a Bay of Biscay back from Spain on the Pont Aven a few years back, and that was fun! When I was a kid I used to get seasick, but lucky these days I don't have any problems.

Had 5 crossings on that route and boat now (last 2 weeks ago), 3 of those crossings have been rough. The cost has risen quite a bit since first going in 2009, but oil prices have gone up, and P&O leaving the market, they no doubt have bumped up their margins because they can.

Onboard, food and drink prices are quite reasonable. Plus, you can always buy wine in the onboard store rather than the bar, and sit outside and enjoy it if it is nice day!

[Zod]

Always take the Tunnel and drive.

[Sir Bagalot]

Try Condor Ferries as they sail into St Malo (go for the fast ferry).

Used to use Brittany but found them too expensive.

Have to admit we traqvel to West France and always go through the tunnel and share the driving.

[ArmaghMan]

Slightly off topic but...we keycamp in france every year.
Used to boat Rosslare-Roscoff, approx 18 hours on the boat, overnight.
We now fly and hire. I know ryanair are a shower BUT if you play the game you'll only be in the air for an hour tops.
Car hire on the far side is fairly reasonable 400ish for a people carrier for 10 days.

Price it and see?

[DBSV8]

you get a discount if you are a join the property owners club , its really only worth it if you make at least 6 journeys a year then you get fairly reasonable savings , as posted check out the day of travel , Portsmouth to St Malo is over night , so you must book a cabin , if you travel day time your prices will be cheaper as will the day of the week .

prices do sky rocket in the summer , be advised if you go the high speed network , in heavy seas , it could be cancelled , so take this into account ,

the best ferries are the ones that do the Spanish route , although they sometimes go the french routes , if you get an option to go on the flagship , Flagship Pont aven , it has a swimming pool and the Commodore cabins are excellent with own balconies. The Cap finistere has also a swimming pool and the bar looks like it was designed by Gene Rodenberry m Commodore cabins at the front have double beds and star trek style windows .

[Stephanie Plum]

Have a look at LD Lines - we use Portsmouth-Le Havre each year for a long weekend in early August, and find them pretty good value. We haven't taken the overnight option though so can't comment on cabins.

[Puggit]

Stephanie Plum said:

Have a look at LD Lines - we use Portsmouth-Le Havre each year for a long weekend in early August, and find them pretty good value. We haven't taken the overnight option though so can't comment on cabins.

The LD cabins are the same as Brittany cabins - there's not many different ways of presenting 4 bunks and a shower in a cupboard in the minimal possible space. Sadly the rest of the LD boats are found lacking, so we avoid them for day crossings.

[Stephanie Plum]

Puggit said:

Stephanie Plum said:

Have a look at LD Lines - we use Portsmouth-Le Havre each year for a long weekend in early August, and find them pretty good value. We haven't taken the overnight option though so can't comment on cabins.

The LD cabins are the same as Brittany cabins - there's not many different ways of presenting 4 bunks and a shower in a cupboard in the minimal possible space. Sadly the rest of the LD boats are found lacking, so we avoid them for day crossings.

We've used the fast cat they have in the fleet - can't remember the name - but it's a swift crossing and tbh have never had any real complaints. They have always been very careful getting me on and off in a low car as well. It's only a couple of hours at the end of the day - having taken the Portsmouth/Bilbao crossing once each way, I can cope with anything