Anyone have any experience of LD Lines ?
Discussion
www.ldline.co.uk/
Just looking at overnight options and these guys come up really cheap......
makes me wonder why !
Just looking at overnight options and these guys come up really cheap......
makes me wonder why !
The boat's OK, and the food isn't bad, but there simply aren't enough cabins for the overnight trip out. Those "club class" recliners are better than nothing - or perhaps not. I used them last time, and half the passengers gave up and slept on the floor. Take your own pillow and a blanket! The only advantage to the 5pm return is that there's no queuing. The boat's been in port all day, so it's a case of driving straight on as soon as you arrive. There are extra showers etc for those without cabins, although you can normally book one for the return very easily if you're knackered after the race, but at a price.
Promises that LD would be a cost-effective alternative to Brittany Ferries, and a worthy replacement for the much lamented P&O crossings, have proven unfounded. It is cheaper, but you get what you pay for. I make the trip five or six times a year, and the last few crossings I've gone back to BF. Yes, it costs a bit more, but the service is better, there are enough cabins, you save a couple of hours travelling (depending where you're heading, of course)and the timings are more convenient. Being realistic, LD cannot compete with just one ship.
Promises that LD would be a cost-effective alternative to Brittany Ferries, and a worthy replacement for the much lamented P&O crossings, have proven unfounded. It is cheaper, but you get what you pay for. I make the trip five or six times a year, and the last few crossings I've gone back to BF. Yes, it costs a bit more, but the service is better, there are enough cabins, you save a couple of hours travelling (depending where you're heading, of course)and the timings are more convenient. Being realistic, LD cannot compete with just one ship.
I used LD lines for the classic this year and probably will not bother again. The outbound crossing was delayed by approx an hour [as was the Brittany Ferries boat in the next berth]. However, the bar staff still wanted to close at their usual time [2am if I remember rightly] so there was very little time for a relaxing drink [as I was passenger so not driving in the morning]. To cap off the crossing, the boat ran out of food. The cabin was OK though.
We used LD Lines for Le Mans '06 and went with "LD Lines - The chavs choice".
It's cheap and cheerful but does the job.
The Boat:
The tug is an old ex-P&O boat (you can still see the outlines where "P&O Ferries" signs had been taken down) with fewer cabins than the boat P&O used to run on teh route themselves. One plus of this is that almost every cabin seemed to be an outside cabin - regardless of what you paid for.
The Bar:
Very slow but then if they actually had 3 staff serving not one serving and two standing around it would have been better. Doesn't stay open that late, but was enough for us to get 3 or 4 pints down before hitting the cabin. If your planning on drinking through to dawn I'd stock up on cans before boarding.
The Duty Free:
They had a shop. It was close when we boarded. It was closed when we went for beer. It was closed when we went to bed. It was closed when we got up. Maybe we just missed the magic window but...
The Food:
Waa! Waa! Waa! Danger Will Robinson!
Someone else has said the food was OK, but I can only speak for our experience. The food in the 'restaurant' was, well it was bad 1970's motorway service station food - better than being buggered by a randy badger, just not much.
Two guys we teamed up with decided to stay in the bar and have hotdogs. These consisted of tepid frankfurters surved in mouldy finger rolls - and I'm not talking the first little patch of white fluff, I'm talking a couple of 50p coin sized 3 shades of green growth.
Use LD Lines Again:
It's going to be a toss-up for us and will probably come down to the price difference between LD Lines and BF as the crossing times (=beer for drivers on way out + rested for drive) and distances (in classic cars) work for us.
If we go LD Lines we will:
1) Eat before bording
2) Carry a few cans on in case of delays/early bar closing
It's cheap and cheerful but does the job.
The Boat:
The tug is an old ex-P&O boat (you can still see the outlines where "P&O Ferries" signs had been taken down) with fewer cabins than the boat P&O used to run on teh route themselves. One plus of this is that almost every cabin seemed to be an outside cabin - regardless of what you paid for.
The Bar:
Very slow but then if they actually had 3 staff serving not one serving and two standing around it would have been better. Doesn't stay open that late, but was enough for us to get 3 or 4 pints down before hitting the cabin. If your planning on drinking through to dawn I'd stock up on cans before boarding.
The Duty Free:
They had a shop. It was close when we boarded. It was closed when we went for beer. It was closed when we went to bed. It was closed when we got up. Maybe we just missed the magic window but...
The Food:
Waa! Waa! Waa! Danger Will Robinson!
Someone else has said the food was OK, but I can only speak for our experience. The food in the 'restaurant' was, well it was bad 1970's motorway service station food - better than being buggered by a randy badger, just not much.
Two guys we teamed up with decided to stay in the bar and have hotdogs. These consisted of tepid frankfurters surved in mouldy finger rolls - and I'm not talking the first little patch of white fluff, I'm talking a couple of 50p coin sized 3 shades of green growth.
Use LD Lines Again:
It's going to be a toss-up for us and will probably come down to the price difference between LD Lines and BF as the crossing times (=beer for drivers on way out + rested for drive) and distances (in classic cars) work for us.
If we go LD Lines we will:
1) Eat before bording
2) Carry a few cans on in case of delays/early bar closing
Used them for a trip to Brittany in July for a family holiday. You get what you pay for, but to be honest all I wanted was somewhere to lay my head, and the cheapest crossing!
On the way out we left an hour late (seems common!) but got their on time, which of course is not surprising as the crossing time allowed UK to France is far greater than the other way!
The cabin was ok, clean bedding, clean ensuite shower room/wc. Don;t think the shops or restaurant were open on the way out, maybe because its a night crossing so we are suppossed to sleep! However all I wanted was a cup of tea so got that!
On the way back the bars, restaurant etc were open. Yes the food was basic but it was hot and at least it tasted like what it was said to be. Coming back from Le Mans this year the Sea France boat we were on had no hot or cold food on it. Eventually we were allowed in the Truckers Restauarant but it wasn;t that great.
Bearing in mind that it was more than £200 cheaper than BF, I'd definitely use it again going that route!
On the way out we left an hour late (seems common!) but got their on time, which of course is not surprising as the crossing time allowed UK to France is far greater than the other way!
The cabin was ok, clean bedding, clean ensuite shower room/wc. Don;t think the shops or restaurant were open on the way out, maybe because its a night crossing so we are suppossed to sleep! However all I wanted was a cup of tea so got that!
On the way back the bars, restaurant etc were open. Yes the food was basic but it was hot and at least it tasted like what it was said to be. Coming back from Le Mans this year the Sea France boat we were on had no hot or cold food on it. Eventually we were allowed in the Truckers Restauarant but it wasn;t that great.
Bearing in mind that it was more than £200 cheaper than BF, I'd definitely use it again going that route!
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