Dont be late........

[5upra]

This year we used Speedferries Dover to Boulogne. It was cheaper and faster than Seafrance.Our ferry time was 7am and you MUST get there half an hour before the boat leaves. We got there at 6.35am and were told we had to get in the standby que. We were 6th in line ! next ferry 1.45pm. I explained that I had booked the ticket 6 months earlier and getting there late would ruin our weekend etc etc. The guy took pity and as we had a ticket, we went to the front of the stand-by que and were the 2nd to last car on !! phew. Unfortunately, another of our group got there at 6.50am and didnt get on even with his pre-paid ticket. The ferry left bang on time. He had to drive to Seafrance who charged him £110 for a ticket but at least he got there. Expensive mistake. Moral is, dont be late for the ferry.

[The Leaper]

Something similar applies when using the Eurotunnel. Last year there were road works on the A16 approaching Calais and so many LeManers were delayed. Missing your booked time meant waiting for the next space which was 3-4 hours later. Be warned! R.

[RemaL]

point taken

[Alex@POD]

I've only ever been with Norfolk Line, and if you are late you just get bumped on to the next ferry, with no extra charge. Granted it is 2 hours later, but it's quite convenient if, like last year, there is no way not to be delayed...

[FredericRobinson]

We got to the Speedferries terminal 5 mins before the boat was ready to go and got straight on with no problems last year. This was on the Tuesday morning.

[5upra]

FredericRobinson said:

We got to the Speedferries terminal 5 mins before the boat was ready to go and got straight on with no problems last year. This was on the Tuesday morning.

Lucky you ! we went on Thursday morning so mabey they are strict wed/thu/fri ? who knows, just wouldnt want it to happen to anyone else next year, it aint a nice feeling !

[Vette_1978]

Or just travel down the night before, get a B&B in Dover, have a few beers and then roll up to the ferry no bother in the morning.. I've used a place a few times with a secure car park and a top class local boozer just up the road.

[legturbo]

make sure you go to the right port too as if your early its no help if you only realise at the last minute.. lol

[lowdrag]

legturbo said:

make sure you go to the right port too as if your early its no help if you only realise at the last minute.. lol

Oh yes! If you go on down to the main terminal and don't turn right at the roundabout to the Speedferries terminal you'll lose a good five minutes and that could be the difference between being on time and losing your place.

[Piglet]

Speedferries (ferry actually still I think) is always going to be a problem as they have limited capacity and only one boat (unless the other promised boat actually appeared?). It will always make it crucial to arrive in plenty of time or risk being stuck for several hours as the next sailing (some hours away) may already be full.

The important point is not to underestimate how long it may take you to get back to the ports on Monday. Always allow a good couple of hours slack, firstly it will take you much longer than you think to shoe-horn everything back into your car (mainly because you got bolloxed driking the last of the booze on Sunday night although you intended not to )

Secondly there will be congestion getting out of LM, on the roads up to Rouen and through Rouen and, assuming the weather is good, the road will be littered with broken Brits in historic cars that overheated as soon as they got stuck in traffic!

[The Leaper]

In our experience there were two major problems getting back to Calais for ferries and Le Shuttle last year. First was the unexpectedly very large queue on the autoroute heading north towards Rouen caused by having to queue for the toll to exit the autoroute. I seem to recall posts last year indicating more than an hour for lots of peopl to get through the toll. We were quite early to this toll and had to wait maybe 15 minutes. For future years I plan to come off the autoroute at the the previous exit so as to avoid the queues, hopefully. That exit is on to the N128 and then straight to Rouen I recall.

The second problem was that there were major road works on the autoroute after Bolougne as you got near to Le Shuttle terminal. It was down to one lane, mostly full of LeManers, and it seemed to take quite a while to get through. It was evident at Le Shuttle information desk that lots of people had missed their slot due to these roadworks. Most were put back 3-4 hours for the next available departure.

So, the message has to be ensure you have lots of time to get to your ferry etc. You can always arrive early, have a beer and enjoy the great cars parked up.

R.


r.

[burriana]

The Leaper said:

Something similar applies when using the Eurotunnel. Last year there were road works on the A16 approaching Calais and so many LeManers were delayed. Missing your booked time meant waiting for the next space which was 3-4 hours later. Be warned! R.

On the flip side, if you are early they will put you on the next available train. We had tickets for a Monday crossing, turned up at 8pm on the Sunday evening and only waited 20 mins for the next available train

[E36GUY]

The Leaper said:

.......I seem to recall posts last year indicating more than an hour for lots of peopl to get through the toll. We were quite early to this toll and had to wait maybe 15 minutes.

We were 2 hours in that.

[The Leaper]

burriana, you are right of course, but I think that you'd have to be at Le Shuttle pretty early on the Monday morning to get ahead of your booked time. Last year all the Monday afternoon trains were fully booked and latecomers were pushed back to the next available train, with a wait of 3 hours or so. Le Shuttle car park was almost overflowing! R.

[The Walrus]

Seafrance ammendable ticket £80 at the moment got it for £70 last year rocked up half hour late due to the toll and had a 12 euro charge but on a ferry 20 mins later !! would have been free if I had paid 4 quid more at the time of booking so lesson learned !!

[Chrisgr31]

I mustn't be late on the way back as there is only one crossing a day!

[snotrag]

Vette_1978 said:

Or just travel down the night before, get a B&B in Dover, have a few beers and then roll up to the ferry no bother in the morning.. I've used a place a few times with a secure car park and a top class local boozer just up the road.

This is what we did. B&B was mere pennies, with secure garage parking. All Tuesday to get to Dover, out for a meal, a couple pints, and a walk along the front in the evening. Full nights kip, and up fresh as a daisy at the front of the queue for the 8am Ferry. Best bit is this means you hit france at 10am, the roads are dead, your refreshed and awake, making the drive to Le-mans much easier, and arriving mid-afternoon Wednesday. Makes a lot of sense if your coming from anywhere more than a couple of hours from Dover - its a fair old drive for us lot in Yorkshire!