Ferries....

[tjdixon911]

Is it me or are they filling up quick?

Also have to prices gone up?

I'm sure I didn't book last year till late Jan/Feb but looking recently the early ferries on Wed/Thurs seem to be full or expensive.....

Norfolk Line seem really cheap, are they any good and how much time does it add to the journey?

[Vette_1978]

I always book up as soon as the websites have the dates available - and the ACO have pretty much confirmed the dates of course.

After using the ferries for 4 years though I've been converted to the tunnel. That feeling of being worn out, grubby, needing coffee and a paper on the way back.....but just having a vending machine at Calais is never going to happen again. The tunnel hub is worth the extra few quid to get a decent meal, a paper and some drinks for the 35 minute trip.

[E36GUY]

Norfolk Line are my preferred choice as I quite like to chill on the ferry and get some grub. They have brand new boats too and the truckers are now confined to a separate section to the car tourists so it's completely different to the floating truckstops they were several years ago. And they don't charge you if you miss your crossing either. They just pop you on the next one. It's the fact they are so cheap that appeals to me mainly and Dunkirque is only 10 mins up the road from Calais. It's only the speedferry (probably already full!) and Eurotunnel (spenny) that save you any time. Dover/calais vs dover/dunkirque on the regular ferry is negligable

[Truckosaurus]

Also the Norfolk Line boats are normally quieter compared to the Dover-Calais ones which means quicker loading and unloading at either end.

As others have said, it's a longer crossing and an extra half hour on the road, but those are the only downsides.

[NormanD]

I use SpeedFerries

Purchased a Block booking last year £25 each way

[D__I__A__B__L__O]

LD Lines from Portsmouth. Only 1 sailing either way @ the moment but its cheap enough. Leaves Portsmouth @ 23:00 UK time and arrives in Le Harve @ 08:00 French time. Coming back it leaves Le Harve @ 17:00 French time and gets in to Portsmouth @ 22:30 UK time. Always cheap enough for me, we go to France alot as we have a house over there. Going over tomorrow and its only costing £80 return and we have a sofa on the roof which puts us in to the high vehicle bracket.

[slartibartfast]

do we need to book the ferry in advance?

Paul

[tjdixon911]

slartibartfast said:

do we need to book the ferry in advance?

Paul

Its generally a good Idea, I'm not sure many operators will be able to book you in on arrival, plus the ferries are generally full around that time of year....

[slartibartfast]

tjdixon911 said:

slartibartfast said:

do we need to book the ferry in advance?

Paul

Its generally a good Idea, I'm not sure many operators will be able to book you in on arrival, plus the ferries are generally full around that time of year....

how far in advance?
what i'm saying is do i need to book it this month or can i leave it 2months before Le-mans?

Thanks

Paul

[tjdixon911]

slartibartfast said:

tjdixon911 said:

slartibartfast said:

do we need to book the ferry in advance?

Paul

Its generally a good Idea, I'm not sure many operators will be able to book you in on arrival, plus the ferries are generally full around that time of year....

how far in advance?
what i'm saying is do i need to book it this month or can i leave it 2months before Le-mans?

Thanks

Paul

You can probably leave it till the week/day before but you will be limited as to which times/ferries you can get on.

There are plenty of ferries still available for afternoon crossings but the early morning ones seem to be limited/expensive, depends when you want to travel I guess. Norfolk Line seem to have plenty of early crossings available ATM, once I get everyone to agree what time/day we head down I will be booking with them - unless one of the other operators come up with a better deal...

[E36GUY]

You can.

Norfolk Line is the carrier I usually use and it'll be highly unlikely they would sell out.

[slartibartfast]

it's more than likely i'll be traveling down wednesday afternoon to get an overnight ferry so whats the chances of them beeing all booked up?


i'm a complete Le-mans Virgin unless you hadn't already guessed.

Paul

[Marvindodgers]

Another thumbs up for Norfolk Lines! Brand new boats, cheap, foods good and a whole lot more reliable than Speedferries! Lost count of the number of times they have cancelled the boat on us with minimal notice!

[E36GUY]

And they don't charge you if you miss your boat. Then just throw you on the next one! That's a winner in my book having missed my return for the last 2 years by a matter of seconds!

[millband]

Another thumbs up for Norfolk Lines. Got very cheap late night crossings at the last minute last year. Only downside is a complete lack of Le Mans atmosphere, unlike the 7am Speedferries which will be full of nice cars

Edited by millband on Monday 7th January 22:31

[5upra]

There are 10 of us going this year and I have booked Speedferries. £64 per car and £106 for a large Transit van, saving £128 compared to Sea France who take longer and are 30 minutes up the coast to Calais.
If you want any decent time/day, they are all booked.

[alman]

Just wondering on the ferries such as LD lines and the other overnight ones, are the bars open all night so you can buy drinks etc.?

[Chrisgr31]

alman said:

Just wondering on the ferries such as LD lines and the other overnight ones, are the bars open all night so you can buy drinks etc.?

They weren't when I went over with them in 2006, although it wasn't Le Mans weekend.

[Dr Imran T]

LD lines are also a good operator. We went from Newhaven to La havre.. Nice new ferry as well