Not been across to France since 2000.
The ferry brochures show much evelvated prices on Y2K.
Want to do South West England to say ST Malo or similar in N W France, returning 3 weeks later via Dover crossing with car and caravan, 2 adults, 3 children {5, 3 and 1}
Anyone know the cheapest ferries?
Can go mid week.
National Breakdown AKA Green Flag - do they still do cheap ferry tickets, or caravan club etc?
Any special deals in newspapers?
Thanks for any help
Paul
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There is a company called ferrysavers advertising in the London Evening Standard www.ferrysavers.com or 08704 44 88 99.
As I am sure you know out to St Malo and back to Dover means mixing ferry companies which may close off any published discount fares. Think P&O on the Dover route still trade separately from the western chanell routes out of Pompey. If you can manage to go out and back via Dover the market has the benefit of competition between P&O, Seafrance and Hoverspeed, also newcomers Norfolk Line to Dunkerque.
Most of the cheap deals in recent years seem to have been for early booking ie before mid January. Seafrance have proved consistently cheapest Dover Calais for my car plus 4 but caravan owning friend got some fantastic prices from P&O albeit for crossing out at 05:00.
Good Luck
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There is a company called Condor Ferries that operates out of Poole or Weymouth. I don't know what their prices are, but it might save time and fuel costs...
www.condorferries.co.uk/
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The chunnel isn't cheap but is comparable to ferries, faster and more convenient. With the French motorway network so good now it is not a bad option to drive cross country, especially if you have a big car. La Rochelle was 7 hours from Calais this year, including 4 stops (baby...) and the 100km or so near Alencon that is not mway. No faster going via Paris due to traffic.
Cherbourg faster than St Malo as you can drive down the peninsula faster than the ferry, though not mway yet. Mappy.com very good for maps and routes.
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Caravan Club had deal with Seafrance this year. We found it was cheapest and are using it despite preferring P&O. Chunnel is prohibitive with a caravan - cheapest quote we could get was over £500. No doubt that prices have gone up the last couple of years and as for competition - there is none. Seafrance, P&O and Chunnel are fixing prices between them. And no, this isn't slander/libel etc it's what is happening.How come, yet again prices are so much cheaper if you are French & want to come over here? How come the compnies go out of their way to make sure we can't buy a one way ticket out and take advantage of the cheaper price back from France?
PhilW
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I have used the Portsmouth St Malo with brittany ferries and found it best for getting through France and into Spain. But the prices seem to have gone through the roof in the last year.
I have also taken a cheap shoppers day ticket from the newspaper and not used the return.
However have been told on this site that they are on the lookout for this and are not happy with people using them as a single.
To Lagos Portugal going Dover Calais puts another 293 miles on the journey so this has to be taken into account when determining where to go from.
I have taken singles from St Malo to Portsmouth after going out from Dover and simply turning up at the port. They have seemed much cheaper than buying them in England and wonder if better prices are available from any company by simply turning up.
After all lorries don't book their passage they just arrive.
The St Malo outward is particularly good insomuch as they travel overnight and you disembark around 8.00am which is a good time to start a long journey.
alvin
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I am not keen on doing the long crossings overnight - did Portsmouth => Le Havre in May and Portsmouth => Caen (Caen being better cos it reduces driving considerably) last summer.
What I don't like is that the boat gets going about 11 pm, so once you've done the duty free etc it's late to bed, then at 5:15 am they are announcing that breakfast is being served. Never sleep well, although I have never splashed out on a cabin as it just becomes TOO expensive. The reclining chairs are OK if you can sleep in a chair, but the rooms can get very VERY full and very VERY noisy with snorers (but...I'm one of those so I shouldn't complain). And all that with a long drive on "the wrong side of the road" the next day.
I remember Brittany gave a free cabin for the daytime crossings. Altogether more pleasurable.
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Some comments not in any particluar order! I use the ferries 4-5 times a year & keep in touch with deals etc, hope these help.
- Ferrysavers are good for the short crossings (Dover etc) but probitive for anything else. Try also aferry.to, haven't used them but they keep sending me emails with what look like cheap prices.
- I can't quite see why you want to drive right down to Dover from SW England unless you just want the shorter crossing. P&O have a Friday evening Portsmouth-Cherbourg at 20:00ish, which doesn't arrive till about 08:00 the next morning which is quite civilised. Not sure whether it runs all year.
- If you have a problem with the crossing (seasickness etc), don't use the fastcraft!!
- I agree that tunnel is good option but sounds pricey for you. Taking a day trip & only using the outward leg is a bit suspicious with a caravan.......
- As you say, midweek is good. Seafrance are cheaper if you avoid friday/sat/sunday.
- Try using poportsmouth.com & checking out price/availability (including cabins) interactively, covers all the Portsmouth routes.
- Driveline used to be cheap for crossings, you need to pay a small sum (used to be £8) for years membership of the travel club but you then get access to cheap crossings
Hope at least one of these helps!
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"Anyone know the cheapest ferries?"
No, but I know the most expensive! Try coming to the Isle of Wight, a journey of at least 5 miles, from Portsmouth or Lymington. It makes the French excursions seem a bargain!
The Southampton route is just as expensive, but you do get a bit longer on the boat (and a better breakfast).
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If you're in SW England it makes it tricky, doesn't it? Either pay Britanny Ferries' exhorbitant price for crossing which includes a free break-in to your caravan (see an earlier post by me) or hack across to the South East and use a short crossing. Not so bad if you can stay at, say, the Caravan Club site at Detling the night before though. We're doing this in order to get the 5:15am boat Friday and be in Burgundy for tea-time.
I agree that the Chunnel is prohibitive with a caravan - also not really quicker if you take loading/unloading into account; short crossing ferries are a much slicker operation; but essential if anyone suffers sea-sickness. You're also stuck in the car rather than able to stroll around getting a coffee or whatever (not allowed in caravan on the crossing).
This year I got two P&OStena crossings car & caravan for less than just one cost me last year. Booking through Caravan Club or as a registered Freedom Fare customer on their web site brings up smae cost. This year, with an early booking discount it's GBP 131.50 return. Brittany Ferries best offer was over £500 (plus having to budget for replacement caravan locks etc). No contest then.
Have a look at www.posl.com for quotes. POSL and Seafrance are generally much of a muchness. A bit of "what-iffing" will find the best fare - usually offered for silly times like 5:15am!
See you over there then :o)
Terry
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Terry, your figure of £131, what route was this - Dover?
Best I've found do far for car, caravan, 2 adults, 3 children, day crossings Poole / Cherbourg is £400 return on Brittany Ferries - on line booking service.
Caravan club want £415 for exactly the same route, time, date etc
What is a "Freedom Fare customer", cannot find any fererence to this on Caravan Club web-site.
I live in North West, but want to do Costwolds and Devon on the way down. May stop off in Essex on the way home - hence poss return via Dover.
However best Dover return that I can find with car and caravan as detailed above is £350 anyway.
Thanks Paul
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Suspect Terry's figure is based on booking by mid Jan, looks like the same deal my caravaning friend got. Keep shopping around, the rates change from day to day and if you can keep your nerve that long prices may fall again in the last 7 days if they are having trouble filling particular crossings.
PS Endorse the comment about the fastcraft and seasickness, the only way I retained my lunch on the 55 minutes from Folkestone to Boulogne (now defunct) was to freeze on the external observation deck.
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Simon, I think the new fast ferries are much better than that old thing. It used to be known as "The Vomit Comet" and not without good reason. The new ones are much better viz the Stena HSS ferries that do Harwich to Hook and something on the Irish Sea as well and the Condor and Seacat ones on the Channel
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You could try
www.autoplanhols.co.uk/
I've used them lots of times and they have been cheaper than booking direct (both for P&O and SeaFrance).
They are better for long holidays but not day trips.
You can't book on-line and there are plenty of other offers available when you phone them.
Regards
Martin
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Watching this thread with interest as I will be crossing in the next couple of months. I don't have any specific dates as I can go any time (the joys of being retired).
As I said previously I prefer the Portsmouth St,Malo but the price has gone silly so will probably go on the shorter crossing.
Just car and two passengers... Is it better to just turn up, say late in the day or evening and buy the standard return or go to the tunnel (which I've never used) and do the same and what kind of price should I expect.
alvin
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Watching this thread with interest as I will be crossing in the next couple of months.
Mark(XYZA) could this thread be preserved - it may not be added to much in the short term, but the comments, not just the links, are the kinds of things I, for one, would probably like to refer back to at some later date.
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Things are afoot, Bogush, things are afoot.
Mark (XYZA).
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Alvin, I am looking at a short break at the end of September and went to ferrybookers.com. They are offering me 2 nights in a 2* hotel, for 2 people, with a crossing on a P/O high speed ferry Port/Cher for £20 less than P/O charge for the ferry alone. You might thus get a deal by booking the package and ditching the accomodation element. Depends what route you want and how many days in La Belle France!
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Thanks Nick... I will be away for between 2 to 3 weeks so would need a standard return or a single and get another on return.
Singles from France appear to be cheaper than from here.
We have always travelled there with no really fixed time to come back and when I have bought a standard return they don't appear to bother when you return.
The two nights you are getting in a 2*hotel is good value as I imagine you are knocking well over £60.00 off the price of a ticket as well as the £20.00 discount.
It shows how we are getting ripped off in general when you see the price of some of these day shopping trips. They still have to carry you there and back exactly the same.
alvin
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Another company that might be of interest if you want a cheap crossing with accommodation in Ibis/Kyriad type 2* hotels is Drivealive of Sheffield. They also do a wide range of other hotels 3* and above.
http;//www.drive-alive.co.uk
i have used them often and price of crossing + accom for 2/3 nights is well below standard fare only. Can book on internet and they usually reply within 24 hours and are v. helpful. (I have no connection with them apart from as customer!).
from what I have heard you may have problems buying a single - they don't like us benefitting from the cheaper French prices - so either charge you return price for single or say single not available.
Yep, we're being ripped off as usual.
PhilW
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You can get a discount of up to 50% on P&O. The catch is that you have to buy 600 P&O concessionary shares, which I think now cost about £2 each. It's quite a lot to lay out, but you do get dividends and you can save an awful lot of money . There are discounts on the runs to Calais, Cherbourg, Bilbao in Spain, Ireland and I think a few others.
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FerrySavers was mentioned earlier in this thread - We booked with them some weeks ago,for a 1990 car on the Dover -Calais crossing. Having recently changed our car for a 1995 vehicle, I emailed them with the new details and received a reply thanking us for the info. and telling us that as the car was less than 10 years old we would be receiving a refund of £42 on the breakdown insurance. As we probably wouldn't have realised this, I feel that the firm deserves a recommendation good customer service.
P.
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Flicking through the latest mag from the Caravan and camping Club suggests they have a deal with Norfolk Line from Dover to Dunkerque.
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Have suggested to the wife that we adopt the method used by asylum seekers..
Cling to the underside of a freight train and present ourselves to the authorities on the other side to claim asylum.
Have yet to decide exactly what we would be fleeing from but if TV documentaries are anything to go by any story will suffice.
A nights lodging at the refugee centre and some pocket money to move on the next morning. Do the same on return!
The wife isn't the adventurous type so she will have to be convinced of the benefits.
Anyone see any problems...
alvin
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I booked a ferry through Ferryasvers.com for myself and my family (including my 1 and a half year old son).
We had a few problems, and as you can imagine - it isn't much fun when travelling with a small child.
Ferrysavers get the complete thumbs down from me.
{Slightly re-worded. DD}
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I am P&O stock holder having the the required 600 non voting
shares and contrary to all their adverts I am yet to get the 50% discount.This applies to top price fares and every time I have found it cheaper to book with the AA or the ADAC .There ferries are overpriced anything on board has a stupid price and the quality stinks.This is probably why they run nearly empty except peak holiday times.
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Dover Calais is proportionately the most expensive ferry crossing in the world
Just 22 miles and prices reaching up to £400 for a car and 5 passengers while day trippers can go all in car as cheaply as £35.
At last the EEC have recognised that the ferry companies and Channel Tunnel are working as a cartel and are taking action.
What suprises me is that this obcene overpricing hasn't yet come to the attention of the OFT considering it must effect thousands of Britiish and foreign travellers
Not to mention the effect on the UK tourist industry. Many foreign visitors must be put off visiting us because of the high cost.
What suprises me most is how long this has gone on for. But then again we British are good at complaining to each other but not where it really counts.
Does anyone know how we can complain collectively?
I have posted a message to all my club members on SMS.ac which can be a useful place to bring minds together www.sms.ac/clubpage.asp?club=CL217001011000906468
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I use www.ferry.co.uk. The site is P&O's "budget site". I paid £83 from Dover-Calais for 3 week return, leaving late Aug, coming back mid sept. This is by far the cheapest Ive ever paid.
As mentioned above, Drivealive are excellent.
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T'iz time, surely, for that innovative entrepreneur Stelios to help break up the Cross Channel Cartel that has been ripping us off for years? He's now gone back to his Greek shipping roots, so perhaps could introduce easyFerries with sensible prices. How about it Stelios - perhaps from a quietish port on the south coast?
El Hacko
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I am very confused with Ferry prices. Why is it so expensive for x day returns and in comparison day trips are cheap?
What does one get from paying more than £200 versus £30? And shouldn't x day returns be cheaper since the ferry company has more notice about incoming journeys?
The only alternative is going by plane. But then, going on holiday you get rubbish hotels for unbelievable prices. In addition, planes cause DVT and a car gives you more freedom.
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Im not into promoting big businesses like Hertz but I must point out that using their system "Le Swap" is a very economic way of getting across the channel.
You pick up one of their cars at almost any UK city or airport, drive it down to Calais via the tunnel which is included in the price. At their Calais Channel tunnel depot you swap for a French car. From there you can go anywhere you like in Europe. On your way back you do the same in reverse.
Depending on the length of your stay and size of car this can work out considerably cheaper than taking your own car.
Alternatively if you dont have too much baggage flying to your destination and renting a car through companies like Holiday Autos can be considerably cheaper than paying those rediculous cross channel prices
Both of these methods will also save much wear and tear on your own vehicle
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Im not into promoting big businesses like Hertz but I must point out that using their system "Le Swap" is a very economic way of getting across the channel.
You pick up one of their cars at almost any UK city or airport, drive it down to Calais via the tunnel which is included in the price. At their Calais Channel tunnel depot you swap for a French car. From there you can go anywhere you like in Europe. On your way back you do the same in reverse.
Depending on the length of your stay and size of car this can work out considerably cheaper than taking your own car.
Alternatively if you dont have too much baggage flying to your destination and renting a car through companies like Holiday Autos can be considerably cheaper than paying those rediculous cross channel prices
Both of these methods will also save much wear and tear on your own vehicle
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Related to this thread, has anyone seen any good newspaper ferry deals recently? Looking to travel in mid-september, maybe for just a day-trip booze cruise to Calais, maybe for a day or two longer...
mike
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Seems that no one here has discovered the www.channelpirates.com site, this has tons of comments by the disgruntled customers of Brittany Ferries, P & O etc. The site owner is trying to sort the apparent cartel amongst the ferry operators with the EU, and the site has a forum and a petition set up.
Also try the forums of LivingFrance.com, these contain loads of relevant info about cross channel travelling.
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Mab
The best day trip (or even half-day trip) deals I've got have been by registering on the P&O ferries web site and getting their "Freedom Fare" offers. HTH.
Terry
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Its my finding this year that the Dover crossings are roughly half the price of the Portsmouth ones, and it seems that now P&O have pulled out of all of the Southern routes this is set to continue with Brittany ferries having a virtual monopoly (except for the smaller Condor operation).
I dont this this should have been allowed to happen.
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P and O is due to pull out of the Portsmouth-Le Havre route in about three weeks time (early October) but they are offering very cheap crossings at the moment (105 euros single if you book via France) and there are some good wine offers in the on-board shop as they clear unwanted stock. Shame the food is as poor as ever because I've always liked the nice uniforms. By and large Brittany provides a better service and nicer boats, although now - of course - they seem to be charging what they like.
Condor from Weymouth seems attractive but some of their St Malo services can take all day from an early start, including a long, long stop-over in Guernsey en route. The motion of their fast cats still seems to take a lot of getting used to, and it's more like a bus, complete with screaming kids, etc, that there's no room to get away from. We once tried the 'Commodore class' for more money and found the free coffee was dreadful and the 'complimentary newspapers' consisted of two dog-eared copies of the Western Gazette.
Had a nice one-way flight Limoges-Stansted with Ryanair last week...
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It means a drive to Dover, but Norfolk Line have done us proud recently - £108 car and three in July/August. Also thinking of driving to Austria in February over half term - £48 for period return. Duty free shop is almost non-existent, but the food is fab and cheap - much better than P&O. Sea France come second but dearer.
It hacks me off because I live near Portsmouth but it is just so much cheaper to travel via Dover, eg. Portsmouth-Le Havre £460, Norfolk Line £108 for the same dates. A no-brainer!
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There are a lot of special low-price day-return fares. If you booked two different trips, possibly with different crossing operators, and "accidently" didn't turn up for the return journey for each......
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LD Lines start a new Portsmouth - Le Havre service in October. Web page (www.ldlines.co.uk/ ) doesn't say much except Register Now to get further info. The boat looks kind of familiar though...
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I can still see the outline of the P&O flag......
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We have heard from friends in Le Havre about this service previously - nice to have finally got some info about it, although info is thin on that website.
The wait starts....
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Yep that ship is the former Pride of Aquitane which operated Dover-Calais for a number of years. Was originally on the Dover-Oostend route so hopefully it'll be up to the task of the longer crossing to Le Havre.
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Have to be careful of doing this nowadays. Booking conditions on these low price tickets usually contains a clause stating that the two legs must be completed, or else you are liable for the remainder of the balance, based on a standard one way ticket/return.
Not sure that any operator would use this clause but I wouldn't want to chance it, or else that wine and beer starts to look like an expensive tipple.
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Also gone are the days when if you arrived early/late then you hjust get the next boat. The tariff is checked and if more, you are expected to pay the difference. (On the other hand, if it is less they won't give youa refund!)
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Flew out last week. Stansted to La Rochelle £2-15 return. Add the taxes and 2 people out and back was £78. Hired a car for 4 days for £100. Asked for a 106 got a 1.9 brand new scenic same price. 4 days in long stay around £30. 4 days in France for under £220. Longer stays mean cheaper car hire pro rata.
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****UPDATE*****
Just received the following email about the replacement ferry from Portsmouth to Le Havre. The link wasn't live this morning, but hopefully in next few days will go ahead. I'm really interested in how this operation will work.
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Many thanks for registering your interest in the new LD Lines Portsmouth to Le Havre ferry service which will commence operations on October 3 2005.
Initially the service will be based on a daily sailing in each direction departing Le Havre at 1700 arriving Portsmouth at 2130 and departing Portsmouth at 2300 arriving Le Havre at 0730 the following morning.
As I am sure you will appreciate it has taken a huge effort to put the operation together in a very short timescale to provide a continuity of service between the 2 ports.
One of the biggest challenges was to find a suitable ship and although the Norman Spirit is perfectly suited to provide a reliable year round service, it will not be possible to have all the onboard facilities available for the first few weeks of sailing.
The service is positioned as a low cost no frills operation with a simple pricing structure based on a one way crossing i.e. a return is twice the single price.
Pricing is seasonally banded and will also be demand driven to provide customers with travel options and allow us to provide competitive prices.
Onboard accommodation will focus mainly on good quality economy and club class reclining seats with a limited number of 1 and 4 berth cabins.
As the Norman Spirit has most recently been operating on the short sea ferry route, cabin and seating accommodation was very limited when we acquired the vessel.
There will not therefore be any reclining seats for the first week or so of sailings whilst we wait for the new ones to be manufactured and installed. We hope you will bear with us during this start up phase as the refurbishment takes place.
We will regularly monitor accommodation usage to see if additional cabins are required.
Reservations can be made by visiting www.ldlines.co.uk
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I too have received the e-mail. I wish them luck but I think the return time from Le Havre will put a lot of people off. It certainly will us. It all depends on their pricing. If they can substantially undercut P&O and Brittany Ferries, then they are in with a chance. But for us, even from Bath, it makes far more sense to drive to the tunnel. Even though our destination is central France so we're effectively doing two sides of a triangle the tunnel is so much cheaper and nicer that I can't see this new operator lasting. Our last trip with P&O cost almost £500 return from Portsmouth to LH, tunnel is £120 on a deal. So what if it costs us a bit more road fuel getting to Dover?
And who are ldlines anyway? Some private businessman or what?
And even if it is successful, one boat a day? Imagine the queues...
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Louis Dreyfus are a French based/owned trading group. Google for more.
From their site:
"The Louis Dreyfus Group has engaged in shipping activities for over 100 years ...."
Bit like Stelios's family then....
Not sure why one ferry a day each way makes for queues, though? Could be better, in fact, as Le Havre won't be too busy. Are the new roads out of Rouen to the S/SW open yet?
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"Are the new roads out of Rouen to the S/SW open yet?"
Nearly.
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Someone on my other forum has posted a link where you can price the new route. www.aferry.to
I priced a trip for Le Mans week, car + 2, out 11 June back 18 June. £192.
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