Ferry vs Tunnel

My two pen'oth

I travelled Hull-Zeebrugge for over 10 years motorcycling around Europe. The cross-country commute from Bolton suited me rather than a boring slog "down south". I always shared a cabin with others (strangers)***. That kept the cost down. I tried the Hull-Rotterdam route once during Covid when I could not cabin share. That cost me dear.

Like others I will no longer use P&O because of the way they treated their staff. However I would need to wrestle harder with my conscience if they still sailed Hull-Zeebrugge.

Post Covid I have used DFDS Newhaven-Dieppe both car and AirB&B and, more recently, with my MH.

Whatever I do travelling from Bolton it takes me essentially almost a day to land the other side of the channel (However I did manage 14 hours from joining the ferry queue at Dieppe to home on my most recent return trip this last week using the midnight ferry). I do find motorway journeys in the UK tedious but with an air-conditioned cab and music rather than travelling by bike 5 hours to Newhaven is not much worse than 2 hours to Hull.

My only criticism of the the Newhaven-Dieppe service I suspect applies to most ferries - Hordes of children running wild with no sign of parental control. At least I avoided that on my recent midnight return!

Newhaven-Dieppe is least worst for me and definitely the cheapest. I can tailor my ferry time to allow me to cope with a brief dalliance with the M25 or avoid it travelling A27 in the direction of Portsmouth and then M3/A34/M40 (as I did this last Wednesday) or the reverse.

There is no perfect solution for. Maybe a pied a terre near Beauvais Airport where I can keep my MH and take cheap flights in would work - except I am an inveterate tinkerer and would miss that!!!

*** P.S. I kept hoping that P&O might have me share a cabin with a buxom blonde but it never happened!!!
 
Newhaven route was featured on the link ?
Yes but it doesn't show any discount against it so I assumed you meant the OAP 20% discount which you ring up for, that's not available on any other route.

1726416585014.png
 
*** P.S. I kept hoping that P&O might have me share a cabin with a buxom blonde but it never happened!!!
Surely you're not wanting to shack up with 'Boris'! :giggle:
 
A vote here for the DFDS Dover-Calais route. I believe a saver ticket gives you (subject to availability) +/- 4hrs flexibility.

Also, if you are planning on having food and drink on the crossing, the DFDS Lounge upgrade is in our opinion well worthwhile. If you've not added it to your ticket you can pay onboard at the Info Desk. It's £18/adult and the lounges are very comfortable and generally peaceful, and you get complimentary breakfast pastries, cakes, crisps, beer and wine, hot and cold drinks, plus a choice of a filled baguette or sandwich - or breakfast sandwich if it's a morning crossing.

I appreciate that not everyone would consider this to be good value, but it works very well for us as it's a nice restful way to spend the crossing. 😊

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 
Did Irish Ferries on Saturday, much improved since our previous crossing and better than P&O in the past. View attachment 947422
We have always used the tunnel but it’s getting very expensive so we tried Irish ferries this September and the journey and price was great will definitely be using again.
 

Join us or log in to post a reply.

To join in you must be a member of MotorhomeFun

Join MotorhomeFun

Join us, it quick and easy!

Log in

Already a member? Log in here.

Latest journal entries

Back
Top