# The inexact science of booking a ferry!!



## peejay (May 10, 2005)

Good evening loyal forumites,

Well, its that time of year again and today we decided to book a ferry for our winter holiday in January. This time we decided to go with P&O and chose Dover-Calais outbound and Zeebrugge-Hull inbound, we live in Lincolnshire so our reasoning is this - not sure what time we'll finish work before our holiday so - book a late ferry from Dover and if we get off work sooner we can hop on an earlier ferry with no penalty. On the return trip we always dread the slog of the M20,M25,M11 (especially after a nice relaxing jam free holiday) so returning via hull means a nice short journey home, that decided, we rang the ever helpful girlies at the caravan club travel service and they quoted me a price of £252.50 which i though was a reasonable deal, but decided not to book until i had consulted higher authority. 
Left it for a while and we eventually decided we were happy with this, so i phoned back to book it. Speaking to the girl on the phone and she told me that they dont hold prices that have previously been quoted so we went through the booking process again, this time i got a price of £236.50 inclusive with a 2 berth outside cabin and meals on the return leg. An excellent price in my opinion and told her to book it quick before someone at P&O changed their minds.

What a strange way to do business, i suppose i could have held on and maybe got a better price, but it could just as easily risen as well so i'm happy with my choice.

You just don't know what price you're gonna get, its the luck of the draw in my opinion and depends on the whims of the ferry company what they decide to charge on a particular day, this time i've been fortunate, but next time, who knows?

I like the pricing policy that speedferries operate (and the cheapness!) but on this trip they didn't have the flexibility of different crossings and timings, but, come summer i think it will be them that are the favourites for us, or maybe we might give norfolkline a try.

How are you getting across the pond next year and whats your strategy for a good price?

happy travels,

pete.


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## 88838 (May 9, 2005)

Tesco vouchers, since I shop at Tesco for everyday stuff and have a Tesco Visa card the points soon mount up.
Downside is restricted to P&O, but since we are now only 30 miles from Hull :dontknow: not such a hardship, and I do like the chance to visit Gent occasionally, or maybe Delft.

8)


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## peejay (May 10, 2005)

Good point twooks,

In a roundabout way we have also benefitted from tesco points as we paid by tesco visa card and qualify for double points for this purchase. Its probably made us 24p for our trouble, but every little helps as they say!

pete.


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## 88966 (May 11, 2005)

Hi All,
Just for your info. I booked our ferry crossings last night on the Brittany Ferry from Ply. to Roscoff.
Over on 2/11 and back on 6/12 with a van 8m long and 3m high.
The full fare would have been £199 each way but as we are members of the Owners Club it is £133 each way. Cabins of course are on top, except that we get a free one on the day crossing and 10% discount in the restaurant - not bad for about £35 p.a.
The ferry is the new Pont Aven, the biggest in the Channel.
As we only live about 10 miles from the port it is obviously good for us and as we love Brittany anyway it suits us fine.
Someone may find this of interest!
BillD


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## peejay (May 10, 2005)

Thanks bill,

You, sir, are so lucky, i wish i lived as close to a fery crossing point as you, no more long tedious journies on congested roads before the ferry to nirvana, sheer bliss!

pete.


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## Anonymous (Nov 10, 2000)

For my first ever solo trip to anywhere foreign I have booked from Holyhead-Dublin using the Caravan Club booking service. Very helpful, especially as I have no idea! Price return was £155.10 which I thought was cheap enough as long as it's not too rough! So I am off on 30th Nov to shores unknown with just me laptop for company.

Cheers

Tony


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