# 2006 Ferry Fares - Am I seeing things?



## peedee (May 10, 2005)

Just checked fares for 2006 for 7.25m van out 1400hrs back 0915hrs

Euro tunnel £151, £30 cheaper than 2005
P&O Dover Calais £75 thats well below 2005 prices
Norfolk to Dunkirk £61.75

Lowest fare found was £41 return travelling off peak with NorfolkLine

Is it competition driving down prices or something else?

peedee


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## Grizzly (May 9, 2005)

I wish someone would tell LD lines. 

We've just had a quote for £356, Portsmouth to Le Havre, out beginning of April , back end of May 2006.

At £48 return for the same dates ( and more convenient times) it's going to be Norfolkline again. 

G


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## 94639 (May 1, 2005)

There are some great deals out there on crossings if you are prepared to book and pay well in advance. We have booked a return crossing for next July with Norfolk Lines for £68. We also have a 48 hour return ticket from Ramsgate to Ostend in November using Trans Europa Ferries for £21.
If the ferry companies can run at these prices now, why not all the time ??

Safe travelling


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## johnsandywhite (May 9, 2005)

Yes. It looks like our favourite Ferry to Le Havre has well and truly gone out of the window. We will have to travel across country to Dover. :evil:


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## Scotjimland (May 23, 2005)

Take heart, not as costly as this trip...



> US millionaire Greg Olsen has become the world's third space tourist after blasting off from Kazakhstan on Saturday.
> 
> The price of his ticket was not disclosed, but it is believed he paid nearly £11m ($20m) for the International Space Station trip.


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## 88847 (May 9, 2005)

Hi peedee

strange prices you quote (but all ferries are strange)

we travelled 4 times across the chunnel in 2005 with the 747 which is nearer 8m than 7m and the first 3 trips were £122 return and the last one in sept ther was £130 return all booked thru eurotunnel themselves, nothing is ever mentioned about the size of the van they only wanrt to know if it is a campervan or car/caravan

Paul


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## grouch (Oct 1, 2005)

Check out Norfolk Lines. If you are prepared to travel in the early hours of the morning it is £19.00 each way.


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## Scotjimland (May 23, 2005)

Just did a price check with Eurotunnel,, 

£122 return is the cheapest ticket for a campervan, any length, which is a good deal for those of us with RV s


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## johnsandywhite (May 9, 2005)

8O Provided you are not carrying too much LPG or have an LPG conversion. 8O


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## Scotjimland (May 23, 2005)

johnsandywhite said:


> 8O Provided you are not carrying too much LPG or have an LPG conversion. 8O


Indeed John, LPG fuelled vehicles excluded 



> Vehicles fitted with LPG containers to power domestic services e.g. cooking, refrigeration, heating and water heaters are accepted as long as the containers are switched off, weigh no more than 47kg and are not more than 80% full. If your vehicle is fitted with such a container, you must declare this at Check-In. LPG (Liquefied Petroleum Gas) and dual powered vehicles (i.e. vehicles fitted with an LPG tank as an alternative fuel) cannot be accepted for transport by Eurotunnel.


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## Grizzly (May 9, 2005)

> US millionaire Greg Olsen has become the world's third space tourist after blasting off from Kazakhstan on Saturday.
> 
> The price of his ticket was not disclosed, but it is believed he paid nearly £11m ($20m) for the International Space Station trip.


[/quote]

Goodness ! Nearly as much as Brittany Ferries charge then...! 

G


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## peedee (May 10, 2005)

Red0ne said:


> Hi peedee
> 
> strange prices you quote (but all ferries are strange)
> 
> ...


Paul,
It all depends on dates and times of travel. That is why I was careful to state crossing times although I omitted to say it was a summer crossing . As I recall £122 fare this year was for travel at unsocialable hours. In all cases comparisons are only valid for a date and time. Nevertheless looks like there are even better deals to be had next year than this.

peedee


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## MOTORHOMER (May 9, 2005)

Grizzly said:


> I wish someone would tell LD lines.
> 
> We've just had a quote for £356, Portsmouth to Le Havre, out beginning of April , back end of May 2006.
> 
> ...


Hi

Our qoute was 316 quid with the 2 better reclining seats each way 6 metre length under 3 metres height, out March back april 30 days stay. Was your qoute with a cabin. Still far to expensive. They will have to do better than that especially as you have to go out O/night & back day. No choice. I would prefer to travel out day time. as we used to do with PO before it got to expensive.

Motorhomer


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## Grizzly (May 9, 2005)

The quote ID Lines gave us was for a 2 berth cabin outward and 2 reclining seats returning at the end of May, I got the impression from the e-mail that there were no cabins available on the return journey so someone must be sailing with them !

I did a comparison of prices ( using www.viamichelin.co.uk) of home to Barcelona via Dunkirk and Le Havre to include tolls, if we use them, fuel and ferry and the difference is £288.90. Going via Dover and Dunkirk is only 156 miles more. We shall be going Norfolkline and have to grit our teeth and use the horrible M20 and M25.

G.


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## gaspode (May 9, 2005)

Hi all

It certainly pays to shop around, I came back from France last week (one way) and booked about 5 days before travel. Norfolk Lines offered me £19 or £24 depending on time of sailing. Tunnel was something ridiculous, £90 seems to stick in my mind, Sea France was totally uncompetitive. I wasn't sure what time we would get to the port and we were anxious to get back ASAP so I needed a crossing with frequent sailings and short crossing time otherwise I would have used Norfolk Lines. I decided to phone P&O. The first price he gave me for a flexible ticket was £60, after I told him no-way he reduced it to £50 and then added a free "luxury upgrade". I mentioned Norfolks' price and we finally settled for £40 with free upgrade for a sailing any time after lunch. I don't know how much their upgrade is worth but their free champagne went down OK with the boss and the complimentary coffee wasn't bad either. The "posh" lounge and restaurant was only about 5% occupied - what a waste of space.


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## 89177 (May 16, 2005)

brisey said:


> There are some great deals out there on crossings if you are prepared to book and pay well in advance. We have booked a return crossing for next July with Norfolk Lines for £68. We also have a 48 hour return ticket from Ramsgate to Ostend in November using Trans Europa Ferries for £21.
> If the ferry companies can run at these prices now, why not all the time ??
> 
> Safe travelling


Both the companies you mention make most of their money from freight and therefore have a good year round base income. Passenger traffic to them is the icing on the cake and has relatively little effect on their operating costs. The other companies are the reverse, at least historically. Combined with Speedferries these two have forced the hand of the others. Unfortunately, unless something changes soon we're looking at a market where prices and volumes are under pressure and their are too many operators with too much capacity. The good news is that those with a base freight traffic (again Ttranseuropa & Norfolkline) are in a stronger position.


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## 94639 (May 1, 2005)

Hi ramsgateostend

Both Transeuropa and Norfolklines offer good deals for motorhomers and we will definitely continue to use them for our crossings.
We have not used the port of Ramsgate before, can you tell us if there is anywhere to overnight at or near to the ferry terminus. We are booked on a 7:00 am ferry , if we cannot park up somewhere we will have to leave home at 3:00 am.


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## Knauser (May 26, 2005)

I emailed Transeuropa and got this reply -

Dear Mr xxxxxx

Thankyou for your enquiry and yes we do have overnight parking. If when you arrive and the terminal is closed there is a car parking area to the left of the building. This is free of charge if you could just let security know that you are booked to travel in the morning.

Many Thanks 
Rebecca Braganza
Passenger Reception

Will be giving it a try in December

Knauser


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## 89002 (May 11, 2005)

Well I wish someone would tell the Irish sea operators, as the reverse is true there.
We don't want to go to France. We go to Ireland, an every year it goes up. Even when you ring up and try to negotiate, they know the other operator's prices, and the fact that none of them discount. 
All these £19 to £60 fares etc make me seethe. How about £300+ for a summer crossing, or £220 for an autumn one at 3am. Well ok don't quote verbatim, but you get the idea.
With them you subsidise the freight. My friend drives a 10m 7.5t box van, he took a load to Dublin this year for £80 day return, having just turned up and paid at the check-in booth, not months in advance. Try doing that in a camper and see how much you pay !
I was moaning to a customer of ours in Queensferry who runs coach trips to Ireland about this, and he said if there is over a certain number of passengers on board, the coach travels free of charge. How about that then.


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## 94639 (May 1, 2005)

Knauser said:


> I emailed Transeuropa and got this reply -
> 
> Dear Mr xxxxxx
> 
> ...


Hi Knauser

We will give it a go in November, will let you know how we get on.

Safe travelling


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## chrisgog (May 17, 2005)

Just booked with Norfolkline for £88 return next July/August for 5 week trip. Could have done it for £68 but need my beauty sleep and don't fancy middle of the night crossing. Always stressed out on that first day of travel so will camp in Dover and catch 8.30 out. 
Did Norfokline this year and already saved £10 on last years price. 
Nice to see something getting cheaper anyway
Thanks for letting us know the prices everyone


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