# A year in the Planning, maybe gone to pot.



## teemyob (Nov 22, 2005)

A year in the planning.

*Searching for Villas
*6 of us (myself, Mrs. TM, Three Daughters and Son-In-Law) planning time off work.
*Flights booked for Daughter to fly into Manchester from Qatar
*Minibus all prepared
*Shopping done.
*Grandkids excited.

Big Family get together for our 25th Wedding anniversary to Spain

Then This

Bugger!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-19671784

TM


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## DTPCHEMICALS (Jul 24, 2006)

A bit like my 60th birthday extravaganza. Snowed in.

If they do not like their terms and conditions look for another job.


Best wishes on your anniversary.
Dave p


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## teemyob (Nov 22, 2005)

*Thats it*

Finally, I find out via Twitter that Brittany Ferries will not be sailing on Friday to Bilbao.

No information from Brittany Ferries

No email
No Text

Brittany Ferries knew earlier this week but failed to advise us so we could make arrangements elsewhere.

Had Brittany Ferries been more upfront, we could have better alternative arrangements than they have offered.

That is,

Cancel 
Fly 
LD Lines 
Brittany Ferries - Cherbourg (Condor)

Alternative ferries full. Flights gone up by 30+% since Monday.

Well and truly fecked off

TM


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## Ian_n_Suzy (Feb 15, 2009)

Hi Trev,

Truly feel for you, you must be seething about it.

Have you abandoned any chance of making alternative arrangements or is there still a chance you can salvage it?

Good Luck


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## teemyob (Nov 22, 2005)

*Booking*



Ian_n_Suzy said:


> Hi Trev,
> 
> Truly feel for you, you must be seething about it.
> 
> ...


Hello Ian & Suzy,

Thanks you.

No, still going.

All the better alternative options to get over to NW France have been booked up. Again, thank you Brittany Ferries.

So we are going to drive to Dover, get over when we can.

We are 6 adults an Infant and a baby.

So we will have to find 3 rooms en-route in Hotels. HAve to do it over 3 days and arrive a day or so late at the Villa.

Not the end of the world. But as I said, if BF had been more up-front. Could have made an easier 950 Mile trip from Normandy Ports rather than an 1150 Mile from Calais.

Just put Son-In-Law on Insurance, £85 for 2 weeks. So we have 3 drivers.

Regards,
Trev.


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## Easyriders (May 16, 2011)

Don't know if this helps, but our son, his wife and 3 kids all slept in a Formula 1 family room near Rouen in August, and it only cost €21 for the night. They said it was excellent, but of course, they may not all be so good. He booked it online. Can't give you a link, cos he's at work in London, and we are in Portugal.


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## javea (Jun 8, 2007)

Sorry to hear of your problems Trev, hope you have a stress free trip.

Regards,

Mike


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## mikebeaches (Oct 18, 2008)

Yes, sorry about your problem with Brittany Ferries.

I'm sure your information about Friday's sailings is correct, but according to this report today, only sailings up to Thursday are confirmed cancelled?

http://www.travelmole.com/news_feat...2&m_id=_rT_s~s~T_T_&w_id=8292&news_id=2003248

Mike


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## motormouth (Jul 3, 2010)

What a bummer. Hope you have a great time when you get to your destination and happy silver anniversary.


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## javea (Jun 8, 2007)

mikebeaches said:


> Yes, sorry about your problem with Brittany Ferries.
> 
> I'm sure your information about Friday's sailings is correct, but according to this report today, only sailings up to Thursday are confirmed cancelled?
> 
> ...


I think the ferry that he was going to travel on is stuck in Santander and would not be back in the UK for a Friday sailing.

Mike


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## CandA (May 1, 2005)

DTPCHEMICALS said:


> If they do not like their terms and conditions look for another job.
> 
> Best wishes on your anniversary.
> Dave p[/quote
> ...


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## mikebeaches (Oct 18, 2008)

javea said:


> mikebeaches said:
> 
> 
> > Yes, sorry about your problem with Brittany Ferries.
> ...


Ah, good point. So Brittany Ferries are still - even now - being less than candid with the content of their press releases then.


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## teemyob (Nov 22, 2005)

javea said:


> Sorry to hear of your problems Trev, hope you have a stress free trip.
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Mike


Thanks Mike.

Our Immediate small family is very close.

Stress!. So as easy as we can fall out with each other, we fall back in again (or else!).

We are just looking forward to spending time together, a break and some sunshine, More fingers crossed the usual deluge of Marina Alta rain goes easy on us. Looking forward to seeing our youngest again, on the flight from Qatar as I type.

I have updated the other post Here

Regards,
Trev.


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## teemyob (Nov 22, 2005)

*Cancelled*

Well, all gone to pot again, just like I said it would on my other post.

Just checked on the Brittany Ferries website. All the crossings cancelled again.

No email, phone or text yet.

Gutted.

TM


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## teemyob (Nov 22, 2005)

*Worst thing*

Have to say the worst thing that ever happened was P&O Withdrawing from the Western channel routes.

If the Routes were shared between more operators, has to be a good thing.

I can remember not so long ago. There were for a short period three operators on the Spain routes.

I also remember when there were two operators on the North sea routes to Norway and Sweden.

It was suggested that cheap flights help kill them off.

As there are not that many really very cheap flights around these days. Would like to see a comeback from the ferry operators. Would reduce the road traffic too.

In just 7 years, we have seen the demise of

P&O Portsmouth - Bilbao
Speedferries Dover - Folkestone
DFDS - Newcastle Norway and Sweden
Fjordline - Newcastle - Norway
Acconia UK -Spain (did not last long)
Norfolklines - Scotland - Belgium (forgot who it was before them)

Can anyone think of any more Beyond that?

Ramsgate - Dunkirk or Ostende was it?
Fred Olsen?
Hoverspeed?

Anyone ever fly there car across the channel? (Not Talking Hoverspeed).

TM


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## listerdiesel (Aug 3, 2012)

Who is going to want to get into a market like UK-France?

Too many strikes on the French side disrupting traffic, the channel is taking truckers as it's quicker and simpler, what is left is not enough for the number of operators, and now the old SeaFrance ships are back in service, it's going to get worse, not better.

We've never used the channel crossings, nearly all of our trips have been further north (Holland, Sweden etc) or we have used Plymouth-Santander.

Stena introduced two new super-ferries on the Harwich-Hook of Holland run, but they have a captive audience for the shops and restuarants on an 8-hour run, so there's more profit for them. You can't do that on the cut-throat channel crossing.

The other problem is that prices are stupidly low for the Channel Crossing, there can't be any money in some of those passengers at all.

Too much capacity, not enough customers.

If the fare was £100, I'd rather pay that for a reliable and clean service than have the present situation at £48 or £29.

Peter


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