Disruption at Calais

claymore

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I'm hearing all sorts of daft stories about 14 hr delays on Cross Channel ferries from Dover to Calais
We are going across on Friday evening, but am considering diverting to go Hull - Zeebrugge.
Can anyone give me an update on the situation?
Thanks in advance
 

Sybarite

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The BBC article makes reference to there being only 2 berths available at present. In fact I heard on the radio that one of these would also be out of service for some time.

I would look at other ways of going. Consider say an overnight passage from Portsmouth to Le Havre.

John
 

Stemar

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Re: Portsmouth to Le Havre.

It's worth considering, but is a 2 1/2 hr fastcat or 5 hr slowboat crossing, and silly money, with little in the way of promotional fares, as there's no competition to keep them honest, especially since P & O priced themselves out of the market.

I use P'mouth - Cherbourg regularly, but only because I'm going to the Cherbourg area. If I was going to Rouen, I'd use one of the cheap eastern channel crossings and drive. It'd be cheaper.
 

FlyingSpud

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We were on P and O in February when it all went tits up. We were half an hour late getting away, but then were held in a queue off Calais for 3 hours. The Captain obviously had as much idea as we did about what was going on but he clearly took some pleasure in telling us all on the tannoy after 3 hours that although Sea France’s ‘Rodin’ was in front of us in the queue, her captain did not fancy trying to get into one of the two berths that were available because of very high cross winds, but that he though he could do it and was going to give it a go (the winds were very strong and the berth that was available was narrow, but our man got us in without a bump – very impressive) saving us another hour wait.

It is clear therefore that this is hitting all the cross channel operators going to Calais, P and O seem to be a bit more up front than Sea France.

One option is to try Norfolk Line, which goes from Dover to Dunkirk and wins all the prizes for quality; it only takes about 30 minutes longer. There is the Sea Cat, but I think that only starts about now and is very weather dependant, final option is of course the tunnel.
 

dickh

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Re: Portsmouth to Le Havre.

Just heard on the news today (lunchtime)- only one berth operating - several hours delay and Operation Stack for lorries is operating on the motorway approaches.
 
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I\'m booked on it for this coming saturday..

.. but it's impossible to find out if the delays to Calais bound traffic at Dover is affecting Speedferries access.

On price, we are paying £25 for the car and up to six passengers each way. However, I just received an email telling me that they are CUTTING their prices to between £7.50 and £19 for the summer.

See below:-

You are receiving this e-mail because you have purchased a ticket from SpeedFerries in the past or opted to receive news. If you would prefer not to receive marketing communication of this type from SpeedFerries in the future, please click on the unsubscribe option here.

Dear Customer,

50,000 Fight The Pirates Tickets offered from £7.50 to £19 for a car+6 one-way
SpeedFerries has temporarily reduced its prices on the Dover - Boulogne service by approximately 50%. Prices which used to vary from £12.50 to £45 (Car+6 one-way) are now reduced to a level of £7.50 up to a maximum price of any ticket on any departure of £19 (car+6 one-way). So far 50,000 tickets (branded under the SpeedFerries slogan “Fight The Pirates”) are offered at these prices.

Fight The Pirates tickets will be allocated on a “first come first served” basis
SpeedFerries is pleased to offer these extremely attractive fares to our customers. Fight the Pirates tickets are our response to recent predatory pricing from competition, specifically targeted at SpeedFerries. The offer is on a first come first served basis, so we recommend our customers to book as soon as possible to be able to take advantage of this offer.

Check full conditions and book on-line at www.speedferries.com
Inquiries can also be made via e-mail to mail@speedferries.com

Summer schedule with 5 daily return sailings starts 18 March 2005
SpeedFerries will introduce its summer schedule with 5 daily return sailings between Dover and Boulogne on 18 March 2005.

“I have already booked my ticket prior to this offer”
SpeedFerries is dedicated to offering low cost travel and bringing fairness into the cross-Channel market. During this ongoing process, it is necessary for SpeedFerries to maintain flexibility on pricing and special offers (e.g. due to the competitive environment) and as such we apologise to customers who have purchased their tickets at higher prices prior to the offer. We ask our customers for their understanding during this process of reducing the general market ticket prices to a reasonable level, which in the long run will be of benefit to all.

Sincerely yours,

Curt Stavis
Chief Executive Officer.
Book on-line at www.speedferries.com or through our call centre*
Tel: +44 (0) 870 22 00 570
*a call centre supplement of £10 pounds will be applied

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Steve Cronin
 

KevB

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Re: I\'m booked on it for this coming saturday..

Eurotunnel are offering £49 each way open ended (no max days). Restriction on travel times though, after 5pm and before 8am or something. I'd never use anything other than Eurotunnel, off the train straight onto the motorway at both ends and only 35mins crossing. Doesn't get cancelled because of weather and rarely because of the French!!

If you are doing a day trip you can travel for as little as £18 return.
 

claymore

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Hull Zeebrugge Booked

As we were booked with P&O they offered us a good deal on the Hull - Zeebrugge crossing which I've just confirmed.
Certainly easier for us to drive to Hull than Dover anyway and Zeebrugge isn't that far from Calais so I don't think our driving time will be affected so much.
Thanks for your responses
 

bobfrost

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Re: Hull Zeebrugge Booked

Also Traneuropa Ferries now running Ramsgate to Ostend. Check out their website for prices/times. Easy to get to from London. M2 and keep going down Thanet Way.
 

TheBoatman

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John
Here in Kent we are being regularly told by the local tv etc that operation "Stack" has now been in operation for god knows how many weeks. The M20 is totally closed and that the 14 hr delays are for commercial traffic, how that effects cars I'm not sure but be assured you will face delays through Dover.

Find another way or cancel?

I also heard that P&O are starting to get into difficulty with the loss of traffic?
Peter.
 

tcm

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Re: Hull Zeebrugge - faster by boat

yeah, loads faster by ship surely. In fact, I reckon that any more than the ship's normal cruising speed of 25knots down the middles lane of the M1would be downright dangerous....
 
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