Brittany Ferries 2024 Booking
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Last year we did the maths when it looked like we were going to get caught up in the French fuel problems.
We had a tunnel booked but knew we could change that. So priced the Spanish ferry £830 one way. Looked at St Malo and Caen they turned out to be very good VFM Caen was a few pence cheaper than what we had paid for the tunnel and St Malo was only £30 more. We did factor in the extra fuel and night stops.
Living where we do anywhere on the south coast comes out around the same price in fuel and time so don't factor that in.
Tunnel we like for the ease of using it, if you're early you get put on an earlier train.
In the good weather the drive is fine and it gives us time to get into holiday mood. In the winter time not as pleasant but we've done it a couple of times now coming up from Spain.
This year though we are looking at going out Tunnel but coming back St Malo overnight crossing. Benefits are only 1 or 2 night halts will be required in France and it gets us into Portsmouth early morning, which gives us a good run up the road with just 1 night halt needed near the border.
Its not always about cost, though that is taken into consideration. Timings are the thing with us, and convenience.
Peedee, the saving of £25 is OK unless you have to change your booking. With the club you would then have to pay £20 - £25 to amend it I believe.
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Same here, David. 😱
It was rumoured on BF enthusiasts website (or whatever it’s called now) that the bookings for 2024 would be available for the Spanish crossings from 8am on 19th July, and the French crossings a week later.
For once, the rumours were right. 🙂.0 -
Well, having signed up for BF emails re 2024 sailings I am still waiting!
I only knew sailings had gone on sale as a friend made a comment in his blog about some people having issues booking pet friendly cabins.
For those that have sailed on the Galicia, what do you get in the C-Lounge?
I ask as I have seen comments that are at odds with what BF list as the benefits.
VFM is a very personal thing, but at £150 extra for a premium cabin, not a Commodore, which includes the lounge access, thats a lot of snacks that I will be having to eat to get my moneys worth!
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”For those that have sailed on the Galicia, what do you get in the C-Lounge?”
We returned from Bilbao on the Galicia ferry last weekend. We had a Club Plus 2 berth cabin which included access to the C Lounge.
The ferry left Bilbao at 1pm, so we went into the lounge for lunch.
There was a buffet of hot and cold food, red and white wine, very nice desserts, cheese etc.Hot drinks, snacks etc were available all day.
Our evening meal was included in our ferry ticket, 3 courses, waiter service, in the lovely main restaurant. So I don’t know what was on offer in the C Lounge.
Breakfast the next morning in the lounge was a typical hotel style buffet, English style hot food and Continental pastries. Fruit, juices, yogurt etc.
Lunch was pretty similar to the previous day.
The C Lounge is very nice, lovely views and comfortable seating. It’s very, very quiet. We escaped and watched the tennis in the main bar, with a very lively Spanish crowd enjoying every minute.
The Club Plus cabins are nothing special. They were originally classed as Commodore cabins, but now only 3 cabins on the Galicia ferry are classed as such. I’m pretty sure David has been in one of those, and will be able to give more info.
We enjoyed the crossing. We live in East Lancashire, and after driving to Portsmouth towing our caravan, it’s nice to have a relaxing break before taking to the road again.
Hope you get sorted with whatever you decide to book, and unless you want a dog friendly, accessible or nicer cabin, there’s no need to book early.
🙂
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Had my email early this week
sailed home on the Galicia 9th Jan this year, had a dog friendly cabin, 4 berth cabin with a TV, quite spacious for me and pooch, with nice bathroom, no window, but who cares.
Not sure how it works but every time i went to the bar the guy asked for my ticket and said i was still in credit so never paid anything for drinks from the bar.
Ate in main dining area only approx 10 people eating, full waitress service 3 courses choice of menu with a full bottle of wine included, had full english breakfast which i paid some money towards but i still had credit on my ticket, or so they said, still not sure how that worked out, but the crossing was very rough at the start and did not calm down for approx 10 hours out of Santander so lots of people not feeling very well and i guess staying in their cabins, so perhaps the staff were being overly generous to those that were still standing.
not checked 2024 sailings but BF now seem to have scheduled some sailings Portsmouth Santander as 48 hrs, we sailed out October 2023, 48hrs, boring, returned Jan 23 only 24 hrs, think i would rather do Portsmouth - Caen (much much cheaper by 1 third) and drive down than spend 48 hrs wallowing around at approx 10 knots.
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I am glad it went well, but for me spending £1400 on a 32 hour ferry to Bilbao followed by a 600 mile drive to southern Spain is not something I would ever contemplate, My daughter was down there earlier in the year - her air fare was £70 p.p return and the direct flight to Malaga took 3 hours. She uses AirBnB wherever she goes and has taught me how to do it.
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Thanks for the responses-which seem to show that people have had differing experiences as regards "whats included".
For us, living just 37 miles from the Plymouth ferry port, these crossings were only considered as we thought about an early holiday this year-before the Plymouth-Santander crossings started- and they would me we could travel with our holiday buddies, but in the end decided against that idea.
Next year .we are taking friends to the D Day 80th Anniversary event so will be looking at crossing around April and the Plymouth crossings should be in full swing by then unless the rumoured alterations to the timetable affect things.
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I'm off to Santander September 8th on what they now call a cruise, 2 nights on board.
Very difficult comparing prices, as it is done by length of vehicle, caravan, motorhome.
It appears I have booked an outside cabin, plus a small kennel for the dog. Cost £1462 return
As I am a solo traveller, and not getting any younger, I do the longer crossing to cut down on driving - down to Portugal. I now pull into a service station on the way down for the night. Never had a problem.
BF have always been very helpful. One year when I crossed over, and 48 hours later had to return because of a death in the family, they offered me a dog friendly cabin. All changes made with no aggravation.
Happy travels to everyone.
Jane
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For those without a dog there are flights from Gatwick to Faro in September starting at £33 return instead of £1462 on a ferry followed by a 600mile drive.
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I moved to Devon in Sept last year. It is a lovely green county, but it's green for a reason. It is called rain.
We have had 3 Sept's in France and they were warm/hot and generally very dry. I don't mind paying a few bob for that.
The wine, bread and cheese are also better.
Colin
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If you take a look at BF’s main website, front page, there’s an option to join a mailing list for receiving the latest news / updates on sailings.
Alternatively, the main BF facebook fan groups often have rumours from people “in the know” with the latest updates 🤔. They are sometimes correct…🙂.
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As others have stated it is a personal choice. I live in Scotland so I either drive to Portsmouth and take BF to Spain, or drive to Newcastle and take the ferry to Amsterdam and drive through France. Again, like others although driving is slightly cheaper the hassle factor makes the BF ferry a better choice for us. We keep our caravan in Spain in storage so will only be using a car for travel. We will be in Spain for 6 weeks. Yes, we pay hotels as it is a long way from Bilbao to Cartagena, and I am getting too old, but again it is balanced against paying more on the ferry. My most personal choice is to fly Ryanaire to Murcia and get a hire car but this year the hire car companies have decided to charge rip off prices. Plus my dear wife (and me) have wanted to take a few larger items with us for the caravan. Ryanaire are not too keen on accepting ladders etc. I think the thing that influences us most is not the trip down, it is the one back when you just want to get home. My days of long hauls on manic French Autoroutes are past. The Spanish motorways are usually empty.
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I've just looked at the recently live French crossings for summer 2024. With the "Friends & Family" price reduction they do look attractive at £215 back from France in early July with car & caravan on the Roscoff to Plymouth crossing. About £50 cheaper than with the Club.
Colin
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