yeah thats the same as me struggle sleeping i have flown once i really hated it it also took me a few days to calm down and the thought of the flight back ahhh our pickup point is about 2 miles from where we live thats one of the reasons i use siesta, have not tried any other but friends have used ferris and say they are good, i just tend to stick with wot i know how boring is that lol

Stick with what you know , then you know what your getting , i have only ever travelled with Ferris and have always had a great holiday , the hostesses have drivers have been good company . If what was sais on here abour rumours of Ferris selling out then i might give them a try but until then i'm happy to give Mr Ferris my custom .

Hi Candida...I take my favorite chill out tapes and a walkman...Does the trick for me at lights out time

I had the Ipod Nano, chill out music on one of the on-coach entertainment channels, plus my vodka!!!!

still didn't help!!

I don't really know what the problem is but I can never drop off after that last evening stop!

All around me people are sleeping soundly, including my hubby, and I am wide awake! I don't like the curtain on either as that makes me feel claustraphobic!

Every time the coach stops during the night - for the smokers or refuelling, I am the first one off! LOL

I soon get over it though once I arrive in the sunshine!

Forgot to say..............like the idea of the chill out music on the ipod. Will give that a try next week! Thanks

Candida, we have so much in common .... i don't smoke but im still first off during the night too!!

must say i have the same problem, can't sleep during the night but that could have been because i was very big, weight wise , so if we do get a holiday this year it might be differant as have lost loads of weight.

i love the coach holiday for the atmoshere on the coach etc and getting to know people but never get comfy on the bus, i once decribed it like childbirth, you go thro it and say you'll never do it again but once your back you soon forget the pain, until you go again LOL

cidermonster, can you remember how high the coaches are to get into, i ask as my mum is talking about us all going on a late holiday but she is getting on a bit and getting into the coach might be a problem for her.
we would have to book out the table chairs downstairs for us all.
ta for reading
taz

I like the coach atmosphere too

I am OK with the journey till about 11pm. Then I become restless, uncomfortable and feel like I'm getting bed sores!

Once dawn breaks I seem to perk up though!

I usually manage to get some kind of sleep after the breakfast stop.

As you say tazhull, it can't be that bad as we keep going back for more!!

True ... if i hated it that much i wouldn't do it again!!

Taz .... best thing to do would be to email the companies direct through their website, they should be able to give out the tech spec on the coaches
I'm still thinking of booking up for another week in September, if i can get something with Interbrava again that would be my preference ... and i'll quite happily put up with the bus for seven days in the sun!

Hardly any ferris coaches came down to costa brava last week, just starting to pick up they say. rumour is ferris has been trying to sell up for last 2 years.

Hi hope you had a good journey and are enjoying your hols, i am due to leave on friday .

A posting was made in july about ferris selling out , did you hear anything from either the drivers or the hostesses. i will ask on friday , i wonder what the reason could be, probably people are going DIY with cheap airfares.

Lynne

Interest rates going up, high house prices, etc ... i guess they all must be putting a squeeze on the market, eh?

I wouldn't be too surprised just to see Siesta and Interbrava battling it out soon .... the rest don't look too steady!!

Surprised to hear not many Ferris coaches on the Costa Brava. Normally they drive down in convoys at this time of the year.
I thought they were a fairly big, well established company, hope they don't sell out.

I am travelling with Sunways, which is a Manchester based company formally known as Northern Holidays. They are very similar to Ferris in that the coaches are an equal standard ( all single deckers though) and the prices are roughly the same. I think they are a family concern.

The furthest North they pick up is Leeds, then they stop at all the towns and motorway service stations on route to Dover.

I don't know were all these rumours come from, I arrived back on Sunday and there were plenty of Ferris coaches about. The main problem with the journey out was that we had to turn back to pick up some passengers that were forgotten, then had an hour delay being routinely inspected by MOT health & safety, at the Spanish border the coach was stopped by the police and because the contract driver did not have his documents we had to wait two hours until Ferris coughed up the fine. We eventually arrived at the hotel at 3.30 p.m. on the positive side our rooms were ready.

The return coach was due to pick up at 12 noon, it did not arrive until 5.00 p.m. this was due to heavy traffic caused by a big accident on the French motorway system. Regarding the rumour about a Ferris takeover,
I mentioned this to the driver who had not heard anything.

I went A/I allocation on arrival, I was going to release the name of the hotel allocated but it might spoil the anticipation, by the way we had a wonderful holiday.

Being from Scotland, there are only really 3 coach companies that i can go to the Costas with from up here!

Pancho glad you had a good holiday . Like you i am A/1 special and have got mixed feeling of whether i want to know where i am going or not . There are 3 hotels that i would not like to be placed in but if so we will make the most of it and just use it as some where to sleep . Two of the hotels we haven't actually stayed in but have walked around and had a drink but found them to be too big and noisey, the other i have stayed in twice and thats the only reason i dont want to be allocated there.

If Ferris do sell out then i will miss them , as other coach companies locally dont fit in with school holidays and they have over night stops en route , which is another reason why i use ferris as i prefer to go straight through .

Lynne

in my dealings with ferris, i was told that their allocated on arrival holidays are worked out at the spanish end and you could end up anywhere, not even in a hotel featured in their brochure-i was trying to ensure i did not get the alexis or casino.
they do this to ensure they get the agreed occupancy rates with HTOP. i was always lucky when i did this, getting the r. beach twice and the osiris.
they will tell you where you are going when you get on the coach if you ask, but if not a chat with others on the coach(after the changeover in the uk) will give you an idea of which resort/hotel you are likely to get.

The hostess knew nothing about a buy out for ferris, but this one i got was from a friend of mr ferris daughter, he usually has 12 coaches coming down this time of year but like i said only 6 came down on 30 th july. may ferris flights has something to do with it.