Speaking personally based on experience dating back a long time, Brittany Ferries administration and land services can be very variable in terms of efficiency, but once on board I have always had very enjoyable and comfortable crossings, even in the roughest of weathers.

Whether you go LD Lines or not, I can't advise because they only came into being after I moved over here.

But I would think that it does depend on how far you need to drive from your arrival port to your destination because that can often be more stressful than the actual crossing. You might find that their brochure price gets cut by online offers and bookings ........... rather like the Avon cosmetics company who have a main price list permanently available for all their range but produce monthly catalogues with special offers that cut the permanently-quoted price to something far more reasonable.

I hope you make a decision, and let us know what you eventually decide to do.

As someone who would rather be on the road than on a ship I would go for the route that best fits your itinerary at the best price. Having said that this year we opted for Norfolk lines Dover to Dunkirk as it was £48 return against £165 as the cheapest with any other ferry on shorter routes! The Tunnel was even more and at the time of booking the Seacat was in receivership.

Given the choice of say a long crossing to Spain and a short one to France with a long drive I would go with the latter every time.

Hi De Hi wrote:

As someone who would rather be on the road than on a ship I would go for the route that best fits your itinerary at the best price.
Given the choice of say a long crossing to Spain and a short one to France with a long drive I would go with the latter every time.

I would agree even towing a caravan I would prefer to drive even if it takes me a few of days.

I costs me on average 3 tanks of diesel (about 170 litres for 1040miles) towing a 1490kg caravan behind a 1.9dci engined car and about 75€ in tolls to go from Calais to Blanes in Spain so total cost would be approx about

Ferry £130
diesel £167.08
Peages £80

or £377.08

and I get to slowly chill out driving through France instead of feeling like a caged bear on a boat

I have just priced up Portsmouth to Caen, I only shave 2 hours off the drive time but it would cost £640, and you would still have to weigh up whether you would also need to stop off half way (going to Aquitaine). I cannot understand why anyone would choose that route.

kazd wrote:

I have just priced up Portsmouth to Caen, I only shave 2 hours off the drive time but it would cost £640, and you would still have to weigh up whether you would also need to stop off half way (going to Aquitaine). I cannot understand why anyone would choose that route.

We have to go over in March and P&O price is £25 each way = total £50 with the car if we were taking our tourer it would then be £175 still no where near The Portmouth Caen route with the extra diesel added to it either

We are going on this Sundays ferry (or is it a cruise !) from Plymouth to Santander and returning late September.

Regarding prices, I know I'm a little late but apologies if its already been mentioned somewhere before, but P&O are stopping their UK to Spain ferry crossing this September as its 'not cost effective'.

Maybe Brittany ferries will reflect this future monopoly in there prices to Spain.

Chris

ps we did the drive from Calais to Valencia (and then back) a couple of weeks ago and are looking forward to a more relaxed journey back to Spain !!

TFS1 wrote:

We are going on this Sundays ferry (or is it a cruise !) from Plymouth to Santander and returning late September.

Regarding prices, I know I'm a little late but apologies if its already been mentioned somewhere before, but P&O are stopping their UK to Spain ferry crossing this September as its 'not cost effective'.

Maybe Brittany ferries will reflect this future monopoly in there prices to Spain.

Chris

ps we did the drive from Calais to Valencia (and then back) a couple of weeks ago and are looking forward to a more relaxed journey back to Spain !!

Yes Brittany are planning price rises of over 10% AFAIK (industry rumour)
It's a long drive but we take a few days and enjoy the trip so the £25 crossing and £190 fuel and taxes are OK as the trip is part of our holidays but if you are going to somewhere in Spain regularly you can't afford such extravagances and the long distance ferry becomes a necessity and Brittany know this, whilst P&O want to get as many full crossings in as possible and one every 2-3 days isn't cost effective as far as they are concerned