Fine Whine

So a very well judged return to Blighty for @David Williams on the Connemara ex Cherbourg this afternoon...😉 More good timing from Mrs FW who’s on Normandie leaving Caen this morning. She’s back to work next week teaching while life here in Normandy goes on as (just about) normal. Chris

I wish I could Millsy but without paying those dreaded taxes Chef mentioned. I've replied to literally hundreds of our regulars who haven't made it to France this year asking the same question, can we deliver to the UK or Ireland. Unfortunately it then becomes a commercial transaction and local duty and Vat is applied - in the case of the UK thats £2.63 for a bottle of still wine, £3.50 for sparkling. Ireland is even worse, 3.93€ and 7.86€ per bottle respectively.... Chris

But they will never mask the petro-chemical pong though...😳🤣 Chris ps for LHC, pong = ça pue, ça sent mauvais, ça schlingue, (even though your English is generally far better than our French!)

Exactly... Chris

Ken I updated you on this in the Sailings update this, here’s what I said then. I think there’s (another) gremlin in the system Ken. I’ve just tried a dummy foot passenger booking from Portsmouth-Caen and although showing « Sailing Full » up to the end of August you can book from the 1st September onwards. I would hurry though because places will be very limited to start with. In other words you’ve another 4 weeks to wait until you can photograph Ouistreham from Normandie’s outside deck.....😎 Hope that helps Chris

I think there’s (another) gremlin in the system Ken. I’ve just tried a dummy foot passenger booking from Portsmouth-Caen and although showing « Sailing Full » up to the end of August you can book from the 1st September onwards. I would hurry though because plaçes will be very limited to start with. Hope that helps Chris

Neil I can assure you that on at least 4 different occasions while arriving into Portsmouth last year vehicles near or around me revealed someone squeezed into the boot - on one occasion there were 2 in the French car right in front of me! Last Sunday evening we arrived there on Connemara and PIP was heaving with Border Force officers, a considerable number of vehicles awaiting to be checked in the sheds which is not usually the norm. Chris

I'm not stupid enough to get into a discussion about the rights and wrongs in all this as there has been more than one side to every argument since life began on earth. I do get mildly annoyed however by people who in one breath post about the time it gets takes to get through port immigration checks (whether in France, the UK or both), and in the next are indignant when a few migrants slip through the net. Yes it's frustrating, espcially when you have a long drive ahead but you can't have it both ways.... Chris

Mrs FW was with me, not even on the lead at the time...🤣 Chris

Not the usual 30 minute palava David, no more than 10 minutes before disembarking at most , and in colour order. But you’re not correct about that second statement - if you have a cabin on deck 6 you can access the car deck on deck 5 via an outside staircase starboard side avoiding the jam next to reception....😉 Chris

The same as I always find Visentinis Gareth. If you haven’t a cabin them they’re pretty boring, all very similar so bright chrome and vinyl flooring de rigueur - they make the Poole vessel (she who must not be named!) seem positively luxurious... With current restrictions we had a 4 berth outside cabin at the bow and to be fair they are excellent with more space than other BF ships, comfy beds and it was spotless, just as it was in the crossing over on Sunday. Loading and unloading once again by colour coding, so either red, blue, green or yellow, all very functional but efficient. Chris

Having said she looked inadequate I still think the old girl is in remarkably good nick, launched back in 1992 the same year as Majesty of the Seas. I know some on here don’t like her funnels but the noise and vibration from her old stack used to be quite intrusive, definitely quieter now they’re using the new scrubbers. Chris

Let’s see what LHC has to say about this post....! Coming out of Portsmouth yesterday morning on Connemara, Majesty of the Seas was once again on the newly extended berth 2 making both BF ships look a little inadequate. The photos are quite interesting as you can see how the berth has been lowered to cater for passenger gangways and access - if you look back at my original photos at the beginning of the thread you’ll see what I mean. What’s also interesting is when reading some of the earlier posts it is stated that the extension will allow cruise ships up to 255 m in length to use the new facility. Majesty is one of Royal Carribeans’ Sovereign class ships and is 268m long so this has opened up the market to larger vessels than either PIP or @TonyMWeaver were alluding to. Did someone get their measurements wrong? Chris

Out of interest there was lots of work going on in Cherbourg last week on the old railway line that runs from the station (Avenue de Paris) down towards the port. People in orange bolier suits checking signalling, the numerous level crossings that run through the town, the line that hasn’t been used in anger since Toyota pulled their new car Import operation back in the late 90’s. Having said that I remember long trains loaded with artic trailers crawling through the town (and causing gridlock for 15 minutes) back then so it’s not a new idea. Chris

No idea Ed but one of the Connemara crew told me she is operating in « passenger only » mode for the holiday period, presumably to free up as much cabin space as possible. Reading the Ouest France report there were 549 passengers on board the non arrival yesterday morning, so not a bad load all things considered. There is plenty of freight space available on both the Cherbourg, Le Havre and Caen routes apparently. Chris