K2rockall

I booked a short break in France offer from Portsmouth to Caen and return with 3 nights in a hotel in Arromanches. Worked out as £494 for two which is pretty good I think. Much cheaper than ferry and hotel seperately. Will be great to emerse ourselves in all the Normandy history again being the 75th Anniversary year. We also get Normandie on the way out and Mont St Michel on the way back which is nice.

I love travelling with Brittany Ferries and have done numerous trips with them over the years. The majority of these have been day trips either with a car (more recently), or on foot. I also did a package trip to Santander once, and then hired a car which I loved. As much as I like the day trips (typically to Caen or St Malo and back), unfortunately you have to rush around like a mad thing to see places and always seems a shame to get back on the ferry at the end of the day, rather than extend the trip. So why not extend the trip I hear you ask? Well it just seems to cost so much more, even to extend for a couple of nights. That's what I don't understand and hoping someone can shed some light on. You're still undertaking a round trip to France and back so no more burden on the Ferry operator, with a car and yet a day trip offer is typically £80ish for two people, but extending even for just an additional 24 hours you're suddenly talking £300. I don't get it? Looking forward to hopefully booking a trip to Normandy this summer with my partner to show her the Landing beaches and D-Day heritage spots particularly as the 75th Anniversary, but so much to see and can only cover a small part of it on a day trip.

I'm heart-broken. I hate to say it, but it looks absolutely horrible in my opinion. Not to mention all the deck space which has gone. In the looks department MSM was right up there for me with Bretagne.....now I think it's become the worst looking BF Ferry. Wasn't a huge fan of Normandie's funnel to start with, but at least they managed to make the ferry look slightly more modern which in time I have grown to like. Can't see myself ever liking MSM's scrubber design now.

On the Daily Mail website it said that P&O had rerouted some ferries to Boulogne-Sur-Mer due to the chaos. Surely that's not true? I can't imagine their ships would fit in the harbour and the infrastructure there is completely mothballed. Couldn't find any evidence of it in the ship's tracks on Marrine Traffic.

I bought a book a while ago about the Olau Line from Sheerness, and it obviously had a very brief period of success, but mostly terminally declined to the point where it was no longer viable. The infrastructure at Sheerness just simply isn't good enough (relying on a bridge which occasionally gets knocked out) and the whole 'island' still has an 'out of the way' feel about it despite the fact Ramsgate is obviously further to travel. The infrastructure is there at Ramsgate. The roads were improved just as Sally Line and the Oostende Line operations were ailing and the port infrastructure is probably in fairly decent condition, give or take a bit of a touch up. Thanet Council needs to do more to advertise the benefits of Ramsgate as a port. The days of Sally Line gave the town a real vitality and holiday feel. Looking over the disused port now it's very sad.

A Ramsgate to Belgium/Holland route makes a lot of sense and there is a gap in the market. Harwich, Hull, Newcastle aren't that convenient for those living in the south. Boulogne is completely nonsensical and would never be made into a viable route. Although it would be nice to see direct ferries to Boulogne run once more.

As nice a route as it would be it wouldn't make much sense from an economic point of view. Crossing right across both the Dover-Dunkerque and Dover-Calais routes it would be in the realms of enthusiasts rather than those just wanting to get across the channel to start holidays. Not enough to form the basis of a commercially successful operation sadly. Ramsgate to Ostend is by far the most sensible route, so it was especially sad to see that die a death.

"Massive redevelopment has been completed at Boulogne Port". I was there two weeks ago and didn't see any signs of it. The former ferry terminal at Boulogne is a right depressing place. This just seems all smoke and mirrors again, but is mildly entertaining all the same.

The plot thickens!

Any news on this bizarre saga? I passed through Boulogne yesterday which reminded of the Euroferries mystery which is without a doubt the strangest and most surreal thing I have ever come across. It's laughable if it were not quite so sad also. As a resident of Kent, it is depressing to see the Port of Ramsgate once again unoccupied after the ceasing of TEF and it needs a new operator to breathe new life into the place. I still have fond memories of the Sally Ferries service which I travelled on as a child. I just don't understand how Euroferries can have a website which talks about timetables and bookings, but no one knows whether they even exist in reality. And the sponsorship of Millwall last season....I was left speechless. The Twitter feed which is something like @Euroferries seemed to be constant updates on Millwall FC last season and contained rather a lot of swearing. Surely it can't be a genuine profile for the 'company'? Any shedding of light on all this nonsense would be great.

I have a booking after 2nd July. Hope I'm able get transferred to DFDS instead, but it will be an anxious wait until I'm able to contact them tomorrow.

I've just won a return trip on MyFerryLink for a car and up to 5 passengers to be used by March 2016. What do you think is the likelihood of the company being around that much longer? Don't want to book accommodation the other side and then the plug gets pulled on the whole MFL operation. Would like to use this in May/June/July/August

Re: Poor Deck Space on P&O I thought that retail might be the answer which is honestly very disappointing. I find plenty of time to shop along with being out on deck on the Dover to Calais ferries, but the indoor spaces are always very crowded and you often want to flee outside. How do MFL and DFDS compare to P&O?

Re: EUROFERRIES: Ramsgate to Boulogne Was in Boulogne-Sur-Mer at the weekend and I have to say the terminal/linkspan etc. looks in a terrible state. I was really rather shocked that it looked such an eyesore in the middle of the harbour area. So sad to see a ferry terminal that way. Would love a service to start to Bolougne, but I just can't see it. Going from Ramsgate seems non-sensical considering the distance and the fact it will cross the path of the Dover-Calais ferries. Would love to see a service resumed from Folkestone to tie in with the redevelopment and rejuvenation of the harbour front there, but one can dream.

Does anyone know why P&O Ferries have such a putrid amount of deck space on their Dover-Calais ships? I can't speak for other P&O routes/ships as I've never been on any. One of the great pleasures of crossing the channel is looking at the stunning Dover cliffs and impressive French coast, breathing in that lovely sea air at the same time. All that happens on those cramped deck spaces is you end up breathing in the joys of other's cigarette smoke. I'm particularly disappointed with the Spirit class ships. To say they are the largest ships to ever operate the Dover Strait, the deck space provided is simply awful. I travelled on both ships at the weekend and the rear deck (the only one for standard passengers) feels like the steerage deck from the RMS Titanic with the few people on the 'club' class deck above looking down us. That doesn't exactly look huge either. I have always loved how Brittany Ferries are almost access all areas outside. It greatly adds to the experience and enjoyment of crossing to France/Spain and you really feel part of the ferry like it is an old friend when you return. It is so atmospheric to walk towards the bridge at night and see the radar screens, making you feel really safe and secure. With the P&O ships you feel quite unloved and rather like a cattle transfer on them which is very disappointing. I love P&O as a company (not convinced by the new branding, but there you go) and want them to do well, but I do not feel they really get the idea of enjoying a sea crossing anymore. Such a shame.