Ferry or Shuttle

[Karlos]

Help please. Having secured our new cail we have nearly 3 weeks off work to take her to Europe mid September r(think its a her). We are thinking of going to south of France and Italy to visit my wife's fathers village who died earlier this year. We have done the south France many times previously with either converted camper or folding camper. Question is ferry or tunnel and any discounts we can get. We always used the tunnel but have found it increasingly expensive over the last 4 years but I am uncomfortable taking a new cali on the ferry parking side by side.. Does anyone have advice on securing discounts for the Tunnel or reluctantly the Ferry Dover to Calais. Hope this makes sense it is Saturday night afterall with wine included.

 

[MickyTwoPints]

Replying on Saturday night with wine included

We always use the tunnel, it's great to be able to leave the UK and be in France within half an hour with no worries about the weather. Having said that, we haven't travelled that far South from Calais, we've always gone East through Germany and are planning to go North to Amsterdam next month. Three weeks away would be amazing though, I'm very jealous.

 

[Karlos]

Hi thanks we did Amsterdam 2 years ago for a couple of night when our daughter graduated, sailed from Hull then through to Italian lakes, Venice and Monaco. Just wanted more time to take in all we had missed in between but until my wife allows us both to retire what can I do. I always liked the tunnel and it was always about the same price as the ferries but now there is a £160 or so difference on a ferry return crossing compared to the tunnel.

 

[MickyTwoPints]

Wow! That's a big difference. I was looking at the Tunnel prices for our trip to Amsterdam yesterday and it seemed to be about £230 or so return which I didn't think was too bad.

Any tips for Amsterdam by the way? We haven;t booked anything but have a few campsites in mind.

 

[Karlos]

we stayed at Camping Vliegenbos which was a short walk to the free ferry.

 

[Karlos]

For the new van ferry Dover to Calais £130 ish and tunnel £215 is roughly what I have been quoted. When we went in May with car and trailer the tunnel was about £160 dearer so ferry it was. I do prefer the tunnel but wandered if there were any discounts to be had.

 

[SailSki]

Hi, if you join the Eurotunnel Frequent Traveller scheme it is minimum of 10 single crossings for £46 each way (+£12 with an Ocean as a camper van) is £116 return which I think is pretty good value,, and you can nominate another person to also use the account.
There are peak hours supplements but I don’t find them unreasonable.
However I found recently that the Frequent Traveller tickets are limited per crossing which meant that although there are high vehicle spaces left coming from France just before the schools return, there are none available for Frequent Traveller members. Frustrating... taking the ferry rather than paying the normal Eurotunnel price, but trying to think how to protect against door-banging neighbors....

 

[Dave650]

Have done 3 weeks in France in Sep for the last few years and used the tunnel no problem apart from a couple of hours delay one year. Always use Tesco vouchers so reduces the cost greatly, just have to pay for the dog.

 

[Martin12bar]

We use our Tesco vouchers for the tunnel - for every £5 of vouchers you can get £15 credit for the tunnel crossing.

Tesco.com - Security

 

[Karlos]

Thanks for that, we have used Tesco Vouchers in the past but haven't got any left this year. Re door banging on the ferry I always make sure I am last off the car deck and first back on, its not only door banging that bothers me its also people passing with bags push chairs etc. I will check out frequent traveller.

 

[Ting Tong]

The ferries are considerably cheaper and I’ve never found door banging an issue. 10% discount on DFDS with CCC. Plus if you have to drive 230 miles to Dover, the 90 mins on the ferry is good R&R.

 

[Meoncoast]

Ferry for me like boat trips and can not afford a cruise

 

[turnitdown]

Bumping an old thread, but it seemed better than starting an entirely new one on effectively the same topic.

A question for those who have done both ferry and tunnel: what's the total time for each if you include not just the crossing time itself but the time from checkin in/showing up to being on the road at the end of the trip? I took the ferry once years ago but don't remember much about it, and have never taken the tunnel.

Maybe a better way to put the question: Suppose Cali A had the ferry booked at 5pm, and Cali B had the tunnel booked for 5pm. What time does each Cali have to show up at wherever check-in/boarding is, and what time would each be on the road in France?

thanks.

 

[dspuk]

Bumping an old thread, but it seemed better than starting an entirely new one on effectively the same topic.

A question for those who have done both ferry and tunnel: what's the total time for each if you include not just the crossing time itself but the time from checkin in/showing up to being on the road at the end of the trip? I took the ferry once years ago but don't remember much about it, and have never taken the tunnel.

Maybe a better way to put the question: Suppose Cali A had the ferry booked at 5pm, and Cali B had the tunnel booked for 5pm. What time does each Cali have to show up at wherever check-in/boarding is, and what time would each be on the road in France?

thanks.

Been 20 years since I took a ferry so can’t help there. We use the tunnel all the time though. We turn up two hours before the allotted time. Sometimes at the gate it will offer an earlier one. Getting through can be somewhere between 10 minutes and an hour. Why we turn up early. If there is no obvious queue we’ll pop into the terminal for a quick coffee. If there is we just get straight into the queue. Because it’s a shuttle the time does not matter too much. They just put you on the earlier/next train. Queue issues are always some sort of passport issue. Either not enough UK border guards, or not enough French. To be fair to our continental cousins it’s always been the uk side causing the jam. So. How long? Can be 30m. Can be 2 hours. Off we get the first shuttle out it’s 30m. When we get the noon one. 1-2 hours. Note the day, holidays etc also has a big bearing on both modes of crossing.

For your example. Turn up at 3pm. You will get on the 5pm at the worst. Takes 30 minutes. Like clockwork. That is 630pm with time difference. You are straight out. You will be on the road out of Calais at 640pm latest.

 

[secret lemonade drinker]

Cali B has to be at dover 45mins (say 1 hour) before Sailing, and Would be in Calais and off boat 1 hour after sailing, same on return unless Calais port workers are having a strike then it is anyone's guess

 

[CaliforniaSeb]

Have you considered the ferry to St Malo? Particularly if you are heading to the South of France. Your Cali will end up parked up with other camper vans and larger cars on the ferry. You are less likely to have some banger parked next to you with occupants who don't give a hoot about slamming their car door into your van. I tend to pretend that I am busy sorting stuff out in the van until everyone else has parked around me and exited their cars. If i need to get out and place my hand between an opening car door and my van, then I do so politely.

 

[kurienp]

Bumping an old thread, but it seemed better than starting an entirely new one on effectively the same topic.

A question for those who have done both ferry and tunnel: what's the total time for each if you include not just the crossing time itself but the time from checkin in/showing up to being on the road at the end of the trip? I took the ferry once years ago but don't remember much about it, and have never taken the tunnel.

Maybe a better way to put the question: Suppose Cali A had the ferry booked at 5pm, and Cali B had the tunnel booked for 5pm. What time does each Cali have to show up at wherever check-in/boarding is, and what time would each be on the road in France?

thanks.

Cali B will be faster.

Cali A 4 or even 4.30 at terminal, boarding at 5 and on the road in France at 5.45. If you get late, you always can take the next train 20 mins later.

Cali B - 4 pm at terminal to be on the safer side. Ferry at 5, reach the other. Side at 6.30. at least 30 mins to deboard and 7 pm on the road in France.

Easily save an hour and 45 mins on the train. (Though it will be more expensive than the ferry)

Easier to accommodate any delays on the train as there is a run every 15 or 20 mins. Reach just about an hour to departure and with 25 mins to cross, you can be on the road in France in hour and 40 mins. The ferry itself takes an hour and 30 mins plus the check-in is slower than Eurotunnel. There too you can usually get in about an hour before and still be able to board, though onboarding and off boarding takes longer. The ferry will be at least an hour longer than the train.

 

[Viktorgeorge]

Bumping an old thread, but it seemed better than starting an entirely new one on effectively the same topic.

A question for those who have done both ferry and tunnel: what's the total time for each if you include not just the crossing time itself but the time from checkin in/showing up to being on the road at the end of the trip? I took the ferry once years ago but don't remember much about it, and have never taken the tunnel.

Maybe a better way to put the question: Suppose Cali A had the ferry booked at 5pm, and Cali B had the tunnel booked for 5pm. What time does each Cali have to show up at wherever check-in/boarding is, and what time would each be on the road in France?

thanks.

Both crossings have been pretty seamless for us with little delay but we always travel out of school holidays (or contra flow at the beginning/end of them).

We have tried the alternatives (also STENA from Harwich) and currently prefer tunnel out and ferry back.

The tunnel out gets our trip going faster, then when returning the ferry (we prefer P&O to DFDS, and pay for the premium lounge with food, shower and cleaner toilets) gives us a quiet hour and a half with a meal before continuing the last leg home to Suffolk.

I guess the time difference is around 1-1.5 hours but the two booking portals will confirm.

Added to this is the time change France to England which seems to compensate for the difference though objectively it doesn’t.

 

[colintfcolintf]

Tunnel has become very expensive we have found

 

[Viktorgeorge]

Tunnel has become very expensive we have found

Agreed. There is approximate parity if you include premium lounge or the ferry, whatever level of flexibility you choose for both.

 

[colintfcolintf]

past few trips we overnighted Harwich to Hook of Holland

 

[bullibuskombi]

Bumping an old thread, but it seemed better than starting an entirely new one on effectively the same topic.

A question for those who have done both ferry and tunnel: what's the total time for each if you include not just the crossing time itself but the time from checkin in/showing up to being on the road at the end of the trip? I took the ferry once years ago but don't remember much about it, and have never taken the tunnel.

Maybe a better way to put the question: Suppose Cali A had the ferry booked at 5pm, and Cali B had the tunnel booked for 5pm. What time does each Cali have to show up at wherever check-in/boarding is, and what time would each be on the road in France?

thanks.

From my last trip via the tunnel in August this year you now have to have arrived at least one hour before you departure time. You can arrive up to 24 hours before your departure if you want a rest before an early train.
It takes around 35 mins to clear borders and customs and get to the departure lanes.
35 mins on the train and around 10 mins at Calais to get to the motorway and freedom.
My lasr trip was, 6:44 train departs, 8:23 (local time) on the Autoroute.

 

[turnitdown]

Thanks everyone. On the dates I'm searching the tunnel is coming it at £300 return vs £150 for the ferry, which I'd notice.

Some of the replies mention that if you show up for the shuttle and there's space on an earlier one, you can take that. Is that a feature with any fares, e.g., the standard ones too, or just with a flexi fare.

For me the £75 more each way is a lot to save an hour or so, especially as crossing water on a ferry has a certain romantic appeal of leaving/coming home. But rough seas would change the calculus. Does anyone know how often a crossing is rough enough the average person notices and especially how much does this vary by time of year?

 

[Kev56]

Bumping an old thread, but it seemed better than starting an entirely new one on effectively the same topic.

A question for those who have done both ferry and tunnel: what's the total time for each if you include not just the crossing time itself but the time from checkin in/showing up to being on the road at the end of the trip? I took the ferry once years ago but don't remember much about it, and have never taken the tunnel.

Maybe a better way to put the question: Suppose Cali A had the ferry booked at 5pm, and Cali B had the tunnel booked for 5pm. What time does each Cali have to show up at wherever check-in/boarding is, and what time would each be on the road in France?

thanks.

Thinking the same.

 

[Princess Doris]

Just returned from 2 weeks in France. I always use the tunnel if going via Calais.
The whole process is easier and quicker. We arrived early on outward and return and were automatically offered an earlier crossing. Border control and customs were a breeze.