Campervan restrictions in Scotland's Islands

[barry]

Calmac (the ferries to the isles) is restricting but not banning campervans, motor homes and towed caravans on all it's ferries as per the link to their website below.

Changes to motorhomes, campervans and caravans standby process - CalMac Ferries

Frequently Asked Pre Travel Questions - including baggage allowance, collection of tickets and missed sailings.

www.calmac.co.uk

It had to come, regretfully.

 

[GrumpyGranddad]

Calmac (the ferries to the isles) is restricting but not banning campervans, motor homes and towed caravans on all it's ferries as per the link to their website below.

Changes to motorhomes, campervans and caravans standby process - CalMac Ferries

Frequently Asked Pre Travel Questions - including baggage allowance, collection of tickets and missed sailings.

www.calmac.co.uk

It had to come, regretfully.

Only disallowing these vehicle types to join their standby queues at the ports. No problem at all if you have a booked space

 

[Kingsley]

Calmac (the ferries to the isles) is restricting but not banning campervans, motor homes and towed caravans on all it's ferries as per the link to their website below.

Changes to motorhomes, campervans and caravans standby process - CalMac Ferries

Frequently Asked Pre Travel Questions - including baggage allowance, collection of tickets and missed sailings.

www.calmac.co.uk

It had to come, regretfully.

Just came back from Arran towing my Basecamp with my California no problem but I was booked on the ferry.

 

[brooodie]

The FAQ talks about the size of vehicles as being one of the motivations, but then later in the same FAQ:

I have a smaller campervan which is the size of a car, will I be able to join standby?​

No.

Which shows that any talk of vehicle size isn't the prime motivation? It seems the real motivation here is to increase the number of Hotel/B&B Bookings on the Islands which have been hit hard by covid. I wonder if the voices of campsite owners have been ignored?

I don't have my California yet but I'm assuming from reading other threads that it is registered on the V5 as a "Motor Caravan" and therefore these new rules would apply. (Edit: Actually there seems to be some inconsistency here. https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/threads/new-dvla-classification.29861/page-9 Maybe if you have MPV on the V5 then that would be a 'get out' of this?)

One further thing that this doesn't clarify is what happens in the case of cancelled sailings (which are common) due to weather. In those cases I believe that vehicles have to join the standby queue. So if you are booked on a sailing and it is then cancelled would they then boot you out of the queue to get on the next boat?

Edit: Never mind that... It does clarify this exact situation.

During disruptions and movement of traffic, will I be given the option of standby even if I had a booking on a previously cancelled sailing?​

tl;dr: Yes

 

[GrumpyGranddad]

As I read it the motif is NOT to discourage campervans/motorhomes/caravans from visiting the islands. It IS to discourage long queues of such vehicles at the ports for lengthy periods, which is undesirable not least for locals.

Calmac will happily take an entire boatload of VW Californias as long as they are booked.

Regarding cancelled sailings, I don’t know how they will handle that but imagine you would be rebooked on the next available sailing rather than go on the standby list?

 

[flying banana]

I think this is news that isn't news. .most people I reckon will book a ticket for a crossing before turning up. I also recently got off arran. No problems at all. Why would you park up at a ferry terminal anyway without a ticket?

 

[brooodie]

I think this is news that isn't news. .most people I reckon will book a ticket for a crossing before turning up. I also recently got off arran. No problems at all. Why would you park up at a ferry terminal anyway without a ticket?

Because it's basically not possible to book tickets at short notice (even medium notice), particularly in the summer. See for yourself: https://ticketing.calmac.co.uk/booking/asp/web100.asp

I've just went on to the Calmac site now (Thursday evening) to book a ticket to Arran and I can't book a ticket on any of the 9 ferries from Ardrossan tomorrow or the first 8 ferries on Saturday (last one is available), then nothing until Tuesday. Next weekend fully booked as well.

I guess proves how busy these services are, but using the standby queue is a common way to use these services. It seems unfair to arbitrarily restrict access for a vehicle which doesn't take up any more space than a large estate car.

As someone who doesn't make plans months in advance this development is a total pain. I understand the frustration of island inhabitants who need to use these services but as far as I'm aware they are already given priority.

 

[brooodie]

Regarding cancelled sailings, I don’t know how they will handle that but imagine you would be rebooked on the next available sailing rather than go on the standby list?

This isn't exactly how it works I don't think. They will book you on the next ferry if there is space, but otherwise you need to wait in the standby queue.

It seems they have made a provision here to help workaround this situation (maybe reduce the number of drive on spaces on subsequent crossings) but they can't just guarantee you get on the next boat as that would mean having to kick off people who had booked onto _that_ boat (ad nauseam).

Another use of the standby queue is when you turn up early for a booking and try to chance it onto an earlier ferry. It seems that this will no longer be possible.

 

[Erbster]

Because it's basically not possible to book tickets at short notice (even medium notice), particularly in the summer. See for yourself: https://ticketing.calmac.co.uk/booking/asp/web100.asp

I've just went on to the Calmac site now (Thursday evening) to book a ticket to Arran and I can't book a ticket on any of the 9 ferries from Ardrossan tomorrow or the first 8 ferries on Saturday (last one is available), then nothing until Tuesday. Next weekend fully booked as well.

I guess proves how busy these services are, but using the standby queue is a common way to use these services. It seems unfair to arbitrarily restrict access for a vehicle which doesn't take up any more space than a large estate car.

As someone who doesn't make plans months in advance this development is a total pain. I understand the frustration of island inhabitants who need to use these services but as far as I'm aware they are already given priority.

I agree; we went to the outer Hebrides in 2019 and I booked all the crossings but one, so that we could decide when to move on based on weather etc. Well, all I can say is I’m glad I’d booked the main crossings, or I’d not have got back to work on time. The one we didn’t book had no availability, so we parked (about 6 hours before the crossing) in the standby lane and went for a walk. If we hadn’t got that crossing, we would have missed our crossing back to the mainland. Defo booking a long way in advance is needed, but we like to keep our plans vague until the last minute or change plans if we discover something nice or want to move on sooner.

 

[AlisonF]

I read last week in highlands and islands news that local people were finding it impossible to get last minute ferry bookings for urgent medical appointments or shopping.
Maybe this is to help prioritise those trips over standby campers, which as others have mentioned above, could book crossings in advance when planning holidays.

 

[flying banana]

Theres also a ferry goes from lochranza across to kintyre on the other side. Worth trying that if stuck

 

[Digger]

It looks like this will be permanent and pre booking required. All to do with limited ferry capacity.

 

[stephen watson]

I wonder what a Beach is classified as? When I went to Ardnamurchan this year I noticed that on the Corran ferry the charge for our Ocean, classed as a motorhome, was substantially more than a car of equal length. All rather reminiscent of Eurotunnel tactics.

 

[WelshGas]

I wonder what a Beach is classified as? When I went to Ardnamurchan this year I noticed that on the Corran ferry the charge for our Ocean, classed as a motorhome, was substantially more than a car of equal length. All rather reminiscent of Eurotunnel tactics.

According to Calmacs definition the Beach would not be classed as a Camper and/Motorhome.

 

[stephen watson]

Mmmm. I guess if Amarillo ever goes to Scotland that argument may be tested!

 

[Perfectos]

According to Calmacs definition the Beach would not be classed as a Camper and/Motorhome.

Another good reason to have a Beach
best of both worlds

 

[WelshGas]

Another good reason to have a Beach
best of both worlds

You're welcome to it in the recent Scottish weather.

 

[Cali Phillip]

I wonder what a Beach is classified as? When I went to Ardnamurchan this year I noticed that on the Corran ferry the charge for our Ocean, classed as a motorhome, was substantially more than a car of equal length. All rather reminiscent of Eurotunnel tactics.

Yes our Ocean was charged as motorhome, where as our previous Caddy maxi camper registered as a Campervan was always changed as a car. They car almost the same length and width just one is overtly a Campervan.
We don't mind, its not a huge increase compared to driving round the loch and those guys run that critical ferry in some horrendous weather so much so if the Corran ferries off it must be truly bad even by Lochaber standards.

 

[clarinetbcn]

You're welcome to it in the recent Scottish weather.

Is there something you can do in an Ocean in bad weather that you can’t do in a Beach? Actually the large lower bed is an advantage if the weather is too bad to raise the roof. In bad weather I turn my Muji slide out drawers around and access them from the inside (which can’t be done with the popular slide out tray.) The higher multiflex board means that there is much more storage space, which is why the Muji drawers work so well.

From the definition of Campervan (fixed cooker) it seems Beach owners have dodged a bullet on this one, but I imagine that loophole will be plugged shortly, since the excuse is that van owners have somewhere to sleep if they don’t get on the ferry.

 

[WelshGas]

Is there something you can do in an Ocean in bad weather that you can’t do in a Beach? Actually the large lower bed is an advantage if the weather is too bad to raise the roof. In bad weather I turn my Muji slide out drawers around and access them from the inside (which can’t be done with the popular slide out tray.) The higher multiflex board means that there is much more storage space, which is why the Muji drawers work so well.

From the definition of Campervan (fixed cooker) it seems Beach owners have dodged a bullet on this one, but I imagine that loophole will be plugged shortly, since the excuse is that van owners have somewhere to sleep if they don’t get on the ferry.

"The lady doth protest too much, methinks"

 

[Camperfamily]

If a Beach isn’t classified as a Motorhome per Calmac’s definition and it isn’t a car, then the only option remaining is a Light Good Vehicle. A LGV is charged more than a car or a motorhome <6m (same charge for these on Calmac). I suspect most Beach owners opt for a Motorhome <6m ticket.

 

[paul_f]

Some beaches are registered as cars, MPV body type. Others are registered as motorhomes