Le Havre ferry question

Roy.Henderson

Guest
Hi all
I'm planning to be returning from France in May and plan to use the Le Havre to Portsmouth ferry. Is it advisable/essential to book this in advance, or is it Ok to turn up and get on with a bike? There will be two bikes.
Thanks for any experiences.
Roy
 
always book.
imagine turning up only to be told ferry fully booked.[for a few days etc]
what a bad start/end to any holiday or adventure.:tears
some ferry's only take limited numbers of bikes plus different travel times = lower/higher prices.ive travelled on bikes for 20 years plus and always book channel ferries/tunnel.
have a play on puter typing different times and you will see how price can change.
enjoy your trip.are u going somewere nice.[im a nosey git]:D :thumb
some ferry company's charge extra if you turn up for an earlier ship than the one you have booked.sea france stung me £23.00 last july robbing barstewards.[did'nt fancy sitting around for 3 hours in the rain at calais]
 
There's only one ferry a day - it's a long slog to other ports if you find it's full. Also, as with most forms of public transport, if you book in advance you will probably get a much better price as well as the peace of mind given by the reservation.

If you really need the flexibility of a variable time then plan your route via Pays de Calais which gives the options of Eurotunnel, Calais ferries or Speedferries in Boulogne.
 
I've booked the Portsmouth/Le Harve ferry for July. It's the overnight one and as I wasn't able to get a cabin, booked the aircraft style seats that fold down flat. The sailing is at 23:00 and arrives into Le Harve at 07:30. But the return must be a fast ferry as that journey is only 4.5 hours.

So book early to avoid disappointment.
 
Having done this journey ...

... on a number of occasions my only comment is that the reclining seats are fine for somewhere to stash your gear, but hopeless for sleeping on. If you can't blag a cabin then crash out on the deck and you'll have a much more pleasant experience :thumb Don't forget to grab your sleeping bag off the bike when you park it up.
 
THeres not many cabins on that ferry, you'll need to book well in advance. I Booked in feb for a ferry which leaves on the 15th May. all the doubles had already gone, plumped for a single. Looks like I'll be on the floor.:(

Baz
 
Ferries

After poor treatment of my bike on Brittainy ferries ( dirty rope over tank and tied to silencer ) !!!
I have since used LD lines Portsmouth/LeHarve also Newhaven Dieppe.
Good service and better prices !!!
www.ldlines.com
Hope this may be of help !
Mike.:)
 
LD Lines

That's who I'm sailing with. :thumb They do what's called an LD sleeper seat which reclines dead flat. I guess it's better than sleeping on the floor or in a 'normal' recliner, but I would have prefered a cabin. Oh, and no sleeping bag. ;) I don't do camping........horrible way to have a holiday.
 
Thanks for the feedback. As discussed it would be a bit naff to turn up and not get on board so a pre-book looks like a good idea. The return leaves at 5pm and arrives about 10.30 so a cabin is not such an issue. I had wanted to leave it open as we'll be driving up from Barcelona (visit to the F1) and its nice to have the flexibility if delays occur. Pretty good fare too, £33 is quite cheap for such a long trip, must be to compete with the Dover-Calais service. And I note in passing that the trip time is shorter than the outward because of the change to the clock time - I reckon its 6.5 hours each way. Nah - ignore that - its quoted as 5.5 hours on the web site.
 
Roy.Henderson said:
Thanks for the feedback. As discussed it would be a bit naff to turn up and not get on board so a pre-book looks like a good idea. The return leaves at 5pm and arrives about 10.30 so a cabin is not such an issue. I had wanted to leave it open as we'll be driving up from Barcelona (visit to the F1) and its nice to have the flexibility if delays occur. Pretty good fare too, £33 is quite cheap for such a long trip, must be to compete with the Dover-Calais service. And I note in passing that the trip time is shorter than the outward because of the change to the clock time - I reckon its 6.5 hours each way. Nah - ignore that - its quoted as 5.5 hours on the web site.
Click to expand...

On the overnight crossing they often don't leave before midnight as they fill up any spare deck space with container trailers, using shunter wagons. They still arrive at the correct time. I think they have a great deal of slack on the journey to LeH and go as slow as possible to save fuel. There's no point them arriving in LeH early as there won't be any French port crew!
 
Nippy Normans supply Touratech, Wunderlich, Desert Fox and many other makes of accessories.
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