Just booked Poole to Cherbourg fast ferry. 5hr trip and £170 return for me, mrs and bike. Good alternative if you are visiting west side of France or riding to Spain.
last year in mid sept , it was £145 return , cheap out expensive back , so i did DFDS from Dover for my normal £70 return.I have no idea why they were listed being so expensive compared to the year before but now normal price has been resumed.
Boat was quiet when we went out in May and especially coming back on 3/6 at noon
I cannot see how it can pay to run it
Ok, didn't see much freight either.................about 6 Reefersit was set up as a freight only line which remains the core earner. Maybe some days of the week are busier than others?
when DFDS took over the route, they added tourist traffic for a bit of extra on the top line as they already had the customer base to make it worthwhile.
Some Brittany Ferries routes are not very busy on some days. Our overnight ferry from Le Havre on 9 May was pretty empty. I'm pretty sure, as they get subsidies from the French to run the services, they are contracted to operate so many days a week/year. They must get enough traffic throughout the year to make a profit, whilst some individual crossings do not cover overheads.
Some Brittany Ferries routes…..
Still owned by a farmer cooperative set up by a pig farmer after we joined the common market.Originally established to export French farm produce, I believe.