High speed feryy to Santander...........

[Gavin4333]

My wife does not travel too well on ferries so I'm simply asking anybody who has used the high speed (18 hour) ferry from Plymouth to Santander whats it like - ie any worse or better than the long one in terms of comfort, 'ride' and facilities.

She is going to fly to Faro on the way there but is thinking about coming back with me on the ferry so any comments welcome.

 

[alan t]

ferry

Been on both ferries to Spain both got good facilitys,18 hour is the best and as regards to the crossing itself that is totally dependent on the weather .Get on board and enjoy.

 

[MikeP]

My wife does not travel too well on ferries so I'm simply asking anybody who has used the high speed (18 hour) ferry from Plymouth to Santander whats it like - ie any worse or better than the long one in terms of comfort, 'ride' and facilities.

She is going to fly to Faro on the way there but is thinking about coming back with me on the ferry so any comments welcome.

All Britany Ferries vessels are of a very much higher standard than you'd expect for a cross-channel ferry, especially if you are used to Dover-Calais crossings. Decent restaurants, bars and shops plus cinemas. On the Santander route they used to offer such daytime activities as clay pigeon shooting!

You pay for it though! Cheap they ain't!

Think of it as a mini cruise at the start and finish of your trip and the price doesn't seem so bad!

The biggest problem with the Santander route is that it involves crossing the Bay of Biscay. It can be bumpy when everywhere else is flat and when everywhere else is bumpy, Biscay is very bumpy! (I have done the crossing once and never noticed Biscay, but that is rare I'm told).

 

[Lord Snooty]

Bumpy Biscay

...and load up with loads of Stugeron which will help wifey with sea-sickness, get it from the chemist.

 

[Guess Who]

Re: Bumpy Biscay

...and load up with loads of Stugeron.....

I thought that was a fish??

 

[John Armstrong]

Re: Re: Bumpy Biscay

I thought that was a fish??

The fish is Sturgeon

 

[Guess Who]

Only kidding

 

[(RIP) Bin Ridin]

Pont D'Aven is a great ship, imho. Good decor, cabins, great food in the various restaurants. Good schedule too.
One snag, when it is busy, it takes time to load and unload so be ready for that.
Highly recommended.

 

[Mick O'Malley]

Pont D'Aven is a great ship

One of the engines failed on both my outward and return trip last September. My sister had the same experience in the summer. It was scarcely quicker than the Val de Loire which it replaced on this route. Maybe this has been sorted now.

Still my favourite ferry line though. The Pont d'Aven has poncy little dedicated bike spaces marked out, beautiful clean well padded ratchet straps and the deck staff knew what they were doing.

Their pain au chocolat's pretty good too.

Mick

 

[The Foolish Fellow]

pont aven

i think the pont aven could be compared to an early ducati.
an exotic heap of scrap.
it has almost sunk, went on fire , and broke down on numerous occasions including coming up from spain in sept.
and yes the bay of biscay is more often than not a rough crossing.
They took the pont aven off service , dont know if it is back on yet.

 

[MikeP]

Re: pont aven

They took the pont aven off service , dont know if it is back on yet.

Pont Aven has been back in service for some time. Used it on the Plymouth - Roscoff crossing 27th Dec.

The Santander crossing closes down in winter due to lack of demand. re-start is 16th march.

 

[Jimb]

Brittany Ferries

The Pont Aven is great, fast and stabilised, as much as a ship can be, the catering is good and fairly priced, if your wife suffers from seasickness DON'T take anything before boarding the ship, go to the passenger services desk when you get on the ship and tell them, they will give you a tablet which will stop it, but if youv'e already taken something they can't give it to you.

My wife suffers from this and she said it worked like magic she had no problem at all.

We'll be going to Santander in May on a bike trip.