Frittany Berries (Brittany Ferries)

Member Name: BJEEE

Product:	Brittany Ferries
Date:	31/12/00 (404 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: They normally get you there alive

Disadvantages: Quiberon is sooo rubbish

With my grandparents now living there after their retirements, I'm lucky enough to be able to scrounge a free holiday in France just about every year.

Brittany Ferries, is from what I've seen, the most popular of the ferry companies which make the trip to the French shores. Their name can be kind of misleading because they actually do not just travel to ports in Brittany, but also they cover just about all of the Channel side of the French coast. Roscoff and St Malo are actually the only ports they use in Brittany. Outside of Brittany, there's Cherbourg, Caen, and sometimes they don't even go to France at all, stopping in Cork (Ireland) ans Santander (Spain - long journey on this one)

Living in Cornwall, I most often cross on the Plymouth to Roscoff journey. The only bad thing I've really found about this, is that because of its location, this is often where you'll find the companies oldest and most uncomfortable ferries. The Quiberon for example, I do not personally enjoy travelling on at all. The fire on the ship a few years ago doesn't really worry me, but its just teh horrible smell and also the definate lack of anything interesting to do. Its shopping facilities lack a long way behind some of the newer ships.

I've actually travelled from most of the companies British ports now, and I can honestly say that I feel the best is probably Portsmouth. With it being their biggest port, the ships that they sail from here are the best. Howevever the ferries do move between ports a fair bit (I think), so sometimes even from Plymouth it is possible to get a good one. My favourite is the Val de Loire, and I also like the Normandie. Inside they both have fine resteraunts, shops and bars. The cabins are also very nice (nice considering you're on a boat anyway). You're only normally there for between 6 and 10 hours (unless you're taking the 24 hour trip to Santander), so an amazing cabin isn't often required. The beds are small, and th
e sheets seem quite unique (I've never come across sheets like these anywhere else), but comfortable enough. Some people migt like to take their own pillows on board if you're sailing overnight, because the ones supplied (of which there is only one normally, are quite thin).

On the other hand, you may not be travelling overnight and may not require a cabin. Brittany Ferries offer a big choice of the things you want. By looking through the brochure, you can pick the things you require and pay from just those things. If you don't want a cabin, you can reserve a nice big comfy seat. Or if you want a top class cabin instead of one of the noral ones, you can pay extra for these.

They offer many good deals on day-trips. These are quite popular as afterall, France isn't that far away (and the shopping is cheap - recommend Caen fo this (shops close to the port)). From may of next year (nearly tis year now), they are running a high speed service from Poole to Cherbourg, which will take only 2 1/4 hours. And there will also be one from Poole to St. Malo which will take 5 hours and goes via the Channel Islands.

The ferries are generally very good. They provide everything you'd need for the crossing (including sick bags. Yuk!!). There are plenty of places to eat on all of the ships, and prices are pretty good. Its a nice start for your holiday (or a nice way of being eased out of it). The ferries run with both French and British tastes in mind. Everything can be paid for in either £ or FF. Which you use can depend on the exchange rate, or just whatever you want to get rid of first.

The most expensive part of the crossing will be for the car (if you're taking one). The brochure doesn't state exact prices because the cost depends on a lot of things. Number of people in the car, the height and length, additional trailers and those sorts of things will all vary the price. We normally take a big estate car with at least 3 peopl
e and have paid upwards of £200 (a lot upwards actually). This makes it the most expensive party of the whole holiday.

Getting on to the ferries is very easy. You go though a couple of ticket and passport checks, and then simply line up in the queue you're told to go in. Then you board.

All of the staff seem very helpful. We've had a few little problems where things had to be changed on tickets on our arrival at the ports, but these have been sorted pretty quickly. There was also the year when the weather was really bad, and we were stuck in Roscoff for 24 hours. Whe things like this happen, everything gets pretty stressed because all of the delayed passengers (on this occasion there were 4 ferry loads of people all waiting for 1 ship) end up with nowhere to go. we were however sorted with free accommodation, and also some free meals at our choice of resteraunt in the village of Roscoff. Lucky its such a nice place or I'd really died of boredom. The next day, we were sent back to Plymouth on the first available ferry. It took a while for us to get a cabin though because they had so many people waiting, everything had to be re-allocated. The journey was rough, but we eventually made it. I think they actually speed up in rough weather to avoid being knocked about so much.

Overall, Brittany Ferries is a reliable company, and if you want to get to France from this part of the country, they're basically your only option

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