It's easier than swimming across! (P&O Ferries)

Member Name: The Daz

Product:	P&O Ferries
Date:	24/03/09 (218 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Plenty to do onboard, good prices.

Disadvantages: Can be busy!

Do you sometimes wonder how Accounting works? I do, and I'm an Accountant myself...
No matter how many times I thought about it, it just didn't make sense. Obviously, this is a lie - I well understand the concept of Marginal Revenue and Contribution - but I'm trying to paint a scene of nonsense Maths here.

Last weekend, I took the family on a trip to Calais for the day. This involved the P&O Ferry and our car. Happening upon a spiffy offer on the Interweb, we paid the grand sum of £19 for the crossing. This included a free box of wine (6 bottles of South African Rose that my Wife gratefully received) valued, according to the discounted Duty Paid price in the shop on the Ferry, at £17.64. Still with me? Also we received a voucher for half price breakfast (£3.75 saving) which together meant that our savings exceeded the cost of the trip.

'So they're paying us to travel', I pointed out, as is my need to justify expenditure in these cash-strapped times. I know it isn't that simple, but the moral effect of such a bargainous outcome is worth more to me than the real cost of the trip, which involved 298 miles of driving to get to Dover in the first place.

It's some years since I'd been on a Ferry, and whilst I hadn't expected Technology to have altered the experience too greatly, I was pleasantly surprised at the organised and sensible layout of the Ferry decks, and the efficiency of the whole loading procedure.

Upon arriving at the Terminal, we navigated a series of concentric lanes, dodging errant trucks and passing through French Border Patrol (who looked thoroughly underwhelmed at spending their working day sitting in a small box on the wrong side of La Manche, until we arrived at out designated lane, where we queued patiently before loading time. Having preplanned for all considerations, I was not caught out by the loading assistant's questions regarding my mandatory travel accessories (Loading Assistant? I'm sure they have a far more complicated name - Executive Loading Efficiency Operative?)

Warning Triangle, check. High Visibility Jacket, check. Headlight Beam thingies, check. Magnetic GB plate, check. Easy see....

We filed up the top ramp and onto the upper car deck of the ferry, even managing to unload the pram and child without inconveniencing anyone. Then we took a lift up to the first of 2 passenger decks. The actual crossing time, including a bit of parking sensor fun with the Docks at either end, is 90 minutes, and the Ferry comes equipped with a variety of ways to part you from your money and make back some of the money you didn't spend on the crossing ticket.

The lower of the two passenger decks contained a Family Lounge with Bar, a Coffee Lounge - both with Costa Coffee concessions therein, a bureau de change, and the fairly impressive Duty Paid shop. Due to arcane laws involving chicanery and possibly skulduggery the sale of this cheaper alcohol and tobacco booty is prohibited until the Ferry has sailed out of British waters. The other half of the shop contains mostly perfume, as well as chocolate and books - and this area is constantly open, and was populated with women browsing the fragrances, and their partners loitering by the tensabarrier, thirstily awaiting the opening of the alcohol section. There is also a grown up pub on the other side of the deck, next to a gaming room full of expensive flashing boxes that swallow money but keep your teenage kids suitably entertained.

Upstairs is located the Food Court - which is actually a small buffet serving breakfasty and lunch fare with a massive seating area. You may think the £7.50 for 7 items of cooked breakfast is a bit steep (unless you have a cunning voucher as I did), but you just try bringing yourself to pay 30p for a tiny portion of marmlejam to spread on your toast!

Also upstairs you will find the Club Lounge (actually you won't find it, as it's hidden round a bulkhead corner and behind a frosted glass door) and the Commercial Driver's Canteen, which is the polite version of Café filled with truckers. Whether they are separated for the passengers' good or their own I couldn't say - but then If I had a 26hr drive to Budapest to contemplate, the last thing I'd want to spend my relaxation time doing is queuing for my breakfast behind an outsized family group noisily debating the merits of which Irish/British Pub in Calais to drink in first.

During our sojourn on the high seas we heard a couple of garbled announcements from the Purser - probably telling us what particular combination of klaxons and horns to listen for in the event of attack by Giant Sea Serpents, or a Fire - and there are obviously an inordinate number of posters, stickers and notices about concerning safety, lifejackets and other things of common sense involving boats. Aside from this, we were mostly left untroubled to enjoy our time on the boat - and even experienced some positive customer service on the return trip when an Onboard Loading Operative (Chap in High Visibility jacket telling us where to park) saw our pram and directed us to a cunningly hidden lift not 5 paces from our car, even taking time to press the button for us as we manoeuvred between cars. In today's era of surly teenagers with caps pulled down over their faces as they take your order it was a pleasant change.

I should add some official burble here about frequency of service and so on. P&O have some boats that sail on days ending in Y, at least twice a day, and for a variety of fares eclipsed only by the train companies. It may be slower than the Chunnel, but is certainly cheaper for a Day Return, and considerably more fun if you have kids in tow than spending 35 minutes inside a dimly lit tunnel. As long as you don't get seasick filling a sink, and reckon you could swim the 12 miles maximum to the nearest shore if it capsized, then the Ferry is clearly the way to go.

Seafrance offer competition on the route - but I haven't used them yet, so I shan't mention them anymore....

Summary: A pleasant way to cross the Channel.