Does Motorhome size make a big difference on ferry costs ? (1 Viewer)

jaykay

Free Member
Aug 19, 2011
199
184
North Lincolnshire
Funster No
17,823
MH
Rapido 997M Auto
Exp
Virtually none ! :)
I have seen a number of adverts for motorhomes that mention its under 7m long for the ferries etc, and wondered if there is a big difference in cost for vans over 7m as I want to consider this when looking for a new van.
 

Jim

Ringleader
Jul 19, 2007
36,197
128,643
Sutton on Sea, UK
Funster No
1
MH
Adria Panel Van.
Exp
Since 1988
It can vary between operators and sometimes even particular ships. The best way to find out is to book on line and input different lengths and see what prices they give. Heights too can make a big difference sometimes.
 

MrJinks

Free Member
Sep 1, 2008
580
115
Dorchester, Dorset
Funster No
3,903
MH
C Class RV
Exp
6 years
As mentioned yesterday on a similar thread, the motorhome price on Eurotunnel is for any size motorhome.

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 

slobadoberbob

Free Member
Jun 1, 2009
6,151
1,960
Kent, garden of England
Funster No
6,953
MH
Winnebago 23' something
Exp
25 years & counting
Never measured on tunnel

Never measured on tunnel... Have been checked I had a trailed... They have mirrors at the French booths... So you cannot sneak them on unless booked an paid...

At 23'9" or just under 7 mtrs. ...22'10" I could sneak on as an under 7 mtrs ...but have always booked it asthe correct size... But no one has checked... The tunnel just seems to accept the size booked.

Dealt with height in another post.

Bon:thumb:
 

haganap

LIFE MEMBER
Dec 5, 2007
12,711
25,979
planet earth
Funster No
974
MH
Carthago C Tourer
Exp
I'm an oldbie MH number 9
Not all of us can use the tunnel :Smile:

On ferries, as Jim says it can make a difference depending on who you go with, and you can be measured.

Having said that we have been both honest and booked at the correct size and dishonest and lied about our size and never been charged additional fees:RollEyes:
 

slobadoberbob

Free Member
Jun 1, 2009
6,151
1,960
Kent, garden of England
Funster No
6,953
MH
Winnebago 23' something
Exp
25 years & counting
I am not sure it does not happen

You don't expect them to get out with a tape measure do you ? They could weigh you and take every dimension and you'd never know it happened.

I am not sure it does not happen.. At Calais terminal now they have some extra X-ray equipment you have to all drive through and a lot more cameras and mirrors now.. unusually I was asked about my wheelchair on the last trip as it was on the rack on the back of the car on the trailer.. so they are watching the whole vehicle. We know they have cameras looking up and under the vehicles now.

Last trip I actually for the first time had aFrench customs man that had a sense of humour... he even had a chat about the RV.. he was impressed.. now that is unusual to find a customs man like that.

But I am sure they are measuring the vehicles.. I certainly saw a height measure unit to catch cars that had roof boxes and had not paid for the height (going in to the coach carriages).

Being the last one on the train many times due to my overall length with a trailer I often wonder if I will get on as it is often the case I am in the last carriages (on my own) .. seems to take for ever to get the last few motor homes on.

But I think Brian you are right they do it by electronics.. so I pay for the size.. that is the way it is. But for those sub 7 mtrs they do not worry about the size on the tunnel.. same price one it is not a car.

Bob
 

sedge

Funster
Jul 7, 2009
5,494
13,035
Nr Jct 3 M6
Funster No
7,396
MH
C class
Exp
Aug 09 to date 9,000 miles!
I think the same Brian, I mean to be scrupulously honest, we should pay Class 3 on French payages, being 3m 5 cm tall*. The fact remains if its a manned booth they always charge Classe 2, and if it's automatic (with the height sensor) it always comes up as Classe 3, so I'm afraid I do indeed press the red button - usually by the time I hear the crackle to indicate I've got through to the human at Control, the machine has already been changed to Classe 2 so it's only necessary to say Merci - very rare I have to insist we're a Comping Car, Classe deux, at all. So they clearly have CCTV too.

* I've been dogged by idiot designers all my life. My old house was designed by a person who'd clearly never had to purchase either curtains, carpets or wallpaper, as the measurements of floors walls and windows meant that in almost every case you had to buy the next size up and waste what you had to cut off. For wallpaper, for instance, it usually meant an extra roll, where the only piece you needed to cut off it was 3ins wide ......

Haganap - I infer from your post that someone chez Paul & Nicky doesn't like confined spaces? I didn't know what I'd think of the tunnel as I can be a bit claustrophobic, sometimes. Here's a question for you - when you come home from Dover, do you come through the Dartford Tunnel? If you do and you don't go potty in the process, then you could easily cope with Eurotunnel. You don't have to go underground to get on or off the train then when you are on it the train windows aren't very often plus are quite high and the van is about 3 ft away from the sides anyway, so you really have to concentrate to catch sight of 'outside the train'. And you may not be adjacent to a window anyway.

As Bob explained our carriages are double height, they are very brightly lit throughout and the compartments in the carriages only hold about 4 of us. About 2 coaches, I should say. The doors in the middle separating the compartments do close but have very large windows so you see straight through. There are wide personnel doors either side of those doors so you can get out and walk - there are apparently loos somewhere! Or stick your headlamp converters on, or check yer bike rack, or chat to the people in the next van - or whatever.

We go and sit at the back (our lounge area) and by the time we've poured and drunk a cup of coffee from the flask we took and waved/pulled faces at the kids in the one behind, we're going over a really bumpy bit (the cattle grid near the entrances) and we're there.

Every vehicle incidentally, is chocked - and always by a very cheerful chap!
 

sedge

Funster
Jul 7, 2009
5,494
13,035
Nr Jct 3 M6
Funster No
7,396
MH
C class
Exp
Aug 09 to date 9,000 miles!
Weight - well like planes and ships, there has to be an overall weight limit though normal trains must be severely over-engineered as anyone who's ever been on a commuter train would realise, can be at least double the passengers as seats - and it's perfectly horrid for everyone.

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 

chatter

Free Member
Aug 3, 2009
3,689
937
cheshire
Funster No
7,812
MH
5th wheel
Exp
10+
The group that Norfolk line is a part of charged £15 per metre over their standard size last year havent checked this year yet. They also usually have a Cheap deal where by you go out Sunday with a Friday return which is cheaper than sailing through the rest of the week
 
Last edited:
Jul 29, 2007
6,527
39,294
Ipswich
Funster No
32
MH
RV and PVC
Exp
30 years
That's what we have been charged in the past, £15 per metre per journey over 8 metres. I put it down at 9metres as its only slightly over and have never been questioned.

Ian
 
Mar 21, 2009
1,367
874
Harwich, Essex
Funster No
5,989
MH
C Class
Exp
4 years
We took our previous van - a 22ft hymer - on the Norfolk line Ferries (now DFDS) and quite innocently :Blush::Blush: I booked it on as a motor car each time. Was never questioned or hauled out, the last time we came back was when I realised what I had been doing as I had to book the crossing on my iphone and realised I wasn't changing the drop down box from car to motorhome.
Don't think we'd get away with it on our new motohome as it's 7.3 mtr long but it wasn't too much extra.

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 

Minxy

LIFE MEMBER
Aug 22, 2007
32,489
66,023
E Yorks
Funster No
149
MH
Carthago Compactline
Exp
Since 1996, had Elddis/Swift/Rapido/Rimor/Chausson MHs. Autocruise/Globecar PVCs/Compactline i-138
The one to consider in the UK is the Isle of Wight ferry (Wightlink) over 6m and the price increases quite a bit! It's not the height that's important, but the length.
 

Join us or log in to post a reply.

To join in you must be a member of MotorhomeFun

Join MotorhomeFun

Join us, it quick and easy!

Log in

Already a member? Log in here.

Latest journal entries

Funsters who are viewing this thread

Back
Top