Any Tips For A First-Time Ferry Crossing, Please?

HKF

HKF

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Joined
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Location
The Charente, France
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MH
Benimar Europe 740
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Since August 2021
Hi all : )

We'll soon be making our first trip across to the UK from France on the ferry in our MoHo. Is there anything you wish you'd known before your first ferry crossing, please? Or any tips, please? It'll be just the two of us and our small dog. We do ferry crossings regularly by car/van but never before with the MoHo. Thanks :)
 
Only difference between a van and a motorhome is don't forget to turn your gas off
 
  • Informative
Reactions: HKF
Hi.
REMEMBER what deck you are on and which staircase you came up,to get back down. Surprising how many folk " Don't/forget " Enjoy your trip.
Tea Bag.
PS, If there is a pile of Teddy Bears in the shop....DO NOT BUY ONE !! 20 yrs ago, I got strange looks queueing to get back to the lorry holding one " by its leg,upside down " Was it the overalls ?" and the BBBBBBBB Thing..Now sits laughing at me on the bedside dresser.......
Don't forget your Duty Free's,but most of all,relax and get your knees brown on your " Mini Cruise "
Tea Bag (y)
 
Enjoy !
Sailing - From and To ?
Destination- Where ?
Duty Free - get it on way back as allowed more.
 
We have quite the overhang at the rear, on even the mildest ramps we can ground out the tow bar. Recent rear air installation will fix that.

Also had the skylight above the cab0 not 100% shut, it had been raining and when dipping down onto ferry we got soaked.

All in all, an unpleasant first experience but a learning one.

This was coming from Sky, which will be smaller and with steeper, shorter ramps than cross chanel.
 
RobbyMClark said:
Enjoy !
Sailing - From and To ?
Destination- Where ?
Duty Free - get it on way back as allowed more.
Click to expand...

Hi Robby
We'll probably go from Caen or Cherbourg, or possibly St Malo, to Portsmouth, as we'll need to travel overnight with a dog-friendly cabin. We're not tied to any particular dates, just whenever we can get a cabin. Destination - several places up north, with no particular itinerary as yet.
 
Andacami said:
We have quite the overhang at the rear, on even the mildest ramps we can ground out the tow bar. Recent rear air installation will fix that.

Also had the skylight above the cab0 not 100% shut, it had been raining and when dipping down onto ferry we got soaked.

All in all, an unpleasant first experience but a learning one.

This was coming from Sky, which will be smaller and with steeper, shorter ramps than cross chanel.
Click to expand...

Oh no, that does sound unpleasant :( Thanks for the heads up. We have quite an overhang, too, being 7.3m long but, as you say, we should be ok on cross-channel.
 
Simon Meadwell said:
We weren’t asked to turn our gas off on pont aven Plymouth to Santander last week. We did it anyway but no official instructions
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Wow, I though they would be asking everyone to do that. We don't use our gas anyway, so not a problem, but interesting that they don't care about that :/
 
Puddleduck said:
I always take a meal with me as often can't get special diet food aboard even if pre-ordered.
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:( That doesn't seem right at all :( Fortunately, I can live on cake, which is nearly always available :)

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gaffer tale and bungee cord will get you out of most situations, when bits of the van fall off.
 
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HKF said:
Hi all : )

We'll soon be making our first trip across to the UK from France on the ferry in our MoHo. Is there anything you wish you'd known before your first ferry crossing, please? Or any tips, please? It'll be just the two of us and our small dog. We do ferry crossings regularly by car/van but never before with the MoHo. Thanks :)
Click to expand...
Hang on really tight and don't have a big breakfast. :rofl: :rofl:
 
HKF said:
Hi Robby
We'll probably go from Caen or Cherbourg, or possibly St Malo, to Portsmouth, as we'll need to travel overnight with a dog-friendly cabin. We're not tied to any particular dates, just whenever we can get a cabin. Destination - several places up north, with no particular itinerary as yet.
Click to expand...
I've just been looking at crossings for my own use ... for info the afternoon Le Havre crossing is coming in around £80 cheaper than the other 3 ports, albeit it's about another 90 minutes east of Ouistreham.
 
We shut our gas off everytime the MH moves anyway, but it maybe a requisite written in the small print of the ferry company. I believe ferry companies expect it to be done as a safety issue. As for the fridge carrying food, we have never lost anything even direct to Spain, the car decks are quite cold at sea anyway. But you have advice on that above.

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HKF said:
Hi Robby
We'll probably go from Caen or Cherbourg, or possibly St Malo, to Portsmouth, as we'll need to travel overnight with a dog-friendly cabin. We're not tied to any particular dates, just whenever we can get a cabin. Destination - several places up north, with no particular itinerary as yet.
Click to expand...
Oh coming back, I see, depending on route back, my preference is Caen and if you have time worth a look round the area. I know a nice little cl type site run by a British couple. About an hour to boat and half a mile to local town.
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If going via St Malo, dinan must be visited.

Simon Meadwell said:
They ask on the tunnel and pull you over to check so strange not this time on the ferry.
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Those on duty may have overlooked as I've always been asked or checked before boarding card issued.
 
If it is a night crossing on the shorter BF routes you won't get much sleep and you get a wake-up call a long time before the ferry docks. You also get bunk beds so one of you needs to be able to climb the ladder! Unless you paid extra for a Commodore cabin. I don't know if they allow dogs in those. Anyway, that was my last experience before they changed the ferries. I might be out of date.

I have heard that migrants can be a problem in Caen / Ouistreham while you wait to board. Be vigilant. Don't leave your MH unattended or unlocked would be my recommendation. Despite the temptation to go to a nearby bar/restaurant or shop while you wait.
 
Pay good attention to the signs when you get to the port and follow the CAR signs. It is too easy to get stuck amongst the lorry section if you're not careful.
 
HKF said:
:( That doesn't seem right at all :( Fortunately, I can live on cake, which is nearly always available :)
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It's very common and something one learns to live with. Normal cake is one of the many things that is poison for me.

When I was in hospital I ordered a wheat free and gluten free diet well in advance. The meal came with a label:

"Gluten Free Meal - warning this meal contains gluten"

You couldn't make it up!!!!! The dietician tried so hard to get through to the contract caterers but they were more interested in religious diets which they could cater for. In the end someone was going to Tesco to buy ready meals which the dietician heated in her own microwave.

Just to get back on topic take emergency rations if dietary requirements are likely to be an issue.

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If you're arriving at Portsmouth don't stray off the main road out of the docks to the M27 unless your motorhome is LEZ compliant and if it's on a french plate then you would need to register it for the Portsmouth LEZ but only if you stray off the main road.
 
SpeedyDux said:
If it is a night crossing on the shorter BF routes you won't get much sleep and you get a wake-up call a long time before the ferry docks. You also get bunk beds so one of you needs to be able to climb the ladder! Unless you paid extra for a Commodore cabin. I don't know if they allow dogs in those. Anyway, that was my last experience before they changed the ferries. I might be out of date.

I have heard that migrants can be a problem in Caen / Ouistreham while you wait to board. Be vigilant. Don't leave your MH unattended or unlocked would be my recommendation. Despite the temptation to go to a nearby bar/restaurant or shop while you wait.
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Not just in your van, under it, or in our case in the bike rack obscured by the cover. Luckily for us we were informed by people who had seen him climb in so we evicted him. Just a reminder two minutes checking and being vigilant can save a lot of problems. We were told its a mandatory €2k fine for harbouring an illegal dont know if its true.
 
Trevor Wbm said:
I've just been looking at crossings for my own use ... for info the afternoon Le Havre crossing is coming in around £80 cheaper than the other 3 ports, albeit it's about another 90 minutes east of Ouistreham.
Click to expand...

We have a fairly long journey either side, so prefer to do an overnight crossing. If we didn't need that, then Le Havre would seem like a good deal :)
 
RobbyMClark said:
Oh coming back, I see, depending on route back, my preference is Caen and if you have time worth a look round the area. I know a nice little cl type site run by a British couple. About an hour to boat and half a mile to local town.
View attachment 768383
View attachment 768399
View attachment 768397View attachment 768398
If going via St Malo, dinan must be visited.


Those on duty may have overlooked as I've always been asked or checked before boarding card issued.
Click to expand...

The CL type site looks lovely but we'll be travelling overnight so won't need to stay anywhere :)

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