CalMac motorhome drivers face 70 per cent fare hike as loophole closed

Think our popularity will be our own downfall.!!!

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 
Just what I needed to hear today; thought I was down in dumps enough with the thrice postponed family skiing to France for Christmas [now possibly in Feb] being overshadowed by the new rules -
We have booked fab moho and kayaking holiday with dear friends in their mohos for May - planned Hebridean trip in detail [apart from booking ferries as the summer timetables were not open and they wouldn't let us ]
I know these are firmly First World Problems and we have a lot to be grateful for in the UK but today it is hard to find anything to look forward to
 
Apologies for spoiling your day even more. I'm in the same boat with ski holidays. Changed flights from Switzerland to France and back several times in the last couple of weeks and still not hopeful of getting there 😥
 
See what the fares are first.....if they are too much or don’t offer value for money then we simply won’t go back. We have always tried to support small local places and businesses but..........things seem to be changing.
We now take the view if locals/councils don’t want us, we spend our money elsewhere. There’s lots of places we still haven’t been to! At some point in the future they will try to attract tourists back and at that point may regret their position.

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 
Itsmcb said:
Apologies for spoiling your day even more. I'm in the same boat with ski holidays. Changed flights from Switzerland to France and back several times in the last couple of weeks and still not hopeful of getting there 😥
Click to expand...
Its Ok ! Decided to have an early glass of wine to drown sorrows !!! And forewarned is forearmed so they say xxx
 
Kirsten said:
Its Ok ! Decided to have an early glass of wine to drown sorrows !!! And forewarned is forearmed so they say xxx
Click to expand...
Haha, I think I've been on the wine since the beginning of December 😁. It's one thing after another at the moment 😢
 
I have to admit to being flabbergasted that the RET scheme did not apply to commercial goods into (and presumably out of) the Islands - possibly some sort of legal requirement re the use of the subsidy? Don't know, seems a bit daft, but that's just me. More capacity would be a large part of the answer and as WillH suggests (post 9) a refreshed management would help too.
 
Stoosal said:
See what the fares are first.....if they are too much or don’t offer value for money then we simply won’t go back. We have always tried to support small local places and businesses but..........things seem to be changing.
We now take the view if locals/councils don’t want us, we spend our money elsewhere. There’s lots of places we still haven’t been to! At some point in the future they will try to attract tourists back and at that point may regret their position.
Click to expand...
Motor home owners think that they are doing the islanders a favour by going there, may be the islanders think that the price of sucking up to the motor home owners is to much. It’s all about the money everything is.
 
WillH said:
CalMac are a joke, the Scottish Government have caved in to the public again. The ferries could run without subsidies if they were run as a commercial operation in the first place.
Click to expand...
Would running it as a commercial operation include using cheap Asian crews and laying off the local crew like some others ?

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 
Ivory55 said:
Would running it as a commercial operation include using cheap Asian crews and laying off the local crew like some others ?
Click to expand...


I worked for a ferry company, in Scotland, that received no subsides. We were critised in one audit for not having a diverse enough workforce, most of our staff were, at that time, local. Having worked in the Merchant Navy most of my life I can assure you that foreign crews are a tradition stretching back hundreds of years, it's not new. Now, that same ferry company employs staff from all over Europe as the locals are not interested.
 
WillH said:
I worked for a ferry company, in Scotland, that received no subsides. We were critised in one audit for not having a diverse enough workforce, most of our staff were, at that time, local. Having worked in the Merchant Navy most of my life I can assure you that foreign crews are a tradition stretching back hundreds of years, it's not new. Now, that same ferry company employs staff from all over Europe as the locals are not interested.
Click to expand...
I guess there must be better paying jobs on shore
 
nicholsong said:
Do CalMac run 24/7?

If not, and if they did that there should be enough deck space.

Geoff
Click to expand...
24/7, as a rule, no. Only the commercial operators do.

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 
Ivory55 said:
Motor home owners think that they are doing the islanders a favour by going there, may be the islanders think that the price of sucking up to the motor home owners is to much. It’s all about the money everything is.
Click to expand...
Ive never felt i am doing islanders ‘a favour’ by visiting their area but I do try and support local places in return for their hospitality........if their view is that I am longer wanted in their area based on the type of vehicle I choose to drive then I am saddened by their view.

I’m not sure I’ve ever had anyone sucking up to me because I drive a motorhome!

Islanders don’t pay for the ferry scheme it is a Scottish govt scheme so costs islanders nothing in terms of their pocket but the general taxpayer population.

Unfortunately it is all about money and they may miss it when motorhomes choose to no longer visit attractions, shops, pubs, etc? It is everybody’s loss then.
 
Motorhomes will definitely still visit the islands but, the owners will in future probably decide to take provisions of food and drink with them after spending much more on the ferry ticket. To keep the cost of the visit to the islands around the same as before. We would eat and drink in the motorhome as opposed to eating and drinking in the restaurants and bars. The overall cost to us would be about the same. The cost the islanders infrastructure would be for us a reasonable amount. We spent around £100 in just one restaurant on Lewis this year. Having also eaten out two or three other times as well as buying drinks, a bottle of gin and a few Harris tweed items.
 
Seems fair to me, always surprised how low the fare was. May result in goods transported to the islands being more reasonable price, which would help residents and visitors alike. Won't put me off going to these delightful islands.
 
So motorhomes were subsidised but commercial veihcles were not ? Fair enough. Now the motorhome fare is going up 70% but the commercial vehicles will still be paying 3 times that amount ? So all the moaning about subsidies has done is increase the MH fares but in no way made the delivery of goods cheaper. So more money for the ferries/gov . sc Sounds about right.
 
Wouldnt put me off going tbh.
And I always enojy buying the "local" products where possible, esp if made on the premises etc,

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 

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!

Join us

Log in

Already a member? Log in here.

Latest journal entries

Back
Top