Portsmouth to Sandtander ferries

[colyboy]

We were booked on the Tuesday P-S ferry but due to bad weather all crossings have been cancelled until next weekend!

 

[hilldweller]

But not Portsmouth - Bilbao.

Yet.

Did they just give you money back and told you to go away ?

 

[Flamenca]

But not Portsmouth - Bilbao.

Yet.

Did they just give you money back and told you to go away ?

I have had a few cancellations and delays with Brittany Ferries and they have never told me to go away. Not their style. I believe they take customer service seriously.

 

[hilldweller]

they have never told me to go away. Not their style.

They did to me once. Not impolitely but they had only one option on offer. Take the money.

 

[colyboy]

I took the money and ran! It messed up my whole plans, still they were not to blame.

colyboy

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[Mikeco]

Was going to book for Dec 26 when the sailings come out but thinking about the tunnel instead and driving down. Brittany Ferries should really put one big ship on the Spain run in Winter something twice the size of the Pont Aven which is around 40000 ton, they would have less cancellations then.

 

[2657]

They did to me once. Not impolitely but they had only one option on offer. Take the money.

When there are no sailings what other options are there.

We had a Santander - Portsmouth crossing cancelled last year, the only option for us was to drive through France, full refund of original fare plus an allowance for the travel costs.

 

[hilldweller]

full refund of original fare plus an allowance for the travel costs.

I'm pretty sure we did not get that, it was such a panic, no time for cold logic.

Driving down through France was horrendous.

 

[2657]

I'm pretty sure we did not get that, it was such a panic, no time for cold logic.

Driving down through France was horrendous.

Lots of people seem to love driving down through France I'm not one of them!

 

[Madcaravanner]

WE should have been on the Feb 5th to Bilbao but had to cancel due to Steph's Pacemaker being fitted

We got our money back but as a credit note for our next ferry in the Autumn because that's what we wanted

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[rosalan]

Was going to book for Dec 26 when the sailings come out but thinking about the tunnel instead and driving down. Brittany Ferries should really put one big ship on the Spain run in Winter something twice the size of the Pont Aven which is around 40000 ton, they would have less cancellations then.

I assume that Brittany Ferries would have a fair selection of available larger ferries in case of bad weather.
Please do not be offended but the image came to mind of a fleet of assorted expensive ferries and crews waiting to take up the slack, moored up at some foreign port.

 

[Mikeco]

I assume that Brittany Ferries would have a fair selection of available larger ferries in case of bad weather.
Please do not be offended but the image came to mind of a fleet of assorted expensive ferries and crews waiting to take up the slack, moored up at some foreign port.

Not offended but you clearly miss the point, Brittany Ferries new ships in the pipeline are smaller than the Pont Aven and the Economy ones that they use are smaller still and affected by bad weather. I’m saying that if they invested in a larger vessel then they would have to make fewer cancelled trips.

 

[hilldweller]

I’m saying that if they invested in a larger vessel then they would have to make fewer cancelled trips.

And there is a whole lot of people who will agree with you. I've been watching "my" ship, Cap Finistere, stuck outside Portmouth from 20:00 when it should have docked.

It's still there now.

<Broken link removed>

It was supposed to return to Bilbao at 23:00 but that was cancelled a day ago. They got that right.

Last year my famous last words were "never again" after a rough crossing on the little Baie de Seine. I'm hoping CF is a bit, no a lot, more stable.

Far from having spare ships, it was not long ago that Pont Aven was out of action for ages with a faulty prop shaft.

 

[EuroTrotters]

As I’ve written many times before here.

Brittany Ferries only used to cross in summer
Brittany Ferries have not forecasted or kept up with demand
Brittany ferries are chartering, small old vessels
Brittany Ferries are leasing new small ships
Brittany Ferries no longer have capacity

Like one poster said above, they need bigger ships, I imagine like wave piercing liners on Biscay.

But I’m just a novice !

 

[hilldweller]

I've been watching "my" ship, Cap Finistere, stuck outside Portmouth from 20:00 when it should have docked.

And it finally docked at one O'clock. Nearly 5 hours holding off the IOW in 40/50 mph winds. I bet it will pong a bit when we get on Wed.

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[Winger]

And it finally docked at one O'clock. Nearly 5 hours holding off the IOW in 40/50 mph winds. I bet it will pong a bit when we get on Wed.

I’m waiting on the Wednesday boat too. Here’s hoping the weather settles

 

[busby]

Not offended but you clearly miss the point, Brittany Ferries new ships in the pipeline are smaller than the Pont Aven and the Economy ones that they use are smaller still and affected by bad weather. I’m saying that if they invested in a larger vessel then they would have to make fewer cancelled trips.

Size of vehicle depends on size of ferry ports...Brittany need ships that can be docked in all their ports..BUSBY.

 

[2657]

Size of vehicle depends on size of ferry ports...Brittany need ships that can be docked in all their ports..BUSBY.

Very, very good point

 

[Onemanandhisdog]

I'm sure they have a low paid graduate or two that has done the maths on the profitability of a new large vessel versus the cheap as chips older/smaller stuff.

 

[Brains]

There are only 137 RoPax ships in the world that are in a similar class to the
PONT-AVEN (3,500 Lane meters, 2,400 pax, 185m LOA)

Large RoPax ships are rare and expensive beasts, they need suitable docking facilities.

For those that remember the recent Ramsgate Harbour debacle, one of the problems was the port was not deep enough for modern RoPax ferries, and that was on the assumption they been able to charter a set of three into the service, which they could not.

It's the problem of living on a little island.
The only way off is by ship (or the one tunnel), which means we are at the mercy of King Neptune

Back in the 80's there was talk of a second and third channel tunnel, we should start planning now for the early 2040's, but medium term planning is not something recent governments have been interested in.

Nor are they interested in grand construction projects, HS2 is a classic example of short sighted infrastructure plans, whatever you may think of it, it's 40 years late!
The French had finished there end to end TGV services by the late 1980's, the Germans by the 1990's, even Italy and Spain are way ahead. The UK has hardly even started ! We should be HS10 by now

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[EuroTrotters]

There are only 137 RoPax ships in the world that are in a similar class to the
PONT-AVEN (3,500 Lane meters, 2,400 pax, 185m LOA)

Large RoPax ships are rare and expensive beasts, they need suitable docking facilities.

For those that remember the recent Ramsgate Harbour debacle, one of the problems was the port was not deep enough for modern RoPax ferries, and that was on the assumption they been able to charter a set of three into the service, which they could not.

It's the problem of living on a little island.
The only way off is by ship (or the one tunnel), which means we are at the mercy of King Neptune

Back in the 80's there was talk of a second and third channel tunnel, we should start planning now for the early 2040's, but medium term planning is not something recent governments have been interested in.

Nor are they interested in grand construction projects, HS2 is a classic example of short sighted infrastructure plans, whatever you may think of it, it's 40 years late!
The French had finished there end to end TGV services by the late 1980's, the Germans by the 1990's, even Italy and Spain are way ahead. The UK has hardly even started ! We should be HS10 by now

Brilliant response

 

[2657]

There are only 137 RoPax ships in the world that are in a similar class to the
PONT-AVEN (3,500 Lane meters, 2,400 pax, 185m LOA)

Large RoPax ships are rare and expensive beasts, they need suitable docking facilities.

For those that remember the recent Ramsgate Harbour debacle, one of the problems was the port was not deep enough for modern RoPax ferries, and that was on the assumption they been able to charter a set of three into the service, which they could not.

It's the problem of living on a little island.
The only way off is by ship (or the one tunnel), which means we are at the mercy of King Neptune

Back in the 80's there was talk of a second and third channel tunnel, we should start planning now for the early 2040's, but medium term planning is not something recent governments have been interested in.

Nor are they interested in grand construction projects, HS2 is a classic example of short sighted infrastructure plans, whatever you may think of it, it's 40 years late!
The French had finished there end to end TGV services by the late 1980's, the Germans by the 1990's, even Italy and Spain are way ahead. The UK has hardly even started ! We should be HS10 by now

Please don't start introducing facts into the discussion........who knows where it will lead

 

[Mikeco]

P & 0 use larger vessels than Brittany Ferries to do the short hop from Dover to Calais and back and even larger ones on the North Sea crossings so no excuse

There are only 137 RoPax ships in the world that are in a similar class to the
PONT-AVEN (3,500 Lane meters, 2,400 pax, 185m LOA)

Large RoPax ships are rare and expensive beasts, they need suitable docking facilities.

For those that remember the recent Ramsgate Harbour debacle, one of the problems was the port was not deep enough for modern RoPax ferries, and that was on the assumption they been able to charter a set of three into the service, which they could not.

It's the problem of living on a little island.
The only way off is by ship (or the one tunnel), which means we are at the mercy of King Neptune

Back in the 80's there was talk of a second and third channel tunnel, we should start planning now for the early 2040's, but medium term planning is not something recent governments have been interested in.

Nor are they interested in grand construction projects, HS2 is a classic example of short sighted infrastructure plans, whatever you may think of it, it's 40 years late!
The French had finished there end to end TGV services by the late 1980's, the Germans by the 1990's, even Italy and Spain are way ahead. The UK has hardly even started ! We should be HS10 by now

If P&O can use larger vessels than the Pont Aven on the short hop between Dover and Calais and even larger ones on the North Sea crossing then Brittany Ferries should think more about the Spain crossing in Winter and invest in something man enough for the job.

 

[Rapido925M]

We liked P&O Pride of Bilbao:

	Pont Aven	Pride of Bilbao
Tonnage:	40,859 GT	37,799 GT
Length:	184.3 m (604.7 ft)	177.10 m (581 ft 0 in)
Beam:	30.9 m (101.4 ft)	28.40 m (93 ft 2 in)
Draught:	6.8 m (22.3 ft)	6.51 m (21 ft 4 in)
Depth:	9.7 m (31.8 ft)
Decks:	10	11
Installed power:	Four MaK 12M43 diesels, 14,675bhp each	4 × Wärtsilä-SEMT Pielstick 12PC2-6V 23,000 kW (31,000 hp) (combined)
Speed:	Cruising: 22 knots (41 km/h)	22 knots (41 km/h; 25 mph)
Capacity:	2,415 passengers	2,500 passengers
	600 vehicles	580 cars
		1,115 lanemeters

Clearly Pont Aven should be better!

gordon

 

[2657]

P & 0 use larger vessels than Brittany Ferries to do the short hop from Dover to Calais and back and even larger ones on the North Sea crossings so no excuse

If P&O can use larger vessels than the Pont Aven on the short hop between Dover and Calais and even larger ones on the North Sea crossing then Brittany Ferries should think more about the Spain crossing in Winter and invest in something man enough for the job.

I am not an economist or a 'businessman' but I would think that capitalisation and assets may have a bearing on the investment strategy of BF.

P&O is a large, long standing multi national company, founded 1822, sold in 2006 for £3.9 billion.

BF is a relatively new company formed by a co-operative of Breton farmers in 1972.

BF began operating Portsmouth -Bilbao in 2011 after P&O found the route uneconomic to replace the ageing Pride of Bilbao.

BF have over the years extended sailings to Santander from the UK and Cork, introduced an Economie service and have seen off at least one competitor on the Spanish routes as well as expanded routes and sailings to France.

Oh and BF have four 42000 ton vessels on order.

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[Brains]

Just as an FYI:

'Tonnage' with reference to passenger ships is not used in the business to compare ships.
Gross/Net Tons has nothing to do with weight,
it's a measurement of volume.

GT/Gross Tons should more correctly be spelt Tuns.
(Gross) Tuns is the number of medieval wine 'tuns' (barrels) that you could fit inside the hull of a ship (when all ships looked like Viking long boats)
It was designed to ensure 'Tunnage Tax' was fair - a ship was simply taxed one penny (or whatever) per (empty) tun that could be loaded on the ship.

To this day every port and canal uses the theoretical number of medieval wine tuns that can be loaded on the ship as the basis for tax and tolls.

(Before anyone picks holes in this, yes, I am well aware of the corrections and improvements made to the system over the last millennia, but I'm trying to keep it simple. I regularly lecture on maritime weights and measures)