Mitzyboy

Is there anywhere to get deals on the ferries on this route?

I had a quote of just over £500 earlier but when I tried to book it, it threw me off the site and when I went back on it was £605!

Dxf

Hi Mitzy

Yes Ferrysavers.com is one but try santander and plymouth on Google

Dave

scampicat

AFAIK the cheapest way to book is actually through the P&O site.

Also AFAIK Plymouth-Santander only operates in the summer.

Casa Santo Estevo

Have two websites in our Favs.
http://www.ferrysavers.com/
http://www.aferry.to//GWmapRefer.asp?ReferComp=AF173
Have not looked at prices for you so do not know if any are very good-
However I don't think you will get any bargains like you can with say an airline booking website.
BTW does the price include a sick bag? It can get very stormy in the Bay of Biscay

Mitzyboy

Portsmouth / Bilbao, the last sailing back is 3 January I think, then nothing till Feb!

I dont really want to go to Plymouth

Even the cheap sites seem to advertise the same price as P & O

Can the crossing be quite rough then Casa

jdr

Can it, I had a cabin near the stern and you could hear the screws coming out the water and that was in June 2002.
184 quid Dodge 7 seater.
68 quid 1 passenger.
68 quid cabin.
One way price, so it ain`t change much. ;-))

poshnbucks

http://booking.eurodrive.co.uk/fares...20081202110012


Bilbao seems the most expensive........Don't forget to add four poster cabin and champagne, Pink of course and cigars in cabin on arrival and something for yourself. Remember the crossing takes 33 hours so Mrs M may want to make mad passionate love ....Advice.. Do it and get it over with, This will Leave the rest of the holiday wet patch free.

The crossing from Port of Santander only takes 24 hours and appears cheaper as link above.

snikpoh

Interesting, a friend of mine is on the ferry as we speak. He arrives at 6:00 this evening.

Mitzyboy

Theres ferries out, but none coming back in January at all

scampicat

Oh well I stand corrected! It's just that I looked for a Santander crossing for January and there weren't any.

Can't afford to go in January now anyway with the exchange rate, we'll wait for the summer and go for a couple of months.

battlezone123

Having done the Bilbao route about 6 times I can definitely say it gets rough. We are going back to the UK on Friday for a week and I am dreading the crossing. Also P&O site is the cheapest. Because there are five of us we have to have two rooms, plus we are taking the trailer back so we can bring back our xmas shopping - cost of ferry over £1,000. Rip off, and do not get me started on the awful overpriced food. Also do not forget the new route from Santander to Portsmouth which starts in March I think.

Casa Santo Estevo

Yes the sea can get very rough. Unconfirmed stories say it can be rougher than the North Sea. Does any one remember the TV series about the service? It did not show up the company in a good light but it also showed how often the sea was rough.
This is no defence but if you do the sums on driving through France with coffee stops, maybe overnight, tolls etc then the price seems a little better.
Have to agree with the comments about the food. Bring your own. But if it is rough it is no problem!!!
BZ what are you purchasing in ¡the U.K. you cannot find here?

bh49q

i was on the Santander -Plymouth crossing a couple of weeks ago and it was really rough i felt bad and im a good sea traveller normally.
At the moment they have taken the Pont Aven ( the big one) off the route for her service and put on the Bretagne which is about half the size and not really built for the Biscay swell.
I woudnt recommend it if you are at all prone to sea sickness,
Some friends of mine have just come back and they drove up to the tunnel and shared the driving, it cost about the same in fuel and tolls and was about the same time including their drive up to Southport.

battlezone123

It is not only visiting M&S but my family are in the UK (20 mins from Portsmouth) and as they cannot stay with us (house is far from complete) we visit them to wish them a happy Xmas. So while I am there I stock up on lots of goodies to last the year. Also I find the toy selection here not very good and my middle son is a huge Dr Who fan.

I have done the drive through France twice now but will not do it again. With three young boys they get bored very quickly (even though they have DVD players each) and it turns into two days of arguments. It is bad enough doing the 6 hour drive to Bilbao.

The last time we used the ferry the boat was delayed on route from Bilbao by three hours because of the rough sea. We were waiting for the ferry to get back to Bilbao. We always check P&O for travel information and they informed passengers to check in an hour earlier - but once we got to Portsmouth we had a four hour wait and the boat finally left at midnight. As we were staying only 20mins away from Portsmouth I was furious with P&O for getting us to check in so early.

Econ

To be honest if you are not in a rush and don't mind driving then the drive up through France can be a nice way to go, I have done this a few times, I didn't take record of costs but never really noticed any difference in price and you get a nice drive where you can pull into a couple of French towns on the way for an hours relax if you have no one to share the drive with. I am not really a ferry person, I did the Santander and Bilbao trip many times with my parents when younger, the trips really got to me and have actually only done it twice myself while driving through France several times which I find much more enjoyable.

Everyone to their own I guess but it might be worth giving it some thought.