France Ferry & Campsite info (use Search function) mod warning post 1

pmpa

I have a one way ticket with Brittany Ferries booked for the start of August. I booked a flexi ticket. I will have to contact them and ask is there any chance they will give me a voucher for my deposit so I can use it for 2022. We are having withdrawals from not being able to visit France since 2019. Would love to have something to look forward to. My kids are reminiscing about their French holidays and remembering some lovely times.

54and56

pmpa wrote: »

I have a one way ticket with Brittany Ferries booked for the start of August. I booked a flexi ticket. I will have to contact them and ask is there any chance they will give me a voucher for my deposit so I can use it for 2022. We are having withdrawals from not being able to visit France since 2019. Would love to have something to look forward to. My kids are reminiscing about their French holidays and remembering some lovely times.

Why aren't you using it in August? Are you firmly designed to not being able to travel for to lockdowns etc or have you just decided not to travel this summer?

pmpa

54and56 wrote: »

Why aren't you using it in August? Are you firmly designed to not being able to travel for to lockdowns etc or have you just decided not to travel this summer?

I have my doubts that we will be allowed to travel and we have decided because of the numbers in France and the low vaccination rate there, we could be taking an unnecessary risk. I work in the education sector so hopefully I might have my vaccine by then but my partner won't. Also I don't fancy quarantining for two weeks in August if that still applies. We have been stuck inside too much already! My two teenagers aren't keen on having to get a Covid test if we travel. So we all weighed it up and felt this year's trip is probably not going to happen for us.

I haven't booked the outward journey with Irish Ferries or accommodation. I am going to keep the B.F. booking until the balance is due just incase some miracle happens! If I loose my deposit so be it, that is one of the terms I agreed to with the flexi ticket. We are lucky that we could go to France anytime during the summer as my partner's holidays are flexible so we would jump at the chance if we could go, even last minute. To be honest, I am still secretly hoping we might be able to go if circumstances changed closer to the time! We haven't booked anything here for this summer and finding it difficult to find somewhere.

I'm really hoping everyone that booked on this thread get the opportunity to go and are able to have a superb holiday.

beggars_bush

pmpa wrote: »

I have my doubts that we will be allowed to travel and we have decided because of the numbers in France and the low vaccination rate there, we could be taking an unnecessary risk. I work in the education sector so hopefully I might have my vaccine by then but my partner won't. Also I don't fancy quarantining for two weeks in August if that still applies. We have been stuck inside too much already! My two teenagers aren't keen on having to get a Covid test if we travel. So we all weighed it up and felt this year's trip is probably not going to happen for us.

I haven't booked the outward journey with Irish Ferries or accommodation. I am going to keep the B.F. booking until the balance is due just incase some miracle happens! If I loose my deposit so be it, that is one of the terms I agreed to with the flexi ticket. We are lucky that we could go to France anytime during the summer as my partner's holidays are flexible so we would jump at the chance if we could go, even last minute. To be honest, I am still secretly hoping we might be able to go if circumstances changed closer to the time! We haven't booked anything here for this summer and finding it difficult to find somewhere.

I'm really hoping everyone that booked on this thread get the opportunity to go and are able to have a superb holiday.

France has given far more 2nd doses of vaccine than the uk
Be hopeful

pmpa

beggars_bush wrote: »

France has given far more 2nd doses of vaccine than the uk
Be hopeful

It's the really low first dose vaccination rate that worries me. I would prefer to have the U.K.'s first dose vaccination numbers than France's extremely low total vaccination rate. Both countries have the same population. In my opinion we cannot compare the UK and French vaccine roll out. The U.K. are so far ahead. Certain regions of France are air lifting covid patients to other hospitals as some hospitals are so over stretched.

I am hopeful. I hope more vaccines will become available to every country. I also have to be realistic and have to weigh up if it will be safe for my family to travel this summer.

Marcusm

beggars_bush wrote: »

France has given far more 2nd doses of vaccine than the uk
Be hopeful

2nd doses are adding 15% additional protection at best. Spreading the first doses wider is contributing to less covid overall. France, Germany etc are now suffering the emergence of the “highly transmissible” Kent variant that hit us at Christmas. If they’d spread the first doses wider they might have attenuated its effects. I’m now beginning to worry for travel plans. U.K. govt is strongly discouraging a European holidays. This is partly self-interest due to a desire that the money be spent in the “Summer of Fun” in the U.K. and partly because of expected high covid levels in Europe which might spark a 4th wave in the U.K.

MizMix

My enthusiasm is starting to wane (booked to go June 26th). I'm thinking of postponing till August- so hard to know if it's worth pushing out at all

average_runner

MizMix wrote: »

My enthusiasm is starting to wane (booked to go June 26th). I'm thinking of postponing till August- so hard to know if it's worth pushing out at all

We are due to fly out the same date, think now we are to skip it for the year.

Baybay

We’re due to sail in May but won’t be vaccinated before then on current projections so it’s looking doubtful for us too.

Thinking instead of a Christmas meet-up in France for the family if we’re all vaccinated by then.

Quazzie

Ryanair changed our flight from Friday July 2nd to Thursday July 1st, so we took that opportunity to get a refund.

Eurocamp booking moved to 2022.

We're pi$$ed off about it, but we kind of expected not to be able to go.

Deeman83

MizMix wrote: »

My enthusiasm is starting to wane (booked to go June 26th). I'm thinking of postponing till August- so hard to know if it's worth pushing out at all

Same for us. We were hopeful but it looks like France is having its 3rd (Essex Variant) wave just as we had at Christmas.
Easter will mean even more transmission and the vaccine programme is a mess.


I wont be cancelling just yet but its not looking good.

Gavlor

Due to travel at the end of June but we’ve accepted that this won’t happen. Taking a wait and see with aer lingus, worst case scenario we’ll change the flights to later in the year and change again for next year once flights are launched. Their free change offer available to the end of sept is excellent.

God I miss sitting on the deck half neked, reading a book while sipping on nice wine!!

ellee

I'm still hanging in there but looking worse by the day late July travel here... waiting on a renewed passport too

ellee

If we can't travel to France, we're definitely going to off load the kids for a week on some GPs and take a week for ourselves.

loyatemu

ellee wrote: »

If we can't travel to France, we're definitely going to off load the kids for a week on some GPs and take a week for ourselves.

GPs will be busy administering vaccinations.

ellee

LoL

ShamoBuc

Latest news coming from France does not inspire confidence, 3rd wave, well behind in vaccinations, schools shut for 3 weeks etc

josip

ShamoBuc wrote: »

Latest news coming from France does not inspire confidence, 3rd wave, well behind in vaccinations, schools shut for 3 weeks etc

Perhaps, but the eternally optimistic among us would interpret the French willingness to close schools for 3 weeks as a sign that they want to have as normal a summer as possible this year.
My gut feeling on this hasn't changed much:

• June campings will be unlikely or heavily affected.
• July will see things ramping up and restrictions being dropped rapidly.
• August will be like Covid never happened unless you're indoors when you will probably still need masks for a bit.

ShamoBuc

I am still hopeful myself, late July, bloody passport situation is joke though. Can't understand why no one is working on them.

ellee

I think they are doing renewals. We're waiting on one for a child and when I tracked it last week, its estimated processed date was early April. So fingers crossed here.

Did you see the news about adding France and another 43 countries to the mandatory quarantine list though

ShamoBuc

I'm not worried about the list yet, in 2 months or so the list should read different, hopefully.

Passports are not being worked on at level 5, have to wait for 4 apparently.

munchkin_utd

ShamoBuc wrote: »

I am still hopeful myself, late July, bloody passport situation is joke though. Can't understand why no one is working on them.

I was talking to someone from the dept of foreign affairs and apparantly the issue is that the printing of the passports requires people to be physically in the building and they want to keep that to a bare minimum.

I saw somewhere too that staff cant take home applications and that has to be done in the office, but thats second hand info, still, the printing issue alone is still enough to knoble the process

As for the chance of travel this year, the government is currently putting France and pretty much all European countries on the hotel quarantine list completely at odds to why the legislation was drafted, at odds to free movement of workers in the EU, at odds to any sense of proportionality, at odd to any sense of logic as theres still an open border to the north and travel to the UK will still be allowed.

There seems to be some very extreme advice coming from civil servants (obviously not relying on the travel and tourism industry to pay their bills and mortgage, with their job for life and gold plated pensions) within the government so that wouldnt lend much hope that any risk in the slightest with regards to travel will be entertained.

ellee

Well it seems to have caused a bit of an uproar so maybe that'll slow them down a bit... agree it's wildly over the top.

munchkin_utd

ellee wrote: »

Well it seems to have caused a bit of an uproar so maybe that'll slow them down a bit... agree it's wildly over the top.

from the news this evening theres no extra EU countries on the hotel quarantine..... for now. They are investigating other ways of "controling" people going to these countries.

pmpa

For anyone booked with Brittany Ferries and who want to postpone their trip, they have announced that they will be opening the bookings for 2022 sailings on April 6th. It may also be of interest to people who want to book their 2022 holiday early.

This was taken from B.F. homepage;

"My teams have been working tirelessly behind the scenes to open for 2022 reservations. We will do this on Tuesday 6 April, come what may, earlier than we have ever opened for a season in our history.

Many routes will be available to take reservations until November 2022 in this phase 1 launch. The list includes key services linking Portsmouth with Caen and St Malo, Portsmouth & Plymouth with Santander, and Cork with Roscoff. Other routes will be open for sale too, but for now these will be limited to reservations made until the end of March next year.

Phase 2 should come in May, when we will expand all availability into November 2022.

What does this mean for you? Well firstly it means the choice of sailings for your 2022 holiday. Secondly I can tell you we are holding prices (for the same journey) so a Brittany Ferries trip will be even better value next year.

Finally, perhaps most importantly, opening for next year means you will be able to amend an existing reservation yourself via the My Booking function on the website, if the news from 10 Downing Street is not good. We will of course waive the amendment fee, if your sailing is disrupted by restrictions on international travel......."

necstandards

pmpa wrote: »

For anyone booked with Brittany Ferries and who want to postpone their trip, they have announced that they will be opening the bookings for 2022 sailings on April 6th. It may also be of interest to people who want to book their 2022 holiday early.

This was taken from B.F. homepage;

"My teams have been working tirelessly behind the scenes to open for 2022 reservations. We will do this on Tuesday 6 April, come what may, earlier than we have ever opened for a season in our history.

Many routes will be available to take reservations until November 2022 in this phase 1 launch. The list includes key services linking Portsmouth with Caen and St Malo, Portsmouth & Plymouth with Santander, and Cork with Roscoff. Other routes will be open for sale too, but for now these will be limited to reservations made until the end of March next year.

Phase 2 should come in May, when we will expand all availability into November 2022.

What does this mean for you? Well firstly it means the choice of sailings for your 2022 holiday. Secondly I can tell you we are holding prices (for the same journey) so a Brittany Ferries trip will be even better value next year.

Finally, perhaps most importantly, opening for next year means you will be able to amend an existing reservation yourself via the My Booking function on the website, if the news from 10 Downing Street is not good. We will of course waive the amendment fee, if your sailing is disrupted by restrictions on international travel......."

Thanks for posting this - good info..
At this point, i'd like to get my 2020 €600+ deposit back!

SusanC10

pmpa wrote: »

For anyone booked with Brittany Ferries and who want to postpone their trip, they have announced that they will be opening the bookings for 2022 sailings on April 6th. It may also be of interest to people who want to book their 2022 holiday early.

This was taken from B.F. homepage;

"My teams have been working tirelessly behind the scenes to open for 2022 reservations. We will do this on Tuesday 6 April, come what may, earlier than we have ever opened for a season in our history.

Many routes will be available to take reservations until November 2022 in this phase 1 launch. The list includes key services linking Portsmouth with Caen and St Malo, Portsmouth & Plymouth with Santander, and Cork with Roscoff. Other routes will be open for sale too, but for now these will be limited to reservations made until the end of March next year.

Phase 2 should come in May, when we will expand all availability into November 2022.

What does this mean for you? Well firstly it means the choice of sailings for your 2022 holiday. Secondly I can tell you we are holding prices (for the same journey) so a Brittany Ferries trip will be even better value next year.

Finally, perhaps most importantly, opening for next year means you will be able to amend an existing reservation yourself via the My Booking function on the website, if the news from 10 Downing Street is not good. We will of course waive the amendment fee, if your sailing is disrupted by restrictions on international travel......."

Better than IF at the moment anyway. They have said that our Credit will need to be used for a Sailing in 2021 and they won't extend it for use in 2022.

NickTellis

SusanC10 wrote: »

Better than IF at the moment anyway. They have said that our Credit will need to be used for a Sailing in 2021 and they won't extend it for use in 2022.

Just got the same response from IF, we've €1500 credit from last year on the line... and I'm sure there are a lot of people in a similar position.

necstandards

NickTellis wrote: »

Just got the same response from IF, we've €1500 credit from last year on the line... and I'm sure there are a lot of people in a similar position.

Thats shocking

pmpa

Hopefully I.F. will change the decision on not letting people carry their credit from 2020 to 2022 sailings. That's a really tough situation to be in, when you have a lot of credit but do not want to travel this year. Maybe they might have to allow it, if you are not allowed travel on the dates you are booked this year?

I amended my booking from 2021 to 2022 with B.F. and the overall cost was lower by €40 for 2022. I'm coming back on the same date.
I was very eager this year and booked when the prices first came out for 2021 sailings so probably paid over the odds but was praying we would get to France this year.

Best of luck to everyone trying to sort it all and for those hoping to still travel this year.