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

Mok · 13-08-2015 5:51pm

We went in July for the first time this year and did rosslare - roscoff on a Thursday and cherbourg - rosslare on a Wednesday coming back. I shopped around like mad and this was definitely the cheapest way to go at the time - we did book in around January though I think.

We stayed in a small village called montalivet, close enough to Bordeaux but on the coast and it was fab, lots of surfing etc so plenty for kids to do on the beach, also plenty of great campsites here. Not sure about Eurocamp though.

On the way back we broke up the drive by staying near a theme park called futureoscope which is fantastic. It wasn't very expensive, you'd definitely get a day if not two out of it. Loads of 3d and 4d shows and science based rides, and they have a great light show at night which our daughter is still talking about

aquarius10 · 13-08-2015 9:19pm

Miley Byrne wrote: »

Jean, do you know whether the people that had booked with Stena prior to the ploughing if they could retrospectively avail of the 25% discount?

We booked Stena last year in early Sept and then hubbie went to ploughing and got 25% discount. We phoned Stena and they refunded the difference for the discount but think I won't book this year until we can compare with IF - and look at prices with the discounts from Tesco & hopefully ploughing championships.

Also need to check if we can combine Tesco discount with ploughing championships discount ? Prob not ?

Fred Swanson · 13-08-2015 9:22pm

This post has been deleted.

aquarius10 · 13-08-2015 9:24pm

Fred Swanson wrote: »

Do you have to attend the ploughing to get the discount?

No - it was a link printed on flyers

aquarius10 · 13-08-2015 9:26pm

Should be safe enough to wait till end September before booking anything - IF prices are not even out yet ?

jay0109 · 13-08-2015 10:40pm

SusanC10 wrote: »

@jay - did you have to pay the full price to Irish Ferries when you booked in Oct/Nov 2014 ? I wanted to pay the Deposit on booking with Card and then the Balance using the Tesco Vouchers and Card if necessary 6 weeks before departure. I wouldn't have enough Tokens to have 80% of the Booking. The girl on the phone at Irish Ferries said that what I want to do is do-able but their website says that it's not.

I was thinking that maybe the best plan is to eat our Main meal somewhere close to Rosslare and then bring food for the Ferry. Must try to find the other threads re food on the ferry.

Nope. When booking online I entered the value of vouchers I had and it deducted that, leaving the balance which I paid on my cc at the time.
I then had 5 days or so to get the vouchers into the IF head office so they could verify the transaction

54and56 · 13-08-2015 11:59pm

Stone Deaf 4evr wrote: »

i had to check the calendar when i read that you were still there, it feels like I've been back at work for months! :mad:

Ha, feels like I've been here for months bit I know by the end of next week it will feel like I've been home for months!

54and56 · 14-08-2015 12:01am

Fred Swanson wrote: »

Do you have to attend the ploughing to get the discount?

Not in the past you didn't.

aquarius10 · 14-08-2015 9:19am

SusanC10 wrote: »

I am very interested in following this thread as we are seriously considering taking the Ferry to France for our family holiday for 2016.

We have not done this type of family holiday before or taken the Ferry to France as a family though I did with my own family circa 20+ years ago !

I have been talking to Eurocamp regarding Accommodation and they seem to have a preliminary Irish Ferries Schedule for 2016 but it is not yet confirmed.

Have also been looking at the Tesco Tokens. I have approx €65 of tokens so far and will have more by the end of August. That would convert to €260 to use on Irish Ferries. But it says something on the site about restricted availability and peak times. We want to travel approx June 21st. Would this be a problem ? From what I am reading you have to convert the Tesco tokens into Travel Tokens before you make a Booking but I don't want to do that if I can't use them for the sailing we want. Anyone done this before ??

I have phoned Irish Ferries but the person on the phone was quite vague but did say that I can make the Booking on the phone with them and pay the Deposit by Card and then convert whatever tokens I have to Travel Vouchers and pay the balance with the Vouchers and Card. Although this contradicts what it says on their own website.

Also looking for advice on eating on the Oscar Wilde - would anyone recommend having our main meal on the boat or should we eat our main meal before we get to Rosslare ? Our kids will be 10 & 7.

All advice for a Newbie welcomed

Hi Susan

I was like you last year, we travelled to France by ferry for 2 weeks with 4 & 2 yr old for the first time, but now I'm a convert. You have the freedom to bring what you need and don't have to worry about bags with kids.

We ate in Rosslare before we boarded and had snacks, drinks & fruit for the kids as they went to sleep after the shows ( magic, disco etc) around 9pm.

Next morning I had cereal & milk, fruit and brioches with us so we never used the restaurants as I had read they were expensive for what you got.

We have pre-booked next years trip with Eurocamp and just waiting on ferry prices atm, also hoping to use tesco vouchers to part pay

Any other questions just ask

_Brian · 14-08-2015 9:32am

aquarius10 wrote: »

Hi Susan

I was like you last year, we travelled to France by ferry for 2 weeks with 4 & 2 yr old for the first time, but now I'm a convert. You have the freedom to bring what you need and don't have to worry about bags with kids.

We ate in Rosslare before we boarded and had snacks, drinks & fruit for the kids as they went to sleep after the shows ( magic, disco etc) around 9pm.

Next morning I had cereal & milk, fruit and brioches with us so we never used the restaurants as I had read they were expensive for what you got.

We have pre-booked next years trip with Eurocamp and just waiting on ferry prices atm, also hoping to use tesco vouchers to part pay Any other questions just ask

I don't think the food is that expensive on IF Oscar Wilde..

We returned last week and had cooked breakfast for four of us, 2 adults, 12YO & 7YO.
We got 3 5-piece breakfasts (4 cooked items & 2 slices of toast, cooked item is 2 sausages/2 hash browns/2 rashers)
2 fresh orange juices and 2 teas, €39, less than €10 a head and there was food left on the table when we had eaten our breakfast. the standard of food is also very high.

I laughed at the cleverness of a guy when we were going over, he got 2 5-piece breakfasts, one was 10 sausages, one was 10 slices of toast, 2 teas and 3 juices, family of five had sausage sambos in them for maybe ~€25/28

jay0109 · 14-08-2015 9:38am

A bowl of cereal on the OW in the Brasserie restaurant was €3.75 if I recall correctly from reading the menu outside the entrance!!!

54and56 · 14-08-2015 9:42am

I sailed on the Brittany Ferry Pont Aven from Cork a few weeks ago and having now had the pleasure of sailing on all the Ireland to France ferry's IMHO the Pont Aven is by far the best. Best layout for bar/seating etc, great food and lovely comfy beds.

In general we prefer to eat prior to departure and then have snacks + breakfast on board but that's just personal preference. The food on board is always acceptable if a tad expensive sometimes.

_Brian · 14-08-2015 10:03am

SusanC10 wrote: »

So we are thinking of our 2016 family holiday and seriously considering taking the Ferry to France and Eurocamp (for part of it anyway). We have never done this kind of holiday before so looking for advice / tips etc.

Have been looking online and basic plan is to take the Ferry from Ireland to France, 9 nights in Eurocamp (considering the Loire or Dordogne), then 1 week in an Airbnb somewhere near Bordeaux then back up to Brittany / Normandy where we have family for 4/5 nights and then home on the Ferry !

Our kids will be 10 & 7 by then. We live in the North East.

Our family holidays have been mainly to a family owned place in Greece, some Airbnb houses and Hotels in Greece and France & Disneyland Paris. So, would like to try something different for next year.

When is the best time to book?

Have looked at Stena and Brittany Ferries but can't seem to see 2016 Schedule / Price for Irish Ferries - when do they come out ? Also which is the best (overall but incl price) to go with ?

Any tips on the Eurocamp part ? How are the Kids Clubs ?

We don't mind driving in France and long journeys.

All tips / advice welcome.

Good for you !!
We're just back from our 12th holiday on France, our kids are 12 & 7 now and know no other holidays !!

We've travelled with Brittany Ferries, the old LD lines and Irish Ferries. We definitely prefer the IF Oscar Wilde, opinions vary greatly on this so I'm not clogging your thread up with that..

We tried an inboard room once and didn't like it at all, but again that's probably a personal thing.

Camping companies we have used Canvas & KelAir, we have also booked accommodation directly with some campsites, for the last few years we brought our own caravan, check the prices and what your getting, some will include linen, (KelAir do a good deal on linen which saves space in the car and saves washing on your return home) some include or hire a BBQ. the camping companies seem the cheaper option out of peak season but we found booking direct with a campsite the best option in peak season.

We cook a good bit ourselves and one thing we noticed was that getting an oven is hard enough, Canvas seem to have them in all their lets but after that not so much and anything we booked direct hadn't an oven. If you do cook bring small non perishable things like salt/pepper/oil , it seems such a waste to buy these there and use so little. Same washing tablets Mrs throws a few in.

Our kids have NEVER gone to a kids club, they just weren't interested..

Check prices on bicycle hire if its something you do, it can be expensive for a two week stay with hefty deposits on some sites. We bring our own.

Campsite chains, Les Castles & Yelloh Village sites are tyipcally what we look for in an area, we find the standard good..

Favourite Sites
Sequoia Park
Le Littoral
La Garangeoire

SusanC10 · 14-08-2015 11:48am

@ Mok & Brian - Thanks for your responses and tips - much appreciated !

@ Brian - can I just ask your opinion on food options particularly for kids on the Oscar Wilde ? Would we be better off to have our main meal en route to Rosslare and then snacks on the boat or eat our Main Meal on the boat ?

All other tips / advice welcome.

Thanks in advance.

SusanC10 · 14-08-2015 11:59am

redmissb wrote: »

You can do that but you need to make the booking over the phone instead of online. Then you can send in tokens anytime up until the balance is due.

That's great ! This is what I want to do. 1 other question - if I have say €85 of Tesco Tokens at the time of booking converted into €340 Travel Vouchers. Then I book and pay the Deposit with Card. Then I get say €40 more of Tesco Tokens converted into €120 of Travel Vouchers between the time of booking and time that the Balance is due - can I use these too or do I have to tell Irish Ferries at the time of booking how much in Travel Vouchers I will be using ?

Thanks to everyone who has replied to my questions particularly about food options on the boat. Husband is in favour of eating en route to Rosslare and then snacks on the Boat that evening and then getting a cooked Breakfast on the Boat as we will have a long journey once we reach France.

SusanC10 · 14-08-2015 12:18pm

@ Brian - I see you have answered me on the Ferry to France 2016 thread so thanks for that.

Have a question on the Campsite end of things - we are looking at a campsite in the Dordogne which has a waterslide. The waterslide has an age restriction of 7. While I said that our youngest would be 7 - she will actually turn 7 during the trip and not until after we would have left the campsite. So, how strict are the French campsites ? She would be approx 10 days off her 7th Birthday, is tall for her age, a decent swimmer (in the deep end without help at the moment) and has been on waterslides before (the Greeks are not so strict !)

SusanC10 · 14-08-2015 2:02pm

@ jay & redmissb

When booking with the Tesco Vouchers was there a substantial price difference between the regular price and the tesco price ? I am aware that there is a €20 fee each way so €40 in total but is the price just €40 more with the Tesco Vouchers ?

jay0109 · 14-08-2015 2:38pm

SusanC10 wrote: »

@ jay & redmissb

When booking with the Tesco Vouchers was there a substantial price difference between the regular price and the tesco price ? I am aware that there is a €20 fee each way so €40 in total but is the price just €40 more with the Tesco Vouchers ?

Nope, exact same price.

_Brian · 15-08-2015 2:49pm

SusanC10 wrote: »

@ Brian - I see you have answered me on the Ferry to France 2016 thread so thanks for that.

Have a question on the Campsite end of things - we are looking at a campsite in the Dordogne which has a waterslide. The waterslide has an age restriction of 7. While I said that our youngest would be 7 - she will actually turn 7 during the trip and not until after we would have left the campsite. So, how strict are the French campsites ? She would be approx 10 days off her 7th Birthday, is tall for her age, a decent swimmer (in the deep end without help at the moment) and has been on waterslides before (the Greeks are not so strict !)

The enforcement of the age limit varies from site to site and even from lifeguard to lifeguard.. This year the campsite we were on in Brittany had a limit of 10, out youngest is 7, and a small 7, but had no problems, smaller kids were on them.. Ours have used the water slides since aged 5 without problem.
I think once she's a competent swimmer and isn't messing she should be OK, if stopped you could offer for her to wear arm bands, might get her bye..

As for eating on the ferry or before, definitely going out we use the small Mexican/Texan style restaurant, sort of a celebration of the start of our holidays, nice menu, food is real good and its moderately priced, typical restaurant prices.. Its such a hugely divided subject with ferry travelers but with a little thought you'll get away with spending only a little more on the ferry than regular restaurants and hell - your on your holidays !!

aquarius10 · 19-08-2015 10:21am

A friend has Tesco club card vouchers and has offered them to us - is it possible for her to convert these to boost vouchers and us to use them ? Or will her name also be on the boost vouchers ?

Thanks

jay0109 · 19-08-2015 10:27am

aquarius10 wrote: »

A friend has Tesco club card vouchers and has offered them to us - is it possible for her to convert these to boost vouchers and us to use them ? Or will her name also be on the boost vouchers ?

Thanks

Trying to think back but don't recall a name on the vouchers, just a reference code which you enter online.
You then send the vouchers into IF so they can verify

aquarius10 · 19-08-2015 11:33am

So it's possible to use boost vouchers that someone else applied for - has anyone used someone else's ?

SusanC10 · 19-08-2015 2:09pm

@ aquarius - from the FAQ's on the Tesco website it does not seem possible.

I can't post links but if you go into the Tesco Ireland website and click on "Clubcard Boost" and then "FAQs" it says that you must only use Vouchers with your name on it.

54and56 · 25-08-2015 7:14pm

Just priced Rosslare -> Cherbourg return in July next year for 2 adults and 2 kids in a 4X4 with a 4 berth outside cabin on Stena Line. €940!!

Can't wait for the ploughing championship

aquarius10 · 25-08-2015 7:18pm

Je_suis_Jean wrote: »

Just priced Rosslare -> Cherbourg return in July next year for 2 adults and 2 kids in a 4X4 with a 4 berth outside cabin on Stena Line. €940!!

Can't wait for the ploughing championship

Hopefully they will give the 25% off again this year ! Badly need the prices to come down a bit

redmissb · 25-08-2015 10:59pm

SusanC10 wrote: »

That's great ! This is what I want to do. 1 other question - if I have say €85 of Tesco Tokens at the time of booking converted into €340 Travel Vouchers. Then I book and pay the Deposit with Card. Then I get say €40 more of Tesco Tokens converted into €120 of Travel Vouchers between the time of booking and time that the Balance is due - can I use these too or do I have to tell Irish Ferries at the time of booking how much in Travel Vouchers I will be using ?

Thanks to everyone who has replied to my questions particularly about food options on the boat. Husband is in favour of eating en route to Rosslare and then snacks on the Boat that evening and then getting a cooked Breakfast on the Boat as we will have a long journey once we reach France.

No you don't need to tell them, just send in what you want and as soon as they receive them you'll get a new confirmation email with revised balance. I just sent them in as I received them, you can pay the booking deposit with vouchers too if you want.

aquarius10 · 26-08-2015 2:29pm

Good news is that Stena Line are listed as exhibitors at the Ploughing championships - all we need is the money off code /link

54and56 · 26-08-2015 2:59pm

If it's 25% that'll reduce my fare from €940 to €705 which I'll hope to have booked by 9am Tuesday Sept 22nd!!

BTW, another potentially useful tip is to pay the additional €10 each way to upgrade your fare to a "Flexi" fare. That allows you to cancel and get a full refund minus some small €20 admin fee if a better deal with Stena or another operator comes along or something unexpected happens and you have to cancel or alter your plans as happened me this year.

GeneralSherman · 26-08-2015 9:55pm

Anyone got an opinion on what the effects of Euro2016 in France next year will have for those of us that plan to ferry and camp there when it's on ?

Carawaystick · 26-08-2015 10:07pm

It'll be busy where the Netherlands and Germany are playing. Polish likely to camp and Scots too.

Last year the WC wasn't on free tv, only the French matches so you'll probably have to watch games in a pub ( or in a stadium)

cart man · 26-08-2015 10:08pm

May have a marginal affect in June but with only 3 matches on after 3 July I can't really see it affecting the rest of the summer.

webpal · 26-08-2015 10:37pm

Ferry prices may increase if ROI or NI qualify. The host cities are too far from campsites that the majority of us would travel too so Brittany, vendee etc campsites should be fine. Just back today from this years trip and one thing I've noticed this time is that the campsite bar is full of people just there for the free wifi and they don't even buy drinks and having been in a campsite last year during the World Cup, I would be inclined to seek an alternative place to watch a match that you really want to watch. Might be ok for matches that you want to watch for the sake of it.

cardwizzard · 26-08-2015 10:48pm

Carawaystick wrote: »

It'll be busy where the Netherlands and Germany are playing. Polish likely to camp and Scots too.

Last year the WC wasn't on free tv, only the French matches so you'll probably have to watch games in a pub ( or in a stadium)

I'd say with France being the hosts, that local terrestial TV will have every game. Different with the WC as they'd have to pay a fortune for the rights.

I could be wrong.

SusanC10 · 28-08-2015 1:00pm

When did the prices for Irish Ferries come out for Summer 2015 last year ?

EDit · 29-08-2015 5:55pm

Went on IF to France this year and would be looking to go over again next year. Only gripe was that we were turfed out of our cabin (after a rather heated argument) about 1 hour before we docked in Rosslare on the way back. This was apparently so they could start stripping the bedding etc., but this was not mentioned until about 15-20 mins before we were supposed to be out of the cabin (at which point we were all still in bed). Also, this didn't happen on the way over to Cherbourg (we were allowed to stay in the cabin right up until the boat docked) and we've never experienced that when using cabins on the Dublin/Holyhead ferries. Tbh, was a royal PIA getting the kids and everything packed up quickly and then finding somewhere to sit for the last hour (the boat resembled a refugee camp with people and their luggage all over the place)...anyway, my query is whether we were unlucky or if this standard practice on IF as it will influence our decision on who to go with in 2016?

Fred Swanson · 29-08-2015 6:07pm

This post has been deleted.

EDit · 29-08-2015 6:22pm

Fred Swanson wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

Thanks, that is useful to know. So, I guess we were lucky to stay in our cabin up to docking on the way over to France or do they only do the turfing on the return route? Also, does anyone know if Stena or Brittany ferries do this as well?

Fred Swanson · 29-08-2015 6:24pm

This post has been deleted.

nikkibikki · 29-08-2015 9:39pm

Hoping to go next Summer ourselves. 2 adults, an 8 yr old and just turned 3 year old twins.

Anyone know if you can use the 25% off from the Ploughing AND Tesco vouchers? It'd nearly be worth a trip to the Ploughing if so! Seeing as I've never been to it!

54and56 · 30-08-2015 9:25pm

nikkibikki wrote: »

Anyone know if you can use the 25% off from the Ploughing AND Tesco vouchers? It'd nearly be worth a trip to the Ploughing if so! Seeing as I've never been to it!

No I don't think you can stack the offers and no you don't need to actually go to the ploughing, Stena publish it online at the time of the event.

gandalf · 30-08-2015 9:37pm

Fred Swanson wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

Never had that experience. Myself and the family travel at least once or twice a year to France with IF. We normally wait in the cabin until the last minute. I think once in the last five years we were asked to leave but we were 30 minutes from docking at that stage. Maybe we have just been lucky!

If it was Stena line you would have to return your cabin key and get your passport or car keys back as well which obviously necessitates another queuing session (unless they have finally stopped this archaic practice this year).

GeneralSherman · 30-08-2015 9:55pm

Same as Gandalf... Have never been turfed out by IF. They always worked around us.

Wine Goddess · 31-08-2015 6:10pm

gandalf wrote: »

Never had that experience. Myself and the family travel at least once or twice a year to France with IF. We normally wait in the cabin until the last minute. I think once in the last five years we were asked to leave but we were 30 minutes from docking at that stage. Maybe we have just been lucky!

If it was Stena line you would have to return your cabin key and get your passport or car keys back as well which obviously necessitates another queuing session (unless they have finally stopped this archaic practice this year).

Does it depend upon the route? We went twice to France with IF and were not turfed out on either of the journeys.....but we were going Rosslare - Roscoff return, maybe it's different for the Cherbourg run?
Can see how it'd be a mighty PIA being turfed out with the kids.....

jay0109 · 31-08-2015 11:03pm

Rosslare-Cherbourg with IF this year...nobody tried to turf us out. Just left a bag on our door handle to indicate they hadn't done our room yet and they moved on to the next one

54and56 · 01-09-2015 8:17am

Home Roscoff to Rosslare on IF. Cleaning announced about an hour before we docked but included a message stating we could leave our bags in the room.

I have generally found if we strip the beds and leave the sheets etc in a pile on the floor that does the job for them and they are happy to leave us stay in the room until it's time to disembark.

Stone Deaf 4evr · 01-09-2015 8:57am

For what its worth, I rang Irish Ferries yesterday to see when they'd be announcing the timetable for 2016. The lady on the phone reckoned the middle to the end of October. Seems very late, seeing as brittany and Stena have their times up.

SusanC10 · 01-09-2015 11:42am

Stone Deaf 4evr wrote: »

For what its worth, I rang Irish Ferries yesterday to see when they'd be announcing the timetable for 2016. The lady on the phone reckoned the middle to the end of October. Seems very late, seeing as brittany and Stena have their times up.

Last year it seems to have been Sept 12th or thereabouts when they released their confirmed schedule / prices. Mid / End Oct seems very late.

Have a questions re Irish Ferries and cars - Is there any price difference between a car that is under 1.9m in height and a car that is between 1.9m and 2.25m in height ?

Stone Deaf 4evr · 01-09-2015 11:43am

SusanC10 wrote: »

Last year it seems to have been Sept 12th or thereabouts when they released their confirmed schedule / prices. Mid / End Oct seems very late.

Have a questions re Irish Ferries and cars - Is there any price difference between a car that is under 1.9m in height and a car that is between 1.9m and 2.25m in height ?

if they give you the option to select between the two, then in general there is a price difference, same if you add a rear mounted cycle carrier.

SusanC10 · 01-09-2015 11:47am

Stone Deaf 4evr wrote: »

if they give you the option to select between the two, then in general there is a price difference, same if you add a rear mounted cycle carrier.

That's weird - the guy I spoke to on the phone a few weeks ago said that there would be no extra charge for a bike carrier on the back of the car but there would be if the height on the roof went over 2.25m. Since then I was looking on the website and saw that there is actually 3 different heights mentioned - under 1.9m, between 1.9m & 2.25m and over 2.25m.

Fred Swanson · 01-09-2015 11:50am

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

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