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

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!!!

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

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.

@ 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 ?

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 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

@ 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.

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

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

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 ?

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.

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.

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 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?

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!