getting there from the UK

I am a regular traveller from the UK and wanted to share a couple of tips on getting there from the UK.

By ferry there are now more competitors. Norfolkline is now accepting passengers and have adapted some of their ferries from freight only. Have to laugh as their duty free shop is the size of a cupboard but the service is at least decent.

Speedferries is the easyjet of the seas with a quick catamaran and some bargain fares. However, dont expect to know where to go upon getting aboard as nothing was signposted when I travelled a few weeks ago and many passengers were wandering around the car deck wondering where to access the main deck!

Seafrance continue to offer a good service and plenty of sailings each day but some of the ferries seem a little dated if that makes a difference to the customer experience. Good shopping on board though.

P%26amp;O in my opinion are outstanding in their customer service on board. I only wish that were true of their call centre and dreaded checking in booths at Dover where I recently had a very difficult member of staff displaying a complete lack of professionalism when checking my tickets. Another drawback is that off peak sailings have restricted restaurant facilities and often means costly fast food or nothing.

For day trips, I would suggest you look at all the operators direct websites about 14-21 days in advance unless you see a major offer. I%26#39;ve seen some tickets as low as 20.00 GBP for a car and 4 passengers return (P%26amp;O).

For longer stays I have found that Speedferries have offered a flat rate regardless of duration of stay. This has beaten the major ferry operators but the question is - can you deal with the lack of service and chaos upon returning at the dismal and dreary bolougne port?

There are other websites such as ferrysavers and the travel market who can search for decent offers as well.

I would certainly also praise the car plus passengers plus hotel deals offered known as stop and shops as these can be great value for a quick weekend away from around 40 pounds per person per night all in.

It%26#39;s probably also worth suggesting that if you are taking your car - fill up in France as it%26#39;s still cheaper than the UK and for first time visitors, wine and spirits are cheaper in France and tobacco is cheaper in Belgium (a quick 45 minute drive up the motorway from Calais).

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Useful info - just wanted to point out the difficulty we had getting petrol this weekend (Sunday 26 March) . Most petrol stations are closed and use the credit card purchase system - we had 3 cards between us and none of them worked!. So make sure you fill up Saturday :-)

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The conditions aboard Speedferries may be basic, but you%26#39;d have to be blind or stupid not to be able to find your way to the main deck.

I recently booked a Speedferries 10 trip voucher for a car and five passengers for £190.00. The vouchers can be converted to tickets for any crossing in the next two years! (£19.00 per crossing)

As for cheap petrol in France, I failed to find any that was cheaper than in England.

After arguing on every trip I%26#39;m happy to say arguments are a thing of the past after purchasing a Satelite Navigator - Get one.

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Another thing worth checking is frequency of sailings - if you make good time getting to the port, they generally offer the next available crossing. Of course, if they don%26#39;t, you get to sit in the car on the quayside and argue about who%26#39;s bright idea it all was ... :-(

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Hi. I%26#39;ve been travelling to and from France for a few years now. I can%26#39;t agree about P%26amp;O. In my opinion the best service all round is Norfolkline. The new ships for 2006 are brill and clean (not like P%26amp;O which look worn out now) - good food, great service and pretty cheap (crossing and on-board). Tips - buy your cigs on board as they are cheaper and it saves you looking for a tabac when you get to France also if you don%26#39;t like what%26#39;s on the ship%26#39;s menu, they will do you something else.

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No mention of eurotunnel here, definitely the quickest %26amp; smoothest way to travel . We travel with our dog so it%26#39;s ideal for us, no leaving him on a noisy car deck. We travelled Speedferries last year, very cheap, no problems finding the main deck, but very rough on the way back.

Petrol %26amp; diesel is cheaper in France at the supermarkets, but not on the autoroutes.

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I have just booked Norfolkline for our trip next June (07) for a 2 week break and paid just £38.00 inc fuel surcharge, this was for a car, 3 passengers return. Normally use Eurotunnel but they wanted £150.00 for the same trip, P%26amp;O were £80.00, Speedferries web site for those dates just isn%26#39;t accepting by booking dates (I have travelled with tese before and they were ok for the price) and seafrance website also down. Never have been on Norfolkline before so hope I have made the right choice but for £19 each eway I don%26#39;t suppose there can be any complaints!, as we are driving up to Dusseldorf it works well for us docking half an hour closer.

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Regarding getting petrol on a Sunday in France, I know the problems we have had in the past but we have discovered that just over the border in Belgium you will find garages open on a Sunday.

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I recently travelled on Norfolkline, I booked two months in advance and paid 85 Euro for a car return. I did however check two days before leaving and the same crossing had only gone up by 10 Euro so not sure if there is much benefit to book in advance.

I was really impressed by the website and the promise of great facilities onboard the new ships. To be honest I was a little disappointed as I was travelling with my young son. There was not much for him to do. Most of the play areas involved feeding lots of pounds into machines! A drawing table was provided but with no paper or pens! the television in the childrens play area was showing the BBC news instead of a cartoon! so instead of him having lots of fun by himself we had to keep him entertained.

However the price compared to Sea France and P %26amp; O was very good, the ship was very clean and quiet which was nice. I found however the cafe alittle over priced for what they served but this was to be expected.

I will be going to the UK again in July but this time I am going with Eurotunnel as a return is just 50 Euro more expensive than Norfolkline and the same price as Sea France so for a 35 minute crossing it has got to be worth it.

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