Brittany Ferries to Santander

[ChrisUK]

Any comments on the actual trip, 25 hours is a long time to get bored. Decent food available? Considering going in Sept.

 

[KeithJ]

Hi Chris

Whether you get bored or not is a personal thing. Some people might think 25 hours is a long time, others might not. It's the same as distance - what some think is a long way will not be far to others. Personally I love travelling and driving, and no time or distance is too great.

We usually travel on the Portsmouth/Bilbao ferry, and this takes 36 hours including 2 nights for the outward journey, and we enjoy it. There are bars, restaurants, entertainment, a casino, lounges, a sun deck, even a small pool and fitness room. You can even retire to your cabin for a sleep!! There is a choice of cafeteria food and restaurant food, and we have found the latter to be very good.

Unfortunately the Bilboa ferry is being discontinued in September. We have not used the Santander one, but from what friends have told us it has similar facilities.

Keith

 

[KeithJ]

PS - I forgot the cinema and the dolphin and whale watching talks and films

 

[Francis_374353316]

Hi we recently went from Portsmouth to Cherbourg with Brittany ferrys and the boat we got is the one that normally goes to Santander and there was plenty to do on it such as mentioned above cimemas, shops etc we also got a cabin which was good with decent shower etc.
Hope this helps!

 

[ChrisUK]

Thanks

Chris

 

[Guest]

We used the Portsmouth Santander servcie in April and travelled on the flagship Pont Aven.

Sorry, not impressed. Firstly, the cabin we were given was a half size one at the very front of the boat, even though I had booked the previous Autumn. It was not a budget one but we could not believe we were expected to sleep in basically a wardrobe. Of course no alternative accomodation was available. My wife was seasick the whole trip, and even I, although have sailed a lot, did have to cuddle the loo a couple of times. Mainly because we were so far forward the cabin went up and down like a seasaw all the trip. This meant we did not spend any money on food, as we were mostly losing it, but from what we did see, we did not miss much. The food in the main restaurant was mostly chips with everything and the fish was so old looking that it was doubtful when it had been caught. After looking at it, we hurried back to the loo again. There was a swimming pool and jacuzzi on the boat, which we had looked forward to using, but it was closed. The staff were not very impressive either as they were pretty surly and obviously did not give a toss about their passengers. They were French of course, but that should not have made a difference.

I have to compare it with our experience of DFDS where the staff are Phillpino so (I am sure because of their job fears) are always smiling and cannot do enough for you. The food involves 3 different types of food in an nlimited buffet with food from Scandinavian Smorgasbrod through a full Thai menu, plus of course a UK one. The boat seemed more stable, but maybe that was the North Sea and of course the crossing is shorter. The downside was the wine prices were high, but beer was ok.

So, our experience was not good, but others on the same boat seemed happy enough.

The good thing was that when we docked, we wre right in Spoain, but we will not be repating the trip and will stick to the hsorter North Sea crossings.