Caravan Club / Camping and Caravan club

[Jem1]

I signed up last year to the C & CC, took advantage of the small discount for our caravan insurance . The monthly magazines were more into the camping side rather than the caravannig side. I never actually went to any of their sites , that they advertise in their book so I have now cancelled the subscription with them .

I was looking at joining the CC, but not sure what they offer and is it really worth the money ??

 

[ChristineandAlan]

Hi Jem,
i joined the caravan club,i found the sites very clean,staff quiet friendly some are very close to towns,or easy access by bus,also the c/ls are cheap some have a shower and toilet some dont,ideal for exploring diffrent places.like everything prices are going up like everything.it depends what you want,have a look on their website see what you think.hope this helps you to choose.well all the best Alan P/t

 

[Philspadders]

the only problem with the CC is actually booking a pitch . it seems most pitches are booked months in advance , then members simply cancel the booking if they decide they are not going.

I have been trying to get in to Chatsworth for months , and the only way i can get in is to ring up on a Thursday afternoon to find they have a cancellation... and there may be 1. Once you gt on site there could well be 10 or 15 pitches vacant.
Loose Hill is another one. I managed to get on earlier in the year, and when on site i counted the numbert of empty pitches- 25 of them, yet the CC web site showed the site as full. The wardens told me that they had recieved some cancellations, and others simply did not turn up.

it takes away from the spontaniety of having a mobile holiday home.

CLs dont a have an online pre booking system so are often much easier to get on to and you dont have to sit down and plan ypur whole year in the preceeding December.

 

[Parksy]

I signed up last year to the C & CC, took advantage of the small discount for our caravan insurance . The monthly magazines were more into the camping side rather than the caravannig side. I never actually went to any of their sites , that they advertise in their book so I have now cancelled the subscription with them .

I was looking at joining the CC, but not sure what they offer and is it really worth the money ??

I'm slightly puzzled as to why you joined the C&CC if you have never bothered with anything other than the caravan insurance and never visited any of the sites Jem.
The C&CC offer inexpensive certified sites, clean facilities, foreign holiday bookings, breakdown cover just as the CC do, what were you looking for from your club membership?
If you simply want good caravan insurance there are plenty of insurers who offer competitively priced policies without the need to join any clubs.

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[Soozeeg]

I know lots of people say they have trouble booking CC sites, but I have to say we rarely, if ever, had problems getting booked in. Maybe it was because we generally went to the less popular sites and almost always went out of season (i.e. never during school holidays). Having said that, we've been to the Hillhead and, several times, Broadway and Ferry Meadows CC sites which are all really popular and always got a booking with no problem. We love CC sites, they're always immaculate, especially the shower blocks, we've always found the wardens really friendly and you know exactly what you're getting there. As has been said before, even if the CC website says a particular site is booked, it's always worth ringing the site direct as they often have a couple of free pitches. I can't really comment on C&CC sites as we weren't in that club and never stayed on one of their sites. We did, however, visit the Sandringham one when we were staying at the nearby CC Sandringham site. I would say that the C&CC site was prettier and more family-oriented than the CC one, even though we love that site. It really is a case of each to their own though, what one person likes in a site, another won't. You could try staying on a CC site, you can stay on lots of them without being a member and then join on-site if you want. Or you can just go and visit some.....after first going into Reception and asking the wardens, of course. In our experience, they're always very accommodating and friendly and don't mind at all people looking around.

 

[Dustydog]

I signed up last year to the C & CC, took advantage of the small discount for our caravan insurance . The monthly magazines were more into the camping side rather than the caravannig side. I never actually went to any of their sites , that they advertise in their book so I have now cancelled the subscription with them .

I was looking at joining the CC, but not sure what they offer and is it really worth the money ??

Hi jem
I have to ask exactly what is it you want from a club?
IMO the two Clubs probably offer the best caravan insurance covers with the most reasonable attitude to claims.
I actualy enjoy reading their mags and of course belonging to both Clubs does giove you access to more sites.l

I have to agree with Philspaddders there are a CC sites where it is impossible to book unless you join the bun fight at the end of the year. Chatsworth and Rowntree Park ( York) are always "full". But take heart . As I found out there are alternatives to these two sites and many are far better. The cl and cs.
I think the actual annual subscription you pay either club hardly meets the cost of the magazines, handbooks etc that you enjoy.

 

[ChristineandAlan]

Hi philsadders,i never book on the caravan club booking site as i have found the same they are always full,so i always phone the site direct and i dont get a problem. All The Best Alan P/T

 

[Soozeeg]

Alan P/T

Alan, I know this is completely off topic (my humblest apologies, Jem

), but why are you Part Time?

 

[BedfordGeorge]

I agree with Dustydog, the CC magazine is a good read, and justifies the subscription by itself. When you then add in all the information booklets readily available FOC and the many varied good quality sites available, Insurance and access to many quality European sites, what more could you ask for ?
I do agree that the booking system leave a little to be desired, on the popular sites at weekends, but with the information available to the club on the computers, they should be able to isolate members who consistently fail to show. However this would rely on the wardens informing the club of the no shows. I personally am of the thinking that a non returnable deposit should be imposed on all bookings, that are cancelled within 7 days of the arrival date. This would be long enough before to stop people who cancel because of possible adverse weather conditions. They could also impose a maximum number of visits to a specific site, on an annual basis.

Best regards,
George

 

[Philspadders]

hi Alan P/T, if only it were that easy, set for work at 7.0am each morning,arrive home at 6.30pm , then its get the kids bathed , fed into bed etc. Wardens seem to be unavailable at this time.

I usually manage 10 mins at lunchtime..... but thats to quickly grab a sandwich... its tough in engineering these days and you have t work damned hard to keep a job.

Bedford G , the CC does have a system of monitoring "no shows" and this is supposed to then restrict future bookings by those responsible, The main problem is not with "no shows" but the cancellers. Especially those that block book many sites for the same weekends then cancel at the last minute. The CC does not exert any control whatsoever on this group.

Members should only be allowed to boone site per weekend.

Also on the CC system its woth noting how many single nights are booked on some very popular sights. These are very strange , with perhaps pitches available Sat night but fully booked FridayNight. Bnk Holidays seem to be worse with Friday Nights and Sunday nights fully booked but spaces on Saturday Night.

 

[Soozeeg]

Correct me if I'm wrong (I quite often am! lol), but I was under the impression it is now impossible to book more than one site for the same time period on the CC booking system? I seem to remember last year trying to book a particular CC site online, having forgotten that I'd already booked a different site some weeks previously for the same week, only to have a message pop up saying I couldn't book that site as I already had another booked. If I remember correctly, I had to cancel the previous (forgotten) booking before I could make the new one for the same week. Or maybe I dreamt it!! LOL

 

[Jennifer2]

No, you are quite correct, it is several years since you could have more than one site booked for a particular date.

 

[Philspadders]

its worked for me when i tried it.

The issue with the bookings is that members book so mnay sites over so many different weekends , months in advance then cancel at the last minute. The may book a site 50 weekends of the year but only go to 10.

 

[Dustydog]

Philspaders said:-
hi Alan P/T, if only it were that easy, set for work at 7.0am each morning,arrive home at 6.30pm , then its get the kids bathed , fed into bed etc. Wardens seem to be unavailable at this time.

I usually manage 10 mins at lunchtime..... but thats to quickly grab a sandwich... its tough in engineering these days and you have t work damned hard to keep a job.

If the caravan manufacturers work their staff this hard too then it's little wonder mistakes happen

 

[kennygee]

I have been in the same position also. I had to cancel one site before booking another

 

[Philspadders]

i dont make caravans, Im a Senior Manager in an subcontract engineering job shop with lots of wonderful high powered Lasers profile rather large ans sometimes very intricate, complex and highly safety critical components for a wide range of industries.
Unlike the 6.7 million that get paid by the government im one of the less than 3million that has to actually generate some revenue.
Oh, you can double book on the CC site, it all depends on what you know about how the CC works .. ive just done it, and then cancelled both. You need to know how the system works.

 

[swpostie]

Hi Jem,

We joined both and have used CC and C&CC sites.

Mostly, though, we use Caravan Club sites - particularly CLs as they only allow 5 caravans and, unlike the C&CC, not tents! We don't have anything against tents but if a CL is about an acre in size and has 5 caravans and 10 tents then it is going to seem a lot more crowded than if it just had 5 caravans.

We also have our insurance and breakdown cover with the Caravan Club.

Overall, though, I'm glad we joined both - the small fees involved are more than made up for by the choice of sites available.

 

[craigstaiano]

The booking system with the CC frustrates me too. Thats why in a year we have only been able to get into one CC site and that was a small (but very nice) one. Harbury Fields Farm if you're interested.

However as this was out first year caravanning in our 1997 Bailey and had to replace a few parts and buy things, the 5% discount many caravan accessory shops give more than paid for the subscription

 

[andy72]

Thats really ironic as when we joined the C&CC a few years ago it was becasue we had just started camping in our family tent. Lots of members complaind that it was caravan based and not enough about tents. I have noticed a lot of features on tents in the last year though but then they do have alot of people to please!

I wont join the CC until they change their booking system.. I cant get my head around the fact that they dont charge deposits. Every other type of purchase where you 'reserve' something requires a deposit to show your full intent. Otherwise you just get people bagging pitches in case they fancy going. Pretty much like the towel on the sunlounger quirk on pool holidays! Noone actually there and using the pitch but someones 'reserved' it so no-one can use it.

I have used the c&CC sites a few times, but have also used more commerical sites, mainly for the reason we like to have a small bar on site as with a 3month and 5 year old, walking 1/2 mile to the local pub isnt really an option, especially when its along dark country lanes. My five yr old has also started demanding better playgrounds, over and above the simple swing and slide on most C&CC sites.