DIY or Not?

[Allyson]

Do any of you caravaners out there book your own holiday from Ferry crossing to campsite?

Not sure if we will do it ourselves or via the travel agent / Caravan Club / Caravan cheques?

What problems fave you had when booking it yourself i.e. campsites wont't except you on site until the weekend?

Or anything else you may have had problems with?

Thanks in advance.

 

[GillC1]

Allyson

We have ventured to France twice now and have booked everything ourselves. Its easy choose when you want to go, book the ferry, choose your campsite contact them and book that, then I contacted the caravan club to arrange insurance etc. If you are unsure about the campsite call it up on the internet and read reviews. You can arrive on site anyday. This year two weeks in the loire, dover/calais crossing and red pennant insurance and it didn't cost us quite

 

[allen1]

Hi Allyson

you have the whole world at your fingertips.as you are already on the internet,we use www.campingcheque.co.uk/en/ they will send you a catalogue with over 550 sites and they all have websites,all ver eu and uk and they will get you a cheap ferry crossing plus some cheap nights camping,

 

[greenplum_5088396]

The start of a holiday is when you book the first link - in our case the ferry then progress to the rest - insurance, sites, siteseeing etc etc etc

 

[tracy_5063735]

Hi, We also booked ourselves had 16nts in Concarneau Brittany and travelled via Newhaven - dieppe with Transmanche Ferries the site was 400 euro and the Ferry return with cabin on each journey was

 

[cris_408518]

We booked European sites via phone and fax prior to common use of internet.

Only use for CC or booking agents is to get better prices if available, agency booking years ago could involve being tied into block booking arrangements.

Ferry slots could revolve around time slots agents had left and on camp sites you could get lumped together with other Brit clients.

Any doubts, just phone your chosen site and ask whatever questions you want. I can't remember calling a site and not being able to speak to an English speaker.

 

[Arrow1]

We go to France and Belgium three or four times a year. Each time we book crossing via internet. You get a conformation number from each of the operators and, much to my surprise I have occasionally got cheaper prices directly from the operators (e.g Sea France, P&O etc) rather than travel agents. We do try many sources to get the balance of crossing times and prices right.

Campsites... well we research that via the net, read reviews etc.. and book online. NEVER had a problem in five years. Still, there is always a chance.

 

[Lutz]

Outside the peak season (in France that would be August) we've never booked.

 

[sharpy]

past four years in spain, calais to barcelona, booked separately by ourselves, no problems whatsoever.

 

[Guest]

We book all car and caravan trips ourselves and have done for years with no problems.

For flights and holidays outside Europe we often use American online agents now and plan what we want and require not what a tour company wants. They will custom build a trip from Flights, Ground Travel and Hotels to site seeing trips. Flights can be with any carrier and we get better deals than with UK travel companies.

 

[smiley]

Same here, We booked a couple of times with select sites, but just go now.

We book the stopover in advance, but anywhere else just look at the site if we like we stay.

No problems, the nice thing you can up and move if you don't like anything, can't do that if you've pre booked, unless money is no object.

 

[RayS]

have tried both ways. With the exception of Eurotunnel I have not been able to get a better price for ferry than Caravan Club, so tend to use them. For sites, don't travel peak times so never book. Use personal recommendation and CC Europe Volume 1.

Having sites booked if you don't have to just adds to the stress of getting there without being able to change plans at short notice depending on how you feel, weather, how nice or otherwise a site may be.

 

[RichardW1]

Hi

Went to Spain 2 years ago for the first time, France this year and again next year and DIYed it every time with no probs. I also believe we got a better deal.

Richard W

 

[cooky1]

We are with the CC and usally book everything through their overseas camping facility.

A couple of years ago the CC did not have a campsite recommended in the area we wanted to stay in. We looked on the web at the area and found a list of campsites we liked the look of. We sent them an email and got their brochures. After deciding which site we liked we emailed them and confirmed availability. After sending a small deposit the booking was made. The ferry was booked direct with P&O. The site was excellent and we encountered no problems booking site and ferry ourselves.

 

[Guest]

From the consensus in the posts doing it yourself is not a problem. It is also what we do, except I do admit to having used the CC to cover the high season weeks in August, but even there we may try our own luck next year, as they are not necessarily any better than non affiliated sites. I suspect many people work things out themselves from year to year and know where to go back to, or to avoid. That is in a way part of the fun, I suppose. Take at least one of the main European camsite guides and try your luck, if you find a bad site, then move on.

 

[Tim2]

Hi Allyson

We've been caravanning, and previously frame tenting, on the Continent for about 12 years. Originally wife, 5 kids and me - now just wife and me!!

We started with Brittany but have now, also, been to Belgium, Germany, Austria, Italy and Switzerland and Holland. We are teachers and so we go for about 5 weeks every summer.

Initially we booked ferry, breakdown and travel insurance and sites through Camping and Caravan Club. Then on site I discovered it was MUCH cheaper to book on site. Until last year I continued book ferry via CCC but then last year switched to booking Norfolk line direct - Only

 

[DavidM.L.]

Allyson,

I would fully agree with the comments above - DIY every time, although we do usually check the 'packages' as well just to compare. This year however, several site's that were fully booked according to the CC website, still had availability when checking direct with the site.

T'internet makes it all so much easier.

 

[JoannaLesley]

Hi Allyson,

It depends when you plan to go. Our first time, I booked everything - including the overnight stops on the way down. We phoned ahead to book a municipal for one night on the way back. I used the Camping Europe guide and a map to do that. The next time, we booked our main site via the Caravan Club (including crossing and insurance) and "winged it" for the couple of nights it took to go there and back. After that we felt confident enough to go it alone. We now just book our crossing and then get Red Pennant cover from the Caravan Club. Other than that, we just look for a site around 4pm, using the Camping Europe guide. We've never had a problem. However, other than the first time, when we took by daughter and a friend in the summer hols, we have always gone out of season.

It's really a question of confience. Do what you feel most comfortable with.

 

[Guest]

Many years ago we planned a caravanning holiday with other family members who were told by the travel company that the ferries wanted were already fully booked by mid January and that our first choices of sites were booked out.

A chance conversation with other caravanning neighbours and they were told that the sites wanted could not be full, but that the travel companies made block bookings with the ferry opperators and some camp sites gauranteeing them a set number of sales.

A few direct phone calls and they got the site we all wanted and the ferry crossing at the time of day we wanted.

On site we found that if we had gone with the travel agents booking we would have been lumped into the companies tent and caravan ghetto.

Independant booking gave us more flexibility on site for less cost to us and more profit for the site owners who were pleased to give us a prime pitch.

 

[Allyson]

Hi All

Thanks for all your comments, I have actually booked now with Select sites.

2008 we will do it alone.

Thanks for all your comments on this topic.

Allyson

 

[Vic_5039745]

Having taken on board everyone's comments about booking everything up yourself, I embarked upon booking a fortnight at a campsite in Southern Britany nest June.

Got the prices for the campsite, ferry crossings in both directions and insurance and the final figure was in excess of a staggering