Portsmouth - St Malo Crossing

[GillC1]

Can anyone give any info on the Portsmouth-St Malo or Portsmouth-Caen crossing, I don't do ferries very well and am a little concerned that they are quite long crossings and may be quite rough. Any advise or experiences would help

Thanks

 

[Dusty1]

Portsmouth to St Malo is the longest channel crossing but have a look at the Brittany Ferries website. It gives you details of all their crossings and options. We have used Brittany Ferries many times in the past and have found them very good but now find them quite expensive. This year we are using the Condor fast ferry from Poole to St Malo - 4.5 hours but it does not sail in very bad weather. The fast ferries tend to roll a bit more than conventional ferries, hence the nick name 'The Vomit Comet'!!!! We have used Condor ferries several times and ,touch wood, have never seen anyone with a problem. The catering on Brittany ferries is much better than Condor, particularly Brittany ferries restaurant, but that's no problem for us othe Condor 4.5 hour crossing.

 

[rayc]

Gill, I have used the Poole to Cherbourg ( Brittany Ferries)crossing regularly and except for a new year crossing have never found it particularly rough and the ferry Balflour is stable. This year they changed the route slightly so it is triangular: Poole - Cherbourg - Portsmouth and it was like a mill pond in both directions when we used it in July / August. If you have a particular problem with sea sickness then consider a cabin, they are reasonably priced especially if not at peak times and on day crossings.

When serving in the Forces years ago I used to travel Zeebrugge to Dover regularly and 2 hours on that in the winter was far worse than anything I've experienced on Poole - Cherbourg route, perhaps the design of modern ferries has something to do with it.

 

[MikeG1]

Hi Gill. Over the years we've tried various crossings and are probably the worst sailors ever as the whole family suffers from sea sickness. Believe it or not but we find the crossing from Portsmouth the St Malo the best out of all of them. You have more time to relax, there's not such a rush with anything, even in the morning but mainly because its over night and we sleep. Yes is expensive but still the best. I will add though we have never crossed from St Malo to Portsmouth because this is mostly a day crossing and as you say a long crossing so we've always travelled to Caen for the return journey and yes, its overnight. We've have always crossed in July/August so we've never had any real problems with rough crossings, or at least we've never noticed it. To get the better crossings with a cabin its advisable to book early though otherwise you might not get what you want. Hope this helps.

Mike