[haggispeed]

Just been going through the internet to get best deal for our first trip to France. Although heading for the Loire decided to take the Dover crossing because it is so much cheaper. Was originally looking at Speedferries because of their prices but they do have the 2.0m width limit (including mirrors) which I hear they rigedly enforce, also could not get the £88 deal, was going to be £102 and limited times, basically they are fully booked.
So after using a couple of search engines ended up at Smartferries (Leisure Drive) and they came back with a price of £98 on P&O in June, however there is a height limit of 2.5m for online booking, surprising since they do list Motorhome as an option, so ended up having to call them, they came back to me an hour later with the same price. Looking at a few other sites many seem to have this height restriction, and with an AS Duetto ours isn't exactly big. Anyone else come across this ?

 

[barrosa]

Hi try norfolk line dover/dunqurice £88.00 for my m/h 6.5 l 3.3h 2.4w.if you are taking a pet £20.00.Safe journys.

 

[haggispeed]

Thanks Barrosa - Did look at them too, (amazing how thorough you can be on the internet!), but they only had somewhat unsociable times available, about 04.15 dep I think, for another £10 with P&O got more flexibility.

 

[88735]

Hi Haggispeed
we've booked with norfolk line in August and i read somewhere you can get earlier ferry if room for £10 suppliment.
Before booking please make sure i'm correct as i could be mistaken

Chris & Brenda

 

[88781]

Hi Haggispeed, The early bird crossings of the morning are one of the best times to travel, arrive at Dover in the earlier hours of the evening, grab a few hours sleep, board the ferry when called, and before you know it your on your way down through France, looking for somewhere to get breakfast!!

M&D

 

[89177]

The width limit of 2.5m is common across most operators because it's the width used to plan the ships loading lanes. Basically freight vehicles used to be 2.5m wide (although in some circumstances they can now be up to 2.65m). Thus the lanes are marked on ships decks to allow a 2.5m vehicle plus room for a (slim) driver to get out from either side. Anything above 2.5m wide risks overlapping into a second lane, consequently taking up two vehicle spaces.

Hope that helps

 

[Boff]

Hi,

Speedferries seems to use a similar type of catamaran ferry as I travelled on with Hoverspeed in 1998. That time with a normal car. So the width and height restrictions are dictated by the lay-out of the ferry and you do not really want to "test" them.

Why P&O has a height limit on their on-line bookings, that I do not understand. I ran into this when booking my Ireland trip for this summer, so I had to involve a travel agent.

Best Regards,
Gerhard

 

[cabby]

Hello there just thought i would throw my twopenny's worth.oops showing my age.we have a large motorhome and are going in the tunnel.less restrictions.but the hours can be a pain but it is costing £122. hope that helps you .

 

[MOTORHOMER]

----------the lanes are marked on ships decks to allow a 2.5m vehicle plus room for a (slim) driver to get out from either side. ----------------------.

Hope that helps

Mmmmm

That us out then as we are far from slim people. What are we supposed to do?

Motorhomer

 

[Nora+Neil]

Boff said:

Why P&O has a height limit on their on-line bookings, that I do not understand. I ran into this when booking my Ireland trip for this summer, so I had to involve a travel agent.

Who are you travelling with. We never have a problem with Irishferries.

New company travelling from Cherbourg to Rosslare
www.celticlinkferries.com
Enjoy you holiday in Ireland.
Ceád mile failte.

 

[Arizona]

Hi

Have just spent 2 days researching ferries across the irish sea. On all web sites I came across there was a height restriction of 2.5, however when I phoned there was no problem!! It is definitely annoying when trying to organise a trip outside of normal working hours or in the evening, which is the only time I get peace to do so, that you then have to wait until the next day and go other the whole thing again on the phone!!

So much for modern technology!!

Arizona

 

[89177]

There is no reason that I can think of for a 2.5m height limit

The 1.85m limit you sometimes see is because many ships have Mezzanine Decks which fold down and effectively split a larger deck in two horizontally. The upper level then has a height of just under 2m

The 2.5m is more likely being used to ensure no commercial traffic (ie trucks) tries to use the passenger rate, hence when you phone you don't have a problem booking