howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
17 October 2010
13:3875284just a reminder that a strike in belgium means that from 10 p.m. there will be no train service to brussels until tomorrow evening.
wonder if there will be a boost in cars travelling on the dover/dunkirk service?
Brian Dixon
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 23 Sep 2008
- Posts: 23,940
17 October 2010
15:4575297probably,but its much quicker driving from calias.
Guest 673- Registered: 16 Jun 2008
- Posts: 1,388
23 October 2010
11:1576211Why is it a lot quicker via Calais, Brian? We carry prodigious quantities of trucks and tourist traffic on the DFDS ferries to Dunkerque West. That is the end of my contribution and I know nothing about the road network but it seems to me from the map below that to get to Brussels they would travel along the same major road as those from Calais, just starting off a good bit closer. The extra seatime is only thirty minutes which gives them the additional benefit of having a bit more time to relax and put their feet up before getting back behind the wheel.
Guest 649- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 14,118
23 October 2010
11:2176214Thank you for that Ed I now know which way to go by car.
Guest 658- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 660
23 October 2010
13:0876220In a truck going via Brussels Dunkirk is the faster option but in a car there's not a lot of difference in speed. However as DFDS do not carry coaches it is a far more pleasant crossing also DFDS ships are normally on time something P & O do not seem capable of achieving.
beer the food of the gods
Guest 673- Registered: 16 Jun 2008
- Posts: 1,388
23 October 2010
14:0776224Thanks, Guzzler. Always interesting to get some feedback. All the ferry timings have been stretched a bit, both Calais and Dunkerque, to save fuel. Just a small reduction in speed gives a huge saving in fuel costs. At 25 knots, using all four main engines, the Dover-Dunkerque service takes 1h45m but the advantage is frequently lost hanging about at either end for other port movements to take place.
For the last year or two, we have only used four engines for manoeuvring and reduce to two at sea. This still gives a speed in excess of 20 knots with a crossing time of approximately two hours and a concomitant immense saving in fuel. Good for the bottom line and good for the planet. It also means that, if for some reason we have been delayed, then we have the extra speed in hand to get back on schedule.
Sorry to disappoint you but DFDS have been carrying the odd coach and are looking to increase future carryings. Does this actually affect freight drivers as their accommodation is entirely segregated?
Guest 658- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 660
23 October 2010
14:1276226Yes we have our own area on board but still get the peasants trying to get in.P&O ships are occasionally overrun with drunken French and German kids.
beer the food of the gods
Unregistered User
23 October 2010
14:1376227Apart from fuel Ed.retail sale times are extended surely a factor.
Watty
Guest 649- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 14,118
23 October 2010
14:5576233We are going across when I am fit again,I am hoping to drive down to Spain to stay with my mate who now lives out there so we will go to Dunkerque just hope it is easy from there on.
Brian Dixon- Location: Dover
- Registered: 23 Sep 2008
- Posts: 23,940
23 October 2010
15:2176236vic,dunkerque makes spain a longer drive,calias is 70 miles nearer to spain but still needs about an 18 hour plus drive to get there.you would be better of going by portsmouth or southampton tple harve then driving to spain,its an over nioght sailing with or without a cabin,so you have a nice fresh start next day.
Guest 673- Registered: 16 Jun 2008
- Posts: 1,388
23 October 2010
16:2576243Brian: where on earth do you get the idea that going from Dunkerque is seventy miles further than Calais? The two ferryports are only 24 miles apart by road, see map below! Even if Vic were to drive from Dunkerque West to Calais before he started off for Spain it would add less than 24 miles. However, Google Maps shows the direct distance from Calais to Bilbao as 1,204km and from Dunkerque West as 1,210km so the actual additional distance to Spain would appear to be about 4 miles. I am sure that one of our truck drivers can confirm this or point out where it is wrong.
Vic: one of my colleagues has just driven to Spain a couple of months ago and it sounds like a marathon work-up to me. Not helped by the fact that he took a wrong turning on the way down, despite his Tom Tom, and went off on a giant detour! He lives at the Dover end of Temple Ewell so is presumably round the corner from you, perhaps I could put you in touch?
Portsmouth - Le Havre does not sound as if it offers much of a saving as you have to drive to Portsmouth in the first place.
Guest 649- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 14,118
23 October 2010
16:3176245I will be going from Dover ,but not yet as i am still waiting to go back in Hospital to have my knee done again then get back walking so does look like the newyear ,but think you both for the imput.
Guest 658- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 660
23 October 2010
16:4776247 Vic get in touch with me before you go, Ed is right you go via Lille and there is not much difference in time. Without wishing to be rude as you are no longer that young may i suggest you break your journey and take an overnight break, i know a couple of nice spots on the route down there.At the moment i seem to be driving to Spain every other week, as regards timings at a speed of 54mph Barcelona is about 17hrs Madrid about 16hrs. You must be mindful that if you are going down in the winter months the snow in the north can be several feet thick. Have a good trip i would never fly to Spain the scenery on route is stunning.
beer the food of the gods
Guest 673- Registered: 16 Jun 2008
- Posts: 1,388
23 October 2010
17:0276249Vic: Have you checked out Britanny Ferries? They run direct to Santander from Plymouth and Portsmouth. As from next March, they will also run to Bilbao in place of P&O who have just closed down on that route. They are not cheap but may be no more expensive than paying for all the fuel, tolls and wear and tear (on the car and you).
Regarding P&O, they have just handed the Pride of Bilbao back to her owners, Irish Ferries, after many years on charter running Portsmouth-Bilbao. This has repercussions for Dover. The displaced crew are being found slots in the other P&O ferry services around the coast, including Dover. This leaves no slack for when the P&O newbuilding, Spirit of Britain, commences service Dover-Calais in January. She will replace the Pride of Dover and carry nearly twice the payload. This could not have come at a worse time as the global depression has resulted in less freight being carried, not more. It is therefore expected that the European Seaway, or the Pride of Burgundy, or both, will also be dispensed with.
Guest 649- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 14,118
23 October 2010
18:0676254Thank you we will look at both ways before we go ,we are going to Almeria in Spain
Guest 673- Registered: 16 Jun 2008
- Posts: 1,388
24 October 2010
04:1476335Watty:
Doubt that the slightly extended voyage times have much of an effect on retail sales. Anybody that wanted to purchase anything and also have a meal had plenty of time before. Suspect that the amount that is sold is not earth-shattering in any case, nothing compared to the heady days of duty free. Nevertheless, shoreside management is always trying to promote additional sales as anything sold is icing on the cake.
Having worked for several major ferry companies over the years, I have a somewhat cynical view of retail and catering management on ferries in general. What I have seen time and time again is some wally with an inflated ego brought in from shoreside to revolutionise matters. He will have no knowledge of the very special circumstances pertaining to ferries and will proceed to try to alter things on the lines of whatever organisation he has come from.
Competent staff with many years of seagoing experience will be eased out. Lots of superfluous managers will be appointed onboard with inflated job titles which mean nothing to anybody. They will abruptly realise that they are on a very steep learning curve and will wander around looking like deer in the headlights.
They will have to accustom themselves to very long hours day and night, quick turnrounds, heavy weather, endless streams of demanding passengers tired after long drives, skeleton staff, new computer systems which never work properly, trying to rest in a cabin which is vibrating and shuddering, etc, etc.
Worst of all, they never know one end of a ship from another and they have an important role in the safety organisation to fulfil, with the catering staff required to muster the passengers in the event of an emergency and to assist in their evacuation. The holocaust which consumed the modern DFDS ferry Lisco Gloria in the Baltic a few weeks ago shows yet again just how crucial this is.
Jan Higgins
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 5 Jul 2010
- Posts: 13,888
24 October 2010
10:2076355Ed my husband, Peter, would have agreed with your comments about those from outside the industry being "wallies". When he was with Sealink/Stena he used to circulate the odd memo from a fictitious P.Frankenheima about some of their ideas plus a few of his own
. He had a wicked sense of humour that the office bods did not approve of.
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I try to be neutral and polite but it is hard and getting even more difficult at times.
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Guest 673- Registered: 16 Jun 2008
- Posts: 1,388
26 October 2010
13:2076710Jan: Would have enjoyed reading the memos from P.Frankenheima!
Guzzler: Article in "Le Phare Dunkerquois" this week about DFDS plans regarding more coaches.
http://tinyurl.com/36znx9a
