20 December 2009

Brittany Ferries to withdraw year-round Poole to Cherbourg ferry crossing

After losing money on the route since 2003 Brittany Ferries has decided to withdraw the all year ferry service from Poole in the UK to Cherbourg in Northern France, although the summer service will continue.

This ferry crossing to France has been served by the MV Barfleur for the last 17 years. The vessel will be withdrawn in early February and the route will be served by Brittany Ferries' newest ship the Armorique until the last sailing on March 8th 2010.

The Poole Cherbourg route will still be operated in the summer, from May to September, by the fast ferry high speed cat the Normandie Vitesse,capable of carrying 185 cars across the Channel in just 2 and a quarter hours, and the freight service will continue to be operated by the Cotentin.

Click for more information on the Poole to Cherbourg ferry crossing.

18 December 2009

DFDS to take over NorfolkLine

DFDS Seaways have announced that they have taken a substantial stake in NorfolkLine Ferries, effectively giving them ownership of the company. This seems to us a sensible move for both companies. It will create the largest ferry operator in Northern Europe, with a combined fleet of 73 ships - 2 of Norfolk Lines' ships are being disposed of.

The deal makes sense because Norfolk Lines is strong on the Irish Sea and operates a successful route from Dover to Dunkirk, whereas DFDS is strong on North Sea ferry crossings from the UK to Belgium, the Netherlands and Denmark.

Drive-Alive works with both DFDS and Norfolk Line so we look forward to continuing to offer these ferry crossings to our customers. We will keep you informed of any further developments.

DFDS routes, timetables, prices and booking.
NorfolkLine routes, timetables, prices and booking.

15 December 2009

Not much news but still some great prices on ferries, self-catering and camping.

Sorry the news has been slow in coming recently - there just is not much of it! And availability over the Christmas and New Year period is now getting scarce, especially for self-catering apartments in the ski resorts, although there's still plenty of availability in Swiss resorts.

Most of our partners continue to offer competitive prices in order to attract your business in these hard times, so we thought we'd remind you of some of the best buys:

Ferry crossings to France, Spain, Ireland and the Netherlands:
P&O Ferries Dover Calais from £25 each way for a car and up to 9 passengers.
Norfolk Line Ferries Dover Dunkirk from £19 each way car and up to 4 passengers.
Brittany Ferries Portsmouth Caen from £66 each way for a car and 2 passengers.
Eurotunnel Folkestone Calais via Channel Tunnel from £42 each way car and up to 9 passengers.
Stena Line Fishguard Rosslare from £75 each way car and driver.
P&O Ferries Hull Zeebrugge from £109 each way including ensuite cabin for car and 2 passengers.

Self-catering early booking discount:
Many of our properties are on offer with a 10% discount for early booking, applicable if you book more than 9 months ahead of your stay. So now's the time to think about next August summer holidays, and since holiday homes rental costs in August are in the hundreds of pounds there are big savings to be made. Search self-catering holiday homes here.

Camping holiday savings:
Talking of summer holidays, Eurocamp are offering various incentives to book early, plus loyalty bonuses and family discounts, similarly with Keycamp, and both companies offer easy payment options. Plus the earlier you book the better your choice of parcs and locations.