Queues at the ports?

[slobodan]

Has anyone any first hand knowledge of queues at the ferry ports coming in to England?
Particularly Dunkirk, Calais, Ostend or Hook of Holland.
If this no fly thingy carries on, the Surf may be due a trip.

[wiggy]

Has anyone any first hand knowledge of queues at the ferry ports coming in to England?
Particularly Dunkirk, Calais, Ostend or Hook of Holland.
If this no fly thingy carries on, the Surf may be due a trip.

Not personally but one of the guys over here just went back, got dropped off in belguim and got the train / ferry just fine even asked if he wanted to upgrage to a cabin!, doesnt seem as bad as the news is making out as long as you stay away from dover/calais. Have you tried the one to poole/bournemouth cant remember where it is in france now ...if its still running.( i know its not much help if you are trying to get to east england but it might work out a bit easier).

http://www.metrosnow.co.uk/index.php...article_id=426

[slobodan]

Thanks Rob, Problem is... Surf has no MOT, Insurance or Tax. So really I need to do as little driving as poss in the UK.
BA are quoting 800 Euros one way!!! But who knows when flights will resume.

[stormforce]

So i've just heard on the radio there is another big dust cloud heading this way

[Rustinho]

Presumably when the world comes to its senses (not any time soon I would imagine!)



The movement/location of the ash cloud is being predicted on a computer model designed to predict the distribution of industrial pollutants. The powers that be have decided that since the worldy wise scientists at the met office are so good are predicting things like the BBQ summer last year that they have just taken it as gospel because they MUST be right. Mustn't they?!

They have absolutely no idea what a "safe" level of volcanic ash is. They don't know what the levels of ash actually are. Presumably this means that they will ban anything that they can detect because they don't know any better. Would this happen anywhere else in the world? Probably not.

It's just typical Euro-beaurocracy gone mad banning anything that they think might have a risk without considering the consequences of their actions and without consulting anyone who might have a different point of view.

"It's to reduce the risk of people dying in an aeroplane crash" they cry. What about the increased traffic on the road causing deaths? - Much more spread out in lots of smaller incidents so it won't get reported by the press so they can breathe a sigh of relief on that one. What about people with serious medical conditions stuck without their medication? - That's ok cos I've only noticed one or two pretty minor reports on the news about that.

*rant rant rant*

...and breathe.



Sorry - no idea on the state of the ports matey but from all the reports I've seen they seem to be coping pretty well. They seem to have drafted in all the extra staff that they can and are running at passenger levels they would only normally expect during the height of summer.

Re: the MOT, etc - without wanting to suggest any illegal activity couldn't you just switch number plates to one of your "local" ones before you get back into the UK? Surely no-one would be any the wiser... (not that I could possibly condone any illegal activity!)

[slobodan]

I agree with everything you just said!

I think I'll take the wife's pickup. That'll be me in The UK on Serbian Plates and her in Serbia on English plates,

[tintin]

My daughter works for Brittany ferries, on the portsmouth to northern france route. She says she has never seen so many people at a time being crammed on to the ferries!

alan

[John h]

Have rung our shipping agents at Le havre,Dunkirk,rotterdam and finally got through to Calaise !! You should be ok for all , the initial rush is over but Vessels normally re-tasked are staying on for extra Freight and coaches. hope this helps ? Calaise phones jammed with media ringing for stories and updates !!!

[yoshie]

Thanks Rob, Problem is... Surf has no MOT, Insurance or Tax. So really I need to do as little driving as poss in the UK.
BA are quoting 800 Euros one way!!! But who knows when flights will resume.

No, what you need to do is find a road legal car or stay off the fecin roads.

[slobodan]

No, what you need to do is find a road legal car or stay off the fecin roads.

Haha,

[slobodan]

Have rung our shipping agents at Le havre,Dunkirk,rotterdam and finally got through to Calaise !! You should be ok for all , the initial rush is over but Vessels normally re-tasked are staying on for extra Freight and coaches. hope this helps ? Calaise phones jammed with media ringing for stories and updates !!!

Thanks for that, I won't leave until the weekend and it should have eased a bit more by then.

[ronsarrox]

my father and mother in-law came back to England from France via Le harve to Portsmouth on Friday just gone, they said it was busy, but not heaving.

But that was on friday when the the closures of airports had only just begun, im guessing now it might be a different story.

Heard on the grapevine that ferrys from spain to france are charging upto 2500 Euros for a ticket, and local train services in spain are charging rediclus pricres, and are refusing passengers to board the trains with suitcases!! passengers are being told either to dump all their luggage or try and sell it to the local market!!

Why is it that whenever something like this happens, suddenly there are vast increases in prices, and everyone gets on the band wagon to fleece what they can out of Mr Joe Public!!!

Rant over lol!!

[John h]

Human nature and that natural wish to make a fast buck !

Slobo, Friday night is busy lots of coaches heading to calaise from Spain, saturday from 6 pm looks your best bet or sunday 1pm for car deck stuff forget Le havre ...prices are up surprise surprise, Ostend quiet though