Flipping Brittany Ferries situation!

[duchesse]

I'm just wondering if anyone has any inside info on how negotiations are going between management and the unions? Am due to travel from South Brittany to Devon on Tuesday afternoon with DD3 (3yo) and really not looking forward to the alternative travel I've been offered- drive to Calais (7.5 hours without a break, then 5 hours back to Devon from Folkestone).

Obviously driving alone with a 3 yo I will have to take quite a few breaks, so my journey is probably going to take 12 extra hours and about ?30+ in tolls, not to mention a whole load of extra fuel. I am spitting feathers quite frankly and would like to know the likelihood of any kind service on the Western Channel being resumed on Tuesday afternoon.

They're telling people on Twitter that even if the dispute is resolved, Tuesday's crossings are not likely to be un-cancelled.
So infuriating-I'm not relishing the prospect of an extra 6 hours of driving with my 10-month old!

I'm thinking I'll wait till tomorrow evening to make a decision now. Maybe they'll get somewhere by then and be able to resume crossings on Wednesday, in which case I'd just go to Roscoff on Wednesday. If it's looking unlikely, I have all day Tuesday to get to Calais. What I don't understand is if I go to Calais and wave my ticket reference at them, does that mean I've used my crossing and can't move the crossing to another time when they've resumed services, or whether I will get a refund? I'll try asking them tomorrow on Twitter- All they told me earlier on twitter is that I'd have to go to Calais, very sorry. [grr]

With a 10 mo is going to be even worse than with a 3 yo- are you alone on your trip with your baby, isabella? As least one can talk to a 3 yo and have a conversation on the trip, even if spending 12 hours with her cooped up in a car seat is about as close to hell as I'd like to get...

I can vouch that Western Brittany to Western England via Calais-Dover is extremely unpleasant with a bored 3 yo in tow. It took 52 hours door to door, and curtailed our time with the family by 2 days. Luckily have got onto a Poole-Cherbourg replacement service for tomorrow, so don't have to endure that mammoth journey again...

Hi there,

We've been in touch with Brittany Ferries and they've asked us to post this statement on their behalf:

'We are extremely pleased to announce the end of the industrial dispute which has disrupted the travel plans of thousands of our passengers during the past ten days.

Following a referendum amongst all non-officer crew last night, a majority voted to accept the agreement put to their unions. This allows us to resume operations and removes any likelihood of further industrial action.

The first services to resume will be:

Tuesday 2nd October
Roscoff ? Plymouth departing at 15.45
Caen ? Portsmouth departing at 16.30
Portsmouth ? Santander departing at 17.00
Portsmouth ? St Malo departing at 20.15
Plymouth ? Roscoff departing at 22.00
Portsmouth ? Caen departing at 22.45
Caen ? Portsmouth departing at 23.00

Thursday 4th October
The first Cap Finistere sailing will be on Thursday from Santander at 15.00. Therefore, this means the 11.00 Portsmouth-Santander sailing on Wednesday will be cancelled as the ship is out of position. We will try to transfer customers on to other sailings.

For those that these sailings do not suit we will continue to provide free travel on P&O Ferries and MyFerryLink until 23.59 on Thursday'

HTH and do let us know if you have any other queries you'd like us to pass onto them.

Thank you Kat. Alas I had to travel over in the worst possible week as I had a hospital appointment back in the UK that I couldn't miss.