Brittany Ferries 3 berth Commodore cabin & travel cot?

[MustBeDueSomeBetterFeet]

We are planning a summer break to France next year, and are going to use the overnight Portsmouth - St Malo ferry. From reading on here it looks like the best bet for a cabin (for space, and given there are four of us including a four and two year old) will be the Commodore one, but the boat on this route only offers the 3 berth Commodore (I think the boat is the Bretagne).

I wondered if anyone had experience of this boat/cabin, and could advise whether I could fit a travel cot/ready bed for my 2 year old in there easily? I don't know if it'd be against ferry rules though!!!

Thanks in advance.

could you top and tail them in one of the beds? that's what we used to do when ours were that age. i didn't use that cabin, but the 4 berth outer ones didn't have a lot of floor space once all the beds were down

That's an idea actually, thank you!

I guess I have visions of them kicking each other and not sleeping! I also actually don't particularly want to haul a travel cot with us when I'm planning on renting accommodation which has one.

directly we boarded the ferry we headed for the bar and got seats right at the back. that way we could watch the shows and also the sunset/portsmouth as we left. kids had a great time, went to bed a bit later than usual and slept like logs. happy days

have you got any snacks for breakfast - to eat in the cabin. i found this much easier than trying to buy anything as the morning was always a bit rushed

We do this regularly & it works very well. Commodore cabins on the bretagne are very roomy, with curtain between twin bunks and sofabunk. Living room end has loads of space for travel cot. It's another world from cramming cot between bunks in smaller cabins. Enjoy!

Brittany Ferries will provide cot for small surcharge iirc.

when dc were little we put them on a duvet on the floor to avoid them falling out.

I used to put DC on the floor in their sleeping bags with a duvet on the floor.

Oh and in commodore cabin they will deliver breakfast to your cabin I think :)

Oh thanks everyone - sorry was working!!

Dreamingofsun - I will definitely need to be organised about snacks etc! Thank you for your tips.

Expotition - that's great to know, thank you. Breakfast in my cabin sounds delightful! I saw I can book a cot on there, but they say it's up to 2 years old (no idea why - size?!).

GreenMarkerPen - that would probably work with my son actually, as he's constantly falling out of bed. Alternatively I'm wondering about those travel bed guards.

Twilightcafe - aha!

OK, it looks like I have lots of options which is brilliant. I have these visions of the boat swaying and children toppling everywhere which is probably unwarranted!

It's a pretty standard travel cot, I'd guess they're just trying to get you to pay for a bed for older children.

I'm pretty sure they will provide the bed guards too. I don't know if you can prebook or whether you just go and request them at the information desk when you get on board.

Cynically, you're probably right Expotition!

Barbeasty - that'd be great if they did that. I might make some enquiries...!!

Found it

I knew I'd seen it somewhere on the site!

I would go for the Commodore every time. There is loads of room for a cot. They are worth the extra money every time - not only do you have a butler bringing your free breakfast in the morning, you get a lovely fridge full of soft drinks and macaroons and stuff too. Have they released the sailing schedules for next summer yet? I haven't checked, but just that they move the boats around and some boats have nicer commodores than others (Pont Aven is lovely) get in quick though as they sell out, particularly in the summer in no time. If you want a discount code pm me.

Barbeasty - fabulous! Thank you.

Jenpetronus - I emailed BF about something the other day and they said next year's schedules will be released in July time, but need to sort my gite out first, to get the discount so I can be organised and get the ferry organised. I think I'm getting a 10% discount on the ferry via my gite but if you know of anything better please let me know!

We have a gite. For actual guests there is a 20% discount (25% for a 2 week window just after they launch the crossings!) for people travelling here who are not staying with us we can give 10% If you want the code for that I'm happy to send it to you (has to be by pm as they are not too happy for them to be posted publicly. Apparently)

Wow Jen that's really good!

Your gite looks absolutely lovely, and in such a great location. I have dreams one day of owning a place ourselves down in France, although yet to persuade DH. Plus I have no idea of the practicalities/taxes etc which I am sure are not to be sniffed at.

I'm rather wedded to the idea of having a pool for our holiday next year, but I will let you know if I change my mind as otherwise your place is ideal.

No worries, it's actually fab - the taxes for one gite are not so bad, as to practicalities, well Saturday can be a bit frantic, but I have every other day off - which has been great to be around for DS's & we've met some brilliant peope over the years.

You're very welcome to the code if it helps, wherever you end up.

Thanks so much.