Thinking of getting ferry to France (Portsmouth to St Malo) this summer. Never done it before, please tell me what it's like if you've done it already.

[exotictraveller]

We have 2 DC's age 4 and 7 and are thinking of booking the overnight ferry from Portsmouth to St Malo this summer. I would book a 4 berth outside 'premier' en suite cabin for the outward journey which departs at 2030 and arrives in St Malo the following morning at 0815. It all sounds lovely and I think the DC's would love it as it would be the first time we have done this.

Have any of you done this and what was it like? Did the DC's enjoy it, did they get sea sick?

I would just like to hear about people's experiences before I go ahead and book. I am a bit nervous about it all as have never done it before with DC's.

We are going to book a 'gite' through Owner's Direct.

Nobody? Am i being pathetic and worrying over nothing? It wouldn't be the first time...

I have booked the same journey with our 4 children 10,7,4,2 .I haven't done it before but they are very excited.They have slept well on yachts before, so I think the main problem is likely to be me..as I get terrible sea sickness.
I managed to be sick on the man behind me on a ferry to Barra once.
Maybe I should fly and just meet them there?

We did this when dc's were 2.5 and 4.5. Loved it. One of the highlights of the holiday

It was a huge novelty for the children to have our very own cabin on a boat, and was a great way to do a big chunk of the journey.

It did take a while to settle them down in the evening, and I don't think DH or I slept very well altho' the dc's did, but in terms of happy family memories, it ranks pretty highly. Expensive, but worth it.

None of us were seasick btw.

It is fantastic! We did it when the children were 3 and 7 and it was a great experience that they both still remember, Brittany Ferries are really good and although this is about 10 years ago, the ferries and the cabins were terrific, especially the outside ones. The food onboard can be a bit pricey though so take your own, esp. if dcs are fussy.

PS nobody was seasick, we all slept like logs! They do wake you up early for disembarkation though.

Hey, thanks everyone for replying! And thanks for being so positive! I am sure my DC's, like yours, fatsatsuma (great name!) would be sooo excited at sleeping on board a ship! Am sure not a lot of sleep would be had by anyone really!

Thanks for the tip about food on board being pricey. Will definately take some with us as DS is totally fussy.

I have been quoted £630 for us all including car to go over in August for a week. It seems very reasonable to me. What do you all think?

Gosh, am sooo excited now! I think I'll be even more excited than the DC's about sleeping on board the ship!

We have done this many times with our boys and have managed fine, and they do generally enjoy it. Are you coming back on the same ferry? We did this for the first time last year (other years we have driven to Caen and come back on the overnight from there). If you do come back on the daytime ferry from St Malo I would strongly recommend paying a bit extra for a Commodore cabin (if there are any left). The normal cabins are very small and if the ferry is crowded you can be left without anywhere comfortable to sit. The commodore cabins have a dvd player and more space so you can eat in them and generally spread out and the children can sleep if they want. They are not very much more expensive surprisingly, and make a massive difference imo. Also the food in the proper sit down restaurant is quite pricey but really nice all you can eat style buffet and you could probably get away with feeding the kids off your plates.

We are doing the same crossing this year too & have done before on many occasions.
Your DC's will love it,my dd1 gets motion sickness at the drop of a hat,but she's always been fine,she's usually too busy having fun to feel sick& in the summer the channel is mostly calm.

Have done this several times with very small children and it's all very easy and relaxed. We always get off the ferry in the morning and drive straight into St. Malo for a proper breakfast in one of the gorgeous cafes in the old town (near the carousel and marina) before then starting the long drive...and my dds have always loved it.

It can be a bit crowded in the restaurants so if you want to eat on board before sleeping then I would recommend you trying to get booked in and on the boat as quickly as possible.

One thing to think about though - those overnighters on the weekend for high season as pretty much booked up already. We tried to book 2 months ago for a Friday overnighter in mid August and there was nothing available and we've ended up going on the overnight to Caen instead. So - if you are going to book it - book quickly!!

I do this crossing on my own about 4 times a year with dc's 8,7 and 4.

My tips for the journey would be
get on board find cabin, either rush for food then or relax and allow kids to play in soft play area and small cinema and watch the sail out of Portsmouth. There is a bar immediately outside small play area so you can start the holiday the right way.

Drift to the self service restaurant on the boat...the others are too posh or too expensive and pick up a kids meal box with some Brittany ferry goodies.

After the meal go to the show at the bar at the other end of the boat, there is a kids show on first which was quite funny last year and they had a coouple of the semi finalists from Britains got talent on board too in the summer.

Go to cabin and be prepared for a long time for them to get to sleep and you will manage about 5 hours in total.

In the morning eat in the self service place and stockup on cool drinks etc for the journey. They will call you about an hour befor docking so you can go but I would say set an alarm and get there before the crowds. Your cabin ticket will give you a credit for breakfast which I have found is always enough for us all and we have some left over. Wander past the shops to your car and hey presto you are there.

There is less customs hassle at St Malo than at Caen or Cherbourg and you will be on your way a lot quicker.

Have fun

More replies! Thank you! I have booked the ferry and managed to book a 'premier' outside cabin for 4 for the overnight outbound and an inside ordinary cabin for the daytime return ferry. Saker thanks for your tips, I did think it would be nice to have a cabin for the return even though it is during the day as it is a long journey and like you say it would be nice to have a bit of our own space and it was only an extra £25 anyway.

chickens, thanks, am glad the channel is likely to be calm.

slalom, thanks for all your tips. Will save this thread and print it out before we go!

We have booked a lovely looking cottage in Lehon which is only about 30 mins from St Malo so not a long drive at that end. Have never driven in France before so if all goes ok this year may venture further into France next year.

Handbag, we managed to book a cabin both ways, but I think we just got lucky on the dates we wanted. I searched a couple of days either side and like you said, all cabins were fully booked.

Am very, very excited!