(WITH CAR)
OUTWARD JOURNEY ONBOARD ‘THE PRIDE OF KENT’
Taking a car abroad can be a daunting prospect but as long as it is planned properly there is no reason why it shouldn’t be a stress free and convenient way to travel. I have driven in Europe on many occasions and I can assure you the thought of undertaking such an adventure is far worse than the real experience, indeed once you have made up your mind and you venture out on to those excellent roads, it becomes a pleasure.
The first thing of course is preparation, different countries will have different laws regarding what is necessary to carry in your vehicle. The most common ‘must have’ items are first aid kit, safety triangle, high visibility vest and adjustment to your headlights for driving on the right. You also need to check with your insurance company and breakdown service that you will be covered whilst abroad and get their European emergency telephone numbers. The other things to remember are, as with any foreign holiday, to make sure you carry your EHIC card for any medical attention you may require and ensure you are adequately covered by travel insurance.
On my most recent trip to France, I travelled from Dover to Calais with a car and four passengers on the 11:50 P&O service on board the ‘Pride of Kent’. I had booked the crossing several weeks in advance on the internet and was extremely pleased with the very low price of £39. We had arrived at the port from Essex via the Dartford crossing, M25 and M2/A2. You can also approach Dover from the M20 and for those not taking their cars, there are trains from London Victoria and Charing Cross to Dover Priory with a regular shuttle service to the port. National Express Coaches also operate a service to the ferry port.
Check in was quick as we had pre-booked, allowing us to drive directly to the car lanes ready to board, showing our passports and booking reference at the booth en-route. We were in the car lanes by 11:10 and boarding started at 11:20. Once on board we made a note of the car deck that we were on and the colour of the stairs that we used to access the upper decks, this would help us locate our vehicle when we arrived in France.
There are a few companies offering services across the channel from various UK ports to a number of European destinations, P&O operate up to 46 channel crossings a day with the Dover to Calais crossing taking approximately 90 minutes. The Pride of Kent was launched in 1991 and operated as the European Highway between 1992 and 2003, she is some 30.36 tonnes and has a speed of 21 knots. There are 6 active decks and 3 car/freight decks and maximum capacity is 2,000 passengers, 650 passenger vehicles or 120 freight vehicles. The amenities on board include a self service cafeteria known as “The Food Court” (this is where most people head for and it can get very busy at meal times), 2 Costa Coffee Cafes and ‘Langan’s Brasserie’ Restaurant (a very peaceful and civilised way to while away the 90 minute crossing). There is a shop which offers offshore shopping at French duty paid prices and two open decks on decks 8 and 9. There is a non smoking policy throughout the ferry apart from designated areas on deck 9.
We made our way to the “Food Court” and sampled their fish and chips which were both tasty and reasonably priced. After eating we had a stroll around the ship and then relocated to the café for a cup of tea whilst we waited to be called to our car. As we sat waiting we saw the French coastline appear and enjoyed the view as we sailed into Calais.
In no time at all we had crossed the channel and were back in the car ready to proceed on our journey. When we disembarked we drove straight out of the port (no passport control) and onto the open road, fed and relaxed we were ready for the start of our adventure.
THE RETURN JOURNEY ONBOARD ‘THE PRIDE OF CALAIS’
For our return crossing, we had left things to chance as our holiday had been somewhat “open ended”. We had stayed overnight in the Saint Quentin area of France and had an easy two hour drive to the ferry terminal at Calais. We arrived at about 12:05 and as we had not booked we had to go to the P&O ticket office which is located just off the roundabout before you enter the car lanes for the ferry. We booked our car and 4 passengers on the 12:50 crossing to Dover, the price of £107 was very different to the £39 we had paid coming, this shows the savings to be had by booking in advance on the internet.
With ticket and passports in hand and our car lane number hanging from the rear view mirror, we made our way to the designated lane and awaited boarding. Once again it was quick and efficient and in no time at all we were once again making a note of our car deck and stairs for when we had to locate our car at the end of our journey.
For our return journey we were on ‘The Pride of Calais’, which has very similar amenities to that of ‘The Pride of Kent’. This ferry was launched in 1987 and was owned by Townsend Thoresen until 2006, she is due to be phased out in the autumn of 2011 when she will be replaced with the larger ‘ms Spirit of France’. At 26,433 tonnes she is lighter than ‘The Pride of Kent’ but can accommodate more passenger with a maximum capacity of 2,290 and has a speed of 22 knots.
This time we treated ourselves to a meal in ‘Langan’s Brasserie’ where we could choose from the menu of the day or the al-la-carte menu. It was a more relaxing eating experience than the self service cafeteria and we spent the entire crossing enjoying our meal and chatting about our holiday, a most enjoyable end to a great trip.
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