Santander to Portsmouth winter crossing

Our ferry from Santander at end January last year was cancelled 2 days before travel due to storms on Bay of Biscay. Had to travel anyway due to appointments at home so had to drive to Cherbourg instead through 2 days of rain. The Channel was very rough too so glad we weren’t on Biscay. It can be but hit n miss. Have had some great sailings to & from Santander too including last October which was dead calm. The saving on Fuel, Tolls and time plus avoiding often poor French winter road conditions make using Santander worth chancing it. Will be using it again probably early March 

Hi Carol we also experienced delayed ferry last year end of January but we stayed on the boat in Santander port overnight and left next day was a rough crossing though! But did get free breakfast and £70 compensation..Came over beginning of December like a millpond and arrived 2 hours early return home beginning of March fingers crossed for no delays and a calm crossing. 

Hi Jenny

So the ferry company let you know in advance of travelling that's good to know.

We may risk it ( thats if I cant convince my hubby to stay longer 😉) 

Thanks for the info.

Carole

Sorry confused my replies I think. The info you gave about notice of delay is useful. We may risk.

Thanks for your response.

Carole

Thanks for your response I think I may have confused my replies ( sorry) 

If we can stay on board rather than have to detour that's a positive.

Thanks again

Carole

Hi Carol Brittany ferries contacted us by text day before sailng when we were at a hotel halfway but we boarded ship as if we were sailing but stayed overnight in the port. It worked out ok as didn't need another hotel night so two nights in cabin instead of one at no extra cost. Wouldn't drive through France in January cost and wear and tear on car. We had a motorhome and used to drive down for 6 months through France but took a month making a holiday if it. Hope this helps.

It does thank you.

We are travelling with a dog so have an issue with timing around the tapeworm treatment.

I wonder if you travelled with a dog and if so do the ferries enforce the muzzle rule.

Carole

Hi Carol no we don't travel with a dog anymore. We used to years ago but dog could stay in your car/motorhome and you could go down to see them at regular intervals. Think they have kennels now on one of the decks so maybe you need to check with Brittany ferries about muzzle rule.

Hi Carol, we have a dog and we were booked on the Santander to Portsmouth ferry on 10th December in a pet friendly cabin. Unfortunately due to bad weather our ferry was cancelled a day or two before our travels home. As we have a dog the only other crossing with a pet friendly cabin would have been around 29th December, which was too late for us because of the tapeworm treatment. In the end we decided to drive all the way through to Calais to catch the shuttle. I have to say we were home about 6 hours earlier than if we had caught the ferry even though we did stay in hotels for 2 nights on the journey. Good luck with your travels