Brittany Ferries 2023-24 Timetable

[baypaul]

Very sad to hear about your loss @khaines. I hope you find a good ferry trip to distract you from the difficulties in your life. 

[Quibby]

There are now two round Plymouth -Roscoff trips in early January and the service restarts earlier in February with a number of salings over both half term weekends. The first Cork-Roscoff service is now midweek rather than at the weekend. Obviously some strong demand for more sailings in the school holidays!

[zinedinebiscan]

Any news of the Liberation sailings going online yet?  I've looked at BF's site and Condor's but can't see anything yet.  I quite like the fast craft arrival.at 11am in Cherbourg as it means I'm down to Brittany just after lunch.

[twbc99]

Any news of the Liberation sailings going online yet?  I've looked at BF's site and Condor's but can't see anything yet.  I quite like the fast craft arrival.at 11am in Cherbourg as it means I'm down to Brittany just after lunch.

I would imagine they are waiting on Condor as the winter timetable was only released a few weeks back. One thing that intrigued me is why do the outbound journeys go from Portsmouth and not Poole as it would save the overnight positioning move.

[hhvferry]

BF statement here on the Cotentin.



We've released all Cotentin sailings until the end of October 2024, which means more choice this winter between Portsmouth-Caen/Cherbourg and Rosslare-Cherbourg, & more availability from the end of March 2024 on our Portsmouth-Le Havre and Rosslare-Cherbourg routes.

---

I don't think it tells us anything we didn't know but this is confirmation of her typical summer 2024 rotation:

Mon
Portsmouth a 0700 d 1130
Le Havre a 1830 d 2115

Tues
Portsmouth a 0700 d 1130
Le Havre a 1830 d 2115

Weds
Portsmouth a 0700 d 1130
Le Havre a 1830 d 2115

Thurs
Portsmouth a 0700 d 1130
Le Havre a 1830 d 2115

Fri
Portsmouth a 0700 d 1400
Cherbourg a 1900 d 2145

Sat
Rosslare a 1400 d 2200

Sun
Cherbourg a 1700 d 2330

[eddies]

With Normandie,on the Le Havre, route, why is that see don't take foot pasengers, as when she is on the Cean, route at weekends the Normandie, do.
When I looked up Cotentin, on the Cean, route she is now taking foot passengers but must have a cabin in both directions if your to travel on her. unlike on the Mont St Michel ??

[David]

With Normandie,on the Le Havre, route, why is that see don't take foot pasengers, as when she is on the Cean, route at weekends the Normandie, do.
When I looked up Cotentin, on the Cean, route she is now taking foot passengers but must have a cabin in both directions if your to travel on her. unlike on the Mont St Michel ??

I guess that the infrastructure for foot passengers will be too expensive at Le Havre for a few crossings. It needs separate checkin, security, passport control, waiting area & bus transfer. However it should be able to take push bikes, not sure if it does.
 

[hhvferry]

With Normandie,on the Le Havre, route, why is that see don't take foot pasengers, as when she is on the Cean, route at weekends the Normandie, do.
When I looked up Cotentin, on the Cean, route she is now taking foot passengers but must have a cabin in both directions if your to travel on her. unlike on the Mont St Michel ??

I guess that the infrastructure for foot passengers will be too expensive at Le Havre for a few crossings. It needs separate checkin, security, passport control, waiting area & bus transfer. However it should be able to take push bikes, not sure if it does.
 

The infrastructure all exists at Le Havre ferry port but staffing it presumably is the issue.

[eddies]

Yes the infrastructure for foot passengers is there, as it was all new at the time of Covid, with the new system for passport and control due to Brexit, put inplace, I had put it down to the configuration of Cotentin, but with her being on the Cean, route this has proved to me that I was wrong. !!
As for not havin staff or being to expensive, they are always at the office desk to calls, as are the customs office upstairs on the 1st level.

[hhvferry]

Yes the infrastructure for foot passengers is there, as it was all new at the time of Covid, with the new system for passport and control due to Brexit, put inplace, I had put it down to the configuration of Cotentin, but with her being on the Cean, route this has proved to me that I was wrong. !!
As for not havin staff or being to expensive, they are always at the office desk to calls, as are the customs office upstairs on the 1st level.

Cotentin isn't taking foot passengers on the Ouistreham route though is she?

[eddies]

Yes the infrastructure for foot passengers is there, as it was all new at the time of Covid, with the new system for passport and control due to Brexit, put inplace, I had put it down to the configuration of Cotentin, but with her being on the Cean, route this has proved to me that I was wrong. !!
As for not havin staff or being to expensive, they are always at the office desk to calls, as are the customs office upstairs on the 1st level.

Cotentin isn't taking foot passengers on the Ouistreham route though is she?

She is at this time as my daughter, is booked on Cotentin, for a day crossing and had to take a cabin unlike the return trip on MSM,.
 

[baypaul]

Yes the infrastructure for foot passengers is there, as it was all new at the time of Covid, with the new system for passport and control due to Brexit, put inplace, I had put it down to the configuration of Cotentin, but with her being on the Cean, route this has proved to me that I was wrong. !!
As for not havin staff or being to expensive, they are always at the office desk to calls, as are the customs office upstairs on the 1st level.

There is probably also a need for security staff, probably a gangway operator or shuttle bus driver depending on how they board the ship, possibly an additional security guard on the ship to man the passenger gangway...  it all adds up, and probably isn't worthwhile for a very small number of foot passengers.

[hhvferry]

Cotentin isn't taking foot passengers on the Ouistreham route though is she?

She is at this time as my daughter, is booked on Cotentin, for a day crossing and had to take a cabin unlike the return trip on MSM,.
 

Thanks, that's good news and a bit surprising. But an interesting ship for a foot passenger excursion for sure.

[vernon]

Cotentin isn't taking foot passengers on the Ouistreham route though is she?

She is at this time as my daughter, is booked on Cotentin, for a day crossing and had to take a cabin unlike the return trip on MSM,.

So glad to hear that BF has changed its policy.  I'm sure that many footies will opt for Monty to avoid paying for cabin but it's very helpful to have the option. Mind you, Cotentin is full on night crossings so it's academic.

[eddies]

Sum would see it as BF, has changed it's policy, but with Normandie, on the Le Havre, route has taken the policy of no foot passengers but at the weekend when Normandie, moves back to the Cean, route, she will take foot passengers again.
Ok I get the fact that Le Havre may have a cost to transport foot passengers to the terminal but the last time I looked that is down to the port not BF, as is the control cost down to the port.
Now for may take on it for what it's worth "It's discrimination" when all other routes take foot passengers.

[vernon]

Sum would see it as BF, has changed it's policy, but with Normandie, on the Le Havre, route has taken the policy of no foot passengers but at the weekend when Normandie, moves back to the Cean, route, she will take foot passengers again.
Ok I get the fact that Le Havre may have a cost to transport foot passengers to the terminal but the last time I looked that is down to the port not BF, as is the control cost down to the port.
Now for may take on it for what it's worth "It's discrimination" when all other routes take foot passengers.

For France <> Ireland, BF has been selling its role as an important green travel mode for foot (rail) passengers.  I think that it's important that this emphasis also guides policy for France <> UK. I have sympathy with BF about costs of supporting footies but these can be managed.  The buses may be operated by the port but I suspect there is a variable charge for their use.  That said, Portsmouth has many departures and I suspect most hours require staffing of bus driver anyway. At Ouistreham, the bus is used for clearning staff to get to and from the ship.  Ticket counters seem to be staffed all day anyway.  Re gangway charges, these can be avoided (though I dislike it) as it done anyway for E-flexers for which all boarding and alightng is via the car deck. 
In Summer months, footie numbers are significant - and fares are higher than the incremental cost of a car passenger without taking up lane metres or adding to the mass of the ship. In Winter months, if numbers really are low, more flexible approaches can be taken to border control. When foot passengers were first allowed back during the pandemic, the bus in Cherbourg used to stop adjacent to the car passport booths and an agent would come onto the bus to take the passports to the booth for checking and stamping. 
One cost that must be high is the security team. This struck me during the pandemic when a team of at least three staff were screening a handful of passengers. However, security is always the thing that no mortal can question (despite the fact that only one person is required for departures from France). 

[Jojo68]

Cotentin has a very small passenger capacity anyway. So taking a large number of foot passengers could end in moving a 22000GT ship with an almost empty garage and only a small part actually useful.

[tumnus2010]

Galicia moved into the layup in Le Havre on Tuesday. Barfleur - as has been documented on this site, is up the canal in Caen for a bit.

Pont Aven is in Roscoff, but now off service. Presumably de-storing before heading to either Le Havre or refit.

I still think it's a bit odd that Galicia,  one of the newest ships is being laid up whilst the two of the oldest plough on. I suppose if Galicia was able to berth in St Malo or Ouistreham then perhaps the situation would be different.

[khaines]

Cotentin has a very small passenger capacity anyway. So taking a large number of foot passengers could end in moving a 22000GT ship with an almost empty garage and only a small part actually useful.

I am not really looking forward to her replacing Barf. 
 

[eddies]

Cotentin has a very small passenger capacity anyway. So taking a large number of foot passengers could end in moving a 22000GT ship with an almost empty garage and only a small part actually useful.

I am not really looking forward to her replacing Barf. 

You ony need to look at Le Havre, as BF don't take any foot passengers, on Cotentin, and not only that but when going with a car o her you must have a cabin however if you are going to Caen, when she's on that route they are taking foot passengers but even on a day crossing you must take a cabin. 

[hhvferry]

If/when Cotentin replaced Barfleur they would add extra accommodation to make her suitable for the level of traffic on the Poole route.

[khaines]

I am not really looking forward to her replacing Barf. 

You ony need to look at Le Havre, as BF don't take any foot passengers, on Cotentin, and not only that but when going with a car o her you must have a cabin however if you are going to Caen, when she's on that route they are taking foot passengers but even on a day crossing you must take a cabin. 

I would see a trip on Cotentin as she is at the moment a novelty, I think they should leave her as she is and get another ship in.  Or of course, keep the old girl!!☺️