Is a ferry a viable alternative to the Eurotunnel?

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Caporegime
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Family of four going to France next July. For the past few years we've taken the Eurotunnel from Folkestone to Calais. We're about to book next year's trip, however growing delays and unreliability, as well as prices that seem high, is turning my attention to the possibility of using the ferry instead.

What are people's views on ferry instead of Eurotunnel? Is there an equal chance of delays? I know the journey is obviously longer, so does the waiting time make up for it or is it purely a price proposition?

Cheers.
 
IMHO it's a very viable alternative. I have used both and my preference is for the ferry.

I have had numerous issues, delays and problems with Eurotunnel and the Ferry just... works. And is usually cheaper.

And it's quite nice to have some time out of the car for a bit.

I always get conned by Eurotunnels 'Get on any train within 2 hours of your booking (subject to availabilty)' clause. So you end up picking a later train than you want incase of traffic, you turn up 2 hours early and get told 'Sorry, booked train only today, 2 hours in the crap supermarket bit for you!'
 
Ferries are pretty good, room to stretch your legs, go outside, have a nap etc.

can be kinda crowded but no worse than a train.

you can get delays, but its much like air travel if you go first thing in the morning you're all right
 
The chaos Dover and Calais have been over the summer, for me I'd be travelling Newhaven > Dieppe but only because Newhaven is 30 minutes away and where we usually go we drive past Dieppe at the other end anyway.

It's an older ferry, food is nice and it's not at all busy, customs and borders are one man and a dog and you don't have to be there hours before.
 
If you want to avoid the Dover area, consider a ferry from Newhaven. Not too much more pricey than dover ferries but much quieter.
 
Depends how far you're going really. If you're just spending a weekend in Lille or Bologne or somewhere like that it makes sense to take the tunnel so you can just do the whole journey in one go and spend as much time at your destination as possible.

If you're doing a long drive down to the south of france / somewhere else in Europe, I much prefer the ferry as you can use it as a break in your journey. Last time I drove down to Monaco I left SE London, got the 7am ferry from Dover, relaxed and had breakfast, then only took two short stops on the way down and was in Monaco by that night. Didn't really feel tired at all by the end of the joinery, and I don't think that would have been the case if I'd taken the tunnel.
 
When a group of us did a road-trip to Germany, we used the Dover --> Calais Ferry.

Arrived at the docks bang on time, waited around about 10 minutes then onto the boat. Went up to the restaurant and stayed there for the rest of the crossing, had something (reasonably priced) to eat.

The return journey, we were 2 hrs late due to awful weather through Holland and just got put on the next available Ferry which was about a 20 minute wait. Really choppy crossing and the boat was rolling quite heavily, but the cars were fine and so were we, just went about carefully. Obviously quite dependant on weather i would say.

Have to admit, i wouldn't fancy it now with the "migrant crisis" unless i could do it in daylight and keep doors locked throughout.
 
[TW]Fox;30119413 said:
And more than twice as long in terms of crossing time.

If you want to avoid Calais, do Dover to Dunkirk.
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Last year I had a fight on my hands to get the extended family to go from Newhaven (I'd have just gone for Dover and had done with it). The rest wanted to do Portsmouth to St Marlo. Takes ages and costs a flipping fortune.

They like spending extra time on a ferry. With young kids in tow. Can't understand it myself.
 
definitely Dover dunkirk. Much quieter, smaller port that generally is for HGV's. 2 hr crossing time means ability to get some shut eye too (as I always travel at night because the place is empty and the crossing is cheaper.)
 
I think I actually prefer going by Ferry than by Eurotunnel...

I do not like the prices of food and drink on the ferry though... no siree :p
 
Took a family holiday to Brittany in 2013. We decided the ferry prices to Brittany direct were too high, so went Dover -> Calais and drove down to Brittany from there. Sailed with myferrylink and had no complaints, very efficient service. But they're no longer operating unfortunately having ceased last year due to competition rules.

The migrant situation wasn't as bad back then. I'm not sure we'd take the same decision now, given all what's been happening with the risk of delays and stuff. I think we would probably stump up the extra for the Eurotunnel or sail from a different port.
 
Yeah ferries are the norm for my family.

We do Portsmouth-Caen which is about 7 hours dock to dock. That makes for good night time travelling so we book a couple of cabins. It's not for everyone, but personally I sleep fine over water.
 
[TW]Fox;30119381 said:
IMHO it's a very viable alternative. I have used both and my preference is for the ferry.

I have had numerous issues, delays and problems with Eurotunnel and the Ferry just... works. And is usually cheaper.

And it's quite nice to have some time out of the car for a bit.

I always get conned by Eurotunnels 'Get on any train within 2 hours of your booking (subject to availabilty)' clause. So you end up picking a later train than you want incase of traffic, you turn up 2 hours early and get told 'Sorry, booked train only today, 2 hours in the crap supermarket bit for you!'
Click to expand...

Agree, only time I use Eurotunnel is if I'm on a motorbike as you more often than not get on any train you wish as you can always fit on.

If going on a car, get the ferry, it's fool proof, you get to get out and walk around for a bit. Have a bit of a snooze if you've had an early ferry.

And yea, it's cheaper most of the time.
 
I always use the ferry, 90 minutes crossing time, kids can walk around, in summer holidays, they even have a kids club. I wouldn't even consider using eurotunnel.
 
If there's going to be an accident on the channel, I'd rather have the option of being able to swim away thanks. So yes, yes the ferry is viable. Not quite as fast as the Eurotunnel, but I'm a fan of the way ferries stay on top of the water rather than a few hundred feet underneath it.
 
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