Ferry Across The Solent!

Advantages: Reliable and quick.
Disadvantages: The price is a variant!

...To get to the Isle of Wight there is only one way..... by boat. There is no tunnel or bridge so everyone has to get a boat or if taking a car then the only option is by ferry. The other half and I decided to spend a three night break on the island, and although the island itself is a great place to relax and unwind, I did kind of feel that the ferry companies were getting the last laugh on us. About three weeks before the trip, when the Isle of Wight was chosen as the destination for our break, we looked up all options for taking a car across the water. We could travel from Southampton or Lymington using the Red Funnel or using Wightlink from Portsmouth. Although this was more than Red Funnel in cost of the ticket it was far more convenient for us to travel from Portsmouth than to have to drive a further 20 miles to Southampton to...

Timbo3107 24.05.2009 · Read review
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Review of Wightlink Ferries

Ferry of success

Advantages: good value for money, clean easy to book and relaxing atmosphere
Disadvantages: i cant think of any

...Norfolk Ferries This is the first time i have used Norfolk Ferries as previously i have only used P&O ferries from Dover to Calais but in this occasion i was going from Dover to Dunkerque, 2 hours long. Norfolk as i know have been around for about 4 years and we came across them online as the cheapest deal. The website was really easy to use and we booked the same morning as our trip. I thought the price of £40 for a return trip journey for 2 people and a car was pretty good. Well condsidering prices of other ways eg- Euro Tunnel this was a cheap opition. We decided to travel in the early hours of the morning as this was cheaper and the roads on each side would be less busy. On or way their we caught the 2am Ferry and the way back it was the midnight ferry. There were not many people thereforth catching the same as we did...

blackmagicstar4 03.07.2008 · Read review
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Review of Norfolk Line Ferries

Pentland Ferries - the cheap and cheerful way to get to Orkney

Advantages: The cheapest and quickest way to get to Orkney by car, modern vessel, wonderful scenery en route.
Disadvantages: Gills Bay terminal is a bit of an eyesore at the moment and the toilets there are a mess.

...office as it only opens once the ferry is underway. Pentland Ferries offer a cheaper and shorter journey across to Orkney from the Scottish mainland than the subsidised Northlink. Current costs for one adult and one car (2009 prices) are £43 one-way (car of any length) ? return price is simply double this amount. Compare this with Northlink who charge £64.30 one-way for their crossing from Scrabster ? the latter service is also a longer crossing (about another 30 minutes or so). Pentland however do charge £3 per bicycle (if not carried by another vehicle) whereas Northlink carry them free of charge. Pentland Ferries do not require passengers to carry photocard ID for boarding purposes, unlike Northlink. Pentland Ferries? summer services involve three sailings per day in each direction, with an extra mid-afternoon sailing each way on Mondays...

graeme10 27.03.2009 (17.11.2009) · Read review
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Review of Pentland Ferries

Orkney Ferries - Not just a way of getting from A to B

Advantages: Helpful and friendly crews, clean vessels, wonderful views of the islands, excellent bacon rolls!
Disadvantages: None really, they're the only way to reach some of the islands.

...have their own waiting area too, and reverse down the slipway onto the car deck ? you can sometimes have serious fun watching tourists getting into great difficulties trying to back onto the ferry, then giving up on the directions of the crews who have seen it all before ? I?ve even seen people handing over their car keys, saying that they can?t reverse properly! There?s clearly an art to this ? and whilst I?ve never seen 12 cars on MV Shapinsay, I?ve seen it jam-packed with half-a-dozen light vans and a couple of cars. There is a similar slipway on the island of Shapinsay itself, and there?s an encore for the little reversing dance when you want to return to Kirkwall! As this service runs every hour or so through the day, and it?s only about twenty minutes across to Balfour, the only real village on the island, lots of islanders use it to...

graeme10 03.04.2009 (04.04.2009) · Read review
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Review of Orkney Ferries

Ferris Holidays Review

Advantages: Cheap. Affordable.
Disadvantages: Journey - but you get what you pay for.

...Ferris Holidays are a coach holiday company who specialise, mainly, travelling down to the southern coast of Spain. The Costa Brava. If you are looking for a cheap 5 star hotel holiday deal, you've come to the wrong place. But Ferris Holidays do offer the cheapest enjoyable holidays you can find. Believe me. Ferris Holidays have a fleet of today-modern coaches which the option of Platinum or normal-Executive. With the Platinum travel you have to pay £15 extra per person but it's well worth the money as the extra leg room and extra reclining seats cater well for sleeping. No, the seats don't recline 90 degrees as a posed to a normal bed but they do recline enough. There are toilet facilities on board the coach but due to lack of service stops allowing drivers to empty the toilet, drivers ask passengers to take full advantage...

Greeny1980G 13.09.2008 (20.09.2009) · Read review
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Review of Ferris holidays

The Star Ferry

Advantages: Fun, unusual method of transport nowadays
Disadvantages: Only lasts 15 minutes!

...The Star ferry is the iconic ferry service betwen Kowloon and Hong Kong island and has been ferrying passengers back and forth now for well over a century. The ferry line actually has four routes although the most famous and commonly used one, and the one most people mean when they talk about the 'Star ferry' is from tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon to Central, Hong Kong. The price is HK$2.3/1.8 upper/lower deck (£1 currently is around HK$12) so an extremely cheap way to get out into the water of Hong Kong. Boats depart at least every 15-20 minutes so you can turn up at the pier without having to look up departure times in advance and the crossings take only around 15 minutes. There are now other ways to get across to Hong Kong island such as the metro which may be more convenient for regular commuters, however, as a tourist it means you are not...

flyingllamas 13.07.2009 · Read review
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Review of Star Ferry, Hong Kong

Ferris Coach Holiday review

Advantages: No flying, Cheap
Disadvantages: Long journey, limited destinations

...Ferris Coach Holiday Experience A little bit about the trip first, these trips to the Costa Brava are great for those wanting a good deal or those scared of flying. They are actually not as daunting as people think when you hear ?Up to 24 hours of travelling?. The coaches are great whether you choose the standard or the executive, the executive is well worth the extra. Very comfortable reclining seats, loads of leg room, drop down trays and flat screen TV?s on board. DVD?s are played throughout the journey with the latest starting at around 9.30pm, which ends around 11.30pm. At 12.00 midnight you can then recline your chairs, but please check with those behind as some people ended up wearing their drinks that were on the trays in front. The coaches are double decker but are not really that much taller than a standard coach...

Jinco 29.03.2009 · Read review
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Review of Ferris holidays

Not just a Ferry cross the Mersey

Advantages: great views, educational
Disadvantages: not good in bad weather

...Where:-- River Mersey - There are 3 Ferry terminals in operation today, these are located in Seacombe, Birkenhead Woodside (these are both on the Wirral side or the River) and the Pier Head (Liverpool side of the River), However, at present the Pier head is not operational and the ferries are operating out of a temporary landing stage located at the Princes Dock. This is unfortunately due to the fact that earlier in 2006 a extremely high tide and a freak wave caused the Pier Head Landing stage to sink. work is in progress to resolve this issue asap. What do Mersey ferries have to offer:- Peak times - rush hour - There is a shuttle service for comuters which operates every half hour. In the morning there is complmentary coffee avaialble to all commuters and it is actually very good coffee, handy in the winter months when its...

Julieshobs 22.10.2006 (30.10.2006) · Read review
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Review of Mersey Ferries

GGGooo Gosport Ferry

Advantages: Fast efficient service
Disadvantages: May be choppy in bad weather

...~*~ Gosport Ferry Ltd ~*~ *** The Spirit of Portsmouth *** What is it? This is the Gosport to Portsmouth ferry service. The ferry leaves Gosport ferry port and travels across the sea to Portsmouth. On the Gosport side there's plenty of reasonable car parks within walking distance of the port. I am not very familiar with the surroundings of Gosport, so apologise for this. The Portsmouth side has the Spinnaker Tower and Gunwharf Quays within stones throw of the Portsmouth port. Tickets: We brought our tickets from a nearby kiosk on the Gosport side. We paid around £7.00 for two adults and two children. On the leaflet I took away with me from my 'cruise ship' there are no references to prices which is a bit disappointing. The Ferry: The ferry itself is green and white sort of stripped...

ailuj34 09.08.2007 · Read review
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Review of Gosport Ferry Ltd

Scotland to Ireland ferry

Advantages: Modern ship, fast crossing, comfortable seating
Disadvantages: Staff on car deck, high prices

...or Southern Scotland & the link is operated by Stena to Belfast who I have used in the past. From further north in Scotland, Stranraer is not the easiest place to get to with just 'A' type roads approaching it where you always get stuck behind several HGVs, tour buses, tractors, caravans & the odd Sunday driver, even on a weekday. Cairnryan is slightly further north & the link there is served by P&O direct to Larne which is about 30 minutes driving time to Belfast, traffic permitting. This time I chose Troon in Western Scotland close to Ayr as it meant less driving time for me to get there & it went direct to Larne. It too is operated by P&O & for this trip they use a high speed ferry which has a journey time of around two hours. P&O's website quoted £245.00, a little steep I felt but after spending the good part of 20 minutes looking at cut...

ScottishWestie 10.09.2008 (12.09.2008) · Read review
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Review of P&O Ferries