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Plain sailing on the ferry
No overcrowded terminals or draconian security checks. No luggage restrictions or lost bags. No humiliating scramble for cramped seats ... Does all that sound like a far-fetched, utopian vision of travel in the 21st Century?
Not, perhaps, if you opt for a ferry to take you abroad, instead of a plane.
After a decade in the doldrums, thanks to the abolition of duty-free and the rise in no-frills flying, the ferry industry finally seems to be emerging from troubled waters. Passenger numbers to the Continent and Ireland were falling year by year and the drop in business resulted in massive cuts in services on the Channel - Hoverspeed disappeared recently, as did P&O Ferries' sailings to Normandy.
But last year, overall passenger numbers were about the same as in 2005, and the Dover Straits were no longer dire straits for the ferry companies - there was actually a four per cent rise in car crossings out of Dover last year.
That demand for ferry travel is on the up certainly has a lot to do with the fact that flying has, all too often, become such a grim experience these days. There was a surge in bookings in the wake of the widespread delays and cancellations at London's airports last August when tighter security measures were imposed. And there could be a similar rise in the wake of the current British Airways dispute which is expected to lead to the cancellation of hundreds of flights this week.
'When the low-cost airlines came along, the ferries were forced to take a back seat,' says William Gibbons of the Passenger Shipping Association. 'But now the general experience of flying has become so unpleasant that the British love affair with jetting off for the weekend appears to have peaked. The ferry companies are feeling more optimistic than they have for some time.'
To combat the competition from the low-cost airlines, the operators and EuroTunnel (which also had a pretty good year last year,and seems to have resolved its debt problems),have had to reduce their fares.And this they have done, massively, in a process kick-started back in 2004 by SpeedFerries,a one-ship high-speed service between Dover and Boulogne nicknamed 'the easyJet of the seas'.
This summer, you can take the car and a full complement of passengers across the Channel -and stay away for as long as you want - for around £50-£60 return (or under £40, with Norfolk Line, if you're quick off the mark).
If you booked in January 2003 the cheapest comparable, according to my records, on short Channel crossings was £142. And while a standard return to take your car through the tunnel this July can now cost around £100, the least it would have cost you if you'd made a reservation for the same month four years ago was £259.
It's not just that fares are cheaper. They've also become much simpler. Remember those impenetrable price charts, the different rates for five-day and ten-day returns and the need to book by a certain date for lowest fares? Well, with most ferry companies, all that is history.
Now, most operators have pricing models like the low-cost airlines' - with one-way fares and, instead of fixed prices, demand for the crossing dictating the cost. Stena Line and Condor Ferries are two of the most recent converts to 'fluid' pricing.
At the same time, most operators have made it much easier to find their cheapest fares: the websites of companies such as Eurotunnel now let you see at a glance the least expensive times to travel.
General price comparisons of travelling by ferry/tunnel and car versus flying and hiring a car are impossible, because there are so many variables. But I suspect the growing trend of airlines to charge for checked-in luggage will encourage more of us to switch to ferries, since you can bung everything but the kitchen sink into the back of the car at no additional cost.
If you haven't travelled by ferry to the continent for a while,you may be in for a pleasant surprise. The companies have, between them, invested more than £1billion in their fleets during recent years. Brittany Ferries' newest ships, the Mont St Michel and Pont-Aven, are civilised affairs, with pretty stylish restaurants, spacious outdoor decks and, in the case of the Pont-Aven, even a swimming pool.
SeaFrance launched a new £65million vessel, the Berlioz, in 2005, and Norfolk Line has introduced three new purposebuilt ships on its Dover- Dunkerque route in the past 14 months. Stena Line is spending £70million lengthening and refurbishing its two ships that operate the Harwich-Hook of Holland route - work should be completed by this May.
The other major news this year is more competition on the western Channel. LD Lines, a French firm that took over the Portsmouth-Le Havre route vacated by P&O Ferries with a useful budget alternative to Brittany Ferries' often pricey services, is starting a Newhaven-Le Havre operation at the end of April.
Another possible reason for travelling by ferry instead of by plane is that it's kinder to the environment. According to the charity Climate Care, a family of four flying from Gatwick to Nice and back would account for just under one ton of carbon dioxide emissions (the major contributor to global warming), roughly double those created by the same journey made by car and a Dover-Calais ferry.
Driving accounts for almost all the CO2 emissions if you take the ferry option, since those created by putting your car on a roll-on, roll-off ferry are minute. So, if your holiday destination is closer to home - northern France, say - then the environmental benefits of taking the ferry over flying will be even greater.
I'm not, of course, suggesting ferries are the answer to all our travel needs (as I write this, it's blowing a gale across southern England, and the last place I'd like to be is in the middle of the Channel).
But if you are planning to go abroad this year to somewhere reachable by car, do at least consider making a sea crossing rather than taking to the air.
Who does where and what you'll pay
To give an idea of the cost of taking your car to the continent this summer, here is our guide to 'standard' return fares (with no restrictions on how long you can be away) with various operators on routes to France, Belgium, Holland and Spain.
Unless otherwise stated, the prices given are for internet bookings ( bookings made on the phone can be a little higher - for example, Brittany Ferries' returns cost about £10 more by phone) and, where there is a choice of types of ticket, for the least flexible type. Unless stated otherwise, they are for a car plus at least five passengers.
For each route, the first price given in our list is the cheapest July fare, the second is what you might pay for peak-time crossings - based on travel out from the UK mid-morning on Saturday, July 28, and returning home at teatime on Sunday, August 12 (if these times aren't available, we've picked nearest alternatives).
For the cheapest fares, you need to book as soon as possible, as most will rise closer to the time of travel. And, although you can normally change your booking if you need to (usually for a fee, plus any difference in price between the new and old fare), bear in mind that some of the cheapest prices (for example, with SeaFrance) do not allow any alterations.
Midweek crossings and those at antisocial times are also generally cheaper than those on Fridays to Sundays.
Not, perhaps, if you opt for a ferry to take you abroad, instead of a plane.
After a decade in the doldrums, thanks to the abolition of duty-free and the rise in no-frills flying, the ferry industry finally seems to be emerging from troubled waters. Passenger numbers to the Continent and Ireland were falling year by year and the drop in business resulted in massive cuts in services on the Channel - Hoverspeed disappeared recently, as did P&O Ferries' sailings to Normandy.
But last year, overall passenger numbers were about the same as in 2005, and the Dover Straits were no longer dire straits for the ferry companies - there was actually a four per cent rise in car crossings out of Dover last year.
That demand for ferry travel is on the up certainly has a lot to do with the fact that flying has, all too often, become such a grim experience these days. There was a surge in bookings in the wake of the widespread delays and cancellations at London's airports last August when tighter security measures were imposed. And there could be a similar rise in the wake of the current British Airways dispute which is expected to lead to the cancellation of hundreds of flights this week.
'When the low-cost airlines came along, the ferries were forced to take a back seat,' says William Gibbons of the Passenger Shipping Association. 'But now the general experience of flying has become so unpleasant that the British love affair with jetting off for the weekend appears to have peaked. The ferry companies are feeling more optimistic than they have for some time.'
To combat the competition from the low-cost airlines, the operators and EuroTunnel (which also had a pretty good year last year,and seems to have resolved its debt problems),have had to reduce their fares.And this they have done, massively, in a process kick-started back in 2004 by SpeedFerries,a one-ship high-speed service between Dover and Boulogne nicknamed 'the easyJet of the seas'.
This summer, you can take the car and a full complement of passengers across the Channel -and stay away for as long as you want - for around £50-£60 return (or under £40, with Norfolk Line, if you're quick off the mark).
If you booked in January 2003 the cheapest comparable, according to my records, on short Channel crossings was £142. And while a standard return to take your car through the tunnel this July can now cost around £100, the least it would have cost you if you'd made a reservation for the same month four years ago was £259.
It's not just that fares are cheaper. They've also become much simpler. Remember those impenetrable price charts, the different rates for five-day and ten-day returns and the need to book by a certain date for lowest fares? Well, with most ferry companies, all that is history.
Now, most operators have pricing models like the low-cost airlines' - with one-way fares and, instead of fixed prices, demand for the crossing dictating the cost. Stena Line and Condor Ferries are two of the most recent converts to 'fluid' pricing.
At the same time, most operators have made it much easier to find their cheapest fares: the websites of companies such as Eurotunnel now let you see at a glance the least expensive times to travel.
General price comparisons of travelling by ferry/tunnel and car versus flying and hiring a car are impossible, because there are so many variables. But I suspect the growing trend of airlines to charge for checked-in luggage will encourage more of us to switch to ferries, since you can bung everything but the kitchen sink into the back of the car at no additional cost.
If you haven't travelled by ferry to the continent for a while,you may be in for a pleasant surprise. The companies have, between them, invested more than £1billion in their fleets during recent years. Brittany Ferries' newest ships, the Mont St Michel and Pont-Aven, are civilised affairs, with pretty stylish restaurants, spacious outdoor decks and, in the case of the Pont-Aven, even a swimming pool.
SeaFrance launched a new £65million vessel, the Berlioz, in 2005, and Norfolk Line has introduced three new purposebuilt ships on its Dover- Dunkerque route in the past 14 months. Stena Line is spending £70million lengthening and refurbishing its two ships that operate the Harwich-Hook of Holland route - work should be completed by this May.
The other major news this year is more competition on the western Channel. LD Lines, a French firm that took over the Portsmouth-Le Havre route vacated by P&O Ferries with a useful budget alternative to Brittany Ferries' often pricey services, is starting a Newhaven-Le Havre operation at the end of April.
Another possible reason for travelling by ferry instead of by plane is that it's kinder to the environment. According to the charity Climate Care, a family of four flying from Gatwick to Nice and back would account for just under one ton of carbon dioxide emissions (the major contributor to global warming), roughly double those created by the same journey made by car and a Dover-Calais ferry.
Driving accounts for almost all the CO2 emissions if you take the ferry option, since those created by putting your car on a roll-on, roll-off ferry are minute. So, if your holiday destination is closer to home - northern France, say - then the environmental benefits of taking the ferry over flying will be even greater.
I'm not, of course, suggesting ferries are the answer to all our travel needs (as I write this, it's blowing a gale across southern England, and the last place I'd like to be is in the middle of the Channel).
But if you are planning to go abroad this year to somewhere reachable by car, do at least consider making a sea crossing rather than taking to the air.
Who does where and what you'll pay
To give an idea of the cost of taking your car to the continent this summer, here is our guide to 'standard' return fares (with no restrictions on how long you can be away) with various operators on routes to France, Belgium, Holland and Spain.
Unless otherwise stated, the prices given are for internet bookings ( bookings made on the phone can be a little higher - for example, Brittany Ferries' returns cost about £10 more by phone) and, where there is a choice of types of ticket, for the least flexible type. Unless stated otherwise, they are for a car plus at least five passengers.
For each route, the first price given in our list is the cheapest July fare, the second is what you might pay for peak-time crossings - based on travel out from the UK mid-morning on Saturday, July 28, and returning home at teatime on Sunday, August 12 (if these times aren't available, we've picked nearest alternatives).
For the cheapest fares, you need to book as soon as possible, as most will rise closer to the time of travel. And, although you can normally change your booking if you need to (usually for a fee, plus any difference in price between the new and old fare), bear in mind that some of the cheapest prices (for example, with SeaFrance) do not allow any alterations.
Midweek crossings and those at antisocial times are also generally cheaper than those on Fridays to Sundays.
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