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LD Lines routes,
questions,comments & suggestions


Send your questions or comments on our routes but also your suggestions!

Please note all messages are moderated, and will not appear until they have been approved. Also please note this facility is for messages of support and opinions on our service only.

Discussion

406 comments for “LD Lines routes,
questions,comments & suggestions”

Dear all,

Thank you very much for your interest in the latest developments of the LD Lines network.

For more information on the opening of our Ostend-Ramsgate service and the reorganisation of our fleet, please report to the relevant press release at

http://www.ldlines.co.uk/actualites.php

Best regards,

Bonjour Pierre

A lot of rumours spreading around that the Norman Spirit may be moving from the Dover-Boulogne route? Is this true? Is the Dover-Boulogne route to continue this year?

The chat-rooms are buzzing with talk of an imminent withdrawal of the Dover- Boulogne service and yet more changes on the Portsmouth route.

It would be really helpful if there could be an authoritative update as to what service will be operating this year.

The current uncertainty only increases one’s reluctance to make any advance 2nnbbookings in the wake of the Speedferries debacle.

It would be a shame to lose your routes as they have been a valuable asset since the demise of P&O Portsmouth.

Hi i have recently heard that LD Lines might be pulling out of the dover - bolougne route. I am a regular traveller on this route can you enlighten me anymore.

Dear Michael (Poynor),

Thank you very much for your request.

We do not do Cherbourg-Rosslare anymore. Please note the route has been taken over by Celtic Link.

Best regards,

When will booking open for the Rosslare/Cherbourg route?

Dear All,

Thank you very much for your loyalty to this blog.

As you must have noticed it, I have lately been unable to reply to your many constructive comments due to a technical faut with this blog which our computer people have now managed to fix.

However, please rest assured that I received and read all your posts and forwarded them to the relevant services. As always in the history of LD Lines, your comments will help us get things better.

Due to the very large number of comments received during the time the blog was ill funtionning, I am unfortunately unable to reply to you all in person. What I will do is give you some feedback on the points you’ve raised and ask my colleagues to contact you in direct when the issue is more specific.

Over the past months or so, the most recurrent comments/complaints/suggestions regarded the replacement of the Norman Spirit by the Côte d’Albatre on the Portsmouth-Le Havre route.

I won’t give you the reasons again why we had to reorganise our fleet but basically it was a matter of adapting demand to the present economic situation. Demand on Portsmouth-Le Havre is quite limited in the low season especially in times of recession so it was essential that we operated with a ship that is far less expensive to run than the Norman Spirit.

The Norman Spirit has been on the Portsmouth-Le Havre run since we started operated the route so I fully understand its withdrawal came as a bit of a shock to our regular customers. Also, whenever a new ship is introduced to a route, it takes some time before everybody finds their footing.

I have noted your various remarks and sugestions and, as always, we have started to work from these to get things better.

Your main concern was the lack of sleeping facilities. With immediate effect, I have asked our technical team to look into the matter and it was decided to add two sleeper lounges (26 +18 seats) as these had proved very popular on the Norman Spirit. This was quickly done.

The second aspect was the lengthy disembarkation procedure. Though we must do with the configuration of the ship, a new procedure’s been discussed with the loading officers so customers do not have to wait so long in their vehicles prior to disembarkation.

All other aspects raised are still been discussed within the Company and will soon be reviewed.

Also, please do not forget the Norman Arrow will soon come to the rescue and offer an attractive alternative.

Last but not least, the Norman Leader which is presently being built in Singapoor should replace the Cote d’Albatre from the second semester of 2010.

Another recurrent subject is our Frequent Traveller Scheme. Please be informed we are presently working on a new version that should make the managing of your account more fluid.

We will of course reply to every query next week.

I wish you a merry Christmas and hope to see you soon onboard our ships!

All the best for 2010,

Best regards,

Being members of the frequent travellers club my partener and I use the Le Havre to Portsmouth route, what has happened? While we realise the economics of the Norman Spirit with its larger area for freight what about the personal users, on the Cote de Albatre you have to sit in very uncomfotable chairs, the lower bar area is freezing cold in the winter, the air conditioning on all the time. There is no seating on the outside deck and should you be on the return trip from Portsmouth over night to Le Havre where do you sleep? the cabins are often full and expensive if used frequently the sleeper seats are not comfortable, at least on the N.S. you could lay on a bench seat and sleep.
Also for the length of time you are on the boat the facillities are very substandard compared with the N.S.
Please Please bring back the Norman Spirit on the Le Havre route!

Sorry posted in wrong section so now moved to more appropriate category…

I little moan I am afraid, I have written here a couple of times usaually in praise of your very good service, this time it’s a little moan, but a bit of a selfish one really !!!
I travel weekly from Le Havre to Portsmouth which is now covered by the Cote Alabtre, we have lost one crossing per day, which I understand due to economics of running 2 crossing in winter, but still a pain for me… also as I travel weekly I can’t afford a cabin ( that would get way too expensive), so crash where I can, on the previous boats there were a number of spots where one could sleep, but not on the Cote Alabtre, also as a premium gold frequent card holder, there seem to be no benefit on this boat, no club class area or free upgrades?? I assume the new sleeper sets are not free upgrades for premium card holders..

Finally and the most painful, it now takes over an hour to unload at Le Havre on my return leg of the journey, which is now making me late for work, as I am loaded always on deck 5, which means waiting for all the lorries to be unloaded usually taking between 45 mins and an hour each time. It is a shame the you don’t offer a priority service on the route I know you do on other routes, I am not sure why this isn’t possibe here, as I have bee doing this trip since the days of P&O doing the route and they manged it, so assume it is not a port authority issue. Sorry to be moaning as I am usually very happy with the service, but I am getting the impression that at the moment this crossing is being neglected, so I am looking forward to the 2 new boats and the resume of 2 crossing per day come March 2010

Regards

Anthony

Thanks for your previous replies.
Since my last entry on here I have travelled on the CDA 2 more times. The lack of sleeping accomodation, the refusal of the crew to dim the lights in the reclining (ha) seats and that horrible vibration at the stern make it a very uncomfortable crossing. Also waiting 50 minutes from docking to disembarkation from the upper deck is not acceptable. In three crossings in one week I lost two hours and thirty minutes of my life waiting to get off the horrible yellow ship. My wife (a gold card holder) is now refusing to use LD because of the lack of cabins and 1st class lounge area, both essential for a business commuter. The limited sailing times are also a hinderance to making sensible travel plans. We have now reluctantly joined the BF discount scheme and have just spent over a thousand pounds with them for our visits to the UK and our festive season visitors coming from the UK in the next 3 weeks.
I’m afraid you’ve lost our custom, and as year round regular travellers, that’s just the sort of custom you can ill afford to lose.
So long, and thanks for all the fish.

It appears that the Cote d’Albatre is to be the vessel of choice on the Portsmouth/Le Havre route. This vessel does not have the long settees and decent facilities that have been on this route before. There are no electric sockets conveniently placed for persons such as I that need a CPap machine, if 2 people are travelling you cannot book a single cabin for one with the other using a recliner chair. What is going on with the company?

Dear Jo Foster,

Thank you very much for your query.

The reason why we cannot open all departures from Boulogne or Dover to foot passengers is economic.

The configuration of both ports is such that we need to resort to a shuttle bus at both ends.

We can only afford this service on sailings when demand is reasonable.

Best regards,

Dear Peter,

Thank you very much for your comments and for acknowledging the grass is not much greener on the other side!

I’m also glad you’re finding this blog useful and informative.

The present recession’s hit all companies alike and drastic decisions had to be made by all those in charge.

However, we are confident that our business model based on a very light structure and which allows us to offer very reasonable prices should really help us through these difficult times.

Best regards,

Dear Sir,
I feel that I must write in support of you and your company. I must declare also here that I a regular Brittany Ferries customer, because the timing, and choice of crossings along with the savings I make through the property owners club, suit my personal circumstances.

Having said that I can fully understand, why LD have changed routes and vessels in the recent past, as you say Armorique - Brittany Ferries newest vessel is being laid up for a short time over the winter, and will be replacing other vessels when they are out of service for surveys and suchlike. From an outsiders point of view it would seem that Brittany Ferries have over capacity during the winter months. That has to be paid for in the long term.

LD lines and LDA in my opinion have a very good reputation for safety and reliability, and it benefits us (the frequent ferry users) having competition between ferry companies for the obvious benefits can bring.

On a personal level I would like to thank you for being so frank and open when posting to your site, most of us I am sure respect the fact that you take time to do this.

Best wishes and good luck for the future.

Dear Frederic,

Further to my earlier reply to your post I wish to be ven more specific about the issues you are raising.

As I said in my earlier reply, the Norman Voyager is commercially operated by Celtic Link, so we are not at all involved with the commercial operations of this vessel but further more we are not at all involved with the crewing or the technical management of the vessel!!
In other words and in order to make the things easier to understand for you, it is exactly like if you (Frederic) were hiring a car and a driver and when controlled by the police you (Frederic) would be held responsible for the lack of maintenance of the car or the expired driving license of the driver…
I am quite sure you would strongly object!
As you may know Louis Dreyfus Armateurs has been a shipowner for more than 120 years and we are well known by UK authorities (MCA), french authorities, and other autorities over the world, to have one of the best quality and security system in Europe and I don’t think our track record in this respect is questionable. Apart from ferries or Roros we are running cable laying ships, seismic research vessels, tugs, barges, LNG carriers, bulk carriers, floating cranes etc… and I can tell you that providing services to the offshore industry or to companies like Airbus, does not leave any room for amateurism…

As you may have also noticed, all the ferry operators in Europe are presently facing a very strong a tough crisis (see Seafrance for example) and we have to adapt our capacities to the customers demand to survive until the economic situation improve.

If one day one or more operators are disappearing from the cross channel market what do you think will then happen?

The remaining players (including Eurotunnel) will drastically increase their prices, and customers will keep complaining more and more…

Fortunately as far as LD Lines is concerned, they are part of a quite important Group (LDA, and LD Lines is about 8 to 10% percent of LDA global activities) and they can rely on to the mother company to wait for better days.
But as I said before, as CEO of LDA and Chairman of LD Lines, my duty is to adjust the offer to the demand and to avoid huge losses.
As anybody been complaining about the laying up of Armorique?

As regards Boulogne, may I remind you that we were only supposed to start our service mid July 2010 and that we did manage to start earlier just to compensate the failing Speedferries?
May I remember that until
March 17 2009 we were discussing with SNCF (the french national railways) to take over Seafrance and then create one of the largest ferry operator in Europe and that pending these discussions which were including Boulogne, we had to wait to set up our operations in Boulogne.

Looking backward and taking into account the overall situation I don’t believe that we were “amateurs”.

It is quite easy to deliver lessons, specially when you don’t have all the elements, but it is much more complicated when you are in the real life and the real business.

All the best

Pierre G.

Dear Frederic,

With regards the Norman Voyager, There has been considerable inaccurate and conflicting mis-information - specifically in respect of who now operates the ship and ownership after she was stopped from operating by authorities between Portsmouth and Cherbourg on Thursday evening 19th November.

To clarify, the Norman Voyager was chartered from its former operator LD Lines to Celtic Link Ferries in September ; the ship is also in Celtic Link Ferries colours and operates a Portsmouth - Cherbourg service during weekdays and a Rosslare - Cherbourg service at weekends.

LD Lines is therefore no longer the ship’s operator, and ownership and crewing of the ship has always been and continues to be managed by an independent company / agency - not LD Lines.

All issues and enquiries with regards to the ship and ferry services it now operates should therefore be directed to Celtic Link Ferries.

As for the rest of your comments, I will simply say finding the right ship for the right route is not an easy task and it includes some live testing.

No matter how appetizing the pudding may look, its proof is in its eating and you never know how the market will react to a new product.

As the chairman of the Company, my duty is to be very reactive and quickly adapt to the needs of the market.

Best regards,

Hi Pierre,
Although my previous comments were about service I find they are linked with what is following.
Are you an amateurish outfit which works on a trial an error (fine) but seem to only make errors(wrong)
Let me explain to you.
The Norman Voyager was announced as being an improvement and has never been.
Every ship offers a different set of standards which the customer can’t be accustomed to as you keep moving the ships around.
New ship appear and disappear (Norman Arrow)
How can you afford this catamaran which came out of the blue (your initial informantion about Boulogne-Dover never mentioned it) It has barely worked for a season and is already taken off….to do nothing for the next 6 months…..who pays the lease….
And more worrying of all, the Norman Voyager which you lease from Epic and sub lease to Celtic link Ferries was impounded in Portsmouth last week. The BBC web site stated on the 21/11/2009 ” the vessel had initially failed tests relating to fire, safety, THE WATERTIGHT INTEGRITY OF THE VESSEL, and safety training.
What is going on, are you a cowboy outfit?

Dear Phil Clark,

Thank you very much for your query.

The Boulogne-Dover service is now operated by the Norman Spirit and the Norman Arrow is scheduled to start operating on Portsmouth-Le Havre on 26th March.

I am wondering which email or newsletter led up to a different conclusion.

Best regards,

I am getting confused.i thought that the fastferry to Boulogne was stopping a couple of weeks ago.Today I gaet a special offer email running up till Xmas.Please confirm how much longer you are going to have this ship on the Boulogne route.It is difficult to plan crossings.Thanks for the info Phil

Dear Mrs Weston,

Thank you very much for your feedback.

I am sure you will enjoy your stay on the Cote d’Albatre which is also a very fine ship with very friendly crew members.

Captain Smith is still at the helm of the Norman Spirit. I have forwarded him your very nice message for which he was very thankful.

Best regards,

Dear Russ,

Thank you very much for your feedback.

The addition of a second daily service between Le Havre and Portsmouth was a challenge that didn’t prove successful enough.

The current economic situation most probably didn’t help.

To go down to one ship is a defensive choice but as a private company, we cannot afford to stick to a losing game for very long.

It is my duty to be very reactive to safeguard the future of the Company.

We now believe operating with one ship in the low season meets the present requirement of the market.

In the higher season when demand is stronger, the Norman Arrow will provide extra capacity and hopefully will also generate new demand thanks to her fastness.

The Cote D’albatre offers a limited number of cabins but sleeper seats are presently being installed. They should be ready by the very beginning of December.

You should also bear in mind that the Norman Leader which is being built in Singapoor right now will offer 162 cabins.

She should be ready for operation sometime in the second semester of 2010.

Thank you very much for your understanding and patience.

Best regards,

Back down to 1 daily sailing from Le Havre:-(
I read on this very page that as a result of the recent ship shuffle there would be a Friday night sailing from Le Havre to Portsmouth, but when I come to book it I find there isn’t one. LD are becoming a laughing stock amongst the cross channel travelling community with freight and car customers never knowing if a sailing is going to happen or not. The 2.80m width limit on the CDA in to Le Havre has handed Brittany a big slice of business and the lack of cabins on the same vessel is forcing passenger traffic to desert to Caen as well.
The Arrow coming to Le Havre may (if it happens at all, April is a long time away) be a benefit, but from a personal point of view the lack of a suitable night boat in both directions is forcing me towards Brittany and their extortionate fares. I’ve tried the Celtic Link service on the Norman Voyager from Cherbourg to Portsmouth, but arriving at 0430 is not good for anyone’s health.
I’m trying to remain a loyal customer, but you don’t make it easy.
I travelled on CDA from Portsmouth on Tuesday night (17/11) and despite some very bad weather she handled it well, but the unloading took nearly an hour from arrival in Havre. I noticed some interior work going on inside, are there going to be more cabins?

Regards
Russ

Dear Daniel Kasubjak,

Thank you very much for your query.

As you may not know it, the service to Rosslare is now operated by Celtic Link.

However, you will be able to book via our website for some sailings only (eg from Cherbourg on Friday nights and from Rosslare on Saturday evenings).

Celtic Link have only opened their sales until the end of December 2009.

Should you like to know when they expect to open their sales for January 2010, please do not hesitate to contact them in direct.

Best regards,

Dear James (Smith),

Thank you very much for your feedback.

I was glad to read you were happy with the quality of the service received in Newhaven.

This is obviously the type of attitude we wish to promote.

I am sure your understanding of the situation and courteous manners encouraged such a positive attitude
as It usually takes two to dance!

Your grateful thanks will be passed on to the relevant staff;

We look forward to welcoming you on board one of our vessels.

Best regards,

Dear Pierre
We had booked to trravel at 0930 on saturday 14/11. Of course the weather was awful and the sailing was cancelled. This was ok,as the drive down from London was terrible also..Your Duty Manager in Newhaven was brilliant with helping us to find a place to stay,and beyond the call of duty even offered to walk us there! Even at these times Iam glad to see that LD lines staff always put the passengers first,more than can be said for some other operators! Your manager is a gold nugget to LD and if you can pass on..We will be coming back! Well done to everyone,some passengers get so angry and rude..we were just glad for a room and sleep,all arranged by your excellent staff.. Thanks and hope the message is conveyed to all involved. James

Dear Karl Pitwon,

Thank you very much for your feedback.

As previously explained to Richard King, from an economic point of view, we need to operate a ship that allows us to carry large volumes of traffic (including freight).

The Norman Arrow couldn’t offer both the speed advantage and the capacity to carry large volumes. It is was either one or the other.

The ship is truly very nice and Boulogne a very attractive port but it is essential for us to associate the right ship with the right port.

Best regards,

Dear Richard King,

Thank you very much for your query.

The Norman Arrow is a very nice vessel, however, after it soon turned out that her design didn’t allow us to load and unload large volumes of traffic (including freight) quickly enough during the calls.

Economically speaking,we cannot afford to leave traffic on the quay to stick to our schedule and from an ethical point of view, if you advertise a speedy service, this MUST include the loading and unloading procedures.

The Norman Spirit is truly a conventional ferry therefore slightly slower but her configuration will make loading and unloading much quicker which will partly compensate for the extra time spent at sea.

In the winter season, the reliability and comfort of the Norman Spirit will also be a valuable asset.

From your feedback, it sounds reliability is as important to you as speed.

Best regards,

Dear Chris,

Thank you very much for your feedback.

The most popular sailings from Dover are the very early morning ones and the midday ones.

From Boulogne, the most favoured sailings are the mid-afternoon ones.

It is essential for us to offer sailings around these times.

The rest of the timetable is therefore built around these three essential sailings.

You certainly do not have unusual requirements but demand is simply much higher on these sailings.

If you are a commuter living and working near both ports, you will obviously not have the same requirements as a holidaymaker travelling longer distances both ends.

Freight drivers will also have their own demand.

We always try to offer the best possible compromise in terms of timetable but I am fully aware that when you operate with only one ship you can’t please everybody.

A departure at 6 or 7pm from both ends would be tempting but with only one ship it is technically impossible, so we can only offer it from the one port and an earlier one plus a later one from the other.

From 11th November:

Departures from Dover on Friday nights will be at 1800hrs and 2330hrs.

Departures from Boulogne on Sunday nights will be at 1615hrs and 2200hrs.

I sincerely hope we can accommodate you.

I’m sorry you will miss the Norman Arrow but I’m sure you will also take to the Norman Spirit which is a very comfortable reliable ship (though slightly slower).

I am sure you have already read about the reasons for these changes on this blog.

Best regards,

Dear Sean,

Notwithstanding any punctual offer we had (by which you could travel with a van for the same price as a car), it was agreed that prices would not follow the type of vehicle anymore but the actual dimension of the vehicle.

This means that if your van fits in the smallest van category ( Passenger Van (height up to 1.85m, length up to 5m) and qualifies for a tourist booking (the purpose of the trip is non commercial), the price of your ticket will then be the same as for a car.

BUT please be careful. I am now giving you LD Lines terms and conditions of sales. If you wish to travel on Celtic Link, whether you book directly with them or via our website (we act as agents for some of their sailings), their pricing policy and sales conditions will apply. Consequently, I strongly advise you to contact them on this particular aspect before you finalise your booking.

Best regards,

Quite a while ago there was a blog regarding booking small vans and it was decided thta small vans could be booked as cars. I have tried to book a citroen dispatch on Celtic Lines and i was not allowed to as I had listed it as a van and the minimum height was 2.6m. If I register it as a car I can book it. AM I at liberty to do this? I want to travel from Cherbourg mid November.

Dear Frederic,

I must agree with you that our fleet organisation has undergone quite a few changes over the last couple of years.

In a perfect world, I would obviously agree stability is an assett.

However, what are we supposed to do when a decision proves unsuccessful?

Are we supposed to stick with it or do we humbly admit we have made the wrong decision and try something else?

The decision to bring a second ship to Le Havre-Portsmouth route was risky but we gave it a go. Unfortunately, the introduction of a second ship did not generate the necessary extra traffic.

Maybe this was due to the current economic situation, maybe our customers did not like the Norman Voyager enough. Maybe this route simply does not generate enough demand for two ships in the low season.

When it comes to the Norman Arrow, even though it’s a great ship, we soon felt it did not quite fit the requirements of the Dover-Boulogne route. The configuration of the ship made it impossible to load and unload large volumes of traffic very quickly which jeopardized the whole concept of a speedy crossing.

We now know the Norman Arrow will be more adapted to the Le Havre-Portsmouth run where the turn rounds will be longer.

Even though you can try and anticipate how a ship will suit a route or your customers, there is always an element of uncertainty and the proof of the pudding is most often in the eating!

This brings me to your second point: catering.

I fully respect your opinion. However, though there is always room for improvement (within the limit of our concept), all surveys show our customers are in their vast majority happy with the quality and price of our on board catering.

Finally, we are currently experiencing difficulties with our English website.

Our technical team are doing their best to put everything back on track ASAP. In the meantime, you may get information and make bookings either via our French website or via Transmanche’s website.

Best regards,

Dear John,

Thank you very much for your feedback.

There is a lot of sense in everything you are saying and there is indeed an element of risk in the strategy we have opted for (eg fewer sailings ex Portsmouth in the low season).

I also must agree with Jill and you that we have cut down on the number of options available to all those of you who do not live in the vicinity of Portsmouth or Newhaven.

However, we strongly hope our customers will stay with us because they like our prices and service.

When we reduced the number of daily sailings from and to Dieppe from one to two, we only lost 20% traffic.

Also, we like to see things from a “network” point of view and like to think that somewhere along the coast, one will find a sailing at the right time and at the right price.

I also must agree with you profitability is the key element for a private company. If you can’t make ends meet for too long, you will soon have your shareholders or bankers (or whosever money you’re wasting) knocking at your door!

There is only one way of making profit. Your revenues must be higher than your expenses!

When things don’t quite work the way they should, you can either try to increase your revenues or reduce your costs.

As the economic situation is not favourable and demand is very unlikely to flyrocket, we have ttruly opted for a defensive strategy.

You are right to say there is an element of risk but any decision implies one.

Offering more sailings in the hope that we will generate enough new traffic to cover the costs is truly not an option at the moment.

Best regards,

Dear Adam,

Thank you very much for your query and compliments on the quality of our Newhaven-Dieppe service.

Even though we tried to boost our Dover-Boulogne service via a special offer when we first launched the service (we were newcomers on the Dover straight and had to make ourselves known) our pricing policy aims at equally developping all our routes.

As a general rule, you will find that our Dover-Boulogne service is slightly cheaper than Newhaven-Dieppe which is itself slightly cheaper than Portsmouth-Le Havre.

You will find that, notwithstanding the operator, the further west the dearer.

There are many reasons why prices are cheaper in the Dover Straight: competition is stronger but, above all, operational costs are much lower (shorter sailing times means you can sail more often with the same quantity of fuel).

Aa a rule, we follow a yield pricing policy by which the less favoured sailings are the less expensive. Consequently, the cheapest way to travel with us is to book as early as possible and/or on the less demanded dates.

If you happen to have a bit of flexibilty on your hands, please spend some time studying the various alternatives our website will offer and i’m sure you will find a combination of sailings that will suit your purchasing power.

Best regards,

Dear Michael,

Thank you very much for your query.

I made some tests and I’m glad to confirm you can now book yourself on the Norman Arrow.

A few pieces of advise though:

We are experiencing some technical difficulties with our web site at the moment so while we carry out some maintenance work, please use our Transmanche website instead at http://www.transmancheferries.co.uk/

Also, the 1830hr sailings aren’t displayed on the first page of the booking engine yet as the two current sailing times from Le Havre are 1700hrs and 2300hrs.

Please select 2300hrs so as to get to the second page where one of the alternatives will be the 1830hr sailing.

I must admit this is not a very good presentation but from 3rd November (when the 2300hr departure no longer exists), the 1830hr sailing will be displayed as one of the two options from the first page.

I hope this helps.

Best regards,

Dear Pierre.
It is really funny but I mentioned in a previous post in the onboard service category how I was surprised by the endless changes at short notice. This is not good if you want to build a solid customer base.
The Norman Voyager was announced with great fanfare but proved to be unpopular and is now moved to another route…in the meantime you announced that hiring this ship was a temporary measure.
Then out of the blue came the Norman Arrow and out of the blue the Norman Arrow is being moved to another port.
This associated to service standards which defer from one ship to another makes it difficult to follow you.
I also would like to point that it is impossible to get access to the ld ferries web site (ldferries.co.uk) .
I got access to this blog by googling it as it is neither possible to find it on the ldferries.com or transmancheries.com sites.
There seems to be a bit of turmoil at ld ferries…..

Dear Pierre,
I wish to travel with LD lines next summer, leaving Portsmouth on Thursday 22nd July and returning from Le Havre on Monday 9th August. I notice when trying to book the crossing that the only ship I can book on is the Côte d’Albâtre, which on the return crossing leaves Le Havre at 17:00, the return crossing that would be mucg better suited to my time restraints is the 18:30 on the Norman Arrow. I cannot book any crossing on the Norman Arrow could you please tell me why and if this is likely to go on sail soon as I need to book my crossing for next summer and this 18:30 crossing would suit me better.

Thank you, Kind Regards

M.Beal

Pierre, what Jill Crowson has said is what quite a few of us “non-southerners” have been saying for some time. Sailing from Le HAvre has been at 16.00 hours on Fridays so why is this not possible on the other days of the week?
With regards sailing from Portsmouth have you ever considered sailing at a similar time to Brittany Ferries - you would arrive in France half an hour earlier at a port much closer to Paris than Caen.
We all appreciate in business there has to be a profit element and you obviously know the business and market better than any of us but I do worry that by not having a day crossing both ways you will lose customers who may not then return in April when, presumeably there will be a better timetable with the fastcraft.

Dear Jill,

Thank you very much for your very constructive feedback.

From both an operational and economic point of view, we may only offer a very limited number of daily sailings on our two western channel routes.

The existing times of departure aren’t ideal but we have tried to come up with the best possible compromise.

One has to bear in mind any company operating in the Western Channel also relies on their freight customers to make ends meet.

Mid day departures aren’t very appropriate for drivers who often come a long way. Departures ealier than 5 pm are usually not acceptable.

Based on statistics and surveys, overnight sailings from the UK and mid afternoon sailings from France are also the most favoured by tourists ( I must agree 1600hrs instead of 1700hrs would be ideal if we also did not have to take into account the contraints of the freight market).

Having said that, I am fully aware any timetable has its limits and I must admit that whoever lives in the North of England and does not wish to travel overnight, does not have any other option than travel Dover-Boulogne.

I have therefore noted your comments.

However, I would also like to stress that our ships are equipped with various types of sleeping accommodation to suit everybody’s purchasing power or/and need for comfort.

You want to also consider this option.

I hope this helps.

Best regards,

I used to use P&O Portsmouth Le Havre crossings and found their timetable perfect for travelling to my final destination in Normandy. When LD took over I found your timetable virtually impossible to use without incurring extra costs on either cabins or hotels so switched to using crossings out of Dover. However, the journey from the Midlands to Dover has become so difficult I am now looking to revert back to the Portsmouth Le Havre crossing. At the moment, and in the new schedule for the next high season, your crossing times from the UK are either so early that it is impossible to get to them without overnight accommodation or so late that again either a cabin or over night accommodation is needed. I am sure that I am not the only person who is having similar problems. Could I suggest a departure from Portsmouth of say 2pm (allowing people from the Midlands and the North time to get to Portsmouth), and a departure time of 4pm from Le Havre, allowing people arriving in the UK to get their onward journey completed on the same day? Please consider those of us who do not live near any of the UK ports but still want to travel to France by ferry! I am sure that an altered timetable would lure many more customers to LD Lines!

Dear Fred (Casagrande),

Thank you very much for expressing your concern.

The Norman Spirit is a bit slower than the Norman Arrow but embarkation and disembarkation will be quicker and she will be able to cope with the winter weather conditions much better, so all in all, door to door commuting should not be much longer in average and the overall reliability of the service should improve.

Though I admit speed is an argument, we rely on the Norman Spirit to give the run a reputation for reliability.

As far as prices are concerned, we still mean to be cheaper on most sailings than our competitors on the Dover-Calais run.

Best regards,

Dear Nick,

Thank you very much for your query.

On the Portsmouth-Le Havre run, sales are now open until 21st March 2010.

We expect to open sales for the summer by the end of October.

For further information regarding the global organisation of the route, please report to my reply to Moira.

Best regards,

When do you plan to issue a bookable schedule beyond March 2010 ??

Cher Timbis,

Je vous remercie de votre fidélité

Le seul accord que nous ayons avec Celtic Link concerne certaines traversées entre Cherbourg et Rosslare que nous pouvons commercialiser.

Il s’agit des traversées de Cherbourg du vendredi soir et de Rosslare du samedi soir.

Sincères salutations,

Bonjour Monsieur Géhanne,

J’ai vu la création d’une nouvelle ligne entre Cherbourg et Portsmouth par Celtic Link. Envisagez-vous la commercialisation commune de ce service ? En effet, je serais par exemple intéressé par un aller depuis Le Havre et un retour sur Cherbourg, ou réciproquement (le départ de Cherbourg à 23h30 est intéressant). Ceci étant, je voyage avec vous dans deux mois - j’ai prévu d’aller faire quelques courses de Noël, avec la livre ça peut être intéressant, et je suis bien impatient d’y être !

Merci.

Dear John,

Thank you very much for your query.

Running two ships instead of one between Portsmouth-Le Havre hasn’t boosted the tourist ticket sales enough to maintain the second ship.

We actually only increased the overall tourist traffic by 20%.

Maybe it was partly due to the present economic situation, maybe our customers did not take to the Norman Voyager.

Maybe things can be said about what would have happened if it had been a different ship or if the economic situation had been different.

There probably some truth in all these scenarios. However, I have the responsibility to make sure the investments we make do not prove too risky and we have truly decided to play it safe and also bet on a greater seasonality of the service which means we will decrease our capacity in the winter period but increase it in the higher season by bringing in the Norman Arrow from April until October.

That way, we hope to stick closer to the reality of this route. Sorry about the inconvenience this may cause.

We also hope the arrival of a fastcraft will boost the traffic.

Best regards,

In view of your reply to David Haans does this mean you are considering a day time crossing between Portsmouth and Le Havre through the winter?
As with a lot of other people night crossings are not suitable for us which means, at present, we are having to look to Brittany Ferries to meet our requirements.

Dear Andy,

Thank you very much for your feedback.

I agree with you speed and cost are essential but so is reliability.

We felt we could only provide sufficient speed when the volumes carried were very limited otherwise the design of the ship made embarkation and disembarkion too lengthy.

The ideal ship, as we’ve always said it, would be a fastcraft which is easily and quickly loaded and unloaded and that can also carry a lot of freight.

As such ships do not exist yet, we have come to the conclusion that the Norman Spirit was the best compromise.

She’s reliable,comfortable and capable of carrying large volumes of passenger and freight traffic.

She is a bit slower but embarkation and disembarkation will be quicker than on the Norman Arrow and she will be able to cope with the winter weather conditions much better, so all in all, door to door commuting should not be much longer in average.

I am sure we will take to her as much as our customers on her previous run did.

Best regards,

I trust you will be offering some financial or other incentive for the regular travellers who got used to a 1 hour service between Dover and Boulogne and don’t have much enthusiasm for a 1 hour 45 minute one. Otherwise I can forsee a migration back to Dover-Calais as it will now be easier and quicker to put up with the shortcomings of your competitors and drive the short distance to Boulogne. For regular travellers speed, efficiency and cost are all important.
Anyway, having now made some sort of decision about the future of this service I hope you will stick with it for more than five minutes so the rest of us can plan around you.

Dear David (Hanns),

Thank you very much for your query

We are presently finalising a new version of our winter schedule to reflect the reorganisation of our fleet ( cf our latest press release).

Please accept our apologies for the inconvenience this may cause.

Once the reorganisation is finalised, my colleagues from the call center will contact the customers concerned to offer either an alternative sailing or a refund of their ticket if no alternative is acceptable.

Should you wish to anticipate their call, please do not hesitate to contact them as from early next week 0033(0)232909597.

Best regards,

What is going on with your winter schedules?
Having already booked my crossings to and from Portsmouth around Xmas time, I now find that one of them is using a different ship and the return crossing no longer even exists.
I discovered these changes by accident from another blog site. Why have you made no attempt to contact your existing (previously loyal!) customers about this and what do you propose as an alternative? (I checked my booking on line and it still confirms the original non existent crossing details)

Dear Andrew (Sanders),

Thank you very much for your interest in our new seasonal fastcraft service from Portsmouth to Le Havre.

The present plan is to offer two daily sailings from both ports starting with a mid morning sailing from Portsmouth.

As you can imagine it, a lot remains to be decided. I should be able to tell you a bit more by the beginning of November.

Best regards,

Dear Julie,

Thank you very much for your feedback.

Based on a few months of operation, we have come to the conclusion the Norman Arrow does not quite fit the requirements of the Boulogne-Dover run.

We are also very disappointed.

We consider the whole point of such a fast craft is to be able carry across large volumes in a very quick way.

Unfortunately, the design of the ship makes it impossible for us to achieve this.

You can’t promise speed to your customers if you can only provide it under ideal circumstances.

Speed is important but maybe not as much as reliability.

Even though the Norman Spirit is a conventional ferry (therefore slightly slower), it has proved very reliable and capable of carrying large volumes in the western channel.

It is a very comfortable ship. I am sure you will take to her.

We also believe the Norman Arrow will suit the Le Havre-Portsmouth run better as she will operate fewer sailings. Longer calls will allow her to carry larger volumes while she runs on time.

Even more importantly, it will bring western France (which is a favoured destination and a gate to the Alps and the South of France) closer to the South coast of England and particularly Portsmouth which is nicely located (close to London and away from the traffic congestion of the Dover straight).

Best regards,

I am sooo disappointed to learn that you are planning to take such a step back by removing the Norman Arrow from the Dover - Boulogne route. We all loved the Speed Ferries service, and it was good that with the Norman Arrow you were able to provide a comparable service. But now, to go back to 1hr 45 mins for such a short crossing - I think you will lose customers. time to look at the trains and other bigger ferries from Calais again.
Sorry - but speed and efficiency is what counts in the end.

Dear All,

Thank you very much for all your messages and your interest for our Company. As you can imagine I have been very busy this last month and could not answer all your questions before everything was finalized. All the answers should now be available at http://ldlines.co.uk/news.html

Best regards,

Pierre

Hello Pierre,
Is it true the Norman Arrow is leaving Boulogne? Disappointed because I liked this ship, but pleased to learn that she should be replaced by the Norman Spirit, which I will be delighted to sail on again after doing so when she was the ‘Pride of Aquitaine’. She is one of my preferred ships and I already posted messages to wish her return in the Straights of Dover when you started you Boulogne - Dover route. So thank you to LD Lines once again. Is it true the Norman Spirit is coming back as early as November, and will the Arrow ‘disappear’ at the same time?
Longlive LD Lines!

Bonjour Pierre, Comment allez-vous?

I read with interest the fleet changes for 2010. I am excited by the moving of the HSC Norman Arrow to the PO-LEH route from Easter next year. It may tempt me to depart from Portsmouth a few times, although still remaining loyal to Newhaven. The reduced crossing time to just over 3 hours is eye catching. What will happen to the NA this Winter- will she be laid up? Would you have been tempted to trial/test out the Norman Arrow on the Newhaven-Dieppe route and transfer the Seven Sisters to the PO-LEH route if this was possible? ( I realise that the agreement with the Seine Maratime Council does not allow this). I guess the crossing time would be reduced to 2hr 15 mins and this could make it possible for day trips to Dieppe again which is often a local talking point! Finally now that the Norman Voyager is chartered out to Celtic Link ferries, will she feature any CL livery?

Only last month you published the winter fares and timetable. I checked then and was pleased to see the day crossing at noon from Portsmouth to LeHavre was still running. Today I went to make my booking only to find that the only sailings from Portsmouth to Le Havre are overnight. Not only is this very inconvenient but I will now have to incur additional expense of having a cabin. Furthermore I notice that because of the change in boat used the club class facility will not be available for the return journey. Surely these arrangements should have been sorted out BEFORE detailing winter sailing times. It all smacks of either amateur organisation or panic measures. As we do not wish to have the additional expense of an overnight cabin (which is dearer than bed and breakfast in a hotel) we will have to seek an alternative ferry. This will leave us with 2 single bulk tickets unused. I do regret having to write to you in this way having been so pleased with LD Lines - rest assured we will be back once day crossings are resumed.

Dear Pierre,I travelled on your new ship the Norman Arrow on the 24th of July, it was a busy sailing but i found the loading and unloading of this ship to be quite quick, now you are giving the reason to remove this fantastic fast ship from Dover to Boulogne is slow unloading / loading, it was only a month ago in your news that you were so pleased with the feddback from passengers about the Norman Arrow you were going to increase the sailing to five times a day and to introduce another fast ferry to do a shuttle service, I for one will be sorry to see this fine ship moved to another port as I believe with two fast ships you would have taken a big slice of the cake from the other ferries from Dover.
I await your reply.

Yours Sincerely.
David.

I have been looking at the prices etc for ferries to leave Portsmouth around 18th October at 23.00 returning about the same date in november. Earlier this week I founf the sailings and a price, however, today there is not a return sailing from Le havre at 23.00 what is happening? The 23.00 sailing is good as it gives me time for a proper sleep and means the 5 hour drive home is done during the day.

Pierre,

There are rumours that Norman Spirit is to move to Dover in the very near future leaving the Cote D’Albatre to run the Le Havre route solo. Having been on both ships I’m not convinced that passengers will enjoy the CDA as much as the Spirit - and even more concerned that LD are effectively halving their service to Portsmouth.

Is this all part of some bigger plan?

Hi Pierre, as a very regular user of the Dover - Boulogne service I’m more than a little alarmed to hear today, on the internet,that the Norman Arrow is being taken off this run to be replaced by the Norman Spirit. Is there any truth in this rumour ? If so is this a permanent arrangment or just a temporary thing for the winter ?
Kind regards Gary

Dear Stephen, Dear Colin,

To make things clearer, although the Rosslare service will be operated by Celtic Link, you will be able to make bookings on Friday and Saturday departures through our website.
A press release will be on line at the end of the week.

Best regards,

Pierre

Dear Peter,

It is true that due a technical problem the Norman Voyager is in Falmouth but that should be fixed before the end of the week.

Best regards,

Pierre

I was planning a trip on Norman Voyager from Cherbourg - Portsmouth soon but I see she is in Falmouth dockyard is there a problem?

Hi, Pierre.
I was surprised to learn from a posting on AngloINFO Normandy and the link provided that the Rosslaire service is in conjunction with Celtic. All the postings and info provided on this blog and the co.uk site have indicated that the new service was an LD operation. Is this not correct and who runs the service - LD or Celtic ?
I am wondering if this was a move to solve the problem of the Voyager not being suitable for the Portsmouth/Le Havre run and the surplus of a ship out of Newhaven.
I may be being a bit pernickity, but I do feel that we have not been told the whole truth.

Dear Philip (Morris),

Thank you very much for your feedback.

I am sorry your first experience with LD Lines was not satisfactory.

However, such delays are not common place and you were the victims of a combination of circumstances.

The delay on arrival on 14th September was due to the fact the Côte D’Albatre was operating this sailing for the first time and teething berthing problems are unfortunately expectable in such circumstances.

Even if this is unfortunate, the introduction of the Côte d’Albatre on the Le Havre-Portsmouth run is good news as we are convinced she is far more suitable to the route than the Norman Voyager used to be.

As for your return journey, I am sorry for the delay at check-in which was due to the fact one of our check-in staff called in sick a couple of hours before we opened the check-in gates.

Please accept our apologies for the inconvenience caused by this unfortunate combination of circumstances.

Best regards,

Dear Russ,

Thank you very much for your suggestions which I will pass on to the Manager in charge of the Frequent Traveller Scheme.

The idea is to progressively introduce more priviledges to the card holders.

However, we need to ensure potential good ideas are feasible from a booking and operation point of view.

Best regards,

Hello Pierre,

I travel to France 3 or 4 times a year and consequently am very interested in a new service direct from Rosslare to Cherbourg. I am proposing going for the autumn break on 23rd October and returning on the 30th however I note that Celtic link are now chartering the vessel. Does this mean that departure times, prices etc,, are now determined by Celtic link? Also the service ethos of Celtic link and LD lines is somewhat different, which will I find on the new service?

Best wishes,

Colin.

Hooray! No more Norman Voyager on the Le Havre Portsmouth route. Congratulations on removing this completely unsuitable vessel from this route.

Now to turn my attention to helping LD Lines to improve the paying customers’ experience, and I know this will please Pierre, it won’t cost him anything.
The frequent traveller scheme is much appreciated by your customers, but apart from the points collected, offers little in return for the loyalty to LD lines.
A Gold Card holder is entitled to a free seat upgrade and access to the Cotton club on the N. Spirit, these facilites are unavailable on the N.Voyager, but now she’s gone to Irelend that’s no longer a problem. Are there similar facilites on the Transmanche replacement service?

My idea is that Loyalty card holders should get priority boarding when possible and go to the top of the cabin waiting list when required. This would mean they can exit the ports quicker on arrival and have a better chance to get a cabin when they are fully booked.
Frequent travellers, by their nature are often last minute bookers, because they don’t know exactly when they will need to travel so often can’t book a cabin or even a sleeper seat as these are booked well in advance by tourists who know when they will be travelling.
How about letting Gold card holders book well in advance without parting with any money until 7 days before sailing? This means they would be able to get a cabin when they needed it, and if they don’t confirm at the 7 day point lose the booking? Changing work commitments and emergencies also mean that crossings are sometimes booked (and paid for) that have to be changed. I think that Gold card holders should have the £10 booking change charge waived. They do, after all, spend a lot of money with LD over a year.
These improvements could be graded between Blue Card holders (like me), and Gold Card holders (like my wife).

Dear Olivier,

Thank you very much for your kind comment on the cleanliness of our ships.

The Cote d’Albatre has now replaced the Norman Voyager on the Le Havre-Portsmouth run.

However, unlike what the Norman Voyager used to do, she won’t ply between Le Havre and Rosslare on week ends which will enable us to offer more sailings to and from Portsmouth (including a very attractive overnight departure from Le Havre on Friday nights).

Our service to Rosslare will be moved from Le Havre to Cherbourg on 20th September.

Instead of one weekly service between Le Havre and Rosslare, we will be operating three weekly sailings between Cherbourg and Rosslare.

The Norman Voyager will be dedicated to this new service to Ireland.

The new Norman Leader is expected to be ready by early 2011. She is meant to operate between Le Havre and Portsmouth.

We will need to reaorganise our fleet to accommodate the arrival of The Norman Leader. The future configuration will depend on the economic situation and the state of the market.

I hope this helps.

Best regards,

Hello Pierre,

Travelling quite often between Dieppe and Newhaven, I’ve never had to complain about the cleanliness of the ship(s)- Unfortunately, only one ship remaining on the route now!

I have a question about the Le Havre/Rosslare route - which ferry is going to operate on it now? Is it still the ‘Norman Voyager’? And do you know so far when your new ferry for this route will be launched?

Best regards

Dear Garry,

Thank you very much for your support.

I was myself very surprised to read these two comments about the cleanliness of the ship as hygiene has always been one of our key priorities and, so far,we’ve only received positive comments.

I am still waiting for the full details of the investigation but, at least, one of these two incidents resulted from a water supply we had for a very shortwhile.

I’m glad you’re happy with the quality of the service delivered on the Dieppe-Newhaven run.

Though we’re not perfect, it is hard to deny we have worked at putting things back on the right track and even if you look at things in a purely objective way, it is hard to deny that the reliability of the service has improved.

I fully understand that offering fewer sailings may be a disappointment.

However, we had to make that difficult decision because demand is simply not there to justify the use of a second.

Like you, I hope demand will eventually peak up.

Using two ships at peak times is, of course, tempting but,unfortunately, we can’t take away the Côte d’Albatre from whichever alternative route we use it on because it will be high season there too!!

Best regards,

Hello again Pierre,

As you may know from my frequent posts to this site, I travel on the Dieppe/Newhaven route often, and I have been a little surprised to hear about the cleanliness on the Severn Sisters (although I was not aboard when there were problems with the water).

I have always found, the SS to be extremely clean, I was however surprised upon the return of the Cote to the Dieppe/Newhaven run for a few weeks when the SS had her engine problems, that the Cote seemed a little tired looking, also a little less pristine, maybe because she had been used on different routes.

I am sorry to hear those who have had problems on this route, but I have to say, using this route very often, on different days, I have nothing but praise for the way this route is operated, apart from only one ship now on it!

I have an idea Pierre, how about using the two ships at peak times?? Summer and major holidays? Then maybe the Conseil Général will give you a discount on renting the Cote for the rest of the year.

With kind regards,
Garry Spencer

Dear Steve and Roger,

Thank you very much for your interest in our future service between St Nazaire and Gijon.

We expect to start operating early 2010 but I’m afraid I cannot tell you much more at the moment as we priorily need to get the green light from the French government as the service will be part of the Sea Highway Project which aims at reducing the volume of road haulage and consequently traffic congestion on the highway network.

We do not have any present plan to interconnect this future run with a direct service to the South of England but, as always, we will keep an eye on how the market is evolving and will react to the demand.

I will keep you informed.

Best regards,

Dear Pierre
With connection to my e mail to you about 18 months ago regarding a crossing from Northern Spain to UK. I see you will have a ship running out of Gijon to Northern France shortly, and I was wondering if this vessel could alternate its crossings to the UK .We are using you service from Le Havre again In November and have found on past crossings, excellent service and no problems at all, you crew are very helpful as we have a dog with us and need access to the car deck on the crossing.
The drive up to Le Havre is becoming costly when towing a caravan and the current operators out of Northern Spain are also becoming very expensive. I look forward to your reply.
Regards
Steve H

Dear Rod M,

Thank you very much for your feedback.

I will talk to the ship’s Purser.

Delays upon disembarkation, as we all know it, are due to the new procedure by which Border Controls now computer check all the passports.

As already explained, this situation may only be transitionary as a new procedure should soon be tested by which all passports will be computer scanned on departure and, by the time the ship arrives, Immigration on arrival will already be aware of who’s coming and passport checks will be more targeted.

Best regards,

Dear Pierre,
Mr Otey has some points on the cleanliness aspect. The toilets in the cabin I had on the crossing in late August could have done with a little more attention too.
However, despite the rather rough weather conditions it was nice just to go to sleep and ignore the ride. I don’t expect the boat to be on time when conditions are like that so ten minutes late arriving wasn’t anything to complain about.
It took the best part of half an hour to disembark …again, I’d say this was par for the course. Sadly, it took almost as long to get through the customs checks but thats the price we all pay for security and not really anything LD Lines can do anything about.
Generally, Seven Sisters is still a nice boat… a little more attention to detail is required.

Dear Rod,

Thank you very much for this.

Please do not get carried away. My colleagues who deal with customers’ complaints care about our passengers as much as I do.

The way we meant to deal with your complaint was as follows:

we were waiting for the details of your delays to reply to you on all the points you raised.

So far, I can assure you we haven’t received any email from you on this matter at lehavretourisme@dlines.fr (I suppose you would have used the same email address as in your post).

The only emails from you at this address date back to may and concerned queries with your LD Miles.

Please double check the email address you used but something’must have gone wrong somewhere.

Please do not draw hasty conclusions.

Please resend your explanatory email to lehavretourisme@dlines.fr.

We look forward to hearing from you.

If we haven’t received anything from you by the end of the week, one of my colleagues will contact you in person.

Best regards,

Dear Pierre,

I wrote to you 1 week ago about a complaint regarding the hygiene and puctuality of your ships. I was pleseantly surprised at the fact that the comment was posted and also that it took only 2 hours to get a reply form you!
And that is where the good part ends. You told me I’d be contacted by someone about the toilets and that hasn’t happened. I also sent the details of my delays to your team as instructed and to this date I still haven’t received any acknowledgement, let alone a satisfactory explanation. My original post was sent to your complaints people simultaneously, but guess what? I haven’t heard anything from them either.
Pierre, unlike yourself, it would appear that your employees couldn’t care less about their clients. Maybe they need to understand that they are there to provide a service to us because at the end of the line, we provide the money for their salaries.

Thank you.

Rod

Dear Michael,

Thank you very much for planning on booking with us again next summer.

The sailings for next summer will be on sale (I quite liked “sail” too!) from the end of October.

There will be an overnight sailing from Portsmouth operated by the Norman Spirit on 23rd July and an overnight sailing from Le Havre on 9th August operated by the Côte d’Albatre.

The Côte d’Albatre (photos and a description of which are available at http://www.ldlines.co.uk/the-cote-d-albatre.html) which formerly operated on the Newhaven-Dieppe and Boulogne-Dover routes will replace the Norman Voyager on the Le Havre-Portsmouth run from 13th September 2009.

The Côte d’Albâtre which was launched in 2006 offers a magnificient panoramic lounge, a large seating facility and a spacious restaurant as well as a children’s play area.

I’m sure you will like her too.

Best regards,

Dear Pierre,

Please excuse my spelling mistake on my previous comment reading “Could you please tell me when the sailings for next summer are likely to go on sail”, it should have read with the last word being sale not sail.

Thanks

Dear Pierre,
After sailing with LD Lines this summer and being generally pleased with the service I received I wish to sail with LD Lines again next summer. I sailed on your Portsmouth - Le Havre crossing. Could you please tell me when the sailings for next summer are likely to go on sail, when the timetable for next summer will be published and what boats the crossings are likely to be on as i understand that you are re-arranging your fleet Ideally I would like to sail from Portsmouth on Friday 23 July 2010 at 23:00hrs and then return from Lr Havre on Monday 9th August 2010 at 23:00hrs. Can you please tell me if like this year these crossings will also be possible next year.

Kind Regards

Michael

Dear Rod,

Thank you very much for your feedback.

I have started to investigate the points you raised but would need more details to investigate more fully and take necessary action.

The problem with the toilets was most certainly due to a water supply problem we had that day but one of my colleagues will write to you personally with more details.

As for the delays,I would really like to know more.

Would you please send a quick email to my colleagues at lehavretourisme@ldlines.fr with details of the delays (when, where, how) and we will investigate, get back to you and take action.

Best regards,

Dear Pierre

I started using your company 1 year ago, but I’m afraid I’ll be seriously considering switching back to my previous ferry company. I loved your service because of convenience, state of the ships and price. Unfortunately, all this has quickly faded. Un my last 3 trips I’ve had to put up with two 1 hour delays on departures and disembarkation times of between 45 and 60 minutes on all 3 occasions. To top it all up, on my last trip last Saturday, I found that the toilets stunk of urine because they hadn’t been cleaned for 24 hrs. I told the receptionist of the Seven Sisters. 3.5 hrs, by the time we’d reached Newhaven, nothing had been done and the smell was unbearable. I was very happy to recommend you 6 months ago and was very vocal in forums such as the moneysavingexpert.com. Nowadays I’m afraid I’ll have to take another position and tell everyone about your hidden delays (by the way, an apology over the PA system after departure doesn’t make the boat arrive on time or the unloading process any faster)and bad hygiene.

Dear Dominic,

Thank you very much for your kind words.

I’m glad you’re happy with our prices and quality of service.

We now estimate the Norman Leader will be ready by the first quarter of 2011.

It is due to operate between Portsmouth and Le Havre but it is still oo early to confirm how we will redeploy our fleet as demand changes very quickly in the channel.

Best regards,

im thinking of using ld lines dover to boulogne in the future, but i am quite concerned about just the one craft in operation for the winter period in rough weather, are you going to get another craft in the near future and how soon will it be in operation

kind regards bill

Dear Pierre,

I am a very keen traveller but in particularly a very keen enthusiast of LD Lines. What you have done in the last four years is really exceptional so congratulations on creating, cheap yet high quality services on the channel.

However, I was wondering whether you could tell me a bit more about the Norman Leader. You state in a earlier news bulletin that it will be ready for 2010, any estimated dates yet? Also, what route can we expect to see this on, and will it be a replacing a vessel or just be an addition to the fleet?

Thanks in advance,
Dominic

Dear Mark,

Thank you very much for your query.

The Norman Voyager will leave Portsmouth for Le Havre on 11th September at noon for the last time.

She will sail from to Le Havre to Rosslare and back that same week-end and will go to refit in for a week.

She will sail from Le Havre to Rosslare on 18th September but will come back Rosslare-Cherbourg on 19th September and will start operating between Cherbourg and Rosslare three times a week from both ends from then on.

The Cote d’Albatre will start operating on the Le Havre-Portsmouth route in Le Havre on 13th September at 2359hrs. She will sail back from Portsmouth the following day at noon for the first time.

The Cote d’Albatre and the Norman Voyager will therefore never be in Portsmouth together.

I’m sorry as ithey would have looked good on the same photo!

Best regards,

Hi Pierre,

Could you tell me when the last sailings of the Voyager are from Portsmouth and when the Cote is due to take over please?…..i would like to get some final photos of the voyager before she leaves. Also will the cote and voyager be in portsmouth together at all?
Thanks in advance, Mark.

When is your France to Spain route starting and when will the timetables be published.

Dear Kris,

I would like to confirm we have no short term plan to operate from Ostend even though it is truly an interesting port with a good potential.

For the time being, it is essential we do not grow too quickly and concentrate on our existing routes and projects.

In the longer term, all scenarios are possible and we will keep listening to the evolution of the demand in the Channel.

You are true to say the success of a route mainly depends on the ability to understand its specificity.

What is true on one route may not necessarily be true on another.

When you have a clear view of what freight customers and passengers are locally after, the next step is to find the most suitable ship. Running costs and suitability to the local environment will also be an issue.

Finding the perfect ship is often mission impossible so you’ve got to look at finding the best available solution while you bear in mind travelling habits are constantly changing and external factors (petrol costs, value of the Pounds sterling, ecomic crisis, swine flu) are always there to spoil you plans.

I would say the ability to react and adapt are one of the keys to success.

Best regards,

Dear Pierre

We know now that in short terms, LDL has no plans to go to Ostend. But the port authority is only interested in a unique product. And that is a fast freight and passenger connection with England. So they made up contact with LDL. Oostende has a beautiful maritime history, more than 150 years and they will screw it up with a fast conection. Oostende has no place/market for a fast connection, but a schedule as Le Havre. Maybe we should change Dover with Harwich (or more north). Speed is not always an asset, but more expensive and certainly on long distances. Now we can only wait and see definitely what the future will give us, no?

All the best
Kris

Dear Noreen,

Thank you very much for your remark.

You should be able to book for late 2009 and early 2010 by the end of August (mid-September at the latest).

Though not many of our competitors will open their sales much before us, ideally, we would have liked to be ready a bit before.

However, following the opening of our new service between Cherbourg and Rosslare, we have had to work at reorganising our fleet and schedules.

Based on past experience, we now will try and disrupt our schedules as little as possible once they are made official.

Best regards,

I am very disappointed that I cannot book a ferry for November. I have been trying since early July then sent you an email asking why I could book. The reply took several weeks and only then to tell me I will not be able to book until September. Please consider posting your sailings sooner - it would help those trying to plan well ahead!!
Regards
Noreen Blackburn

Dear Margaret (Forbes-Meyer),

Thank you very much for your query.

We do not have any present plan to open a service from Cherbourg to Portmouth but who knows what the future holds.

The situation in the Channel is constantly evolving, so one needs to keep their options open and have the capacity to quickly react to market demand.

Best regards,

Dear John (Searle),

This press release only regards our service from France to Rosslare which we have decided to move from Le Havre to Cherbourg as the crossing time will be shorter and the route will offer better potential.

For fuller explanation, please report to the press release at:

http://www.ldlines.co.uk/news.html

As for our service to and from Portsmouth, we do not intend to quit Le Havre.

The Cote D’albatre which will replace the Norman Voyager on this route will only be dedicated to operating between Le Havre and Portsmouth which means we will even be able to slightly increase the frequency of this service.

Best regards,

I see that on your website there is an announcement….
LD Lines …. choose Cherbourg as main port in France!
Does this mean that the rumours that you will be quitting Le Havre and transferring the Portsmouth service to Cherbourg are true?

Dear Karen (Gardner),

Thank you very much for choosing and for taking the time to write to us.

As I often say it, passengers will be proner to write in following a disappointing experience than a satisfactory one.

I am glad you found our crew very friendly and couteous and the service of high quality and excellent value for money.

Since you are considering travelling with us again, I highly suggest you join our frequent traveller scheme at

http://www.ldlines.co.uk/loyalty-program.html

Application is free of charge.

We look forward to welcoming you on board one of our ferries in the very near future.

Best regards,

Dear Andrew (Edwards),

Thank you very much for your feedback.

I was glad to read you were happy with the tariffs offered and the quality of the service received.

I will convey your grateful thanks to my colleague in Newhaven.

Best regards,

Dear Alan (Quirke),

Thank you very much for query.

You will be able to make bookings for the winter months from the end of August.

Best regards,

Hi..thanks for a great and useful website.
We travelled on saturday 15/08 at 930 from Newhaven..This was the best ferry experience we have had,in several years ( normally we using Dover- Calais ) Iam very pleased to have found LD..as prices are excellent in comparison! We arrived somewhat early in Newhaven * 2 days * my fault,but the duty manager there was most brilliant in arranging the next possible crossing for us,and in between even making us coffee!! well done that man and well done LD lines,Even though we are on our holidays Iam looking forward to the return sailing..The Seven Sisters is a lovely ship,and an asset to you.! Many thanks again !

When do you release your 2010 Pricing?

Dear Keith Mcnie,

Thank you very much for your request.

I have talked with my colleagues from Customer Services.

They have re-read the whole exchange of emails they had with you.

It looks like confusion arose from a lack of availability on the sailing you requested.

The sailing concerned was truly full but another customer must have changed or cancelled his booking so there was availability for ONE vehicle for a very short while.

My colleague’s now made your booking for you and the sailing is now full again.

If you have already bought a ticket via our call center we will cancel it and refund it.

As for the misunderstanding regarding the number of points required, my colleague admitted to me he misundertood your email as you said your required 1600 LD Miles for this booking when you actually needed 16000.

He was under the impression you wished to use 1600 points to pay for part of your ticket which is strictly not possible.

He’s now read your email again and understood what you meant.

Please accept our apologies.

My colleague is going to get in touch by email very shortly.

Best regards,

Cher Stéphane (Grandjean),

Le navire qui est actuellement en construction à Singapour est, en effet, destiné à être utilisé sur Le Havre.

Lors de sa mise en service courant 2011, nous procéderons à une réorganisation de notre flotte qui dépendra de la physionomie du marché.

Sincères salutations,

Dear Chris,

Thank you very much for your this.

We do not have any short term intention to start a service from Ostend.

However, we are keeping a close look at the way the market is evolving in the Channel.

We like to keep our options open and like to think we have to the capacity to be very reactive.

Best regards,

Transeuropa ferries to Dover? TEF are suggesting that they will move if Euroferries start at Ramsgate. Feels TEF the need to head LDL off?

From trusted source we know that TEF will buy perhaps two ships of P & O. One of those ships though already tests in Ostend.

Wath can we expect from LDL in short or long term?

Best regards

Bonjour,

Ayant appris que le Côte d’Albatre serait redéployé sur la ligne Le Havre-Portsmouth, quid du navire en construction à Singapour (Norman leader je crois) ? Sera-t’il le 3ème navie sur la ligne du Havre, sera-t’il affacté à une autre liaison ?

Merci d’avance pour votre réponse.

Dear Jan,

Thank you very much for your interest in LD Lines.

As per my earlier posts, though Ostend is an attractive port and we are keeping a close eye on the evolution of the market in the Channel as a whole, we do not have any short term project to open a service from Ostend.

Best regards,

Dear Alana,

I am afraid we can’t provide such a service as we are not allowed to disclose our customers’personal data.

However, maybe a customer of ours travelling on the same sailing will read your post and offer to carry you and your pet in his/her vehicle.

Best regards,

Dear Angela,

Thank you very much for query.

You should be able to make bookings for the Christmas Holiday as from the end of August.

Best regards,

Hi,

I’m keen to book our Christmas holiday.

Can you please tell me when December dates will be available to book online?

Thank you,

Dear John,

Thank you very much for your loyalty to LD Lines in spite of your proximity with one of our competitors.

Thank you very much for pointing out to us an error in our online timetables.

The timetables should read:

Friday Le Havre / Portsmouth - 14/08, 28/08, 11/09, 25/09: 17h00 instead of 16h00

Sunday Le Havre / Portsmouth - 16/08, 30/08, 13/09, 27/09: 17h00 instead of 16h00

I understand our Customer Services provided misleading information to our computer people.

Please accept our apologies.The error will be corrected ASAP.

Departure from Le Havre on 20th September 2009 will therefore be at 4pm.

The 1600hr sailing takes 15 minutes more than the 1700hr one due to a berth situation on arrival in Portsmouth.

One of our competitors uses the berth until 2030hrs.

I’m sorry I cannot reply to your question regarding daytime sailings from Portsmouth on weekends next year as we haven’t made our schedule official yet.

An official annoucement will soon be made.

Thank you very much for your patience.

Best regards,

Hi Pierre
I hope you can clear a bit of confusion I have regarding the saiing times on Sundays from Le Havre to Portsmouth. The table on the web site shows the sailing time to be 1600hours. Underneath, though, for certain dates it states the sailing time is 1600 amended from 1700 !
What will be the daytime sailing time on Sunday 20th September?

Next year will there be daytime sailings from Portsmouth on Saturday and Sundays ?

And, finally, to satisfy my curiosity, why does the 1600 sailing take 15 minutes longer than the 1700 sailing?

Although our holiday home is nearer Caen than Le Havre we continue to enjoy your prices, friendly staff and the comfort of the Cotton Club.

Dear Mark,

I’m glad you enjoy keeping in touch with us through this blog.

It is a very useful tool for us too.

I cannot tell you where the Norman Voyager is going to operate yet as no official annoucement’s been made yet.

Thank you very much for your patience.

As you know we do not own the Côte d’Albatre. By the terms of the charter contract we signed with the Conseil Général,we cannot repaint her in LD Lines livery.

Best regards,

Hi Pierre,

I always read you blogs wiht interest and think that it is great that a Chairman takes so much pride in his company.

You may be able to help with this, or if may be a “secret” at the moment, but where will the Voyager go when the Cote enters service at Portsmouth. I know you also have a contract with Transmanche, but is it not about time to have the cote repainted in LD Lines livery, I think she would look very smart.

Best regards,
Mark.

Dear Juergen,

Thank you very much for your comprehensive description of the cross channel history in Ostend.

We are presently concentrating on our existing services and short term projects but please rest assured we are keeping an eye on the situation in Ostend.

Best regards,

Dear Ann,

Thank you very much for choosing us and for your interest in our fleet.

You will be travelling both ways on the Côte d’Albatre.

The Seven Sisters is in drydock following a technical problem.

Enjoy your trip!

Best regards,

Dear Jim,

Thank you very much for your interest in our Portsmouth-Le Havre service.

The main change will be the replacement of the Norman Voyager by the Côte d’Albatre mid September which will increase our passenger capacity on our midday departures from Portsmouth and our overnight sailings from Le Havre.

In terms of ships’schedules, some minor changes may be introduced but they are still being discussed inhouse.

Best regards,

Cher Ludo,

Merci pour vos commentaires.

Le lancement d’un deuxième navire rapide sur Boulogne-Douvres est un projet à moyen terme.

A court terme, le Norman Arrow va augmenter sa fréquence de traversées.

En cas de problème, il est prévu que Le Côte D’Albatre revienne pontuellement en replacement.

Sincères salutations,

Dear Pierre,

Like Chris (verpl) I also think that there still is a market for an Ostend-Dover route. This route is still in the minds of many Germans who are not even aware of the fact that this link no longer exists. I am quite convinced that many people would still want to use this route. If - like myself - you do not want to use the tunnel, many people living in the West of Germany or the eastern part of Belgium have to drive as far as Dunkirk to get on a ferry. Surely the 30-year-old ferries used by Transeuropa Ferries may have been acceptable in the late 70´s, but consumers in the 21 century certainly expect a bit more. When Holyman Sally took over the route from Ostende Lines, they had about 1,3 million passengers in the first year (correct me if I´m wrong). At the time this number was not enough for them, but the number certainly shows that there was (and certainly is) a market for this line. Even a seasonal service would be of interest to many holiday-makers.
Thanks for your attention.
Kind regards
Jürgen Scherer

Hello Pierre. Newhaven is my nearest port, so I would really like to travel on your two sister ships to/from Dieppe. I’ve booked as a ‘footie’ on Sat. 1st Aug on Cote D’A at 0930, return Sun 1800 on S/Sisters (allegedly). Please, am I going to be lucky and travel on both?
Thanks and best wishes.
Ann

Cher Chris (Verpl),

Je vous remercie de votre engouement pour LD Lines.

Nous nous intéressons de près à la situation à Ostende mais n’avons aucun projet à ce jour.

Je partage votre passion pour le Norman Spirit mais j’en connais beaucoup au Havre et à Portsmouth qui s’attristeraient de son départ!

Sincères salutations,

Nous entendons de plus en plus de rumeurs de LD Lines a Ostende. Si vous planifiez de venir ici, viennent avec le Norman Spirit. Nous avons un lien historique avec votre bateau. Sans ajustements, ils peuvent le recevoir ici. Ce bateau fera revivre la région, avec une bonne politique
il est une valeur en or pour LDL et Ostende. Pourquoi serait-ce pas possible?

Dear Ian (Unwin),

Thank you very much for your comments.

The Norman Spirit truly is the one with the most sleeping facilities (cabins,standard seats,club class seats and sleeper seats).

This is the reason why she operates our overnight sailings from Portsmouth which are the ones for which we have the most demand.

The Côte d’Albatre offers fewer cabins than the Norman Voyager but this is not much of a problem as she will operate the overnight sailings from Le Havre for which demand is more limited.

Also, we will be carrying fewer lorries so the proportion of cabins allocated to passengers will be larger than on the Norman Voyager.

Based on this year’s figures, offer such be sufficient.

On the other hand, the Côte d’Albatre can carry up to 550 passengers when the Norman Voyager gets claustrophobic on day sailings from 350 passengers.

As the midday departure from Portsmouth offers a good potential, the extra capacity will be an assett.

For your information, a third of all our midday departure sailings from Portsmouth are already full up so we can easily estimate we will be refusing passengers on half of our August midday departures.

More generally, we consider the Côte d’Albatre will suit the route better.

There is no short term project to enhance the sleeping facilities of the Côte d’Albatre as they should meet the present requirements.

However, such improvements could easily be considered in the longer term if need be as the ship is spacious enough.

As always, we will try and adapt to our customers’demand.

Best regards,

Dear Andrew (Scott),

The Côte d’Albatre will eventually replace the Norman Voyager on the Portsmouth-Le Havre run but we don’t have any precise date yet.

The Norman Voyager will operate on another run but I can’t tell you more at the moment.Sorry!

Best regards,

Hi Pierre.

What will happen to the cote d’alabtre after the Seven Sisters returns we she return to the Dieppe route.

Dear Mike (Jones),

Thank you very much for your feedback.

The Seven Sisters is presenly in drydock following a technical problem.

The charter contract we signed with the Conseil Général who owns the Seven Sisters and the Cote d’Albatre states we need to bring back the Cote d’albatre on the Newhaven Dieppe run should the Seven Sisters have a technical problem.

The Seven Sisters is due to come back from drydock to its normal run around 3rd August.

In parallel, it has been decided to take away the Cote d’Albatre from the Dover Boulogne run for good and develop the route as an exclusive high speed ferry service.

We will soon move to the Port of Boulogne’s new Hub Port Terminal and with the Cote d’Albatre’s stern ramp not fitting the newly installed linkspan, operating efficiency of the ship in terms of freight and tourist traffic carrying capacity, would be considerably limited.

It was never our long term intention to maintain a combined high speed ferry and conventional ferry service choice on the route. We are already in the advance planning stages of increasing sailing frequency of the Norman Arrow and ultimately adding a second high speed ferry to the route, to provide a unique shuttle-like operation between Dover and Boulogne.”

Best regards,

Hello Pierre..
Can you tell me if the Seven Sisters boat will be back on the Newhaven run soon..?
I have travelled twice this week and the cote d albatre crew are very slow to load and unload. I did hear rumour that you are planning to use the seven sisters elsewhere,is this true..? I hope not. Also iam excited about Ld in Ostende,that would be perfect! Keep up the great service!

Dear Monika,

Thank you very much for your query.

Basically, if the purpose of your trip is non commercial and your van is no longer than 8 meters, you may buy a passenger ticket.

If your vehicle is longer or of smaller dimension but carrying freight, you will have to contact our freight office to purchase your ticket from them.

Best regards,

hi
i have a question:What does it mean passanger van?what can i drp with me?is it possible that i take some car parts with?

Dear Andrew (Sanders),

Thank you very much for your loyalty to LD Lines.

The vessel that is being built in Singapoor is due for delivery early 2011.

She is indeed meant to operate on the Le Havre-Portsmouth run.

Best regards,

Dear Al,

Thank you very much for your query.

Yes, the Norman Arrow is scheduled to operate from Dover to Boulogne all winter long.

Best regards,

Hi Pierre
will you be running a fast ferry route from Dover to boulogne during the winter 2009/10 ? .
Regards
Al

Dear Chris Verpl,

Thank you very much for your interest in LD Lines.

We do indeed have an interest in the Ostend-Dover route which would truly broaden our network and give us further access to the eastern European market.

However,though we are keeping a close eye on how the market is evolving,no firm decision has been made at this stage.

Best regards,

Dear Gary,

Thank you very much for your feedback.

I have just been informed by our technical department that we will also be fitting motorbike racks.

Let’s all hope those and the rubber pads will do the trick.

I understand my colleagues have now created your frequent traveller account. You must have now received confirmation by email.

Best regards,

Dear Glen,

Thank you very much for this.

Our move to the new hub is now more likely to happen around 3rd August as we would like to carry out some more berth trials. Also, we need to make sure both UK borders and French Immigration are also ready.

Our programming team will update our website as soon as possible but I know they have a lot on their plate at the moment.

Delays at disembarkation in Dover is mostly due to the recent procedure by which UK borders now computer check all passports.

Hopefuly, this is only transitional as a new procedure will soon be tested in a test port by which carriers will pre-computer check passports at check-in.

Thank you very much for suggesting we use Western Docks in Dover instead of Eastern Docks.

Unfortunately, the ramp there isn’t compatible with the carrying of freight vehicles.

Best regards,

Dear Pierre,
thanks for your reply re move to new hub at Boulogne. As at today no sign on your website yet of any update. I will wait but by 20th will be on the road.
Another thought. Many people have made comments about the time it takes at Dover to embark/disembark. You will always have trouble because Eastern Docks are so congested which is why your lamented predecessor Speedferries moved to the old Hovercraft site in Western Docks. Perhaps if they had been able to move there earlier they may well have survived. It is all about access and turnover and once people got to appreciate the congestion free Western Dock things may have been better. Oh well — have you cconsiderd going there to escape the congestion?

Dear Pierre
At the end of winter, there were already some rumours about a new route between Ostend and Dover, with LD Lines. After the disappearance of Cobelfret, this summer, we hear again talking about it. What can we expect? Return of passenger transport, or just freight? We Belgians have a historic band with your ship Norman Spirit.
Best regards

Dear Gerard,

I am sorry we had to cancel your sailing due a technical problem on board one of our ships.

Please accept our apologies for the inconvenience caused.

Should none of the available alternatives be suitable, we would obviously cancel and refund your ticket.

Please confirm with my colleagues at lehavretourisme@ldlines.fr what your intentions are.

However, by terms and conditions, we do not cover any extra costs arising from such unfortunate situations.

Best regards,

Posted by Gerard
July 9, 2009
at 2:20 pm
I have made a reservation for a return ticket Boulogne Dover leaving Boulogne on 11-7 and returun on 12-07 ref. 2622835 for a meeting in England. However yesterday i received an email that teh boat is due to technical problems is not sailing from Boulogne. I was asked to reply this mail, which i did but i did note get a reply. Now i had to book an alternitve boat at Norfolk which cost me 64 euro extra and i wonder how you are going to solve this. or comenste me for the extra costs. I travel about 6 time a year to Englland before this with Speedferries and that was very good. This is the first time with LD, and i do not have a good feeling.
Hope you can solve this problem for me.

Thanks.
Gerard Kampen

Dear Glen C,

Thank you very much for suggestions.

Our moving to the new hub will be subject (amongs other things) to the road signage being operational, so please rest assured we will not move until we are happy with the signage.

Directions to the new hub will be available on our website very shortly,our webmaster is working on it.

Best regards,

Cher Timbis,

Je vous remercie de vos commentaires et suggestions.

Nous serons en mesure de vous en dire un peu plus sur notre nouvelle ligne entre St Nazaire et Gijon dans les prochaines semaines. Je vous remercie de votre patience.

J’ai noté votre remarque concernant le manque de publicité.

Notre plan média vise à améliorer notre visibilité par le biais des moyens classiques (journaux,affichage, radio et même télé en Angleterre) mais il est clair que le gros de l’effort a été fait du côté anglais là où se trouve 80% de notre clientèle. L’effort a surtout consisté à mettre en avant nos produits sur Internet en améliorant notre référencement sur les différents moteurs de recherche et comparateurs de tarifs.

En matière de publicité, comme pour tout investissement coûteux, des arbitrages doivent être faits mais j’ai bien noté votre remarque qui doit, je pense, concerner le marché français.

Toutes vos suggestions visant à élargir le champs des informations disponibles sur notre site et améliorer l’interaction avec nos clients sont très judicieuses et je vais les soumettre à notre webmaster. Je sais que lui-même est porteur de nombreux projets similaires mais le rythme imposé par nos ouvertures de lignes successives nous a obligé à travailler dans l’urgence et à sans cesse repousser ces projets.

Merci de votre soutien.

Sincères salutations

Dear Pierre,
I notice you say it is intended to transfer to the new hub in Boulogne around July 20th. As I will touring France at that time and have a booking for a return on August 3rd on Norman Arrow can you assure me that all road directions, signs etc. will have been changed to accommodate the situation of the new hub which is some distance from the existing port. Also why don’t you NOW put details of the new hub and directions on your website so people will know in advance rather than wait for the day you actually transfer. You can always make sure that THE ACTUAL TRANSFER DATE IS ????????? WHATEVER By doing this your actual website update will be a quick hit on the day.

Bonjour Monsieur Géhanne,

Pourriez-vous nous donner svp quelques infos sur la nouvelle ligne au départ de Saint-Nazaire i.e. horaires, navire, idées de tarif.. Je trouve que l’idée est excellente mais il est nécessaire je pense de faire plus de pub. C’est la même chose pour vos autres lignes et d’ailleurs les autres compagnies. Vous devriez plus insister sur vos prix. j’ai réservé une traversée depuis le Havre et le prix est de 110 A/R. Je voyage une à deux fois par an avec vous et vous offrez un produit adapté à mes besoins : équipage sympa, navires agréables. 400 euros chez votre concurrent lol!

Par ailleurs, vous pourriez insister plus sur votre site sur ce que l’on peut faire au UK. Je vais peut être vous étonner mais je trouve que Portsmouth est une ville très agréable : front de mer, Gunwharf quays, shopping… et pubs (je vous recommande tout particulièrement ceux près de l’hotel de ville). Et la côte vers Brighton ou la New Forest c’est très bien. J’adore la randonnée et je trouve mon bonheur là bas! Il manque des infos sur ce point. Pourquoi ne pas créer un forum d’échange entre passagers : dès que l’on fait une réservation avec vous, on y a accès et on échange de l’info sur les hotels, les restaurants, les activités…

Vous pourriez créer une page facebook (vous et pas un inconnu) pour les fans clients salariés et équipage de votre compagnie. J’ai vu que vous êtes sur facebook. Sur votre blog, clairement les passagers vous apprécient et franchement c’est rare de voir ça à se point! Bravo! Il y a clairement un lien entre entreprise et clients plus fort chez vous que dans une autre entreprise.

Autre idée pour ce début d’été, créer un concours de photos. A celui qui prendra la plus belle photo de vos navires intérieur et extérieur. Je vous promets que ça peut en motiver plus d’un.

En fait, je trouve qu’on n’en sait pas assez sur votre entreprise. Par exemple, j’ai vu que vous étiez à Suresnes à côté de chez moi. Mais bon c’est en fouillant sur le site que je m’en suis rendu compte.

Enfin, dernier point, pourriez-vous mettre en ligne tous les plans des navires : c\’est bien de savoir à l’avance ce que l’on va trouver à bord. Seul le plan du Spirit est dispo.

En tout cas vous l’aurez compris je suis un fan de LDL! Point très appréciable, après chaque traversée et réservation, on reçoit un mail d’enquête satisfaction : c’est très bien.

@ bientôt.

Dear Mr John Fletcher,

Thank you very much for your feedback.

I am glad you found the Norman Arrow comfortable and the staff helpful.

I have asked the ship’s Captain to investigate your other remarks,here are his comments:

“The taps in the toilets are operated by sensors. When you put your hands in range of the sensor the water will then come on. There were no signs onboard to indicate how to use the taps when the craft first came into service. As a result many tried twisting or pushing the tap to try and get the water to flow. We now have signs in the toilets which show how the taps should be operated.

The reason for the delay on the 18/06 was because the craft was operating on 3 engines and therefore slower speeds. I cannot offer a more in depth explanation as no departure times have been given.

The delay on 07/07 was the resultant of several small delays. The 0700 departure from Boulogne was delayed for 22 minutes waiting for foot passengers. The craft departed at 0722 and arrived in Dover at 0731. Discharge was completed at 0744 and loading started at 0745. Again the foot passengers were delayed this time being called into the AMSA security shed in Dover. The craft departed at 0818 and arrived 1034.

The 1045 (Bo/Do) commenced loading at 1045 with loading completed at 1118 and the vessel departed at 1124. The craft arrived in Dover at 1145 with discharge commencing at 1148 and completed by 1203.

Due to the configuration of the craft all high head room vehicles including lorry traffic can only go on Tier 1 with cars going via the ramp up to Tier 2. Obviously, to get the cars down from Tier 2 we must discharge some or part of the traffic on Tier 1 first. This situation is made worse in Dover because the port only allows one lane of traffic to be discharged onto the shore linkspan due to weight restrictions. This in turn slows down our discharge rate.

The crew are still devising the optimum way to load the craft but we are getting quicker all the time. There has been talk of modifying the craft so that we can load and discharge both Tier 1 & 2 at the same time. If this does come about it will greatly reduce turn around time in port and remove the perceived favouring of lorries”

I hope this will convince you of our will to address the inevitable teething problems.

Best regards,

Dear Stephen (Shutie),

Please accept our apologies for being affected twice by a change of departure time.

The first change was due to a modification of our timetables following the arrival of the Norman Arrow.

The second change was due to the necessity to take the Seven Sisters to drydock following a technical problem.

I fully understand your disatisfaction even though the situation doesn’t reflect our usual reliability.

The fact the email informing you of the cancellation was dated 3rd July and you only received it on 8th July doesn’t mean we didn’t bother to inform you any earlier.

In fact the Seven Sisters was first cancelled for a couple of days hence the email dated 3rd July sent to the passengers concerned.

When it was confirmed the cancellations would last longer, a new batch of emails was sent using the original email dated 3rd July.

I’m sorry if this caused confusion.

Should you like to cancel your whole ticket and get a refund, please contact my colleagues at lehavretourisme@dlines.fr.

Best regards,

Hello,

I took the 10.30 pm crossing from Boulogne on Tuesday, July 7. I was not aware of the new ship before crossing, and it was a very pleasant surprise. Nothing wrong with the older ship, but this was obvioulsy a much faster crossing, and a really high quality new ship. The staff were friendly and helpful, although not very knowledgeable about the ship or the company. Having chatted with your very pleasant (female) senior manager on the innaugural crossing on Feb 12, I am happy to use the service on a regular basis. I realise the new ship has only been in service a few weeks, and some of the services are not yet in place, however it would be good to see the following available.

1. Some hot food. Perhaps warm bread/croissants (not microwaved, it doesn’t work with bread). bacon and sausage for the rolls with brown sauce or ketchup would satisfy most Brits wanting breakfast. (and probably a lot of French travellers too!)

2. The two theatre style areas on the port side at the stern that have large TV screens, could be showing something other than a map and the ship’s speed and position. Perhaps a video of the ship under construction, (the Tasmanian builders of the ship must have some interesting video) the sea trials, some arial shots of the ship manouvering into the harbours.etc. Some video of the engine room and bridge. Maybe a webcam type feed. Some corporate type video about LDlines as very few people in the UK knows of your company. Perhaps some other sports or music videos could be played on the other TV screens of which there are many.

3. maybe some information on the Tv screens about areas to visit in North West France, (advertising revenue)

look forward to your comments

regards

Robert Turner

I have taken the boat to Dieppe with reference 2230947097..I was dissapointed at the terminal to not see your duty manager Ashley? Nobody could seem to explain his location,Iam Hoping he is still with LD as really he is the best staff member in Newhaven! I have used Norman Arrow,very nice and Iam planning many more tickets,Dover I hope to bring great news for LD Lines…Can you please enquire inhouse as to the location of Ashley ~’ If he has left Newhaven it wil be a massive loss. I Also may comment on the rest of Newhaven desk…Very smart and helpfull,but please some air conditioning! I am hoping for Dover- Calais soon,just to save my drive. Thankyou for listening
Brenda

Dear Rod,

Thank you very much for your feedback and suggestions.

As I said before,we are quite happy with the situation on the Dieppe-Newhaven run at the moment.

The option with only one ship and fewer sailings is definitely the most economically appropriate in the present conditions.

There remains for us to try and use the second ship in the best possible way within the terms of the contract we have with the Conseil Général .

These are quite restricive which explains why some the options you’re suggesting could not be explored.

I can’t tell you more but we are working on different scenarios at the moment.

Best regards,

While I applaud LD Lines thinking outside the box, it was pretty obvious Deippe-Dover wasn’t going to work. It was a route taking people east when they want to go North and west when they want to go South. I’d be prepared to bet that there was more traffic on the Newhaven-Le Havre run which was more north-south.

Newhaven-Boulogne might work. The Seacat’s sometimes did that when the weather made it difficult to enter Dieppe. Dieppe to Portsmouth might be another alternative. So if I were a betting man, one of those might be where I’d put some money.

Notwithstanding the fact the Newhaven harbour needs a lot of work to make ferry services a viable prospect, I still think a fast cat between Newhaven and Dieppe would compete very well with Dover-Calais routes. Calais and Boulogne are quick to get to because of the short crossing time and its possible to drive to Normandy in the extra 3 hours that a traditional ferry takes from Newhaven to Dieppe. But a fast cat would take away that advantage. Maybe worth revisiting in the future.

Dear Richard,

Thank you very much for your feedback.

I am glad you like the ship and enjoyed the service provided by our staff.

As you pointed it out, there remains some teething problems that need to be addressed.

I have conveyed your remarks regarding the lack of signage in the port of Dover and problems with running water on board the Norman Arrow to our local managers.

I have noted your point concerning the sending of emails in the event of a disruption.

In such cases our disruption procedure states we will first try to contact passengers by email as it is the quickest way to get hold of a large number of passengers. We then try to contact by telephone (land line and mobile) all the passengers who did not acknowledge receipt of our email.

Of course, in case of a last minute disruption or cancellation, time can be an issue.

The good news is our procedure will now include the sending of text messages.

As most people will now bring their mobile phones with them on vacation, this will hopefully improve things.

Best regards,

Dear C Burn, Owen and Suzanna,

Thank you very much for your comments and suggestions.

Please accept our apologies for stopping the Dover-Dieppe service but,as I said, it would have been financially suicidal not to react quickly.

One could always argue but I don’t think more publicity would have made the difference as the route was referenced on all the main ferry booking engines.

Fewer than 10 vehicles booked per sailing over the summer season is clear indication to us that the market did not take to the route.

As explained before, the purpose of taking off a ship from the Dieppe-Newhaven run was to help balance Transmanche’s finances by transfering the running costs of the second vessel from Transmanche to LD Lines. So you are right in thinking the future of the Newhaven-Dieppe service and that of the substitution saling are, so to speak, joined at the hip but let us not draw hasty and radical conclusions..

It looks like we have now solved one part of the problem as we seem to have found the appropriate solution for the Dieppe-Newhaven run. We are quite satisfied with the results of the route now we are only operating with one ship.

What remains to be solved is how to make the best use of the second ship as neither Le Havre-Newhaven or Dieppe-Dover did the trick.

We are presently comtemplating various scenarios but I can’t tell you more at the moment.

I have noted yur comments regarding the situation with foot passengers on the Boulogne-Dover run.

We are only carrying foot passengers on a limited number of sailings at the moment (http://www.ldlines.co.uk/portsmouth-le-havre.html.

The main reason is, once again,costs. We have to rely on a partner company for the shuttle service both sides of the Channel and the service is truly so costly we cannot afford to buy it for every sailing. The average cost for a foot passenger ticket and the potential number of foot passengers per sailing are too low to justify the extra expenses.

We also have to take into account the opening hours of the Travel Centre in Dover.

However, we will reexamine the situation when the season is over and I have noted your points (eg Seafrance’s reduced offer and Boulogne FC being promoted to the first League).

I hope this clarifies the situation.

Best regards,

I not happy that you haver stopped the Dover -Dieppe service so soon, I think that this needed a long time to establish itself and that LD didnt push the marketing side of this as everyhing is aimed at Boulogne,, given time it could of taken off,is the service just suspended of of the run from Dover forever ? I have spoken to many people and they have nothing but praise for the crew of Cote and Norman Arrow so staff wise well done and it is good that foot passengers are being taken but could this not be afforded to all sailings nstead of two especially now that Seafrance are not taking footies from Sept (bad move on there part). At least they can now travel with a smile. Also as Boulogne are now in the French premier football league I know lots of people that want to travel and watch them play, but cant get home the same evening would you look at changing the foot pax times and marketing this.
Thanks in advance

C Burn

Bonjour Pierre!
In an earlier post about the future of the Newhaven-Dieppe route you said that if the Dover-Dieppe service was not a success, then the Dieppe-Newhaven route will be terminated. With the news that the route unfortunately has not been financially viable, is there a plan B? If so does this plan include a new route for the Seven Sisters or maybe an increase in sailings between Dover and Boulogne to reduce the burden to LD lines?
Restarting a Newhaven-Le Havre link with a Newhaven-Le Havre-Portsmouth-Le Havre-Newhaven triangular rotation might be interesting!

Dear Jean (a traveller from Dover to Boulogne),

Thank you very much for your very kind words which I conveyed to the staff concerned.

Your satisfaction is very reassuring as I received a very negative comment this morning regarding the treatment of foot passengers on this run which really put me off and which I am presently investigating.

I am glad you enjoyed the service as we are really keen to do things right.

Best regards,

Not sure if this is the right place to put this but could find no better place!
I just wanted to write to you to say thank you for the wonderful service I receive on my recent trip to France.
I travelled out on the 23rd June at 7pm

I have travelled over to France at least 40 times in my life and never before felt compelled to contact any of the companies I have travelled with!

Right from when I checked in your staff were polite, friendly and helpful.

I was travelling as a lone foot passenger which can be nerve-wracking if you don’t know what to do (and it was only my second time- the first was with another company) and right from when I checked in I was told exactly what was going to happen, where to be etc so I never was worried

Everyone from the check-in lady, the van drivers- on both sides, and the bar staff couldn’t have been better and I just wanted to let you know and say thank you

Dear Matt,

Thank you very much for your comments.

Please accept our apologies for the cancellation of our Dieppe-Dover service and the inconvenience this may cause you.

The reason for this decision is unfortunately quite simple: early booking figures for the summer were so low (less than ten vehicles per sailing) that it would have been economically suicidal not to react.

There’s always some uncertainty when a new service is launched and it looks like we missed the target as the market simply did not take to the route.

Once again, please accept our apologies. I sincerely hope one of the alternative available salings will be acceptable to you.

Best regards,

Hi

Some feedback - sadly not good! w e have used the service from Newhaven a number of times, and found it to be excellent!

However, we had a cancellation email today. We booked a long time ago for the 24th of July to travel Dover to Dieppe.

Sadly this sailing no longer exists it seems, and with the bookings and arrangements we have made - and just three weeks to go we are in a tough situation.

Now to make our arrangements it looks like there is no suitable crossing with LD. We have very little children, so travelling to 3am and then a drive is not suitable.

Checking other providers I will have to pay more than £200, and there is limited availability.

I will talk to your call centre to see what they will do, but to cancel a key service with just a few weeks notice and on the first day of the UK holidays seems a good way to upset loyal customers!

Your thoughts and advice would be appreciated.

Also worth noting that the people who send your emails manage to include other customer information in the email which I don’t think the other customer would be very happy about!!!

Thanks in advance,
Matt

Dear Jean-Marie,

I am glad you enjoyed your stay on the Norman Arrow.

As I already had the opportunity to write to it, notwithstanding some inevitable teething problems,customer feedback’s been very good so far.

I will forward your compliments to the crew concerned. I am sure they will be highly appreciated.

The present tidal situation has to do with the shallowness of the Boulogne port.

When we move to the new hub,we will not be affected by the tide coeffcients anymore as the depth of the harbour will be 9 metres as opposed to 5 metres now.

Berth trials will be carried out on 12th and 13th July and, providing everything’s ready in time, we would like to start operating from the new port around 20th July.

Best regards,

I \’tried\’ the \’Norman Arrow\’ on Saturday 20th June starting at 10.45 from Boulogne and I was really pleased!
Very nice ship, nice colours inside, various possibilities to enable
you to find a space that you will enjoy for the crossing, and what a magnificent
view over the sea when you are sitting in the front lounge!The staff is very
kind, always available for service and clearly happy to work on this ship. While ordering a coffee at the Horizon Bar I told the man in charge about the radio advert finishing with \’Every mile makes you smile\’ and he kept singing the melody for at least 5 minutes! This is a clear sign of how happy he is to work on this ship. It made the passengers even happier and probably keener on using the line again, which I will certainly do in thecoming weeks! We
arrived on scheduled time (11a.m.) and docked as soon as the \’Côte d\’Albâtre\’
left berth 3. At 11.15 we were out of the ship. Thank you LD Lines for being such a remarkable operator.
Just a little question Pieere : you said there was no departure at 10.45 from Boulogne yesterday (25th June) for \’tidal problems\’ : what are those, are they likely to happen again? Even when the new platform is in service?

Perhaps the Western Channel is already at capacity. However, would a conventional ferry between Portsmouth & St Nazaire complement the St Nazaire Gijon route opening later this year?

Dear Mathieu,

Thank you very much for your kind words and suggestions.

We presently do not have any plans to start a service from Cherbourg.

The reason is twofold:

As we are keen to doing things right, we presently need to spend all our energy on our existing projects.

Also, all analyts seem to agree that there would not be room for an extra operator in the western channel at the moment.

However, rest assured we are looking very closely at how the market is developing and we have the capacity to react very quickly if need be.

Best regards,

Hello,

I’m a cruise and ferry lover of Cherbourg . LD is the best line for the passionates : it may be the most opened with us !
I’m arising a question, for many month : the Cherbourg to Portsmouth line is like “forsaken” ; this line couldn’t interest your company ? It would be the occasion to “control” the West-channel, with a short and fast road…

Mathieu BURNEL

Dear Ed,

Thank you very much for your enlightened suggestions.

All analysts seem to agree that the existing offer in the western channel is sufficient and there probably would not be room for too many extra routes.

The idea of a high speed service in the western channel is tempting but most of the fast cats are unable to carry a lot of freight which is crucial in the western channel. Fuel is also an issue on such long sailings.

However, though the present idea is to concentrate on our existing routes and our soon to start Nantes-Gijon service, what is true today may not be true tomorrow and we will always try to stay reactive and adapt to the demand of the market.

Best regards,

Pierre

Dear Jean-Marie,

Thank you very much for your enthusiasm and support.

On 25th June, the1045hr ferry (Norman Arrow) from Boulogne will be leaving at noon due to tidal restrictions.

Today, the Norman Arrow left at 1045hrs as per normal schedule.

Best regards,

Pierre

Hello Pierre,
I have a reservation on the Norman Arrow from Boulogne on 20th June at 10.45 and I can’t wait! But I tried to have another one at the same time on 25th June and apparently the Arrow is not leaving at 10.45. I was told on the phone that there is not a departure at this time every day, and today I have been watching the port of Boulogne webcam and did not see her. So could you tell me on which days there is no departure at 10.45 (contrary to schedule indications) and most of all : is there a departure from Boulogne at 10.45 on 20th June?
Longlive LD Lines, every mile will make me smile!
Jean-Marie Florin

Hi Pierre,

Is there any likelihood of more sailings out of Portsmouth, possibly high-speed services? I understand that LD Lines is pretty short of tonnage and could perhaps open a whole range of new, little niche routes across the channel.

Here’s an idea - when P&O ceased it’s French operations from Portsmouth it closed the Le Harve (now covered by LD Lines) Cherbourg (Brittany Ferries covered first with existing cruise ferries and then purpose-built high-speed ferries) and Caen (BF have only added their 3x weekly weekend high-speed service). P&O launched a Portsmouth-Caen route with the high-speed Caen Express.

Reported to be P&Os biggest success in decades on the channel, is there any chance of LD Lines introducing some more competition to Normandie from Portsmouth, in the form of high-speed services?

Best,

Ed

Dear Chris and Ray,

As a Newhaven resident I can tell you there are things to see and places to eat in the town. However, it is visually unappealing I grant you. You have to remember that Newhaven has never been a “seaside town” as such. It has always been a working port. The disinvestment in it by the previous owners has meant that everything looks run down and dilapidated. I congratulate LD Lines in spending money and giving the port buildings a makeover. Thats probably the first money spent on the port in years.

Yes, it would be good if the authorities in the UK would invest in the infrastructure. The ability to do this lies with the UK government and not with more local authorities as may be the case in France. This inevitably means that the people who could do something are more remote from the situation. Nonetheless, there are many of us actively campaigning to get things to change. This will not be easy and will probably take some time, not least because of the current financial climate. If you find Newhaven unattractive, tatty and run down, imagine how we feel having to look at it everyday and wondering if there is a future for it.

We want the port to be improved, we want the ferry service to be more successful… yes we want more and faster crossings. Please rattle cages on our behalf (particularly government ones) if you get the chance.

Rod.

Dear Christopher,

Thank you very much for your comment which is full of common sense.

I fully understand everybody have their own needs in terms of departure and arrival times depending on where they live,etc but this is obviously not possible to meet everybody’s needs unless demand is strong enough to justify a ferry every hour.

My responsibility is to make sure the capacity we offer is in line with the potential quantity of customers you can expect to attract.

Many combinations have been tried in the past but our conclusion is operating with one ship only is the solution that makes the most sense, any other solution creates huge deficits. Now, should the French or English authorities be ready to accept to cover larger deficits because they feel they need more sailings to boost their local economies, other solutions could be implemented but this is all money from the tax payers so we probably should all be reasonable. Now a little public help in terms of infrastructure or road links would obviously be welcome!

Offering a limited number of sailings per day means you have to try and a find a happy compromise in terms of schedules. As you very well put it, this is not an easy task as you may not have the same needs if you’re a tourist or a local resident or a freight driver.

Best regards,

Pierre

Thinking about the Newhaven-Dieppe route I can understand the frustrations felt by many potential passengers, and indeed I am one of them.

However I guess that the issue is that the ferry time you require depend on where you life. Therefore as I am 30 minutes from Newhaven I want an early morning crossing to Dieppe and an evening crossing back.

However freight and those coming from longer distances will want a later crossing out, and an earlier one back, as no one wants to stay in Newhaven!

To compound this freight drivers will sleep on the ferry, and wake refreshed, and prefer driving at night when the roads are quiet, whilst tourist drivers will want to avoid driving at night and not want to start their trip in Dieppe/|Newhaven in a hotel!

It would be great if the British authoritities would invest in the route, like their French counterprts. However whilst Newhaven is not a thriving area, many parts of the south east are so government money actually goes north instead.

So it is up to us passengers to be flexible and use Newhaven-Dieppe wherever possible and persuade others to use it too!

Once the route is making money maybe the second boat will return!

Dear Ray,

This is indeed a very very interesting comment and certainly valid point.

I will try to give you my own comments on the subject:

1. The vessels used to operate the service are indeed the largest that can fit the Port of Newhaven. It is correct that they are running with a low utilisation during the low season (at least on some sailings) but this problem is the same for the whole ferry industry. The activity is very seasonnal and we do need to have large vessels to both cope with the very high demand during high season and to generate economies of scale.
The extra volumes and better yield generated during the high season are more than compensating the cost of running too large vessels during the low season.

2. Freight revenues represents abt 65% of the total income of the Dieppe/Newhaven service. Both night sailings ex Newhaven and 18.00 sailing ex Dieppe are running full during week days.
Freight customers require regularity and fixed day/hour schedule. Even though we could possibly make some savings by running 3 crossings a day only during low season, we would lose substantial amount of freight which would impact our global economic model much more than the savings generated by less sailings (savings would be limited to bunkers and port dues as we would still pay for the ship and crew, and even assuming that Dieppe and Newhaven harbour would not charge us more to compensate for the limited number of calls…).

3. We cant comment on the attraction of Newhaven but can only add that we did spend a large amount of money to improve the Ferry Terminal which has been totally renovated with the addition of a Cafe for our customers waiting to board.
This will certainly not be enough to improve the attractivity of the city but judging from the increasing volumes of passengers using our service this year despite harsh economic conditions, we feel that this has contributed at least to make the line more popular.

My colleagues may have some further comments and they are free to bring their added value about this interesting topic!

Many thanks again for this interesting spot,

Best personal regards

Pierre

Dear Sir,

My wife and I are Australians who 4 years ago bought a house just outside Dieppe where we spend April to October each year. We travel to the UK several times each summer, usually with the car and, where practicable, on your Dieppe - Newhaven service. Knowing that service to be subsidised by the Dieppe authorities we are keen to minimise the subsidy and assure the continuation of the service. This letter is therefore more intended in support of the Dieppe - Newhaven route rather than LD Lines in general and I should, in fairness, make that clear at the outset.

We have several times had to find alternative routes to the UK because of the extremely inconvenient timings of the service to or from Dieppe, sometimes flying and sometimes taking other ferries from Calais.

The following thoughts occur to me:-

a) Why are the vessels on the Dieepe line so large? They are extremely comfortable and can obviously travel in almost any weather but they are not merely sometimes but generally much less than half full, particularly out of season when we have travelled with as few as five cars and half a dozen trucks on the entire vessel.

b) Leaving aside the use of the ferry in the busiest season, at other times why could the ferry not make just three trips each day and stay overnight in alternative ports? I understand that would need some adjustment in crew wages, etc but I suspect that is not the most important cost to the line. Making three trips per day instead of four would not only allow civilised times to be adhered to but would also serve to increase the actual passengers on each trip. My observation is that it takes about 1.5-2 hours to turn the vessel around in each port and 3.75 hours for the actual crossing, say a total of 5.5 hours. A 0900 start from, say Newhaven would mean a 1530 start from Dieppe and a 2000 start from Newhaven getting in at Dieppe at about 2400. A start from Dieppe the following day at 0900 would allow exactly the same times that day but with Dieppe being the starting point for the two trips. These are civilised departure times and, unless the vessel is actually full and turning passengers away during those times, there will be no loss of passengers. Indeed, passenger numbers would almost certainly increase because of the better times. I appreciate that trucks make up a good number of the vehicles but, in my observation, the truck capacity also is never attained, yet alone exceeded.

c) Whilst Dieppe is a pretty and attractive town with many facilities it needs to be borne in mind that Newhaven is very far from that. The town has nothing to offer in the way of attractions or even decent places to eat and almost no passengers would think of stopping there except overnight for an early departure from Newhaven in the morning.

I appreciate that my letter is sent without full knowledge of the facts but it is well intended. It is difficult to see how such large vessels could possibly become economic to run whilst dissuading passengers from using the service because of very unfriendly departure times. Whilst trucks may be a big and increasing proportion of the passenger list, those trucks bring little to the port of Dieppe and it is the tourists and other car passengers that make it worthwhile for the Dieppe authorities to continue the subsidy. We would hate to see the closure of the service but see that as a real possibility unless the timings of the services can be improved.

Regards,

Ray Pridmore

Dear Sir
I have crossed Newhaven to Dieppe on saturday the 23rd at 0930.
This was a very busy sailing,I must say how much I apreciated your duty manager for helping my disabled daughter,and in addition for re-arranging my reservation,that in my error was booked the wrong way around…Please do your best to pass on the message of thanks,and I look forward to travelling from Newhaven very soon.
Well done
Mr J Stoner

Dear Tony,

Thanks very much for your words of encouragement.

The situation on all our routes is different. The demand is different both in terms of quantity and quality (freight/tourists). Even though we wish all our routes to be seen as a whole network by our customers, we expect all our routes to be financially viable. To achieve this, what we are simply trying to do is relate the type of boat and the number of sailings per day to the demand of each route.

The reason why we have decided to operate the Norman Arrow on the Dover-Boulogne route as opposed to Newhaven-Dieppe or Portsmouth-Le Havre is because, as of today, it is the route with the most potential and the most adapted.

As for the Newhaven-Dieppe service, our conclusion from past experience is demand is simply not there for a second ship at the moment. As I already had the opportunity to write it, the reason we came in the first place is we also feel Newhaven is a a good location between Portsmouth and Dover and a nice compromise between a long crossing (le Havre) and a shorter one but hardly accessible because of traffic congestion (Dover). So, we are still optimistic for the future but a lot remains to be done in terms of infrastractures and road links before we can justify more boats and more sailings. For the time being, better one be careful than sorry. We are presently carrying almost as much traffic with one ship as we used to with two. So this has proved (if not the sexiest !) the most adapted solution so far.

All our routes except Newhaven-Dieppe are operated under LD Lines and are not subzidized. The Newhaven-Dieppe service is operated under Transmanche and is subsidized by the local Conseil Général but not to a level which covers the endemic deficits.

As far as the Newhaven team is concerned, they are not employed directly by LD Lines (and there is no reason they should be as LD Lines is not calling Newhaven…) nor by LD Transmanche. We are subcontracting this task in Newhaven (and also Dover and Porstmouth) and I don’t feel or see a difference with these british teams which I do consider as “LD Lines”.

I hope this clarifies our policy.

Best regards,

Pierre

Hi Pierre…
Surely the usage of HD1 would benefit the market..I cant see how with reduced services from Newhaven,along with redundancies at the port,LD have not stepped in to save our service. As I see all Freight is travelling on 2230 departure,so why can you not operate a seasonal service for tourists..??? At the same time LD have the fantastic Norman Arrow ~ with no care to costs for that. It seems once again Newhaven is forgotten. Also can i ask why your staff in Newhaven are not employed by LD Lines..Seems an odd arrangement to me. God luck with the Dover Run,And I await your Reply
All the best
Tony

Dear Chris and Rod,

Thank you very much for your suggestion of a fast craft for the Dieppe-Newhaven service.

Based on past statistics, (and various experiences from other operators) what we are doing now,eg trying to concentrate demand on a limited number of sailings operated by only one ship has proved the less costly solution.
I fully understand many of you would like many more alternatives to choose from, including sailings operated by a fast craft but our feeling is the arrival of a fast craft would not generate enough new traffic ( tourists) to cover the extra costs. We may be wrong to favour such a careful attitude but all studies come to the same conclusion and we truly do not wish to take the risk.
As always,we are keeping a close look at what the market wants and what is true today may not be true in a few years time and we will obviously adapt if need be.

We have studied the possibility of chartering HD’s fast craft but, from our point of view, this would not make any sense as she cannot carry any freight and we cannot afford not to carry any freight on any of our present services.

Best regards,

Pierre

Dear Larry,
As already said, Newhaven-Dieppe is a Transmanche service which is subsidized by the Conseil Général. Therefore, I am afraid we cannot offer combined tickets including this route which has to be kept separate from an accounts point of view.
Best regards,

Pierre

Why do you charge for two singles when I try to book a return using two different routes?

Hi Pierre,

Yet another comment on the subject of a fast craft on the Newhaven - Dieppe route I’m afraid! I expect you are sick and tired of the subject by now but perhaps you would at least consider this.
Some time ago when the announcement of the second boat moving to the Dover - Dieppe route was made I made a post to the effect that although I understood the reasoning behind the move I very much regretted the removal of half the service from Newhaven. In that post, almost as a throw away comment at the end, I mentioned that there was a fast craft moored in Newhaven and was there any hope of it being used on the route. Although you replied to my post you made no comment on this question.
As I live close to Newhaven I have got used to seeing this frustrating vessel moored at the old Hoverspeed dock over the last few months. It is owned by HD Ferries and was used on their route between France and the Channel Islands. According to their website they are no longer in business and in their press briefing section it says “HD1 remains moored in Newhaven from where it is expected to be sold or chartered to a new operator in the near future”.
Has there been any contact between you and HD? It would be fantastic if a summer service could be tested again by means of a short term charter of this craft perhaps.
Like Rod M in his last post I too remember being told on several occasions that the sailing I wanted was full and when I did use it the boat always appeared full. As well as the usual holiday makers with cars it was also well used by foot passengers on a day trip to Dieppe, which is without doubt the nicest of the French channel ports to visit. The fast craft allowed them to be in Dieppe in time for a leisurely lunch, a wander through the town and home again for the evening. With the longer crossing times of the Seven Sisters that is no longer such an attractive option.
Thanks for reading this and thanks again for providing a good and reliable service on this route.

Regards

Chris

Dear Pierre,
Hoverspeed’s superseacat was always busy and I, for one, had many occassions where,when trying to book a ferry, I was told it was full. There could well be the demand - although probably only in the summer months. Was it commercially viable? It seemed between April and September that it was doing good business but since it was basically tourist traffic the demand dropped off through the winter months. So much so Hoverspeed mothballed it. I guess one half of the year doesnt pay for the other half.

Still, if you had a fast cat that took commercial vehicles you might have a different story?

The demand should be there. It is, after all, on a straight line between Paris and London so a fast cat should be easily able to compete with Dover Calais.

Maybe its all a question of getting the media focused on it and getting publcity?

Rod.

Dear Old Trucker,

Thank you very much for your suggestion.

Our understanding is there isn’t much room for an extra operator or extra routes in the western channel at the moment but who knows what the future may hold…until time has come for the crystal ball..a hundred years down the line!!

Best regards,

Pierre

Do you think Portland , Nr Weymouth will ever \”take off\” as a ferry terminal ???? I know the problem would be the road network , but if the local council would look to the future and build a sensible road from Portland to link up with the M5 at Taunton ,,making a good link to the North West of England , thinking of frieght , any thoughts ??? . Are you still pondering over \”the crystal ball\” ,,, 100 yrs down the line ???? I cant begin to immagine . regards \”old trucker\” .

Dear John,

Thank you very much for your suggestion.
Following comments from fellow customers, we are presently reviewing this part of our website which we have recently found difficult to keep up to date following the many changes of schedules.

Your suggestion of presentation has been passed on to our webmaster.

In the meantime, please refer to the booking engine to find out about our day by day sailing times.

Best regards,

Pierre

Wouldn’t it be easier to change the existing website timetable visuals of “lobs and exceptions”, for a single table for each direction with blobs for each days sailings?
I know it would be larger but it would be far easier to use. I’m pretty sure that there are some errors in the existing exceptions as the timings of the Rosslare voyage don’t always tie in with the exceptions on the interrelated Portsmouth route.

Pierre,
I have been a regular passenger with Transmanche / LD LInes for many years.You have an excellent service; however, my question is…Why on the Newhaven Dieppe crossing, do you have a late night service leaving Newhaven at 10.30pm , but arriving at Dieppe at 3.30am….If you purchase a cabin, firstly you get awoken by your staff at 3.00am and secondly there is nowhere to go upon arrival at Dieppe before 4.00 am. May i suggest that if your ferry were to slow down over this time, firstly you will save fuel, and secondly your vessel would allow those passengers with a cabin, to get a reasonable night’s sleep. Also, there would be some places open in Dieppe [j'espere!] for refreshments. I really feel that this is a positive comment for your company. I hope you will take my comments on board. Merci! Lachlan Milligan.

Dear Owen,

I don’t think our Norman Voyager would be able to berth in Newhaven or even Dieppe (too beamy, I suppose).
Further more I am absolutely convinced that there is not sufficient demand between Newhaven and Dieppe to fill up such a Cat.

As far as I can remember, Hoverspeed never managed to make this line economically viable….
And the rule was and still is “use it or lose it” and finally it waw lost.

As I said many times, without the subsidies of the Conseil Général, the service would not exist.

I appreciate that most of the customers would like to have more and faster sailings every day but I doubt that anybody is there to pay for it!

Best personal regards

Pierre

Can you please clarify what the sailing time is for the Portsmouth - Le Havre day departure on the Voyager on Friday the 31st July?

I had to amend my booking to add a cabin (having read the horror stories on this site!) and noticed that it is now listed as a 10.15am departure, against my original booking of the 12.00hrs departure. I therefore rang your help line who stated (unconvincingly) that it was definitely a 10.15 departure.

However your timetable on the web site specifically states that it is a 12.00hrs departure on that date!

Therefore my query is simple - what time is the sailing???

Bonjour Pierre! I have looked at the video and pictures of the new HSC Norman arrow with great interest. The whole concept looks great and I am sure it will be successful for LD lines. Thinking about it, I know this craft is going to be used on the Dover- Boulogne route but it could be what the Newhaven to Dieppe route is crying out for. Perhaps if successful another similar craft could be trialed on the Newhaven-Dieppe route in the future. It would cut down the crossing time and allow the continuation of carrying freight, which you have previously said is important to the route. Many Newhaven customers still talk about happy memories from fast craft crossings on board the Hoverspeed superseacat II. Also the size of the HSC would not be a problem for Newhaven Port?

Dear Old Trucker,

Your last post is a very difficult one indeed!!

I definitely need more time to think about it ansd assuming I would be able to come back with some interesting ideas on the subject (not guaranteed at all) I will reply later on….

best regards

Pierre

Sorry ,,, should have put that last one in misc !!

Thanks for that Pierre ,, good luck with it all ,,, good to see someone looking to the future . talking of the future ????? How do you see it , lets say , 100 years from now ???? chrystal ball stuff ,,, more tunnels , bridge from Poole to Cherbourg ????? wouldnt it be great to see into the future … I did read that it was technically possible to form a tube from the back of a ship and lay it across the Atlantic , vacume it , lay a magnetic rail in it , and have a monorail go from Bristol to Boston in about 1hour or something stupid . mmmmmm food for thought !!! Thanks again Pierre . regards Old Trucker .

Dear Jean Marie,

We shall be very happy to welcome you onboard Norman Arrow!

As you rightly said we are quite happy not to be any more involved with Seafrance and I wish them the best possible luck.

The problem was not the unions but some guys who are leading the local unions and who should any more as they don’t preserve the interests of the company and the employees but only their own interests.

So we are happy to be out as these few guys are hopeless, but, on the same time, I am a little bit sad for the hundred of employees who are going to losse their jobs! (the few union guys won’t!!!)

Notre projet avait vraiment de la gueule et il y avait là une vraie opportunité de faire un grand Seafrance (du Havre à Ostende) pour l’avenir et tout cela sans plan social et en gardant tous les navires sous pavillon français!!!
C’était une solution unique et incomparable et encore une fois qui évitait tout plan social. Par les temps qui courent cela aurait du etre un argument imparable et le seul qui aurait du etre retenu! et bien non!
Il est vraiment dommage que quelques individus aient adopté des positions dogmatiques (et même bien pires) d’un autre age…. sans même avoir souhaité nous écouter!
Les plats ne repassent pas deux fois, hélas.
D’ici quelques mois ou quelques années il faudra bien faire le bilan de ce ratage et j’espère simplement qu’à ce moment là leurs mandants leur demandront des comptes!

Pour nous c’est déjà de l’histoire ancienne.

Bien à vous

Pierre

Dear Stephen,

Sorry for late reply.
The new cat is supposed to enter service on May 29th, all going well.

She will be named Norman Arrow.

On the time table she should appear differently, I supposed, from the standard ferry (Cote d’Albatre) who will continue to run to return crossings a day.
In any case the crossing time will be 59 minutes with the cat so one could immediately see the difference when looking at the arrival time.

BVest regards

Pierre

Dear Old Trucker,

Thank you very much for your query.

Basically, there are two main reasons which can put you off running a fast craft ferry: fuel cost and inability (for some vessels only) to cope with adverse weather conditions.

We truly would not have considered operating a fast craft ferry last year when the price of fuel was so high but the situation is now acceptable.

As for this particular ship, she has a very large deck capacity which should allow us to justify the fuel cost. Also, she has the capacity to operate in adverse weather conditions.

Further more, and as far as I am concerned this is the key to this new project, I have always been saying that it was necessary to carry freight and passengers to make economically viable.

With this new ferry concept we can indeed mix passengers and freight and this is completely changing the picture and the concept.

Actually we are presently studying the possibility to further enhance this new concept using even larger fast crafts, with a bigger freight on longer crossings (i.e. 4 or 5 hours with standard ferry).

Best regards,

Pierre

Just a little curious !!! You always said you would never go down the Fast Ferry route , stating they were just to expensive to run !!! why the change of mind ??? good luck with it by the way ,, I wish you well .

Hi, Pierre.
The new Cat sounds good news. Does this mean that all the journeys Dover-Boulogne will be done by this boat and when does she come in to service ? If not, will the internet timetable indicate when it is the Cat and when it is a conventional boat ?
Best wishes.
Stephen.

Great! I have a reservation on 20th June on the ‘Norman Arrow’ (I think this should be the name),and I can’t wait! Thanks a lot to LD Lines for this new service. Thank you Pierre for answering my question about the ‘New build’. I thought it was actually for Dover - Boulogne. How right you were in not getting involved with Seafrance, and particularly its unions. Tonyegg : I had no problem finding the time-table and reserving on the web on LD Lines site yesterday.

The announcement of the new high-speed ferry (Dover-Boulogne) is a really interesting development. I hope that you are able to run it more efficiently than Speedferries with their smaller version. Having looked at the Incat video, I hope that loading and unloading will not be as difficult as it seems with a mixture of perhaps 30 heavy lorries and nearly 200 cars. I hope that you will be considering the use of deck 5 for a “Club Class” area as it seems that there will be plenty of room on the lower deck for the many passengers who should flock to the new vessel. Your website does not seem to provide much information about the timetable and that which I have found seems to be at variance with the press release. However, all in all, a great step forward and I hope that it is as good as at promises.

Dear Jean Marie,

Stephen is talking about the ship which is presently under construction in Singapore.

You can find some views at LD lines web site ( http://www.ldlines.co.uk ) under “about us” and “news”.

I ma tempted to believe that she will be a very nice ferry!

Best regards

pierre

Hi Stephen,

Yes indeed! the newbuilding vessel (Norman Leader) will be equipped with sleeper seats. These seats will even be improved compared to the Norman Spirit set up.

Yes you are correct the Norman Spirit will definitely stay on the Le havre-Portsmouth route.

On principle the vessel should be delivered to us sometimes in June 2010.

Best regards

Pierre

Dear Christopher,George,Peter and Gary,

Thank you very much for your interest in our many forthcoming projects.

I fully understand your enthusiasm and impatience as we are also very excited about what’s in store. However, we still need a bit of time to sort out some details (mainly schedules) before I can make things official. As our computer people are presently working at implementing all the changes in the system, some booking options may not be available for a week or so. Should you have an urgent query regarding a specific sailing, please do not hesitate to contact my colleagues at lehavretourisme@ldlines.fr.

Thank you very much for your patience.

Best regards,

Pierre

Hi Pierre

Congratulations on the forthcoming introduction of the new fastcat on the Boulogne service. The press release gives the sailing times but I cannot find out what the revised sailing times of Cote d’Albatre will be. The booking engine on the website only seems to give the sailings for the new boat. Please can you add a new timetable for the proposed service to the website and also advise whether both boat’s sailings are showing on the booking engine.
Thanks Gary

I thought I saw a news artcile that you are due to start running a fast ferry on the Dover-Boulogne route soon. Couldn’t fing anything about it on the website, or the blog, or on the timetable. Although if you try and book there are additional crossings. Are customers with existing bookings going to be asked if they want to transfer to the fast ferry?

Only booked my crossing last week, out with LD Lines but returning with P and O as there was not a suitable return with LD Lines. The new timetable means that LD Lines could have had all my money rather than part of it!

Anyway good luck with the new vessel and route. I’d still prefer to have gone Newhaven Dieppe but the crossings there don’t work either! Maybe you need a special timetabe for Le Mans weekend! Offering late evening sailings on the Sunday!

What is that ‘new build’? Are there pictures of her to be found somewhere? I expect so because of Stephen’s comment but I couldn’t find anything.
Cheers
Jean-Marie

Hi, Pierre.
I have enjoyed looking at the pictures of the new build - she looks quite something ! When in 2010 are you hoping to take delivery ?
Am I correct in thinking that the Spirit is now going to stay on the Portsmouth route ? I do hope so as I find her excellent and, as I normally travel on my own, the sleeper seats are fine for me and a lot cheaper than a cabin. Are you planning to put sleeper seats on the new build ? I hope so and I think it would be an idea worth considering.
Steve.

Dear Kevin,

You will find our Portsmouth-Le Havre timetable at http://www.ldlines.co.uk/portsmouth-le-havre.html
As you can see, the 1015 and 1600 hours departures are only on certain Mondays and Fridays but never on Wednesdays. Please do not hesitate to contact my colleagues at lehavretourisme@ldlines.fr if you need further information.

Best regards,

Pierre

Dear James,

Thank you very much for your nice e-mail.
I am glad my colleagues in Dieppe were able to find a solution for you.
As you know, Newhaven-Dieppe is a Transmanche service which is subsidized by the Conseil Général.
The reason why we cannot offer combined tickets including our Newhaven-Dieppe route is all our other routes are operated by LD Lines and are therefore to be kept separate from an accounts point of view.
Best regards,

Pierre

Dear Pierre,

Since the start of 2009 I have been travelling Dieppe-Newhaven on the early Monday sailing and Newhaven-Dieppe on Friday nights on an almost weekly basis.

So last week I booked the same trip again and only afterwards realised that the 10am arrival in Newhaven might be a little late for me.

I then looked around and saw that Dieppe to Dover, arriving at 5am, would be much better for my out bound journey so I booked the single.

When I arrived at the Dieppe terminal I asked if my original outbound Dieppe Newhaven booking could be transferred to the following week.

I was aware that this might be a problem as it would mean the outbound leg becoming the return leg which might be a bit much for the computer but I have to say that from the start the attitude of the staff on the desk could not have been more positive and helpful and I was able to salvage the booking which I feared would be wasted.

So I would like to say a big “Merci” to them.

I would also like to suggest that, with the current timetable, it would be beneficial for me and probably other regular commuters if it were possible to mix Dieppe/Dover and Dieppe/Newhaven on return bookings as Dieppe/Dover gets in nice and early but the return leaves Dover early at 18.00 while the Newhaven Dieppe 22.30 departure fits in much better with a Monday-Friday commuter.

PS - It was good to see you in person on the inaugural Boulogne-Dover crossing.

Could you please verifythe departure times:
I quote from my email confirmation…

Thank you for booking with LD Lines.

Route 1 Le Havre to Portsmouth

Route 2 Portsmouth to Le Havre

Check-in is at least 90 minutes prior to departure for all passengers.

NOTE: This fare is not refundable.

Route: Le Havre to Portsmouth
Departing: Wed 15 April 2009 at 1700
Arriving: Wed 15 April 2009 at 2130
Passenger: 2 Adults
Route: Portsmouth to Le Havre
Departing: Wed 22 April 2009 at 1200
Arriving: Wed 22 April 2009 at 1830
Passenger: 2 Adults

However the LD internet web site says that departure times are:

Portsmouth - Le Havre, departs 10:15, scheduled to arrive at 16:45.
Le Havre - Portsmouth, departs 16:00, scheduled to arrive at 20:45.

What are the correct local departure times?

Thank you

Kevin Phoenix

My dear Pierre,

I am writing to you regarding pricing, in particular why you charge more in some cases for a single trip than you do for a return and why in some circumstances you can’t have a return fare on two different routes.

The reason for this is as follows, my partner wanted to come back to Sussex next Tuesday, returning home to France on Friday, she contacted your very helpful staff in Dieppe to be told that the ship was full next Tuesday, but was not on her return to France, so she asked about availability on the Dover-Boulogne route, to be told there was availability both ways.

Here is the problem she has incurred preferring Newhaven, because of our Sussex connection, the Dover-Boulogne route seems to offer a return fare that is approximately the same as two single fares, the Dieppe-Newhaven route does not, a return fare for us is approx £60, (car one person) however, a single is £69!! Why? And why is there nothing in place to mix and match route price at normal competitive return rates when one of your routes is full?

She is now booked both ways on the Dover-Boulogne route, which is not our most convenient option, but in this case is the most cost effective.

Kind regards,
Garry Spencer

Dear sir

I have heard (newspaper) about a new passenger route between Belgium and England.
It would be nice if the Norma spirit would come back to his homeport, Ostend.
The required infrastructure is still present.
Is it true, or just rumors?
It is calm after the disappearance of the passenger ferry connection between Ostend and England. There is still a connection for freight and passengers cars, but it’s not the same as before.

I have been travelling to France on the Newhaven - Dieppe route for the past 18 months and always used the overnight crossing both ways that arrived at 6am. This allowed me to get to my property in France by 10am and also to get to work by 8am on the way back.
Now that the times have changed it makes the journey in France dangerous because I now only get 3hrs sleep and there is no night ferry back to England so we have to use the 6pm crossing from Dieppe.
I understand that you are now using the other ship on the Dover - Boulogne route, and would like to know if you will be re-introducing a second ship at Newhaven - Dieppe in the near future?

Cher Olivier,

Je vous remercie de votre compréhension.

L’organisation des horaires des navires est toujours un vrai casse-tête car il y a énormément de paramètres à prendre en compte et chaque client est évidemment un cas particulier; alors il faut trancher en espérant plaire à une majorité. Je suis ravi d’apprendre que les nouveaux horaires de notre liaison avec l’Irlande vous conviennent. Nous avons, en effet, pensé que ce nouvel horaire conviendrait mieux à notre clientèle. Cela nous permettait également d’avancer notre départ pour Portsmouth à 16h00 les vendredis et les dimanches. Cela répondait à la fois à des demandes de nos clients français qui souhaitent pouvoir profiter de la soirée du vendredi en Angleterre lorsqu’ils partent en week-end et de nos clients britanniques qui souhaitent ne pas rentrer chez eux trop tard le dimanche soir pour être frais et dispo au travail le lundi matin.

Bien cordialement,

Pierre

Bonsoir Pierre,

Merci de votre réponse qui répond à mes 2 messages.
Concernant la diminution de l’offre de restauration, je me doutais qu’elle était imputable à la rationalisation des coûts dont je comprends parfaitement la nécessité; cependant, un petit effort me paraît quand même nécessaire!

Pour les horaires, effectivement je m’adapte! Même si cela me demande vraiment un effort d’organisation.

Un point plus positif concernant les horaires, sur la route Le Havre-Rosslare cette fois-ci, route que je vais emprunter au mois de mai: les arrivées moins tardives, aussi bien en Irlande qu’en France sont les bienvenues!

Bien cordialement,
Olivier

Cher Olivier,

J’ai eu à maintes reprises l’occasion de réitérer notre attachement à la ligne Dieppe-Newhaven. D’ailleurs , malgré les subventions, cette ligne a coûté à LD plus de deux millions d’euros en 2008!
Néanmoins, comme vous le savez sûrement en tant que client régulier, cette liaison connaît depuis de nombreuses années des difficultés économiques et nous nous devons de faire le maximum en terme de rationalisation des coûts pour que cette ligne se pérénise. Il doit être clair pour tout un chacun que des efforts doivent être consentis. 3 traversées par jour avec deux navires est un luxe que nous ne pouvons pas nous permettre en l’état actuel du marché. Le transfert d’un des deux navires sur Dieppe-Douvres sous l’enseigne LD Lines est une façon d’alléger les coûts de gestion de Transmanche. Les horaires actuels reflètent cet état de fait. Nous avons essayé de faire au mieux pour contenter notre clientèle frêt et de touristes en espérant que dans un effort de responsabilté chacun fasse au mieux pour s’adapter.

Je vais transmettre vos remarques concernant le choix de nourriture à bord des navires à notre directeur hotelier mais dans ce domaine aussi, il ne faut pas se voiler la face, une rationalisation des coûts s’imposaient.

Bien sincèrement

Pierre

Dear Thor,

I was glad to read you are finding this new service from/to Ireland useful, please spread the word!!

Best regards,

Pierre

Thank you for delivering a alternative direct route Ireland to main land Europa.

greetings

Bonsoir,

Je constate que des voyageurs situés de l’autre côté du Channel ne sont pas plus satisfaits que moi des horaires de la route Dieppe-Newhaven…
Quant à la question de Helen, datée du 11 mars à 17h48, concernant l’éventuelle fermeture de la route Dieppe-Newhaven, je n’y vois aucune réponse de votre part: pourtant elle reflète bien les conséquences de la fermeture de la route pour toute la région Haute-Normandie. Aussi j’apprécierais que vous puissiez apporter une réponse aux interrogations de Helen, et donc indirectement à mes questions par la même occasion!

Cordialement,
Olivier

Dear Steven,

Thank you very much for your post and for your interest into our company.
I have investigated for you and I am pleased to inform our customers that prices and timetables for this summer on our DOVER/DIEPPE service will be on our online booking system within the 2 next weeks.
Best regards,
Pierre

Hello
Are you withdrawing your Dover-Dieppe service? I have tried to book online for 26 June and return 3 August but the nearest return date offered is June 30. I have tried to book other dates in August but the bookings page returns the message No Sailings Found

Hello Pierre,
Sorry to see you had to withdraw your Seafrance offer but I think you were right. A few months ago I wrote I would advise you (in all humility) to buy the ships but not the crews (I know this would be difficult). All the Seafrance unions deserve is that the company goes bust : they have done all they can to achieve that for years (even though it would be sad for the ‘good’ ones to be unemployed for a while). Then someone, of course I am thinking of LD Lines, could take their place. I just hope they will not blockade the ports this time and take everyone as hostages, like international gangsters. I wrote that to M. Cappelle, he did not answer. Longlive LD Lines!

I am looking to buy a house in Normandy just for cycling so would need somewhere within 50 miles of Dieppe. I am so close to Newhaven and this would be ideal however I have heard that the passenger ferry will be closing - please let me know so I can rethink where to buy. Many thanks, Helen

Dear Mr Smith,

Thank you very much for your suggestions.

1) The present duration of the sailing is 1 hour and 45 minutes but it will be brought down to 1 hour and 15 minutes when we start operating from Boulogne’s new port later on in the year (hopefully from July). We are also studying the possibility to operate with a fast craft although such ships are very costly in terms of fuel and not always reliable in times of sea conditions.

2) Though we suggest you check in as early as possible, (under normal cuircumstances) we will still be able to accept you on if check-in between 30 and 45 minutes prior to departure.

3) As from 1st July, we will be offering up to 6 sailings a day from both ports. I hope some sailing times will you meet your requirements.

I hope this helps.

Best regards,

Pierre

We used to use Speedferries to cross the channel at least twice per month. We will not be able to use your service to Boulogne as 1) The crossing is way too slow, 2) Departure times are quite antisocial and 3) Your check in times are too long. If you can improve all of these points (perhaps by buying Speedferrie’s ship, we may consider using your service.

Dear Lindsay,

Thank you very much for suggestions which we will try to bear in mind when we work on our schedule for 2010 (schedules for 2009 are now finalised).

However, there are many criteria which we need to take into account. We need to optimize the number of sailings per day and offer sailing times which also meet the requirements of our freight and long stay customers within the tide restrictions of both ports.

Best regards,

Pierre

Would it possible to change the ferry times on the Newhaven-Dieppe service? The current times mean it is impossible to do a daytrip and have lunch in Dieppe, except on Saturdays when the return ferry to Newhaven is so late. I feel sure that many people would welcome this as a daytrip to Dieppe is a lovely day out.

Bonsoir Pierre,
En cas de reprise de Seafrance, allez vous maintenir 2 navires sur Boulogne, comme il était prévu, ou notre port va-t-il encore etre sacrifié au profit de Calais ?
Merci de votre reponse.
Cordialement

Dear Wouter,

Thank you very much for your query.

The ferry that operates to and from Rosslare is the Norman Voyager.

Best regards,

Pierre

which ship will be sailing on the route le havre rosslare in June 2009 ,the norman spirit or the norman voyager.

I have been trying to get information on the gdl services Toulon-Civitavecchia but the timetables and price lists for both freight and passengers are out of date on the website. Can we expect the website to be updated soon please?

Manuel et Jean Marie,

merci beaucoup à tous les deux ainsi qu’à tous ceux qui nous ont envoyé des messages de soutien.

je suis convaincu qu’avec l’aide de toutes nos équipes, à bord comme à terre, et votre soutien indéfectible, nous pourrons réaliser de grandes et belles choses dans l’intérêt de toute une ville et de toute une région!

Bien sincèrement

Pierre

Dear all,

Thank you very much to all you who sent us kind words of encouragement after the inauguration of our new Boulogne-Dover service.

Let’s all hope this new development will be a success for all of us who have an interest in the reopening of this route.

Best regards,

Pierre

Bonsoir,

Je vous remercie beaucoup pour votre réponse, ainsi que Joni Wilkins qui a aussi répondu à mon email et j’apprécie l’intérêt que vous portez aux considérations de vos passagers, par l’intermédiaire de ce blog entre autres.

Vos réponses ne font que conforter mon inquiétude concernant l’avenir de la route Dieppe-Newhaven, mais je comprends que votre rôle est de faire face à la situation actuelle.
Beaucoup voient d’un bon oeil l’ouverture de la liaison Boulogne-Dover, ce qui est bien normal et je n’ai rien contre ce nouveau démarrage.
Seulement, étant très attaché au lien entre Dieppe et Newhaven je souhaite vivement que tout soit mis en oeuvre afin qu’il se pérennise.

En conséquence, je favoriserai la route Dieppe-Newhaven lors de mes prochaines réservations, et ce malgré les contraintes horaires, voire tarifaires.
Dans tous les cas, je resterai bien entendu fidèle à la compagnie.

Bien cordialement,

Olivier

Bonjour Pierre
encore merci pour cette journée du 12.02.09
Une journée magnifique pour le port de Boulogne de revoir enfin un car-ferry où l’on peut voir embarquer passagers,voitures et surtout les camions
encore merci pour la conversation que l’on a eu sur le domaine maritime
Merci a vous pour l’implatation de LD lines dans le détroit, de redonner a Boulogne son transmache même si le port voisin accuse ceci de “Betise du siècle” mais bon il y a que les imbeciles qui ne change pas d’avis
Merci a la compagnie LD LINES et son personnel , au commandant du “Côte d’Âlbatres” et a l’ensemble de l’equipage
je vous renouvelle mes voeux pour l’avenir
VIVE LD LINES, VIVE BOULOGNE

Congratulations for your new lines! I’ve been and I am spying on Boulogne’s webcam to see your ship in the port, waiting for the time to sail on her.

Thank you for the reply, and all the very best for your new services from Dover tomorrow im sure that soon you will be the best ferry company in Dover, as proved by your blog it shows you care about your customers.
Thank you again
and hope to see you in Dover sometime.

Rgds

C Burn

Cher Monsieur Hardillier,

Je vous remercie de votre demande.

Je tiens à vous rassurer,le départ de 17h00 est bien maintenu et le navire est prévu de partir à l’heure. Le plus fort de la tempête est derrière nous.

Permettez moi de nous excuser de n’avoir pas pu prendre votre appel. L’inquiétude, liée aux conditions météorologiques actuelles, ne nous a pas toujours permis de faire face à l’ensemble des appels.

Sincères salutations,

Pierre

aujourd’hui le 10 02 09 jour de grosse tempete j’ai une reservation pour un depart à 17h. Il est totalement impossible de joindre aucun de vos n° de telephone pour obtenir des informations sur le depart…. C’est honteux!!! vous meprisez vos passagers, je voyage deux fois par mois toute l’année du havre à portsmouth et retour j’ai une reservation d’hotel à l’arrivée qui me sera facturée si le bateau est annulé j’ai laissé depuis hier quatre messa

Hi C Burn,

Yes indeed we are pushing hard for this. Unfortunately P&O have a lease on their 2 offices until 2014. DHB have tried to negotiate for LD to take one but no success (they say the P&O lease was made many years ago).
Therefore we must wait a month or so longer for a new office to be created, we hope by Easter but at the latest by July 2009.

Many thanks anyway

Pierre

Cher Olivier,

Les difficultés endémiques de la ligne Dieppe-Newhaven ont rendu nécessaires certaines mesures. L’exploitation de LD Transmanche en 2008 a été largement déficitaire (déficit entièrement à la charge de LD Lines) malgré la subvention du Conseil Général.

Le transfert d’un des deux navires de Dieppe sur les lignes Douvres-Dieppe et Douvres-Boulogne a pour unique but de tenter d’alléger les frais de fonctionnement de la ligne Newhaven-Dieppe afin d’améliorer sa situation financière (une augmentation de la subvention n’étant pas possible). Une pérénisation de la ligne (à laquelle nous sommes tous, Louis Dreyfus et le Conseil Général, très attachés) passe par une situation financière plus saine.

Je suis désolé que les horaires actuels ne vous conviennent pas parfaitement mais la crise économique (qui tend à réduire considérablement les volumes), la baisse de la Livre (qui a conduit à une baisse de plus de 30% des recettes), impliquent malheureusement de rechercher des solutions alternatives (d’où le Dieppe-Douvres et le Douvres boulogne). Par ailleurs il est clair que demande actuelle sur le segment Dieppe-Newhaven ne justifie pas la présence de deux navires.

En ce qui concerne les tarifs, l’offre escapade est également disponible sur la ligne Dieppe-Newhaven (sous réserve de disponibilité).

Au départ de Dieppe, il vous faut partir à 05h00 et revenir soit à 22h30 le soir même soit à 09h30 le lendemain matin (sauf le dimanche).

De Newhaven,les départs se font à 09h30 avec un retour le soir même à 18h00 ou le lendemain matin à 05h00 (sauf le dimanche).

Bien sincèrement

Pierre Géhanne

Bonjour,

C’est avec regret que je prends connaissance des horaires Dieppe/Newhaven pour 2009: ils ne sont pas adaptés à la clientèle tourisme, seul le départ de 9h30 de Newhaven peut vraiment convenir, et encore.
Ces horaires sont-ils provisoires en attendant l’arrivée de votre nouveau navire ou dois-je considérer que la route Dieppe/Newhaven devra désormais se contenter de 2 rotations quotidiennes?
D’autre part, si le tarif “escapade” est disponible sur Le Havre/Portsmouth et le tarif “découverte” sur Boulogne/Dover, impossible d’obtenir une réduction aussi intéressante sur Dieppe/Newhaven, situation confirmée par l’opératrice de la résa centrale.
Dans ces conditions, vous comprendrez que je m’inquiète de l’avenir de la route historique Dieppe/Newhaven. Inquiétudes auxquelles il convient d’ajouter, bien entendu, les limitations d’accès au port de Newhaven et l’état de ses installations…
Cordialement.

Hi Pierre,
When ‘Speed-Ferries’ were running the Dover/Boulogne route, they had just introduced Day Trips for foot passengers.
Me and a mate had a brilliant day out. Have you got any plans to introduce a similar scheme? Good luck with the new route anyway!
Regards,
Mark

Hi do you have any idea when you will have a booking office in the travel centre of the Eastern Docks, I notice that P&O hog most of the space in there and dont even use one side of there booking office could you not ask Dover Harbour Board for use of this space ? I know of many people that really want to use your foot passenger service to Boulogne.
Good Luck for your new services starting from Dover next week I am sure given time LD will be a great success in Dover.

Dear Stephen,

As I said (I believe) earlier, the Norman Spirit is presently earmarked to perform the Dover-Boulogne service but the final decision will come later in the year (we are still studying various alternatives).

Time being, the NS is on Le Havre- Portsmouth and she will remain so until we take a final decision in this respect.

best regards

Pierre

Dear Laurence,

Thank you very much for your kind words. This is obviously music to my ears and I will pass on the message to my colleagues. Your satisfaction is an encouragement to us all. As a frequent traveller, I suppose you already know all about our two loyalty schemes. Even though I can’t promise free cabins, they both allow you significant savings. If you wish to find out more, please do not hesitate to contact my colleques in charge of the loyalty schemes at lehavretourisme@ldlines.fr.

Best regards,

Pierre

Hi, Pierre. You talk about the Spirit going to the Boulogne/Dover route in July. However, if you go on to the LeHavre/Portsmouth part of the web site, you are still offering sleeper seats and, apparently, cabins as per the Spirit, so is she staying ?

I hope so as I enjoy the Spirit and Boulogne is too far !!

Dear Pierre

I am really impressed to find a company that does listen to its customers and isn’t afraid to have a blog that defines a more transparent approach to their business, there are others who would do well to understand the benefits of hearing the positive and negative experiences their customers have with their businesses. My family and I have travelled with Transmanche and now LD Lines for the last four years (4 - 6 returns annually) and apart from having to wait longer than average to embark and disembark on occasions we have nothing to complain about, the staff are always friendly and helpfull, the ship always clean, the decks always tidy, the sailing on time, and above all the tickets always cheaper than the rivals. (a bit worried that the price of a cabin seems to have risen dramatically recently). We always look forward to our trips accross the channel after the 280 mile drive on the English side to the port and then a relaxed sailing with LD Lines for enough hours to have a bite to eat and a decent rest prior to the mad dash to our retreat in France. Keep up the good work and give your staff a pat on the back for presenting a first class service (but give your frequent travellers a free or very cheap cabin please). We’re looking forward to seeing LD Lines going from strength to strength in the coming years. Well done!

Youre Sincerely
Laurence USHER

I have just received a message as a former Speedferries user : £30 for a day return, but as I said before this would compell me to stay on the boat and return to France at once, so I hope in July I will have an equivalent offer when there are more departures from Boulogne and Dover. Longlive LD Lines!

Dear Richard,

Thank you very much for your enthusiasm. We all hope our arrival in Boulogne will please many other ex Speedferries users.

Please note we have an offer for holders of Speedferries books of tickets who are left with some unused tickets, if this is your case, please liaise with my colleagues in Dieppe at call.center@transmancheferries.com. We also offer a scheme for regular customers, so please click on http://www.ldlines.co.uk/loyalty-program.html for more information.

Best regards,

Pierre

FANTASTIC!!! DOVER-BOULOGNE route at speedferries prices (at the moment) is the BEST news ive had this year. I took about 10 return trips with speed last year and was devistated when they ’sank’ WHY? because I have a Transit van and as soon as you mention that to the other ferry Co’s they hit you very hard. If LDLine’s price stays in line with speed this year it looks like 10 happy trips with you guys. cheers

Very pleased with the new service from Boulogne to Dover,but being a day-tripper it is not of much help to me as it takes me 2 hours to go to Boulogne : I would have to come back on the ship that brought me to Dover. So I guess I will have to wait for the second ship in July and I hope it will definitely be the Norman Spirit, as I really enjoyed travelling on her with P& O. Actually, sheis one of my very favourite ferries. I would be very disappointed if she did not come on Boulogne - Dover. All the best to you and LD Lines : a breath of fresh air on the Channel!

Dear John,

Sorry, but I thought I have always been very clear on this subject from my previous replies to the numerous posts we did receive.
For the sake of good order I wish to confirm once more that we are definitely comitted to the Dieppe Newhaven route and I believe that we did prove it in many occasions.
As far as I am concerned we and the Conseil General have been both fully demonstrating this comitment to the route, and I don’t believe that anyone could dispute our mutual commitment.
Best regards

Pierre

I notice that you haven’t responded to my post of 30 December. Can I take it from this that you are not committed to the Dieppe/Newhaven route?

Bonjour Pierre,

je tenais à vous souhaiter mes meilleurs voeux et une trés bonne année 2009, ainsi qu’à tous vos collaborateurs.

je viens de voir sur votre site que le démarrage de Boulogne-Douvres était prévu le 12/02/09 avec 2 départs par jour (trés bonne nouvelle !). Quand pourrons nous réserver sur votre site (pour le moment toujours indiquer 1er Juillet)
Pourrons nous réserver pour des piétons ?

D’avance merci de votre réponse

Cordialement

Frédéric

Dear Martyn,

Thank you very much for using us and recommending us.

Under normal circumstances, it is cheaper to travel with a motorbike rather than a car (for the reason you,yourself, put forward) but, on some rare occasions, it may happen we wish to develop a specific market (eg cars) and develop a special offer restricted to these vehicles. I guess this is what must have happened to you on that occasions.

Best regards,

Pierre

having used and recommended your ferry line to several people i was amazed to find my last enquiry for a motorcycle crossing more expensive than that to cross with a car , seeing that a bike is put in a post lane or in the bulkhead of the ferry and take up only a small amount of space can you explain your reason for such an unfair charge,i have e-mailed your customer supportt who have for the last 4 months ignored my question
many thanx
MG

Hello Pierre

Following on the comments re Dieppe/Newhaven, I believe I am correct in saying that the timetable is constrained by tidal considerations. I wonder what efforts, if any, Newhaven Port Authority have made to dredge the harbour which is heavily silted up. Dredging would surely easy the constraints. Is this something you have had discussion with them about?

Re Dover/Dieppe although it is an attractive proposition Dover is a non-starter for anyone trying to access the hinterland of Newhaven - the cross-country route is horrendous! It would be useful to know that you are committed to maintaining the Dieppe/Newhaven route.

Regards
John

Dear Neil,

No, as I said before, we have no plans on the Western Channel. We are focusing on our existing services from Le Havre and Dieppe and also on the coming one from Boulogne.

Further more I am not convinced there is room for two or more operators on the Western Channel.

Best personal regards and Happy Christmas

Pierre

Pierre,

Do you have any plans for a route in the Western Channel? - Having been quoted nearly £800 for a return crossing in July this year from Plymouth to Roscoff with Brittany Ferries, I feel that there is a need for a competitor on that route, or an alternative new route! Even if only half of the price, it would certainly give Brittany Ferries a run for their money!

Best wishes

Neil

Bonjour Manuel,

Merci beaucoup pour votre sympathique message. A ce jour, ce nouveau service est programmé au 1er juillet 2009 et il sera effectivement possible de faire un aller retour dans la journée puiqu’il y aura un minimum de 4 rotations par jour. Les horaires sont d’ailleurs déjà en ligne sur notre site http://www.ldlines.com

Cela étant nous étudions le possibilité de démarrer ce service un peu plus tôt dans l’année et la décision (qui n’est pas uniquement entre nos mains) sera prise dans les semaines qui viennent.

Cordialement,

Pierre

bonjour Pierre
je viens de suivre (photos) les essais techniques au poste 13 du Cote D’Albatre dans le port de Boulogne, depuis de Speed one s’a fait plaisir de revoir un ferry dans le port surtout lorsqu’il se trouve dans la ville
pensez-vous demarrer boulogne-dover avant le 01.07.09 ? si oui combien de rotation seront-elles programmées et sera t il possible de faire un aller retour dans la journée?
cordialement
Manuel

Dear Chris,

Thank you very much for your nice comments regarding this blog and our Newhaven-Dieppe service.

Though the endemic difficulties of the Newhaven-Dieppe service cannot solely be blamed on the design of the present ships, these are mainly inadequate for their lack of capacity which makes it impossible to carry a large number of passengers or freight pieces when the demand is there (actually the ships were not at all designed for this route).
As you know, our activity is very seasonal and you need to be able to make money on some peak dates to compensate for the times of lower demand.

The design of the ship is such that loading and unloading is lengthy. This partly answers your second query though reinforced immigration controls also generate delays upon disembarkation.

The crossing could probably be completed in three and a half hours because the consequences would be major in terms of fuels costs, times of arrival and the legal necessity for freight drivers and crew members of a mimimum resting time.

The two ships were not specifically designed for the route but they were considered as appropriate by the former operators of the route. To put things into perspective, the configuration of the ports of Dieppe and Newhaven do not help when it comes to choosing the perfect ship!!

Best regards,

Pierre

Reading ‘Stephen’s’ comments, below, yes I did experience the same delay on 10th Dec. in Portsmouth. Securely docked at 05.55 waiting until 06.20 by reception desk, Then down to car deck, and waiting another 5 minutes with car doors open until allowed to disembark. Seemed unnecessary, especcially as the boat was so lightly loaded?!

Hi, Pierre,
I travelled on 11th on the Voyager for the first time. I must agree with many that she is a very different animal to the Spirit. Luckily for me, there were not that many cars/foot passengers so the lounges etc were not over full. However, I would not want to travel on her in peak season with 400+ passengers ! Also, I agree with the comments about the single access to the car decks - not very good and there could be a disaster if the car decks had to be evacuated when passengers were in their vehicles prior to disembarkation.
For me, I would prefer to travel on the Spirit because a) I can get a bed for £15 against £55 on the Voyager and b) There is a great deal more space and comfort and the option of Club Class.
This brings me to the main point of this message. You have told us that the Spirit will move to Dover/Boulogne in July, so you will be putting a big ship with lots of facilities on to a route which takes 1.5 hours and, perhaps, replacing her on Portsmouth/Le Havre with a ship similar to the Voyager which has no facilities (apart from lots of cabins - but no sleeper seats.)
I think that a lot of people would be very sorry to see the Spirit go and I am wondering if there is another alternative ? I think the move could effect your traffic, particularly as it is now as cheap - over Christmas, anyway - to go BF from Caen if you are a member of their Circle Voyageur.
Stephen.

I have only just come across this excellent blog and would like to make a few observations and ask a question or two. I have been using the Newhaven - Dieppe service for more years than I care to remember and have to say that the recent Transmanche / LD service is by far the best ever. Now that your pricing is competitive (which it wasn’t when Transmanche began) it is a good value and reliable service. We use the service at least four times a year and are very happy with it.
I understand, but bitterly regret, the necessity to reduce sailings for 2009.
I was confused by your answer to another recent query that you said the two boats weren’t ideal for the route? I thought they had been built specifically for the route. Was that not the case?
At the time of the new boats the advance publicity made a big thing of their being faster than the old ones and so would complete the crossing in 3 hours rather 4. Is that still technically possible and if so why not do it as it would make the route more attractive to a lot of people.
One small complaint: why does it take so long to disembark, especially at Newhaven? Many times I have spent some 15 minutes waiting in the lounge for the call to the cardeck when the vessel is berthed and then even longer sitting in the car on the car deck waiting to go! Frustrating to say the least and much longer than any other operator I have travelled with.
Finally I see that a catamaran type craft with hd ferries on it has been in Newhaven for some time. Could it be that you have bought this boat to operate a fast summer service again? Two hour trips would be fantastic! Too much to hope for I suspect!

Dear C. Burn,

To be honnest I don’t know for sure as I did not discussed yet with my colleagues.
I would assume she would keep her yellow colors.

Best regards

Pierre

Cher Paul,

merci beaucoup pour vos commenatires bien agréables. At least some customers are happy with the Norman Voyager.
We have recently appointed a catering manager in our head office and I have no doubt that the quality of the food will be improving soon.
As far as Cherbourg is concerned, I don’t believe that there is enough room for two or three operators between Portsmouth and Cherbourg.

Best regards

Pierre

Hello Pierre, will the new service ship to Dieppe be in LD colours or willit retain the Trans-marche colour and logo ?

All the very best to you and LD and happy christmas.

Regards

C Burn

Bonsoir Pierre,
Many thanks for your full reply to my questions - it is very refreshing to have a direct line to the Chairman of a company who also replies regularly!
I do hope that traffic can increase from Newhaven to Dieppe in 2009 - it offers excellent ’straight-line’ access from London and Sussex to Rouen and Paris whether by car truck or train, although the latter is probably only of interest to travel enthusiasts like me who prefer be surrounded by real French people rather that the mobile-wielding prawn sandwich execs who use Eurostar!
I wish you every success in moving your business forward even in ‘choppy’ financial waters.

Pierre
Felicitations pour votre nouvelle bateau entre Portsmouth et Le Havre.
Nous sommes allees a France mardi le 2eme dec. et retourne mardi le 9eme dec.
tres bonne service, excellent cabine et precise a l’heure!!
que un plainte! Repas sont chere et mauvaise qualite. Et je pense quand vous aviez une plein bateau en ete le petit bar, restaurant et magasin ne feront pas face a les grands nombres des passagers!
Et je pense que une croissant entre Portsmouth et Cherbourg va mieux que Douvres et Dieppe.
Bon courage et joyeux noel
Paul Dorey
8 Bishops Drive
Salisbury
SP2 8NZ

Dear Jean Marie,

Thank you very much for your query.
Indeed our Boulogne-dover route will start to operate in july. We hope you among our loyal customers from that date!
We have no present plan to start a service between Calais and dover as our main competitor in the western channel is already established in both ports.
We are presently concentrating on launching two new services in 2009. The Boulogne-Dover service in july and a Dieppe-Dover service in february.

Best regards,
Pierre

Dear Chris,

Thank you very much for your interest in our Company.Unfortunately,all analysts seem to agree there would not be room for an extra operator in the western channel at the moment but who knows what the future holds.

Best regards,

Pierre

Dear Roger,

The situation of the Dieppe-Newhaven route is well known to everybody who has an interest in channel ferries. Though the service is obviously important to those using it, working for it and depending on it for various reasons (business, family), none of the past operators have even been close to keeping it viable. For the reasons previously given, the Conseil Général have felt it was their duty to invest money and subsidize the route. Since we took over the route, our objective has remained unchanged: that is, to maintain the deficits of the service within the limits of the subsidies while we still provide a useful and reliable service.

In order to achieve this, we have endeavoured to develop a concept (quite similar to the one previously tested on our Portsmouth-Le Havre route) by which we try and offer a reasonably priced reliable service. The service had a long time reputation for being unreliable mainly because of the shallowness of the port of Newhaven, many would now agree we have made what it takes to restore our customers’faith in the reliability of the service. As far as our running costs are concerned, please trust me on this, we are careful about every penny spent.

Now, in spite of all these efforts, things are still very difficult. On top of the historical difficulties of the service, many factors are (or have been) impacting the financial situation of the service. The present boats aren’t very appropriate, the fuel costs have been very high and the Pound Sterling has lost 20% or more of its value in about a year (please remember 80 to 90 % of our revenues are in Sterling) and finally some of the restrictions imposed by the Conseil Général do not help ( very limited use of the yield management, for instance).

So now, we are faced with a situation that requires us to be even more imaginative, hence the decision by LD Lines to charter one of the Transmanche Ferrries to start a new service between Dover and Dieppe. What is the idea behind this? Firstly, whenever a Transmanche ship is chartered by LD Lines, money goes into Transmanche’s pockets and therefore reduces the deficits of the service and secondly, by developping a whole network of services between Dover and Portsmouth, we’re hoping some of the dynamism generated by main ports like Portsmouth and Dover will spread out to Newhaven. Our idea is that nothing could be worse for Newhaven-Dieppe service than to be left on its own fighting for its own future.

Best regards,

Pierre

Dear Pierre,.

Firstly I would like to say how pleased we were when LD Lines provided the service from Portsmouth. As regular tralellers with P & O we were devastated to loose the Cherbourg service.

We own a house in Brittany and although we started using LD Lines to Le Havre we found the extra driving was getting too much so we reluctantly reverted back to BF - sorry. Taking into account the increasing fuel costs BF Portsmouth to St Malo is at pressent our best option.

I know a lot of French property owners like us using BF only because there is no real alternative. Why are all the operators concentrating on the Eastern Channel routes when the Western routes are crying out for competition to give us the travellers a fair deal with prices?

Please consider Cherbourg, Cean of even St Malo - you may be surprised how sucessful a route would be.

Kind regards,
Chris Greenham

I am dismayed to hear of the changes to 2009 sailings at Newhaven including removal of the excellent Le Havre service. You are quoted as saying that if the proposed Dover/Dieppe service is a success you may be able to retain a service from Newhaven to Dieppe but surely you are paving the way to pull out of this service completely. For those of us in the Sussex/South London conurbation this route remains the most direct route to Normandy, Paris mand th South & West of France. Travelling to Dover or Portsmouth is not a good optuion. Your ferries are excellent and it would be good to see a re-marketing of the route ‘to the Heart of France’ from London and the South-East of England. I accept that work needs to be done to road and rail links to Newhaven but that won’t happen without a continuity of service. I am hoping to spend more time living and working in Haute Normandie as well as keeping a base here in Eastbourne so I have a vested interest of course!

Dear Pierre,
Congratulations for the blog.
I cannot wait for the Norman Spirit to start on Boulogne-Dover as I have already said. I also heard Seafrance is in financial trouble : is there any chance of LD Lines coming on Calais-Dover with some of their ships or otherones? (even though from what I read about your staff and what I know about theirs you would have a lot of work to do, and I don’t speak about the French unions stubborn and selfish attitudes…)

Dear M. Cunningham,

Thank you very much for your query.
We have no present plan to start a service between Portsmouth and Dieppe. Though I fully understand this route would be of interest to you, I honestly do not think there is a natural demand for it at the moment. We’re presently concentrating on developping our existing routes and will be launching two new services in 2009. A Dieppe-Dover service in February and a Boulogne-Dover service in July.

Best regards,

Pierre

Dear M. Gehanne,

I do not suppose that there is any possibility of a Portsmouth - Dieppe crossing the future as this would save us the awful journey around the M25 to get to either Newhaven or Dover?

Best wishes,

James Cunningham.

Dear Emily,

As far as I know we have not be cutting costs in Newhaven, on the contrary, we LD, have investes significant amount of money ttrying to improve the existing facilities, which we did (although we are not owning the place…).

As regards the number of sailings to and from Newhaven this is certainly not our decision. The Conseil General who is paying for the service has decided to reduce the number of sailings and there is nothing we (LD) can do about it. our duty was to try to find some alternative employment for one of the Transmanche vessels, at our own risks and expenses, and failing so the all service to Newhaven would be closed down.

We (LD) cannot be blamed for that unfortunate situation and it is not also our fault if there is not enough demand for the service and if the customers are not prepared to apy more…

We doing our best to please everybody and believe me it’s not easy at all!!!

Best regards

Pierre

Hmmm, well where do I start?
I used to think of LD Lines as a great way forward for the port of Newhaven - that was until I overheard the recent news of only having 2 sailings a day all year round from Newhaven to Dieppe as of 2009? I understand that you are taking one of the ships from Newhaven to begin a Dieppe - Dover service, and throughout reading previous comments regarding this you have always said that this service would not have a major impact on Newhaven. I hear that you are now thinking of cost cutting in Newhaven - which may I add already runs on the bare minimum?! I personally think you will lose alot of customers if you continue reducing in Newhaven.
The port of Newhaven was actually starting to look like it had a brighter future - maybe not now though?
your comments will be greatly received on this matter.
Thanks

Dear Gary,

Thank you very much for your request. Unfortunately, the Newhaven-Le Havre route which we experimented in the past two years did not prove successful so we will not be able to operate it in 2009. We will running a second daily service from Le Havre and Portsmouth four days a week instead and starting a new Dover-Dieppe service in February 2009 and a new Dover-Boulogne service in July 2009. Of course, don(t forget our Newhaven to Dieppe service which will also remain more than an option.

Best regards,

Pierre

last year I used your Newhaven to Le Harvre crossing.As a property owner in Normandy it was fantastic to break Britanny Ferries monopoly on the longer crossing from an easily accessible port of Newhaven rather than Portsmouth.Please put the crossing back.Newhaven is far better to get to than Portsmouth.

Dear Mick,

Sorry to be terse but I do have a few other occupations….
Thanks for the clarification about the fares. Indeed this is a good example of the yield management. Booking from Dover has been open quite recently therefore the fares are still quite competitive. When the number of bookings will increase the price will go higher.

The basic idea is obviously to have both routes succesful. In other words we need Dieppe-Newhaven to be full and Dieppe-Dover to be full too! If one or the other is failing, then we will loose a lot of money…

I will try to go a little bit more into details:
On the Dieppe-Newhaven route, basically one ship would be sufficient to take care of the existing demand. As you do loose on every sailing, if you do more sailings you loose more money. To run two ships is extremely costly for the Conseil General. The solution we have been working on, is to charter one of the vessels to LD LInes and to use her on Dieppe to Dover route. When LD Lines is chartering this vessel, the hire we pay is decreasing the amount of subsidy needed. Then, of course, if LD Lines is loosing money on the new route, tough luck…
I am not at all convinced, for obvious reasons you have been pointing out, that this new service will be economically viable. But I thought we should give it a try in order to maintain the service between Dieppe and Newhaven.

We are not diverting customers at all and this can be demonstarted (if necessary) by the simple fact that the volumes of passengers and freight carried by the Dieppe-newhaven service has been increasing over 2008 to the detriment of the traffic from Le Havre!

The main problem is that the link between Newhaven and Dieppe is not economically viable (due to various constraints: port restrictions which are limiting the size of the vessels, poor hinterland both sides, expensive ports, etc…).
As the customers are not prepared to pay more, to run this operation one need subsidies. if the Conseil General decide to reduce subsidies, the service disappear (presume UK authorities are not prepared to give subsidies??).
If Louis Dreyfus decides to quit, this is also the end of the route.

So let’s work!

Best regards

Pierre

Pierre,

Thank you for your prompt if somewhat terse reply.
Like Gary and many others we are extremely keen to see a continuation of a ferry service from Newhaven to Dieppe but I cannot personally see anything in the 2009 timetables or pricing structure that it going to enhance this service.
I still cannot why that if a service is subsidized and has a commitment to run it is more important to make the Dover to Dieppe route successful in order to keep the Newhaven to Dieppe service operating. Naively I assumed that it would be in everyone’s interests to ensure that all crossings between Newhaven and Dieppe are run to their maximum capacity but this is clearly not the case. Maybe you could explain in a bit more detail why the refusal of the Conseil General to allow you to run a yield management policy on this route has such an impact.
I appreciate some of the difficulties you must be working under, as like bureaucracies anywhere in the world, once a committee is formed to oversee a project it normally very quickly looses sight of the very reasons it was set up in the first place and deteriorates into a political battle.
Just to clarify the other point that I made. On your website the price of a car +2 going out at 09:30 from Newhaven to Dieppe on the 1st August returning 15th August at 18:00 is £244. The cost of going from Dover to Dieppe on the same dates is £141.50, a difference of £102.50.
Regards
Mick

My Dear Garry,

Many thanks your kind words. Maybe I got it wrong but this is not the first time that someone is claiming that we are trying to kill the Dieppe-Newhaven service!
And our crews and our staff do not deserve such comments! Life is difficult for all the ferry operators (and we all noticed what recently happened to Speedferries…).
The Conseil General is doing a good job while subsidizing the route. I wish they could do more but they are also facing their own problems… So, we LD, have to try to find solutions to keep this service going on and it is not an easy task. To propose this Dieppe-Dover service at LD Lines full risk and full expenses is a huge challenge for our company but it is also a dramatic challenge because if we fail, the Dieppe-Newhaven service will definitely close. If it happens I know for sure a few people who will be quite happy but I also know for sure that thousands of frequent users (not to mention the employees) will be crying…

Anyway, let’s cross our fingers and be happy.

Best regards

Pierre

My Dear Pierre,

Firstly, thank you for answering my question regarding the Dieppe – Newhaven service.

I read the comment from Mick, and your answer to it, and I think there may have been some mis-understanding, I think what Mick was trying to say, like myself, is that some of us are very loyal to the Transmarche (Dieppe – Newhaven) route, mainly because many of the frequent travellers are Sussex, South Coast area based, and have used the service in it’s various guises over many years, so the loss of the service would be a great loss for our (the Sussex, South Coast) region.

I understand what LD lines has put into the service over the past couple of years, the service has improved out of all recognition since the old days. (I have used the tunnel less than 10 times this year, whereas before LD took over, in addition to mainly using the tunnel, I even used the Dover-Calais ferries quite often!)

Also, there appears to be more traffic on the route this year than last, when I was often astonished to see less than 5 cars on board! You and your company have turned that around, well done.

I am a realist, I understand that a business can not keep running at a loss, I would hope, however, some form of service will continue from Sussex to Northern France for a long time to come.

Best wishes,
Garry
Ps The four crews on the Transmarche ships and your staff at Dieppe are a real credit, well done on that front also

Hi Stephen,

I do know that you are not complaining, don’t worry. We know you for long enough now.

As you rightly mention we are quite satisfied with the consept of the Sleeper Seats and as I said before, this concept will even be further enhanced/improved on the new vessel we are actually building in Singapore.

This being said we did not have sufficient space to arrange Sleeper Seats on the Norman Voyager and it would have been to costly to increase the size of the accomodations….

The Norman Spirirt is now back on the route (with its new livery) and I presume that everything will be back to normal.

Best personal regards

Pierre

Mick,

I have been checking and I cannot find the 100 euros spread you are mentioning.
However this is true that today Dieppe-Dover is cheaper than Dieppe-Newhaven. There is one simple reason: On the Dieppe-Dover route we are applying our usual yield management process and we just can’t do same on Dieppe-Newhaven which is subsidized by the Conseil General. The Conseil general does not allow us to have a yield management policy.

As regards to your other unappropiate comment “Your company talks about its commitment to maintaining the Newhaven Dieppe route but your actions tell a different story” may I tell you something:
First we are not just talking we are also acting and paying.
Second, the Conseil general does not want to pay more and there is nothing I can do about it!
Third, If LD Lines did not took over the management of the line, the service would have disappeared and if we decide, one day or the other, not to do it any further, this will also be the end of it!
Four, the Dieppe-newhaven route has been costing a lot of money to LD lines over 2008.
Fifth, the Dieppe-Dover service, as I already mentioned many times, has been created at the sole risk and expense of LD Lines to allow the Conseil General to reduce their subsidies. If this service is not a success, the Dieppe-Newhaven route will be terminated.

Conclusion, taking into consideration the amount of time, efforts and ressources all of the LD Transmanche and LD Lines teams are devoting in order to try keeping the Dieppe-Newhaven service in force, I don’t have the feeling that your comments are useful or constructive in any respect.

Regards

Pierre

Hi, Pierre.

Thank you for your prompt answer to my posting. Please don’t think that I am complaining - all I am saying is that the sleeper seats are ideal and affordable for me. Even if cabins were available, I would still use them in preference.

A two berth cabin on the Voyager is £55 against £15 for a sleeper seat on the Spirit. Looking at a typical night single crossing on the Voyager, the base cost for car+one is £55. The £55 cost of a cabin therefore doubles the cost !
I think that the concept of installing sleeper seats was brilliant and I am sure that it will be copied by other operators. However, I realise that on vessels of the Voyager design, it is not possible to have them.

Pierre,

I posted a blog a couple of months ago enquiring why you didn’t reduce the prices on the Newhaven to Dieppe route more in line with prices on the Dover to Calais routes, mainly to try and make more people aware of Newhaven as an alternative port and also to fill half empty ferries on the route. Your reply made it quite clear that it was completely unrealistic to offers fares on a longer route at similar prices to the shorter Dover Calais routes. It is therefore extremely confusing to see that in the new 2009 timetable that it is £102.50 cheaper to travel from Dover to Dieppe for the first two weeks in August for a car +2 than on the Newhaven to Dieppe route. I appreciate that you need to promote this new route at attractive fares but surely not by such significant price differences at the height of the season. Dover is further from Dieppe than Newhaven, the ships used on the route are the same, there is no subsidy on the Dover Dieppe route and yet it is still far cheaper than the subsidised Newhaven Dieppe route.
Your company talks about its commitment to maintaining the Newhaven Dieppe route but your actions tell a different story. There are less ferries on this route in 2009, the timetable is somewhat bizarre (times of departures from both ports, no daytrip facilities etc) and a high fare structure. If you had a cynical outlook on life you might even think that there was an attempt to draw people away from Newhaven towards Dover on the Dover Boulogne or Dover Dieppe perhaps.

Regards
Mick

Hi Garry,

The Conseil general who is owning the Newhaven harbour is definitely prepared (as far as I know) to sell the port. However I doubt that they are prepared to let it go for one sterling!
And in any case, I would think that the necessity to maintain the existing facilities for the ferries would be part of the deal.
I don’t think that the sale of Newhaven would create any problem for the service. The only threat to the service, in my opinion, would be the Conseil General itself. Their decision to stop subsidizing the route would immediately mean that the Dieppe-Newhaven route would disappear, and I am sure that within the CG some people would not mind…

So let’s our fingers crossed. As far as we are concerned, we are doing our utmost to keep this line alive.

Best regards

Pierre

Hello Stephen,

When we open the service with the Norman Spirit everybody and his cousin was complaining about the lack of cabins and therefore we have been providing some 20 extra cabins and about 100 sleeper seats (a conscept which will be even improved on our newbuilding in Singapore).
Now that we are providing more cabins with the Norman Voyager, one would like to have Sleeper Seats!

Anyway your suggestion is interesting and I will discuss with my colleagues.

Best personal regards

Pierre

Dear Pierre,

I am writing to ask if it is the intention to keep the Newhaven – Dieppe line open after next year? I ask this as my office is in Sussex and my home is in Pas de Calais, and as such, although a longer journey in time than the tunnel, is however, more relaxing as I do not have to contend with the M25!

I was somewhat disturbed to hear last week that there was a chance that the sale of Newhaven port (which I understand is owned by the French on the understanding that the port is kept in good repair, and has not been because of lack of money) could go ahead for £1, which could also mean a developer for instance who brought it, would have to repair the pier at considerable cost to redevelop the area and as such could mean the closure of the cross channel service.

Would you be good enough to comment on this for me?

Regards,
Garry Spencer

Hi, Pierre.
I virtually always travel alone. The Spirit has been great on night crossings because of the sleeper seats which has means that I can have a ‘bed’ for £15.
The Voyager does not have sleeper seats. This means that, in order to get a bed, I have to book a complete cabin which is a lot more expensive - and which I cannot afford !
As the Voyager has a lot more cabins, can I suggest that you offer single berths in shared cabins. P&O did this is and it is (atleast until recently) available on Brittany although it wasn’t published so you had to ask.
Your intention is to run a good quality budget service and this would be a good way to enhance it.

Dear John,

I am glad you enjoyed your return trip on the Norman Voyager. It looks like the energy our technical teams have put into getting things right is starting to pay off. However, there is still room for improvement. A whistle (I think this is what you call it in English) will be added to the stern door fingers to make embarkation smoother and quicker. Deck 5 and its access ramp will be repainted with an antislip paint.

All in all we believe we will not have to suffer any such delays anymore when the Norman Voyager shifts to its regular schedule as the turn rounds will be longer.

The issue of tannoys not being loud enough has also been noted and forwarded to our technical teams.

The limited seating facilities is also an issue. It is now clear to us that the ship can accommodate in a confortable way far less passengers than the charterer suggested, especially on day crossings. On night crossings, for their own confort the idea will be to limit the number of seat passengers and to encourage passengers to book cabins.

On day crossings, we will also encourage passengers to book cabins but will reduce the total of passengers more than on night crossings because passengers will obviously wish to move about more and enjoy the restaurant and bar facilities without having to queue up too much.

We also thought of enclosing the seat lounges but whatever you do on a ship in terms of design is subject to safety regulations and this is not possible because of the location of the fire sprinklers.We’ll have to think of something else..

Anyway, thanks to all our customers’ constructive comments and hard work from our teams, we are determined to still improve the service offered.

In any case we all to keep in mind that about 20 similar ships (same type from the same shipyard) are presently sailing and some of them are devoted to a service between UK and ireland…

Best regards,

Pierre

Hi Pierre
Having completed our crossing both ways on NV I have to say all our fears were proved unfounded although we were not on the deck !

The sailing left Portsmouth late I believe. I say that because we were on the boat and tucked up in the excellent cabin before the scheduled departure time so the actual sailing time did not matter - it arrived in Le Havre on time.
Sailing ran to time on the return run.

Two constructive comments to consider. On arrival at Le Havre the announcement that we should go to our cars could not have been made clear as we sat in our car along with many others for 20mins waiting for about half the drivers to return to their vehicles who were trapping us in. A clear announcement ahead of embarkation would speed things up.
On the return we were one of the first rows to get off and that took just a few minutes - no complaints there !

It is unfortunate in the design that there is no quiet seating areas so that drivers can rest up on day crossings. Such areas exist on the other ship. A suggestion - could one or both lounges be completely enclosed with a closed door to remove all the noise from the restaurant and bar.

One final criticism - £2.20 for 50cl of Coca Cola is very expensive and is very expensive when compared to the prices of other drinks on board.

Hi C Burn,

Yes indeed it was the Seven Sisters performing some trials in Dover for our new service Dieppe-Dover.
As far as i know we already got the approval from the Port authorities.

Best regards

Pierre

Hi Pierre, one of your ships was in Dover yesterdat doing berthing trials I think it was the Cote de Albate is this for your new service Dover-Dieppe if Dover Harbour Board give you the ok. Hope they do and good luck Dover welcomes you.

Dear Duncan,

What we are endeavouring to do on our new Le Havre-Rosslare service is to develop the same concept as on our crossings between France and England. Basically, the idea is to offer a cheaper but reliable alternative to existing competition.

However,the Norman Voyager is a brand new vessel which offers all necessary facilities. Cabins are very confortable. The ship is certified for 800 passengers but it has been decided not to carry more than 450 passengers at a time in order to offer a better confort.

We have only been operating the Norman Voyager for a fortnight or so, so we’re still learning!! and there are still discussions within the Company as to what the maximum capacity should be in order to provide the level of customer service we like to offer.

Please note we are also looking at possibilities of improving the schedule.

Best regards

Pierre

Cher Manuel,

Soit l’élu vert est de mauvaise foi, soit il ne sait pas de quoi il parle…

Le navire actuellement en construction à Singapour (qui sera d’ailleurs un superbe ferry) sera affecté à la liaison Le Hvare-Portsmouth.

Nous n’avions pas pensé à Boulogne-Newhaven et, à priori, je ne suis aps certain que cette liaison soit des plus pertinentes mais sait on jamais…

Bien sincèrement

Pierre

Pierre,
A Spanish friend asked me to look at ferry crossings from France to Ireland for next year and I am struggling to find a reason to recommend him this new service from Le Havre to Rosslare. Admittedly on the face of it the price of the crossing are cheaper than the opposition but the ferry crossing times are at such unsocial hours particularly if you are travelling with a young family.
The departure times are awful in both directions and the arrival times in both Rosslare and Le Havre mean that unless you are willing to drive through the night you have to book into a hotel late at night near either port, therefore reducing any savings made on the price of the crossing. Also the information you have on your website regarding the onboard facilities may not do the ship justice but it would appear that there is one smallish bar and one self service restaurant and a cinema that can seat a couple of dozen people and no entertainment. If you did have the misfortune to be on a crossing that was full ie up to 800 passengers it does sound like a 20 hour journey from hell.
Maybe I am missing something.
Regards
Duncan

bonjour Pierre
L’elu vert parle de navire sous norme
Pensez-vous affecter sur Boulogne en plus du Norman spirit le navire “Neuf” qui est actuellement en construction au chantier de Samsug???
autre chose vous allez ouvrir en fevire 2009 une Dieppe Dover Pourquoi pas un Boulogne-Newhaen???
Bien amicalement
un Passionné
Manuel
PS vos navire de son pas sous Norme

Bonjour Manuel,

J’ai dit que je pensais que nous devrions très rapidement et si possible dès l’ouverture du service passer à 7 ou 8 départs par jour. Le navire n’est pas encore choisi mais une chose est certaine, contrairement à ce qu’écrit l’élu vert Pierre Coppin (par ailleurs salarié de Seafrance) qui ferait mieux d’éviter de dire des bêtises, dans la Semaine du Boulonnais, les navires qui seront affectés au trafic sur Boulogne ne seront pas des navires “sous normes”. Bien au contraire ces navires seront exploités en parfaite conformité avec toutes les réglementations internationales, bien évidemment.

Bien sincèrement

Pierre Géhanne

Bonjour Pierre
dans un article de presse “la Voix du Nord” vous annoncez 8 departs par jour dans le sens Boulogne-Dover
Il y aura le ” Norma Spirit” et le “?” quel le nom du deuxieme navire
cordialement

Dear Alan,

I have been studying last night (wednesday) reports.
In portsmouth it took exactly 22 minutes to discharge all the passengers cars.
All passengers leaving Portsmouth were onboard Norman Voyager 01h15 minutes after vessel’s arrival in Portsmouth.

All our technical staff is working hard to still improve these figures.

Best regards

Pierre

Dear Dave,

I’m glad we could be of assistance. This is the level of customer services we like to offer.
We don’t wish to communicate or make money on this matter. We are just prepared to help if needed, as I don’t believe the passengers should suffer from such an unfortuante situation.

Best regards,

Pierre

Dear John,

Thank you for your query and sorry for not replying any earlier. As you may have noticed, the arrival of the Norman Voyager has generated a lot of comments/questions, etc and dealing with this blog is not my full time job (unfortunately)!!!

All I can tell you at the moment is the loading and unloading conditions are improving day by day as our technical and operational teams have introduced corrections to our usual procedures to meet the requirements of the Norman Voyager. However, tonight will be a busy crossing and you can still expect a bit of delay upon embarkation and disembarkation. As for deck 5 whose access is via a steep ramp, it has been agreed to only use it for 4 wheel drives and high clearance cars so you need not worry too much.

Best regards,

Pierre

I am disappointed not to have received a response to my posting which I made on Tuesday and appeared yesterday. As we are travelling tonight I will just have to keep everything crossed.

Dear Pierre
Thank you for your response to my comment on 18th November. Your offer is more than a little assistance. Your response was quick and the reaction of your staff to preparing for the offer was just as quick. I telephoned the call centre, was asked for information which I emailed and received a return call today to confirm my booking. Within minutes an email with confirmation of the details arrived.
Congratulations to all involved we are much relieved and thanks to your offer not too much out of pocket. I think you will win some additional customers as a result of your actions. Thanks again.

Pierre, We are due to travel overnight this Thursday from Portsmouth to Le Havre. I am reading with horror on Anglo/|Info today of it taking 2 hours to disembark and that it is taking ages to load with continuous problems getting up ramps.

Can you please put my mind at rest - or should I look to putting back our trip until the other boat is back in service ?

I look forward to your earliest response.

I note you have not published my response to your last post. Let me try again - :- does embarkation onto the Norman Voyager involve reversing up steep ramps? Does dis-embarkation take up to an hour at Le Havre?
As I said in my earlier message I travelled on the Norman Spirit fom Le Havre to Portsmouth and was happy with the service. Comments from your customers since the NV came into service seem to suggest that the new ship does not meet these standards. Please answer.

regards

Alan M

Having read this blog and various forums you would think the NV is a disaster. It’ s not that bad. In my mind there are definitely cases of making a, mountain out of a mole hill - or dare I say a ‘cliff face out of a ramp’!

I raised some concerns with LD Lines but now I’ve had time to think I’m sure the next time I travel on it the ramp won’t be anywhere near as daunting. It was wet when I went up it but not slippery. The deck is ribbed and gripped well. Reversing out was only like coming out of a parking place in a car park. You go down the ramp forward and to me it felt nowhere near as steep as it had going up.

I do feel the staff loading you need to give clearer hand signals and I think some people got it wrong. I cannot comment on actual damage to cars but I think that if you have a car that is ‘low to the road’ and/or it is heavily loaded it maybe a problem. Otherwise take it easy going up the ramp the first time it is rather daunting but it is not a death ramp. It is an interesting experience through. Unloading is taking a little longer but not hours

Some pre loading information would have been of help. For example the reasons for delays. And there are a few issues on the boat that, from reading this blog, are being dealt with.

At the end of the day we are getting a good value service crossing of the channel and I’m sure we do not want to lose it. It is not right yet but what is the alternative- back to high fares?

I, like most of us, am looking for the best value to cross the channel and will use whichever operator is offering the best deal for me. So I will be using LD Lines again - as yet I have not learnt to walk on water!

We are indeed facing some unexpected problems with the Norman Voyager. Don’t worry, in December, the Norman Spirit which has been performing regularly on this route since October 2005, will be back into service and the Norman Voyager will be back onto her normal schedule.

The Norman Voyager is not a RoRo at all and she has more cabins than the Norman Spirit . Her sister ship has been performing very well (without any problem) our Toulon-Civitavecchia service (15hours) without any problem.

Best regards

Pierre

Dear Dave,

In case some of you are stuck with their travel arrangements, against presentation of a valid voucher/ticket we will be pleased to provide them with a very special offer:
I propose that we charge only 25 percent of our standard tariff on any LD Lines or LD Transmanche cross channel crossings (cabins excluded).
This offer would be valid until end of January 2009 (subject to availability).
For details and booking my colleagues will come back tomorrow with the necessary procedures for implementing this proposal.

Best regards

Pierre

Hope this will be of some assistance,

Best personal regards

Pierre

I have booked to travel from Portsmouth to Le Havre in mid December. I have been alarmed by several posts on Anglo/French websites relating tales of cars having to reverse up steep ramps and it taking an hour to disembark at Le Havre.
I believe the ship on this route at the moment is the Norman Voyager - the ship I am expecting to use in December - I understood this to be a full RORO vessel.
Can you clarify what is going on please?

Dear Pierre
As a customer of Transmanche and of Speedferries i welcome your suggestion that it may be possible for you to offer special prices for travellers holding advance bookings with Speedferries. Are you able to confirm this and advise how such bookings may be made? I believe that it is unlikely that there will be a Boulogne Dover service until July and there are a number of people with Speedferry bookings for the Christmas period and early next year and in spite of the soothing noises made by the administrators those with accomodation booked in UK and with other confirmed arrangements cannot wait on the day to day information the administrators provide. Hope you have some good news for us soon.

Dear Robert,

The affairs, business and property of the Company are being managed by the administrators and it is up to them to decide about the future of Speedferries. At this stage there is not much we can do about it, except maybe welcome the passengers who had some booking arrangements with SF and who are unable to travel time being. I believe it could be fair to offer them some very special crossing fares if they wish so.

This being said it is no secret that we have been in contact with Curt Stavis early July, at his request, when SF was meeting some difficulties and, at the time, we offered Curt to help him to continue SF’s operations until sumer 2009 when Speedone would have been replaced by a standard ferry able to carry freight and passengers.
Unfortunately Curt could not finally agree to this proposal and we all know the end of the story.

I really think that we did our best to avoid this unfortunate situation.

Best regards

Pierre

Dear Pierre
Regarding the recent demise of Speedferries, could LD Lines not take over the operation (albeit on a temporary basis) until the Ld conventional ferries start to operate. It would seem a shame to lose the passenger trade to the oposition and think of the “brownie points” it would would give your company, and the future boost to your Eastern Ports business. I am sure that the administrators would jump at the chance to offload some of the claims. The Boulogne Port Authorities would most likely waive the restrictions if the fastcat was under a different and more respectable company control. Boulogne must be losing alot of its tourism trade, especially with the “Festive Season” approaching
Regards
Robert Giles

As frequent travellers to France we look forward to your Dover-Boulogne route.
Do you have a start date and prices yet?
Robert Millar

Dear Ian,

We will be starting operations between Dover and Boulogne early July 2009.

Fares for 2009 are still discussed but the idea will be to develop the same concept as on our existing routes, eg offer a very reliable service at a very reasonable price.

We will also open our new Frequent Traveller Scheme and our offers for Prepaid Tickets (Bulk Ticket scheme) to this new service.

Best regards,

Pierre

As a frequent traveller with Speedferries and what is looking like thier demise when are you starting the Boulogne route and what are approx costs ? Are you going to be offering us frequent users a discount rate which we can obtain from other companies and crossings ?

Dear Paul,

I fully understand that some of you will be disappointed by the fact we will not open our 2300hr departure from Le Havre to foot passengers, at least to start with.

As many other ferry operators experienced it before, we have come to the conclusion that the financial viability of the route is very fragile and one of the conditions for the opening of a second service on the Portsmouth-Le Havre route was the need to keep the operating costs to an absolute minimum.

I won’t go into details but opening the service to foot passengers would have significant repercussions in terms of organisation and extra operational costs and it is our duty to be careful in all our developments. However, as I said earlier, we tend to be pragmatic people and we will try to adapt to the demand of the market when necessary.

Best regards

Pierre

Dear Pierre, I have read the submission from the person who wanted to travel by foot on your sailing and it is totally beyond me how you cannot comply with this ? What possible excessive cost could there be for accommodating such a passenger ? I will be submitting this information to the appropriate authority to discuss.I would suggest that you try to contact the passenger concerned and offer him a seat on your sailing.
I hope that a happy story will prevail in this circumstance
Regds PS

Dear Alex,

As you probably know, we are trying to develop a very cost effective concept so we may offer comparatively low prices. For the moment, we have come to the conclusion that offering a foot passenger service on the Norman Voyager in the low season would be too costly as compared to expected revenue.

However, we’re pragmatic people so if the demand happens to be much higher than expected, we would be happy to review our present position. In the meantime, I sincerely hope one of our available sailings either from Le Havre or Dieppe will be acceptable.

Best regards,

Pierre

Dear Pierre,
I tried to book a ticket as a foot passenger on the new 23.00 service from Le Havre to Portsmouth. I was told that they do not accept foot passengers on the night crossing. Such a pity as I would prefer to take the train to London in the morning instead of traveling to Paris and taking the Eurostar to London. The 17.00 service to Portsmouth only just connects with the last train to London if one gets off early and manages to take a cab to the station. Let me know if there are any changes to your service that would meet the needs of your passengers.

Alex.

http://lehavre.fortunecity.com

Hi, Pierre,

I must agree with Mike O’Brian about the diversion of the Voyager to Ireland at the weekends.
Whilst I realise that this is for commercial (freight ?) reasons, it removes a day sailing from Portsmouth that would be used by many holiday makers. One of the main reasons why my guests have tended not to use LD is that they do not wish to take a night sailing and also the additional costs involved in that.
I know that, at present, there is no possibility of changing this decision but I am hopeful that, if the Irish route is successful, there may be the possibility of a daily sailing on that route with an additional ship which would enable 24/7 sailings on the Portsmouth/Le Havre service.
Steve..

Dear Lucy,

As I said earlier (I believe) the delay is only due to the fact that we are still awaiting some confirmation from the Conseil Général of Seine.

The Dieppe-Dover route is not at all compromising the Dieppe-Newhaven service, on the contrary, we could rather say that without Dieppe-Dover there will be no Dieppe-Newhaven at all!!!

Best regards

Pierre

Dear Pierre
I recieved your reply about the timetable being available for Newhaven Dieppe at the end of October. I telephoned the company today as the timetable has still not been published and they said it would be available mid-November. why is there such a delay? Hopefully this route isn’t going to be compromised by the news that you are starting a Dover Dieppe route.

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