bugger

sunman · Post by **sunman** » Sat Sep 22, 2012 5:24 am

just woken up to hear on radio that all Brittany Ferries are cancelled till further notice; went on to Brittany site, no announcement but went to 'manage my booking' to read 'this crossing is no longer available, please call this number' - bugger, was looking forward to a nice relaxing crossing this week, looks like I'm facing a drive through France as well now, bugger!

laserblazer · Post by **laserblazer** » Sat Sep 22, 2012 8:59 am

French wildcat strikes apparently.

http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/news/transp ... -1-4287532

cumbria sue · Post by **cumbria sue** » Sat Sep 22, 2012 11:08 am

laserblazer wrote:French wildcat strikes apparently.

http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/news/transp ... -1-4287532

hope it's sorted by the 12th when we are booked on Bilbao crossing. they say customers will be notified, so no news will be good news (I hope)

sunman · Post by **sunman** » Sat Sep 22, 2012 11:50 am

I just spoke with Brittany, everything is cancelled until Tuesday morning at the moment, if they resolve the strike things will resume then.

my sailing is (supposed to be) on Tuesday & I need to go, sods law says that the minute I book a France crossing and an extra hotel the strike will be called off, bugger

cumbria sue · Post by **cumbria sue** » Sat Sep 22, 2012 12:07 pm

sunman wrote:I just spoke with Brittany, everything is cancelled until Tuesday morning at the moment, if they resolve the strike things will resume then.

my sailing is (supposed to be) on Tuesday & I need to go, sods law says that the minute I book a France crossing and an extra hotel the strike will be called off, bugger

gosh, what a terrible few day's for you ,I hope they get it sorted by then. I would take pot luck with hotels if I were you just in case
they do

DaveK · Post by **DaveK** » Sat Sep 22, 2012 1:49 pm

I hope it is sorted before Tuesday so you can avoid the additional tiring driving, tolls and stopover. We are due to return from Santander on 1st. October so I hope the whole thing has blown over by then.

sunman · Post by **sunman** » Sat Sep 22, 2012 3:37 pm

thanks folks, I've bitten the bullet & bought a cheap crossing & booked a hotel North of Bordeaux as backup, have to leave crack of dawn Tuesday if driving the whole way so need to know what's what by close of business Monday

sunman · Post by **sunman** » Mon Sep 24, 2012 7:15 am

Brittany Ferries Important Update
Following widespread industrial action affecting all our services, we’re sorry to advise your sailing is cancelled. Please head to Dover with your BF reference

bugger

widge · Post by **widge** » Mon Sep 24, 2012 7:34 am

Hope you get a full refund on the Spanish crossing, what a palaver ?

sunman · Post by **sunman** » Mon Sep 24, 2012 10:26 am

here's the follow up email, full refund offered & free Dover-Calais, fair enough I suppose but a real pest. These guys (the French crew) are in danger of shooting themselves in the foot, they all live in or commute to Roscoff where the crew changeover weekly, they may find themselves out of work en masse, I'm sure there's plenty of folk in Santander, Bilbao, St Malo, Plymouth etc who'd be very happy to take over the work

---- Sep 25 2012 5:00PM Portsmouth - Santander

I am sorry to advise that the above sailing has been cancelled following the widespread industrial action affecting all our services.

We have made arrangements with P&O Ferries or MyFerryLink to accept your Brittany Ferries ticket between Dover and Calais. We have established an agreement with these operators for them to take you over the channel on their Dover-Calais services free of charge upon presentation of your Brittany Ferries booking reference. You do not need to contact us, you can proceed straight to Calais or Dover, present your reference and our colleagues will take care of you from there. In addition, we will of course refund the cancelled leg of your Brittany Ferries sailing and you will not be charged for travelling from Dover or Calais.

Please rest assured we are continuing to do all we can to resolve this dispute with the best interests of our customers and the long term viability of the business at the heart of our decision making.

Although some of our crew elected to go on strike, our teams in the ports and offices throughout the UK, Ireland, France and Spain are working incredibly hard to try and help in any way possible. Please check our website for the latest information. Our teams can be contacted by phone, email or Twitter, however this unprecedented circumstance is putting considerable pressure on our usual service levels and some delays in getting through are likely.

Again, I am sorry we have had to cancel these sailings.

Yours sincerely

Mike Bevens

Group Commercial Director
Brittany Ferries

HampshireRich · Post by **HampshireRich** » Mon Sep 24, 2012 11:44 am

One bright thing, sunman - you now don't have to go to Portsmouth

sunman · Post by **sunman** » Mon Sep 24, 2012 2:12 pm

HampshireRich wrote:One bright thing, sunman - you now don't have to go to Portsmouth

my daughter's at Uni in Portsmouth so I was going to fit a bit of lunch in before the off, she tells me the social scene is top, followed by a bit of French cooking and a bottle of red on the boat before turning in;
now I'm waking up at 6 to catch an 8.30 train through the tunnel & driving through rain all day, you've gotta laugh haven't you

HampshireRich · Post by **HampshireRich** » Mon Sep 24, 2012 2:23 pm

sunman wrote:
HampshireRich wrote:One bright thing, sunman - you now don't have to go to Portsmouth
my daughter's at Uni in Portsmouth so I was going to fit a bit of lunch in before the off, she tells me the social scene is top, followed by a bit of French cooking and a bottle of red on the boat before turning in;
now I'm waking up at 6 to catch an 8.30 train through the tunnel & driving through rain all day, you've gotta laugh haven't you

My daughter went to Portsmouth Uni and I worked in the city for 12 years - nothing to do with being a Southampton guy - Pompey is more than a bit rough - good fun for the students though I have to admit. I shall say no more in case sunman is the worrying sort of guy

DaveK · Post by **DaveK** » Mon Sep 24, 2012 3:02 pm

Sunman, in the light of events your title to this thread is somewhat mild! Anyway, have a good and safe drive down and I hope the weather is not too bad. If things are not sorted soon we could well be doing the same journey in reverse next Sunday. Like you was looking forward to a pleasant cruise back to the UK.

sunman · Post by **sunman** » Mon Sep 24, 2012 5:20 pm

Rich, I've seen plenty of photo's on Facebook from student nights out in Pompey where girls in white tee shirts get free drinks in a succession of pubs & end up in all sorts of mess but am numb to that now, last time she & her mates came to Carvoeiro they got home at around 7am & slept all day in the bathroom, rising only to lift their heads over the toilet bowl, all much to the mirth of their much younger brothers

& thanks Dave, BF called this afternoon, a nice girl confirmed the cancellation & authorised my refund; I said I'd paid for Eurostar before I heard about their free deal with P&O but she couldn't refund that, fair enough.
She said tomorrow & Wednesday all cancelled & talks going on, I said please pass my sentiments to management to sack them all & take their employment elsewhere.

It's red Bordeaux tomorrow night, Rioja on Wednesday hopefully en route to a nice Chamine on Thursday

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