I've no intention of 'plugging' Brittany Ferries (other ferry companies are available), but I feel anyone thinking about the Economie brand should consider an honest appraisal by a customer. Economie simply means that there is no swimming pool, cinema or a la carte restaurant on board, unlike the vessels Cap Finistere and Pont Aven. The cabins are excellent and definitely not basic by comparison. We went with an Economie Plus cabin up on deck 10, near the reading lounge. Double bed, 32" TV/DVD (I watched Portugal vs Uruguay), domestic spec shower room, and a sofa for Debs to read. We peeked into other cabin types and they all appeared to be on par with the cruise ferries. After all, this ship ran between Harwich and Ejsberg as a full service ferry, when it was operated by DFDS.

The Baie De Seine is the pick of the two Economie ferries. It sails out of Portsmouth at 08:45 on a Saturday morning, which for us was perfect. It meant I could complete my working week without having to get down to Portsmouth on a Friday afternoon/evening, and it meant arriving in Northern Spain at ~14:00 on Sunday. For a first time continental caravan towing experience, this meant the roads out of Santander were quite. By the time I hit the A8 towards Bilbao and beyond, I was confident.

BF puts car and caravan outfits on the open deck, together with big motorhomes, SUVs pulling huge twin axle vans, horseboxes etc. From the sun deck, which looks across the open vehicle deck to the ocean behind the ship, I could barely see our Golf + little Eriba, surrounded as it was by taller vehicles. However, the spacing of vehicles is generous, meaning that our little treasure was not scraped or knocked by bags etc., as people walked to and from their vehicles. If it does gets stormy, I imagine that vehicles up on deck could get a salt water wash !!

We took our own food up into our cabin, so lack of a 'real' restaurant was of no concern. There is a self-serve, which we used for a quick breakfast, straight after boarding. There is a decent bar, where I watched France vs Argentina, accompanied by a couple of Kronenbergs.........oh, and my wife

The sun decks are great. Sea views, blue skies, bottle of wine.......what more do you need? We even saw a very large pod of dolphins, roughly 100m from the ship, maybe 4 hours out of Santander in the Bay of Biscay. Beautiful sight to behold.

All in all, we were very impressed with the Baie De Seine. The Economie label is misleading, as it offered everything we needed and wanted. Ten years ago, with kids to keep happy, we may have chosen a ferry with entertainment etc. In later life, and with an Eriba in tow, it was perfect.

Wish there was an economie option France to England;(

Quote: Islay Corbel wrote in post #2

---

Wish there was an economie option France to England;(

---

Can you give an idea of what the price differential is between the Economie and normal boats please. I'm thinking Northern Spain for next year so that would be very helpful...

tia...

The crossings to Northern Spain are never really 'economy', particularly this time of year. However, I found the Economie branded crossings offer a good saving over the 'cruise ferry' crossings. In the spirit of touring, by far the most economical way to get into Northern Spain is via Calais and a lot of driving south through France. Our crossing was ~£1000, but that was with the big Plus cabin both ways. This should come down to ~£800 with the standard outside 2 berth cabin. The cruise ferry Cap Finistere would be closer to £1000 with the standard cabin type, and much more with a Commodore class cabin.

Why spend £1000 on a ferry crossing? We wanted the crossing to be part of our holiday and we wanted to get to Spain without the driving, as we are covering plenty of miles in Spain itself. Also, you really can relax on the Portsmouth (or Plymouth) to Northern Spain crossings. Dover to Calais is great value, but the crossing (or chunnel) is a means to an end, and with diesel, tolls, wear & tear and overnight accommodation costs, there's probably not much in it (open to your point of view). The biggest draw is the opportunity to explore France on your way down. We love France dearly, and have driven down to Languedoc many times before, but with the Eriba, we opted for the Santander ferry.