isle of wight ferry

This story happened on: 26/06/2012

not having gone on a ferry before we booked the isle of wight last month site and ferry thro cc.. wanted to spend a few nights in new forest first .. contacted cc and spoke to a young man he asked where we wanted to sail from .. not knowing really we said the nearest site from brockenhurst.. she booked us into a ferry from portsmouth which seemed fine untill i got to the cc site at brockenhurst where talking to the warden i said we were going from p/mouth his reply was ,are you mad.. that is a hard 1.5 hr hard run when there is a ferry from lymington 6 miles down road.. we managed to get hold of the cc who in fairness agreed and changed our booking on the spot.. great but the guy we first spoke to then went on to say that once on the ferry our dog was bound to stay in the m/home, not true dogs were everywhere on sun deck.. what really ticked me off was that he also said there was no way wightlink would accept our van and car on an a frame so we split them up and as the hassle it caused we ended up on seperate ferries as the loading procedure was different for vans and cars . speaking with a crewman he said that was rubbish , no prob with van on a frame as shown on way back.. just scribbling this as a warning to all that if you are doing a package deal with the club make sure you are happy with arrangements and not go blind as we did

brue commented on 26/06/2012 14:05

Commented on 26/06/2012 14:05

There is also, as someone pointed out to me recently, the problem of the CC as agents not being available to amend bookings at weekends. It's very easy to book Wightlink on line, read all the details about dogs etc and be able to contact them easily. I realise the CC can offfer a discount but booking with Wightlink in advance may get you a discount too. Maybe the CC could offer an opinion about this in case I'm wrong?

clarkathon commented on 26/06/2012 14:26

Commented on 26/06/2012 14:26

If you do plan a return trip you can also save your Teso clubcard vouchers and redeem them for Wightlink! Every £10 in Clubcard vouchers gives £30 worth of Clubcard rewards tokens and travel tokens can be used as full or part payment for your trip. Every little helps!

commented on 26/06/2012 22:54

Commented on 26/06/2012 22:54

Many thanks for the info., We are of to the I.O.W in a fortnight, going for the first time on a ferry with the van.Staying at Rooksbury overnight - half hour from ferry.

crusader commented on 27/06/2012 21:56

Commented on 27/06/2012 21:56

Happy

Can I suggest that next time you book through Red Funnel Ferries they have complete trips sites and crossings

clay commented on 28/06/2012 10:42

Commented on 28/06/2012 10:42

yes thanks all i have been told since that red funnel from southampton is the best bet which includes a nicer trip from the docks..

Back2Sorento commented on 30/06/2012 09:09

Commented on 30/06/2012 09:09

red funnel is good brfom Southampton but wightlink is good Portsmouth/Fishbourne as access is good for the eastern side of the island. Sandown area is about equal in drive but further North is well served by Fishbourne. the only problem with the Isle of Wight is the limitted waiiting areas for the return journey. Most sites are co-operative in allowing you to wait in parking areas until closer to departure time. I can reccomend Winch Morn near Winchester as an Ideal stopover on outward & inward journeys in fact the last time I went there we stayed at Winch Morn fro 3 days 

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