Bikes on the roof - crossing the Channel
Discussion
I have a booking for a P&O crossing from Dover to Calais (and back) in August. I’m going to cancel as I’m not interested in spending the next few months worrying about what may or may not happen.
A question to the better informed; for the purposes of a DFDS crossing is an ordinary family car with a roof rack on top classified as a “Long low clearance car” or a “High car with rooftop”? The car with the bikes on the roof will be less than 4m in height and 5m in length.
The “High car with rooftop” option being the only category that mentions items on the roof. Generic booking websites seem to want to classify the car as the “high car” option which I suspect is incorrect. The difference in cost is several hundreds depending on which of those two categories is correct.
I’ve spent hours on the DFDS customer queries line not getting near to the front of the queue and have not had a response to emails after a week of waiting so hopefully someone here could set my mind at ease.
Also, is Dunkirk any “better” than Calais? We’re heading to the Low Countries.
Also, any reason not to use Irish ferries? They’re price competitive.
A question to the better informed; for the purposes of a DFDS crossing is an ordinary family car with a roof rack on top classified as a “Long low clearance car” or a “High car with rooftop”? The car with the bikes on the roof will be less than 4m in height and 5m in length.
The “High car with rooftop” option being the only category that mentions items on the roof. Generic booking websites seem to want to classify the car as the “high car” option which I suspect is incorrect. The difference in cost is several hundreds depending on which of those two categories is correct.
I’ve spent hours on the DFDS customer queries line not getting near to the front of the queue and have not had a response to emails after a week of waiting so hopefully someone here could set my mind at ease.
Also, is Dunkirk any “better” than Calais? We’re heading to the Low Countries.
Also, any reason not to use Irish ferries? They’re price competitive.
I used Irish Ferries last week (£60 one way for car and driver) and it was a positive experience. I would recommend.
I’ve also used DFDS for the Dunkerque sailing which is also fine, but I remember the waiting area in Dunkerque being massively grotty (broken windows, freezing cold, nowhere to buy a hot drink). This may have changed.
I’ve also used DFDS for the Dunkerque sailing which is also fine, but I remember the waiting area in Dunkerque being massively grotty (broken windows, freezing cold, nowhere to buy a hot drink). This may have changed.
DFDS is fine in/out of Dunkerque. Used them a lot of times. The extra time on the crossing is negated by being further east when you're in France.
The terminal in Dunkerque is terminal! It's not a great place to want to spend any time at al, but which ferry terminals are?
It's fine for toilet use, but stock up on drinks / snacks before you get to the Terminal, if you've any real waiting time. The BP at Grande Synthe is the last station before the ferry exit.
I can't comment on the bikes on the roof as I've never had to do that.
The terminal in Dunkerque is terminal! It's not a great place to want to spend any time at al, but which ferry terminals are?
It's fine for toilet use, but stock up on drinks / snacks before you get to the Terminal, if you've any real waiting time. The BP at Grande Synthe is the last station before the ferry exit.
I can't comment on the bikes on the roof as I've never had to do that.
IIRC from other crossings the height changes tend to be 1.85 and 2.6m.
But whichever way you spin it a car that's got bikes on the roof and 4m high is a tall vehicle. Our motorhome with an overhead cab was only 3.1m.
ETA the reason it costs nigh on double is it means they can't fit you on an overhead deck so you're effectively taking two car spaces.
But whichever way you spin it a car that's got bikes on the roof and 4m high is a tall vehicle. Our motorhome with an overhead cab was only 3.1m.
ETA the reason it costs nigh on double is it means they can't fit you on an overhead deck so you're effectively taking two car spaces.
Edited by Bill on Wednesday 20th April 14:06
Thanks for the replies chaps.
Just to clarify things (for anyone interested) the vehicle won’t be anywhere near 4m in height. That measurement was mentioned in the OP because it is illustrated in the DFDS website as the maximum height of one of its categories of ticket - the category I expect my vehicle would fall under.
If you’re still reading…DFDS have around a dozen categories of ticket. Most are obviously not applicable to me (motorbike, articulated lorry, coach etc). These categories are “explained” by extremely dumbed down little representations of vehicles with an accompanying maximum height and length measurement. Those illustrations have occasionally curious titles that I expect are translations into English. I very strongly suspect my vehicle would correctly be classified as “Long low clearance car”. The next category up is the only category that mentions luggage on the roof or strapped to the back. This is called “High car and rooftop” and is very much more expensive. The confusion arises partly because no other “car” category mentions rooftops AND because the generic websites direct me to the more expensive category when I enter specific details.
If it weren’t for those generic websites I’d be certain the cheaper tariff applies. Sadly I’ve been unable to get the matter clarified by DFDS themselves as they’re rather busy right now.
As you might imagine I don’t want to unnecessarily pay a two or three hundred pounds supplement but absolutely do not want to rock on up on the August Bank holiday weekend and be told any one of “you can’t come on board without a massive additional charge” or “sorry, the next available space is in 4hrs/four days”.
In the absence of contradictory information I’m minded to “risk” the lower priced ticket.
Just to clarify things (for anyone interested) the vehicle won’t be anywhere near 4m in height. That measurement was mentioned in the OP because it is illustrated in the DFDS website as the maximum height of one of its categories of ticket - the category I expect my vehicle would fall under.
If you’re still reading…DFDS have around a dozen categories of ticket. Most are obviously not applicable to me (motorbike, articulated lorry, coach etc). These categories are “explained” by extremely dumbed down little representations of vehicles with an accompanying maximum height and length measurement. Those illustrations have occasionally curious titles that I expect are translations into English. I very strongly suspect my vehicle would correctly be classified as “Long low clearance car”. The next category up is the only category that mentions luggage on the roof or strapped to the back. This is called “High car and rooftop” and is very much more expensive. The confusion arises partly because no other “car” category mentions rooftops AND because the generic websites direct me to the more expensive category when I enter specific details.
If it weren’t for those generic websites I’d be certain the cheaper tariff applies. Sadly I’ve been unable to get the matter clarified by DFDS themselves as they’re rather busy right now.
As you might imagine I don’t want to unnecessarily pay a two or three hundred pounds supplement but absolutely do not want to rock on up on the August Bank holiday weekend and be told any one of “you can’t come on board without a massive additional charge” or “sorry, the next available space is in 4hrs/four days”.
In the absence of contradictory information I’m minded to “risk” the lower priced ticket.
Deesee said:
scenario8 said:
Yep. That’s it. Now where would you place a car (a Golf) WITH roof luggage but with a total height of comfortably less than 4m and a total length of comfortably within 5m?
The one that says roof topAm I missing something?
scenario8 said:
Deesee said:
scenario8 said:
Yep. That’s it. Now where would you place a car (a Golf) WITH roof luggage but with a total height of comfortably less than 4m and a total length of comfortably within 5m?
The one that says roof topAm I missing something?
Well I’m blown if I can think of a single car that wouldn’t fit in the High car category then. All Land Rovers’ range through history, every Land Cruiser, all three Hummers… What’s the point of the “long low clearance car” category? Maybe there are some crazy short but incredibly tall French cars out there or something.
AyBee said:
What an odd definition - I'd be going with whichever was cheaper and then saying "I looked at the diagram and chose the dimensions that suited". Is low clearance linked to the underneath and therefore designed for low-slung sportscars?
Now we’re going super-niche. A low slung sports car up to a maximum height of 4m? Must be to fit in the new BMW grilles…I guess I’ll be back on hold to DFDS between clients tomorrow then.
I know you’ve all been holding your breath waiting…
Sara from DFDS confirms they are only interested in the total heights and lengths of the vehicle and it’s contents. So a car with a roof rack that in total exceeds the 2.2m height for the “High Car” option above (but is below 4m) and does not exceed 5m in length is categorised as a “Long low clearance car”.
So just as many of us suspected.
Thanks all. If it all goes wrong in August no doubt I’ll be back on here to receive your sniggers.
Sara from DFDS confirms they are only interested in the total heights and lengths of the vehicle and it’s contents. So a car with a roof rack that in total exceeds the 2.2m height for the “High Car” option above (but is below 4m) and does not exceed 5m in length is categorised as a “Long low clearance car”.
So just as many of us suspected.
Thanks all. If it all goes wrong in August no doubt I’ll be back on here to receive your sniggers.
I know you've got this solved, but a couple of thoughts I've considered in the past:
Could the bikes go INSIDE the car when it's on the ferry? I.e. stop in parking, fold seats, cram bikes in, one drives car on, others walk on (obv depends on other luggage and whether you can be arsed..)
IIRC I don't think they charged extra for a foot passenger with a bike (rode from home->ferry->france touring with panniers). You could book car and foot passenger(s) separately, and have other(s) walk on with bikes which get put in a little room. Depends on bikes/comfort with them being unattended and 'can be arsed' factor again.
Possibly a little hairbrained, but thought I'd throw it out there..
Could the bikes go INSIDE the car when it's on the ferry? I.e. stop in parking, fold seats, cram bikes in, one drives car on, others walk on (obv depends on other luggage and whether you can be arsed..)
IIRC I don't think they charged extra for a foot passenger with a bike (rode from home->ferry->france touring with panniers). You could book car and foot passenger(s) separately, and have other(s) walk on with bikes which get put in a little room. Depends on bikes/comfort with them being unattended and 'can be arsed' factor again.
Possibly a little hairbrained, but thought I'd throw it out there..
Thanks for the tip. Sadly the inside of the car is going to be so full with all the gubbins required for a two week self catering family holiday that we may end up with a couple of passengers sitting on those bikes on the roof.
(Crouching down to keep the total height under 4m, naturally).
(Crouching down to keep the total height under 4m, naturally).
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