France Ferry & Campsite info (use Search function) mod warning post 1

CelticRambler

Originally limited to the 31st March, the situation is to be reviewed and an announcement made tomorrow, with the situation likely to change to either an extension by a further two weeks or an even tighter lock-down, due to too much non-respect for the rules. Or both. In some places, e.g. Nice, there have been so many people refusing to stay in/stay apart that the local authorities have banned everyone from the beaches and promenades, and imposed curfews. The police have literally been pulling people out of the sea and fining them!

CelticRambler

For info, the permitted reasons for being out on the street in France are :

• travel between home and the place of exercise of a professional activity, when such travel is essential to an activity that cannot be carried out remotely (additional proof required) or professional journeys that cannot be deferred;
• trips to make essential purchases in authorised establishments;
• travel for health reasons;
• trips for imperative family reasons, assistance to vulnerable persons or child care;
• brief trips, close to home, linked to individual physical activity, excluding any collective sports, and for the needs pets.

necstandards

We have BF ferry booked 50% paid (~€650), travelling last week June for 2 weeks.
Campsite booked thru Homair, €187 paid, another €350 due out Mar 29..
Trying to decide if we should cancel now.. whats the likely hood all travel restrictions (and more importantly this virus will be controlled) being removed then.. thats 98 days from now..
We have blue insurance from last year, due to be renewed in May sometime - so i'm not even sure we'll be allowed to renew based on the COVID situation.
If only all people too social distancing seriously!
Any advice welcome.

MorganIRL

necstandards wrote: »

We have BF ferry booked 50% paid (~€650), travelling last week June for 2 weeks.
Campsite booked thru Homair, €187 paid, another €350 due out Mar 29..
Trying to decide if we should cancel now.. whats the likely hood all travel restrictions (and more importantly this virus will be controlled) being removed then.. thats 98 days from now..
We have blue insurance from last year, due to be renewed in May sometime - so i'm not even sure we'll be allowed to renew based on the COVID situation.
If only all people too social distancing seriously!
Any advice welcome.

We are in the exact same predicament, except we are flying. We are going in the same period as you. Only thing we have pd for full is the flights (€700) and deposit for site, full payment at the end of the month. I received an email from Ryanair, but I think we are going to take a " wait and see" approach..

dbrunson

necstandards wrote: »

We have BF ferry booked 50% paid (~€650), travelling last week June for 2 weeks.
Campsite booked thru Homair, €187 paid, another €350 due out Mar 29..
Trying to decide if we should cancel now.. whats the likely hood all travel restrictions (and more importantly this virus will be controlled) being removed then.. thats 98 days from now..
We have blue insurance from last year, due to be renewed in May sometime - so i'm not even sure we'll be allowed to renew based on the COVID situation.
If only all people too social distancing seriously!
Any advice welcome.

Just an FYI on travel insurance, ( well mine anyway Allianz) nothing covered in relation to claims relating to pandemic.

Extract from email received friday

Under the General Exclusions section of your policy, it states:
"General exclusions
The following exclusions apply to the whole of your policy:
We will not cover you for any claim arising from, or relating to, the following:
- Any epidemic or pandemic."

MonsterCookie

email from Irish Ferries to say they've updated their policies and can allow credit to be used up to end of 2021. took a while, but glad they've done this.

Nekarsulm

MonsterCookie wrote: »

email from Irish Ferries to say they've updated their policies and can allow credit to be used up to end of 2021. took a while, but glad they've done this.

Great news.

Jeffm587

I cancelled with IF last week for Easter trip before they changed the amendment to allow into 2021. 50% back and 50% credit on a booking we also have this year for July so keeping an eye on that as it gets closer and the balance becomes due. Out of curiosity I tried to make the original booking again this morning, dates were out on the 9th of April and back on the 19th and it looks like the 9th crossing is sold out with no cabins available. Would that be French people making their way home ? Plenty of cabins on return leg to Dublin 19th

MonsterCookie

Jeffm587 wrote: »

I cancelled with IF last week for Easter trip before they changed the amendment to allow into 2021. 50% back and 50% credit on a booking we also have this year for July so keeping an eye on that as it gets closer and the balance becomes due. Out of curiosity I tried to make the original booking again this morning, dates were out on the 9th of April and back on the 19th and it looks like the 9th crossing is sold out with no cabins available. Would that be French people making their way home ? Plenty of cabins on return leg to Dublin 19th

dunno - maybe their restricting the number of people on board?

do they take commercial passengers on board the WBY i.e. trucks and vans with goods? if so, assume it's vital they continue to sail, albeit with no holiday makers as such.

Jeffm587

Not sure myself last year at Easter the WBY had a truckers lounge but that was converted to a passenger restaurant by summer. Don't recall seeing anything like the commercial traffic you would see on the Oscar Wilde . I did ask when cancelling would it sail and they said yes due to commercial freight all sailings would operate

First Up

Jeffm587 wrote:

Not sure myself last year at Easter the WBY had a truckers lounge but that was converted to a passenger restaurant by summer. Don't recall seeing anything like the commercial traffic you would see on the Oscar Wilde . I did ask when cancelling would it sail and they said yes due to commercial freight all sailings would operate

That's interesting. How many times have you been on it? I had assumed the switch from Rosslare to Dublin was in part to capture freight traffic from Northern Ireland and even Scotland.

Odyssey 2005

MonsterCookie wrote: »

email from Irish Ferries to say they've updated their policies and can allow credit to be used up to end of 2021. took a while, but glad they've done this.

What about a refund?. I'd be looking for a full refund. You're tied to them next year. I know theres not a huge choice,but if they have your money you have no choice at all.

necstandards

necstandards wrote: »

We have BF ferry booked 50% paid (~€650), travelling last week June for 2 weeks.
Campsite booked thru Homair, €187 paid, another €350 due out Mar 29..
Trying to decide if we should cancel now.. whats the likely hood all travel restrictions (and more importantly this virus will be controlled) being removed then.. thats 98 days from now..
We have blue insurance from last year, due to be renewed in May sometime - so i'm not even sure we'll be allowed to renew based on the COVID situation.
If only all people too social distancing seriously!
Any advice welcome.

We're now trying to contact Homair, trying to check if they might defer the next installment for another month (no harm in asking anyway). To cancel their terms state it must be in writing, assume this needs to be a letter posted to them?.
We paid by debit card so they will take the next installment on the 29th, do we need to call the bank to block this payment?

beggars_bush

necstandards wrote: »

We're now trying to contact Homair, trying to check if they might defer the next installment for another month (no harm in asking anyway). To cancel their terms state it must be in writing, assume this needs to be a letter posted to them?.
We paid by debit card so they will take the next installment on the 29th, do we need to call the bank to block this payment?

Email them
Most campsites will just be staying closed for 2020

Jeffm587

First Up wrote: »

That's interesting. How many times have you been on it? I had assumed the switch from Rosslare to Dublin was in part to capture freight traffic from Northern Ireland and even Scotland.

Twice last year, funny I assumed (based on no actual evidence) that the move was intending to pick up more car passengers traffic from NI , Galway Donegal, Siigo etc

loyatemu

loyatemu wrote: »

booked to go to Duinrell in NL at Easter. Currently the site is open but all the amenities are closed.

However the Dutch seem to be going for the whole herd-immunity thing so maybe there will be a travel advisory against going there as the place goes to hell like Italy.

Right, first Ryanair cancelled the outbound flight, but we were able to get refunded for the both legs, which is good.

Now Eurocamp have cancelled the accommodation (though Duinrell is still technically open) but are only offering a voucher, not a refund. Anyone know our rights here? It's eurocamp.de, EU rules should still apply, but I'm not sure what they are (the consumer website talks about package trips mainly)...

First Up

Jeffm587 wrote:

Twice last year, funny I assumed (based on no actual evidence) that the move was intending to pick up more car passengers traffic from NI , Galway Donegal, Siigo etc

Car traffic is concentrated on a few months in the summer. Freight is year round business.

MonsterCookie

Odyssey 2005 wrote: »

What about a refund?. I'd be looking for a full refund. You're tied to them next year. I know theres not a huge choice,but if they have your money you have no choice at all.

TBH I thought about pushing harder to get a refund but I'm happy to reschedule to next year. gives us something to look forward to.:)

54and56

loyatemu wrote: »

Right, first Ryanair cancelled the outbound flight, but we were able to get refunded for the both legs, which is good.

Now Eurocamp have cancelled the accommodation (though Duinrell is still technically open) but are only offering a voucher, not a refund. Anyone know our rights here? It's eurocamp.de, EU rules should still apply, but I'm not sure what they are (the consumer website talks about package trips mainly)...

Eurocamp is a trade name of Greenbank Holidays Ltd who are a UK company (Co # 01160442). If you contracted with them via eurocamp.de did they send you a copy of the T&C's or did you agree to T&C's during the booking process? If you have the T&C's read them and look carefully at the language.

There's no sign of T&C's published on https://www.eurocamp.de/information/kontakt and unhelpfully they point to http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr/ as a route for consumer dispute resolution which looks like it could be a long drawn out process should you not be able to agree a refund with the company directly.

CelticRambler

54and56 wrote: »

Do you know if the French Govt have put an initial timeframe on how long these arrangements will be in place or is it (understandably) open ended until they are no longer required?

CelticRambler wrote: »

Originally limited to the 31st March, the situation is to be reviewed and an announcement made tomorrow, with the situation likely to change to either an extension by a further two weeks or an even tighter lock-down, due to too much non-respect for the rules. Or both.

Quick follow-up to this (esp in the light of announcements made in Ireland and Britain): as far as France is concerned, no huge changes to the current arrangements.
- The permission slip now has to include the time you left the house, which gives you one hour to get back there after exercise or taking the dog for a walk (and that must be limited to a 1km max radius around your address). Cycling is banned (don't understand that one myself ... )
- Shopping for "basic necessities" means basic necessities, not bargain hunting in Lidl's seasonal aisle - your trolley may be checked (the news had a clip of one woman being fined for having nothing but 12x 2litre bottles of Coke in her trolley :eek: )
- Outdoor markets are banned, except where the local mayor feels that it likely to be the only way the older villagers will get any food, and he takes personal reponsibility for keeping everyone at a safe distance
- Medical excursions need to be justified, either by your being in an ambulance on the way to A&E, or because you've a previously made, checkable appointment with your doctor, or a prescription to be filled at a pharmacy

And the big question: for how long more? :rolleyes: Well ... no official change has been made to the original duration, but the country's Conseil scientifique says it should be at least 6 weeks in total (so end of April), but the Minister for Health says that's only "an opinion" and it'll be "as long as needed" ...

MorganIRL

Received an email from Canvas holiday's stating that they have extended the balance due dates to 6 wks out from hols, which is great and we should know what things are like in France by then (heading mid June). They also have stated if holiday is cancelled they will issue credit note worth 120% of the holiday value for next yr or a full refund.. pretty decent I thought..

necstandards

MorganIRL wrote: »

Received an email from Canvas holiday's stating that they have extended the balance due dates to 6 wks out from hols, which is great and we should know what things are like in France by then (heading mid June). They also have stated if holiday is cancelled they will issue credit note worth 120% of the holiday value for next yr or a full refund.. pretty decent I thought..

Nice for them..
We asked Homair same but no joy, so cancelled the booking. Will wait until closer to apr 28th to decide of we'll have to cancel the ferry. Interestingly BF changed their deposit policy to 50% this year..:rolleyes:

loyatemu

54and56 wrote: »

Eurocamp is a trade name of Greenbank Holidays Ltd who are a UK company (Co # 01160442). If you contracted with them via eurocamp.de did they send you a copy of the T&C's or did you agree to T&C's during the booking process? If you have the T&C's read them and look carefully at the language.

There's no sign of T&C's published on https://www.eurocamp.de/information/kontakt and unhelpfully they point to http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr/ as a route for consumer dispute resolution which looks like it could be a long drawn out process should you not be able to agree a refund with the company directly.

yeah, it's all the same company AFAIK, we've ordered off the different country sites in the past as there's often a big difference in price. As a last resort I assume we can do a credit card charge-back as they're not providing the service we paid for.

dbrunson

loyatemu wrote: »

yeah, it's all the same company AFAIK, we've ordered off the different country sites in the past as there's often a big difference in price. As a last resort I assume we can do a credit card charge-back as they're not providing the service we paid for.

Got a full refund from Eurocamp yesterday. First Cheque I have received in years. Wish Irish Ferries would follow suit.

josip

I got an email from Stena saying they:

have removed amendment fees on all 2020 bookings up to 30 April and are allowing cancellations with full refund.

beggars_bush

just wondering should I cancel the car hire for trip at the end of june?

it can be cancelled up to 24 hours before we travel, for free.
I've lined also up cancelling the campsite stays (with refunds), just to send them my bank details

Uncle Pierre

beggars_bush wrote: »

it can be cancelled up to 24 hours before we travel, for free.

Based on that alone, I wouldn't be cancelling it myself until just a few days before. Or much closer to the date than this, anyway.


Much like how we Stena flexi fares ourselves for what was supposed our trip to France in June, and how they can be cancelled with full refund up to 24 hours before departure. Am 99.99999% certain even at this stage that we won't be going, but still won't cancel them until just a few days before we'd be due to travel.

sceach16

Due to the COVID-19 circumstances, your sailing will now be operated by the Epsilon ship, instead of the W.B. Yeats.



Please be advised the French Government has implemented restricted movement throughout France, and any non-essential travel can result in fines by the authorities.

• For those travelling to France, at Dublin port check in for your sailing, you must have completed a form indicating your justification for essential travel, supported by relevant documentation. As these documents are likely to be inspected on arrival in Cherbourg and when in transit in France, completed forms will need to be presented for verification at Dublin Port check-in. To avoid unnecessary delays at check-in, Irish Ferries request that you confirm 48 hours in advance of travel, that you are in receipt of the required documentation to the following email: frenchdocumentation@irishferries.com stating your booking reference and date of travel in the email header.
• If travelling for professional/business reasons, the employer of the passengers also needs to have completed an additional form.

• To assist customers who no longer want to travel and in order to provide greater flexibility, customers who have booked with Irish Ferries for travel up to 31 May can avail of the following options:
• Free amendment: Customers can amend their booking to a later travel date anytime up to 18 December 2020 with no amendment fees. Fare difference may apply where applicable.
• Cancellation: Customers who are booked to travel up to May 31 and who wish to cancel, can do so. Any applicable cancellation fee will be refunded as a credit for use on a future booking (for travel anytime up to 18 Dec 2021 on either Ireland - France or Irish Sea routes (subject to availability).

MizMix

Due to fly to france in late June. Ryanair emailed to say times changed over 2 hours so we're entitled to a refund- availed of that today. Neither campsite will even give us a credit against a visit in 2021....one emailed saying they've extended their season till end November so we can go then! Yeah right- campsite in north of france in winte r. Guess we'll just have to suck up the loss (approx 350 paid on both campsites).

MorganIRL

MizMix wrote: »

Due to fly to france in late June. Ryanair emailed to say times changed over 2 hours so we're entitled to a refund- availed of that today. Neither campsite will even give us a credit against a visit in 2021....one emailed saying they've extended their season till end November so we can go then! Yeah right- campsite in north of france in winte r. Guess we'll just have to suck up the loss (approx 350 paid on both campsites).

Did u get the full refund on flights? We are traveling around the same time. If so I think I'll do the same.