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

Quazzie

BailMeOut wrote: »

yikes - where are you staying that is charging for Wifi?

Where I stayed in Frejus charged €20 for the week for the WIFI. It could only be used on one device at a time, so only one of the three of us could get it. The worst part was every single day at 7pm when the reception office closed, the WIFI would go offline and not resurface for a few hours. Very frustrating.

Stone Deaf 4evr

Yeah, the 'one device' thing is a complete pain, and the speeds were terrible too, certainly not good enough to stream a movie or anything like that.

I picked up a handy little external hard drive, that can act as a wifi hub, you cant connect to the internet but I load it up with a pretty good selection of movies etc. Love unwinding at the end of a long day with an episode of something and a nice glass of wine.

https://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-Multi-Mode-Wi-Fi-Storage-888016171/dp/B00PGAT3J8/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

BailMeOut

Quazzie wrote: »

Where I stayed in Frejus charged €20 for the week for the WIFI. It could only be used on one device at a time, so only one of the three of us could get it. The worst part was every single day at 7pm when the reception office closed, the WIFI would go offline and not resurface for a few hours. Very frustrating.

Where we stay it is free in the cabin and quality is really good.

For Wifi limited to single devices consider bringing along a 'travel router' (loads on Amazon). It will connect to the paid wifi and then all your family devices can connect through it.

ozymandias10

cambrils park is far better than sanguli. It is top class I stayed in both. There is a shuuttle bus leaves cambrils for the beach club in salou every 15 mins. ;ocal buses will take you to cambrils and asalou and puerta ventura as well. bikes are brilliant as there are cycle paths along the beach front from salou to the town of Cambrils. cambrils park is practicall y between both. no need for a car. it is best for younger kids. Kids heading into teens may have out grown it

average_runner

Any one stay in siblu la carabasse.

Thinking on heading further south next year since flying worked great.

Thanks

Hero777

So heading on the boat on Wednesday. Our oldest has taken sick. Has to go into Temple street in the morning to possibly get a small abscess drained from her hand. We hope it's a day case but god forbid it's longer.

Anyone have any ideas about how this is covered on the old travel insurance?

I would like to think it will be Ok but the what ifs are an awful thing.

Any thoughts would be very much appreciated

BailMeOut

Hero777 wrote: »

So heading on the boat on Wednesday. Our oldest has taken sick. Has to go into Temple street in the morning to possibly get a small abscess drained from her hand. We hope it's a day case but god forbid it's longer.

Anyone have any ideas about how this is covered on the old travel insurance?

I would like to think it will be Ok but the what ifs are an awful thing.

Any thoughts would be very much appreciated

do you have your EU Health Insurance Cards? Assuming you are travelling to an EU country (France) then gf you have to go to a French hospital then you are covered regardless of travel insurance.

http://www.hse.ie/eng/services/list/1/schemes/EHIC/

Hero777

Yep have the health insurance cards. So believe we are fully covered when over there.

Question is if we get over there, sorry should have been more specific. Does travel insurance cover cancellation due to illness. Reading the the AA estential policy Doc and can't figure it out

webpal

Hero777 wrote: »

Yep have the health insurance cards. So believe we are fully covered when over there.

Question is if we get over there, sorry should have been more specific. Does travel insurance cover cancellation due to illness. Reading the the AA estential policy Doc and can't figure it out

It usually would providing you took the insurance out before the incident afaik. Each policy is probably different but a quick google on AA brought this up.

https://travel-insurance.theaa.ie/policy-documents/14542_AA_TIA_Travel_Booklet_WEB.pdf see page 24 point 1. Have you some similar wording?

hurler32

Spent 10 days in Plage du Raguennes Eurocamp In West Brittany near town of Nevez last 2 weeks,

The Campsite was perfect, nice pool , Quite ..Lot of older couples , not many children for ours to play with though, it would Appear Ireland summer Holidays are far far longer than other countries.
Had the car so had a number of day Trips, Pont Avon beautiful town-Village nearby , Corneaceau nice spot in the bigger towns space. Inter Marche shops the way to go for provisions, food .
Lovely Small beachs all over the area as well , anyone with kids 5-18 should go to Parc Odet Loisirs in Elliant , savage Zip Wires etc for kids.

Ferry( Irish Ferries Oscar Wilde ) over& back was grand although costly I thought, especially eating etc. Must say I wouldn't fancy working on it, No Irish , all seem to be Romanian etc ..I tried to ask one or two about their hours, Shifts etc but a member of management appeared out of nowhere each time ensuring no conversation with staff. Most staff looked unhappy and as if they hadn't slept in days .

Baybay

average_runner wrote: »

Any one stay in siblu la carabasse.

Holidayed there about ten years ago & visited friends who own a mobile there a few summers ago.
I believe it's undergone a bit of a revamp which is a good thing as it had gone a bit tired.
There's a nice pool complex, evening entertainment, restaurant, bar, good kids club etc. It's a well established, lively site & I'd say is generally kept neatly.
It's situated in the village of Vias so there's more dining & bar options off site plus beach access, all within walking distance.
Europark is also within walking distance & has various thrill rides, slot machines etc. There was crazy golf nearby too.

Baybay

hurler32 wrote: »

Ferry( Irish Ferries Oscar Wilde ) over& back was grand...Must say I wouldn't fancy working on it, No Irish , all seem to be Romanian etc ..I tried to ask one or two about their hours, Shifts etc but a member of management appeared out of nowhere each time ensuring no conversation with staff. Most staff looked unhappy and as if they hadn't slept in days .

We sail in mid May, before things probably get really busy for them & find the staff to be really friendly. Yes, very few Irish but anyone we speak to has really good English. We travel with a pet so have frequent chats with whoever accompanies us on our visits to the car deck.
Perhaps your experience was a combination of peak season busyness & possible shift change for the staff!
From what I recall of our conversations, crew work something like six weeks on & four off. I'm guessing time off in port is relatively job dependent & probably constrained by delays etc.

average_runner

Baybay wrote: »

average_runner wrote: »

Any one stay in siblu la carabasse.

Holidayed there about ten years ago & visited friends who own a mobile there a few summers ago.
I believe it's undergone a bit of a revamp which is a good thing as it had gone a bit tired.
There's a nice pool complex, evening entertainment, restaurant, bar, good kids club etc. It's a well established, lively site & I'd say is generally kept neatly.
It's situated in the village of Vias so there's more dining & bar options off site plus beach access, all within walking distance.
Europark is also within walking distance & has various thrill rides, slot machines etc. There was crazy golf nearby too.

Many thanks for that. We are currently at les charmettes but it's our 4th year here so getting tired of it.

jay0109

Just back a few days from a stay in Camping Les Dunes in Bretignolles sur Mer, south of St Jean de Monts.
Large campsite and very french. Only bumped into about 5 other irish/English families while there. About half the mobiles seem to be owner occupied, mostly by retired French. As a result our kids struggled to make many friends but there still young so we wouldn't have been letting them run off on their own yet anyways.
It was near deserted for the last few days in June but then filled up quickly as soon as we got into July. The bar was more a restaurant than a bar and so not many in drinking at night. Most of the night time music/concerts etc took place in a hall beside the bar.
As it's aimed at French mostly, the accomm prices are much lower than anywhere else we looked at aroudn the St Jean Du Monts area, a lot cheaper.
Weather was hit and miss...some very hot days, a couple of days with ongoing showers and a good few that were cloudy to start with before heating up around lunch time.
Not sure if we'd go back to it again as the kids will soon be independent enough to want to mix an hang out with kids they can talk to! But they enjoyed the pools/slides onsite and loved the crazy golf. Being on the beach is always a bonus. And there was a nice place, Parc des Dunes nearby which was an old stlye fun park which kept them busy for a couple of days.

As for IF and the Oscar Wilde...the amount of food people are bringing on board is reaching epidemic proportions. When trying to heat a baby's bottle in the microwave in the Brasserie the other night, 2 families were in front of me with whole cooked chickens which they were reheating!!! And they took a while.
We bring on some food ourselves, sambos and cereals, but come on....

tuisginideach

Has anyone visited the Gorges du Verdon - or even better, kayaked or white-water rafted there? Can anyone recommend any particular company/location for water activities for 2 teenagers with no previous experience? Thanks

Nekarsulm

We visited about 4 years ago. Just went with a firm who were operating almost under the bridge. There were several, all seemed similar.
We were two totally inexpierenced adults and a seven year old, and had no problems.
We were travelling from the Pertuis direction and there is a supermarket a few miles before the Gorge where you can stock up food and provisions. (It's either a Carrefore or a Mousquetaires)
We were staying in the town itself, and the bell that was rescued from the drowned church is in the new church. The frigging thing is automated and rang every quarter hour from 6am till midnight. It felt like it rang all night, but probably didn't.
Bring a good picnic on the kayak trip, there are great places you can beach the kayak and have your food.

tuisginideach

Thanks for that Nekarsulm - so do you kayak on your own (in your case 2/3 kayaks) or with a guide???? Haven't a clue!

Nekarsulm

They set us up with a 3 person kayak, life jackets and a stubby little plastic barrel that's waterproof, for your phones and cameras and food etc, and away you go. Keep paddling up stream till you run out of water
There's great places where you actually can paddle under huge overhanging rocks, and a little waterfall, and spots that good swimmers can climb up and jump off.
Down at the other end of the lake there were other hire places, and the scenery and river were more tranquil, but still good fun. I didnt see any white water routes.

tuisginideach

Brilliant - thanks so much! OH can't swim so he'll give it a miss - hope the teenagers will allow their mother to join them in the kayak!

Nekarsulm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66FdDAroRTY

I don't swim myself, but don't let that stop any of your party going in the kayaks!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lf7CVhLLx7o

Quazzie

tuisginideach wrote: »

Has anyone visited the Gorges du Verdon - or even better, kayaked or white-water rafted there? Can anyone recommend any particular company/location for water activities for 2 teenagers with no previous experience? Thanks

My favourite place in the world. Unfortunately I've yet to kayak there because every time I've been there it's been closed for various random reasons. Make sure to plan your drive that you come back a different way to how you went there because it's one of the most scenic drives in the world.

54and56

Anyone know if the Dublin to Rosslare road is clear of road works? Heading off on IF's 4pm sailing to Roscoff later today and saw some posters a while back advising that there were long delays for road works around Enniscorthy.

Appreciate any updates.

webpal

Today is the last day of the roadworks in enniscorthy, so probably best to avoid or give yourself plenty of time.

Also, diesel currently 116.8 in applegreen (left at rosslare road roundabout).

Enjoy!

jay0109

There was a tailback into Enniscorthy (from the Dublin side) at least a mile long as I was coming out of Rosslare on Wednesday at 1.30pm or so. I reckoned some folk would have had a very tight time in making the ferry if it was a 3.30 sailing

54and56

jay0109 wrote: »

There was a tailback into Enniscorthy (from the Dublin side) at least a mile long as I was coming out of Rosslare on Wednesday at 1.30pm or so. I reckoned some folk would have had a very tight time in making the ferry if it was a 3.30 sailing

All clear today. Sailed into and through Enniscorthy with no sign of road works and had plenty of time for a lovely lunch in Culletons. Seafood bake is excellent BTW.

Got bumped to the very front of the boat for some reason. Parked #1 in front of the bow door. Must be my lucky day.

Sitting in the bar on the OW looking out at the sunny harbour.

Bon voyage!!

Stone Deaf 4evr

Je_suis_Jean wrote: »

All clear today. Sailed into and through Enniscorthy with no sign of road works and had plenty of time for a lovely lunch in Culletons. Seafood bake is excellent BTW.

Got bumped to the very front of the boat for some reason. Parked #1 in front of the bow door. Must be my lucky day.

Sitting in the bar on the OW looking out at the sunny harbour.

Bon voyage!!

Nice one, enjoy!

Kerry Gooner

Je_suis_Jean wrote: »

Seafood bake is excellent BTW.

Not sure l'd be brave enough to chance that before the crossing

BlazingSaddler

Currently in La Baume, Frejus. I knew it would be a risk bringing the 2 year old here, can't stand the heat at all! Knew we should have gone to Brittany! It is a nice but very large site and the mobiles are very close together. Very hard to get privacy from the neighbours at the front, back and sides!

Baybay

BlazingSaddler wrote: »

Currently in La Baume, Frejus. I knew it would be a risk bringing the 2 year old here, can't stand the heat at all! Knew we should have gone to Brittany!

Some of the companies facilitate moves if there's space in another campsite.
We moved much further south one year as during our first week in Brittany it rained pretty constantly & was so cold that we needed to have the gas fire on!
I asked in reception if it was possible to move & they gave me a choice of two or three sites which had available mobiles of similar standard.
We paid a small admin fee & drove down to a site near Royan.
Might be an option for you?

BlazingSaddler

Baybay wrote: »

Some of the companies facilitate moves if there's space in another campsite.
We moved much further south one year as during our first week in Brittany it rained pretty constantly & was so cold that we needed to have the gas fire on!
I asked in reception if it was possible to move & they gave me a choice of two or three sites which had available mobiles of similar standard.
We paid a small admin fee & drove down to a site near Royan.
Might be an option for you?

I have considered that Baybay thanks but we are flying this time, from Nice Airport on Thursday so wouldn't be able to move too far away and I guess that alll the other campsites in the region have the same tightly packed in mobiles. Probably better the devil you know at this stage and we'll just have to make the must of it!.