P & O Ferries - rip off!

MissJ91

I am wanting to book a ferry crossing from Hull to Zeebrugge in August but like most travel companies, P & O are charging absurd prices during this month.
Due to my career as a teacher, I am limited to travelling in August for my main holiday each year and like previous years, I am having to pay higher rates.
The price for a return, saver cabin Motorist Ferry to Zeebrugge from Hull is showing on the website as £762.
At the minute they have "special offers" on their Minicruise deals. To book two return mini cruises and only use two out of the four journeys, I could save £304.50.
Has anyone else seen the £700 ferry price and think that this is extortionate?

hollydays

If you'd booked it further in advance it would have been cheaper
Of course an overnight ferry with cabin won't be cheap.
Petrols a lot cheaper.

k3lvc

MissJ91 wrote: »

I am wanting to book a ferry crossing from Hull to Zeebrugge in August but like most travel companies, P & O are charging absurd prices during this month.
Due to my career as a teacher, I am limited to travelling in August for my main holiday each year and like previous years, I am having to pay higher rates.
The price for a return, saver cabin Motorist Ferry to Zeebrugge from Hull is showing on the website as £762.
At the minute they have "special offers" on their Minicruise deals. To book two return mini cruises and only use two out of the four journeys, I could save £304.50.
Has anyone else seen the £700 ferry price and think that this is extortionate?

It's expensive but not extortionate - they've a monopoly on the crossing with a single vessel in each direction each day and they (P&O Group) need to make an overall profit. TBH I've never looked at peak season but have paid over £600 for other school holidays to go Hull-Rotterdam. Given the £700 quote why aren't you doing Dover-Calais (or even Tunnel) with a hotel/meal for probably less than half that price ?

And unless things have changed dramatically don't even think about using the mini-cruise loophole - they'll bill you the full fare once they see what you've done :rotfl:

jpsartre

MissJ91 wrote: »

Has anyone else seen the £700 ferry price and think that this is extortionate?

There is no such thing as extortionate prices, prices are determined by what people are willing to pay.

benjus

Have you checked the T&Cs to see if they will allow you to book 2 mini-cruises and only use two out of the four journeys? You may find that the return journey gets cancelled if you don't take the outward journey.

Alan_Bowen

It is all about supply and demand, if no one paid those prices they would reduce them. Just look at airfares at the moment and you will see demand is down due to our weather. It is not a rip-off, you have left it until the last moment, always the worst time to look for alternatives and have to pay the price.
I appreciate school teachers have limited, if long, periods of holiday but it is not as though that came as a surprise, much like the locals around airports who complain about the noise

CardinalWolsey

Tunnel £161 each way on peak-peak crossings at the moment. Break your journey the other side perhaps in a Permiere Classe (or equivalent), which are perfect for stop overs, and you'll probably pay !!!8364;30 - !!!8364;40. Add in the extra fuel (say one tank at £60) and you're talking less than £450 for using the tunnel with two overnight stops.

shapala

Also agree with tunnel suggestion....we did this a few years back and drove all the way from Edi to Paris via Eurotunnel as ferry from Newcastle and other destinations were so very expensive (this was for late July).

We were headed to a wedding in Bruge so took in some other places like Reims and champagne country, a few nights in hotels+cost of tolls+petrol+eurotunnel+meals was still less than the cheapest ferry. After a few days we headed north into Belgium and had a whale of a time and it was just a bit more random than it would've been hehe. We had to drive as we had a massive wedding present for my cousin and his to-be wife + family members' kilts so flights weren't an option lol.

Also agree that if you know you're going away in August, book as far in advance as possible to mitigate the cost.

andrewf75

Ferries are just expensive especially the long crossings. Just the way it is, drive to Dover or fly

814man

Not really extortionate and certainly not a rip off, which would imply improper actions. Just simply supply and demand really, and you have plenty of other options available.

thriftylass

Have you tried DFDS ferries, they seem cheaper (if still spaces left, which might not be the case given the short notice). Over Christmas the only cost £480 from Newcastle to Amsterdam for 4 and a car. I've seen similar prices for the summer.