Shuttle Service To Holland

[bl52krz]

Just wondered how all those who went to Holland to Boxtel,found the journey on the shuttle? Was it what you expected? Comfortable enough? Fast enough? Loading easy enough? I think it is much better than the ferry.

[steve-45]

The shuttle is a very slick operation, baring delays etc. Loading and unloading was very easy and much quicker than past experiences on cross channel ferrys.

As far a comfort goes your sitting in your car for the journey, however there are toilets - but no food availability like on the ferrys.

Overall it’s a pleasant easy experience.

[Number 6]

Originally Posted by steve-45

The shuttle is a very slick operation, baring delays etc. Loading and unloading was very easy and much quicker than past experiences on cross channel ferrys.

As far a comfort goes your sitting in your car for the journey, however there are toilets - but no food availability like on the ferrys.

Overall it’s a pleasant easy experience.

OK no food but there are the odd drinks machine about.

We used it a lot to go to France when my wife did not like the ferry.Never had a problem and if you were early or late for your allotted time you were accommodated on the next available train.

[first-things-first]

The toilets on the Shuttle are quite sparse. Often a few are out of order. May be best to relieve yourself before getting on board. Not that I know that from experience!

As said a very slick experience usually. You can buy a set of 10 returns for £400 ish if you travel frequently. Much cheaper and about the same (if bought at normal price) if you only used a few of the tickets. Only problem is that they must be used out of peak hours.

I would say turn up with plenty of time to hand. I missed by crossing in July by 10 minutes. Due to loads of people missing departures and peak season, I ended up waiting 4 hours for my crossing.

[Lord of Hog]

It's not quite that cheap. The going rate for the Regular Traveller tickets is £45 a throw, but these are single tickets so a return will cost you £90. Although this is still a decent saving over the £125 - £150 I pay for my trips to Brugge. Obviously busy holiday dates aside you only pay a supplement if you want to leave the UK after 0600.

As other people have said it's quite a smooth operation loading and unloading (make sure you don't follow the Spacehopper lane when loading at Calais) and you can relax in the comfort of your own car for the short crossing.

On the down side when it falls apart (train break-downs, emergency engineering, customs playing silly b*ggers, really busy days) it REALLY falls apart.

[bl52krz]

We have only been held up once on the shuttle, and that was when we mistakenly booked to go over one Easter. There was a train broken down in the tunnel, on the French side. We arrived at 14.00 hours, and we got to the ibis hotel Tunnel sous Lemanch in Calais at around 12.00 midnight. The tax free area was heaving. We were given water, and got something to eat from one of the eateries there. We learnt a lesson not to book at holiday times again.

[SCP440]

Having used both on numerous occasions I would choose the Chunnel first depending on my time of travel or how long I have been traveling.

If I want to get many miles covered before the days end the Chunnel every time, if on the other hand I am only driving for a few miles I would probably choose the ferry.

I also of course check what deals are going, it amazes how much the price can alter if you don't mind traveling at some odd time of day, last year I got a Chunnel ticket at 5.30am on my way to Germany for under £40. I managed to get to Dresden before bed time. Sadly the return ticket was nearly treble of what I paid on the way out as I was returning late pm when me and the rest of the Europe seemed to be using the Chunnel.

[marinabrian]

I must say I far prefer the ferry, of course I couldn't compare until a week or so ago as I'd never used the Chunnel before.

To be fair, I could have taken the ferry from North Shields to Amsterdam, and saved about 1200 miles driving, had a kip while travelling and avoided a speeding ticket.

But then again where would have been fun in that?

Brian

[BRI]

Brian anybody can do things the easy way no challenge in that though

[cb750chris]

Have to say, I prefer the ferry.
I have found that driving across to Dover, then getting on the ferry gives me and my passengers (2 young children) time to stretch our legs, and take a proper break - so we were all ready for another 4 hours driving when we arrived in France.
The time I went on the shuttle, we got on, looked out of the windows as we went in to the tunnel, faffed a few minutes, used the toilet, got back in the car, poured a hot drink from a flask, then ended up rushing to drink it as we were almost arriving.

Suppose the benefits of the train are shorter overall time, but the ferry gives you chance to get a bit of a break. Depends what you want from you channel crossing.