Dover arrival and transfer

Here is the schedule...Pacific Princess (680 pa) scheduled to arrive Friday July 1 at Dover at 0500.

Is it reasonable if in a mini-suite and self carrying our bags that we can be off the ship, through customs (for either a Ferry and train to Paris or transfer to Ashford for train to Paris by 0815 ?

Also considering whether to zip into Paris via Eurostar before noon or take the ferry across to Calais and catch a train to get in Paris by 1530

I am leaning toward the Ferry train combo for aesthetic touring,, WHEREAS the Eurostar is just a blur of this and that.

Your sage comments appreciated.....

I would not consider the 08:15 train at all (I wouldn't consider an 08:15 train at Dover never mind Ashford). You are going to be running/flying/Star Trek transporting to make it - BTW running on vacation is a bad idea (unless there is a fire!)

Ferry seems a much better idea.

I'm a little confused by your mention of a train a 08.15 am. Where did you come across that time?

The Eurostar timetable for next July isn't yet published, but currently there are trains from Ashford at 06.24, 09.55, & 14.55.

Regardless of berthing time, unassisted disembarkation is likely to be around 6.30 to 7am. Even with a car at the ready for the 30 minute drive to Ashford it's by no means a certainty that you'd get there & complete the formalities (allow 30 minutes plus for check-in) in time to make a train at 08.15 - if there is one.

Plenty of CC members have comfortably taken the 09.55 (arrives Paris 12.47 local time) - even from much larger ships and with no disembarkation priority.

Eurostar or ferry?

I guess it's worth figuring the differences in cost & time - and how much value you place on those two things.

Eurostar is easiest with luggage, but yes you're kinda insulated from your surroundings.

JB :)

Personally I wouldn't choose the ferry/train combo. Not just looking after the luggage but coming of a cruise, the ferry will be no big treat. Then you need a taxi to get to the station in Calais and a train to Paris.

A taxi with to Ashford and then, on what amounts to a plane on wheels, right to Paris Gare du Nord. You still have to schlep your own luggage but it's a lot less hassle.

let me clarifiy..... 0815 was a target time for me to have completed the exit from the ship The plan for euro star was to take the 0955 from ashford.

That gave me a 1.5 hours to be taken by taxi to Ashford. A 30 mindrive and be able to checkin for the Eurostar 65 min prior to departure to complete customs and pass control. From experience, not many passengers board in Ashford as compared to London ....which was a zoo. Euro star is showing 235E plus a 30GBP taxi FOR 2

My ferry option was to take the 9:15 ferry from the port ( again using the 0815 goal, that would give me 1hour margin) which arrives in Calais 1156

Understand the taxi transfer port to train, which would be 1336, Again a 1.5 hour margin to make the train in Calais to Paris arrive 1514 in Paris. my only worry was the turmoil in Calais due to the protests and refugees creating dual potential Ferry was 156 gbp PLUS 5 gbp taxi TO ferry EST, 9 EURO Calais FOR Taxi est and 76 Euro for the train..... total for 2

My interest in the ferry is the experience of crossing the channel much as was done in 1944. I have taken the Eurostar years ago and it was a pretty steril experience.... OH, there were a bunch of"gipsy" cabs at Gare du Nord who were telling English speaking visitors that it was a 200 euro cab to Gare de Lazarus ..... so beware the scammers Gare Du Nord seems to have more than any other station in Paris...( By the way, paris licenced cabs charged me 9 euros for the trip !!!)

Those timings make a lot more sense. :)

The 09.55 Eurostar from Ashford, as per my first post is no problem.

For the ferry, note that check-in for ferry foot passengers is a minimum 45 minutes before sailing - this is because foot-passengers assemble at the terminal, which is at the ferryport entrance, and are then bussed to the appropriate ferry. But my reading of the P&O Ferries' website is that they have a 9.25am sailing, which fits your timetable.

.........................................................................

I can't make too much sense of your costings.

Eurostar.

Yes, £30 for a pre-booked taxi is a good ballpark figure. I'm guessing that £115 pp for Eurostar is for standard premier tickets - you can save about a third of that by booking standard seats.

Ferry.

Can I presume that the figure of £156 that you quote is the total journey fare for two? The ferry itself costs nothing like that.

A taxi from cruise port to ferry port will be closer to £10, though that's no big deal in the overall scheme of things.

P&O are quoting the "saver fare" for foot-passengers at £30 pp, or "flexible" up to 4 hours for £50. Neither of those fares are refundable.

Ferries do sometimes book-out for cars but not for foot-passengers so since the amendment fee for changing the sailing time on the saver fare is £20 then £30 saver-tickets are all you need - pay the extra £20 only if you miss the booked sailing. The only other difference is that the flex fare includes 30 minutes free wifi - but I'm guessing you won't want to spend your time on the ferry with your nose in your I-pad. ;)

NB - an error on P&O's website - currently they're showing arrival times next year as 90 minutes after departure, because their webmaster hasn't allowed for continental Europe being one hour ahead of UK time. No such error in the times you quote.

P&O's 9.25 sailing arrives Calais at 11.55 (not 10.55 as their website).

I'm guessing that the 9.15 ferry that you quote is a different operator but I'd strongly recommend P&O because they have up to 20 crossings per day compared to just 3 or 4 by other operators, and because P&O are way more established on this route - other operators come & go year-by-year.

There's a shuttlebus in Calais between ferry and rail station, cost 2 euros per person.

Haven't checked the SNCF rail site, but your timings & costing look to be right.

...........................................................

So in a nutshell the total cost by Eurostar will be £185 to £265 & get you to Paris about 1.47pm

By ferry & train will be about £130 to £170 & get you to Paris about 3.15pm

The Channel crossing is of course very different to D-Day, which was way further west in Normandy.

The grief in Calais is a combination of illegal immigrants trying to get to the UK and current industrial action by French seamen. Their idea of "industrial action" has included setting fires of old tyres on the rail track to disrupt Eurostar. But that's the French for you, industrial action was a British disease 30 years ago but now its a French national pastime, and the French govt does little to prevent excesses.

The presumption is that by next July the seamen's strike will be ancient history.

Who knows about the migrant situation in 2016? But problems associated with them are about travelling France to England, not the other way round.

JB :)

My interest in the ferry is the experience of crossing the channel much as was done in 1944

I have crossed by ferry many times, from Dover to Calais and from Portsmouth, Poole and Plymouth to Normandy, as well as Harwich to Rotterdam. Also, once, as a schoolboy, on a train via the Folkstone - Boulogne crossing.

Any similarity between these ferries and the D-Day landings is restricted to the fact of travelling by sea from England to France.