The 6 Best Ferries in Basse-Normandie, Normandy

Reviewed By platpeeps - Birmingham, United Kingdom

We always travel on the late-night sailing from Caen to Portsmouth, it certainly is great being able to sleep (in a cabin) the night away and arrive, refreshed, in Portsmouth the next morning. It is worth getting a cabin for the voyage, the recliners aren't very comfortable and a lot of people sleep on the floor of the recliners lounge, so if you have to get up in the night, it's very easy to trip over them (and do yourself some damage!) or their luggage, which they very inconsiderately leave in the aisles. Plus all the noise coming from the outside of the lounge isn't much fun when you're trying to sleep. Yes, a cabin is the best option, and if you can afford it, upgrade to a better class of cabin - more space, TV, hot drink facilities, etc. We're not huge fans of the food from the on-board restaurants. They do a cooked breakfast French way, which is pretty oily (although it seems to be very popular with the truckers!), and I have seen, once or twice, the chefs behind the counters sneeze and then wipe their noses with their hands (yes, really!) Which puts me off completely. If you do want to eat in one of these restaurants, then go for something which has to be cooked from raw, e.g. a steak - it's much nicer than all the dishes which are just sitting on the hotplates! If you opt to have a meal in a restaurant in the town, then make sure that you check your car (including underneath the chassis) as Ouistreham seems to be full of migrants looking for a chance to "cadge a lift"! We use this route quite a bit, not least when we've booked a week's holiday in Brittany or Normandy. We used to take in a film while we were travelling, but it's not the most comfortable of environments. The backs of the seats in the lounge they use for the cinema are too high to see properly, and the last time we did this, we were trying to watch a film to the cacophony of a mass of schoolkids yelling and screaming outside and/or in the next door lounge. In the end, we just gave up so the cost of our tickets was just wasted. I did go into the lounge where the schoolkids were and had a rant, and the teachers just looked at me as if to say "how dare I complain about their little darlings" .... we're not good sailors anyway, so just prefer to get to sleep once we're on board! Lastly, I wish Brittany Ferries would improve their wi-fi connection - and make it available in more locations throughout the ships. It's only available in selected public areas, and even when you've logged on, it's not a very good signal. And if you're paying extra for a cabin, it really would be nice to have wi-fi available for free, especially the "posh" cabins ....