Just finished the crossing - bad as ever, prison food, under stocked bars, no security, two hours to dis embarque, nightmare. IT'S 2014, not 1914!
Could have been worse...could have been 102 years earlier to the day in the Atlantic..
At least they close the bow doors on ferries before sailing, nowadays.
You wouldn't recommend it then !!!!
If you want to go to southern Spain it's the only option unless you go to Lanzarote - so just grin and bear it!@
Is the lanzarote ferry any better then? We be on it next week!
I thought it WAS the same ferry. Done it a few times. The food isn't fit for human consumption :-X
The Puerto ferry goes to Cadiz via Arricefe. The Arricefe ferry goes to Huelva.
Jock let us know how you get on
Phase 1 tomorrow, sat, Portsmouth to Santander then motoring to Cadiz....
Quote from: Jock719 on April 18, 2014, 17:10:50 PM
Phase 1 tomorrow, sat, Portsmouth to Santander then motoring to Cadiz....
The adventure begins.. :D
Already driven 500 miles...... in a Landrover with wife x1, kids x2, mutts x2..now reclining outside a pub in Portsmouth before the first ferry tomorrow morning....nerves are slightly fried already although amazingly no serious domestic incidents....
Quote from: Jock719 on April 18, 2014, 20:10:24 PM
Already driven 500 miles...... in a Landrover with wife x1, kids x2, mutts x2..now reclining outside a pub in Portsmouth before the first ferry tomorrow morning....nerves are slightly fried already although amazingly no serious domestic incidents....
Exactly, driving through the UK is the tedious, frustrating bit. NOW the adventure starts as you will be leaving this green and pleasant land. :P 8)
Looking forward to seeing any updates on your journey as the inlaws are considering joining us in Fuerte via the same route.
That's us underway, ferry left Portsmouth exactly on time at 0815, easy booking in even with dogs etc, straight on the ferry and into the cabin. No problems at all.
Good luck with the rest of the journey Jock. The drive through Spain is really quite good.
We are going back on the Huelva ferry next week, first time on that boat. Anything has to be better than the Rust Bucket to Cadiz!!
Armas give free passage from Corralejo to Arrecife if you travel the same day. I'm sure you can sort the reverse out at the Armas office in Huelva.
Let us know if the Dog Kennels still smell as bad as 10 years ago :'(
The Affecife -> Huelva Ferry only started up in October 2013. But I can categorically assure you that the Rust Bucket kennels are the pits and still smell. Talking of which, I am looking out the window and Acciona is just passing Jandia.
Good luck and God Bless all who sail on her. And don't forget to pack a sandwich, extra booze and a sick bag ;)
That's good advice. Definately a small cool-box with enough to make sandwiches for two days. Boiled eggs, cheese, ham, bag salad, stuff like that. Your stomach will thank you for it 8)
Splendid! Can't wait for the next ferry....the one we are on now is the Etretat, which is a very fine vessel, great grub and nice cabins. In the Bay of Biscay now and heading for the bed, Santander to Alba de Torres tomorrow by road. So far, the Brittany Ferries leg has been fine, no complaints!
http://www.brittany-ferries.co.uk/economie (http://www.brittany-ferries.co.uk/economie)
Looks fit for purpose to me. :D
Great so far Jock! Keep the news coming!
For food, leave the autovia and stop in local village bars - yummy
There was a rusty old tower crane on our ferry to CadiZ - lots of flatbeds that held up off loading
Cracking drive down the A66 from Santander to Cadiz, arrived last night had a good night in the Hotel Pinomar, beautiful morning here in Cadiz now, and getting the ferry this afternoon. My Landrover did a cracking job getting us down here, well done Solihull! Will let you know how the ferry goes today! Not long now.....
MV Albayzin a fine boat, nice clean cabins, kennels fine, have my lab and beagle in the one and they quite happy, however the grub is awful. Totally and utterly awful. Like school dinners with a security bloke watching in case you try to nick an extra bread roll. Without doubt the worst grub ever. Bear in mind I'm ex forces and have suffered years of army grub etc but this is the worst ever. Shockingly bad and tiny portions but the boat itself is fine. Roll on 2300 tonight!
You were warned about the grub. You have taken sandwiches 8)
An old soldier is always comfy! But having paid for the grub I felt obliged to have a go at it.....took a carry on bevy kit too, so all well on that front, had to minesweep a couple of glasses, job done...
Not seen any further updates re your journey to the Island, how is it going....
Arrived Thursday all well, no dramas, settled into new house again. Ferry fine apart from the grub and booze. Would do the journey again but would take double rations of booze and grub. Would also NOT take the wife, kids or dogs.!! P.s kennels fine in my opinion...
Quote from: Jock719 on April 28, 2014, 17:22:57 PM
Arrived Thursday all well, no dramas, settled into new house again. Ferry fine apart from the grub and booze. Would do the journey again but would take double rations of booze and grub. Would also NOT take the wife, kids or dogs.!! P.s kennels fine in my opinion...
Glad to hear that you made it with no problems, enjoy your new life ;D
ive just come back from Huelva to gran canaria /fute, went to Huelva in November, took our yorkie with us, on the out going journey it was cold dull and rainy, our dog was expected to spend 32 hours on top deck in the freezing cold and the kennel was soaked through in seconds once it started raining. I took her to our cabin, slept peacefully on bed all night. Foods not that great but passable. On return journey at least the sun shone, but there were people camped out on top deck in sleeping bags with their dogs rather than leave them, disgusting and you paid for that ?? come on armas provide better accommodation for us doggie people aka cabins, don't know what I would have done if I had a big dog, I asked one camper what would she have done if it had rained she just shrugged.The price of the tickets not cheap if you take a vehicle as well, rant over, I just dread the next ferry I have to use to mainland.
The kennels on the MV Albayzin are downstairs on the lorry deck and are large yellow cages, plenty of room in one for my Labrador and beagle to share. No problems getting down to let them out etc and they were clean and tidy. No complaints on that front. We considered the Huelva route, but it didn't work out with our timetable, just as well I think!
they did have some kennels lower deck that were empty, im not surprised, I had to go down to my van during the day with special permission (escorted there and back) and the heat below was unbearable as well as the stench from the poor cattle gently frying away in the 100 plus heat in their cattle truck, and your only allowed brief visits below I think a couple of times a day at allotted times.no wonder they camped out on deck.
Hope that you enjoy your new life in Fuerteventura. Interesting to see your journey. How long will the dogs have to stay in quarantine?
The police hear will love you driving round in a right hooker I think they allow you six months then they want you off the road. sorry for the info.
No quarantine for dogs and truck is either getting re registered or sold one thing I can't be arsed with is the old bill
Best of luck with your new life Jock.
We took the Armas ferry from Arrecife to Huelva on 24th April on the Volcan de Teide.
It is a much nicer boat than the Acciona ferry - cleaner and much more modern.
I agree about the kennels though - the upper deck ones are OK if the weather is fine, but not much protection against the elements.
I would not have even considered leaving our dog in the car deck kennels!
The food on board is, if possible, worse than Acciona. Around 7/8 euros for dinner and 6 for breakfast. I found both inedible. Would definitely take my own next time.
We were nearly 3 hours late getting into Huelva and didn't get to our hotel until 10.30pm. It was a calm crossing, so can't understand why.
Be prepared to be searched by customs in Arrecife. They nit picked through every single vehicle. We had quite a lot of booze with us, which we managed to get through! They couldn't even tell us what the limits were! I think they let us through as we were headed to the UK and seemed to be more interested in tobacco.
Would definitely recommend it over the Cadiz - Arrecife crossing and will be taking it back in October.