Cap Finistere tips

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olive
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Cap Finistere tips

Postby olive » Fri Sep 10, 2021 10:00 pm

We are travelling with our dog, Bilbao to Portsmouth next week. Sailing time is 20.30 and it arrives at 20.30.

We have booked a hotel near the port in Portsmouth.

Any tips appreciated. Can you board early and get settled and maybe eat as the ship is leaving? Is it first on first off?

Anyone travelled recently on this ferry?

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Enrique
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Re: Cap Finistere tips

Postby Enrique » Sat Sep 11, 2021 9:56 am

Good Morning olive,
Sounds like your first trip with Brittan-Ferries.......... :?:

On arriving at the Port Checking you will see the "Pet Check" kiosk, you will be given a PET sticker for attaching to windscreen.

Some info from Brittany-Ferries....... I guess you have seen this.........

https://www.brittany-ferries.co.uk/info ... mer-advice

Double check you Pet Passport NOW to ensure all the data is correctly entered with Vets stamp.

"Your pet's documentation must be completed correctly otherwise your pet will be refused travel. Any alterations to pet passports must be legible, signed and stamped by the vet."

"A muzzle for dogs - they must be muzzled when outside of your vehicle"

When checkin complete you will be directed to a holding queue.

The Load Master will call the queues forward when appropriate , the Pet cars will normally go on the deck that has a direct lift to the Pet cabins/and Kennels.

Circa one hour out from Portsmouth "all dog owers" will be directed to take their dogs to the cars.

Have a great trip
All my best learning experiences start with a problem I need to solve.

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Wicksey
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Re: Cap Finistere tips

Postby Wicksey » Sat Sep 11, 2021 12:15 pm

Good advice about the pet passport. Our friends once had a dreadful time when trying to board as the vet had made an alteration and not signed and stamped it. They only just got it sorted in time to board.

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Enrique
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Re: Cap Finistere tips

Postby Enrique » Sat Sep 11, 2021 1:21 pm

Hi Wicksey,
"vet had made an alteration and not signed and stamped it"........... I got the T-shirt on this one.

Had been using Pet Passport ok on a few trips to and fro....... then El Señor " I've got a deal with the vet in town " was checking the dogs.

Faint impression where Vet had made a change just visable in the right light.....they were using the old parking at Santander so in a queue, tail gate up so two Huskies had some cool air, people either side said they would keep an eye on the dogs. Off in to town to vets time 14:20hrs.... no central Data Base, so had to contact my vet in Andalucia......time ticking... Ferry due to leave at 15:15........€50 for " corrective service" arrived back at the port, time 15:10hrs to find my furgoneta the only one left on dock ..........drove on and parked with the lorries......... Only time I have been last on first off :!:
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Wicksey
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Re: Cap Finistere tips

Postby Wicksey » Sat Sep 11, 2021 2:28 pm

Sounds so similar to my friends' experience .... very stressful!

olive
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Re: Cap Finistere tips

Postby olive » Sat Sep 11, 2021 7:24 pm

Pet passport up to date.

I think we will go early just in case.

Paperworkis very stressful reCovid. Still havent got our code and delivery of Day2 UK PCR test.

Guess we will be doing it all en route.

Dog isnt very well either which is a huge worry. More trouble from the failure of numerous vets in Spain, France and England to correctly diagnose an ear infection from a simple grass seed.

What about eating? 20.30 departure and arrival is a daft time for evening meals. I think our original booking included breakfast and evening meal but since Covid I believe you pay and have food brought to your table. I.e. no buffet.

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Enrique
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Re: Cap Finistere tips

Postby Enrique » Sat Sep 11, 2021 8:37 pm

Hi olive.

"What about eating"

Zanuck should be able to update you on this as he came over very recenly ..........
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olive
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Re: Cap Finistere tips

Postby olive » Sat Sep 18, 2021 6:20 pm

A few observations having completed our crossing.

We had our last menu of the day at the little fishing village just up the coast from the port. Plenty of parking but not in residents parking ! Then we arrived about three hours early. BF advise at least 90 minutes.

All paperwork including dog paperwork, was done at the one check in. As we had been on the road, we had about a half of it only on our mobile phones. No problem. The guy was efficient and friendly. Probably helped that we did it all in Spanish. Waved on. Bit of a holdup then as the Port Guardia Civil were crawling over a lorry and trailer including sniffing for CO2. One of GC stopped us and had a look in the boot. I asked him what they were looking for on the lorry ( and our boot) , answer “ Albanians”.

We didnt have any and were waved on. Big area with lanes ( lane1) for vehicles with pets. There is a cafe serving light snacks and toilets. I whiled away some time chatting with riders on a group motorcycling tour. What was interesting was 99% of the private vehicles were Brits and about 95% of vehicles were UK reg.

Ship arrived and disgorged its vehicles. Some were pulled over-by Guardia Civil for questions.

A word about dog muzzles. BF literature says they must be worn by dog at all times in public areas on boat. There is a link to an excellent training video on BF website. We used it to train our dog to wear it. Later on board we noticed only one other dog wearing one so we followed suit. No staff enforced the rule. I suspect the rule is just to cover BF legally if someone got bitten.

We unloaded and it was a bit of a struggle managing our suitcases and dog and paraphanelia. One party at a time in the lift. Some Brits weren’t interested in that as a safety concept. Masks on board except for eating. It was a true culture shock when we arrived in UK and nary a mask in sight!

Plenty of eating opportunities on board. UK time observed. We had a nice meal in the fine dining restaurant and still got finished in time for call to return to vehicles. Pets and owners go back first half hour before docking. It took about an hour to disembark and clear controls.

Crossing was ultra calm. We saw a whale and a porpoise! Quite a good experience overall but there were some negatives. The pet “ exercise areas “ are just bland areas with panels that a small dog off lead could escape through. Poo bags and bin provided and extending hosepipe at each end plus a squidgy. Not very appealing for a dog and some had difficulty performing. Some astroturf might have helped. We had to was our dogs feet after each visit as the smell was quite strong. BF provide a complimentary bag with dog treat and bowl which was a nice touch though covered by the price. We felt very sorry for some travellers having to put their dogs in kennels at front of boat on deck ten. These were just metal cages stacked. Some dogs unnacustomed from being seperated from their owners were distressed.

Alarms. You are advised to switch off your car alarm. Some didn’t and we saw cars with dead batteries at unloading. Worth checking how to in your handbook if you dont know how.

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Enrique
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Re: Cap Finistere tips

Postby Enrique » Sat Sep 18, 2021 6:50 pm

Hi olive,
Thanks for update on your recent sailing......We last had a run on Cap Finistère end of September 2019 sounds like not much has changed. Have a trip on Cap Finistère end of this month..........no dogs :(

All our dogs are crate trained so it was home from home in the Kennels, many other owners remarked on how chilled our dogs were.

Hope your return trip is as pleasant.
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