Author Topic: Calais - Dover (10 / 11 / 2008)  (Read 3314 times)

Offline CedricH

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Calais - Dover (10 / 11 / 2008)
« on: November 11, 2008, 11:10:58 AM »
Hi,

I took a Channel crossing yesterday. We were booked on the Pride of Kents 9.50 departure from Calais. She left bang on time with the captain announcing that he was hoping we would reach Dover "before things got worse". There was a force 7 blowing across the Channel, which would turn into a force 9 during the day. There would be a steady downpour of rain pretty much all the way.
Soon after the ship left Calais, it actually started to rain. I didn't want to soak my camera too much so I took up a seat in the Horizon Family Lounge by the front windows. The crossing wasn't as rough as I expected it to be, only a few waves made it onto the bow. There was an occasional judder when we hit a particularly big wave but all in all, the ship took it very well. She kicked a bit but there was no roll at all thanks to the stabilisers, even though the waves hit us on the port side.
Just a few miles of Dover, the rain stopped and I was able to stand on the outside decks a bit more to enjoy a bit more of the fresh sea breeze. The ship turned her nose into the wind just of the harbour because we had to give way to the Maersk Dover which was leaving the port. The ship then entered the port and docked without the aid of tugs. A big applause to the captain and officers here for the precision with which they manoeuvred the ship! She arrived pretty much on time but we had to wait a bit in the car before anything was allowed off.

We arrived back at the port at around 16.30 (about half an hour before the check in deadline for the 17.30 sailing) and we were given a ticket for the 15.40 sailing which was running two hours behind schedule. We had a one and a half hour wait in the car before being allowed onto the ship. The Pride of Kent eventually arrived in Dover around 17.20 and left a good half an hour later. We were actually due to sail on the Pride of Calais but the schedule had been a bit mixed up due to the weather. The captain announced that the wind had dropped from a force 9 to a force 7. We were running two hours behind schedule and the crossing would take 90 minutes. He also apologised for the delays.
The sailing was very smooth, almost no roll and no kicking, just the noise of the waves through the window, quite relaxing actually! She arrived in Calais exactly 90 minutes after she had left Dover.

All in all, I would say it was another excellent P&O crossing (as is usual). The Pride of Kent took the weather very well, with very little fuss. None of the passengers looked really bothered.

Regards
Cedric
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Offline Ferry-Man

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Re: Calais - Dover (10 / 11 / 2008)
« Reply #1 on: November 11, 2008, 10:10:36 PM »
Hi Cedric,

An interesting report on your crossing to Dover. I'm sure you really enjoyed it.

I did a trip over on the Kent a few months back, Its definitely a nice ship, but they have removed a lot of the outside deck for some reason. The weather was the opposite to yesterday (Monday), but we still ran late, as a few weeks previously the Endeavour decided to demolish Berth 7 as the Eurotunnel decided to catch alight... typical!

None the less, it seems it was an interesting trip you had.

The Ferry Man

Offline CedricH

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Re: Calais - Dover (10 / 11 / 2008)
« Reply #2 on: November 12, 2008, 02:21:44 PM »
Hi Ferry Man,

I heard somewhere that they shut that part of the decks of because smokers used to throw their cigarettes down on the lorries on the cardeck below.
I hope they will keep that in mind when they design the new vessels that will replace the Dover and the Calais. In this kind of weather, it certainly bad that they've shut the covered deck on deck 8.

The Kent certainly has e very nice crew, like most P&O ships in fact.
Berth 7 is still in pieces on the quayside. I wonder how much longer it will take them to repair it.

Regards
Cedric
Photo admin for the Passenger Vessels, RO/RO, Ship Interiors and Vehicle Carriers categories

 

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