Post by Starbucks Queen on Oct 29, 2005 10:21:03 GMT -8
I thought, why not, if nobody here minds, sharing one of my travel-experiences across the English channel with you....
On the weekend the 23 th to 25 th Bram Provost from Belgium and me from Germany decided to do one more TEF-trip from Ostend to Ramsgate especially as it is yet not dark too early and the offer was very good too.
So I took a train to Ostend, straight from my workplace in Liestal, Switzerland via Brussels to Ostend. You don´t need to see the sign saying "Ostend" when arriving - usually you realize that you are there because you see the funnels of one or more TEF - ships. This time none were in the port. A quick meeting with Dieter Pots in a pub and some conversation about ferries etc. Bram got me around midnight and quick to the apartment since there was need to catch up with sleep - doing a TEF trip means always getting up early, as the trip starts 07.00 and you must be one hour in advance at the check-in.
Checkin was without problems, there were around 12 cars, pretty many in comparison with other trips we done.
The ship was again the Eurovoyager, ex. Prins Albert which we drove on, via side-loader. The ship was very old - fashioned, which is partly due to the fact that it IS old but also due to the fact that TEF´s style of interior is very - well, hard to describe but I think they´d do good to fit out a museum-ship - lots of wood-panels and carved furniture. English breakfast was good and service as well. Since I had a long trip behind me I took the possibility to sleep in the empty and yet un-renovated "Lighthouse bar" much to Bram´s amusement as he always sees me in a rather tired state but manage to stop the discussion by teling him that I would like to see what he looks like after such a long trip. Nap taken, then take a seat on one of the various benches on deck. One good thing about the Eurovoyager is that it´s got plenty of wood-covered deckspace, always a nice feature on ships I find, they bring a sort of feeling of sea-travelling no matter how short the trip is.
Off at Ramsgate and a quick meeting with Jim, Rod, Phil and Jonathan who incidentally done the same thing the same day but from the opposite direction.
Took one of the new and surprisingly nice SouthEast trains to Dover - to have a bit more to see.
We walked there along the shoreline, it was nice and sunny, had met some odd people - well it must be English humour when an elderly woman is wearing a cap with huge letters "I hate Seagulls because they **** on you". Saw various ships coming and leaving which is always nice to watch.
Back later to get the Primrose to Ostend. I have not yet been onbaord this but since it was not a designated passenger-ship this time I thought it would be a bit 2nd classy or so - no, vice versa it has very nice interior, the beforementioned old-fashioned style as you can see but all done a bit nicer.
These are just two, the other TEF ship´s pics you can see on my homepage.
We decided to have dinner and took Lamb with Djuvec - the latter is a sort of spicy mix of paprika, tomatoes etc. a speciality with origin in the Balkan-countries.
The TEF - food is some of the best I have ever eaten onboard a ship, I am not sure if it is due to the fact that they do not have so many passengers and therefore can do a bit of fancy style-food which it is, indeed. Nothing what you expect to get onboard a ferry that you think is merely a ro-pax mainly used by truck-drivers.
Part two of the trip was taken on Sunday, after another short night we drove from Ostend to Calais to go onboard the Seafrance Berlioz. I have heard various things about the ship from that it´s better thant he Rodin to that the ship contents of what was left over when they built the Pont, designwise. So, let me add my own bit.
It appears to have more colorful and brighter interior than the Rodin and yes, it has somewhat the same style than the Pont Aven - well but not extensive use of just one color which is in Pont´s case - yellow. Different areas were in different colors and all did match nicely. I almost dare to say that for this short route the ship is a waste, you don´t find enough time to enjoy all that. Despite it´s great layout it has one draw-back: Only free deckspace is on the stern so in that way - back to the Spirit-Class ferries of the 80ies ? I do understand that they´d like to have the passengers spending their money onboard but I think deckspace gives the possibility to enjoy the trip more and get fresh air - the real advantage over a trip through the hole in the ground (tunnel).
Return trip taken onboard the Seafrance Renoir. I have heard rumours that the ship will soon be sold for scrap though, and from outside it was not the best of condition. But internally it was very well taken care of, not as much tear and wear as I had expected to see, after I travelled on it 3 years ago and as well February last year.
On the Renoir we had something to eat as well and there was a moment when I thought oh no, now they (the crew) will for sure be fed up. I did not have any dressing with my salad so I asked for some, got a little bag - same sort of what you get your ketchup in - which wasn´t enough and asked again. No reaction first so I said "ok no problem I´ll eat it dry as it is" but actually the guy had some on a place somewhere out from the galley, gave it to me and not even a bit of unfriendly behaviour.
Then went to the reception - as usually postcard-shopping and getting a ship´s stamp on them if possible. Did get the cards and the guy ran up the stair one deck higher to grab the rubber-stamp and put that on some postcards I bought. Very cheerful and not the slightest bit of a no-service attitude they had.
I just thought I point that out since I heard from some sources that Seafrance crews are not very customer orientated. In fact I never had a bad experience onboard one of their ships, they know pretty well how to get it right.
So, the trip was over - finally and I had to get back which was a bit of a different sort of story since I got stuck in Brussels and Köln which ended up that I had to go to work straight off from the train..
Anyways, I´d do it again - anytime
On the weekend the 23 th to 25 th Bram Provost from Belgium and me from Germany decided to do one more TEF-trip from Ostend to Ramsgate especially as it is yet not dark too early and the offer was very good too.
So I took a train to Ostend, straight from my workplace in Liestal, Switzerland via Brussels to Ostend. You don´t need to see the sign saying "Ostend" when arriving - usually you realize that you are there because you see the funnels of one or more TEF - ships. This time none were in the port. A quick meeting with Dieter Pots in a pub and some conversation about ferries etc. Bram got me around midnight and quick to the apartment since there was need to catch up with sleep - doing a TEF trip means always getting up early, as the trip starts 07.00 and you must be one hour in advance at the check-in.
Checkin was without problems, there were around 12 cars, pretty many in comparison with other trips we done.
The ship was again the Eurovoyager, ex. Prins Albert which we drove on, via side-loader. The ship was very old - fashioned, which is partly due to the fact that it IS old but also due to the fact that TEF´s style of interior is very - well, hard to describe but I think they´d do good to fit out a museum-ship - lots of wood-panels and carved furniture. English breakfast was good and service as well. Since I had a long trip behind me I took the possibility to sleep in the empty and yet un-renovated "Lighthouse bar" much to Bram´s amusement as he always sees me in a rather tired state but manage to stop the discussion by teling him that I would like to see what he looks like after such a long trip. Nap taken, then take a seat on one of the various benches on deck. One good thing about the Eurovoyager is that it´s got plenty of wood-covered deckspace, always a nice feature on ships I find, they bring a sort of feeling of sea-travelling no matter how short the trip is.
Off at Ramsgate and a quick meeting with Jim, Rod, Phil and Jonathan who incidentally done the same thing the same day but from the opposite direction.
Took one of the new and surprisingly nice SouthEast trains to Dover - to have a bit more to see.
We walked there along the shoreline, it was nice and sunny, had met some odd people - well it must be English humour when an elderly woman is wearing a cap with huge letters "I hate Seagulls because they **** on you". Saw various ships coming and leaving which is always nice to watch.
Back later to get the Primrose to Ostend. I have not yet been onbaord this but since it was not a designated passenger-ship this time I thought it would be a bit 2nd classy or so - no, vice versa it has very nice interior, the beforementioned old-fashioned style as you can see but all done a bit nicer.
These are just two, the other TEF ship´s pics you can see on my homepage.
We decided to have dinner and took Lamb with Djuvec - the latter is a sort of spicy mix of paprika, tomatoes etc. a speciality with origin in the Balkan-countries.
The TEF - food is some of the best I have ever eaten onboard a ship, I am not sure if it is due to the fact that they do not have so many passengers and therefore can do a bit of fancy style-food which it is, indeed. Nothing what you expect to get onboard a ferry that you think is merely a ro-pax mainly used by truck-drivers.
Part two of the trip was taken on Sunday, after another short night we drove from Ostend to Calais to go onboard the Seafrance Berlioz. I have heard various things about the ship from that it´s better thant he Rodin to that the ship contents of what was left over when they built the Pont, designwise. So, let me add my own bit.
It appears to have more colorful and brighter interior than the Rodin and yes, it has somewhat the same style than the Pont Aven - well but not extensive use of just one color which is in Pont´s case - yellow. Different areas were in different colors and all did match nicely. I almost dare to say that for this short route the ship is a waste, you don´t find enough time to enjoy all that. Despite it´s great layout it has one draw-back: Only free deckspace is on the stern so in that way - back to the Spirit-Class ferries of the 80ies ? I do understand that they´d like to have the passengers spending their money onboard but I think deckspace gives the possibility to enjoy the trip more and get fresh air - the real advantage over a trip through the hole in the ground (tunnel).
Return trip taken onboard the Seafrance Renoir. I have heard rumours that the ship will soon be sold for scrap though, and from outside it was not the best of condition. But internally it was very well taken care of, not as much tear and wear as I had expected to see, after I travelled on it 3 years ago and as well February last year.
On the Renoir we had something to eat as well and there was a moment when I thought oh no, now they (the crew) will for sure be fed up. I did not have any dressing with my salad so I asked for some, got a little bag - same sort of what you get your ketchup in - which wasn´t enough and asked again. No reaction first so I said "ok no problem I´ll eat it dry as it is" but actually the guy had some on a place somewhere out from the galley, gave it to me and not even a bit of unfriendly behaviour.
Then went to the reception - as usually postcard-shopping and getting a ship´s stamp on them if possible. Did get the cards and the guy ran up the stair one deck higher to grab the rubber-stamp and put that on some postcards I bought. Very cheerful and not the slightest bit of a no-service attitude they had.
I just thought I point that out since I heard from some sources that Seafrance crews are not very customer orientated. In fact I never had a bad experience onboard one of their ships, they know pretty well how to get it right.
So, the trip was over - finally and I had to get back which was a bit of a different sort of story since I got stuck in Brussels and Köln which ended up that I had to go to work straight off from the train..
Anyways, I´d do it again - anytime
Let me just warn you all in advance to avoid seaching "Prins Albert" on Google...but that is my suggestion.
