Newhaven ferry check-in times

[181]

I have a foot passenger booking from Newhaven to Dieppe for later this week. It includes the somewhat confusing message:

‘please check in at least 90 minutes prior to departure (Last presentation 45 min)’,

and when I e-mailed them to ask about it, I got the equally unhelpful reply:

'That means that we advise you to come as soon as possible ( 90 minutes before the departure ) because sometimes they decide to close the gates a few minutes earlier so if you decide to come 45 minutes earlier, it can happen that they refuse you because they already closed the gates. So please come 90 minutes before the departure if you don't want to risk to miss your ferry and having to pay again.'

Does anyone know what happens in practice? I presume they don't want everyone turning up at the last minute, but I can hardly think they have Eurostar-like numbers of passengers, and it's not very customer-friendly to say in effect 'we'll close check in at some time when we feel like it between 90 and 45 minutes before departure, probably [but not certainly] nearer 45 than 90', especially when the information presented to you before booking indicates 45 minutes.

I will endeavour to get there in good time (fortunately I'm staying in Newhaven the night before), but I hope I can treat T-90 as an approximate target rather than a rigid deadline.

Thankyou in advance for any answers.

 

[zwk500]

I will endeavour to get there in good time (fortunately I'm staying in Newhaven the night before), but I hope I can treat T-90 as an approximate target rather than a rigid deadline.

Thankyou in advance for any answers.

For a foot passenger I would think T-90 is a little bit flexible. I don't know exactly what happens with foot passenger check-in, but the reference to closing the gates sounds like they're talking about marshalling the cars. The staging area is very cramped and the first few people generally stop well short of the vehicle in front. As the lanes fill up, they stop checking vehicles in and close the gates while staff go and move cars up tighter to fit more cars in. They usually then reopen the gates fairly swiftly though. I've seen them do this 2 or 3 times for a single sailing, depending on how close people pull up.

IIRC foot passengers are usually loaded before the cars start loading, and at Newhaven that takes a bit longer as they can only load in single file from the bow ramp. So don't arrive too close to the cutoff time. (Edit, clarified below)

 

[busestrains]

I have a foot passenger booking from Newhaven to Dieppe for later this week. It includes the somewhat confusing message:

‘please check in at least 90 minutes prior to departure (Last presentation 45 min)’,

and when I e-mailed them to ask about it, I got the equally unhelpful reply:

'That means that we advise you to come as soon as possible ( 90 minutes before the departure ) because sometimes they decide to close the gates a few minutes earlier so if you decide to come 45 minutes earlier, it can happen that they refuse you because they already closed the gates. So please come 90 minutes before the departure if you don't want to risk to miss your ferry and having to pay again.'

Does anyone know what happens in practice? I presume they don't want everyone turning up at the last minute, but I can hardly think they have Eurostar-like numbers of passengers, and it's not very customer-friendly to say in effect 'we'll close check in at some time when we feel like it between 90 and 45 minutes before departure, probably [but not certainly] nearer 45 than 90', especially when the information presented to you before booking indicates 45 minutes.

I will endeavour to get there in good time (fortunately I'm staying in Newhaven the night before), but I hope I can treat T-90 as an approximate target rather than a rigid deadline.

Thankyou in advance for any answers.

Honestly you could easily turn up thirty minutes before departure and buy a ticket and board the ferry with no issue. I have no idea why they advertise 90 minutes. If you turn up 90 minutes in advance you will be waiting in the ticket hall for well over an hour. I think they only say this so that all the passengers do not turn up at the last minute or to give passengers extra time if they are running late.

I have used this Newhaven to Dieppe ferry over twenty times and from my experience they always leave foot passengers to the very last minute and do not even open up passport control until about fifteen or twenty minutes before the ferry is due to depart. Every single time i have used it foot passengers have had to wait in the ticket hall until about fifteen to twenty minutes before departure when they finally open up passport control and put you on the bus to the ferry. Then they close the doors and ramp of the ferry and the ferry departs literally the minute that foot passengers get onboard. They leave foot passengers to the very last minute.

Every single time i have used it i just turn up no earlier than thirty minutes before and am able to buy a ticket with no issue. Like i say they never open up passport control and start processing passengers until around fifteen to twenty minutes before departure. So you can still turn up and buy a ticket until then. So if you arrive less than 90 minutes you will be fine. I am always fine arriving thirty minutes before. The 90 minutes they give is hugely excessive and unnecessary.

 

[Peterthegreat]

I did the night crossing in August. I think I checked in about 3 hours before departure and then went to a nearby pub, returning around an hour before departure. On this occasion boarding actually commenced about 20 minutes before advertised departure an after the cars had been loaded. I guess there were around 50 foot passengers in total.

 

[busestrains]

For a foot passenger I would think T-90 is a little bit flexible. I don't know exactly what happens with foot passenger check-in, but the reference to closing the gates sounds like they're talking about marshalling the cars. The staging area is very cramped and the first few people generally stop well short of the vehicle in front. As the lanes fill up, they stop checking vehicles in and close the gates while staff go and move cars up tighter to fit more cars in. They usually then reopen the gates fairly swiftly though. I've seen them do this 2 or 3 times for a single sailing, depending on how close people pull up.

IIRC foot passengers are usually loaded before the cars start loading, and at Newhaven that takes a bit longer as they can only load in single file from the bow ramp. So don't arrive too close to the cutoff time.

On the Newhaven to Dieppe ferry it is the opposite. The vehicles are loaded first and foot passengers left to the last minute. They put all the foot passengers on once all the vehicles have got on the ferry. The ferry starts moving literally a couple minutes after the foot passengers get onboard.

 

[dastocks]

I last used this service about 20 year's ago as a driver. The boats used on this service are, to a certain extent, built specifically to fit Newhaven Harbour and there might be occasions where a combination of poor weather and the tide mean an early departure is a good idea. That's the only reason I can think of for the T-90 requirement.