It was a really hot day as we crossed the sea to the Isle of Wight. We are so sorry we missed the…read moreisland's Pride festival over 15/17 July Prides are colourful and family friendly. The departure area at Southsea is kindly described as no frills functional. If you'd like a coffee it's Costa out of a machine and if it's a rest room then you must leave, go across the road to another, publicly controlled facility, equally kindly described as functional. Most publicly controlled facilities/services in England have been wilfully ruined by the government in office some 11 years out of a warped ideology and much is already gone not to return. Woe betide if you need medical or emergency dental help and if your not a uk subject please be well insured - getting any prompt dental treatment is nigh on impossible (and not accidental) in the worlds 5th richest economy. It's a rum do to vote yourself to be poorer but the working poor and the super rich carried the day. When the truth outs, and it will, it won't be a pretty sight. In the UK the working poor receive more state benefits than unemployed folk - yet bizarrely taxpayers subsidise the super rich. The hovercraft staff are a friendly bunch and once on the island side there's at least decent rest room facilities and it looks a little bit more modern and pleasant. The craft itself is impressive, quite spacious within, not noisy and comfy seating. Dis and embarkation are very straightforward. It has a top speed of around 50 knots so it can move at a lick. All in all t'was a grand day out.

The family at AtlasAdventured highly recommends this experience!…read moreWe traveled from Portsmouth Southsea to Ryde in August of 2023. We originally planned on taking the ferry, but when we found out about the hovercraft we just couldn't pass up the opportunity! As of 2023, this is the world's only commercial hovercraft! Tickets were more expensive than the ferry, but you got there a lot faster. It was 80 pounds round-trip for our family, with our 4 year old being able to ride for free (it is cheaper if you get a roundtrip ticket for same day use). The ride took about 10 min. There is a Hoverbus that will provide transportation to the Hoverport. You can find the Hoverbus stops on their website. The waiting room on the Southsea side was nice and the staff were friendly. There are restrooms and a Costa coffee machine. They do recommend you show up 15 minutes early. The staff on board was super friendly and there is space for your luggage. It was a smooth ride, and so much fun! The location in Ryde was not so pleasant. We arrived about an hour before our departure time due to us taking public transportation to get there. Once we got ourselves settled in the waiting room, my husband went to leave to go get our toddler some snacks, and was yelled at by the lady at the desk, threatening him that if he left the building he would have to purchase another ticket or would not be allowed on the hovercraft. If we had known that you were not allowed to exit the building we would have dragged our luggage, in the rain, to a nearby restaurant and waited! I could not believe how rude this lady was. I scoured their site and other reviews, and nowhere does it say that you cannot leave the building, and this particular woman has been very rude to countless people. Maybe it's time for someone in charge to reprimand this person. She is ruining a lot of people's experiences. I would have given a 5 star review if not for this individual. Once we got out of the waiting room and onto the hovercraft, it was such a great experience. Just watching the hovercraft pull up and onto the sand is so cool. I thought it would be loud, but they do a good job of dampening the noise while inside the hovercraft.! If we ever go back to the Isle of Wight, this is definitely the mode of transportation we will use to get there.

As far as ferry crossings go, seamless. Immaculate. Piece of cake checking in. No hassle or…read moredrama. Arrived quite early and instead of making us wait just loaded us straight on the next ferry. When you get on the ferry seems to have thought about everything even though only a short crossing. Dog friendly zones, teen zone, a Greggs, Costa, snacks and selection of alcoholic beverages. Toilets immaculate. Seating areas well thought out. Really impressed. Apart from the rude crappy service from Costa. Abrupt, stroppy and not helpful. When they finished their overall service they proceeded to stand and have a proper go at a member of the team over the rota or something. Not on. It was a case of "whoa" who shot your cat. Rude mares. Would have been 5* for all the other parts Costa dragged it down to 3*. Disembarking was super quick easy and no dramas. Big thumbs up and thanks!

If you're not prepared to swim, there are 3 ways to cross from the mainland to the Isle of Wight…read morewith dry feet. Thr girlfriend and I had done the hovercraft, which was fun and the fastest crossing as a passenger On our weekend trip this weekend, we took the car and chose the Portsmouth to Fishbourne route as it's the shorter of the car ferry journeys (Red Funnel leave from Southampton) The route is well signposted from the M27 and we encountered no traffic, coming down for the 8pm ferry on a Friday night. Nice to see that, especially as it was the weekend of the IOW round the island race On arrival, we were directed to a lane to wait for the ferry. There was no mention of the 45 minute delay we then noticed on the large dot matrix sign. The time for the next ferry was also wrong as it was for 19.30 and we arrived at 19.45. There were no announcements or explanations about the delay but one of the marshalls we spoke to at least tried to be helpful but perhaps, they could try and keep their customers informed a bit better We popped into Greggs, located in the car park area, for a little nibble. There's also a Costa Coffee available The other slight annoyance was the lack of firm marshalling when the time came to board. There wasn't enough vigilance to stop some naughty cars from cutting in line ahead of other cars which had arrived before them The journey itself was pleasant enough with some light refreshments available though we chose to enjoy the lovely sun-dappled views of the Solent from the outdoor promenade deck Incidentally, the 3rd way to cross over is by catamaran to Ryde

This is the first time we travelled with Brittany Ferries as for a life time we were loyal to Irish…read moreFerries even after they sacked all their Irish workers, shafted the lot even them even workers who gave over 30 years service. I can't explain why we stayed so loyal and now - in fact for a long time - there's nothing at all Irish about Irish Ferries, it just happens to be a company that operates to and from Ireland staffed by agency labour recruited as low paid as possible from Central Europe, while the bloke who owns it who I think is Irish is well on the way to being a billionaire. He'll not miss our trade. We travelled with IF in May for the last time, the food was lousy and way overpriced, the coffee was foul and the ship was tatty; in fact it had nowt going for it. Our loyalty is gone. We are gone. Stena and Brittany now. The food was pretty good on Brittany Ferries to/from Spain, the French staff were welcoming, efficient, darn friendly and they give guests good deals.

Don't book with Direct Ferries/BRITTANY FERRIES On Dec21st…read more2019 we booked a one way crossing from LeHavre to Portsmouth with Direct Ferries/ Brittany ferries ( DFP132260866 ) . Due to Covid can't go and almost 2 years later can't get a refund. Gene Blake - Canada

Brittany Ferries has acquired Condor Ferries that ran the Poole to Guernsey ferry. Going from Poole…read moreto Guernsey and back with a car plus trailer we were very impressed with the way the vehicles were being loaded. In addition, with the boat being a catamaran, the journey is quick and comfortable at 3 hours. The boat has 3 restaurants/bars and a duty free shop. A much better than expected experience.

Brittany Ferries leave Poole for Cherbourg regularly, with, I believe, four crossing a day…read more It's a four hour trip. unless there's major fog, and the time is easily passed with the amenities on board or with a good book. The boats are very comfortable and we've met some very interesting people, as well as a few drunks. The staff are very good at getting you parked tightly and neatly. Packed seems a good word. It seems though that evry one wants to regain entry to their car at the first possible moment and then spend half an hour in the garage! Tip; wait til the masses have gone down and then go to your car- there's plenty of time. Locally we get the chance of reduced fares by collecting vouchers from the local paper. Some of the deals are very good indeed. Overall, a very good company, slower than the Eurotunnel but for some more convenient. There is duty free, and a well stocked bar!

We sailed on Celebrity Apex on a Norwegian fjords cruise two weeks ago. The original cruise…read moreterminal was City Center terminal however it was subsequently moved over to Horizon a few days before we were set to sail. It was a non issue as both terminals are nearby to each other. The Horizon cruise terminal is the newer one of the two. We pulled our 24 inch luggage over from a nearby hotel. Took about 15 minutes. We had planned to walk our luggage onto the ship. But then a cruise terminal worker suggested we not as the luggage probably couldn't fit onto the X-ray conveyor belt. We checked the luggage instead. Easy peasy as they tagged the luggage right then and there. It was a seamless process as we checked in using Celebrity's app while home. At the cruise terminal we showed our passports with the app and we're allowed to board. Typically we'll ask for early boarding to take advantage of the lunch buffet onboard. We showed up at 11:20am with a 11:30am embarkation. The day we disembarked was just as seamless. We walked off the ship with our luggage. Thank goodness it was at a downhill slant all the way down into the cruise terminal. A cruise employee acted as the traffic controller instructing passengers where to go depending on your previously transportation arrangements. We met our private transport past the pedestrian crossing. In and out within 10-15 minutes. Back to London for a post stay. Took about 1 hour 50 minutes due to traffic.

Very nice experience with the port. Easy drop via uber and promptly in the queue for boarding…read more Similar experience coming off the boat - quickly into the bus and off we go.

Very efficient, loads of sailings, freindly service, takes 35 minutes, book on line (don't worry…read moreabout their request to print off the booking confirmation, they'll accept your booking reference as evidence and print off a ticket in the office). Not cheap, but then what is? Fantastic views of Lymington and Yarmouth from the decks. The lounges are comfy with big picture windows. Excellent trip and well worth it for an easy way to have a scout round the Isle of Wight. Recommended.

One of the worst ferry terminals I've had the pleasure to spend time at. The building has no cash…read morepoint and the coffeeshop has no working card machine! (12th November 2013). The saving grace is that the building has a toilet! My tip bring hard cash if you find yourself stuck here for an hour or so.

This ferry takes from Sandbanks, Poole to Studland in the Purbecks…read more The distance by ferry is about one hundred and fifty metres, and saves a drive of around thirty miles. It is t the narrow mouth of the harbour, so is also a shipping lane. The ferry is a chain ferry, meaning that somehow a chain guides it across the channel. In the last couple of years a yachy got in the way but every one had time to jump out of the yacht. A motor vessel also got sucked under and there were fatalities. It is a roll on roll off ferry, and also takes foot passengers. The cost of a one way trip is now £2.50 which most locals find outrageous, If you are visiting, I would suggest you do one way by road as there is fantastic scenery. Or hop on as a foot passenger and enjoy the beach at Shell Bay. If you walk far enough you'll get to the nudist part of Studland Beach.

A short ride over a truly beautiful part of Britain The…read moreferry comes every half hour however the queue stretches far down the road and it is nescessary to join before that as it is a fairly small boat. The prices are very reasonable. £1.00 for a person or bike £4.50 for a car or lorry £9.00 for a heavy truck or bus

Went on a cruise day out - Isle of Wight Garlic Festival on a Sunday, price around £34.00. Ferry to…read moreRyde, walk along the pier, catch coach, drop off at the Festival, ticket included, pick up & return ferry journey. The driver gave a commentary on the way there & back, on the return journey went a slightly different way. All booked through the Gosport Ferry Website. Coffee, Booze & snacks available.

It terrible i prefer wight link. Red funnle literally said we couldn't go on the boat for no reason…read morethey made up an excuse