Ireland to France ferry changes & delays at Holyhead

Just come across a couple of stories involving car ferry crossings between France and England and France and Ireland.

The first is entitled:"LD Lines and Celtic Link Ferries New agreement for Ireland - France Route" As part of a re-organisation of its Ireland – France ferry services, LD Lines has announced a new ship charter agreement with ferry operator Celtic Link Ferries. LD Lines’ vessel Norman Voyager, will now be operating under charter to Celtic Link Ferries from 29 September 2009.

The second is "Celtic Link Ferries (Ireland) New Route Announcement" - Celtic Link Ferries (Ireland)Ltd are pleased to announce the the acquisition of a new vessel and the opening of a new service between Cherboug in northern France and Portsmouth in southern England. The new service will commence in October 2009. The Vessel will have a capacity of 130 trucks or 500 cars, and will be capable of carrying 1000 passengers. More details at http://www.villa-rental-france.com/Tips_and_Topics.htm#LD

The picture on this page was not taken on one of those long routes, but on the Calais - Dover route earlier in September on a Sea France car ferry. One of those late afternoon crossings where you could see the French coast practically the entire way to you entered Dover.

Talking of car ferries on longer routes. The Stena Line car ferry "Stena Adventurer" that left Dublin Port at around 8.20 in the morning of Friday 11th September arrived at Holyhead just before 11.30 a.m. Unfortunately they could not unload for an hour and a half due to the fact the ramp would not go down to meet the ferry's ramp. They had to wait till the Irish Ferries "Ulysses" that was moored in the adjoining berth set sail for Dublin. Must have been rather frustrating for those on board.

jml villas.com "off air" for a couple of hours 24th September 2009

24th September 2009

Due to some upgrading on the server operated by the web company the jml villas.com will not be operating for 2/ 3 hours today.

We are very sorry for any inconvenience, however if you are looking for information on travel please go to either www.euro-rentavilla.com or www.euro-rentals.com

If you are looking for Travel insurance please go to our introducer site www.jml-property-insurance.co.uk .

If you are searching for car hire excess insurance then please visit the introducer site www.insurance4carrental.com

Many thanks

easyJet has new ski site

Just received this email flyer from easyJet announcing their new ski site. Apparently you can choose from over 220 top resorts in Andorra, Austria, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Slovenia and Switzerland.

Although we are only in mid September and the summer holidays have only just finished, it is good to book ahead for a winter skiing holiday.

Whatever you do, don't forget your ski insurance. At the jml-insurance site there is special section for skiing and winter sports.

Lots of great insurance providers are advertising there like Essential Travel Ski Insurance, Direct Travel Ski Insurance, Staysure Travel insurance for the over 50's, Endsleigh Winter Sports Insurance, Protect my holiday, Devon Direct and Simple Travel Insurance.

With Christmas only 3 months away now it is worth while doing some planning. You can find details about jml Insurance - SKI and Winter Sports Here.

Sir Stirling Moss – 80th Birthday tribute at the 2009 Goodwood Revival

Sunday 20th September at the Goodwood Revival saw an 80th birthday Tribute to Sir Stirling Moss who turned 80 on the 17th September.

The tribute was led by Lord March owner of the Goodwood Estate whilst Sir Stirling sat in an Aston Martin DBR1. A parade of cars that he had raced in during his career was held together with a gun salute.

More on this here together with information on Goodwood

End of the hot dry summer in the south of France

There were isolated storms on the French Riviera on the 13th September 09 and although the Monday was generally good, suddenly more rain over the next 48 hours over Cannes than would normally fall in the entire month of September. Since the downpour, shops, restaurants and private householders have been counting the cost of the flooding. Claims under the departments natural disasters umbrella must be registered with insurance companies within five days of the event.

Cannes has had similar weather in 1999 and 2005 and it looks like The damage is now expected to run into millions of Euros.

Other areas have also been affected including Marseille. The old port area was hit by flooding and vehicles carried away in torrents of muddy water. Listening to Riviera Radio on Tuesday, parts of the A8 Autoroute was disrupted by the heavy rain and commuters between Nice and Monaco faced a nightmare with no trains able to leave the Principality owing to a rock slide on the line at Eze Bord de Mer.

Authorities are examining the cliff face at Eze near the Cap Estel tunnel to see how unstable the rock is.It may be necessary to close the Basse Corniche to traffic at some point to carry out repairs but the road remains open for the time being. What a contrast to driving through Cannes twice on Saturday 12th September when the town was packed, the boat show in full swing and it was very hot and sunny. It was still 24 degrees around 9.00 that evening with every sign that the excellent weather would continue. The present ten day weather forecast for the Nice area has rain forecast till Monday 21st September and better conditions after that.

It can certainly rain in a very heavy fashion in that area as the picture on this page shows taken in a restaurant at Villefranche-sur-mer in September 2005. More information about the south of France can be found at www.cotedazurrental.com

jml villas are now advertising in Destination France Magazine

jmlvillas and jml insurance have just started advertising the sites in a quarterly specialist magazine – Destination France.

Since the jmlvillas.com site was developed in 2002 it has been promoted in a number of magazines covering France. Regular advertisements have appeared in French Property News, France Magazine, Living France and The Riviera Reporter.

As the self catering holiday homes marketing website has been advertising in Living Spain Magazine for a few years, they decided to promote the site in Destination France Magazine.

The magazine appears four times a year and is packed with interesting news, articles and information about the country and covers wine and food as well. There are high quality photographs illustrating the articles and you can learn a great deal about life in France from such a publication. It is available at newsagents at £2.95, or alternatively a one year subscription to be posted within the UK costs £12.95 or £19 overseas.

More about this Here

Haus Cuxborn, Zell, Mosel, Germany NEW HOLIDAY RENTAL

Holiday townhouse in centre of Zell has just been added to the jmlvillas.com holiday homes site.

The Town house is on 4 floors and accommodates 6 adults / persons. There are 3 bedrooms, 1 bathroom,Washing machine, Shops nearby and TV. It is located close to the river and there Restaurants nearby and for ease of access it is close to an airport .

The house Cuxborn is situated within the centre of the beautiful town of Zell. Vineyards extend for miles along both sides of the valley, clinging to steep, stony hillsides. Vines gently scramble from one house-front to another in the town’s ancient streets. Everywhere the visitor is warmly welcomed – & invited to taste the Black Cat wines. The house has easy access to all amenities, including many excellent restaurants and bars for eating out. With three double bedrooms, the house is ideal for families, with plenty in the surrounding area to see and do during your stay.

Distances
It is ideal as a base for trips to the sights of the Mosel valley and for cycle and walking tours to the surrounding hills and valleys. The vicinity of Frankfurt-Hahn airport (20 km) and the motorway A1 (30 km) guarantee easy access from and to all parts of Europe.

Local Information

Zell area Historic Town, Museums, Vineyard Trips/Winetasting, Swimming pools, Sauna centre, Fishing, Rowing, Cycle Track and excellent walks right from the front door. Many Bars and Restaurants. Regular daily River Boat trips. Golf course at Hahn Airport (22 km).

Leisure Facilities

Sports: Golf within 30 mins drive Fishing Indoor/outdoor swimming pool nearby Great for: Walking holidays Rural / countryside retreats Good nightlife Cycling holidays

More Information Here

SKY Europe’s failure warns passengers to check their travel insurance policy

In light of budget airline Sky Europe going into administration it is time for travellers to double check their travel insurance policies to make sure that it includes some type of financial protection.

Right up to last week Sky Europe were sending e-flyers detailing an ‘Autumn Sale’ for flights between €9-€99 guaranteed. Now it looks as though those who booked directly with the airline will have lost their money whilst others are stranded overseas and having to pay several times their flight ticket cost to get back home.

However, some Sky Europe passengers will be able to claim on their travel insurance as their policy will include either Scheduled Airline Failure Insurance or End Supplier Cover (extends airline cover to include other parts of the booked itinerary).

Financial Protection is big news not only in the travel community but also with consumer protection lobbyists. Just last week, while on a visit to Dublin, the EU foreign affairs commissioner, Meglena Kuneva, spoke of the need to address consumer protection stating that they receive a ‘large number of complaints’ about the holiday sector, and ‘it seems incomprehensible, when two people sitting next to each other on the same plane, even going to the same hotel, find that they have totally different levels of consumer protection simply because the bookings were made in different ways.’

However any measures will be tricky to legislate and take a long time to implement.

In the UK there has been talk of extending the ATOL to include flight only bookings but with the fund already £46.5 million in debt, questions are being asked as to whether it is prudent for the CAA to be extending cover into such a high risk environment. In addition, further duties will be vehemently fought by the airlines who already have to contend with the increased APD while cost cutting to combat record losses.

Credit Cards have financial protection under section 75 of the Consumer protection Act however there is usually a minimum spend of £100 which most budget flights will fall below plus they are unlikely to cover the additional costs to return home which can cost many times the ticket value.

It looks as though Insurance is the only answer to consumers booking directly with airlines, either as a section on a retail travel insurance policy, or through a dedicated on-line solution such as ProtectMyHoliday.com where passengers can pick and choose their required cover for all of the component parts of their trip.

It is anticipated that up to 60% of retail travel insurance policies will cover financial risk in some respect by the end of 2009 which is up form around 10%-15% at the start of the year.

Source ProtectMyHoliday.com 2nd September 2009