I know you all think I’m super classy and cool, but this post is going to let the cat out of the bag and demonstrate just how much of a loser I was as a teenager. I’m turning up the cringe-factor on this one, so hold onto your seats.

I’ve been on a ferry twice in my life, and both times to France. Let me tell you a bit about them.

The time I thought I was Rose Dawson

SO – the year is 1997. Charlotte, a chubby (nothing’s changed), glitter-eyeshadow-wearing 12-year-old has watched Titanic 17 times.

I was deeply in love with Leonardo DiCaprio and fully intended to marry him when I was older. All I could do to show my devotion to him at that point was to name my canoe, ‘Leo’.

I loved Rose too – just everything about that film (I’m not naming names, but I 100% had a mate who insisted we called her ‘Rose’ for six months), and especially the scene where she rocks up to board the ship, and the camera pans up from the ground to the tops of the funnels to show how impressive the ship is.

Well, I did that in Dover, the day my family took us to Brittany. Got out of the car, looking down at the ground, then panned up like an idiot.

It was beyond exciting – driving onto a boat! And then running around with my sister, exploring every nook and cranny of the ship.

The time I got drunk and sat hungover in a park

The second time was when I was a student. A group of us thought it would be fun to go overnight to Roscoff for the day (then come straight back as we had no money for a hotel).

The journey over was so fun – we hung out at the bar drinking most of the night and managed to get an hour or so sleep in the cabins.

However, we got to the beautiful town of Roscoff super early, and before anything was open. With the cold morning mist and a lot of sore heads – we just sat in the town park laughing about the ridiculous situation.

However, once it warmed up and we ate (I still remember how good the mussels and chips were), it was such a brilliant trip. We also brought back as much cheap French plonk as we could carry.

I’m working with Discover Ferries!

I have really fond memories of ferry travel, but the truth is I like to go on holiday at least once or twice a year, and it’s always by plane.

I’ve generally thought that Ferry travel is a lot more expensive (unless you’re a big family) and it takes forever – and I’m time short.

However, I’ve been working with a company called Discover Ferries, which is an independent body that represents 12 UK ferry operators in the UK and Ireland.

It asked me to look into whether ferry travel was cheap/better value for money than flying and for me to give them my honest opinion.

Here’s what I discovered

1. 9 times of out 10 – ferry travel is cheaper than flying
2. Cheap airlines are full of it. £30 tickets eh? Well, not till you add on £50 of luggage per person!
3. People (well… kids) adore ferry travel. I’m not sure if it’s changed from when I was 12 (ahem… a little while ago) – but ferries seem to be more like cruises now, with fancy restaurants, live shows, shops etc.
4. Travel always seems to take a day – no matter how you do it. You can drive/get a train to an airport, hang around for a couple of hours before flying, fly, then hang around for bags/car – drive to campsite/hotel etc… or you can drive onto a boat, spend the night there and then drive off in the morning. You’re not really only travelling for 1 hour on a plane. It’s all inconvenient and stressful, but at least on a ferry, you have fresh air and space (rather than the back of someone’s head three inches from your mouth because they’ve reclined in their seat).

I’m planning something a little more luxurious

Basically, all this ferry research has made me extra convinced I need another holiday, and the ferry is the way to do it. But being me, I want something a little more luxurious than sitting in a park in Roscoff.

My friend Freddie and I have been talking about going to Mont Saint-Michel for ages. I went on my very first trip to France and visited the island with my family and I have wonderful memories. I’m desperate to get back.

So I’m thinking we all get into a car, get on a ferry at Portsmouth to St Malo and do a little road trip! I’ve been eyeing up some beautiful boutique B&Bs as well as visiting Tripadvisor to see where to eat. Frankly, is there anything better than French food?

Do you ever travel by ferry? What do you think? Tell me about your holiday in the comments.

*This is a collaborative post*