Bike Racks On Ferries

[andys]

Before I went on my annual Sept jaunt round Europe the other week I fitted a Fiamma T6 Pro, which I’m well happy with, with the intention of putting EMTB and table and chairs on it while travelling. As I’d already booked the ferry as a “car under 5m” though, I put all of that inside while crossing over and then put it all on the rack when I got out at Rotterdam. It worked out great and made life much easier while touring, and when I came back I thought I’d take a chance and just left it on the rack. Nobody said anything and didn’t seem to even notice.
So does it matter? Has anyone booked a ferry as under 5m and then had an issue when they’ve turned up to board with a rack full of bikes, or is it just not an issue and they just ignore bike racks?

 

[Spaghetti]

Did you just get lucky on the way back though? I’d hate to have 4 bikes on there and get to the port and find that some one noticed! I’d never get 4 bikes inside the van!

 

[andys]

Did you just get lucky on the way back though? I’d hate to have 4 bikes on there and get to the port and find that some one noticed! I’d never get 4 bikes inside the van!

That's what I'm wondering, do they physically check when you check in you think, or just go by the reg no? Yeah 4 would be a problem

 

[andys]

Another thing that occurs to me, when you arrive and check-in they give you your ticket for the return journey so maybe if the ticket has been issued and the reg is correct, that's all they look at on the way back?

 

[dubber36]

Whenever we've gone with bikes on the back of a car, height has been the only consideration when booking. When we go through check in, we just get directed into the queue with regular cars and parked on the boat in just the same way.

On the tunnel one time, we couldn't fit into the carriage as we were the last car in that one, so we reversed back into the one behind. We obviously took up 2 spaces, but the loading crew didn't seem bothered. They just wanted to get the train on it's way.

 

[andys]

Whenever we've gone with bikes on the back of a car, height has been the only consideration when booking. When we go through check in, we just get directed into the queue with regular cars and parked on the boat in just the same way.

On the tunnel one time, we couldn't fit into the carriage as we were the last car in that one, so we reversed back into the one behind. We obviously took up 2 spaces, but the loading crew didn't seem bothered. They just wanted to get the train on it's way.

That makes sense, it would have been bad if they directed me to an area that didn't have enough headroom! I was on the same deck both ways this time though, and I noticed almost every T4/5/6 had bikes on a rack so wondered if they'd declared the dimensions when they booked.