Ferry information goes stale quickly. Ships get reassigned between routes, timetables shift by season, and fares move constantly. Here’s how we try to keep this site accurate, and where our own experience does and doesn’t come in.
What we’ve actually done ourselves
We’ve made two of the five Brittany Ferries crossings from Portsmouth ourselves: Saint-Malo and Cherbourg, on a family trip in August 2025. Those pages use our own photos and first-hand notes, and we say so directly. For Caen, Santander and Bilbao, we haven’t sailed yet, those pages are built from route research and current operator information, and we’ve marked them as such rather than writing as if we had. Portsmouth to Bilbao is booked for 2027, so that page will move to the first-hand list once we’ve actually made the crossing.
We never write “we travelled” or “our experience” language for a route we haven’t actually sailed. If a page doesn’t mention a first-hand crossing, treat it as researched rather than tested, and check the operator directly for anything time-sensitive.
Where our facts come from
- Sailing times, ship names and route status: checked directly against Brittany Ferries , Condor and DFDS
- Onboard experience, terminal layout, what actually happens if something goes wrong: our own crossings
- Nearby destinations and driving distances: general knowledge, checked rather than assumed
- Prices: real examples we’ve paid, dated, never presented as a current rate
A real example of us getting it wrong and fixing it
Early on, we listed Santander and Bilbao crossing times as rough guesses before checking them properly. Once we checked directly with Brittany Ferries, both turned out to be closer to two nights aboard than we’d estimated, Bilbao around 36 hours, Santander a little less. We corrected every page that had the old figures rather than leaving the more convenient number in place.
Found something wrong?
Tell us, we’d rather fix it than defend it. And for how the site pays for itself, including which links earn us a commission, see the affiliate disclosure. See our contact page. For more on who runs this site, see about us.