Ferry pricing MINOAN Lines cc ANEK Lines

[jet]

From Heraklion to Piraeus and Patras to Trieste / Venice Return

ANEK LINES CAR + BED 596,60 Euro ships **/***

MINOAN LINES CAR + BED 520,80 Euro ships **** / ***** Luxus

I paid 358,80 Euro because I have to Spent BonusPoint and get free ticket from Patras to Trieste, I always enjoy

[Phaedra]

That's interesting Jet. We have friends who live in Koper and were thinking of visiting them next year and then getting the ferry from Venice to Patras, not having known that we coud get on at Trieste! How long does the Trieste/Patras voyage take? We would also have a dog with us. Do you know if he would have to stay in the car or could he come in a cabin with us? Thanks.

[Kilkis]

Some details here http://www.minoan.gr/en/routes/trieste- ... tsa-patras and here http://web.anek.gr/portal/page/portal/A ... Timetables

ANEK only do Venice, not Trieste, as far as I can see. Also the two boats on this route are described as Ro-Ro but they don't actually show a number of cars? Not sure what this means.

Looks like around 34 hours. Dog accommodation varies from boat to boat so you would need to put in specific dates, find out which boat was on that route that day and then find information for facilities on that particular boat.

Warwick

[filippos]

Also the two boats on this route are described as Ro-Ro but they don't actually show a number of cars? Not sure what this means.

Me neither but the schedule/availability search on http://ferries.gr site asks for the number of cars you want to book in.

[Kilkis]

GTP also shows them as "cf", which means "car ferry", you can see the ramp sticking up on both pictures and ANEK's booking site asks for number of vehicles, so I am pretty sure they are car ferries. It's just that every other ferry in the ANEK fleet states how many cars it can carry but the Audacia and the Forza don't. Being a cautious person it just gave me niggling doubts.

Warwick

[Barbary Coaster]

We have travelled these routes quite a few times.

ANEK have kennels on board, no pets in cabins. Minoan have kennels and also allow pets in some cabins.

Venice. The authorities have banned ferries from Venice, so Minoan now travel from Trieste, via either Ravenna or Ancona. ANEK advertise the Venice route, but actually dock at Fusina on the mainland.
The 2 ANEK ferries on this route are smaller than their predecessors. They do take cars and lorries but appear to be mainly geared up to truckers as there are less facilities on board.

Oh, and one final thing - I would recommend booking direct via the Minoan or ANEK websites, or with one of their agents shops in Crete who actually give you the tickets there and then. If you need to make any changes its an easier process going direct to the company.

They have made changes for us by phone on more than one occasion, and earlier this year Minoan sent tickets to the UK by courier.

Bob

[jet]

Ancona is like a "witches kettle" to get in and out of the town of narrow roads, while Trieste there are motorway just off the ship.

The prices are the same Ancona / Trieste, but you earn about 400 kph drive.
The cheapest driveway is via FELBERTAUEN tunnel (10 Euro) and then on to Munich and driving on German motorways is still free

Go and see Googles Streetview, and you will agree with me

[Mixos]

I agree with Jet -- Ancona is a horrible place to get in and out of and there always seem to be traffic jams on the port road. One time, as we stood on the upper deck watching the ramp being raised for departure, a car raced at high speed towards the ship, screeching to a halt at the last moment. The driver jumped out and began ranting at the top of his voice and waving his arms at the departing ferry. Guess he had a long wait for the next one. Sad about the new ban on ferries in the Venice lagoon, although it's understandable. One of the great pleasures of that route was sailing at rooftop-height past St Mark's Square in the evening light.

[moggieman]

Totally disagree, there is no need to go into the town of Ancona.

To book your ferry the office is just of the main road to the harbour you then drive to the harbour/ferry, you don't go into the town at all.

[Kilkis]

I haven't used the Italian ferries for a few years now but the last time I used Ancona I found it a bit confusing finding the port. The signposts didn't seem to be very helpful. Once I got there, however, it was easy. You could pull into the dock area and there was plenty of room to park. All the different lines had booking desks in a single hall so you could easily decide who you were going to sail with and make the booking. By doing this I discovered that at that time, quite a few years ago now, you could book from Ancona to Patras with what was then Strintzis lines and get off in Corfu for a few days at no extra charge. I don't think any of the other lines were offering this.

Bari on the other hand was a complete nightmare. Even if you booked outside the town you still had to go into an office at the docks. It was on a main road in the centre of town with no parking and a million other people, or at least it felt like it, were trying to do the same thing. Great after you have just driven for two days and are completely knackered. The last time I went the office had been moved to another area inside the docks so it was OK.

Warwick

[Mixos]

I can only assume Moggieman has wings... of course you have to drive into and out of Ancona to catch the ferry. The port is smack bang in the middle of town unless it's moved in the last two years! Kilkis is right, that when you get to the ferry terminal, all is well laid out and clear and the the drive from there to the boat is simple and traffic-free. But I was talking about getting there. When we were last there, Ancona and its approach roads was one big traffic jam, including the harbour/ferry approach roads. Maybe we hit a bad day.

[moggieman]

Mixos
I must have caught a good the times i have left from there,
The main approach roads are semi duel carriageway then the booking office is right at the end of it.
From the booking office its a normal road around the edge of the town (there is no need to go into the town). The only hold up i have ever had is as you cross the train lines which is also the customs control checking tickets and passports.

This is my favored port for entry into Greece have found the others very lacking.
Bari a lot further on for little saving, Venice far to long on a expensive (captive customer) boat.
Kilkis. The booking area/offices has now been moved off the port to a new (er) one on the outskirts, and you are only allowed on to the actual dock/port area when you have a ticket.

[Kilkis]

...Kilkis. The booking area/offices has now been moved off the port to a new (er) one on the outskirts, and you are only allowed on to the actual dock/port area when you have a ticket.

The booking office was always on the outskirts of the town. When I got to the port in 1997, having already bought my tickets before entering the town, I had to take the tickets and the passports into an office at the gates to the port. You couldn't get through the gates until you had done this and there was absolutely nowhere outside the gates to park. When I went through Bari again in 2000 the office had moved to inside the port gates so you could drive in and there was loads of room to park. What it is like now I have no idea.

I preferred Bari more because of the journey to the UK. The boat used to get into port about 06:30. That gave me a whole day in which I could get to the Geneva area in France early enough to book into one of the cheap chain hotels there and get an evening meal. The ferry used to arrive in Ancona around 16:30 which is a bit late to get into France at a reasonable time. I found Italian hotels were typically old, dirty and expensive while some of the French chains are modern, immaculately clean and very cheap. They seem to have moved everything back about three hours so now the boat doesn't dock until 09:30. This makes it less of an advantage.

Warwick

[Maud]

We have used Bari and Ancona in the last year, for both departures and arrivals. The booking office is near/on the dock at both terminals now and there is plenty of available parking. We have never had a problem and we are 7.5m long!

You don't want to disembark at Bari on a Sunday morning as there is a huge street market right outside the port gates. It is chaotic......and despite seeing more police there directing traffic than in the whole of Italy, it is a nightmare!

Bari, (apart from Sunday morning!), is quieter and a more relaxed experience than Ancona, but like Moggieman we feel Ancona cuts out a lot of extra driving for little extra cost. Bari is good if you are making a bit of a holiday of the trip and want to stop off at Gargano etc. It is also better if you want a shorter ferry crossing. It is all personal choice. We use whichever we can get a booking at for the time we want to sale, but as we are usually just doing the journey to get to Kriti as quickly as possible, Ancona is our first choice.

Maud.

[Kilkis]

...You don't want to disembark at Bari on a Sunday morning as there is a huge street market right outside the port gates. It is chaotic...

I haven't done it for a long time but it used to be similar in Athens. The street market wasn't right outside the port but it was right across the junction to join the main South to North National Highway. Police direct you down a local back street and then you are on your own. The first time it happened to us it took us nearly 30 minutes to get back to the National Highway only a couple of km north of where we would have joined it.

Warwick