Armorique Weekend

Arrived, checked in, boarded ! I'll leave the details to others who are more experienced at this voyage report lark and concentrate on my impressions of the Armorique. Very tidy still on the outside - not been bashed around too much yet it seems.

The quality of the fittings onboard is undeniably very good. She looks new (unsurprisingly) and the cleaners seem to have a very easy job keeping her in good condition and all those coloured glass partitions were fingerprint free. Cabins were comfortable and quiet, good heating and cooling and excellent shower. I had a simple 2 berth inside, 8019 and it was fine.

After a bit of a wander around to get bearings we settled in the bar and pretty much spent the entire time there with occassional trips outside. Left on time and then bobbed around off the coast until about 2am BST due to 10am arrival in Roscoff awaiting PA 's departure to Plymouth.

The crossing was very smooth and quiet, slept well but woke at 07h30 with a distinct feeling that my head was lower than my feet despite the 2 pillow. It felt like we were heading downhill ! Not uncomfortable, just odd so decided to get up and go eat. Self service, full english, not bad at all. Could have been a bit hotter but perfectly adequate.

Approached Roscoff slowly whilst waiting for PA to depart. The splutter of black smoke signalled her departure and after a some mutual horn honking they passed each other and Armorique took her turn on the berth. Offload seemed smooth but it was a quiet sailing so that is only to be expected. As always, the footies take a little longer and you do have to wonder if these mechanical gangways are more trouble than they are worth sometimes !

Walked into Roscoff where they were celebrating European open day so lots of groups in local costume wandering around singing at unsuspecting visitors, a coffee/cider/Earl Grey stop at a cafe, a wander around the centre, a nice crepe in a creperie, a trip up the lighthouse (open to the public for the first time) and then headed back to the port. Stopped at the Casino to admire some vintage cars and then on to check in.

I suppose this is where my impressions of the Armorique really formed. Usually I would expect to be looking forward to the return crossing to enjoy the aspects of a ship that I had seen on the way out. I suppose it is a part of the BF experience that is at the heart of their product that they have marketed in the past - your holiday begins onboard.

It is very hard to put your finger on something when you are trying to convey a feeling of something lacking but there really was a certain je ne sais quoi about the whole thing. I wanted to wander around and discover a little corner out of the way, stumble across pastries and the smell of coffee or just people watch in the sense that you see new faces who you had not noticed previously as they had been tucked away in various undiscovered parts of a ship. It actually felt like wandering around an Ikea showroom ! They also try to define areas but essentially just fill a large space.

The self-service supplied the food, mine was nice but Paul had a steak with an unpleasant amount of fat. The mains were delivered promptly and everything was cleared efficiently but it felt to me like eating at a foodhall in a shopping centre.

I don't want to be down on the ship but the overall impression was that she was designed to be manned with as few staff as possible. The cafe and reclining seat open plan arrangement makes perfect sense - if you want to ensure that people are reminded they can buy stuff throughout the trip at the cafe. Same with the bar, perfectly laid out as a main thoroughfare to the outside space for passing traffic. Sadly, sitting in the area opposite the bar is exactly just that - you are sitting in an area near a bar, not really sitting in the bar.

I want to say that she feels like the Barfleur but as I have not travelled on the Barfleur since the removal of the restaurant, I don't want to have to contemplate the idea that Barfleur has had her character changed for the worst too. It was suggested that travelling on the Armorique was closer to travelling on a Dover-Calais ship than the traditional BF experience. Certainly times and markets change and it is brave of BF to have announced ahead of her arrival that Armorique would offer a new concept but by the same token I would have hoped it added to the enjoyable experience that was a trademark of their fleet.

If I had crossed on the PA and returned on the Arm I would feel cheated. Yes, I know they are built to a different standard for a different market but the sense of 'something missing' just would not go away. I wanted the Armorique to be an exciting new design by BF to address the realities of running an operation profitably whilst retaining the character and strength of the brand but was left with the feeling that they have built the perfect ship to stand-in on other routes or a bland ship easily chartered out to any other operator with minimal changes needed.

So there it is. I had a great time with fellow BFE 'ers but I was underwhelmed by my first encounter with Armorique. Not because she is a bad ship but more because she is only seems to be recognisable as a BF ship by the writing on the side.