Cap Finistère Enters Service

Cap Finistère, Brittany Ferries’ latest vessel today began operating from the South Coast port of Portsmouth, providing fast and frequent sailings to Santander in Spain. At over 200m long and operating at speeds of over 30 mph she’s the longest and fastest Brittany Ferries cruise ferry to date.

Cap Finistère will provide two weekly roundtrips from the UK to Spain, complementing the twice-weekly sailings already offered by Brittany Ferries’ flagship Pont Aven, as well as the weekend service from Poole to Santander offered by the dedicated freight ferry, Cotentin.

The increase in sailings to Spain not only gives holidaymakers much more choice when they’re looking to travel to the Iberian peninsular, but it also means fewer lorries using French roads – in fact Brittany Ferries’ aim is to carry 40,000 heavy goods vehicles to Spain a year by 2012, removing traffic from French roads and creating what is effectively a Motorway of the Sea.

But while the ship lets passengers bypass French roads they certainly won’t feel as if they’ve missed out on France. As with every Brittany Ferries ship, Cap Finistère is French-crewed and offers the fine cuisine and service for which the company is renowned.

However passengers will also notice a few Brittany Ferries ‘firsts’, such as an open air pool and lido complete with its own bar, as well as salad and sandwich bars offering several organic and healthy choices. Another novelty on board is l’atelier – a workshop offering wine and whisky tasting, cosmetics seminars, and a whole range of well-being and beauty treatments.

David Longden, Brittany Ferries’ Managing Director commented “Last year when we introduced our Portsmouth-Santander route, we brought Spain closer to Portsmouth by offering a crossing time of just 24 hours. Now we’re increasing the frequency too by offering three round trips a week from the City.”

He continued, “It’s all about taking people from a convenient port direct to where they want to go – Spain is still the number one choice for the British holidaymaker, although more and more of them are falling out of love with the plane as a way of getting there.”

To book a crossing click here.