FRS Ferry between Tarifa and Tanger

I wish FRS Ferry which runs the so called fast ferry between Tarifa,
Spain and Tanger, Morocco would correct its time table. But I know it
is probably not likely. The advertised time table is very misleading.
It says you depart from one place and reaches the detination 35 minutes
later. But it completely ignores the car and passenger loading and
unloading time, which takes up at lease 60 minutes, sometimes 90
minutes. So your travel time from stop to stop could be more than two
hours.

This mis-information cost us the train connection in Tanger.

"yaofeng" <yaofengchen@> wrote in message
news:1168806574.247942.219160@38g2000cwa. ...
>I wish FRS Ferry which runs the so called fast ferry between Tarifa,
> Spain and Tanger, Morocco would correct its time table. But I know it
> is probably not likely. The advertised time table is very misleading.
> It says you depart from one place and reaches the detination 35 minutes
> later. But it completely ignores the car and passenger loading and
> unloading time, which takes up at lease 60 minutes, sometimes 90
> minutes. So your travel time from stop to stop could be more than two
> hours.
>
> This mis-information cost us the train connection in Tanger.

Can you explain? Did the time of your arrival into Tangier port not give you
sufficient time to get to the railway station? Or was the ferry just plain
delayed?
Many passengers (not necessarily your self) forget that Spain and Morocco
are on different times.
In Summer, Tangier is TWO HOURS BEHIND Spain. So you can leave Tarifa at 1pm
and if the journey takes 2 hours you can arrive at Tangier at same time
(LOCAL) . I think timetables reflect all that.
In WINTER the time in Tangier is ONE HOUR BEHIND Spain.
Of course returning to Spain means you add one or two hours.
So I am wondering what time you thought you were arriving (LOCAL) and how
long it took the ferry to cross? Was it just LATE arriving?
In my experience any travel time by ferry must take into account possible
delays caused by all kinds of events such as weather or tides. Allowing for
the extra margins for connections is paramount.

The FRS ferry schedula says the 13:00 ferry takes us to Tanger 12:45.
It is because Tanger is an hour ahead. So it makes sense. But
outbound we were delayed more than an hour because of loading and
unloading the cars. Judging from our return trip which is delayed even
more we think this delay is typical. If we arrived at Tanger at 12:45
we would have plenty time to make the train which depart Tangerville at
!3;30 for Fes.

On our way back to Spain the slow Moroccan custom official which takes
his time to process each and every passport despite the long line
doesn't help matters. But it is irrelevant. Our worry of not making
the ferry because of the slow customs officail was unfounded. Again
loading of the car into the ferry took forever we were delayed even
more then the inbound trip

Can you make FRS to change it claim "Tarifa to Tanger in 35 minutes?"
I hope sooner or later the passengers flocking to a more honest carrier
will make that happen.

On Jan 14, 4:20 pm, "white_man" <idi...@m> wrote:
> "yaofeng" <yaofengc...@> wrote in messagenews:1168806574.247942.219160@38g2000cwa.go oglegro...
>
> >I wish FRS Ferry which runs the so called fast ferry between Tarifa,
> > Spain and Tanger, Morocco would correct its time table. But I know it
> > is probably not likely. The advertised time table is very misleading.
> > It says you depart from one place and reaches the detination 35 minutes
> > later. But it completely ignores the car and passenger loading and
> > unloading time, which takes up at lease 60 minutes, sometimes 90
> > minutes. So your travel time from stop to stop could be more than two
> > hours.
>
> > This mis-information cost us the train connection in Tanger.Can you explain? Did the time of your arrival into Tangier port not give you
> sufficient time to get to the railway station? Or was the ferry just plain
> delayed?
> Many passengers (not necessarily your self) forget that Spain and Morocco
> are on different times.
> In Summer, Tangier is TWO HOURS BEHIND Spain. So you can leave Tarifa at 1pm
> and if the journey takes 2 hours you can arrive at Tangier at same time
> (LOCAL) . I think timetables reflect all that.
> In WINTER the time in Tangier is ONE HOUR BEHIND Spain.
> Of course returning to Spain means you add one or two hours.
> So I am wondering what time you thought you were arriving (LOCAL) and how
> long it took the ferry to cross? Was it just LATE arriving?
> In my experience any travel time by ferry must take into account possible
> delays caused by all kinds of events such as weather or tides. Allowing for
> the extra margins for connections is paramount.

No. Going through immigration is done enroute on the ferry so that's
part of the 35 minutes. It is plenty enough for the Moroccan custom
officials to stamp the passport. If FRS makes the claim the ferry
would arrive at the specified time it should stick to it. I am not
optismistic. I just want the Ferry operator to be realistic.

Too bad the traffic isn't big enough to allow compttition on that same
route. I think that's why FRS can get away with this dishonest claim.
What would people think if FRS change it to "Tarifa to Tanger in two
hours"? People would stick to the Algeciras Tanger route already well
established. But you can fool people only once.

On Jan 15, 4:53 am, "white_man" <idi...@m> wrote:
> "yaofeng" <yaofengc...@> wrote in messagenews:1168811177.228622.272800@s34g2000cwa.g ooglegro...
>
>
>
>
>
> > The FRS ferry schedula says the 13:00 ferry takes us to Tanger 12:45.
> > It is because Tanger is an hour ahead. So it makes sense. But
> > outbound we were delayed more than an hour because of loading and
> > unloading the cars. Judging from our return trip which is delayed even
> > more we think this delay is typical. If we arrived at Tanger at 12:45
> > we would have plenty time to make the train which depart Tangerville at
> > !3;30 for Fes.
>
> > On our way back to Spain the slow Moroccan custom official which takes
> > his time to process each and every passport despite the long line
> > doesn't help matters. But it is irrelevant. Our worry of not making
> > the ferry because of the slow customs officail was unfounded. Again
> > loading of the car into the ferry took forever we were delayed even
> > more then the inbound trip
>
> > Can you make FRS to change it claim "Tarifa to Tanger in 35 minutes?"
> > I hope sooner or later the passengers flocking to a more honest carrier
> > will make that happen.In an efficiently run place, a short ferry trip can run according to
> schedule.
> As I understand it, you thought that if you arrive (according to schedule)
> at 12.45 at Tangier port, you could easily make the train from Tangier
> railway station leaving at 13.30. This allows you 45 minutes for
> disembarking, passing through immigration, finding taxi to railway station
> and finding your train.
> I think that most people who know Spain and Morocco would think that you
> were being optimistic. In the real world, schedules tend not to be timely.- Hide quoted text -- Show quoted text -

We were prepared to take Morocco day by day. Except ONCE, the Moroccan
national railway runs by the clock. It is ironic but the FRS ferry
should learn something from ONCE.

On Jan 15, 9:38 am, "a.spencer3" <a.spenc...@ntlworld.com> wrote:
> "yaofeng" <yaofengc...@> wrote in messagenews:1168869482.428026.178490@38g2000cwa.go oglegro...> No. Going through immigration is done enroute on the ferry so that's
> > part of the 35 minutes. It is plenty enough for the Moroccan custom
> > officials to stamp the passport. If FRS makes the claim the ferry
> > would arrive at the specified time it should stick to it. I am not
> > optismistic. I just want the Ferry operator to be realistic.
>
> > Too bad the traffic isn't big enough to allow compttition on that same
> > route. I think that's why FRS can get away with this dishonest claim.
> > What would people think if FRS change it to "Tarifa to Tanger in two
> > hours"? People would stick to the Algeciras Tanger route already well
> > established. But you can fool people only once.
>
> > On Jan 15, 4:53 am, "white_man" <idi...@m> wrote:
> > > "yaofeng" <yaofengc...@> wrote inmessagenews:1168811177.228622.272800@s34g2000cwa ..com...
>
>
>
>
>
> > > > The FRS ferry schedula says the 13:00 ferry takes us to Tanger 12:45.
> > > > It is because Tanger is an hour ahead. So it makes sense. But
> > > > outbound we were delayed more than an hour because of loading and
> > > > unloading the cars. Judging from our return trip which is delayed
> even
> > > > more we think this delay is typical. If we arrived at Tanger at 12:45
> > > > we would have plenty time to make the train which depart Tangerville
> at
> > > > !3;30 for Fes.
>
> > > > On our way back to Spain the slow Moroccan custom official which takes
> > > > his time to process each and every passport despite the long line
> > > > doesn't help matters. But it is irrelevant. Our worry of not making
> > > > the ferry because of the slow customs officail was unfounded. Again
> > > > loading of the car into the ferry took forever we were delayed even
> > > > more then the inbound trip
>
> > > > Can you make FRS to change it claim "Tarifa to Tanger in 35 minutes?"
> > > > I hope sooner or later the passengers flocking to a more honest
> carrier
> > > > will make that happen.In an efficiently run place, a short ferry tripcan run according to> > schedule.
> > > As I understand it, you thought that if you arrive (according to
> schedule)
> > > at 12.45 at Tangier port, you could easily make the train from Tangier
> > > railway station leaving at 13.30. This allows you 45 minutes for
> > > disembarking, passing through immigration, finding taxi to railway
> station
> > > and finding your train.
> > > I think that most people who know Spain and Morocco would think that you
> > > were being optimistic. In the real world, schedules tend not to betimely.- Hide quoted text -- Show quoted text -
>
> Yep, just take Morocco (and most of N. Africa/Middle East) day by day -
> literally!
> Different way of life, and one to be greatly enjoyed.
> I still vastly prefer the Tarifa ferry than having to endure Algeciras - a
> total dump of a place.
>
> Surreyman- Hide quoted text -- Show quoted text -