I have used Eurotunnel for many many years as a frequent traveller but due to these fares being no longer available and the chaos of the last few trips, we have decided to give DFDS ferries a go. As it has been a long time since we have used a ferry, can anyone tell me what the check in process is like - do they examine the contents of your car etc? I was hoping to take sandwiches and chocolate for the journey and this has never been a problem on the tunnel but just wondered if they were more or less strict on a ferry? DFDS are considerably cheaper than Eurotunnel but not sure if we will go back to what we know after this visit.
cheese and meat products will be a no-no and likely be confiscated.
On all the ferry journeys we have made Dover > Calais/Dunkirk we have found the on board restaurant or shop to be well stocked without the need to take stuff on board (even before Brexit).
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Must confess… way back when… long before Tunnel… as far as I was concerned… the holiday began with a full breakfast in the ship’s restaurant.
Of course, if the weather was bad and the sea was choppy… the restaurant was somewhat lightly populated, so we could sit wherever we chose and the service (and the food) was marvellous…
One time, I’m sure I saw the tentacles of an octopus wafting against the windows, as the ship went up and down and side to side… but it never put me off my food. 
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Later, we used to travel to UK via Zeebrugge to Hull (and return) on the overnight ferry service with DFDS and the breakfast service in the proper restaurant (not the self service one) with full waiter service was incredible, a real treat.
Sadly, that route has now been withdrawn.
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Oh yes… waiter service for us… every time… that’s what holidays are all about… marvellous.
Not expecting to use Tunnel or Ferry in the near future/ever (?) but enjoyed the overnight crossing to Corsica… like to do that again.
Lovely evening meal… nod in a cabin… lovely breakfast… and out on the open road (well, openish apart from pigs, cows and falling rocks… )
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You and my OH. I, on the other hand, would be lying in bed in the cabin willing the whole journey to be over as soon as possible (even in a flat calm).
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Thanks Graham 
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Ha ha ha, I might order some oversized calamari then
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Of course if you have ruled out the tunnel then you are not tied to the Dover Calais route, you have a lot more choice depending on whereabouts in France you are heading.
Hahaha, in laws travelled back last week with their band products, no body cared or asked.
Which way is “back”?
France has checks in operation on items being brought into the country, but the UK does not.
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Not in my recent experience.
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As with everything in life… folk will have differing experiences…
Personally, I try to “do things right”… yes, I know that sounds boring… and in some ways it is.
On the rare occasion that I’ve “broken the rules”… I’ve been on tenterhooks, convinced the authorities are going to pounce and discover my extra packet of whatever… I’ll be marched off to the cells…
Frankly, I decided it simply wasn’t worth it…
and, if the rules are in place for a health/sanitary reason it does make sense to stick to 'em…
There again, some years back I did find myself hurredly munching a ham sandwich just before our car rolled forward to be checked… 
would they have found it ?? who knows… I couldn’t stand the strain… my courage failed me and I nearly choked in my panic…
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Individual experiences will be different because having checks in place does not mean checking each and every traveller. That would obviously not be feasible. Just, there is a system in place that allows checks to potentially be carried out. So, entering France there is a tiny chance of being checked whereas entering the UK there is no risk because there is no system in place.
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Back to their home in france with favorite UK goodies.
Edit, forgot to mention the pair of them brought covid over with them although they didnt at the time know it.
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Monetary sense maybe. It harks back to the school days french trips where we should never touch an animal in france as they all have rabbies 
Was rabbies ever that rife? Despite draconian transport measures based on “its those foreigners carrying disease”. We have seen over the last 2.5 years how virus travels the world so quickly and if having eaten a uk made sandwich your stools were excreted in france.
Strikes me that each of us can defend our reasoning against whatever rule/law we intend to break…
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I’ll try to get rid of my stools before we embark . It just all seems so unnecessary give that 3 years ago, we could bring almost anything in but I do understand that the EU is trying to make a point to “us” who voted to leave the EU. Not me I hasten to add and not any of my friends either 
I came back ,last week, into Roscoff noone was interested in our food “imports” Pork Pies Cheese all those so called banned substances went through without a mention.
As a matter of interest… does someone have the official link stating what should NOT be brought into France at the moment … ???