Overview

I had always wanted to take the long-distance ferry to Spain, and this summer I had the chance, travelling with my partner and teenage son on the Brittany Ferries vessel Pont-Aven. Booking an accessible cabin was straightforward on the website, although there was a moment of anxiety at the check-in in Plymouth where the staff member gave us key cards to a standard cabin. When I queried this, he said the accessible booking hadn't come up on his screen, but thankfully the booking was in his computer somewhere and he exchanged the key cards for the correct ones. Going onboard, we were given a parking space near a lift, and the staff were helpfully directing non-disabled passengers to different lifts and stairs so we could have priority at lift C (this happened both on the outbound and return journeys). Our cabin was only just big enough for the three of us, but the accessible bathroom was decent: a wetroom well supplied with rails and with a sturdy shower seat where I managed to have a shower even when the waves had become a bit choppy. The bathroom door had a lip at the bottom, but there was a sort of mini-ramp each side so you could get over it in a wheelchair. This wasn't entirely successful, as my little scooter still got snagged once or twice, but I was glad that someone had at least thought of the mini-ramps because I am pretty weary of "accessible" places with substantial lips at the doors, or shower trays you have to step up into. The other good thing about the cabin was the button that automatically opened the main door to the corridor, and when this seemed not to be working properly on the return leg, the information desk immediately sent someone to fix it. In fact, the information desk staff were good all round, taking my medicines to put in their fridge and supplying extra towels with a smile. Good lifts were plentiful throughout the ship, and access was fine to all the cafes and the shop. Most of the doors out to the open decks are lip-free (unlike on the Dover-Calais ferries I've taken) and there were easy alternatives nearby to any doors that did have lips. It's important on the Pont-Aven to be able to get out on deck, because of the whale and dolphin watching that's a popular feature of the voyage through the Bay of Biscay. We went to a presentation by an environmental charity in the ship's entertainment area and then headed out to try and spot some cetaceans for ourselves. It was a shame that the absolute top deck, Deck 10, was only accessible by stairs, as the hardcore whale-watchers were all up there with their binoculars, but there was a good view from Deck 9 too, and we spotted some dolphins. Overall, travelling on the Pont-Aven was an excellent experience which I would happily repeat. It's not cheap, but it's so much better than the misery of flying as a wheelchair-user, and you get to take your own car on holiday to Spain.

Transport & Parking

As part of the process of booking an accessible cabin, you can make sure you're flagged up as a car that needs a parking place near a lift on the vehicle decks, so everything was fine inside the ship. Things were less good in port at each end because it wasn't obvious whether you could park up somewhere and get a drink or use the loo without losing your place for boarding. We felt like we had to stay in our car for a long time to be in the right queue and make sure we weren't left behind!

Access

Very happy with the access overall - see my main review

Toilets

See my main review for more details. I loved having a cabin with my own private loo, although there were plenty of other disabled loos around the ship.

Staff

Good crew, from the staff at the information desk to the woman at the cafe-bar who speedily nipped out from behind the counter to get an ice-cream that was in a freezer I couldn't reach

Photos