"Before it ended The Burstin Hotel at Folkestone Harbour would get people staying there from all over the country.
"You would hear them chatting outside the shop, trying to round-up boarding passes from non-smoking passengers so they could buy up their allocation. French tobacco duties have also risen, reducing further the economic advantage of a "booze cruise". "One man in 1997 begged me to put 400 cigarettes through the till as we were arriving back at Dover. "Boulogne was the preferred destination so the Folkestone to Boulogne crossing was the prime route. Nick Stevens, former Sealink PR manager for the Folkestone-Boulogne and Dover-Calais routes, recalls the heyday of the booze cruise was the 1970s and 80s. TIMELINEBrussels leaders warn against ENEMY WITHIN in wake of BrexitBrexit Day: Can I still do a booze cruise to France after Brexit? The British 'booze cruise' is back. They would just walk over the road, through the harbour, go straight through controls and they'd be on a ferry in minutes. Events involving their wives and families back home also form a large part of the plot. The country stands to lose the great British booze cruise, a channel hopping adventure which sees people cross to France for cheap supplies of … "They were not all runners though. Assuming that the UK exits the EU on January 31st with a deal – which is now looking like the most likely scenario – there then begins a transition period which runs until at least December 31st. "Taking your car over was very popular as well as the foot passenger market. Originally alcohol purchases on board the ferry had the additional attraction of being duty-free, adding a secondary meaning to booze cruise.
"It was such a busy, lucrative time for the ferry industry. openly carried) goods above their 'limits', if they are happy that the goods are genuinely for personal consumption. Calais in particular is very well-served by public transport, with the ferry companies also providing a shuttle bus from the ferry terminal to the town centre and (by request) the bus interchange at the SNCF railway station. His dad Gerry was a former ship purser turned shore manager for Sealink who became manager at the Port of Boulogne.Known as Mr Boulogne, Gerry was also Her Majesty's Honorary Consul for the town and would ensure visiting Brits were behaving themselves, a task sometimes far more demanding than his day job because "people would go out and have too much to drink".A Daily Express article in 1986 said the part-time diplomat handled around 400 issues for Britons in the town in the year before the feature was published. "The Folkestone to Boulogne route stopped operating in 1991 and trains no longer stopped at Folkestone Harbour. The conclusions seem pretty obvious, if you drink more than about 1 bottle of wine per week (or even if you don’t actually, you can just space out your trips further!) The greatest threat to the booze cruise should the UK leave the EU is the reintroduction of customs allowances across the Channel. Issues would range from lost passports to punch-ups.Of course most wouldn't drink to excess. HMRC have the legal right to stop and search any vehicle. "The runners were the downside of the market because it did become completely saturated with, shall we say, "not the right sort of clientele", Nick said.As a one-time stewardess in the duty-free shop of the Stena Cambria, Kentonline's Beth Robson recalled: "We'd ask for passengers' boarding passes before serving them, clip their card with a hole punch to show they'd used their duty-free allowance, and passengers would return to the bar. ), with family cars and contents being confiscated on the spot and the travelers left stranded at Dover in the dead of night. A group of men from Kent; Clive (Martin Clunes), Rob (Neil Pearson), Dave (Mark Benton), Maurice (Brian Murphy) and Daniel (Ben Whishaw) - go on a booze cruise to France, with mixed success and many mishaps along the way. After a holiday to the South of France with my bestie we became hooked on French wine. then the Booze Cruise to France is well and truly alive and kicking as a way to save some dosh when stocking up your alcohol supplies. Booze Cruise to France for Wine for your Wedding Is it worth it? The Calais area suffers high unemployment (around 20%) and benefits from the service jobs created by the influx of English On the downside, UK taxes (especially on tobacco) seem to have risen beyond the point of A recent French law has effectively outlawed tobacco tourism which uses France either as a destination or as a route.Following recent tax increases in France it has become more attractive for French citizens to buy tobacco in Belgium and Luxembourg. You could go ashore, buy cases of beer and wine and go back. It probably originated during Generally, alcohol and tobacco taxes are lower in France than in Britain. The custom of British people filling the car up with alcohol – usually wine – in France and taking it back to the UK on the ferry or via the Channel Tunnel is a popular one. It benefits the entrepreneurs who have businesses around the French ports dependent upon bulk purchases and also other local businesses that benefit from passing trade.