Overstretched!
We have travelled on Le Shuttle a good deal during the last few years and sadly on our last 2 crossings we were left underwhelmed.
We had had messages from Eurotunnel, telling us that we were travelling on a busy weekend at the end of August 2019 and that we should arrive on time for our crossing, no more than 2 hours early.
On the outward bound we were just in time to be allocated an earlier crossing by 30 mins or so. Because loading and customs/border checks were slow we eventually arrived about 10 to 15 minutes before our scheduled arrival time.
On the return trip we arrived 2 hours early as a text message suggested it would be busy, and that we would be placed into a holding area. This happened on arrival. We stayed for 45 minutes before moving on to check in and border control. Sadly no explanation or information was available about how long the wait would be. Booked times counted for nothing it seemed as everyone appeared to be simply added to the queue in order of arrival (except flexi customers who skipped the line) when we were placed in the approach lanes the overhead signs giving loading details we're apparently out of sync with reality. Letters were shown as loading when they clearly were not, boarding imminently meant a 20 minute wait. Loading was very slow, from one side of the train only through only one entry point at a time. This was the response to busy! We eventually departed 30 minutes after our scheduled time.
In all disappointed at the lack of urgency and information.