FERRY OPTIONS FOR 2016 - THE MAIN PLAYERS Irish Ferries Following the charter of the RoPax ferry Epsilon a couple of years ago, the Irish Ferries fleet and its deployment has remained very stable, running the following routes are: • Dublin/Holyhead: Twice daily sailings with each of the three vessels on the route, namely the cruise ferry Ulysses, the RoPax Epsilon and the fast ferry Jonathan Swift. Cars can be carried on all three vessels and, while motorhomes are carried on the two larger ferries, headroom in the car deck on the fast ferry is very limited and this should be checked out carefully using the company’s website before making any booking. Foot passengers cannot be accommodated aboard the Epsilon. • Rosslare/Pembroke: This is operated with the cruise ferry Isle of Inishmore. There is substantial capacity for all kinds of vehicles on board. Like the other vessels in the Irish Ferries fleet there is Wi-Fi on board. • Rosslare/Cherbourg and Rosslare/Roscoff: These services are operated by the cruise ferry Oscar Wilde. The Roscoff service is one that runs at high-summer only while the Cherbourg service runs all year except for the period from late December to end-February. • Dublin/Cherbourg: Irish Ferries run this once weekly service, leaving Dublin on Saturday afternoon and arriving back in Dublin on Monday morning using the RoPax Epsilon. Thought passenger facilities on board are limited, this is an extremely popular service and very early booking is required. Irish Ferries sets out very clearly on its website details of parking facilities at or close to the terminals through which they operate. This could be well worth checking out in advance particularly as there are large variations in the levels of vehicle security at different sites. Plug-in facilities are available for electric vehicles on board the Ulysses and the Oscar Wilde.
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– and have had their hotel facilities upgraded to match the standards of those on the Cairnryan service vessels. Dublin/Holyhead: This is a three hour fifteen-minute crossing with the two cruise ferries, Stena Adventurer and Stena Superfast X, between the two giving four departures daily from Dublin Port. Both vessels can accommodate any vehicle and offer the full range of on-board services. Cabins are available on board the Stena Adventurer. Rosslare/Fishguard: This is, perhaps, the longest running Irish sea ferry route, having just celebrated 110 years in operation. There has been a continuous evolution of the service with various operators having run the service over time, but the ports at either end remain under the same ownership, that of the Fishguard and Rosslare Railway Company. Stena Line operates the cruise ferry Stena Europe with twice daily sailings ex-Rosslare. Sailing time is three and a half hours. Rosslare/Cherbourg: Stena sails the RoPax, Stena Horizon, three times weekly from Rosslare. This is a year round service and, though passenger facilities and accommodation are more limited than that found on the cruise ferries, there is plenty of accommodation for all kinds of vehicles. Cabins are available and there is passenger accommodation for up to 900.
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P&O Ferries P&O Ferries is probably best known for its wide range of crosschannel and North Sea routes, but it's also a substantial player on the Irish Sea. It operates the following: • Larne/Cairnryan: This is the shortest Irish Sea route with a crossing time by cruise ferry of two hours. There are up to seven sailings ex-Larne each day with good facilities on board and accommodation for all types of vehicles. • Dublin/Liverpool: Three RoPax vessels each undertake a daily round-trip on this eight-hour central corridor route. These vessels carry substantial freight volumes, but do have good passenger facilities. Osca Os carr Wi W ld ldee at R ossl slarre
Stena Line Though Stena Line operates ferries throughout the North Sea, Scandinavia and even the Black Sea, the Irish Sea remains a major theatre of activity for the company. Its routes out of Ireland are: • Belfast/Cairnryan: This two-and-a-half-hour crossing is made up to six times daily ex-Belfast aboard the cruise ferries, Superfast VII and Superfast VIII. This is a year round service with good accommodation and facilities for all kinds of vehicles. • Belfast/Liverpool: This is an eight-hour crossing with sailings ex-Belfast twice daily. The vessels, Stena Lagan and Stena Mersey can accommodate all kinds of vehicles – regular cargo is aircraft fuselages and wings carried for Bombardier
P&O Ferries does offer very good landbridge options and rates using its Cross Channel and North Sea services.
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