Review: Irish ferries "Oscar Wilde"

AARRRGH

tommyhaas wrote: »

I dont understand how anyone will sail Irish Ferries after their disgraceful behaviour getting rid of the Irish crews.

In fairness Ireland has benefited from that sort of bahaviour too. We use low taxes to steal other people's jobs...

But back on topic.

I love traveling from Rosslare to France on the Oscar Wilde. Apart from advanture of being at sea, I love the sort of tackiness of the boat (musicians playing violins in an effort to make the place look posh) and the terrible entertainment on board, e.g. the magic show and disco.

I never get a cabin so always end up having a horrible sleep, but when I arrive in lovely France and wander Cherbourg as I wait for my train to Paris, I feel fantastic.

It makes traveling feel like an epic journey compared to jumping on a Ryanair flight.

peckmyster

Hi just wondering which is the cheapest way to take your car to england? Who does the best rates? which ferry company.......

chubacca

peckmyster wrote: »

Hi just wondering which is the cheapest way to take your car to england? Who does the best rates? which ferry company.......

both stenna and irish ferries are nearly the same price from rosslare

Gvillage

peckmyster wrote: »

Hi just wondering which is the cheapest way to take your car to england? Who does the best rates? which ferry company.......

Howdee,
I don't know who offer the best rates to England.. probably Irish Ferries but I do know that Celtic Link offer the cheapest 2 France. They are very cheap fo the summer time

coolvale

i have been on the normandy several times, once to cherburg in a force 7 to 8 gale & found her to be ok.
having said that i hav'nt been on the oscar wilde so cant compare.

Imaginary Boy

McSween wrote: »

anyone have any photos?

looking forward to going on it in september. i assume wireless internet is a little too much to ask is it?

Lol, might be a little late in saying this but wi-fi is now available throughout the vessel (for a charge) and there are 2 computers by the reception that you have to pay for every minute of internet you use.

jendafer1

Hello! Does anyone know anything about the reserved seating area on the Oscar Wilde? Ie is it packed in like an airplane, is it actually comfortable? Can you kip on the floor instead with camping mat? Are there lockers? Any info would be much appreciated as Irish ferries dont have any photos of it on their website and we go out on Wednesday!!

Imaginary Boy

jendafer1 wrote: »

Hello! Does anyone know anything about the reserved seating area on the Oscar Wilde? Ie is it packed in like an airplane, is it actually comfortable? Can you kip on the floor instead with camping mat? Are there lockers? Any info would be much appreciated as Irish ferries dont have any photos of it on their website and we go out on Wednesday!!

Yes, its quite comfortable. Its located on deck 10, only 10 chairs per room and near the cinema.

HBAMS

Imaginary Boy wrote: »

Lol, might be a little late in saying this but wi-fi is now available throughout the vessel (for a charge) and there are 2 computers by the reception that you have to pay for every minute of internet you use.

Travelled home from Roscoff on the Oscar Wilde on the 15th july.
No WiFi then throughout the vessel..
Yes computers at reception at €5 for 15 minutes.

Imaginary Boy

HBAMS wrote: »

Travelled home from Roscoff on the Oscar Wilde on the 15th july.
No WiFi then throughout the vessel..
Yes computers at reception at €5 for 15 minutes.

lol, theres signs up everywhere saying theres wifi?

http://www.irishferries.com/ships-oscarwilde.asp (click on wifi)

HBAMS

It must be new as I had words with reception about Stena having free WiFi throughout there Ferries and she said that they were looking into it, I even said to her, If you can have it for the Surf box why not throughout the ferry.
We even can have WiFi on the Bus from Dublin to Galway.

APM

travelled on this ship in may also and there was no internet, just a broken internet kiosk computer. Bit annoying for such a long sailing

McSween

Imaginary Boy wrote: »

Lol, might be a little late in saying this but wi-fi is now available throughout the vessel (for a charge) and there are 2 computers by the reception that you have to pay for every minute of internet you use.

cheers. i'd love to go to france on it again but not sure when that's going to happen. a fantastic experience on my sole trip on the oscar wilde 2 years ago now.

jendafer1

Just back from my 2 weeks in France so thought I'd post up about my experience on the Oscar Wilde:

Overall an enjoyable experience - the staff were friendly and helpful and the boat itself was quite nice.

We had only booked seats in the reserved seating area - this area is on deck 11 beside the cinema. There are 6 different rooms each with approximately 32 reclining seats in them. Upon booking you will be allocated a specific seat, but when we boarded the staff told us to take any seat, I'm not sure if this would be the same in high season? On both legs of the journey there were only ~20 people altogether spread over the 6 rooms.
The chairs themselves arent that comfortable for sleeping on, but bring a pillow and a sleeping bag with you and the carpetted floor is grand. Reception also told us that the cinema could provide blankets and pillows, however we saw no further evidence of this so if you plan on using them, ask for them right away so if they arent available you can still go pick up your own blankets.
The rooms dont lock so are not secure, but if you are a foot passenger there are lockers nearby for your main gear (not for a handbag as you pay €6 each time you would need to open it).
Theres also a shower in the toilets nearby which was clean.

As for the food on the boat - yes its expensive, but no more so than would be expected. We picked up a huge portion of delicious spag bol from the self-service for €10 which I thought was very decent. Then again, I paid €4 for a tiny croissant and OJ the next morning. The two other restaurants on the boat looked nice, but way out of my budget!

In an all, a good experience!

babaduck

We're also just back from a trip to France on the Oscar Wilde - we paid for speedy exit on the outbound journey (€10) & this was well worth the spends - we were told to park on Deck 3, 8 cars from the exit and it took 4 minutes to disembark in Cherbourg We paid for a 4* 2 berth cabin & ended up again in 9122, both out & back. It was spotless, so no complaints there. The hot food in the Left Bank restaurant is just OK, nothing to write home about at all.

On the way home from Roscoff, the embarcation process was unusually quick - you're usually left hanging around for aaaaages, but not this time. 10 minutes from checking in to parking the car & as always, the French customs guys were absolutely lovely... pissing themselves laughing at the contents of my car. As we had a big lunch, we ended up just having soup & a sandwich in the Left Bank. Absolutely delicious - I nearly fell over in shock :eek: The soup was vegetable, beautifully made & perfectly seasoned. The sandwich was a ham & salad wholemeal bloomer and it was gorgeous. Trust me, I write a food blog, I know good grub As it was pretty rocky on the return, we just dosed ourselves with Nautamine & had a few drinks in the cabin watching TV. Disembarcation took about 30 minutes in Rosslare

Satts

Is the Oscar Wilde running smooth these days ?

i.e. Has the engine trouble been sorted out ?

willowthewisp

Anyone been on this recently?
If so are the films in the cinema recent?