Shannon Cruise????

bono_v

Hi all. I was considering a 4 night cruise on the Shannon as a 30th birthday present for my girlfriend? Does anyone think this is a wise choice?. Also what route would you recommend for 4 nights? I'm thinking of going with carrickcraft, does any know anything about this crowd?? What extra costs is there....fuel,insurance,marinas? Any help greatly appreciated as I really havn't a clue about boat or cruising!!!

Framed10

Hi, Ive done it twice now.
2 years ago I went with emerald star (started in carrick on shannon) and this year I went with shannoncastleline on lough derg/river shannon

Both were great fun.
Things to thing about, lough derg is a wide open lake and is easier navigate for first timer (even though its not difficult at all) and the villages around the lake are fabulous, great pubs and restraunts esp for summer months.
places like kilaloe, ballina, terryglass, garykennedy and banagher.
If you are on upper shannon then you have the narrower river and you must also go through the lock gates, here you have to tie up the boat while the water is emptied or filled up you (usually have to give a lock keeper a couple of €, some are also automated)

You must pay for fuel, like you would car hire. we paid for fuel we used up when returning the boat.
You will have to pay a damage deposit refundable on return again.
Its always worth getting a bigger berth boat than the number of people travelling, just for a little extra space. thats if money allows.

we had 5 people on an 8 berth, we had 2 showers (water heated by engine) 2 bathrooms. 1 decent double, 1 smaller double, 2 singles as bunks and you can also open out the couch area into another double.

Other things in summer some marinas will prob get full early so get to your destination in plenty of time to get a parking spot (esp for smaller or popular places) ie garrykennedy or terryglass.

You need to fill the water tank in these places if you use up the water on board from toilets/showers/cooking.
there is a hose you can use at the marinas to fill up.

If you can get a dinghy with your boat, ask for one.
Nice to be able to anchor up and row to an island along the way (some there with old ruins, castles etc)

best of luck and enjoy

Framed10

useful website here
http://www.iwai.ie/rentals/rentacruiser.html

you will get full instruction before you go and the maps have every bit of info and help you require.
this time we had a bow thrust button on the boat which was brilliant for mooring up (helps thrust the boat sideways in against the marina which can be tricky with wind, currents etc) we didnt have one on our boat 2 years ago, its really really handy. not sure if all boats have these.

went with these in april (they are 40 mins from limerick, past killaloe and scariff in co clare)
http://www.shannoncruisers.com/

dilallio

bono_v wrote: »

Hi all. I was considering a 4 night cruise on the Shannon as a 30th birthday present for my girlfriend? Does anyone think this is a wise choice?. Also what route would you recommend for 4 nights? I'm thinking of going with carrickcraft, does any know anything about this crowd?? What extra costs is there....fuel,insurance,marinas? Any help greatly appreciated as I really havn't a clue about boat or cruising!!!

I've hired cruisers more than 8 times over the past 20 years.
Carrickcraft are fine - never had any issue with their boats. Presumably if there are only 2 of you going, a small boat will do fine. They will take you out and demo the boat and let you drive under supervision, so there's no need to worry about not having experience. When you pull into a marina to park up for the evening, have your ropes ready and it's much easier & friendlier to ask someone on another boat or someone on the marina to help you, by throwing them the rope and pulling you in. A lto of people make the mistake of going in too fast, and in a busy marina, it's easy to bump into other boats.

I've found that the later you leave the booking, the cheaper it gets.

For a 4-day cruise, I wouldn't bother going north from Carrick-on-Shannon onto Lough Erne. there are a lot of automatic locks to operate and you could be tight on time. Lough Key (from Carrick) is beautiful, but not many towns along the way.


In terms of the route, you will have a few options. You can travel from Carrick-on-shannon or Banagher. Cruising Lough Derg (from Banagher) is very nice - there are some lovely towns along the way, but if you want something livelier like clubs and late bars, you are probably better off cruising on the river - Athlone & Carrick-on-Shannon have better options there.

When you hire the boat, it will have a full tank of fuel, and when you return it, they will fill it and you will then pay for the fuel. This can be very expensive, and you will save a lot of money if you fill it privately before you return it. The last time I did it (3 yrs ago), I had a 8-berth boat for 7 days. On the 6th day, I filled it privately at a cost of 105 Euro. I returned the boat the following day and they still managed to put 68Euros of fuel into it. I reckon I saved about 200 - 300 Euro by filling it myself. Running the boat on full-power will burn a lot more fuel, so take it easy unless you are in a hurry.

Most towns along the way have free marina's - Athlone has a private marina. When you pull into a marina, make sure you fill up with water for showers / toilets.

It's a great holiday, and I hope you enjoy it, and get the weather.