Irish Ferries Christmas Sailings

Terrontress

I am attempting to travel Sail Rail with Irish Ferries by foot on either 22nd or 23rd December.

It would appear that those sailings are sold out but when I look at their website there is foot passenger availability.

Are the number of Sail Rail tickets limited?

seanmacc

Terrontress wrote: »

I am attempting to travel Sail Rail with Irish Ferries by foot on either 22nd or 23rd December.

It would appear that those sailings are sold out but when I look at their website there is foot passenger availability.

Are the number of Sail Rail tickets limited?

Yes they are. They try to keep it to about 80 or so on the Swift sailings.

The way around it is if you get an open ticket from Connolly, they're valid for a month from the day of issue. The staff in Connolly have been told that those days are closed for Sail Rail, just don't tell them you're going those days. With the open ticket just make dam sure you are at the port more than an hour before departure. The open Sail Rail ticket space is limited to I think 60. There should be space released on the slow ferry at 0805 closer the time. They are airing on the side of caution with booking on the Ulysess in case the Swift is cancelled with the weather and they have to transfer people onto it. The Ulysess is running on a reduced passenger cert at the moment because a couple of the lifeboats are out of service until the ship goes to drydock in January.

Sail and Rail is the lowest revenue ticket for all the ferry companies and therefore they try and marshal capacity on it so they can make more revenue on cars and port to port foot passengers. If they fill up on car bookings and have passenger capacity available they may increase the Sail Rail allocation. The Connolly thing is worth a shot though. If you have an open ticket though be there at least one hour before departure on those days.

Terrontress

seanmacc wrote: »

Yes they are. They try to keep it to about 80 or so on the Swift sailings.

The way around it is if you get an open ticket from Connolly, they're valid for a month from the day of issue. The staff in Connolly have been told that those days are closed for Sail Rail, just don't tell them you're going those days. With the open ticket just make dam sure you are at the port more than an hour before departure. The open Sail Rail ticket space is limited to I think 60. There should be space released on the slow ferry at 0805 closer the time. They are airing on the side of caution with booking on the Ulysess in case the Swift is cancelled with the weather and they have to transfer people onto it. The Ulysess is running on a reduced passenger cert at the moment because a couple of the lifeboats are out of service until the ship goes to drydock in January.

Sail and Rail is the lowest revenue ticket for all the ferry companies and therefore they try and marshal capacity on it so they can make more revenue on cars and port to port foot passengers. If they fill up on car bookings and have passenger capacity available they may increase the Sail Rail allocation. The Connolly thing is worth a shot though. If you have an open ticket though be there at least one hour before departure on those days.

I am starting off in the UK though. I don't want to find myself being refused in Holyhead after travelling all the way there.

BenShermin

OP, if you're starting in the UK then you can book sailrail through the Arriva Trains Wales Website:

http://www.buytickets.arrivatrainswales.co.uk/advancedsearch.aspx

You can book travel from any UK station to Dublin on that website and the 21 and 22 December are showing availability for the Swift.

n97 mini

You can buy a SailRail ticket in any mainline rail station in the UK.

It will say on it which ferry operator, Irish Ferries or Stena, but that doesn't matter as you can change it in Holyhead.

Speaking from personal experience.

BenShermin

n97 mini wrote: »

You can buy a SailRail ticket in any mainline rail station in the UK.

It will say on it which ferry operator, Irish Ferries or Stena, but that doesn't matter as you can change it in Holyhead.

Speaking from personal experience.

I travel sail rail quite frequently myself and always buy my tickets on the station a few minutes before departure. However given that the OP is travelling so close to Christmas and he wants to go on the Swift (which has low capacity) I'd advise the OP to book in advance to avoid dissapointment.

Terrontress

Thanks for the replies everyone.

Each time as I went to book it was saying that a portion of the journey was unavailable.

So I have changed my plans and will go on the 21st instead.

seanmacc

Terrontress wrote: »

I am starting off in the UK though. I don't want to find myself being refused in Holyhead after travelling all the way there.

If you're starting your journey in the UK you cannot book a sail rail with Irish Ferries directly as you physically need the ticket in hand for the train and they've no way of getting it to you.

You can book a Sailrail with the train companies or any train station in the UK. I must stress though that if you do book it this way the ticket office may issue you with a ship control ticket with the day and sailing time on it. This is not a garaunteed reservation for the ferry crossing. As the train companies in the UK do not have access to the ferry companies reservation systems. If you have one of these tickets you should be there 1 hour before departure to garauntee you get on. Also make sure the ferry is sailing as the train companies do not forward your details to the ferry companies in the case of a delay or cancellation

Arriva Trains Wales

This is 'official' - mods please feel free to contact me to verify this.

Please note that virtually all SailRail tickets in the run-up to Christmas are now sold out on both the Swift and conventional ferry sailings. Anyone intending to travel to Ireland without a booked place cannot be guaranteed they will get on a ship. Trains to Holyhead are also extremely busy.

Please note that from January all SailRail tickets will require a mandatory reservation on the ship, which must be made before 1800 the day before travel. Standby tickets will be available on the day, but will not guarantee a place on the ship, and will be more expensive.

This change in process has arisen due to the increasing popularity of the SailRail products and several instances of customers travelling at busy times without bookings having to wait over ten hours for the next ferry. In addition, legislation requires all ferry operators to have passenger details including names and contact numbers, which will have to be collected at the time of booking the SailRail ticket.

We are trying to work with Iarnród Éireann to ensure passengers travelling ex-Ireland are able to reserve for their return journey but IÉ are not at present in a position to make the modest investment in the necessary systems.

BenShermin

Arriva Trains Wales wrote: »

We are trying to work with Iarnród Éireann to ensure passengers travelling ex-Ireland are able to reserve for their return journey but IÉ are not at present in a position to make the modest investment in the necessary systems.

Best of luck with that:rolleyes:. Pigs might fly etc. etc.

Anyway, thanks ATW for the very imformative post. I've one question I hope you don't mind answering for me? I will be rail and sailing from UK to Dublin next month, if I book the ticket via your website does that booking include the manditory ferry reservation you speak of?

Arriva Trains Wales

Thanks Ben.

The short answer is yes - the mandatory information will be captured via the booking process.

There should be little change for those booking in advance via on-line channels - the main difference is for the 'turn up on the day' market.

Even those booking in advance, in particular those travelling from or via London, should note that UK long distance train operators (such as Virgin) actively manage the availability of advance purchase products on their train services.

n97 mini

Arriva Trains Wales wrote: »

This change in process has arisen due to the increasing popularity of the SailRail products

Quick, someone phone IE and tell them to put the train station in Rosslare back where it was!

BenShermin

.

goingnowhere

BenShermin wrote: »

Sure IÉs answer to the upturn in Sailrail numbers was to make it impossible to sailrail via Rosslare Port.

Irish Rail will issue Ireland to UK via Rosslare, Arriva Trains Wales refuse to issue the reverse.

jahalpin

Terrontress wrote: »

I am attempting to travel Sail Rail with Irish Ferries by foot on either 22nd or 23rd December.

It would appear that those sailings are sold out but when I look at their website there is foot passenger availability.

Are the number of Sail Rail tickets limited?

Are you sure that you really want to sail with "Irish" Ferries. Stena Line is much better

I did a last-minute sail and rail trip to London for the May bank holiday weekend.

On the way out I went with Stena Line and the crossing was good, the ship was nice and the staff were helpful and polite. The on-board catering was also very nice.

On the way back I went with "Irish" Ferries. The train was full (6 carraige train from London - Chester and 3 carraige train to Holyhead :rolleyes ), but it thinned out a bit at Bangor.

The train was bad, but the experience with Irish Ferries was a disgrace. The check-in staff were quite rude and unhelpful, the bus to the distant terminal was very old and crap and the bus onto the ferry was even worse.

The Swift was totally full and all the staff were very rude and as unhelpful as possible. I wouldn't go near any of the restaurants on board as the food looked pretty crap.

Upon arrival in Dublin we were herded out through the car deck into the yard and into the terminal.

I am doing sail and rail again in January and I intend to ensure that I travel with Stena as they are actually a prefessional ferry company.

PS: I booked the return ticket at Euston Station and had no problem getting a ticket.

BenShermin

Did you travel over on the "conventional" Stena sailing? If so I think it's an unfair to compare the two sailings as I find fast sailings an awful rushed affair.

I'm a very frequent user of Irish Ferries (around 15 trips a year) and for me their Irish Sea conventional ferries are completely supierior in every way to Stena's souless ferries that have all been refurbed to look the exact same, yawn!

On my most recent trip with Irish Ferries from Holyhead to Dublin last week I had a lovely calm sailing on "Ulysses", even though the winds outside were hitting gale force 9. I treated myself to a massive roast turkey dinner which was just as good as any carvery in Dublin and some lovely pints of Guinness in proper pint glasses from "Blooms Bar" a themed Irish pub with big comfy leather sofas to relax on. There is also a lovely tour to do onboard visiting 12 clocks each with paragraphs from Ulysses and stunning wooden artwork of James Joyce himself to view.

My last trip with Stena on the Irish sea was a less than enjoyable affair on the "Adventurer". Drinking pints from plastic glasses on plastic stools for three hours on a ship that looked like the inside of an airport terminal. There was huge screens everywhere showing movies and I just couldn't seem to get away from the noise! If I wanted that I would have flown Ryanair to London.

Sean9015

BenShermin wrote: »

Did you travel over on the "conventional" Stena sailing? If so I think it's an unfair to compare the two sailings as I find fast sailings an awful rushed affair.

I'm a very frequent user of Irish Ferries (around 15 trips a year) and for me their Irish Sea conventional ferries are completely supierior in every way to Stena's souless ferries that have all been refurbed to look the exact same, yawn!

On my most recent trip with Irish Ferries from Holyhead to Dublin last week I had a lovely calm sailing on "Ulysses", even though the winds outside were hitting gale force 9. I treated myself to a massive roast turkey dinner which was just as good as any carvery in Dublin and some lovely pints of Guinness in proper pint glasses from "Blooms Bar" a themed Irish pub with big comfy leather sofas to relax on. There is also a lovely tour to do onboard visiting 12 clocks each with paragraphs from Ulysses and stunning wooden artwork of James Joyce himself to view.

My last trip with Stena on the Irish sea was a less than enjoyable affair on the "Adventurer". Drinking pints from plastic glasses on plastic stools for three hours on a ship that looked like the inside of an airport terminal. There was huge screens everywhere showing movies and I just couldn't seem to get away from the noise! If I wanted that I would have flown Ryanair to London.

As a semi-regular user, I would endorse this 100%. Ulysses knocks spots off the floating McDonalds which is known as Stena Adventurer.

n97 mini

While both Stena and IF have there merits...

BenShermin wrote: »

On my most recent trip with Irish Ferries from Holyhead to Dublin last week I had a lovely calm sailing on "Ulysses",

The Ulysses is hard to beat when it comes to bad weather. I was on it last year and the captain announced they were deploying the stabilisers as the winds were over 90 knots. You could have played a game of snooker on board the crossing was that smooth.

Arriva Trains Wales

goingnowhere wrote: »

Irish Rail will issue Ireland to UK via Rosslare, Arriva Trains Wales refuse to issue the reverse.

There is little point having integrated fares (or indeed integrated tickets) without integrated transport. It would be misleading to customers to offer a through fare without a reasonable through journey opportunity. We will clearly review the situation should we be advised by IÉ that connections will improve significantly at Rosslare.

n97 mini

Arriva Trains Wales wrote: »

There is little point having integrated fares (or indeed integrated tickets) without integrated transport. It would be misleading to customers to offer a through fare without a reasonable through journey opportunity. We will clearly review the situation should we be advised by IÉ that connections will improve significantly at Rosslare.

Arriva would be of the opinion that there isn't a reasonable opportunity of getting a train in Rosslare when one arrives off a ferry?

I'd go with that.

AlekSmart

Arriva Trains Wales wrote: »

There is little point having integrated fares (or indeed integrated tickets) without integrated transport. It would be misleading to customers to offer a through fare without a reasonable through journey opportunity. We will clearly review the situation should we be advised by IÉ that connections will improve significantly at Rosslare.

Agree 100% on the definition of "Integrated"....do we have an Irish translation for the word I wonder ?

Mind you it would be worthwhile to have some idea of numbers involved on a general basis,apart from the big-ticket occasions ?

Tabnabs

n97 mini wrote: »

The Ulysses is hard to beat when it comes to bad weather. I was on it last year and the captain announced they were deploying the stabilisers as the winds were over 90 knots. You could have played a game of snooker on board the crossing was that smooth.

Lol, pull the other one, 90 knots?!! Hurricane strength winds are 64+ knots At 90 knots you'd be sitting on the ship looking out at the port around you as the Ulysses would be going nowhere. As for playing snooker...

(BTW, I worked on the Ulysses when she was a couple of years old and agree that she is a nice ship).

n97 mini

Tabnabs wrote: »

Lol, pull the other one, 90 knots?!! Hurricane strength winds are 64+ knots At 90 knots you'd be sitting on the ship looking out at the port around you as the Ulysses would be going nowhere.

That's what he said. Tho he did use the word "gusting".

BenShermin

Well whoever's responsible for the mess that is the new 2012 "compulsary reservation" system has just lost themselves a loyal sailrail customer:mad:.

Due to me not knowing the fare and not being able to make a reservation through any channel for travel in January I've just given up and as a result my business has gone to Aer Lingus instead.

Arriva Trains Wales

As explained above, there are a number of reasons for the change but much is to do with maritime legislation.

The whole system relies on the co-operation of a large number of different parties - two ferry companies, over twenty GB rail operators, Network Rail, Rail Settlement Plan, Iarnród Éireann, plus each of their respective systems providers on train/ship timetable information, fares information, reservations and ticketing. Unfortunately for customers, SailRail is a very small part of the overall business for all of these parties, and therefore is not always afforded the highest priority, particularly in these cash-strapped times.

I have asked Ben to PM me with the details of his proposed travel plans and will follow up where the failure lies.

seanmacc

BenShermin wrote: »

Well whoever's responsible for the mess that is the new 2012 "compulsary reservation" system has just lost themselves a loyal sailrail customer:mad:.

Due to me not knowing the fare and not being able to make a reservation through any channel for travel in January I've just given up and as a result my business has gone to Aer Lingus instead.

Reservation is not compulsory but is highly recommended for busy sailings. The reservation system came in during the Ash crisis as a means of not having hundreds of angry passengers with tickets in hand being refused on sailings. In terms of January, the new prices have yet to be announced but put it this way, they will be going up.

In terms of losing your custom, the Ferry or Train companies although may say they treasure you custom, they really don't. SailRail is the lowest revenue ticket for the Ferry Companies and Train Companies. A port to port ticket on the ferry is 37euro (cruise ferry purchased at the port), a SailRail to London is 43euro (cruise ferry purchased at the port). A one way ticket to London, purchased in Holyhead train station is approximately 60GBP. These companies lose out with these passengers particularly during the summer season where passenger capacity is an issue

Peanut

Just found this thread after search for recent sail/rail information.

I'm in London and went up to the ticket office in Euston this evening to book a sail/rail for tomorrow. I was told "Sorry, it's full" and when I asked for further clarification was simply told "all the Holyhead ferries are full for the next 2 or 3 days" :eek:

Now I suspected that this wasn't the case and there was some quota specific to sail/rail, and I can see this is actually what's happened only thanks to the Arriva train rep. and other posters.

I wish Irish Ferries and Stena would make this clearer than "Pre-booking recommended" and "We can offer a ‘Ticket on Departure’ (selected train stations only)." respectively, on their website.

seanmacc

More great news for SailRail customers. There is now a 6euro additional charge for all bookings made on the day of travel. There is also been an additional fare zone introduced, zone E which is 5euro more expensive than the previous zone D.
This is now the case for both Irish Ferries and Stenaline. This can push the cost of a one way to London up to 60euro (inc 6 euro credit card booking fee)