Has anyone used Celtic Link Ferries?

thehouses

What were they like?

wexie

I have a good few times, considering their prices I have nothing but good to say about them.

Website is here : http://celticlinkferries.com/

Layinghen

Normally travel Irish Ferries to France as Roscoff is where I like to travel to, but have used Celtic Ferries as well when going to Cherbourg.They do the job. Their prices are great but it is not "luxury". Cabins are basic but you will be hopefully asleep for most of the journey, have shower facilities in them for the next morning so they do what they have to do. The strangest thing that I found was that our car was parked outside on the deck for the journey and my goodness the ramp up to that deck had to be one of the steepest I have ever encountered. There is a bar area where you can get coffee and tea as well. There is also a restaurant (no fine dining there ) but grub is available.

All in all it is no Irish Ferries but for a cheap option to France would certainly use them again.

huskerdu

Layinghen has described it perfectly.

Driving up the ramp is one of the oddest driving experiences I have had.
not for a nervous driver. However, the staff are very good and very willing to help if there are problems.

The cabins are small, clean, comfortable - very similar to Irish Ferries boat the Oscar Wilde.

The public areas are small and much less comfortable than the bars and restaurants on the Oscar Wilde.

The food is expensive, basic canteen food, but that is to be expected on a ferry.

I have used them twice as the price, for the dates I wanted was much lower than Irish Ferries and the ferry times suited me better.

However, if the price difference with Irish Ferries was marginal, I would pick the Oscar Wilde.

XsApollo

I'm a regular traveller on those ferries and been on the 3 ferries that serve the routes.
Celtic link does the job for the money and the cabins are a nice size, petty much the same as irish ferries.
I actually prefer Celtic over Irish ferries as the Celtic horizon is a nicer ride, faster and quieter than the Oscar Wilde.
The Oscar Wilde does have a nicer entertainment deck and has nicer pubs and restaraunts and is more comfortable in that regard.

A plus for the Celtic horizon is the kids area is in one of the main seating areas so you can sit down have a pint , food and watch t.v and your kids can play away for hours and you can sit and keep an eye on them.
The play area on the Oscar Wilde is in the main corridor so if you want to keep and eye on the kids you have to sit out there too.
With kids I prefer the setup on Celtic link.

I prefer to book Celtic or Brittany (depending If I'm going to roscoff or cherbourg ) instead of Irish ferries.

ScouseMouse

I was on the celtic link a couple of weeks ago. Got 3 adults, 2 kids, car, 4 berth cabin out - 6 birth on return for 326 euro.

Its very very basic. We got on and got our cabin key. 5 euro deposit! Cabin was clean and comfortable and to the point. Thank god I brought a laptop and movies for the kids......

Coffees in the bar along with the beer was on par with irish pubs. Crew friendly but feck all on it. There is a cinema but didnt go. Very sparse boat but hey, for the price, well worth it. Irish Ferries were 200 dearer.

On the car deck it STANK of fish.....

Looked at the restaurant but didnt eat. The wife is a coeliac and there was feck all for her. Thankfully we ate before we got on.

Would recommend it as cheap, comfortable, easy passage to France. Dont pay much - dont expect much. Clean and functional.

ollaetta

Good few threads on this over the years. Here's one comparing them and IF: Celtic link ferries Vs Irish ferries to France

I've used Celtic Link about half a dozen times and while they were grand I'd prefer Irish Ferries. Last time I went, admittedly off season, the price difference wasn't a whole lot.

munchkin_utd

ollaetta wrote: »

Good few threads on this over the years. Here's one comparing them and IF: Celtic link ferries Vs Irish ferries to France

I've used Celtic Link about half a dozen times and while they were grand I'd prefer Irish Ferries. Last time I went, admittedly off season, the price difference wasn't a whole lot.

Yup, good informative thread that

Regarding price difference, we are actually paying less for a more convienent sailing date with irish ferries before Christmas.
Now that I've been on both, I would say that I prefer irish ferries for loads of reasons, but would still do Celtic link without hesitation should the price or dates suit us better with them.

Of course, there's also the landbridge deals via England which can work out much cheaper than the direct ferry at peak summer dates. With hotels in England through travellodge or premier inn for 20 pound for a family room you can even make a bargain mini holiday detour over there en route!

hawkwind23

i checked for ferry with car and 4 passengers for july and was €950 return!!!

gandalf

hawkwind23 wrote: »

i checked for ferry with car and 4 passengers for july and was €950 return!!!

Yeah July and August are the peak season with the French on Holidays as well. In the off season you can pick up a sailing with a cabin on Irish Ferries and Celtic Link for half that cost. If you can travel in late May or early June you will get a better price as well.

huskerdu

hawkwind23 wrote: »

i checked for ferry with car and 4 passengers for july and was €950 return!!!

That's standard for July and August. That is likely to be a few hundred less than Irish Ferries, but you should price them anyway, they might be around the same price, especially if you are willing to travel mid-week.

hawkwind23

who would pay that?
cheaper to fly and rent a car.

zagmund

hawkwind23 wrote: »

who would pay that?
cheaper to fly and rent a car.

Unless you know something the rest of us don't then it's not going to be cheaper to fly & rent for a family of 4.

I would expect to pay €150 per person for flights in the middle of Summer. That's €600 on flights alone. Then you have to pay for bags - I don't remember, but I think it's along the lines of €50 return. Assume we save some money and only book 3 bags, we're now at €750. I'm not convinced that the hire companies will be able to get you a car for €200 for a week from an airport location in the middle of Summer.

z

munchkin_utd

hawkwind23 wrote: »

who would pay that?
cheaper to fly and rent a car.

Not in summer (or Christmas) it's not!

A flight would do you for say 200 return (or more) incl all fees and a bag, so 800+ for a 4 person family.
Car hire is from 400 upwards per week, and add 100 for child seats, and multiply that by 2 for a fortnight stay.

You are quickly looking at 1700euro or more for fly drive which is substantially more than the 950 for a ferry!

hawkwind23

dont think so!
quick look on skyscanner shows flights are from £86 per person , lets say €100
where you getting €200?
so for flights return , €400

using travel supermarket , a medium family car for 2 weeks in july starts from £225 , lets say €300

thats €700 in total.
oh forgot a couple of bags ? whats that another €100?
still cheaper and less stress with breakdowns and already saved in fuel picking up in France

zagmund

It's getting off topic, but the €150 (€146) I got was the cheapest price for Dublin to anywhere in France using Skyscanner for Saturday 19th July to Saturday 16th July. That was EI to Paris. You could get cheaper by going midweek, but you can get the ferry cheaper midweek too - it works both ways.

z

XsApollo

It not allways about the money.
Going by ferry and car is so much more relaxing than flying.
It's also a nice feeling to wake up in the morning have breakfast and allready be in France.
Being able to take whatever you like with you and take whatever you like back with you is also nice.

munchkin_utd

hawkwind23 wrote: »

dont think so!
quick look on skyscanner shows flights are from £86 per person , lets say €100
where you getting €200?
<snip>

Dublin Nantes return with Ryanair is 211 on the 1st and back on 17th august for example, and nearer the summer that will only go higher.
For a family of 4 that's 844+80 for allocated seats + 50 for just one bag so 970 odd euro for flights.
A car hire would be exactly 500 euro including a booster and child seat, but only basic insurance but that's a very good price if you are happy to risk paying the first 1300 euro of any damage which may occur.
Total, 1470 but realistically you could add on 140euro plus for full insurance and another 50 for a second checked in bag.

You could start messing with midweek flights or other compromises to lower the price like flying to Belgium and then driving 6+ hours to Normandy or britanny, but when you start making compromises then just cutting out the flight altogether by taking the ferry is a far more attractive option.

gandalf

hawkwind23 wrote: »

who would pay that?
cheaper to fly and rent a car.

No its not, you obviously haven't tried to rent a car in peak season in France. Its also nice to be able to drive your own car on strange roads. Plus you can fill the car with wine and bring it home when your holiday is finished. We've still wine left from Summer 2012 and some from last Christmas as well.

huskerdu

hawkwind23 wrote: »

using travel supermarket , a medium family car for 2 weeks in july starts from £225 , lets say €300

Not if you have 3 kids and one of them needs a booster and one a car seat.
The minimum size of car that you have to hire to fit them in is WAY more than €150 a week.

ScouseMouse

Hope I dont get a slap for this, but someone on adverts.ie has a deal voucher for this ferry, car and two with cabin, use by 14 December, 120 euro but may take less.

I would hop on it for a xmas booze cruise, but dont have the time.

Well worth it, I was on this ferry a few weeks back.

munchkin_utd

huskerdu wrote: »

Not if you have 3 kids and one of them needs a booster and one a car seat.
The minimum size of car that you have to hire to fit them in is WAY more than €150 a week.

For the same dates I mentioned above to Nantes (which 211 x 5 would be €1055 +100 for allocated seats + 50 for one bag = 1205 for flights)
and the cheapest deal for any MPV that would fit 3 child seats in the back is 1107 for an smax (from hertz via autoeurope) for the fortnight, but that's not a bad deal and I have heard of people paying over double that at height of the summer in Ireland.
Anyhow, thats a total of 2312 for fly drive for a family of 5, which makes the ferry at less than a grand return appear cheap!

thehouses

Hey guys, thanks for all your help (and the help on other threads too). Our experience was similar and I have to say we will travel with Celtic Link again, we found the staff to be especially helpful and friendly. It was good value for money.

Moonbeam

we just booked them for the summer for us and the 4 kids.It was half the price of Irish ferries!

ollaetta

Moonbeam wrote: »

It was half the price of Irish ferries!

Interesting to see if that will continue. They've just been bought by Stena Line: Stena-line-aquire-celtic-link-ferries-direct-continental-route

munchkin_utd

ollaetta wrote: »

Interesting to see if that will continue. They've just been bought by Stena Line: Stena-line-aquire-celtic-link-ferries-direct-continental-route

The vessel will remain the same according to reports.

From a travel (as opposed to ship nerd) perspective, this should be good as the service will probably become slightly plusher, the care for kids will be improved with a new play area likely/ almost certain, should a ferry be cancelled for whatever reason then it will be a seamless rebooking onto a landbridge option that Stena already offers. The food offering will likely change too and maybe be more flexible than currently is the case which has limited opening hours.

Stena Mersey runs to Liverpool and despite being pretty much identical to the Celtic link vessel, they get almost exclusively glowing reviews. Out of 50 reviews nearly all are 4 or 5 out of 5.
And the only difference is that they installed a bit of carpet and a playroom!
http://www.directferries.co.uk/stena_line_stena_mersey.htm

And best of all from the consumers point of view, theres the chance of a decent sale now and again, and for some the use of tesco tokens will be a plus point.