Additional Irish Ferries sailings from 24 November 2013

thomasj

If i were to play devils advocate and dabble my toe into conspiracy theory territory I would say these sailings look close to the departure times of the stena line sailings that were opened up to foot passengers earlier this year!

Either way still great to see the extra options available though!

http://www.irishferries.com/uk-en/routes/dublin-holyhead/

Hilly Bill

They should do that more often as the 14:15 would be popular especially if the Swift gets cancelled due to high winds plus the
01:55 will stop the 4 hour wait in Holyhead for the first train.

Victor

thomasj wrote: »

If i were to play devils advocate and dabble my toe into conspiracy theory territory I would say these sailings look close to the departure times of the stena line sailings that were opened up to foot passengers earlier this year!

It may be down to staffing arrangements at the ports.

Rabbitt

Victor wrote: »

It may be down to staffing arrangements at the ports.

The new times are listed to be operated by the Oscar Wilde.
Will they open these new sailings to foot passengers?

thomasj

Rabbitt wrote: »

The new times are listed to be operated by the Oscar Wilde.
Will they open these new sailings to foot passengers?

There's nothing on the new timetable to indicate they won't be available to foot passengers.

munchkin_utd

thomasj wrote: »

There's nothing on the new timetable to indicate they won't be available to foot passengers.

on their facebook page it was indicated that foot passengers wont be accommodated on the new vessel (Epsilion) which will be doing the route once interim sailings with the Oscar Wilde are finished.
https://www.facebook.com/IrishFerriesOfficial

dd972

Hilly Bill wrote: »

They should do that more often as the 14:15 would be popular especially if the Swift gets cancelled due to high winds plus the
01:55 will stop the 4 hour wait in Holyhead for the first train.

4 hours in Holyhead, God, I'm depressed at the mere thought !

thomasj

dd972 wrote: »

4 hours in Holyhead, God, I'm depressed at the mere thought !

Thankfully stena line opened up the 02.30 sailing from Dublin to holyhead for foot passengers so that prospect can be avoided.

That's if your up for getting down to the port at 1-2am!

Rabbitt

thomasj wrote: »

Thankfully stena line opened up the 02.30 sailing from Dublin to holyhead for foot passengers so that prospect can be avoided.

That's if your up for getting down to the port at 1-2am!

Not ideal but it makes things a bit more possible for people. Personally I think they should have it open for foot passengers as its not gonna be swamped by foot pax anyway.

newportlad

Rabbitt wrote: »

Not ideal but it makes things a bit more possible for people. Personally I think they should have it open for foot passengers as its not gonna be swamped by foot pax anyway.

Irish Ferries looks like the better option to me, gets in at 5:25 which may just be enough time to make the 5:51 train connection

Stena Line is advertised as getting in at 5:45

Next train after 5:51 is 6:55 so an hour wait

Vic_08

thomasj wrote: »

If i were to play devils advocate and dabble my toe into conspiracy theory territory I would say these sailings look close to the departure times of the stena line sailings that were opened up to foot passengers earlier this year!

Either way still great to see the extra options available though!

http://www.irishferries.com/uk-en/routes/dublin-holyhead/

The main sailings of both companies have always been close together c. 9am/9pm from Dublin 2am/2pm from Holyhead.

The second ship has to operate more or less a mirror schedule to them as both companies have only one suitable berth each at both ports.

thomasj wrote: »

Thankfully stena line opened up the 02.30 sailing from Dublin to holyhead for foot passengers so that prospect can be avoided.

That's if your up for getting down to the port at 1-2am!

Both the Stena Nordica and this new ferry are ferries primarily built for Freight and car carrying and in comparison to the 2 cruise ferries on the route have less than 1/4 the passenger capacity. IMO this is a big factor in the reluctance to accept foot passengers on these vessels, the prospect of refusing freight or car bookings due to an excess of foot passengers is not appealing to them at all.

bikeman1

I always thought that the similar departure times on the route were in case of a failure / bad weather / other factor with either of the two companies, that they would accommodate each others passengers / vehicles where possible?

Great to see extra the extra sailings.

Jamie2k9

They are also adding a weekly Dublin-Cherbourg from 18 Jan. It will be an "economy" service.

Cost over Comfort.

http://www.irishferries.com/uk-en/news/news131127/

LXFlyer

How can they do that and the extra double daily Holyhead services with only one extra ship?

Jamie2k9

lxflyer wrote: »

How can they do that and the extra double daily Holyhead services with only one extra ship?

They can't

Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday have the 2 extra sailings while 01.55 departure on Saturday morning (Fri night) also operates.

loyatemu

Jamie2k9 wrote: »

They are also adding a weekly Dublin-Cherbourg from 18 Jan. It will be an "economy" service.

Cost over Comfort.

http://www.irishferries.com/uk-en/news/news131127/

looked at some of the prices and it doesn't appear to be much cheaper than the Rosslare options (this is in August), though it will allow for more flexible travel options.

circular flexing

I wonder if Irish Ferries are trying to compete with Celtic Link with this new service.