New Ferry to France (Launch Offer)

vienne86

I have been bringing back wine from France for years, both for myself and for friends. I would really recommend buying it in boxes - it is so much easier to pack if it is already in a box. Using the wrong box even makes it much harder to pack, and different sized bottles in the same box can be a pain. Bit if you do want to have a selection and pack into boxes yourself, make sure you bring some decent tape to secure the boxes.....well worth it.

Stone Deaf 4evr

vienne86 wrote: »

I have been bringing back wine from France for years, both for myself and for friends. I would really recommend buying it in boxes - it is so much easier to pack if it is already in a box. Using the wrong box even makes it much harder to pack, and different sized bottles in the same box can be a pain. Bit if you do want to have a selection and pack into boxes yourself, make sure you bring some decent tape to secure the boxes.....well worth it.

pro tip, bring a few of these and you'll be laughing, they take up practically no space, you could fit 4 of them under the seats of the car easily - towels or tshirts can be used to stop different sixed bottles from clinking.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Plastic-Folding-Storage-Collapsible-Stacking/dp/B00DJ62IGG/ref=sr_1_1/278-7522501-2755324?ie=UTF8&qid=1406189493&sr=8-1&keywords=collapsible+storage+crate

loyatemu

we generally pack wine bottles into dead space in the car, wrapped in towels, t-shirts etc. We have a Renault Scenic so it has loads of small storage compartments under the floor, under the seats, in the boot. If you have the space in the boot, boxes are fine but I've always found the luggage expands to fill the space available, but there's always a few nooks and crannies where you can cram in a bottle or 2.

Well worth bringing back as much wine as you can though - the price of half-decent wine in Ireland has gone through the roof in the last couple of years, you're practically making money buying it in France.

CJhaughey

I have found that the Bag-in-Box from the likes of Super U are very good value, you could turn your nose up at them but at €10 for 3 litres of wine they are great value and pack very well if space is tight.
Sparkling wine attracts the most duty here in Ireland so if you like bubbly then its even better value.

Pretzill

I find carrefour great for wine - good local wine and they always have them preboxed in cases of 6 sometimes 12 - just below where all the single bottles are on display. As someone else said the savings are immense - and to me the local wines are much less cloying and alcoholic then the heavy aussie shiraz etc that seem to be dominating Irish shops.

Wally Runs

August 1

frash wrote: »

Sorry to interrupt yet another tangent on the OW vs Norman Atlantic but can anyone recommend somewhere in the Saint Jean de Montes area to bulk but some wine.

Supermarkets are cheap enough but want to buy the wine in boxes of twelve or whatever for easierpacking .

Rep here mentioned a wine cave??

The Vendee itself is not really a wine producing region so you will struggle to fine wine at source other than in tiny pockets of Fiefs Vendéens. You will get very good roses locally. The big production area is in the Loire Valley, which kind of starts east of Nantes, also look for Muscadet Sevre-et-Maine which goes very well we shelfish and seafood.

In the town of Saint Jean Des Monts you will find shops from the local producers in the market, you can bring your own bottles have have them filled, but this is really for immediate drinking.

Visit Chai Carlina and there you can get wine by the glass from all over France and see what you like and they sell it too.

Over the holiday buy a selection of bottles and try them, keep the empties of the ones you like, or if you have nice one in restaurant take a pic of the label and buy them in bulk on the way home. You should also splash out a bit for some wines for Christmas Day.

Finally, the supermarkets in the Vendee tend to be Super U and LeClerc while in St Nazire they will be Carrefour, Auchan, Cora and others. You will not find the same wines in all supermarkets so when you do find one you like buy it. Oh and Irish Whiskey is from €17-18 per 750ml and is often on offer in the area.

First Up

Carrefour are pretty good. They run "Internet Specials" all the time - aimed at customers in France but they give a good indication of what they have in stock - and are trying to offload.

dougie-lampkin

So, for those who have already used the service, is it just the email confirmation that needs to be brought to the ferry terminal? After rescheduling in May I only received an email confirmation, but it's in Spanish, with no instructions. There is a barcode at the top which leads me to believe it's to be scanned somewhere along the line. I've had bookings before where the email needs to be exchanged for tickets at the ferry company's desk in the terminal building, is that the case here, or just join the queue for the boat with your printed email?

MidlandsM

Just queue up your car

dougie-lampkin

Excellent, thanks.

alastair

July 4

First Up wrote: »

Not your fault mate. You asked a straightforward question and it was my straightforward answer that infuriated the mob. If you want entertainment on a ship from Rosslare - go IF, it's that simple.

There might be other benefits too, but I won't go into that.

Actually, I think you'll find that it was your incessant attempts to find fault with the service (that you haven't used) that infuriated 'the mob' (ie - anyone who chose to disagree with you). The reality is that the experience of those who actually used the ferry were completely at odds with your stated concerns. Was I entertained on the journey from Rosslare? Sure was. Watched movies, read a book, looked at the sunset on the sea, played games, ate well, got great kip, had a couple of pints, arrived relaxed and happy with the sailing. Did I hanker for a cabaret show, or feel at a loss as to how to pass the time? 'Fraid not.

MidlandsM

dougie-lampkin wrote: »

Excellent, thanks.

Yep, the email print off and passports....there is a drive up to booth in rosslare. Pn retrun in st.naz, you park up, then walk to the check in office with your paperwork and passports to check in, then hop back into the car, pass thru customs/border police, amd then drive on over to board the ferry.

No hassles either end. Have a good holiday. Wish i was going again....sigh...still, the weathers good here !

alastair

July 4

dougie-lampkin wrote: »

Excellent, thanks.

It's slightly different on the way back - at least it was for us - had to stop into the terminal check in and show them the print-out, and get a second bit of paper from them to show to customs. But yeah - all you need initially is the barcode printout.

MidlandsM

alastair wrote: »

Actually, I think you'll find that it was your incessant attempts to find fault with the service (that you haven't used) that infuriated 'the mob' (ie - anyone who chose to disagree with you). The reality is that the experience of those who actually used the ferry were completely at odds with your stated concerns. Was I entertained on the journey from Rosslare? Sure was. Watched movies, read a book, looked at the sunset on the sea, played games, ate well, got great kip, had a couple of pints, arrived relaxed and happy with the sailing. Did I hanker for a cabaret show, or feel at a loss as to how to pass the time? 'Fraid not.

Same here.... actually. I thought it was a great way for my kids to engage with other people and explore the art of conversation....

First Up

alastair wrote: »

Actually, I think you'll find that it was your incessant attempts to find fault with the service (that you haven't used) that infuriated 'the mob' (ie - anyone who chose to disagree with you). The reality is that the experience of those who actually used the ferry were completely at odds with your stated concerns. Was I entertained on the journey from Rosslare? Sure was. Watched movies, read a book, looked at the sunset on the sea, played games, ate well, got great kip, had a couple of pints, arrived relaxed and happy with the sailing. Did I hanker for a cabaret show, or feel at a loss as to how to pass the time? 'Fraid not.

I have no great interest in the cabaret and it certainly isn't one of the reasons I travel on the OW. In fact it doesn't feature in the off season which is when I usually travel. A poster said his kids loved the one they experienced on the OW and asked a simple question - i.e. is there a similar entertainment programme on LD. You will note that his question was not answered by anyone - other than by Midland scoffing at his children's tastes.

I deliberately waited to see if anyone who used the LD service would respond. When they hadn't after a couple of hours, I did - cue the predictable assault from the usual suspects.

Why are you so effing insecure about your choice of ferry that you interpret a statement of fact - i.e. there is no entertainment programme on the LD ferry - as "finding fault"?

Johnny_Fontane

August 8

I think the main issue here is that people have saved an absolute fortune. Saving 800/€1000 or whatever supersedes you main concerns.

Having someone 'stating facts' etc and just being a general annoyance is frankly just annoying.

There are definite cons here, particularly with the sailing times and aforementioned lack of entertainment and restaurant choice, queues to get a cabin etc.

But its been done to death here. I'd like to thank first up for their contribution but would ask them to maybe just leave it now, everyones points have been noted and there is no further comment to be made.

I will however post my experiences when I get on there next week for those that are interested and if they are negative, they'll go on here too.

Stone Deaf 4evr

great post,

Also someone made a comment about a ferry aiming to be a ryanair of the seas,

Is that anything other than a great thing? No one complains when they get to fly to italy for less than the cost of the train to dublin. Ask them to pay 20 euro for an oversized bag and they lose their mind.
The more operators in business, the better it is for all of us.

alastair

July 4

First Up wrote: »

I have no great interest in the cabaret and it certainly isn't one of the reasons I travel on the OW. In fact it doesn't feature in the off season which is when I usually travel. A poster said his kids loved the one they experienced on the OW and asked a simple question - i.e. is there a similar entertainment programme on LD. You will note that his question was not answered by anyone - other than by Midland scoffing at his children's tastes.

Given that I personally answered with absolute clarity about the entertainment offering for kids from the LD ferry, you'll have to excuse my dismissal of this as yet another erroneous post from yourself. The poster thanked my feedback.

First Up wrote: »

Why are you so effing insecure about your choice of ferry that you interpret a statement of fact - i.e. there is no entertainment programme on the LD ferry - as "finding fault"?

Rest assured - I'm entirely secure with my choice, cheers. And you were raining on the LD parade well before anyone had travelled with them - I'd say the insecurity issue lies elsewhere.

First Up

alastair wrote: »

Given that I personally answered with absolute clarity about the entertainment offering for kids from the LD ferry, you'll have to excuse my dismissal of this as yet another erroneous post from yourself. The poster thanked my feedback.


Rest assured - I'm entirely secure with my choice, cheers. And you were raining on the LD parade well before anyone had travelled with them - I'd say the insecurity issue lies elsewhere.

That's right - you did so some time after my answer - and you threw in a few remarks about how little value you place on entertainment - notwithstanding the poster's original question.

I have numerous times congratulated those who got a bargain on LD and wished them well. However I make no apology for pointing out the blindingly obvious fact that the the service offering on ferries like LD and the Stena/Celtic falls a long way short of that available on the more passenger oriented ships like the OW and Pont Aven.

People can make up their own minds what suits them best. They will be better able to do that when they are in possession of as much information as possible. Ideally that information will be factual fair and objective - not like some of the nonsense in what looks to be a fairly orchestrated vendetta against certain other ferry companies.

And I have no connection with any of them.

alastair

July 4

First Up wrote: »

That's right - you did so some time after my answer - and you threw in a few remarks about how little value you place on entertainment - notwithstanding the poster's original question.

That's correct - unlike your previous claim.

First Up wrote: »

I have numerous times congratulated those who got a bargain on LD and wished them well. However I make no apology for pointing out the blindingly obvious fact that the the service offering on ferries like LD and the Stena/Celtic falls a long way short of that available on the more passenger oriented ships like the OW and Pont Aven.

Nothing obvious about it. As you've read - some hold a contrary view. And they've actually used the service - unlike you.

First Up wrote: »

People can make up their own minds what suits them best. They will be better able to do that when they are in possession of as much information as possible. Ideally that information will be factual fair and objective - not like some of the nonsense in what looks to be a fairly orchestrated vendetta against certain other ferry companies.

People will, of course, make up their own minds. But they're not particularly well-served by posters making claims from a position of ignorance. That you can't accept that posters have bad experiences with Irish Ferries, doesn't constitute any vendetta or conspiracy - and it's rather patronising to suggest otherwise.

First Up wrote: »

And I have no connection with any of them.

Well done.

First Up

A bad experience is possible with any service. However when it turns into claims like decks smelling of vomit as the norm, you have to wonder.
About what aspect of the LD ship am I ignorant? I know the Stena vessel, which is acknowledged to be similar. Were there some additional aspects like more than one bar and restaurant that I managed to miss? Did I make up the bit about long queues for cabin keys?
Those who have used LD testify to it's cleanliness and friendly staff, which I am sure is true. It is also cheap, which is great for those for whom this is a big factor.
My preference is for a ship with a wide choice of facilities and with space to handle 1500 passengers without having to scramble to find somewhere to sit, and with enough cabins to cater for those who want one, rather than spend up to 18 hours in a seat.
Two different classes of travel - it really is silly to pretend otherwise.

Johnny_Fontane

August 8

I saw this poster in the Garth Brooks thread (im a CP resident). No matter what you say to people like this, they will never concede to anything that you say, never. Even you concede to them that they have a good point, they wont budge. Its black and white.

Two different classes of travel :rolleyes::rolleyes:

First Up

Johnny_Fontane wrote: »

I saw this poster in the Garth Brooks thread (im a CP resident). No matter what you say to people like this, they will never concede to anything that you say, never. Even you concede to them that they have a good point, they wont budge. Its black and white.

Two different classes of travel :rolleyes::rolleyes:

Yep, silly to pretend otherwise.

alastair

July 4

First Up wrote: »

A bad experience is possible with any service. However when it turns into claims like decks smelling of vomit as the norm, you have to wonder.
About what aspect of the LD ship am I ignorant?

Most aspects, by my count.

First Up wrote: »

I know the Stena vessel, which is acknowledged to be similar. Were there some additional aspects like more than one bar and restaurant that I managed to miss? Did I make up the bit about long queues for cabin keys?

You didn't raise the issue of cabin key queues - that would be actual passengers. The Stena vessel is similar, but not as recently refurbed as the LD ship, and not crewed by the same outfit. So you really don't know the quality of offering at all.

First Up wrote: »

Those who have used LD testify to it's cleanliness and friendly staff, which I am sure is true. It is also cheap, which is great for those for whom this is a big factor.

It's a bit cheaper, but not a lot. It was certainly cheap for those of us who nabbed the initial discounted bookings, but that's not the issue to hand.

First Up wrote: »

My preference is for a ship with a wide choice of facilities and with space to handle 1500 passengers without having to scramble to find somewhere to sit, and with enough cabins to cater for those who want one, rather than spend up to 18 hours in a seat.

The OW can't offer cabins for all it's passengers if they're filled to capacity, any more than any of the operators can, and the capacity of the LD ship is not 1500 passengers (so therefore doesn't require the same degree of space), so both points are, essentially, irrelevant. The 'choice of facilities' offered by the OW are a bit nebulous when you come down to it. It's clearly a big deal for you, but not for others. Again I'd come back to this issue of insecurity. You simply can't accept that your ominous snobbery wasn't reflected in passengers actual experience.

First Up wrote: »

Two different classes of travel - it really is silly to pretend otherwise.

What's silly is pretending that this is the case here. Which is something you've been doing from the get-go, and from a position of ignorance.

MidlandsM

First Up wrote: »

And I have no connection with any of them.

lol....sure you dont.......lol


..for someone who doesnt have " a connection", you sure have yer panties in a bunch defending IF.

the egg is still on your face in regards poo poo'ing the ldlines offer way back earlier this year...you were hoping all of us who booked would have a horrid experience, hoping to gloat and dance with glee here on boards with a "told you so" attitude...

You still have a large slice of humble pie to be rammed down yer cakehole!
You have been exposed for who you really are here.

We know YOUR TYPE.

Basically, a nasty piece of old work.

You can dish it, but you cant take it.







.

paddydriver

July 4

I blocked First Up some time back but it makes me laugh when I see so many of his blocked posts interspersed within the thread and then the agro that generally ensues.

Have really enjoyed this thread as it ambles along:D

First Up

paddydriver wrote: »

I blocked First Up some time back but it makes me laugh when I see so many of his blocked posts interspersed within the thread and then the agro that generally ensues.

Have really enjoyed this thread as it ambles along:D

Me too!

Conar

July 11

Not sure if its wise to post and add fuel to the fire but here goes.

I travelled out on the LDLines boat and travelled back on the Oscar Wilde from Roscoff. I used about €110 in Tesco vouchers to get approx €440 off the Irish Ferries return leg so it didn't cost much extra and allowed me to stay Saturday to Saturday for a 2 week holiday.

I saw pro's and cons on both and I'll try to summarise. Not my first time sailing either, been about 5 years but probably 5 or 6 times since I was a kid.

First, getting on board:
LD - Drive on was extremely quick and I encountered no queue at all arriving 90 minutes before departure. Straight on to boat.
IF - Queued for approx 20 mins on arriving 1 hour before departure. No issues.

Getting to the room:
LD - A bit of a hassle as we cam up from the lower deck to a hallway with a long queue. Families with bags all waiting for keys. Stupid and unnecessary and they should have advised one member to queue and the others to wait in the bar. When some people did try to squeeze on through you could see people getting annoyed thinking there was queue skipping. A bit tense and easily avoided.
IF - Extremely easy as they printed our room key and gave it before driving on.

Rooms:
LD - 2 star 4 bed....clean and small but fine
IF - Clean and small but fine.....bonus point for having a bed that converted to a couch

Staff:
LD - Extremely friendly and helpful
IF - OK, but not as pleasant to deal with

Food and Drink:
Heres where it depends on what you wanted really
LD - Only had chips (so so), coffee (really good) and soft drinks as we had packed quiches and salads. Food seemed a bit canteeny but was really cheap. I bought a bottle of red wine in the shop for €4.90 but there was 25% of so to my surprise it was less than €4 when I went to pay. The bar opened it for me without batting an eyelid. That was nice I thought.
No issues with me eating my own food in the bar/canteen area.
IF - Big bars and selection of restaurants. Again I had food with me but this time I had family with me who ate in 3 of the restaurants. All felt the food was not up to scratch for the price they paid. They'd have reasonably high expectations so read into that as you will. We eat some crisps and snacks in communal areas and cereals we brought on in their bowls and cutlery without a problem.

Layout and facilities:
LD - All rooms and communal areas are on one floor. This is an advantage if you keep nipping back and forth to your room but I can see how it would make people feel a little cabin feverish. HOWEVER despite its size I felt less cramped by far in the communal areas than on IF.
No internet on board.
Cafe seemed to open and close a lot but this was always announced (sometimes a little too much which grated in the morning)
IF - Loads of floors and places to go and rooms on separate floors to the bars etc. It was very busy feeling though. Kids running around screaming, halls covered with people trying to find the best spot for the internet which I tried to avail of about a half dozen times but never successfully browsed a website. Whatsapp and email were just about functioning. The bars also (and this will sound a bit snobby) were very butlins like with families getting drunk while there kids drank too much coke and eat too many sweets and crisps. I did watch a little of the cabaret which was quite good though but wouldn't need to rush back again next year.

Journey:
Always hard to compare as I'm not sure how rough or smooth the seas were but the IF boat seemed much smoother than LD. My wife and 2 kids all got seasickness on LD and all were fine on the way back. I assume that's down to the size of the boat.
LD - The extra hours on the LD lines boat didn't make much difference to us especially as we were heading down towards La Rochelle but maybe others would find it to long.
IF - I wouldn't have wanted too much longer on IF because of how busy it was outside but that doesn't bother everyone.

So thats it really. I guess all taken into consideration the question is which would I travel with in the future.
For me it would just come down to price again.
Neither were considerable better or worse enough to make me consider not using either in the future.
IF's shipping dates will suit more people but if LD price right I can only see it being a success.

Oh, almost forgot the final LD flaw....procelain tiles leading to and fromt the outside. Slippy as hell when the deck is wet.....craziness

First Up

Conar wrote: »

Not sure if its wise to post and add fuel to the fire but here goes.

I travelled out on the LDLines boat and travelled back on the Oscar Wilde from Roscoff. I used about €110 in Tesco vouchers to get approx €440 off the Irish Ferries return leg so it didn't cost much extra and allowed me to stay Saturday to Saturday for a 2 week holiday.

I saw pro's and cons on both and I'll try to summarise. Not my first time sailing either, been about 5 years but probably 5 or 6 times since I was a kid.

First, getting on board:
LD - Drive on was extremely quick and I encountered no queue at all arriving 90 minutes before departure. Straight on to boat.
IF - Queued for approx 20 mins on arriving 1 hour before departure. No issues.

Getting to the room:
LD - A bit of a hassle as we cam up from the lower deck to a hallway with a long queue. Families with bags all waiting for keys. Stupid and unnecessary and they should have advised one member to queue and the others to wait in the bar. When some people did try to squeeze on through you could see people getting annoyed thinking there was queue skipping. A bit tense and easily avoided.
IF - Extremely easy as they printed our room key and gave it before driving on.

Rooms:
LD - 2 star 4 bed....clean and small but fine
IF - Clean and small but fine.....bonus point for having a bed that converted to a couch

Staff:
LD - Extremely friendly and helpful
IF - OK, but not as pleasant to deal with

Food and Drink:
Heres where it depends on what you wanted really
LD - Only had chips (so so), coffee (really good) and soft drinks as we had packed quiches and salads. Food seemed a bit canteeny but was really cheap. I bought a bottle of red wine in the shop for €4.90 but there was 25% of so to my surprise it was less than €4 when I went to pay. The bar opened it for me without batting an eyelid. That was nice I thought.
No issues with me eating my own food in the bar/canteen area.
IF - Big bars and selection of restaurants. Again I had food with me but this time I had family with me who ate in 3 of the restaurants. All felt the food was not up to scratch for the price they paid. They'd have reasonably high expectations so read into that as you will. We eat some crisps and snacks in communal areas and cereals we brought on in their bowls and cutlery without a problem.

Layout and facilities:
LD - All rooms and communal areas are on one floor. This is an advantage if you keep nipping back and forth to your room but I can see how it would make people feel a little cabin feverish. HOWEVER despite its size I felt less cramped by far in the communal areas than on IF.
No internet on board.
Cafe seemed to open and close a lot but this was always announced (sometimes a little too much which grated in the morning)
IF - Loads of floors and places to go and rooms on separate floors to the bars etc. It was very busy feeling though. Kids running around screaming, halls covered with people trying to find the best spot for the internet which I tried to avail of about a half dozen times but never successfully browsed a website. Whatsapp and email were just about functioning. The bars also (and this will sound a bit snobby) were very butlins like with families getting drunk while there kids drank too much coke and eat too many sweets and crisps. I did watch a little of the cabaret which was quite good though but wouldn't need to rush back again next year.

Journey:
Always hard to compare as I'm not sure how rough or smooth the seas were but the IF boat seemed much smoother than LD. My wife and 2 kids all got seasickness on LD and all were fine on the way back. I assume that's down to the size of the boat.
LD - The extra hours on the LD lines boat didn't make much difference to us especially as we were heading down towards La Rochelle but maybe others would find it to long.
IF - I wouldn't have wanted too much longer on IF because of how busy it was outside but that doesn't bother everyone.

So thats it really. I guess all taken into consideration the question is which would I travel with in the future.
For me it would just come down to price again.
Neither were considerable better or worse enough to make me consider not using either in the future.
IF's shipping dates will suit more people but if LD price right I can only see it being a success.

Oh, almost forgot the final LD flaw....procelain tiles leading to and fromt the outside. Slippy as hell when the deck is wet.....craziness

Thanks. Nice to see an objective post. Makes a change around here.

alastair

July 4

Conar wrote: »

Neither were considerable better or worse enough to make me consider not using either in the future.

So that's another nail in the coffin of the 'second-class' / 'no-comparison' argument. Not that it was needed tbh.