New Ferry to France (Launch Offer)

First Up

alastair wrote: »

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

That's the great thing about opinions -we can all have one.
The "posh" restaurant on the OW is very good quality. I'd be interested to know if it was one of those mentioned. A crowded ship in high season will test all systems but at least if you find yourself in obnoxious company in a bar on the OW, you can try another one.
Imagine being stuck with some of the posters here and having nowhere else to go......

alastair

July 4

First Up wrote: »

That's the great thing about opinions -we can all have one.

It's just some get called 'silly', by those who haven't actually shared the experience. Funny that.

First Up

I could make a similarly detailed comparison of sailings back in May with IF on the way out and Stena coming back that would clearly illustrate the gulf in class, but something tells me you wouldn't be open to believing it.
It isn't impossible I would use LD to St Nazaire, if their schedule met my needs. But if I did, I would have no illusions about what I would be getting and I wouldn't be frantically pretending it matched up to something that in my extensive experience is miles better.
Lovely chatting with you.

alastair

July 4

First Up wrote: »

I could make a similarly detailed comparison of sailings back in May with IF on the way out and Stena coming back that would clearly illustrate the gulf in class, but something tells me you wouldn't be open to believing it.
It isn't impossible I would use LD to St Nazaire, if their schedule met my needs. But if I did, I would have no illusions about what I would be getting and I wouldn't be frantically pretending it matched up to something that in my extensive experience is miles better.
Lovely chatting with you.

Nope - I guess you're still in denial. Onto the block list you go. See ya.

First Up

alastair wrote: »

Nope - I guess you're still in denial. Onto the block list you go. See ya.

Bye bye

_Brian

We've been over and back maybe a dozen times now, firstly with BF but don't like their style of operation, it's expensive but the boat is nice.
Travelled with IF quite a few times and liked all aspects of their operation. I like the OW boat and there is a diverse set of bars and eateries which I feel are reasonable value and quality.
Travelled Celtic last year from a cost perspective. The boat was fine, just fine nothing better, but I thought that it handled moderate weather poorly meaning OH and eldest weren't all that well on either leg I the journey.
Went back to IF this year and on similar seas it was much more stable and comfortable to be on, don't know I this is a size thing or just design. With the TV in the room For us it was like a night in a hotel rather than a way of getting to the holiday and back.
IF for us has the edge in comfort and food and were happy to pay for that. Can't see us trying LD/Stenna as it's the same ship as Celtic had but it's a great budget option and can only help to keep prices stable on the route.

Happy holidays everyone !!

EDIT: someone mentioned using Tesco vouchers. We never found this any value. If you price a crossing with and without the vouchers the starting price of the crossing through the voucher site is considerable more expensive this negating your vouchers. We keep them for other stuff.

Conar

July 11

"_Brian wrote: »

EDIT: someone mentioned using Tesco vouchers. We never found this any value. If you price a crossing with and without the vouchers the starting price of the crossing through the voucher site is considerable more expensive this negating your vouchers. We keep them for other stuff.

That was me. I am not sure if it has changed recently cos I was sure that was the case when I checked in the past.

I checked before I bought and it was something like 600 when using vouchers and 550 without. So with over 400 in vouchers I felt the difference was negligible. Not sure that's always the case though. May have been even less than 50, can't quite remember.

juneg

July 4

Who's up for a thread on the merits and demerits of the landbridge to France next year ( drive through the UK )

There should be plenty in that topic to keep us distracted.... and nobody will have to mention the Oscar Flaming Wilde

MidlandsM

First Up wrote: »

Imagine being stuck with some of the posters here and having nowhere else to go......

lol .... i think we not only have a troll and a shill here, but someone with mental issues?

Time for a ban ?

The_Conductor

juneg wrote: »

Who's up for a thread on the merits and demerits of the landbridge to France next year ( drive through the UK )

There should be plenty in that topic to keep us distracted.... and nobody will have to mention the Oscar Flaming Wilde

If you mentioned Spain or Portugal- I'd be interested........
Looking at sailings into Santander at the moment- aside from Gijun- are there are services which service further south (aka possibly Setubal or somewhere similar)?

daithi1970

July 18

my 2 cents..for what its worth..we sailed to St Nazaire on the Norman Atlantic on the 11th. There seemed to be a shortage of tabled seating in the lounge area, as they closed off the restaurant area when they stopped serving food..abscence of wifi was a bit of a pain, but we were well equipped with books, games etc..The cabins were very comfortable and the sailing was very smooth though and a single fare of 162 for a family of 4 and family saloon cant be beaten..certainly the entertainment provided when we sailed last year on the OW was not worth the extra cash we would have payed last year.

daithi

frash

July 25

Thanks for the replies to my wine question last night.

Shame it's descended back into the usual bickering instead of useful helpful posts.

paddylonglegs

frash wrote: »

Thanks for the replies to my wine question last night.

Shame it's descended back into the usual bickering instead of useful helpful posts.

Yeah was following that part of it too. Anyone have any names of good wines or vineyards that they've come across?

First Up

frash wrote: »

Thanks for the replies to my wine question last night.

Shame it's descended back into the usual bickering instead of useful helpful posts.

You are welcome.

juneg

July 4

paddylonglegs wrote: »

Yeah was following that part of it too. Anyone have any names of good wines or vineyards that they've come across?

Well the Intermarche have a logo on the label with "Expert Club" on it. So I bought lots of different ones most of which had the label on. I don't even drink but it was easy to pick. I tried to remember the names of good wines from restaurant menus. They cost from €6 to €10 a bottle and apparently would cost more here.
I went for several types of Bordeaux, Saint Emilion, Graves . They were in the "vins fin" section which was separate from the €2 to €3 a bottle and boxed wine section.

I thought we might get to a vineyard but we were too busy , we drove through miles and miles of vineyards down by Bordeaux.

It was actually great for the kids to see so many crops growing corn, wheat, grapes & sunflowers. I would love to see fields of Lavender , but we were no where near that region

BenEadir

August 1

First Up wrote: »

The "posh" restaurant on the OW is very good quality.

Wow!! I tried it twice on previous OW journeys and I couldn't believe how bad it was. Some of the worst value for money food I ever experienced and I've eaten in a lot of restaurants in a lot of countries over the last 20 years. It was so bad that we resolved in future to bring our own food on board for "dinner" on the OW.

For the sake of balance I've also eaten on the Celtic Link and the food wasn't any better but the fact it was a third of the price of the "posh" restaurant on the OW made it reasonably good value for money by comparison.

Ben

First Up

paddylonglegs wrote: »

Yeah was following that part of it too. Anyone have any names of good wines or vineyards that they've come across?

It's hard to offer an answer to such a general question. If you are not already into wine, you won't become an expert overnight. For starters, are you visiting a wine producing area? If so, then by all means visit a few local producers and sample their wares.
But unless you know what you are looking for - or like - there isn't much point going to specialist outlets.
I suggest you stick to the big stores. Unless you are buying in those awful booze cruise places, you can assume that 95+% of their customers are French, so the shops don't try to pass rubbish off on them. Price is a pretty good indicator of quality. Most wine in France is sold for everyday drinking and €6-7 will get you quality that would cost approx twice that here. Personally I wouldn't go much lower than that but lots of people load up on cheaper box wine and they seem happy with that.
If you like a nice light white wine, the Loire region produces Mucadet and it is pretty cheap. Just be sure the bottles say "Sur Lie" on the label.
There is actually a price point, where the difference been French and Irish prices is quite small. I have bought a few "good" bottles (but not in supermarkets) and you are still looking at upwards of €40 for something special.
Check out the website larvf.com for good info on what is on offer in the retail wine scene.

First Up

BenThere wrote: »

Wow!! I tried it twice on previous OW journeys and I couldn't believe how bad it was. Some of the worst value for money food I ever experienced and I've eaten in a lot of restaurants in a lot of countries over the last 20 years. It was so bad that we resolved in future to bring our own food on board for "dinner" on the OW.

For the sake of balance I've also eaten on the Celtic Link and the food wasn't any better but the fact it was a third of the price of the "posh" restaurant on the OW made it reasonably good value for money by comparison.

Ben

You must be a very unlucky person.

BenEadir

August 1

Hi all,

Anyone sailing tomorrow please take note (if you haven't received a text/email already) that they will only be taking cash in the restaurant and bars etc on the boat tomorrow night. The Debit/Credit card machines aren't working for some reason.

I got a text from LD today advising me of this.

This time tomorrow night I should be in the bar sipping a beer having watched the sun go down over the horizon. Can't wait!!!!

Ben

billie1b

First Up wrote: »

You must be a very unlucky person.

To be honest, without starting an argument, I have eaten in both the steakhouse and waiter service restaurant on the Oscar Wilde and don't rate them that much, over priced mediocre food, i've had better from Captain Americas or Spur Steakhouse and they're fast food places, still doesn't stop me from using the ferry though, I usually use it on my return

Pretzill

On the landbridge question and on the wine question (cos I'm not getting into which company is better argument for now)

We always travelled through Britain, because at one time I dreaded the thought of up to 20 hrs at sea - and I can say peak season, if you like driving, it makes sense. I used to book seperately the trip to Holyhead and the Dover to Calais - peak season for two + car worked out cheaper than crossing Rosslare - Grand drive not much sea sickness compared to the longer voyage (but a long drive) If you stay over a night in Britain you have to factor in that price. Eventually got fed up with long drive - relaxed 20 hr ferry became much more appreciated particularly off peak wise when costs are a no brainer! France is just as lovely in May or September!

Wine wise: Some lovely Bordeuxs from 3 eur up - but for me Cote Du Rhone even as cheap as 1:20 a bottle is lovely - there's a carrefour (own brand?) for 1.90 a bottle which belies its cheap price.

Try a few bottles on holiday and buy the ones you like is a good bet.

If you have those snazzy ice boxes there are some cheeses that travel well without the smelly sock fragrance + and great deals on emmental and gruyere. Oh and the artisan cidre in Normandy is delicious particularly the Bayeaux region stuff.

P.S: For wine snobs there are still great wines at cheap prices compared to here - this is Bargain Alerts afterall.

unkel

July 18

Back home a few hours now. We've no experience of other long ferry crossings and most of the points were already made by other people (thanks folks for the tips, they made our trip much better / easier!) but here's my brief summary:

Ship was very clean and nearly new. Staff were friendly, professional and relaxed. A rare combination in any field imho. Food was mediocre but prices were reasonable (for a captive audience), slightly better again for drinks. Cabins were very clean with 4 full size (200cm * 90cm) single (bunk) beds with good quality bed sheets and duvets. They also had powerful showers and aircon that worked great. We paid for and got outside (seaview) cabins and on our return leg we found we had one of the only 6 large size cabins on the ship (all other cabins, inside and outside are pretty small)

One major point of criticism is that they announced pretty much everything very, very loudly into the cabins. Like at 7.30 AM on the way over to France that the breakfast was nearly starting and then that it was starting and then that it was nearly closing and then that it was very nearly closing :rolleyes: Publish your (restrictive) restaurant opening times on your website and / or give people a cheapo leaflet when boarding but otherwise STFU!

Unlike some other people mentioned, we didn't have to queue much at all (no more than a few minutes) for boarding, getting cabin keys and handing them back in. Also driving on / driving off only took a few minutes. All was very efficient. Maybe LD lines read in here or have responded to feedback

As said, there is no entertainment, but we knew that (thanks again folks!) and we made our own. Tbh I'd rather stick my private parts in a blender than pay €600 extra for a clown

Lovely bonus this evening just after entering the Irish sea was a school of dolphins we spotted somewhere in the distance on the port side of the ship. They came closer and closer jumping out of the water every few seconds until the reached the ship and then swam underneath it, only to appear on starboard again and to disappear jumping into the distance

Will I travel with LD lines again if they charge me €600, when the competition charges double that and bring me less far into France? No brainer. Thank you LD lines

Agueroooo

What exactly is the difference in travel time between the two ships? LD/OW

So longer on the LD is actually better say if you are going to the Vendee region?

alastair

July 4

Agueroooo wrote: »

What exactly is the difference in travel time between the two ships? LD/OW

So longer on the LD is actually better say if you are going to the Vendee region?

It's 20 hours to St Nazaire vs 17.30 hours to Roscoff. Which is a bit faster than the drive from Roscoff to St Nazaire. If you're heading south (or even a little north of St Nazaire), or across to the Loire Valley, it makes sense.

gerryo

BenThere wrote: »

Wow!! I tried it twice on previous OW journeys and I couldn't believe how bad it was. Some of the worst value for money food I ever experienced and I've eaten in a lot of restaurants in a lot of countries over the last 20 years. It was so bad that we resolved in future to bring our own food on board for "dinner" on the OW.

For the sake of balance I've also eaten on the Celtic Link and the food wasn't any better but the fact it was a third of the price of the "posh" restaurant on the OW made it reasonably good value for money by comparison.

Ben

First Up wrote: »

You must be a very unlucky person.

He's not the only one!
Evening dinners are not great. however, I really like the breakfasts.
It was the opposite on Brittany Ferries, dinner was good, Irish breakfast was terrible.

vienne86

Great report Unkel - many thanks. 90 cm beds! Excellent.

The LDL ship seems to go several knots faster than the OW. It takes longer, but brings you much further south into France. But then it arrives fairly late - 6.p.m. on Saturday.

Good to hear the food is OK on LDL. Last year I had some excellent dinners on the OW in the posh restaurant, but I do travel in the low season. For the most part, the food is expensive, I find.

Safe travelling today everyone! I'm envious!

Mr. Fancypants

August 1

Roof box sorted this morning and will be heading down towards Rosslare this afternoon. Looking forward to it. Thanks so much to the OP for this, it has made the trip much more affordable for the family!

MidlandsM

mbroaders wrote: »

Roof box sorted this morning and will be heading down towards Rosslare this afternoon. Looking forward to it. Thanks so much to the OP for this, it has made the trip much more affordable for the family!

bon voyage!

First Up

Pretzill wrote: »

On the landbridge question and on the wine question (cos I'm not getting into which company is better argument for now)

We always travelled through Britain, because at one time I dreaded the thought of up to 20 hrs at sea - and I can say peak season, if you like driving, it makes sense. I used to book seperately the trip to Holyhead and the Dover to Calais - peak season for two + car worked out cheaper than crossing Rosslare - Grand drive not much sea sickness compared to the longer voyage (but a long drive) If you stay over a night in Britain you have to factor in that price. Eventually got fed up with long drive - relaxed 20 hr ferry became much more appreciated particularly off peak wise when costs are a no brainer! France is just as lovely in May or September!

Wine wise: Some lovely Bordeuxs from 3 eur up - but for me Cote Du Rhone even as cheap as 1:20 a bottle is lovely - there's a carrefour (own brand?) for 1.90 a bottle which belies its cheap price.

Try a few bottles on holiday and buy the ones you like is a good bet.

If you have those snazzy ice boxes there are some cheeses that travel well without the smelly sock fragrance + and great deals on emmental and gruyere. Oh and the artisan cidre in Normandy is delicious particularly the Bayeaux region stuff.

P.S: For wine snobs there are still great wines at cheap prices compared to here - this is Bargain Alerts afterall.

Eeek, that's a bit too cheap for my liking. Closer to industrial production than wine-making. The French are liberal enough with their pesticides at the best of times but at those prices, you are probably paying more for the toxins than the grapes - no matter how smooth it feels.

I checked my supplies and noted that I have a fair few in the €4.60 - €5.00 range so my earlier price point of €6/7 was probably a bit high. However there is no doubt that the maximum value - as in quality/price ratio compared with Irish prices - is in the €7-€12 range. A grand's worth at French prices will more than cover your travel costs - no matter which ferry you use. And you have something worth bringing home. It helps if you like wine of course.

I'm not knocking the own brand stuff though. I like Carrefour's Burgundy "Grand Ordinaire" (perfect BBQ wine) and Auchan's "Pierre Chanau" and "La Selection" ranges are decent. I have a few boxes of their Riesling and Gewurtz sitting in a cool place.

But be careful with the really cheap stuff.

vienne86

First Up wrote: »

Eeek, that's a bit too cheap for my liking. Closer to industrial production than wine-making. The French are liberal enough with their pesticides at the best of times but at those prices, you are probably paying more for the toxins than the grapes - no matter how smooth it feels.

I checked my supplies and noted that I have a fair few in the €4.60 - €5.00 range so my earlier price point of €6/7 was probably a bit high. However there is no doubt that the maximum value - as in quality/price ratio compared with Irish prices - is in the €7-€12 range. A grand's worth at French prices will more than cover your travel costs - no matter which ferry you use. And you have something worth bringing home. It helps if you like wine of course.

I'm not knocking the own brand stuff though. I like Carrefour's Burgundy "Grand Ordinaire" (perfect BBQ wine) and Auchan's "Pierre Chanau" and "La Selection" ranges are decent. I have a few boxes of their Riesling and Gewurtz sitting in a cool place.

But be careful with the really cheap stuff.

I have been picking up wine on my homeward journey for about 15 years not. There are great wine sales in the supermarkets in September, but also promotions throughout the year which can be good. I usually buy in the €5 - €8 range - I find some of the cheaper ones don't travel that well. Also, some of the whites and rosés taste great in the French sunshine, but somehow lost their appeal in November in Ireland!

Happy shopping everyone.