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The Center Parcs Experience

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    #782
    Hyzepher
    Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators Posts: 4,659 Mod ✭✭✭✭Hyzepher


    Sunny Dayz wrote: »
    Not sure if they can be booked into doing activities or hiring bikes.

    They can, but at busy times they would have a hope of getting a free spot to book as most would book activities before they arrive for their stay.


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    #783
    mookishboy
    Registered Users Posts: 276 ✭✭mookishboy


    There is a plan for 200 new lodges to be built within the next 18months. Also the ultra exclusive tree houses will be starting soon. Plus the unused space on far side of the subtropical area is provisionally for future village expansion. to bring it from the smallest CP to more in line with the rest of them.


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    #784
    FFVII
    Registered Users Posts: 1,382 ✭✭✭FFVII


    mookishboy wrote: »
    There is a plan for 200 new lodges to be built within the next 18months. Also the ultra exclusive tree houses will be starting soon. Plus the unused space on far side of the subtropical area is provisionally for future village expansion. to bring it from the smallest CP to more in line with the rest of them.

    This was always the plan, they waited to see how demand would turn out.


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    #785
    PhoenixParker
    Registered Users Posts: 2,671 ✭✭✭PhoenixParker


    Shuukaido wrote: »
    I'm heading to Center Parcs in a couple of weeks and, as we don't drive, we will take the train to Longford and then probably catch a taxi to the park entrance.

    Any other suggestions for transport from Longford town? I checked with Farrelly's and they are quoting 60 per single trip, so I belive a taxi would be cheaper than that.

    M4direct.ie (a bus service) seem to have direct services from Dublin to Center Parcs. They also service local towns en route Dublin-centerparcs (mullingar, edgeworthstown, & ballymahon)

    Might be worth looking into either instead of the train or as the final connection. That said, if there's a group of us taxi might be cheaper/less hassle.


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    #786
    Shuukaido
    Registered Users Posts: 46 ✭Shuukaido


    PhoenixParker wrote: »
    M4direct.ie (a bus service) seem to have direct services from Dublin to Center Parcs. They also service local towns en route Dublin-centerparcs (mullingar, edgeworthstown, & ballymahon)

    Might be worth looking into either instead of the train or as the final connection. That said, if there's a group of us taxi might be cheaper/less hassle.


    We already booked the train, but this looks promising if we go again in the future. Thanks! :)



    In any case, and looking at the bus timetable, for this trip the train suits us better as we took half-a-day off to take the 13:00 - 14:48 one and enjoy most of the afternoon in the park


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    #787
    Shuukaido
    Registered Users Posts: 46 ✭Shuukaido


    No issues at all getting there with the train + taxi (although we will consider the direct bus from Dublin if we go back). The taxi kind of jumped ahead of the few cars waiting on the queue :D (not too many ~ 8-10) and left us just before the security entrance where we checked in and walked to the apartments, which are very close to all the amenities.

    Overall we had a really good experience just by ourselves. The swimming pool rides and the outdoor rapids were amazing and we enjoyed the Aerial Adventure a lot. We did also Field Archery which was good with a bit of competition going on. The indoor badminton was also very entertaining. The Spa it's great; we booked during sunset and it was very relaxing to chill in the outdoor pool and jacuzzi.

    From the restaurants, I was impressed with the Italian. Of course it's not Manifesto but the pasta and pizzas were really delicious. Cara's kitchen was good as well and we didn't have the opportunity to try the Indian. We also cooked one night at the apartment which was very enjoyable and cozy too.


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    #788
    elperello
    Registered Users Posts: 14,398 ✭✭✭✭elperello


    Centre Parcs on RTE 1 Nationwide now.


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    #789
    Monokne
    Registered Users Posts: 3,929 ✭✭✭Monokne


    Booked a week from 27 Dec through the new year here. Very excited! Will share my experience when I'm back.


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    #790
    Billydoc
    Registered Users Posts: 163 ✭✭Billydoc


    Hi, I booked four nights at the end of November with my credit card a few weeks ago. I booked a few activities yesterday and rang center Parcs in the afternoon to confirm these bookings. They said I’ve no outstanding balance on my accommodation or activities but money hasn’t been taken yet. When do they take payment? When I log in online everything is booked and paid for but they haven’t taken any money yet from my credit card.


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    #791
    Edgware
    Registered Users Posts: 5,875 ✭✭✭Edgware


    They're hiring cleaners now. 9.80 an hour.


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    #792
    elperello
    Registered Users Posts: 14,398 ✭✭✭✭elperello


    Edgware wrote: »
    They're hiring cleaners now. 9.80 an hour.

    That's minimum wage and may be staying at that rate.

    https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/national-minimum-wage-increase-may-be-deferred-over-no-deal-brexit-1.4042021


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    #793
    LuasSimon
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,208 ✭✭✭LuasSimon


    You would think at their prices they could pay a small bit more than minimum wage!!


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    #794
    Plumbthedepths
    Closed Accounts Posts: 12,653 ✭✭✭✭Plumbthedepths


    LuasSimon wrote: »
    You would think at their prices they could pay a small bit more than minimum wage!!

    Low wage workers, high cost guest experience is their business model.


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    #795
    FFVII
    Registered Users Posts: 1,382 ✭✭✭FFVII


    Plumbthedepths wrote: »
    Low wage workers, high cost guest experience is their business model.

    So unique.


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    #796
    Plumbthedepths
    Closed Accounts Posts: 12,653 ✭✭✭✭Plumbthedepths


    FFVII wrote: »
    So unique.

    It's not unique but considering the guest prices, minimum wage is a joke tbh. For example Lidl/Aldi sell very affordable products yet manage to pay their staff almost 14 euro an hour.


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    #797
    Allinall
    Registered Users Posts: 6,562 ✭✭✭Allinall


    Plumbthedepths wrote: »
    It's not unique but considering the guest prices, minimum wage is a joke tbh. For example Lidl/Aldi sell very affordable products yet manage to pay their staff almost 14 euro an hour.

    How do you know what their cost base- apart from wages is?


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    #798
    Monokne
    Registered Users Posts: 3,929 ✭✭✭Monokne


    Allinall wrote: »
    How do you know what their cost base- apart from wages is?

    The widely reported figure for building it was €233 million.

    So they will be in the red a while yet, fair to say.


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    #799
    gumbo1
    Registered Users Posts: 681 ✭✭✭gumbo1


    My wife and I are bring our 2 boys, 3 and a half and almost 1, next week for four nights. I'm just wondering if there's a soft play area for the wee one. We have activities booked for the older lad but there doesn't seem to be to much available to book for the baby, other than the sensory baby play, which we booked for 1 day as that was the only availability. Any advice or suggestions for things to do with an 11 month old greatly appreciated!


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    #800
    PhoenixParker
    Registered Users Posts: 2,671 ✭✭✭PhoenixParker


    There's a soft play area in Bella Italia and the sports cafe. I think there's one in pancake house too.

    There are also a few outdoor playgrounds and one of the pools is super warm and shallow, perfect for tinies.


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    #801
    gumbo1
    Registered Users Posts: 681 ✭✭✭gumbo1


    PhoenixParker wrote: »
    There's a soft play area in Bella Italia and the sports cafe. I think there's one in pancake house too.

    There are also a few outdoor playgrounds and one of the pools is super warm and shallow, perfect for tinies.

    Thanks for that, was just imagining that he'd be in his stroller/buggy watching his brother having all the craic!


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    #802
    Black_Knight
    Moderators Posts: 12,367 ✭✭✭✭Black_Knight


    gumbo1 wrote: »
    My wife and I are bring our 2 boys, 3 and a half and almost 1, next week for four nights. I'm just wondering if there's a soft play area for the wee one. We have activities booked for the older lad but there doesn't seem to be to much available to book for the baby, other than the sensory baby play, which we booked for 1 day as that was the only availability. Any advice or suggestions for things to do with an 11 month old greatly appreciated!

    Sports bar soft play is a decent size. Its split into 0-4 years and 5-12 years, though it's not early adhered to, so supervision is needed. Food was grand/good.
    Bella Italia has a tiny soft play area, Twas too chaotic for our 14 month old. Good food!
    Caras kitchen only has an outdoor play area (food was the best in there though).
    Pancake House has a play area to, small also. Pancakes were a real letdown for us.

    In the pool area, go right. There's 2 perfect areas for babies/toddlers. Water splashing/pouring everywhere, and lovely warm water in both. Grab a watering can from the info desk in the pool, they're free to use in the pool area. Both your boys will love it there.

    We had our little girl running around an empty badminton court with a bouncy ball we got. Loved it, and free!


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    #803
    appledrop
    Registered Users Posts: 5,803 ✭✭✭appledrop


    They are not going to last with their current pricing model. Just out of interest went in + looked at coming week which is midterm.

    Still loads of lodges left for the week + next weekend. Interestingly next weekend has dropped to €699 which is reasonable for them.

    If they cant even fill them all at midterm not going to last. If they price them more reasonable during holiday time people will go.


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    #804
    gumbo1
    Registered Users Posts: 681 ✭✭✭gumbo1


    I'm just back from a midweek stay. The place is fantastic tho there are few things I think they could do with changing a little.

    There's 1 dedicated coffee shop that always had a queue out the door in the morning so they could do with another one or more staff to work an extra coffee machine.

    There's not a lot for babies/younger toddlers to do. All the activities seem to be feared towards 3 or 4 year olds upwards. I had my 2 boys with me, 3 1/2 and 11 months, the older lad had a great time between the pool and the activities but the little lad didn't get out of the buggy much other than the pool or to be held by my wife or I. There was 1 thing aimed at babies, baby sensory play, but it was booked out bar 1 session on the Tuesday morning and wasn't much different than play time at home!

    Food and beverage was fine, it's prices were near enough to what I'd be used to paying for in Dublin.

    As for accommodation, it was fine. We paid for daily house keeping because of the 2 boys tending to make a mess of the place at home but it really wasn't needed as a quick tidy up before heading out for the day and having the big industrial bins dotted along the road made it handy for getting rid of the nappies or if the household bin was full just dumping it in yourself as your passing by.

    We were talking to a few managing staff and retail staff during the week and they were explaining that they are at 96% capacity for the next 6 weeks. Even last weekend they had an extra 400 people book for the weekend on the Thursday night an turn up the next day for the weekend. There was an awful lot of English people there and when I asked if the staff knew why that was I was told that in any of the resort's in the UK it was approx £850 for the week, so drive over on the ferry or fly to Knock and hire a car to stay for appox €600 it would still work out cheaper than a week in a UK resort. I dont think they have anything to wory about in regards of going out of business any time soon. There's nothing like it anywhere in this country and we as a family are planing our next trip back around May already!
    appledrop wrote: »
    They are not going to last with their current pricing model. Just out of interest went in + looked at coming week which is midterm.

    Still loads of lodges left for the week + next weekend. Interestingly next weekend has dropped to €699 which is reasonable for them.

    If they cant even fill them all at midterm not going to last. If they price them more reasonable during holiday time people will go.


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    #805
    Monokne
    Registered Users Posts: 3,929 ✭✭✭Monokne


    gumbo1 wrote: »

    There's not a lot for babies/younger toddlers to do. All the activities seem to be feared towards 3 or 4 year olds upwards. I had my 2 boys with me, 3 1/2 and 11 months, the older lad had a great time between the pool and the activities but the little lad didn't get out of the buggy much other than the pool or to be held by my wife or I. There was 1 thing aimed at babies, baby sensory play, but it was booked out bar 1 session on the Tuesday morning and wasn't much different than play time at home!

    I don't disagree with this point broadly, but think it's important to note this is mostly just the difficulty of pre-toddlers on holiday.

    With my two - who are now 6 & 3 - we've done a sun holiday in Lanzarote, a caravan park in Haven, a cruise around the Med, and Center Parcs when one or the other of them were under 2, and that is always our experience. There's just not a huge amount they are capable of at that age and I have found that not unlike what you say about CP, even the activities that are available for them in these places are basically just some variation on soft play and not really worth spending on.


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    #806
    Phil.x
    Registered Users Posts: 1,723 ✭✭✭Phil.x


    Whats the cost of the amenities for kids, say cycling, swimming, etc, price of a pint, supermarket shopping and restaurants.


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    #807
    pwurple
    Closed Accounts Posts: 12,449 ✭✭✭✭pwurple


    No cost for swimming. No cost for cycling either if you have your own bike. Bike rental varies depending on the bike you hire, it was between 20 and 40 for 4 days for us.

    Can’t help on the others. We brought our own food along.


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    #808
    PhoenixParker
    Registered Users Posts: 2,671 ✭✭✭PhoenixParker


    If you click through the various restaurants the menus with prices are there:

    https://www.centerparcs.ie/discover-center-parcs/restaurants.html

    Example activity prices are here:

    https://www.centerparcs.ie/content/dam/centerparcs/activity-pricing/wwl/WWL-IR.pdf


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    #809
    Salmon
    Registered Users Posts: 680 ✭✭✭Salmon


    Quick Question for anyone who has stayed at CP.
    We live relatively close to the site and i'm contemplating booking a midweek break (e499 at the minute!), would it be difficult to leave the accommodation in the morning and bring the kids to school during the day. I would collect them after school and be back to the park at around 3:30 or so with the kids once they leave school. I know it sounds mad, but i'm living around 20 mins from the site!
    Also, what time does the pool etc close at this time of the year? Any advice?


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    #810
    pwurple
    Closed Accounts Posts: 12,449 ✭✭✭✭pwurple


    Pool closes at 9pm I think.

    I think you could manage it alright, but you would need to be quite organized in the morning, and for the collection time if you are coming back in for the day yourself. You Might need to get a car pass every day, and check out and in at the gate.


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    #811
    dazed+confused
    Registered Users Posts: 1,001 ✭✭✭dazed+confused


    Salmon wrote: »
    Quick Question for anyone who has stayed at CP.
    We live relatively close to the site and i'm contemplating booking a midweek break (e499 at the minute!), would it be difficult to leave the accommodation in the morning and bring the kids to school during the day. I would collect them after school and be back to the park at around 3:30 or so with the kids once they leave school. I know it sounds mad, but i'm living around 20 mins from the site!
    Also, what time does the pool etc close at this time of the year? Any advice?

    Advice?

    Yeah, cut them a bit of slack and give them a few days off!


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