Tickets to Dublin via ferry

[Panceltic]

Taking a look at the Sail&Rail fares to Dublin, there are tickets available to 'Dublin Ferryport' or 'Dublin Port Stena', but there are also tickets to 'Dublin Connolly' for a £3 supplement.

However, the journey planners suggests that there is a separate fare payable for the bus transfer from the port to the city centre regardless of the ticket held. What is the point of these 'through' tickets then?

Thank you!

 

[danm14]

The tickets to DUBLIN CONNOLLY are not valid to depart from or arrive to DUBLINPORT STENA at any time. Tickets to DUBLINPORT STENA are not valid to depart from or arrive to DUN LAOGHAIRE (CIV) at any time.

This leads me to believe they are fares that were once available for Stena Line's fast ferry services (approx 2h crossing instead of 3h30) from Holyhead to Dun Laoghaire Harbour which ceased to run a few years ago. These would have included the train from Dun Laoghaire to Dublin Connolly.

Therefore, they are currently unavailable to purchase (as it is impossible to get a Stena Line ferry from Holyhead that doesn't go to Dublin Port) but still on the system for whatever reason (perhaps in case these services are reintroduced in the future.)

 

[najaB]

...but still on the system for whatever reason (perhaps in case these services are reintroduced in the future.)

That's my understanding. There has been some talk of reintroducing the high-speed service (though I don't think much will come of it).

 

[47513 Severn]

As they've sold the superboat it would be quite an undertaking for anyone to restart the service.

A rough crossing on the Jonathan Swift a few years back would make me very dubious about going high speed on the Irish Sea ever again!

 

[danm14]

As they've sold the superboat it would be quite an undertaking for anyone to restart the service.

Stena Line obviously have decided high-speed crossings are not viable. Apart from cancelling the Dun Laoghaire crossing, they also chose to move from Stranraer port to Cairnryan port to shorten the crossing a few years earlier. This was despite the lack of a rail connection (resulting in the laying-on of a connection coach to Ayr), and the poor road between Ayr, Cairnryan and Stranraer which they were lobbying to have improved earlier this year. I believe this was mainly to allow a slow-ferry to complete the new journey in roughly the same time as a fast-ferry could complete the old journey.

A rough crossing on the Jonathan Swift a few years back would make me very dubious about going high speed on the Irish Sea ever again!

The Jonathan Swift is allegedly a much inferior ship to the former Stena HSS ships. While I never travelled on the HSS, it was supposedly capable of sailing in more extreme weather conditions than the Jonathan Swift, and gave a much smoother crossing in identical weather conditions

My single experience with the Jonathan Swift was a relatively rough crossing at times despite the seas being quite calm, while the return trip by Ulysses in worse conditions was dead smooth.

 

[gray1404]

Is the crossing from/to Holyhead on the Irish Ferries fast craft any good? i.e. smooth

 

[47513 Severn]

I didn't enjoy it. If the sea is still I imagine it would be acceptably smooth but otherwise it is prone to movement.

My biggest dislike was the layout, basically one big room albeit slightly partitioned. Conventional ferries tend to have a variety of lounges and places to hide away from the crowds. Jonathan Swift does have a Club Class lounge on the upper deck but it is popular on busy crossings and can get full.

 

[gordonthemoron]

The Stena HSS was much more stable than the Jonathon Swift and a damn sight bigger

 

[krus_aragon]

The Stena HSS was much more stable than the Jonathon Swift and a damn sight bigger

And had a very nice system for embarkation/disembarkation for foot passengers. None of this "wait for all the cars to leave, then walk down to the car deck, so a clapped-out bus can drive you off the boat" nonsense.

 

[najaB]

And had a very nice system for embarkation/disembarkation for foot passengers. None of this "wait for all the cars to leave, then walk down to the car deck, so a clapped-out bus can drive you off the boat" nonsense.

The be fair, the Cairnryan-Belfast ferries have this too. You can be off the ferry and in the terminal less than 10 minutes after it's docked.

 

[theironroad]

Taking a look at the Sail&Rail fares to Dublin, there are tickets available to 'Dublin Ferryport' or 'Dublin Port Stena', but there are also tickets to 'Dublin Connolly' for a £3 supplement.

However, the journey planners suggests that there is a separate fare payable for the bus transfer from the port to the city centre regardless of the ticket held. What is the point of these 'through' tickets then?

Thank you!

Right outside the stena arrivals terminal at Dublin ferry port there is a bus or coach run by a private local operator. (Iirc there is one ferry arrival it does not meet) It goes to Connolly station and through to Heuston (not sure where it stops between those two rail stations). It's cash, though GBP or EUR accepted. Think it's 3 or 4 euro and takes about 10-15 mins to Connolly depending on traffic.

 

[gray1404]

I've always found the Liverpool - Isle of Man crossing on the fast craft to be very comfortable. Hopefully the same will be true of the Holyhead - Dublin fast craft.

 

[Flying Snail]

That's my understanding. There has been some talk of reintroducing the high-speed service (though I don't think much will come of it).

That was courtesy of the Dun Laoghaire Harbour Company who were criticised following the withdrawal after Stena quoted the high docking fees charged as one of the reasons for pulling out.

In response to the criticism they stated that they would be looking for a replacement operation and said they had a number of interested parties.

Nothing has come of it of course. Stena won't be returning and Irish Ferries have no interest in Dun Laoghaire either. Who these supposed interested parties were but I doubt anyone with enough resources to take on those 2 would touch the route. The money is in freight and Dublin Port is far better located for that traffic than Dun Laoghaire.

The HSS won't be coming back, the former Holyhead ship Explorer is the only one of the 3 still in existence but is laid up in Dubai following a failed project to turn her into a floating office complex. I expect a beach in Turkey is not that far away now sadly.

 

[Hornet]

Use to love the HSS. Could finish work in High Wycombe at 1pm on a friday, hammer up the M40/M42/M5/M6/M54/A5 to Holyhead on my bike for the 6:30pm sailing to Dun Laoghaire. First off at the other end. At the other half's by 9pm and in the pub by 9:30pm for a pint of the black stuff. Sad to see it gone.

 

[Flying Snail]

I've always found the Liverpool - Isle of Man crossing on the fast craft to be very comfortable. Hopefully the same will be true of the Holyhead - Dublin fast craft.

You have obviously been lucky with the weather. There is no getting away from the fact that the fast craft are more sensitive to the sea state than lager conventional ferries. The way they react is also different; regular ships will have a typical rolling effect but the size and catemeran hulls of the fast ferries give a more unpredictable and crashy movement.

The Met Eireann website has a good 5 day weather chart for the sea state and wind direction.

Be aware that if sea conditions are predicted to be rough or above Irish Ferries will cancel the fastcraft sailings anyway, the Jonathan Swift will not sail in properly bad conditions but if they have made the decision to leave Dublin the return sailing can on occasion operate in rougher conditions than they would normally sail in as the crew overnight on the Ulysees. The requirement for the crew to be back at Dublin before 20.30 is one of the reasons they are quite conservative with the conditions they operate in, they don't want it to be stuck in Holyhead with waves above it's maximum rating.