Yarmouth-Lymington Ferry

[Farigiraf]

I'll be (hopefully) taking the Yarmouth to Lymington ferry in a few weeks as a foot passenger, and other than wondering about other people's experiences with this service, I have some questions:

• Is there an indoor terminal area at Yarmouth? I'd be arriving on the Island Coaster bus and other than the small bus shelter, I can't seem to find any images of a waiting room/area on the web, which is usually standard for ferry terminals. Assuming the 15min transfer time is correct, I would have a ~45 minute wait for the ferry.
• I've read that sometimes if you don't have a reservation, they will leave you waiting for the next ferry, an hour later, if the ship is full. I don't think that a RailSail ticket counts as a reservation in the Wightlink system (fact check me on this). As I'd have an advance single, if I am forced to take the next ferry, would my ticket be valid to take the next available services out of Lymington then Brockenhurst? Additionally, would I be eligible for Delay Repay? I've read that ferries/hovercrafts are a grey area for delay repay.
  TIA

 

[30907]

I would be surprised if you had a problem boarding as a foot passenger.

The Wightlink website says there is a lounge (which I suspect might be a creative description of a waiting room!) - presumably in the same area as the ticket office and toilets.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Yes, there is an indoor waiting area at Yarmouth - and it is indeed in the same building as the ticket office, and there are toilets.

It's in here - and don't worry; like the Tardis it's much bigger on the inside than it looks.

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[FuzzyDuck]

When I used this service in January, the building in Yarmouth was being refurbished and apart from toilets was pretty much closed.

 

[wibble]

You'll need to book if you're taking the 0605 Lymington - Yarmouth or 1105 Yarmouth - Lymington as both sailings have restricted capacity for foot passengers. I'd give them a call if you're travelling at another time to see if you need to make a reservation as a foot passenger. A through ticket won't count as having a reservation on Wightlink and you won't be able to claim Delay Repay due to a delay on Wightlink.

 

[Snow1964]

The current ferries have lower passenger capacity than their predecessors (which also had 2 rather functional rather than comfortable, and not easiest to find, seating areas below the car deck), they used to hold over 500 passengers.

The latest ones only hold 379, and during August school holidays certain sailings get very busy. They have 65 car spaces and if there are families, or a coach, then lots of passenger capacity is taken up by vehicle passengers.

I would look at booking at this time of year, Cowes week (regatta) ends tomorrow so lots of extra people travelling back from the island in next few days.

 

[Farigiraf]

Many thanks to everyone who has replied.

The Lounge waiting room looks... functional.
I'm guessing the only way to make a reservation while already having a ticket (RailSail) is over the phone, and the Delay Repay thing is rather worrying - is the 'start of journey' on a RailSail from Yarmouth counted as the moment the Wightlink ferry departs, or the moment the train out of Lymington Pier departs? So if the ferry is late, would it be 'my fault' that I missed the rail connection from Lymington, or would I be allowed on the next available train as per the usual Advance Single rules?

 

[Gloster]

I haven’t used the Lymington route since Covid, but the waiting room at Yarmouth was really no more than a wide corridor with wooden benches down the side. It was out of the rain, but that was about all that could be said for it. I doubt if it has changed much as Wightlink doesn’t really do much for passengers if they can’t get money out of them for it.

Experience is that neither the trains nor the ferries wait for passengers from the other, even to the extent of half a minute.

 

[nanstallon]

I haven’t used the Lymington route since Covid, but the waiting room at Yarmouth was really no more than a wide corridor with wooden benches down the side. It was out of the rain, but that was about all that could be said for it. I doubt if it has changed much as Wightlink doesn’t really do much for passengers if they can’t get money out of them for it.

Experience is that neither the trains nor the ferries wait for passengers from the other, even to the extent of half a minute.

British customer service!

As Wightlink are presumably not a member of ATOC, I doubt whether the starting point, or end point, for delay-repay purposes would be Yarmouth.