Travelling to UK in August with the Kids by ferry

gent9662

We will be travelling by car to UK in August with our 3 kids. They are aged 7,3 and 1. I am just wondering which ferry company is best for kids and comfort.

The stena ferries seem to be a fraction cheaper.

Has anybody got any experience in this and if so could you recommend a ferry to use?

Thanks

cynder

fast ferry, its 4 hours by the slow ones and if the kids are sea sick its a long 4 hours.

what part of the uk you going to would you be better of with pembroke , fishguard or holyhead?

The large ferrys are practicaly the same, hold your breath on the car deck it stinks.....

ScouseMouse

If you go at night with a cabin, they should sleep - for the 3 hours they are in the bunks.

smelltheglove

Stena Line for us, they even had a kids entertainer on board which made it really special and fun for them!

Ballyman

Like mentioned, Irish Ferries and Stena are basically the same and do a good job of entertaining the kids. However I would recommend the fast ferry as children get bored very quickly!

The Irish Ferries ferry from Dublin to Holyhead is actually the largest car ferry in the world by the way!

angeldaisy

we've travelled to the uk by ferry for the past 11 years, and have always used Stena, reason being is they seem to cancel less ferries than Irish ferries, esp in the poorer weather.
I'm a bad traveller and so we always used the fast ferry, however for the last 2 years we started using the 4hr crossing, also upgraded to stena plus. What a difference... ferry is smoother, kids entertainment is excellent, Wii on board, internet access,a film is usually screened. I honestly don't mind the extra time, and our small fella - 6yrs - never seems to get bored, last time he got picked to take part in the magic show! plus in the stena plus lounge there is free tea/coffee, soft drinks, fruit and usually biscuits:D

Greystoner

We travel to and from the UK about 3 times a year on the Dublin to Holyhead route. Used to get Stena line all the time, but then after having 3 ferries in a row cancelled due to the 'adverse weather conditions' , and also realising how filthy the ferries actually are, especially when our kids were crawling etc. The children's area (which has nothing in btw really, apart from the George monkey dvd on loop) had the same dirt smears on every time we went; nice(!), and the baby change was so dirty, I just came out and changed the kids on the floor somewhere discreet.

So we changed to Irish ferries and pay the little bit extra for the fast ferry. It is so clean and comfortable. Has decent films on in a comfortable lounge, and just seems generally nicer.

As with all crossings, sometimes it can be rough, so I would recommend changes of clothes on these occasions, and loads of babywipes!

Booking on the fast ferry is a must though with kids; the slow ferry is soooo slow and even with a bag full of books/colouring etc, they want to walk around and nearly 4 hours of that is not fun, especially if it makes you feel ill too!

Tesco vouchers are handy enough to convert to ferry vouchers, they charge an 'admin fee' but the vouchers still save you a bit on the fare.

Hope this helps!

Cat Melodeon

We travel Belfast-Stranraer at least twice a year, with kid and dog in tow. We've always gone with Stena and have no complaints - we've never had a delay or cancellation, there's plenty to keep the toddler entertained, they have video games & a current movie for older kids (I think it was Toy Story 3 last time), a soft play area for little ones. We always take the faster sailing, no point being on there any longer than is necessary. We're going with P&O next month (Larne-Troon), I'm hoping it will be as good as Stena.

Greystoner

The movies on Stena line and the video games etc all cost extra. The Irishferries (fast ferry) movie is free (last time we were on they had 'Happy feet', that was last August).

The kids entertainer on Stena line seems to be for slightly older kids. My two are still too young to sit still for magic tricks etc. (similar ages to the poster asking the question).

I always take a bag full of colouring books and reading books and snacks. We try to tire our kids out on the boat and then they sleep on the car journey at the other end, and we can get more miles done then. (Nothing worse than when they are aware that they are stuck in a car seat and want to get out!)

Happy traveling!

LordSutch

dclane wrote: »

We will be travelling by car to UK in August with our 3 kids. They are aged 7,3 and 1. I am just wondering which ferry company is best for kids and comfort.

The stena ferries seem to be a fraction cheaper.

Has anybody got any experience in this and if so could you recommend a ferry to use?

I presume you mean Britain.

If so, I recommend Stena Line, they seem to be better than Irish ferries.

We travelled with our six month old a few years ago and we found the Ferry to be great, no cramped conditions, multiple loos, space to walk around with baby in the pram, lots of people admiring baby on the journey too, the only draw back being the longer travel time . . .

And then of course you may or may not have a journey from the port??? we were just going inland for one hour from Holyhead.

January

LordSutch, no need for the smart reply about UK/Britain

Orion

LordSutch wrote: »

I presume you mean Britain.

If you want to be that pedantic you should have said "Great Britain". Either way remarks like that are not desirable here.

[edit]Sorry January - didn't see you'd already replied.

LordSutch

January wrote: »

LordSutch, no need for the smart reply about UK/Britain

Not a smart reply at all > http://www.stenaline.co.uk/ferry/ferries-to-britain/

PS; I forgot to mention in my 1st post that there are games machines for the older kids, & there is a really good play area for the younger ones, rubber bricks, rubber mats, + loads of room for tumbling around. (depending on which craft you take)* Large Stena HSS or smaller Express.

Enjoy your trip.