New Ferry to France

SARZY

killalanerr wrote: »

thanks for the report it sounds like its just the same as the old boat and with prices for next year coming in very close to that of IF i think i will stick with the cheesy dancers

Presume you mean you will stay with the South American registered outfit who wont employ Irish people. Thats your business entirely.

Ive saved €100 and that the first weeks campsites paid for.

Celtic Link are the best thing ever to happen to that sea crossing and I, for one, will try to make sure they stay on that route.

killalanerr

@SARZY dont now where your going with this,its about me getting the most out of my holiday i tried CL found no fault with them but as has been pointed out a few times in this thread the experience with CL is not to everybody's likeing, i just prefer the set up with IF

eastmeath

SARZY wrote: »

Presume you mean you will stay with the South American registered outfit who wont employ Irish people. Thats your business entirely.

Ive saved €100 and that the first weeks campsites paid for.

Celtic Link are the best thing ever to happen to that sea crossing and I, for one, will try to make sure they stay on that route.

According to www.afloat.ie - "During her Irish service, she will maintain Italian registry of Bari". Also, having dealt with approximately 12 staff members the other night, just one was Irish. Three others were checking with each other (in English) which language they were most comfortable carrying a conversation on, before continuing whatever it was they were talking about (they didn't choose English).

It seems to represent a good option for bigger families with dog/roof box/caravan etc. etc. - you could make a decent saving that way - but for the three of us, for a trip next August, they work out at €65 less than IF. For us, this wouldn't be even close to enough of a saving to put in 2 boring days. It's one less meal out, when in France - to save the extra needed for the better ferry and 2 more enjoyable days.

dfbemt

SARZY wrote: »

Presume you mean you will stay with the South American registered outfit who wont employ Irish people. Thats your business entirely.

Ive saved €100 and that the first weeks campsites paid for.

Celtic Link are the best thing ever to happen to that sea crossing and I, for one, will try to make sure they stay on that route.

I think both ferries take the same approach tbh. Neither are Irish registered ships. CL seems to employ mostly Portugese, IF seems to be mostly Eastern European. Both ferries would appear to have a small number of Irish staff whom, it has to be said, were very friendly on both ships and great adverts for their respective companies.

CL have certainly added competition and that gives customers choice. One choice is slightly cheaper with less services and comfort. The other choice is slightly more expensive with more services and more comfort. Based on the small price difference I will be booking with IF and their mostly non Irish staff.

munchkin_utd

Celtic Link have finally updated the website now and have a large gallery of photos of the inside of the new Celtic Horizon vessel. Looks grand. (Good enough that I booked my journey and the last available 2 berth cabin for before christmas)

http://www.celticlinkferries.com/fleet.htm

possibly a stupid question to seasoned overnight ferry travellers, but do those cabins have power sockets at all? It looks like 3 pin italian sockets (like in the pic below from wikipedia) are in place which would do the job !!

SACH Central

Just booked with them now for our holidays next August. Paid €653 (including booking fees)for 3 adults & 3 Kids. IF were €812 (including booking fees). BF were €1,100 odd, not sure about the booking fees. We always bring our own food on board with us, dinner and breakfast, in a big cooler bag so as not to get ripped off in the restaurant/s

Neonjack

Do you mind me asking what you're driving? That's a great price. I'd consider rebooking, but I can't get near that quote when I try them. It's still over 1000 euro for 2 adults and 3 kids.

SACH Central

We have a Renault Grande Scenic (50K KMS, one lady owner, first to see will buy, no reasonable offer refused...) We're going on Aug 11th, returning Aug 24th - 12 nights on site. A six bed cabin going out. We have a 4 bed coming home. We 'top & tail' the 2 smallest in one bunk, d'missus and the daddy in law in the other 2 bunks and I kip on the floor on an inflatable matress. They're both inside cabins.

We're fairly flexable with our dates, within school holidays and those dates were the cheapest.

It depends on your viewpoint. For us, it's just a ferry crossing, the holiday starts we we arrive in France. We prefer to spend the money we save enjoying ourselves when we get there.

We got a great deal from BF last year. We came back with them from Roscoff. It was our first time on the Pont Aven. It was a fantastic boat, a real cruise. For us though the bottom line is that they're €500 odd quid than CLF this year. We wouldn't have been able to afford to go had we not got such a good deal.

Neonjack

Thank you. I wondered how you were getting that price. We're taking a camper and not the car.

irishrver

That answered a lot of questions as it is only 80e more to take brittany ferries out in june, as we live in cork it is worth that to us.

webpal

eastmeath wrote: »

Once we'd eaten dinner, there was nothing to do (8pm), so we took to the cabin, had movie night with our smallie with the portable DVD player and had an early night.

Does anyone know if there are TVs in the cabins? Also anyone know what the difference is between the cabins (4 berth v suite) cant find anything on the web or their website. Difference in august is quite a bit but the suite is the same price as a 3* on IF. We have a 1 and a 2 year old so might be worth the extra.

wonderworm

I booked with Irish Ferries motorhome over 2.8m high, 2 adults with 2* cabin on way out and 3* cabin on way back as well as a trailer up to 4m out on 16 July back on 20 August total cost 605.40 EUR

Martin_D

How dat? I booked IF 30th June to 19th July - no trailer, €920

munchkin_utd

webpal wrote: »

Does anyone know if there are TVs in the cabins? Also anyone know what the difference is between the cabins (4 berth v suite) cant find anything on the web or their website. Difference in august is quite a bit but the suite is the same price as a 3* on IF. We have a 1 and a 2 year old so might be worth the extra.

There's no tellies in the normal cabins on Celtic link

There's pictures of the suites on the celtic link website and you can see they are much larger than the normal cabin and appear to have a tv on the wall.
http://www.celticlinkferries.com/images/N_V_18.jpg

wonderworm

Martin_D wrote: »

How dat? I booked IF 30th June to 19th July - no trailer, €920

i think it might have to do with the dates you are travelling. we are flexible about when we can go so i searched for dates until i found the cheapest.

fuzzball

i had set my mind on landbridge but considering the prices on CF and adverse reports about driving through uk, perhaps i should consider them, 2 adults +4 kids for 868 return.

travelling in mid june and back on the start of july.

travelled on pont aven before which is bound to be more luxurious but the cost is ridiculous

dfbemt

fuzzball wrote: »

i had set my mind on landbridge but considering the prices on CF and adverse reports about driving through uk, perhaps i should consider them, 2 adults +4 kids for 868 return.

travelling in mid june and back on the start of july.

travelled on pont aven before which is bound to be more luxurious but the cost is ridiculous

Depends on where you are going to in france and how easy the 4 kids are to travel with.

Taking fuel and 2 ferry trips into account (or 1 by Chunnel) will definitley cost you €868. Would only take the UK route if going to the NE or E of France.

CL prices are very good this year but for a bit of extra comfort I would lean towards IF (My own opinion, debate long had on CL v's IF v's BF)

I think we're giving France a miss this year. Money is a bit tight. Looks like we will be exploring the West / North West of Ireland along with plenty of long weekends during the Summer

cavan shooter

I am due to travel CL to France in July, lucky for me I know a chap that traveled CL to France and return and thisw is what he had to say about it,

Bring your own entertainment for the kids etc as its not like IF with Cabaret etc, it will get you to France in a comfortable cabin. You can have something to eat and have a couple of pints before going to bed.

He has travelled IF before and says he prefers CL now because you dont have the Bedlam of kids running wild and packed bars. He had a 4 berth inside cabin which in his words was a grand size.

killalanerr

cavan shooter wrote: »

Bring your own entertainment for the kids etc as its not like IF with Cabaret etc, it will get you to France in a comfortable cabin. You can have something to eat and have a couple of pints before going

That about sums it up i have used both,i dont think the price difference is that grate this year,its down to personal preference i do enjoy to buzz on IF with the bit of a show they have it gets me in the holiday mood
Down side is we never get to far on the first day

Ildere

Just back after travelling out and back with CL. Boat not as swish as IF but adequate for getting there. As one lady with 2 small children said to me, its not a cruise.
Had no problem but met people on the return leg who had their outward sailing cancelled at the last minute. They were put on a Stena to Fishguard with a booking on a P+O ferry from Dover to Calais. Only issue was that the Fishguard one arrived at 1.30am and the Dover one was sailing at 9.30am the Same day. Some drove through the night and made it. Some didnt and were full of praise for P+O who made alternative arrangements for them. All incurred extra cost driving through England and then back across France and none have any idea if they will be compensated for this. On our return journey the boat was 2 and a half hours late arriving in Rosslare. Seems wind and tide were the problem but to everybody on board it was obvious the problem was the speed the thing was travelling at.

moodrater

Just looked at some dates in july CL was working out about 270 quid cheaper that irish ferries some of that was the dumb dog which is cheaper with celtic link as you don't have to book a kennel. Wonder how country dog will deal with crapping on board a ship hes never been unable to find a patch of long grass in his life.

Ildere wrote: »

Had no problem but met people on the return leg who had their outward sailing cancelled at the last minute. They were put on a Stena to Fishguard with a booking on a P+O ferry from Dover to Calais. Only issue was that the Fishguard one arrived at 1.30am and the Dover one was sailing at 9.30am the Same day. Some drove through the night and made it. Some didnt and were full of praise for P+O who made alternative arrangements for them. All incurred extra cost driving through England and then back across France and none have any idea if they will be compensated for this.

Brittany ferries, condor ferries cancelled at the same time due to extreme weather conditions. Its a bummer for those involved but you can't expect compensation all ferry companys will have a force majeure clause. They may offer a voucher at best as a good will gesture.

Ildere wrote: »

Seems wind and tide were the problem but to everybody on board it was obvious the problem was the speed the thing was travelling at.

:pac: :pac: :pac:

niloc1951

Ildere wrote: »

...........................On our return journey the boat was 2 and a half hours late arriving in Rosslare. Seems wind and tide were the problem but to everybody on board it was obvious the problem was the speed the thing was travelling at.

Because CL have quite a generous 'turn around' time if the sea conditions are bad they sometimes reduce speed in the interests of passenger comfort.

I would prefer to arrive a couple of hours late than being bounced around in an Atlantic gale.

Ildere

niloc1951 wrote: »

Because CL have quite a generous 'turn around' time if the sea conditions are bad they sometimes reduce speed in the interests of passenger comfort.

I would prefer to arrive a couple of hours late than being bounced around in an Atlantic gale.

I can assure you that the sea conditions were nothing like bad at any stage. Having experienced many crossings and with the help of a sat nav to gauge speed, that boat was just chugging along in perfect seas. I have my own suspicions as to what was going on.

In reply to another post who suggested that other crossings were cancelled on the same night as the CL one, there is another altogether different story to explain the no-show, which I will not outline here.

I dont hold any ill will towards CL, indeed I welcome competition on the crossing to France, but facts are facts.

It seems that facts and truth are bothering some people on here.

cavan shooter

cavan shooter wrote: »

I am due to travel CL to France in July, lucky for me I know a chap that traveled CL to France and return and thisw is what he had to say about it,

Bring your own entertainment for the kids etc as its not like IF with Cabaret etc, it will get you to France in a comfortable cabin. You can have something to eat and have a couple of pints before going to bed.

He has travelled IF before and says he prefers CL now because you dont have the Bedlam of kids running wild and packed bars. He had a 4 berth inside cabin which in his words was a grand size.

I cant complain and will use them again, very reasonably priced pint €4.50 and a 2 course meal €12.00.