New Ferry to France (Launch Offer)

First Up

Dai John wrote: »

We normally go twice a year to just south of Alicante (San Miguel de Salinas) and spend only 11 euros on tolls for the section between Bordeaux and Irun, the rest is free. I have to switch off the sat nav to make the savings but have proved my route shorter ,faster and cheaper.

Would definitely take that option rather than another long ferry trip to Northwest Spain. (Unless I was going to NW Spain)

ScouseMouse

July 4

Scarlet42 wrote: »

for what date???????

I put in my dates of June 27th and back on july 11th. The exact date seems full, but weeks before/after came back at 330 ish. Thats 5 people with cabins return.


[Previous Day (Outbound)]
Outbound:
Rosslare - St Nazaire

[Previous Day (Return)] Return [Next Day (Return)]
Return: St Nazaire - Rosslare
Wed 2 Jul 2014
dep. 2359, arr. 2115
on Scintu
Wed 9 Jul 2014
dep. 2359, arr. 2115
on Scintu
Wed 16 Jul 2014
dep. 2359, arr. 2115
on Scintu
Fri 20 Jun 2014
dep. 2100, arr. 1900
on Scintu

€318.00

€334.00


Fri 27 Jun 2014
dep. 2100, arr. 1900
on Scintu






Fri 4 Jul 2014
dep. 2100, arr. 1900
on Scintu



€350.00

Tazz T

unkel wrote: »

LOL, better get that map out soon and teach yourself a Geography lesson

Just did that.

Gijon is still in Spain. St Nazaire is still in France.

Gijon is 7 hours or a day's drive from Alicante. St Nazaire is 15 hours or two days and requires a night in a hotel. I know which one I'd choose.

First Up

Tazz T wrote: »

Just did that.

Gijon is still in Spain. St Nazaire is still in France.

Gijon is 7 hours or a day's drive from Alicante. St Nazaire is 15 hours or two days and requires a night in a hotel. I know which one I'd choose.

A drive with breaks when needed through some lovely country appeals to me more than a second night on a ferry followed by a day's drive. But each to his own.

murria

Top Dog wrote: »

Perhaps a silly question - but have you ever thought about buying 2 of their 6-day return deals? €220 x 2 = €440 instead of €800

Not a silly question at all Top Dog, but when I checked it with CL it doesn't apply in June, July and August. Damn, it would have been great.

Tazz T wrote: »

You know the boat goes onto Spain after stopping in St Nazaire?

Tazz T, LD ferry isno good to us as they have no licence for animals and we only drive to Spain so we can take our dog with us on hols. We'd be on the plane if it wasnt for him, quicker and cheaper all round.

unkel

July 18

Tazz T wrote: »

Gijon is 7 hours or a day's drive from Alicante. St Nazaire is 15 hours or two days and requires a night in a hotel. I know which one I'd choose.

I concede Gijon is not as far away from Alicante as I thought as you can cut across Spain via Madrid

That said, you realise you would be 41 hours non stop on the ferry :eek:

(that's how long it takes from Rosslare to Gijon, with only a 3 hour turnaround in St Nazaire)

schemingbohemia

Tazz T wrote: »

Just did that.

Gijon is still in Spain. St Nazaire is still in France.

Gijon is 7 hours or a day's drive from Alicante. St Nazaire is 15 hours or two days and requires a night in a hotel. I know which one I'd choose.

You really should let this go, you do know that it's 15 hours by ferry from St. Nazaire to Gijon followed by the 7 hour drive. You are able to do sums aren't you? Well, maybe not....

First Up

So when might we expect to get some reports on the Rosslare-St Nazaire trip? They have been very unlucky to start the service in such awful weather but at least we should learn quickly how well the ship handles rough seas!
Meanwhile I've been comparing prices across the various operators now sailing to France (four companies, five vessels, three departure Ports, three arrival Ports) for the period before the high summer season. I'm happy to report a welcome convergence on price. For example a 5-6 day trip in May with IF from Rosslare comes in only €36 dearer than LD to St Nazaire for four passengers, two cabins and one car round trip.
Thank goodness for competition!

Wally Runs

August 1

Do you mean that IF prices are dropping in line with LD or LD is rising line with IF?

First Up

Wally Runs wrote: »

Do you mean that IF prices are dropping in line with LD or LD is rising line with IF?

Dunno. I've always found IF to be pretty keen in the off-peak times. The key point is that the difference is insignificant, for those dates at least, so I'd be more inclined to the bigger, more comfortable boat.

billie1b

First Up wrote: »

Dunno. I've always found IF to be pretty keen in the off-peak times. The key point is that the difference is insignificant, for those dates at least, so I'd be more inclined to the bigger, more comfortable boat.

Tonnage wise the Oscar Wilde is bigger, Length and beam wise the Scintu is a bigger ship

MidlandsM

billie1b wrote: »

Tonnage wise the Oscar Wilde is bigger, Length and beam wise the Scintu is a bigger ship

its older too, the OW was Launched in 1986, the Scintu was in 2009 I believe.

billie1b

MidlandsM wrote: »

its older too, the OW was Launched in 1986, the Scintu was in 2009 I believe.

Plus the Oscar Wilde service speed is 21.5k but she barely does it, she goes slower for a longer journey tie for you to spend more money and the cabins are in bits, Scintu has a service speed of 24k, whether she does the full 24 I don't know. Comfort wise and time if I had a choice, id pick the Pont Aven over the Oscar Wilde but cant comment on the Scintu as haven't been aboard yet

First Up

billie1b wrote: »

Plus the Oscar Wilde service speed is 21.5k but she barely does it, she goes slower for a longer journey tie for you to spend more money and the cabins are in bits, Scintu has a service speed of 24k, whether she does the full 24 I don't know. Comfort wise and time if I had a choice, id pick the Pont Aven over the Oscar Wilde but cant comment on the Scintu as haven't been aboard yet

That's why I'm looking forward to first hand reports, especially from people who can compare it with the OW and PA. From the photos the Scintu looks pretty basic internally as regards the restaurant, bar etc. As a vessel, it seems comparable to the Epsilon, that IF are offering as their "economy" service to Cherbourg from Dublin. The IF and BF services from Rosslare and Cork are several hours shorter that the LD sailing to St Nazaire.
Maybe we've been lucky but I've never had a problem with any of the cabins on the OW and I've used 2,3 and 4 star.

billie1b

First Up wrote: »

That's why I'm looking forward to first hand reports, especially from people who can compare it with the OW and PA. From the photos the Scintu looks pretty basic internally as regards the restaurant, bar etc. As a vessel, it seems comparable to the Epsilon, that IF are offering as their "economy" service to Cherbourg from Dublin. The IF and BF services from Rosslare and Cork are several hours shorter that the LD sailing to St Nazaire.
Maybe we've been lucky but I've never had a problem with any of the cabins on the OW and I've used 2,3 and 4 star.

The BF sailing is 4 or 5 hours shorter than OW, to me its a big decision breaker as I drive 900km on arrival to France, i've used all stars on the OW and in my opinion the decks from 3 stars and under are in tatters, everytime im on the ship it smells like sick, it is a nice sailing on it though apart from the vibration, i've no complaints about BF, always clean, always a great cruise and always on time, cabins seem better and bigger to me too but that may be down to the ship being bigger.
I love the Ulysses, my favourite ship and the Isle of Inishmore but overall impression of the Oscar Wilde is not the greatest.
Also looking forward to some reviews on the Scintu

Moonbeam

I have being looking at prices too - Celtic link was 1000 cheaper then Irish Ferries and 400 cheaper then Brittany ferries.
LD lines is 200 more expensive then Celtic Link.
We will have 1 child(5) and 3 infants though (under 3) so that probably does not help price.

mcgarrett

July 4

Just did a check and what cost me €379 last month is now showing at €1530.

MidlandsM

billie1b wrote: »

Also looking forward to some reviews on the Scintu

here's some video, in italian but start from 6.30 sec and you see the interior, cabins and public areas of the scintu. Looks fresh, clean and modern.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bk5TDl82RkE

First Up

billie1b wrote: »

The BF sailing is 4 or 5 hours shorter than OW, to me its a big decision breaker as I drive 900km on arrival to France, i've used all stars on the OW and in my opinion the decks from 3 stars and under are in tatters, everytime im on the ship it smells like sick, it is a nice sailing on it though apart from the vibration, i've no complaints about BF, always clean, always a great cruise and always on time, cabins seem better and bigger to me too but that may be down to the ship being bigger.
I love the Ulysses, my favourite ship and the Isle of Inishmore but overall impression of the Oscar Wilde is not the greatest.
Also looking forward to some reviews on the Scintu

Two and a half hours longer to Roscoff from Rosslare than Cork according to the timetables on their respective sites. The choice of route also depends on where you are going. Roscoff isn't convenient for everywhere. I like the Pont Aven too but we usually find Cherbourg more convenient for where we want to go.
The St Nazaire arrival will presumably save you some driving but you will spend a lot longer at sea.

billie1b

First Up wrote: »

Two and a half hours longer to Roscoff from Rosslare than Cork according to the timetables on their respective sites. The choice of route also depends on where you are going. Roscoff isn't convenient for everywhere. I like the Pont Aven too but we usually find Cherbourg more convenient for where we want to go.
The St Nazaire arrival will presumably save you some driving but you will spend a lot longer at sea.

Yeah we're hoping to try out the St.Nazaire and see, should knock 3-4 hours off the drive hopefully but more time on the ship obviously. We usually go through Roscoff with BF for the arrival time and go home through Cherbourg with IF because of the departure time.
The Irish ferries arrival times into France really annoys me, we were late by 3 hours departing one night (supposed to be 21:30 was 00:30) but still arrived in Rosslare 15 minutes early, you could feel her moving but she was still stable and comfortable, cant understand why the lengthened the journey time. Sorry im rambling now

First Up

billie1b wrote: »

Yeah we're hoping to try out the St.Nazaire and see, should knock 3-4 hours off the drive hopefully but more time on the ship obviously. We usually go through Roscoff with BF for the arrival time and go home through Cherbourg with IF because of the departure time.
The Irish ferries arrival times into France really annoys me, we were late by 3 hours departing one night (supposed to be 21:30 was 00:30) but still arrived in Rosslare 15 minutes early, you could feel her moving but she was still stable and comfortable, cant understand why the lengthened the journey time. Sorry im rambling now

If I'm reading it right, the LD crossing to St Nazaire is a whopping seven hours longer than BF to Roscoff and from what I've seen of the facilities on the Scintu,.that might be a bit long.

billie1b

First Up wrote: »

If I'm reading it right, the LD crossing to St Nazaire is a whopping seven hours longer than BF to Roscoff and from what I've seen of the facilities on the Scintu,.that might be a bit long.

Yeah thats the thing turning me off from it, the wife and myself would be grand but the 4 kids would go demented i'd say, bad enough trying to keep them occupied on the Oscar Wilde for the few hours, the Scintu would be a disaster id say

First Up

billie1b wrote: »

Yeah thats the thing turning me off from it, the wife and myself would be grand but the 4 kids would go demented i'd say, bad enough trying to keep them occupied on the Oscar Wilde for the few hours, the Scintu would be a disaster id say

The OW has a fair range of amusements to keep the kids distracted and two big comfortable lounges. The Scintu still looks more like a ship for truckers to me. It could get a bit frayed.

Eight Ball

billie1b wrote: »

Yeah thats the thing turning me off from it, the wife and myself would be grand but the 4 kids would go demented i'd say, bad enough trying to keep them occupied on the Oscar Wilde for the few hours, the Scintu would be a disaster id say

I-pads, board games, cards, movies etc.. Savings where too good to ignore for me and mine.

First Up

Eight Ball wrote: »

I-pads, board games, cards, movies etc.. Savings where too good to ignore for me and mine.

Fair enough and good luck with it. Looking forward to reports.

paddydriver

July 4

Eight Ball wrote: »

I-pads, board games, cards, movies etc.. Savings where too good to ignore for me and mine.

Ditto... ~€900 of savings will cover a lot of missing entertainment.

Moonbeam

billie1b wrote: »

Yeah thats the thing turning me off from it, the wife and myself would be grand but the 4 kids would go demented i'd say, bad enough trying to keep them occupied on the Oscar Wilde for the few hours, the Scintu would be a disaster id say

If the saving is small it makes sense.
I hope mine sleep the whole journey lol
We will bring ipads etc though

MidlandsM

ahhhhhhhhhhhh, it'll be fine.......shure we'll all be in the same boat! lol

First Up

I see Celtic Link are doing some promotion - new video and touting their Irish ownership and low fares. The video wouldn't inspire me - it certainly looks to be the "no frills" service they mention. What's more, the dates I put in come out at quite bit more expensive than Irish Ferries.
Meanwhile, waiting for the first reports on the LD service.

lafors

I'll be probably booking with these tomorrow, the savings are huge. From looking at the video it's the exact same type of ship I got back from Cherbourg with Celtic Link during the ash cloud travel chaos a couple of years ago. That ferry was small but very nice, not ideal for kids but at that price the kids will be doing what they're told

First Up

lafors wrote: »

I'll be probably booking with these tomorrow, the savings are huge. From looking at the video it's the exact same type of ship I got back from Cherbourg with Celtic Link during the ash cloud travel chaos a couple of years ago. That ferry was small but very nice, not ideal for kids but at that price the kids will be doing what they're told

How would it be for adults travelling without kids and outside school holidays (i.e few kids on board)?

MidlandsM

First Up wrote: »

How would it be for adults travelling without kids and outside school holidays (i.e few kids on board)?

I'd be grand...shure it sails out @ 9pm, so you can stay up late in the bar till 12 for intance, then hit the bunk in your cabin, then ZZZZz for 8 or 9 hours, then up the next morn , and take the next day @ leisure on board til it docks at 7pm, just plan your day.....and bring lots of stuff to read/do.

ScouseMouse

July 4

MidlandsM wrote: »

I'd be grand...shure it sails out @ 9pm, so you can stay up late in the bar till 12 for intance, then hit the bunk in your cabin, then ZZZZz for 8 or 9 hours, then up the next morn , and take the next day @ leisure on board til it docks at 7pm, just plan your day.....and bring lots of stuff to read/do.

Have to agree with those comments.

I am going in June but with two kids.

I went on the celticlink to france last year and keeping the kids occupied was a problem but I had a laptop and dvds. If its just two adults, then you will have no problems. Bring a book or whatever you do and the time will pass easy enough.

First Up

superscouse wrote: »

Have to agree with those comments.

I am going in June but with two kids.

I went on the celticlink to france last year and keeping the kids occupied was a problem but I had a laptop and dvds. If its just two adults, then you will have no problems. Bring a book or whatever you do and the time will pass easy enough.

Thanks; looking at a run in the Spring for golf, some ambience and a few bottles of wine. Not a lot in the price difference on the dates of interest and still prefer the bigger (from a passenger viewpoint) boats - and shorter crossings. Great there is some competition.

wextipp

Little bit about the Ferry service from the People Paper yesterday.

MidlandsM

Excellent, I booked our campsite this very morn, 5 Star , well rated, got kids club, 3 pools, water slides, all the usual facilities, near the sea, and not far from St. Nazire, so no mad drive/distance to cover when off the ferry and for a cracking deal, 11 nights - €485

So, ferry - €325 , Campsite €485 - all in €810 - what a deal


please feel free to pm me anyone is you want to know the campsite and their contact details, thanks

billie1b

MidlandsM wrote: »

Excellent, I booked our campsite this very morn, 5 Star , well rated, got kids club, 3 pools, water slides, all the usual facilities, near the sea, and not far from St. Nazire, so no mad drive/distance to cover when off the ferry and for a cracking deal, 11 nights - €485

So, ferry - €325 , Campsite €485 - all in €810 - what a deal


please feel free to pm me anyone is you want to know the campsite and their contact details, thanks

Great bargain, enjoy your holiday, can't go wrong with a carcation

MidlandsM

billie1b wrote: »

Great bargain, enjoy your holiday, can't go wrong with a carcation

god yeah, looking forward to it, the kids are so into it!

I googlemapped the campsite.....it's only 19 mins from St. Nazaire , over the bridge. I was talking to them this morn, they're very helpful, and are keen for bookings. They're coming to Ireland next week to a holiday show here - is there one in the rds or somewhere?

Paranoid Mandroid

MidlandsM wrote: »

god yeah, looking forward to it, the kids are so into it!

I googlemapped the campsite.....it's only 19 mins from St. Nazaire , over the bridge. I was talking to them this morn, they're very helpful, and are keen for bookings. They're coming to Ireland next week to a holiday show here - is there one in the rds or somewhere?

Seems to be. Here is a bargain alert for free tickets that someone posted in bargain alerts. Bargain within a bargain.

Wine Goddess

Hmm I tried this and spotted a flaw!
For anyone with 3 kids you are not allowed book a 4 bed cabin!

The extra cost of booking a "seat" is an additional €90-odd euro...........

Not impressed - especially as my kids are small enough to share a bed.....


Anyone else have this problem?

billie1b

Wine Goddess wrote: »

Hmm I tried this and spotted a flaw!
For anyone with 3 kids you are not allowed book a 4 bed cabin!

The extra cost of booking a "seat" is an additional €90-odd euro...........

Not impressed - especially as my kids are small enough to share a bed.....


Anyone else have this problem?

Had the same problem with Irish Ferries two years ago, I rang the call centre and they looked after us, maybe try ring them and query it, ask for a tour of the bridge too, ya never know, you might get lucky

juneg

July 4

Wine Goddess wrote: »

Hmm I tried this and spotted a flaw!
For anyone with 3 kids you are not allowed book a 4 bed cabin!

The extra cost of booking a "seat" is an additional €90-odd euro...........

Not impressed - especially as my kids are small enough to share a bed.....


Anyone else have this problem?

I always book one cabin and someone doubles up. Sometimes you are charged for a seat too. I never thought to ring up about it. Any hoo the fighting over the top bunk is deadly. Best of luck with that!

Moonbeam

MidlandsM wrote: »

Excellent, I booked our campsite this very morn, 5 Star , well rated, got kids club, 3 pools, water slides, all the usual facilities, near the sea, and not far from St. Nazire, so no mad drive/distance to cover when off the ferry and for a cracking deal, 11 nights - €485

So, ferry - €325 , Campsite €485 - all in €810 - what a deal


please feel free to pm me anyone is you want to know the campsite and their contact details, thanks

that is amazing value:)
Our ferry cost nearly 900 with cabins and that was by far the cheapest.
Are you bringing a tent or renting a mobile home/tent there?

The campsite sounds gorgeous.

tantipie

I'm getting €600 for last week in July 1st week in August..what dates are the €300 trips for?tia

Moonbeam

They were quoting us 1200 return for going in June and back in July.

JohnR1968

July 25

I've 4 kids and it wouldn't let me book 1 cabin, so I tried booking 2 and that worked. Total cost €357 mid-July sailing, booked trip in Dec. Don't think it cost any extra.
Try putting 2 cabins in, see if that works.
GL

Moonbeam

They wouldn't let me book 1 cabin either and 2 of mine are babies,one isn't born yet:)

The basic before cabins comes up as 839(ldlines),I think people that booked very early on got great offers:)

galait

August 8

Wine Goddess wrote: »

Hmm I tried this and spotted a flaw!
For anyone with 3 kids you are not allowed book a 4 bed cabin!

The extra cost of booking a "seat" is an additional €90-odd euro...........

Not impressed - especially as my kids are small enough to share a bed.....


Anyone else have this problem?

No flaw when I booked 1 x Cabin & 1 x Seat for August

Vehicle Height: No more than 185cm.
Vehicle Length: No more than 500cm.
Accommodation: 1 of 4 Berth Cabin (Outside)
1 of Standard Seat


Cost: 261.50 GBP

MidlandsM

Moonbeam wrote: »

that is amazing value:)
Our ferry cost nearly 900 with cabins and that was by far the cheapest.
Are you bringing a tent or renting a mobile home/tent there?

The campsite sounds gorgeous.

renting a nice mobile...it looks great.

there's also an onsite SPA for the missus to have a treatment in! ohhh, and me too z)

frash

July 25

Wine Goddess wrote: »

Hmm I tried this and spotted a flaw!
For anyone with 3 kids you are not allowed book a 4 bed cabin!

The extra cost of booking a "seat" is an additional €90-odd euro...........

Not impressed - especially as my kids are small enough to share a bed.....


Anyone else have this problem?

I booked for the wife & 3 kids
Cabin & seat (with the car obviously) was €319 in July

Wasn't going to start complaining.

Seat won't be used as two kids can double up.