Ferry Queue question

mgbgt1978

Lads, I'm heading over to the UK (Dublin to Holyhead with Irish Ferries) next Saturday morning. Is it still the same as years ago....just head up to the front of the queue ?

Or are you expected to join the Car queue ?

WestWicklow1

The ticket checker will give you a lane number to go into.

galwaytt

They'll give you a lane number to sit in. When it comes to boarding they'll pull the bikes in first.

Bluefoam

I did the ferry from Rosslaire to Bilboa recently and bikes seemed to all queue for the ticket/passort hut, but after that you've got your own lane for access to the boat and they board you first... But after a 2.5 hour ride to the ferry, it was a bit uncomfortable queueing for about an hour in slow crawling traffic and I was tempted to pass the cars...

mgbgt1978

Thanks folks. And I presume they still provide the padding to protect the seat from the Straps ???

Breezin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121021811#Comment_121021811

They do on the Bilbau route. Not sure about the Hollywood boat.

Either way I think it's worthwhile hanging around to make sure they do it right.

galwaytt

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121024006#Comment_121024006

You have to strap your own bike: they provide the ratchet strap with a cushion pad on it to sit over the seat. I always bring 1 or 2 small ratchet straps of my own as with the SO's bike in particular it stands very straight on the side stand, so I pull it from the frame the the other way to keep it rigid.

galwaytt

a more recent trip, here, to/from France. Note the NC750 is tied both ways (see comment above).

Betsy Og

It varies. I was with Stena to France lately and they strapped it both times, been with Irish ferries before and I did it myself.

One tip, if you are not booking a cabin (sleeping on a couch), I think it makes sense to leave as much gear as you can on the bike (helmet, boots, jacket etc), its a pain in the arse to be carrying them around, and I think they're safe on the bike, I popped a cargo net over them (you could throw a cover over the whole lot if want to be v cautious, but there's workers milling around, I think its safe enough).

mgbgt1978

Thanks Folks for all the replies. We travelled over last Saturday morning (Ulysses) , and returned Monday evening (Swift). On the Ulysses they just pointed us towards the Bike Parking area and let us strap the Bikes down ourselves. On the Swift the guy was very insistent that it was his job to strap down the Bike....I just stayed beside him to make sure he didn't go mad on the Ratchet Strap (he didn't).

A smooth experience both ways ( including the actual movement of the Ship). We were heading to Donington for a round of the BTCC and despite it being a UK Bank holiday everything worked out fine.

Del2005

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121056389#Comment_121056389

Even if you have a cabin it's probably better to leave as much on the bike as possible, just make sure that they have CCTV looking at the bikes. 4 of use shared a cabin years ago and we took all the luggage off the bikes, it would of been a lot less cramped if we'd only taken a bag with a change of clothes.

TedBundysDriver

Got the boat to Bilbao couple weeks back during storm Betty and just drove to the front of the queue of cars and asked one of the drivers if they'd mind if i got in front of them as was soaking wet from the drive down from Dublin. I've sat in a queue years ago in Rosslare to get on a ferry and the bike over heated and was difficult to start again to get on the boat. Had to leave it sitting for 20 mins or so. Bear in mind they won't let you take the bike on the ferry if you can't ride it on under it's own power.