NIGHT FERRY FROM DUBLIN [Ghost Ship]: Stena Line to Holyhead - my first overnight ferry since 1986.
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- Опубликовано: 25 июн 2024
- Leaving Dublin at 2:15am for the 3hr 30 minute crossing to Holyhead in Wales. Apart from achieving no sleep, what could possibly go wrong? This Stena Line ferry was build just three years ago, so I was looking forward to exploring the ship. After departure I realised most passengers had disappeared. I checked all decks but couldn't find where they had disappeared to. With seemingly no passengers on board, and with the inky darkness of the night sky and sea outside, this was quite an unsettling ferry crossing.
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*** TIMESTAMPS:
00:00:00 Introduction
00:01:07 Dublin Port
00:03:40 On board
00:10:20 Holyhead
Perfect! No queues, screaming kids or people playing noisy games on their phones. Bliss
Who needs a cabin when you can have an entire lounge or restaurant to yourself! Perfect
What's not to like?; easy, slow, relaxed, no crowds, no queues, the very opposite of being herded and stripped and jostled through airports in order to travel sardine class. I've been on these routes a few time in the last few weeks. I went by car, and enjoyed every minute of it, even the drive to London. You can keep airports, I like my bacon and eggs in comfort.
I agree, flying these days is an endurance test, not to mention the walking involved between terminals, boarding gates, security checks at the big airports
@@sklenars Yes indeed, and I'm ferrying, breakfasting, and driving to London from Dublin on Sunday week, and can't wait. No queuing, no waiting, no taxis, no stripping, no cramp. Cheers.
Shut up.
@@29brendus can you let me know about the emissions zone in London I wanted to drive too I've an old van though , I've heard there's a zone around it you get a fee for . Thanks
@@MysticMia I don't know anything about emission zones. I am driving around London now and haven't seen any obstacles. My car is 20 years old.
That actually looks like my ideal ferry crossing!!
Night crossings are tough I think
I do it regularly, it's a great crossing.
but no fun😂😂😂
My friend im from greece and ive done quite a few ferry trips all over europe. And ive done this one as well in 1993. Hollyhead to Dublin and back in order to watch the european champions game between sherbourne rovers (ire) vs panathinaikos (gre). Beautiful and unforgettable experience. Beautiful country with the most beautiful friendly hospitable people!! The crossing was actually my first. I remember the name of the ferry 29 years ago. She was called Stenna Hibernia!! All the best my friend!!
Hibernia is name the Romans gave to Ireland.
They never came here.
They considered it a place in permanent Hibernation.
Did this crossing 35 years ago as a 8 year old kid and it was a very rough crossing. As I ran around the ship carefree, it was full of people all over vomiting into anything they could find. It was like a scene from a horror movie. I have never seen so many people being sick at the same time. EVERY person (100s) had a full sick bag on their lap and everybody had red faces from vomiting.
Happy days.
Edit: Oddly enough, was never seasick although we made this journey every year but when I got to about 12 years old, I started to find that after getting off a ferry and being on land for an hour I would start to vomit! Land sickness. If that is not Irish, then I dont know what is.
Hahaha happy days??? You must of had a rough childhood
Same here, as a kid we were in a storm all adults sick as anything and I was running around like a lunatic, couldn't even use the loos they were full of sick.😂🤮
I did the same crossing roughly about the same time as you, thankfully all went well. I couldn`t say the same when I did a Dover- Calais a few years before, it was that rough we couldn`t get into the Port for ages and the whole journey I just Spewed and Spewed up, in the end I gave up and just stayed in the cubicle in the Toilet until we docked. I will never forget it.
Those were the days
Same here, went to that theme park in Wales, can't remember the name. The whole ferry was vomiting the way back.
Those of you who are old enough to remember ferry crossings 30/40 years ago will know the vessels then were very basic and uncomfortable, these new Stena vessels are more akin to cruise ships. Well done to Stena for providing such safe, comfortable vessels.
Do you mean the Mail boat?
We get the ferry from Holyhead to Dublin and back quite a few times a year, in fact we're going again next week! Over night is always best for us so we get another full day in Ireland. The service station is a god send to us! Happy travels ☺️
Hi dear I wanted to ask you a question I’m going to travel to london so I wanna know about what do I need to bring like passport gnip card or ..? Please reply thank you 🙏 ❤
The cabins are really comfortable, the bed are comfy, and the pristine sheets are crisp. 2.5 hours are sleep and the brilliant shower would wake the dead. I take that ferry a lot. Rail and Sail tickets are E44 E/W to almost anywhere in the UK from Dublin, on a flight I'd pay E50 to bring a guitar, the ferry is great.
Sad memories I crossed at 3 am in April 1960 my little brother mum and I that was the cheapest sailing and we were in steerage that meant the stern in the open air if it rained you could not shelter
We had 6 hours notice that we were leaving Ireland . Have hated Wales ever since.
Very successful in England ever since but never forgotten. At 75 the tricolour always fly from our home flagpole.
Never the union jack while I am above ground.
Why?
Why did that make you hate wales…?
Who's telling you to fly the Union flag exactly? Be happy that you're safe and sound.
Fair play doin that long ass walk to the terminal. 👍
You've just given me an idea for a horror story aboard a seemingly deserted ship.
The scenery is beautiful and matches the sound track. Thanks very much for what you did Lawrence
I’ve been on this ferry 3/4 times a year for the last 20 odd years. I’ve never seen it that quiet.
I remember doing that night crossing , well from England to Dublin, in 1965 !! I was 12 years old, there was some kind of dockers strike going on at the time...the ferry was jam packed, I think we even had to stand part of the way, as if that wasn't enough, there was a drunk guy singing " have you ever been across the sea to Ireland" for most of the trip !!
Have done that crossing many times . Sometimes on a rough sea . It is not a bad crossing to be fair . Enjoyed video Scott . Look forward to the next one .
A’bidy is in their beds chap!
Even on the Cairnryan - Belfast route I nearly always get a cabin now; reduced rates for Xtra club members, not too much mingling with everyone else (Good in these times of lots of bugs) and a bed to kip for the crossing, meaning a tiny wee recharge before the next leg of the journey, it’s a no brainer, especially at that time of night. The only major downside is that neither Superfast VII or VIII have even one wheelchair accessible suite, so it’s a bit of a squeeze but it’s worth it.
Thanks for uploading this video, often wondered what the ferry was like, I've always flown to Dublin. One day I will do the crossing just for historical reasons really, so many of us Irish have made that trek.
You really missed out big style! You didn't find your way to the leisure deck. This is where all the other passengers were; on their sun loungers, sipping cocktails around the swimming pool! LOL 😁
I remember travelling on the now defunct 'Belfast Car Ferries' St Colum II from Liverpool-Belfast back in the 80s..what a bucket those barely sea worthy boats were then!
GHOST SHIP, Scott Looks like something fun to do exploring an empty ferry. Thanks for taking us.
That was an interesting perspective on what is a routine journey for some, it gave me a sense of excitement that I used to have when going on holiday to Britain or France many years ago, I must watch some more of your videos as I enjoy travelling myself👍
I'd LOVE a crossing like this!
Reminded me of my university summers.. ferry to holyhead, train to London..pick up a waiter job in hotel/restaurant work all summer and then an interrail or a mad trip to South America..never a hint of hassle.... happy days..
Nice report! The last time I took that crossing was in 1973. I think it was run by Sealink then.
That really WAS freaky! But very cool - you always find the best adventures Scott! Although I think there was a party in one of those cabins and you weren't invited! 🤣
Could be.
@@nedkelly2677 There was. I was there and we hid from Scott.
We used to have a ferry from Zee- Brugge to Dover and Oostende -Dover (i think) now i think we don't have a ferry crossing anymore. Excellent video (cinematography and editing)
So relaxed 😌
I travel this route often and on nights when the ferry is empty you can ask nicely and often get a cabin at a reduced rate.
You will always be looked after everywhere if you are polite courteous please and thank you very much.
Interesting
Same here they never fill the cabins I got cabins for 20euro on board nice shower good wifi and comfy beds love this crossing
i agree but generally just better to have a good nap that afternoon if heading off at night, paying for a cabin on a 3 hour ferry just isn't worth it i think
Last time I took this crossing about five of us just took a sofa seat thing in one of the restaurants, it’s dark and quiet, set the alarm for 2 and a half hours.
Great video!!
Super chill vids dude keep it up 🤙🏻
Travelled on a P&O ferry from Dublin to Liverpool on a Saturday around 4 years ago and that was quiet also. There was probably less than a dozen cars on and the rest were just haulage trailers (no walk ons) although the ferry was a lot smaller than this one.
I did an overnight to Holyhead and another back a few days later back in Jan 90. Always an eerie passage..
As a regular freight passenger on this service i can tell you where all the Truckers are/were. As soon as we board we hit the desk to get our room card. then straight to the Trucker's Lounge for food. 90% of us are done eating and on our way to our cabin before the ferry leaves port. You also found the back entrance to the Truckers Lounge that is always closed. At 7:20 you walked past the main entrance of the truckers lounge, but it is a frosted door and requires a code to enter.
Great video mate
Yet another fantastic Vlog Scott I enjoyed watching this Vlog keep up the good work
Great trip report
Wow - this has facilities to act as a mini cruise ship - looks excellent!
Not getting notified always love your videos 😁😁😁💟
Very good really enjoyed
Unbelievable the whole ship is practically EMPTY , Scott it’s like you have a yacht all by yourself 😮😊
When I did this crossing it was full of truck drivers sleeping across 3 seats in the lounges.
Nice one mate
Beautiful ship. However I do believe the the Irish Ferry is massive and also beautiful.
I enjoy your video, thank you.
Similar to my journey from Ireland to the UK in the early 1980s. I took the night ferry from Rosslare to Fishguard. 40 years ago it was for foot passengers very much more comfortable than today. Short walking distances between train and ferry and better train connections, shorter transfer times.
I remember catching the ferry to Ireland to visit famil in 85. Its changed a little.
I took that ferry in 1988 the other way for a fishing trip to Ireland with my father i was 14 at the time and i can honestly say that breakfast on board was THE finest breakfast i have ever eaten i still think about the Black pudding now...
My ideal ferry crossing . Would love it
Hi Scott thank for the video seems strange no one around probably in their cabins. Great to walk around no crowds. I used to go with stena got to costly I liked going on the explorer out of Dun-Laoire when it was in operation. Irish Ferries not bad still expensive. Cheers Stay Safe.
I had a similar 'Mary Celeste' experience on a ferry called the Blue Zephyr from Tokyo to Hokkaido. Not a soul on board apart from myself and a couple of friends. It was like a private cruise ship, sailing in lovely weather off the eastern Japanese island of Honshu.
Just found your channel, I have subscribed and shall be keeping an eye on it as I find these sort of channels very entertaining. Content looks good and from the three vids viewed so far the production seems excellent. Keep up the good work.
We did daytime crossings from England to Ireland and back again. Because there were 3 of us and luggage (2 month trip to GB and Eire), we got a cabin both times. Having the privacy was nice for napping.
Excellent
This was a great video! As a Canadian who is moving to the UK via flying to Dublin and Stenaline Ferry (stena estrid) Dublin to Holyhead as a foot passenger this was a helpful insight to get a visual of what to expect of the port, boarding, and the ship! It's been challenging to figure everything out from abroad (I'm also moving with my cat which is an added layer of stress) and this was lovely!
Have done rail and sail Holyhead - Dublin a couple times around 2012... was pretty quiet that time of morning but not that dead. Was at least a few people getting some kip on the seats. Also remember the half hour walk to the port and thinking how else they expect people to get there...
Enjoyed
Hi Scott been watching your videos for a while now and just realised that due to watching them on the TV I cant do the thumbs up or comment. So I've jumped on the desktop to do that. When I have a day off I will go thru my History and comment on them . I love your timetable challenges etc. and I love your trips away vids. I plan on coming to the UK this year or next and doing a large amount of trips like you do so its all invaluable information for me. I love the third timetable challenge which I watched a few days ago now. Its exactly the sort of thing I try to do as you never know how much time you need to effect a transfer etc. I love the tip about the split ticketing.
You always have good information on European travel. Thanks for taking me along.
Errr UK is NOT Europe, we left the Franco German empire.
@@nightsupersteve Europe is a geographical region, of which both Britain and Ireland are a part, regardless of whether or not the UK is part of the EU. EU and Europe are different things. Look things up before you express your ignorant opinion. Maybe then you'd stop being such an intolerable wanker.
@@nightsupersteve he’s leaving an eu country on the trip.
Love your. VIDEO. 👍👍👍
🇬🇧 🇬🇧 🇬🇧 Great honest unpretentious show.
Thanks 👍🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧
Nice for you to have a private ship XD
Good video
I've done that crossing countless times going back to the mid 60s..most memories of .the "boat train" from Euston Station to Holyhead 20.00 hr departure arrived 02.30 , then stood around in cold waiting areas ( circa 1978) to be hearded across a walkway onto the SeaLink ferry for 03.15 sailing...slept on floors,arrived in Dublin 06.45,again hearded onto a cramped double decker bus that never left on time to catch 07.45 train to Galway...misery...but to be fair the ferry was grand.
I did a year and a half at sea with P&O Cruises in 2003/4 and I can confirm the majority of the world's ports are seldom in accessible or attractive places, with the exception, though, of cities like Oslo, Sydney and San Fran.
Hi i recently found your channel and have to say i love it, facinating to see all the different places and modes of travel . I would love to do something like that but unfortunatly i don't travel well , trains are ok but bus travel leaves me feeling ill ,as for boats thats a huge no no lol i get seasick while the boat is still tied up at the dock ! so i'll have to make do with watching your adventures .
Ye it's a great to look at done a few night crossings , its great adventure for me . It's yoy don't take to the boats. Maybe gou should try a small river cruise and progress from their 🛳
I emigrated to the states in 2003, but used to take the HSS Explorer from Holyhead to Dun Laoghaire quite a lot. They’d sell tickets with British rail - hop on at Crewe, train to Holyhead, Holyhead to Dun Laoghaire, then DART to town (usually Pearce). That was overnight. It’s a shame they stopped that service as it was very foot passenger friendly. This trip for example - you’d have just got the DART pretty much direct to the ship at that time of night. HSS was a great ship, but probably too quick, so not much time to rest, and I guess became too expensive for Stena to run. Sadly the explorer is now in Turkey and looks to be falling apart. Nice video - I actually wouldn’t mind some quiet on an overnight ferry, so this looks fun!
Brexit has a big bearing on this empty ferry.
The ferries from Rosslare Europort to France is packed day and night.
This is where all the Truckers are gone.
not everything is because BREXIT
@@welshhibby no but its good theyre no longer using our roads as a rat run and paying nothing towards the upkeep
I suspect it's more to do with Cheap airlines going direct to cities, you take the Ship to Holyhead, you still face a long train journey, to Liverpool, Manchester, London and at that time you might need to wait 3 hours for it. I doubt pre Brexit foot passengers at night was that different. When I did the trip in the 80's, cheap flights weren't an option, the Boat used to wait for the Train from London, the Train would arrive 2am and you would be in Dublin by 6am
@@andrewjames3908 Irish trucks do pay fees to use UK roads 🙄
That's some odd Brexit benefit you've come up with, destroy your export economy because ehhhhh roads? 🤣
@@andrewjames3908 so the English products that Ireland imports, or the Irish products the England imports...???
Rat run???..
Strange ..🤭
My son and I took ferry from Holyhead to Dublin return in 2019 though we went during day and went on Irish Ferries. You walked to ferry port in Dublin - we did too because the bus service from the city was so confusing. It’s a long walk to port and the air quality wasn’t great either. Holyhead ferry port is run down too. I like the idea of taking a ferry but as a foot passenger compared with flying - ferry experience is really poor.
"Im on the hunt for other travellers!" - what an absolute pest!
LOL! OMG, it's like that scene from An American Werewolf in London, on the deserted tube station, where the lone commuter is chased through the corridors by the beastie 😂
Hi, new subscriber, great channel really enjoying the content, watching from Shropshire England.
Personally I prefer the Ulysses. As for how pedestrians are supposed to get to the Stena terminal, they're not at 02;15 - their logic is only truckers will use that service. Otherwise there is a bus service for the more sociable hours.
I used to go on the Fishguard to Rosslair ferry as a kid, geez ferry's have got much better than the 70s
Did the crossing plenty of times. Night and day. Used to go to ireland for work. Managed to get some kip on most of the crossings.
I actually prefer the Stena Adventurer and the Ulysses to the Estrid: they seem to have more character. (And the Stena Adventurer has a very unusual outer deck structure.)
That's the one we came home from Ireland on, booked on the same one this year both ways
They should have onboard one-nighters with superstar DJs and it would be full every night.
Done this trip 100s of times and at night it's rarely busy , and the turn off from Dublin main Rd to ferry turns into a dark alley of rds that aren't well directed unless you have done it many times ! , the staff are all foreign workers on these ferries now which has slowly replaced the dock workers of holyhead and dublin
Wow that is very interesting, mate. There was almost nobody on the ferry ⛴ because it was in the middle of the night 🌃, ye know.
Anyway I remember I went on Stena Line ship with my father in the beginning of November 2005 and I was fifteen in that year. I took it from Dublin to Holyhead, Wales 🏴, UK 🇬🇧. Then I took the bus 🚍 from Holyhead, Wales 🏴 to London, England 🏴, UK 🇬🇧. It took eight hours to get there from London and it sure was a very long journey. I knew it was just a pain but by the way we had a great trip to London.
Greetings from Dublin.
Truckers get the cabin included with their crossing so that'll explain why the lounge is empty, if you would of gone up there first thing it'd be busy for food then they all go back to the cabin 👍
I've taken that crossing a few times always quiet but a lot of people take the cabins for a quick snooze
Nice clean new ship. Newer and cleaner than usual because of COVID. I kept thinking that this nighttime run must be one h*ll of a money loser. The cost of petrol alone would require 6 to 7 times more passengers in order to break even. Better times ahead after this edition of “The plague” finally shoves off to starboard.
Cheers 🇨🇦
Great video! Considering that you left 35 minutes early, how early can one get onboard?
It’s similar on Dover Calais at night out of school holidays when things are running normally
Wow adventurous...also reminds me of The Shining..jack nicholson in that abandoned hotel vibe😨😨😨😨
I want to do this night trip on ferry. It is fun to have the entire ship to yourself and staying up all night crossing the Irish sea. The video is good but the experience is better for sure. Only thing is how long is the wait at Holyhead to hope on a train to onward City? I suspect long. Really enjoy these videos.
Do the one that takes 8 hours overnight from belfast to birkinhead Liverpool, we did that last week, absolutely Amazing and it was packed, plenty on board and having a good time
i remember taking that route in the early 80's as a child and the Fishguard route. Some where night time journeys and they where full from memory. I suppose both fishguard and holyhead are to a degree in the middle of nowhere and now these serve mainly as cargo, trucks ferries while most people just fly.
Looking at the prices I can get a flight London to Dublin £35 78minutes return no luggage Train to Stansted £32 return 50 minutes.
Looking at the Ferry £34 each way and a nearly 5hr Train to Holyhead at £114 return. All the same dates.
so i can pay just shy of £70 and it takes probably take under 2.5 hrs (not including time at airport) or
just shy of £200 and it takes 7hours and not including waiting for train at say Holyhead on way back.
I was on a ferry crossing from Rosslare to Le Havre in '86. It was the worst crossing I ever experienced, as we hit a violent storm.
Took the mostyn ferry crossing to dublin a few times years ago, was a freight ferry but took cars too, you had a cabin and breakfast and dinner and it had a bar, if you took the overnight crossing you had to have a cabin, 8 hours later you arrived in Dublin, and a cooked breakfast was ready for you, it was all ready paid for on your ferry ticket, the port of mostyn was bought by airbus industry to transport wing assembly's to France, it was the best ferry crossing you could use, airbus no longer make wings or use the port, it was a great way to travel
# Don't make wings for the A380. Other wing sections are flown from Penarlag/Hawarden Airport.The A380 wings where too big to fly in a cargo plane to Toulouse, so went from Brychdyn/Broughton on the Afon Dyfrdwy to Mostyn.
For a trip that short, I do not think I would have gotten a cabin either. However, and given the hour, I think one of those recliner seats would have been perfect for a nap.
I've caught an overnight ferry too. Pembroke Dock to Rosslare
The last ferry I caught was from Amsterdam to Newcastle (DFDS) in Feb 2020 in the after mouth of a big storm. It felt quiet as 2/3rds of the passengers went down with sea sickness so finding a seat in the bar was not an issue. One benefit was the ferry diverted close to the coast of England which meant stunning views of the North Yorkshire coast over Breakfast. I then realised how busy the ferry actually was as the day before sailing was cancelled. 2 hours late arriving and thankfully a friendly guard let me on a later train.
Memories of ferry crossings in the 1970s as a kid for family summer holidays to Ireland. Back in 1979 I remember a crossing on B+I's ship the Inishfallen from Liverpool to Dublin, only 4 of it's 8 engines were working which resulted in an extremely long crossing and B+I ran this faulty vessel throughout the summer knowing it's clientele had no viable alternative to get to Ireland plus there was no compensation for this too. Back then transport between Britain and Ireland was monopolized buy the airlines and ferry operators who know most of the traffic was people who needed to travel to see loved ones or for life or death reasons and for most of them there was no financial alternative.
Lovely ship but I much preferred the Stena Explorer that the Estrid replaced in a way- you can’t beat a catamaran ferry
I love being on a car ferries!!
You're quite right, although whether you're a pedestrian or in a vehicle, Dublin Port is the most isolated and unfriendly place to be, especially late at night or early in the morning. In any event, you'll rarely, if ever, see a trucker, for they usually go straight to their cabins or to their own dining areas - they don't mix with other passengers.
I would say that the majority of passengers don't want to travel the roads during the night, for either departure or arrival, so it's not surprising there was nobody on board! To my mind, these late night crossings are ridiculous for the majority, other than truckers.
i used to get this ferry quite a lot in the 80s, but i usually used a train but not that late
I love taking the Stent night ferry from the hook of Holland to Harwich. It's always a good trip, but I do get a cabin.
You have to book a cabin on that for the night crossing :-). Cheapest ones pre-COVID were 45 euro's for a single, i have no idea what they're doing now. They've cancelled the traindeal for foot passengers since Brexit and that was always the biggest pull for me to pick the crossing Hoek van Holland - Harwich. Since i could make nearly make my entire journey by train for free: Harwich - Peterborough on one end and Hoek van Holland - Groningen on the other.
@@weerwolfproductions It's only the rail in Netherlands part of the ticket that is (supposedly temporarily) not available, ferry + UK rail is still offered. Not as good a deal, especially if you are coming from the likes of Groningen rather than Amsterdam. Complain to NS, it is their issue causing this.
@@alang5764 Ah thanks, didn't know that!
Having done that crossing - I guess most passengers would have been like us, and retired to their cabins for some kip!
If you board promptly, you can sleep for the entire crossing - making the subsequent (for us) 5+ hour drive home just about bearable!
A far better crossing is the P&O 'truckers' ferry to/from Liverpool - board at 'teatime' in time to dine before departure, grab a full night's sleep and wake up in time for brekkie before the drive home at around 05:30 (meals all included - though they should be for the price - the last time we did it was over £800 return for a car and family of four)!