2 other reasons why ships won’t be using the old dock at Holyhead, a part from the building of the 2 bridges. The first is the salient up in the inner harbour, making it too sallow for ships at low tide. The second is that ships are too big in length to fit in the old dock. Also, the increase in traffic using the ferries would be too much to enter the port through the old entrance for the old dock. You pass it on your way to terminals 2, 3, 4 & 5, at the end of the road running along the side of the port, on the town side of the port. Also, Irish Ferries have the same employment contracts as P&O have now, Irish ferries brought the change in employment contacts back in the Winter of 2005/2006. I remember hearing about how they got raided of their staff, as part of the change. Which is why I do not use Irish ferries anymore, I changed changed over to using Stena Line now a days. Stena Line is the main ferry company, that still employs workers from Ireland and the UK.
Fair play to you that you don't patronize Irish Ferries anymore. Judging by the video there's nothing at all wrong with the Cypriot crew, but sacking your long~standing, locally recruited workforce so you can bring in a new badly paid staff on tenuous contracts is just a really greasy move. To add insult to injury, it doesn't look like they have passed any of the savings on to the passengers... what a surprise!
@@tdr2512 Fair enough. Tbh, I'm not in a position to say, not having been on the Oscar Wilde. I was just going on what Mark (content creator) said in the video.
the leinster and the connacht..remember them well in the 80s..used to get on for nothing all the time..just put on a white shirt and a black tie..go to the crew part of terminal but before passengers got on and then hide in the toilets and change clothes ..till the passengers got on..if night time crossing we would have the big long leather seats in the cafeteria to sleep on..and because it was at the centre of the ship less rocking in bad weather..if we were coming back thru Liverpool we would just get a taxi straight on to the boat..we knew people who worked on the boat so knew what the setup was for the crew..remember one time drinking all the way from liverpool to dublin coming into chrismas eve morning with some of the crew in 1983..the women were some drinkers..good times
I used to travel Sealink as a child on the St Columba. The Ulysses is amazing, always paid for club class, different class. It’s also a larger ship than Oscar Wilde, WB Yeats is the largest but Oscar is about 5 kts faster than both. Have had tugs supporting at Holyhead before, took an extra 30 mins to dock on Ulysses one time, it was howling at 60+ mph. Great vid.
Cheers Darren, yes I took my facts from the Irish Ferries ‘official’ sip info leaflet where they go on about it being the largest passenger ferry but I think they must mean passenger capacity by that as WB Yeats and Ulysses are clearly bigger. Bit confusing really but overall, yep, a decent ship. Must try the other two now 👍
Fantastic video this. Really enjoyed it. Felt very nostalgic as this is a trip I made many a time back in the day aboard B&I Line's MV Leinster, and later aboard SeaLink's high speed service. How things have changed! Thanks for sharing, please keep up the great work!
Yes I did the Swansea - Cork ferry myself once - really enjoyed it. I don’t remember travelling on B&I but I must’ve done it at some point, I’ve got some playing cards at home!
I was very nearly born on one of the Inisfallens (I believe B+I ran at least 3 ships under that moniker over the years). My mother always said it was a real 'cattle boat', and apparently cars had to be hoisted on board, so it was probably the first one. 1969, anyway. Back then the ship used to dock right up in Cork city centre. The city quays are almost entirely disused by commercial shipping nowadays, even as they're renaming the area 'The (bleeurgh!) Sextant Quarter' - a worldwide trend, unfortunately. Later on the Inisfallen would operate out of the Tivoli container terminal, a mile or two downstream. As a young adult, I would sail to Swansea with Swansea~Cork (Cork~Swansea?) Ferries a few times out of the new port facilities in Ringaskiddy, in the harbour, after B+I had abandoned the route. I remember one time going up to London for a week, then came back to Swansea to get the ferry to Cork having spent out the last of my British money. Arrived at the ferry terminal in the pi55ing rain to find it all locked up! I'd gotten there on the wrong day! Luckily someone in the harbour master's office found a docker able to help me out by pointing me in the direction of an old shed where I could shelter and sleep the night, unbeknowst(ish!) to the guy from the Harbour Master's office. Very kind people, the Welsh! It would never happen nowadays, of course, post 9~11 and all that, and the Cork docks at that time were a bit too dodgy to take those kinds of chances! On another trip to Swansea I was put up for the night, and even taken for a meal with my girlfriend, by a mum in the Swansea neighbourhood of Parc~ yr~Hwyll (spelling?!) The place very much reminded me of Cork, with all the hills. That weekend it rained incessantly as well. I felt right at home! On that occasion, returning to Cork, I was hit with the DT's for the first and only time in my life as the bus pulled out of Ringaskiddy (to the immense embarrassment of my girlfriend) having gone to Swansea as part of an Ir£5 return foot~passenger deal, with the express intention of making a drinking weekend out of it - apart from the Duty Free, you could buy vile but extremely potent lagers in Wales like Special Brew and Kestrel Super, at a time when nothing comparable was available in Ireland. No bad thing, perhaps! As it happened, a few days later I bought a card to send to the Welsh lady to express my gratitude for her generosity, having kept her address. Unfortunately I would very quickly find myself back in the UK with just what I had in my pockets, on account of having upset some of the local Cork 'tough guys'. (Yeah - again, drink; and youthful foolishness!) I never did get to thank my Welsh benefactor. Even today, 30~odd years later, I still feel kinda bad about that... One last recollection, Swansea~Cork ferries would run a number of different ferries seasonally on that route, (one always got the feeling the company was just barely struggling along, passengers generally preferring to travel to Rosslare and make the much shorter crossing from there to Pembroke Dock, or Fishguard. I even remember on a few occasions some of the more menial staff, on derisory wages, I should think, seemed to be in the habit of 'pinching' some of the booze that passengers had bought from the duty~free and bust into before conking out! I remember one of the things that went a long way towards putting the tin hat on things for the carrier was when two unfortunate travellers were poisoned to death by the ships septic tank out~gassing into their cabin by way of the toilet... Anyway thanks for relating your memories and prompting my own reminiscences. Not that you were looking for an autobiography, mind you 🙄😔. I'm sure you've got libraries where you're currently living, lol!
@@richiehoyt8487 You have some interesting memories. We were making a Christmas Eve(1973) trip from Cork to Swansea... only thing was, the Innisfallen wasn't in yet.. It came in at 12 noon, turned round in 15 minutes,loaded a few cars, 2dozen foot passengers..We arrived in Swansea at a low tide at around 10pm!!The company had experienced a heart attack passenger situation a couple of days earlier... had diverted to Pembroke to get the passenger to hospital...The the company forewent fright traffic in an effort to get back on schedule!! memorable...
I’m a boatman in the uk and I’ve moored the Tasman up a few times and I’ve also done that journey as a truck driver in my younger days! That was a very close call when swinging a large ship around, I’m not surprised the crew of both vessels were getting concerned especially with the wind conditions! Wouldn’t surprise me if a report hasn’t gone into the havenmaster.
Hi, cheers for your input here - most valued. Tbh, I thought maybe I was overreacting with this (it’s easy to go down the clickbait route!) so I appreciate an experts comments. Not sure if such reports are publicly available but it would be good to read if it was.
Nice video mark. I’m an Isle of Wight ferry captain now but used to go to Dublin with cruise ships in my previous job. You’re right was a bit close at the end, they’re using a lot of power, judging by the wash, so probably a bit closer than intended but cleared ok in the end. These things happen though, I’ve had my fair share of near misses and you live and learn. Dublin is a very tight port at the best of times and is quite tricky if it’s a windy day and there are other ships berthed.
As a ferry captain yourself, I value your knowledge on this and thanks for sharing. Didn’t realise Dublin was such a tight port and I bet most passengers don’t appreciate the skill involved either - especially in windy conditions. Only one question I’ve got: can I come and have a go on your ferry? 😂😊
Had a great trip up to Douglas from Liverpool on a fun little rugby tour the other day. The club we played said that as the RFU had pulled funding to help with travel, they struggled for games now. So if there are any rugby teams looking for a tour, think of the Isle of Man.
I have used Stena Line out of Dublin when the Roslaire Fishguard was Cancelled due to weather. This time leaving Dublin port the Stena Line ferry had 2 tugs to get out of the port. But then it has to be very windy to cancel the ferries on the Dublin Holyhead route.
I used Stena for my crossing which was ok, was amazed to see an ex-Wilts & Dorset bus being used for the transfer - the give away was the seat covering, I reckon I must have travelled on it as I lived in Poole 1991-2018. Looking forward to the rest of the trip!
Irish Ferries do seem to have the best ships on that route but it seems expensive to take a car across so the foot passenger price looks great value in comparison. It certainly handled the choppy seas and prices looked good for what was on offer.
It handled the sea no problem- I’m sure you get a lot worse than this too. I’ll probably try the Stena crossing next for comparison. Better foot passenger prices potentially but are they better ships? 🤔
Nice vlog - ive been on the crossing from Rosslare on that ship and we got the premium seats as i knew from travelling with Stena that you'd get 'free' stuff! The trick is to bring an empty bag in with you... 😉
Loved that video Mark, right up my street that. 👍. Can't comment on the 'near miss' I've only ever sailed into Dub once which was in the dark, on Stena but I agree that appeared to be quite congested there, the captain did exceptionally well. The only time I have been with Irish Ferries that was Pembroke/Rosslare, the facilities on that ship who's name escapes me was not as impressive as the Oscar Wilde there but was decently comfortable on what turned out to be a really rough night time crossing (I had booked on Stena but they cancelled their crossing ex Fishguard so I was surprised to be transferred to Irish Ferries and it went!). The most noteworthy thing about Pembroke was finding the damn ship - positively the worst advertised ferry port I've ever known, I almost missed the boat driving around for over an hour going around in circles. Anyway, well done as always with this video - I lapped it all up readily, great stuff. 👌
Cheers Phil. You know what, exactly the same thing happened to me with Stena at Fishguard. Ended up at Pembroke Dock with Irish Ferries. I made a video on it way back when I only had about 50 subs and a mobile phone. Rubbish vid tbh but it’s still on here somewhere!
Hi there, great video, price wise -both irish ferries and stena have sail rail tickets (about €50). Great value as this gets you pretty much anywhere in uk on a very flexible ticket.
Where you got on the bus, that is where the worlds largest fast ferry used to sail from, Stena Explorer used to moor into the inner harbour, right next to that weird ship with 4 legs. Sailed on her many times out of Holyhead.
If you thought the food on the ferry was expensive - wait until you get to Dublin !! Originally this ship was on the Pembroke Dock to Rosslare route. The ship that normally does the Holyhead/Dublin route is the the Ulysses, which is one of the best ships I’ve sailed on. The ship with the straight bow when docking at Dublin is the Newest ship the W.B. Yates and this sails mainly between France and Dublin.
Hi Mark, of course the staff were great, being Cypriot, but then living in Cyprus, I’m somewhat biased😊. Good video again and some very interesting information about the ship. Twenty one euros for the club lounge is excellent value, and as you stated at the end, great manoeuvring skills by the crew when docking, but quite a close call with that cargo ship.
Dubliner, As a young man i used to get the ferry to Holyhead, Then train to Manchester to watch United (Old Trafford), Remember one trip boarding the ferry in Holyhead to come home, The ferry was (the MV Leinster i will never forget that ship) going up & down in the harbour, When we put out to sea all hell broke loose, all one heard was Bottles in duty free smashing chairs being thrown around & the overpowering stink of vomit all over the ship & people panicking, I vomited until i passed out. Woke up to a friend helping me off the ship in Dublin port, Nightmare...
Regarding the flags/crew/staff situation - I had a moral dilemma when I booked a cruise around the Canaries a few years ago; I did a bit of research prior to travelling and, essentially, the grey area of operating at sea is that local employment regulations don't apply to a large extent so I was worried that I'd be waited upon by people scraping by being paid a few Euros an hour...now I'm not sure what they were being paid, but as a solo traveller I spent a lot of time chatting to them both on and off duty and they all seemed extremely content with their lives on the ship - mostly Vietnamese and Thai, fantastic people. Further to the port entry and potential collision - there's often a 'pilot' that boards the ship to navigate the port because they are more familiar with the intricacies, traffic and nuances a vessel within the confines...I'm not an expert but the pilot may have boarded via the tug, or the tug may have been doing the maneuvering.
Flags of Convenience seems very common amongst ferry operators, the old, not the relaunch and failed again, Swansea - Cork ferries were Greek owned and registered. The crews mostly Greek and Irish. One Greek barman had spent over 20 years on them. The relaunched company only lasted a couple of years as had maintenance, licensing and chartering issues. The Cork deep water ferry port now a container terminal, the services to France and Spain moved to Wexford Europort and Dublin.
I wish that Swansea - Cork route still existed. Only did it once, many years ago walking from Swansea railway station down to the port. Overnight crossing - very useful route. Sad it never came back really.
07.06.2024 Irish Ferries announced that it will change the ship's name to m/s James Joyce. The m/s Oscar Wilde name will be given to the m/s Spirit of Britain ship, whose charter was announced by the company in May.
Great vlog!! Irish ferries started the cheap labour off!! years ago before P&O ferries got the same idea!! That's why you should travel Stena line or dfds!!wear possible!! keep the excellent work 👏😊
Was on the Oscar Wild on many trips from Rosslare to Cherbourg and always loved it. Recently went again to Cherbourg on a different ship but was not as nice as the Oscar Wild
I must have made this crossing hundreds of times over the years! God only knows how my mum managed with 2 young kids in the early 70's what with getting the train from Euston as well. I remember the ferries back then being more like cattle ships- people just packed in and some really rough crossings, people being sick everywhere!
You must remember the old ferry terminal at Holyhead? As east as it is now from the railway station to the new terminal, the bus ride to the ship for foot passengers just doesn’t have the same feel for me.
Been on this crossing several times to Ireland with Irish Ferries & Stena Line. Prefure Stenna Line as their ferries are only a few years old. Irish Ferries tend to cancel their sailings in rough weather more than Stenna also. We often get very cheep off season offers to Dublin as low as £10 for 2 foot passengers but you must return the same day.
Have travelled on ships on this route many times, but some years ago but never remember seeing a tug in use. Used to enjoy the route into Dun Laoghaire, when Stenna had the high speed ferry in two and a bit hours.
I've sailed many times from Holyhead, even back in the Sealink days, living back in the Northeast I use Cairn Ryan, I prefer Stena over P&O or Irish Ferries.
I used the Stena service Belfast - Cairnryan and thought it was a very good ship. It was the sail rail vid I did a few months ago and you can find on the channel 👍
I love watching your videos from Dublin. If you book a cabin on the day trip on Stena it is twenty euros or twenty pounds. It is much cheaper than Irish Ferries. I heard that it is cheaper to bring a car onto Stena. I heard that from one person however, people with cars would have to check it out for themselves. I think the food and drink is cheaper on Stena. I think the 14:45 p.m. sailing is the best it gives people that little bit longer to get to Holyhead by train.
I am always travelling from the Netherlands and I have figured out that for me, travelling by train, booking a B&B in advance in Holyhead both to and from Ireland is very relaxed. Travel lodge is not far (walking distance) from station/ferry. Last time I was almost 3 hours late in Holyhead because of delays by both Eurostar and West Coast Mainline and it was very nice to know that I didn't have to worry about connections in Holyhead: the ferry was leaving the next morning at 9 o'clock. On the way back there was the direct train for London Euston, leaving at about the same time with 2,5 hours to catch Eurostar from St. Pancras to Brussels in London.
MS Oscar Wilde is a river cruiser operating in Belgium/Netherlands. The previous MV Oscar Wilde is now named GNV Allegra, and operates out of Genova, Italy. *The current MV Oscar Wilde was originally ordered by Tallink Group, Tallinn, Estonia in 2005, keel laid down in 2006 and was built by 2007, and christened STAR, to operate ferry services for the Tallink Shuttle until April 2023. By May 5th 2023, she was reflagged, and renamed MV Oscar Wilde* (as you know,) She was sent to Harland and Wolff (Belfast) on May 17th 2023, via Perth for berthing trials, after leaving Estonia. MV Oscar Wilde was repainted in dry dock, before being sent to the repair dock on May 27th 2023. Then, on May 28/29th 2023 she underwent more berthing trials (Holyhead/Dublin) and following those trials she started on the service between Rosslare and Pembroke Docks, until February 1st 2024, when she was sent to Larne for a refit. On February 10th 2024, MV Oscar Wilde took up full-time service between Dublin - Holyhead/Cherbourg, although she did serve another 3 weeks as temporary cover on the Rosslare route for the P&O vessel MV Norbay. (Feb 26th - Mar 24th) MV Oscar Wilde has only operated unbroken service between Dublin and Holyhead since March 24th 2024. Although she is officially leased, Irish Ferries have a buy clause written into the lease.
Cheers Steven. I didn’t know about the buy clause in the contract. I was wondering whether they would keep hold of the ship past the 20 months initial lease. Interesting Irish Ferries refer to the ship as the ‘largest passenger ferry’ in their official leaflets but Ulysses and WB Yeats are bigger. They may mean largest passenger capacity but it seems a bit misleading to me.
@@LetsMakeaTrip I think the way you seem unfazed by a choppy crossing, I think they should keep hold. I must say I love the wide range of travel you take. One of the horrible parts of going anywhere for the 'first' time, is the unknown pitfalls. One look through one of your videos takes the edge right off. Brilliant 👍🏻
Thanks for your footage .we made this crossing from 1974 to 1985 brought back memories .we had good and very rough crossings we used to lay on floor when rough .we played irish music missed this on your film .l supposed this was aloud as mainly night crossing made for great atmosphere as we were not the only ones playing .like you we up load to our channel. We will watch more of your recordings and have subscribed .thanks nice job.
Irish ferries changed to a Cypriot flag and basically, got rid of most Irish staff, replacing them with East European workers. That was about 15/20 years ago..
That certainly looked like a near miss, the fact that the Tasman felt it necessary to blow her whistle would appear to back that up, would be interesting to know if the Master of the Tasman reported the incident to the harbour authority.
Yes I did wonder whether there was any way of finding that out? I thought I may be over exaggerating tbh and I wish I’d have caught the first bit on camera but there must’ve been some concern. Great skill to get to the berth though - vey impressive!
For info, the "Oscar Wilde" you travelled on was the second to have that name but that was only for a year before being renamed as the James Joyce. by early 2024 Irish Ferries had aquired the P&O ferry Spirit of Britain which was named "Oscar Wilde"
Yea and the tug(s) must play a vital part in that. I don’t profess to know anything about what’s going on tbh but I really enjoy watching it all happening (providing it doesn’t actually turn into a real life drama of course!).
Would be interested to hear about your experience of disembarking and getting into Dublin as a foot passenger. (I've not done the Holyhead route as a foot passenger for 25+ years and that was via Dun Laoghaire with Stena.)
It is common practice for larger ships to be assisted by tugs and I have seen such operations in the Grand Harbour of Valletta with cargo and cruise ships and even experienced so on some cruises and ferry crossings. The worst case was in Catania, when the mooring of our boat from Malta with a tug took the better part of two hours. Seems a great ferry ride overall and I am not sure if Irish Ferries adheres to the Rail and Sail initiative. Might have to try it as I never travelled between the UK and Ireland by ferry
You can do the by sail rail Enrico - as with Stena. I would’ve done it myself but I didn’t want to stay overnight in Dublin on this trip. There’s the Pembroke - Rosslare option too 👍
Hi, great video as always. I have a trip coming up dublin-holyhead return which, after travelling with Stena recently, will be my last. The service and On board crew with Irish Ferries is not a patch on Stena. Anyway, I digress, I was just wondering what type of food is served in club, if you noticed. As far as I can tell it is just snacks, pastries, muffins etc...all off the cards for a pre-diabetic, I don't want to pay the extra if I can't eat anything but the fruit 😅 also, I always travel on the overnight crossing so they may have even less on offer. Unfortunately, their website doesn't offer much info on club as far as I can see. Any info you can give would be greatly appreciated 😊 thank you
Hi mate, yes I think it's just snacks, pastries and some fruit unfortunately. If I was in there, I'd get my money's worth eating as much of that stuff as I could and taking some with me for later (plus wine and coffee of course). Unfortunately, I think you're going to struggle to get value here. Spend the money you save on over-priced food and I wish you safe travels.
I looked up the tug Giano and it has two propellers fore and aft and is highly mobile and their webpage talked about "next generation tug" The design was interesting and suggests that this is a new addition to the Port of Dublin.
I was watching the guy in control and he was sitting in this kind of 360 degree cockpit. Don’t know if this comes out well enough on the vid but yep it looked highly manoeuvrable. What a job! I’d love to do that 👍
I remember the old Oscar Wilde back in Jan 2010. Remember the mermaid statue thingy on it. Anyway enjoy it. I think outside deck space is slowly been done anyway with. More shops these days. 😮 Ferries make me feel old as they change so much (bar calmac 😆)
Yea I agree with you wrt deck space and cal mac. There is quite a variety of ferries up there I could make many more trips just focussing on the west of Scotland 👍
I've never seen a tug used at either the Dublin (or old DunLaoghaire) ports or in Holyhead but the 'windage' on these ships is tremendous and it must make berthing a nightmare on occasions like that.
Interesting. Must be immense when it’s side-on to the wind! Also, WB Yeats probably had the easier berth on this occasion. Those tugs are pretty impressive though aren’t they!
England and Wales are not the connection Ireland has to continental Europe.There are also connections from Ireland Roscoff,Cherbourg,Dunkirk,Le Harve in France 🇫🇷 and from Ireland to Santander and Bilbao in Spain 🇪🇸.
Yes, Irish Ferries are giving out misleading info as they refer to Oscar Wilde as the largest but I reckon hey mean passenger capacity not actual size.👍
In terms of the near miss it was close but no foul, possibly the tug captain misjudged the wind and she is a big old lump, under normal conditions they can use bow and stern thrusters to turn
As far as I am aware of, it’s not abnormal to have assistance from a tug when entering a port for such a large ferry. Especially if there is some wind.
All of these ships have bow and stern thrusters but a lockout is sometimes better than a camera, as you said, they are paying the staff with international levels, about half of uk rates, Brittany ferries pay french rates, negotiated, with french unions, pay up or the country shuts down,
Ahhh international waters paying in the individual employees' national pay rates. This is exactly the same trick cruise ships use to pay such minimal wages.
Hi Mark another great video Holydead never gets any better does it looks even worse on a grey day still think Stena is better way to cross the Irish Sea I totally agree about the class 175’s taken out of service far to early a few of them are stored at Ely now
That was an exceptionally dangerous manoeuvre in Dublin Port. Given the wind speeds and the high sided ferry acting like a giant sail. Its very easy to lose control of the ship in a tight port area and in high winds. The purpose of the tug is to allow the ferry to slow down and take whatever manoeuvering actions necessary under control at a slow pace. Excess speed as in this case, meant that the captain effectively lost control of the ferry and if a gust of wind had come from the wrong direction at the wrong time, the ferry could well have been pushed by the wind into the cargo ship. I have never witnessed a ship in port, tied up on the quayside feel it necessary to sound its ship's horn to alert the other ship's captain that in their view the situation has become hazardous. I hope that this near miss was investigated by Dublin Port and the report published. Its only in doing so that we find out who was on both bridges commanding both ships and what actions were taken when to allow this to happen. As well as what action was taken to try to ensure such a near miss doesn't happen again.
i was on oscar wilde december 27 th 2023 rosslare to pembroke ....ship was full and it was a very rough crossing left late and took 5 hours to cross to pembroke ....i always pay for a cabin its well worth it .(bed private toilet)..there are a lot of areas on this ship closed off / unused ... that were in use when she was named star ....large buffet restaurant and burger king all not used ....irish ferries have the option to buy star after a 2 year charter....there is very little difference in price between irish ferries and stena line as they have a price cartel running between them ....another great upload ....ruclips.net/video/2ixu_C_o6NQ/видео.htmlsi=HOqb7kzhdGGhflSL
My last visit home to Ireland was in October 2022 and on my return to the U.K. on SailRail, despite my best efforts to avoid it, because of a mix up at Dublin, I ended up being stranded in Holyhead for 2 days because of a train strike, unable to get back to Manchester - and I ended up paying twice the amount that I would have normally paid, being forced to pay for another single ticket from Holyhead to Manchester - never in my 23 years living in Manchester and in using SailRail have I seen it so bad
Worst I had it was many years ago when it was too rough to dock in Holyhead. When we did get in, missed the train which left empty. Had to wait a while for the next one I think it was very early in the morning!
Was wracking my brains for ages through the video about why the ship looked so faimiliar until you mentioned it's a charter from Tallink Silja. Must've done the Helsinki-Tallinn route 20 times on that vessel. Still desperate to know how you sneaked into the lounge!
I still remember the era when at most ports you could simply hop off the train onto the ferry. The trains and ships were timed to connect and it would take minutes to get from one to the other, including going though customs if necessary. Shame that's all come to an end for some reason.
Fascinated to know whether the foot passenger bus stays on the ferry, and if not, does it turn or reverse back off the deck? Not sure if you will have stopped to watch.
if like irish ferries pembroke Rosslare its a bus on one side and then it goes of and another bus meeting them the other side once the car decks are clear of traffic, foot passengers are last off the ship
When I took the Ulysses last year I think the bus was doing shuttle runs to the vehicle deck ship from the terminal at Holyhead for the passengers - I assume it just stayed in Holyhead as there is a gangway for passengers at Dublin.
Have a few drinks 55mph will seem like a breeze …. Cheers mark love ya vids, Tallink on Charter limissol registered and tbh if it was still a Tallink in Scandinavia it would have atmosphere it just looked dead , even the Ulysses has a much better overall atmosphere tbh and mark you obviously sneaked in behind someone else open door to the lounge to get your free biscuits and cheese !!! Go on babby !!!! And just to correct you WB YEATS is the biggest ship in the Irish ferries fleet 51,000 tons ( Oscar Wilde 36,000 tons
Cheers mate. Thought the ship handled it pretty well- I bet it’s seen a lot rougher conditions than this! It was extremely quiet though. On the Irish Ferries official leaflets they go on about it being the ‘largest passenger ferry in the fleet’ which is a bit misleading isn’t it unless they’re talking about passenger ‘capacity’ but there you go. I do want to give Ulysses and WB Yeats a try at some point. They do look impressive 👍
I’ve done it before - loved it but it was a long time before I got into this RUclips thing. I have got plans to return (two ideas actually) and I promise you it will happen. Probably before the end of the year 😊👍
Alot of freight is going directly to France from Ireland now because of Brexit . there are several ferries operating out of Rosslare harbour directly to mainland Europe
I do like both Irish Ferries and Stena Lines. There is not much difference between the two as far as I have experienced till now. I make the crossing almost every year as I have relatives in Ireland and being not brave enough to get on a direct plane from the Netherlands there is not much choice...: I travel by train and ferry. Stena however has one big advantage: their connecting bus from the ferryport in Dublin goes all the way to Dublin City centre AND Heuston Station, where as the connecting bus from Irish Ferries goes to Dublin City centre only. There you have to change (and collect a ticket from a ticketmachine at the tramstop) on the LUAS tram for Heuston Station. Therefore my first choice always is Stena. Prices for food and drinks are very high (I think anyway) on both ferries. But otherwise: there is all on board a ferry must have and they are comfortable and clean. We must keep in mind: these are not cruise ships and the crossing is not too long.
Thanks Jaap. A detailed (and very accurate) comment on the onward travel choices. And I think you’re right, I was actually travelling from Heuston to Cork on the day and the bus driver very kindly dropped me off by a tram stop (which he didn’t have to) but I still needed to get a ticket to Heuston. If I was doing this again, I would probably go with Stena who I do prefer overall and chances are I won’t be staying in Dublin due to their over-inflated accommodation prices. Thanks for the comment 😊👍
@@LetsMakeaTrip Yes prices for hotels in Dublin are very, very high. I think even higher as they already are in London.... That's why I try to sleep outside the City when I visit London for a few days (which I like a lot).
The Cyprus registry is for tax purposes. A flag of convenience to be prescise. No Cyprus nationals are working onboard. They are mostly Eastern Europeans. Stena still employ Local and Irish people on, not as favourable conditions when i worked on the Sealink ships. You couldnt work in those days if you weren't in a Union. Things are different these days.
Yes, Irish Ferries are giving out misleading info as they refer to Oscar Wilde as the largest but I reckon hey mean passenger capacity not actual size.👍
M/S Star has 11 decks, 2300 seats, 520 beds and can accommodate up to 1900 passengers. The car deck of 2000 lane meters has space for up to 120 trucks or 450 cars. The new vessel has a gross tonnage of 33 000, length of 186 and width of 27,7 meters, power of engines is 48 000 kW and speed 27,5 knots. The vessel was constructed by Finnish Aker Yards Helsinki shipping yard, the vessel cost over 110 million euros.
2 other reasons why ships won’t be using the old dock at Holyhead, a part from the building of the 2 bridges. The first is the salient up in the inner harbour, making it too sallow for ships at low tide. The second is that ships are too big in length to fit in the old dock. Also, the increase in traffic using the ferries would be too much to enter the port through the old entrance for the old dock. You pass it on your way to terminals 2, 3, 4 & 5, at the end of the road running along the side of the port, on the town side of the port. Also, Irish Ferries have the same employment contracts as P&O have now, Irish ferries brought the change in employment contacts back in the Winter of 2005/2006. I remember hearing about how they got raided of their staff, as part of the change. Which is why I do not use Irish ferries anymore, I changed changed over to using Stena Line now a days. Stena Line is the main ferry company, that still employs workers from Ireland and the UK.
Fair play to you that you don't patronize Irish Ferries anymore. Judging by the video there's nothing at all wrong with the Cypriot crew, but sacking your long~standing, locally recruited workforce so you can bring in a new badly paid staff on tenuous contracts is just a really greasy move. To add insult to injury, it doesn't look like they have passed any of the savings on to the passengers... what a surprise!
And I think I’ll be using Stena next time, because I think it’s an overall better experience as much as anything else
@@richiehoyt8487 No Cypriot crews . All Eastern Europeans.
@@tdr2512 I think the non technical crew live on board during their roster.
@@tdr2512 Fair enough. Tbh, I'm not in a position to say, not having been on the Oscar Wilde. I was just going on what Mark (content creator) said in the video.
Loving the hair on the bus!!! "Whenever you go across the sea to Ireland, remember go to Ireland with B & I"
I’ve just found myself singing that! Great days!
the leinster and the connacht..remember them well in the 80s..used to get on for nothing all the time..just put on a white shirt and a black tie..go to the crew part of terminal but before passengers got on and then hide in the toilets and change clothes ..till the passengers got on..if night time crossing we would have the big long leather seats in the cafeteria to sleep on..and because it was at the centre of the ship less rocking in bad weather..if we were coming back thru Liverpool we would just get a taxi straight on to the boat..we knew people who worked on the boat so knew what the setup was for the crew..remember one time drinking all the way from liverpool to dublin coming into chrismas eve morning with some of the crew in 1983..the women were some drinkers..good times
I used to travel Sealink as a child on the St Columba. The Ulysses is amazing, always paid for club class, different class. It’s also a larger ship than Oscar Wilde, WB Yeats is the largest but Oscar is about 5 kts faster than both. Have had tugs supporting at Holyhead before, took an extra 30 mins to dock on Ulysses one time, it was howling at 60+ mph. Great vid.
Cheers Darren, yes I took my facts from the Irish Ferries ‘official’ sip info leaflet where they go on about it being the largest passenger ferry but I think they must mean passenger capacity by that as WB Yeats and Ulysses are clearly bigger. Bit confusing really but overall, yep, a decent ship. Must try the other two now 👍
I only went on Columba once. I remember it being brought into service. 2 class ship.
enjoy Dublin regular visitor from 76 until 2007 as my parents lived in Roscrea
It’s nice but expensive these days!
Fantastic video this. Really enjoyed it. Felt very nostalgic as this is a trip I made many a time back in the day aboard B&I Line's MV Leinster, and later aboard SeaLink's high speed service. How things have changed!
Thanks for sharing, please keep up the great work!
loved the original Oscar Wilde on the Rosslare to Cherbourg route
I never had the pleasure unfortunately
Great Video
My first job as an engineer was on B&I
Thanks for the mention
I remember B & I. We lived in Ireland(Co Cork) 1973-80.. and travelled a few times from Swansea to Cork on mv Innisfallen...
Yes I did the Swansea - Cork ferry myself once - really enjoyed it. I don’t remember travelling on B&I but I must’ve done it at some point, I’ve got some playing cards at home!
I was very nearly born on one of the Inisfallens (I believe B+I ran at least 3 ships under that moniker over the years). My mother always said it was a real 'cattle boat', and apparently cars had to be hoisted on board, so it was probably the first one. 1969, anyway. Back then the ship used to dock right up in Cork city centre. The city quays are almost entirely disused by commercial shipping nowadays, even as they're renaming the area 'The (bleeurgh!) Sextant Quarter' - a worldwide trend, unfortunately. Later on the Inisfallen would operate out of the Tivoli container terminal, a mile or two downstream.
As a young adult, I would sail to Swansea with Swansea~Cork (Cork~Swansea?) Ferries a few times out of the new port facilities in Ringaskiddy, in the harbour, after B+I had abandoned the route. I remember one time going up to London for a week, then came back to Swansea to get the ferry to Cork having spent out the last of my British money. Arrived at the ferry terminal in the pi55ing rain to find it all locked up! I'd gotten there on the wrong day! Luckily someone in the harbour master's office found a docker able to help me out by pointing me in the direction of an old shed where I could shelter and sleep the night, unbeknowst(ish!) to the guy from the Harbour Master's office. Very kind people, the Welsh! It would never happen nowadays, of course, post 9~11 and all that, and the Cork docks at that time were a bit too dodgy to take those kinds of chances!
On another trip to Swansea I was put up for the night, and even taken for a meal with my girlfriend, by a mum in the Swansea neighbourhood of Parc~ yr~Hwyll (spelling?!) The place very much reminded me of Cork, with all the hills. That weekend it rained incessantly as well. I felt right at home! On that occasion, returning to Cork, I was hit with the DT's for the first and only time in my life as the bus pulled out of Ringaskiddy (to the immense embarrassment of my girlfriend) having gone to Swansea as part of an Ir£5 return foot~passenger deal, with the express intention of making a drinking weekend out of it - apart from the Duty Free, you could buy vile but extremely potent lagers in Wales like Special Brew and Kestrel Super, at a time when nothing comparable was available in Ireland. No bad thing, perhaps! As it happened, a few days later I bought a card to send to the Welsh lady to express my gratitude for her generosity, having kept her address. Unfortunately I would very quickly find myself back in the UK with just what I had in my pockets, on account of having upset some of the local Cork 'tough guys'. (Yeah - again, drink; and youthful foolishness!) I never did get to thank my Welsh benefactor. Even today, 30~odd years later, I still feel kinda bad about that...
One last recollection, Swansea~Cork ferries would run a number of different ferries seasonally on that route, (one always got the feeling the company was just barely struggling along, passengers generally preferring to travel to Rosslare and make the much shorter crossing from there to Pembroke Dock, or Fishguard. I even remember on a few occasions some of the more menial staff, on derisory wages, I should think, seemed to be in the habit of 'pinching' some of the booze that passengers had bought from the duty~free and bust into before conking out! I remember one of the things that went a long way towards putting the tin hat on things for the carrier was when two unfortunate travellers were poisoned to death by the ships septic tank out~gassing into their cabin by way of the toilet...
Anyway thanks for relating your memories and prompting my own reminiscences. Not that you were looking for an autobiography, mind you 🙄😔. I'm sure you've got libraries where you're currently living, lol!
@@richiehoyt8487 You have some interesting memories. We were making a Christmas Eve(1973) trip from Cork to Swansea... only thing was, the Innisfallen wasn't in yet.. It came in at 12 noon, turned round in 15 minutes,loaded a few cars, 2dozen foot passengers..We arrived in Swansea at a low tide at around 10pm!!The company had experienced a heart attack passenger situation a couple of days earlier... had diverted to Pembroke to get the passenger to hospital...The the company forewent fright traffic in an effort to get back on schedule!! memorable...
I’m a boatman in the uk and I’ve moored the Tasman up a few times and I’ve also done that journey as a truck driver in my younger days!
That was a very close call when swinging a large ship around, I’m not surprised the crew of both vessels were getting concerned especially with the wind conditions!
Wouldn’t surprise me if a report hasn’t gone into the havenmaster.
Hi, cheers for your input here - most valued. Tbh, I thought maybe I was overreacting with this (it’s easy to go down the clickbait route!) so I appreciate an experts comments. Not sure if such reports are publicly available but it would be good to read if it was.
Nice video mark. I’m an Isle of Wight ferry captain now but used to go to Dublin with cruise ships in my previous job. You’re right was a bit close at the end, they’re using a lot of power, judging by the wash, so probably a bit closer than intended but cleared ok in the end. These things happen though, I’ve had my fair share of near misses and you live and learn. Dublin is a very tight port at the best of times and is quite tricky if it’s a windy day and there are other ships berthed.
I am an x Dublin pilot,yes can be a little tight especially with cruse ships and how wind prone they can be.
Good pilots in Dublin though, makes the difference 👍
As a ferry captain yourself, I value your knowledge on this and thanks for sharing. Didn’t realise Dublin was such a tight port and I bet most passengers don’t appreciate the skill involved either - especially in windy conditions. Only one question I’ve got: can I come and have a go on your ferry? 😂😊
Had a great trip up to Douglas from Liverpool on a fun little rugby tour the other day. The club we played said that as the RFU had pulled funding to help with travel, they struggled for games now. So if there are any rugby teams looking for a tour, think of the Isle of Man.
I have used Stena Line out of Dublin when the Roslaire Fishguard was Cancelled due to weather. This time leaving Dublin port the Stena Line ferry had 2 tugs to get out of the port. But then it has to be very windy to cancel the ferries on the Dublin Holyhead route.
Nice to see you back, Mark! And an enjoyable vlog today as well.
Cheers mate and thanks for leaving a comment- much appreciated 😊👍
Great video sir nice tour nice to see during day and smoth sunny day its empty I think night crossings are more busy but great video thanks ❤
Cheers mate and thanks for watching 😊👍
I used Stena for my crossing which was ok, was amazed to see an ex-Wilts & Dorset bus being used for the transfer - the give away was the seat covering, I reckon I must have travelled on it as I lived in Poole 1991-2018. Looking forward to the rest of the trip!
Yea I only noticed the moquette when I was editing the vid. Maybe ex Poole harbour?
@@LetsMakeaTrip Could be, it has most Wilts & Dorset destinations on it.
06:40 In the Baltic Sea, that restaurant was Burger King, which is why the coloring in the chairs and other parts of the interior is due.
Ah yes I can see that now! Cheers 😊👍
Been watching for a while now really enjoy your videos especially the ferry ones. Be telling my friends to have a look as well.
Cheers John, much appreciated mate 😊
Excellent Video thank You ☘️👍
Irish Ferries do seem to have the best ships on that route but it seems expensive to take a car across so the foot passenger price looks great value in comparison. It certainly handled the choppy seas and prices looked good for what was on offer.
It handled the sea no problem- I’m sure you get a lot worse than this too. I’ll probably try the Stena crossing next for comparison. Better foot passenger prices potentially but are they better ships? 🤔
Another great video Mark, keep up the good work
Cheers Steve, thanks for the comment 😊👍
Nice vlog - ive been on the crossing from Rosslare on that ship and we got the premium seats as i knew from travelling with Stena that you'd get 'free' stuff! The trick is to bring an empty bag in with you... 😉
Cheers Colin - good tip! 😊👍
great crossing mark safe travels
Thanks Caleb 😊
Loved that video Mark, right up my street that. 👍. Can't comment on the 'near miss' I've only ever sailed into Dub once which was in the dark, on Stena but I agree that appeared to be quite congested there, the captain did exceptionally well. The only time I have been with Irish Ferries that was Pembroke/Rosslare, the facilities on that ship who's name escapes me was not as impressive as the Oscar Wilde there but was decently comfortable on what turned out to be a really rough night time crossing (I had booked on Stena but they cancelled their crossing ex Fishguard so I was surprised to be transferred to Irish Ferries and it went!). The most noteworthy thing about Pembroke was finding the damn ship - positively the worst advertised ferry port I've ever known, I almost missed the boat driving around for over an hour going around in circles. Anyway, well done as always with this video - I lapped it all up readily, great stuff. 👌
Cheers Phil. You know what, exactly the same thing happened to me with Stena at Fishguard. Ended up at Pembroke Dock with Irish Ferries. I made a video on it way back when I only had about 50 subs and a mobile phone. Rubbish vid tbh but it’s still on here somewhere!
Hi there, great video, price wise -both irish ferries and stena have sail rail tickets (about €50). Great value as this gets you pretty much anywhere in uk on a very flexible ticket.
Yes, I took one with Stena back from Belfast (see earlier video). Agree they are great value 👍
Where you got on the bus, that is where the worlds largest fast ferry used to sail from, Stena Explorer used to moor into the inner harbour, right next to that weird ship with 4 legs. Sailed on her many times out of Holyhead.
Bit of a shame that’s all gone now imho
This is very interesting and informative
Thanks very much 😊👍
If you thought the food on the ferry was expensive - wait until you get to Dublin !! Originally this ship was on the Pembroke Dock to Rosslare route. The ship that normally does the Holyhead/Dublin route is the the Ulysses, which is one of the best ships I’ve sailed on. The ship with the straight bow when docking at Dublin is the Newest ship the W.B. Yates and this sails mainly between France and Dublin.
Cheers Mark for a interesting journey 👍
Thanks for watching and commenting mate 😊👍
Thanks for the vlog....very useful interesting and well told.
Thanks mate and I appreciate the comment. Cheers 😊👍
Hi Mark, of course the staff were great, being Cypriot, but then living in Cyprus, I’m somewhat biased😊. Good video again and some very interesting information about the ship. Twenty one euros for the club lounge is excellent value, and as you stated at the end, great manoeuvring skills by the crew when docking, but quite a close call with that cargo ship.
Thanks Diana! Fun fact for you, I’ve never been to Cyprus. I think I need to make the trip now 😊👍
Dubliner, As a young man i used to get the ferry to Holyhead, Then train to Manchester to watch United (Old Trafford), Remember one trip boarding the ferry in Holyhead to come home, The ferry was (the MV Leinster i will never forget that ship) going up & down in the harbour, When we put out to sea all hell broke loose, all one heard was Bottles in duty free smashing chairs being thrown around & the overpowering stink of vomit all over the ship & people panicking, I vomited until i passed out. Woke up to a friend helping me off the ship in Dublin port, Nightmare...
I subscribed - love it :)
Thanks for your support 😊
Regarding the flags/crew/staff situation - I had a moral dilemma when I booked a cruise around the Canaries a few years ago; I did a bit of research prior to travelling and, essentially, the grey area of operating at sea is that local employment regulations don't apply to a large extent so I was worried that I'd be waited upon by people scraping by being paid a few Euros an hour...now I'm not sure what they were being paid, but as a solo traveller I spent a lot of time chatting to them both on and off duty and they all seemed extremely content with their lives on the ship - mostly Vietnamese and Thai, fantastic people.
Further to the port entry and potential collision - there's often a 'pilot' that boards the ship to navigate the port because they are more familiar with the intricacies, traffic and nuances a vessel within the confines...I'm not an expert but the pilot may have boarded via the tug, or the tug may have been doing the maneuvering.
The loading bus was long way from home, Dorset. Looking at the moquette.
Yes I think they’ve come from Poole docks.
Go on, tell us how you got in the lounge!!!
My suspicion is that he asked if he could pop in for a few minutes only to video, to show what it's like, without eating / drinking anything ;)
Flags of Convenience seems very common amongst ferry operators, the old, not the relaunch and failed again, Swansea - Cork ferries were Greek owned and registered. The crews mostly Greek and Irish. One Greek barman had spent over 20 years on them. The relaunched company only lasted a couple of years as had maintenance, licensing and chartering issues. The Cork deep water ferry port now a container terminal, the services to France and Spain moved to Wexford Europort and Dublin.
I wish that Swansea - Cork route still existed. Only did it once, many years ago walking from Swansea railway station down to the port. Overnight crossing - very useful route. Sad it never came back really.
07.06.2024
Irish Ferries announced that it will change the ship's name to m/s James Joyce. The m/s Oscar Wilde name will be given to the m/s Spirit of Britain ship, whose charter was announced by the company in May.
Great views, great reviews. Great channel.😊
Great praise! Thanks very much, really appreciate the kind words 😊🫶
the ship also does a return crossing from Dublin to Cherbourg every weekend
Wouldn’t mind trying that route 👍
Great vlog!! Irish ferries started the cheap labour off!! years ago before P&O ferries got the same idea!! That's why you should travel Stena line or dfds!!wear possible!! keep the excellent work 👏😊
Yes I guess P&O got most of the bad press because of how they went about it. Gotta be honest, I do prefer Stena on the Irish Sea routes.
I'm of the understanding that Irish Ferries involved the unions a bit more than P&O did
Same here. Prefer Stena@@LetsMakeaTrip
Was on the Oscar Wild on many trips from Rosslare to Cherbourg and always loved it. Recently went again to Cherbourg on a different ship but was not as nice as the Oscar Wild
Heard same about sailors with contracts on vessels registered in Cyprus. Even on river Danube!
I must have made this crossing hundreds of times over the years! God only knows how my mum managed with 2 young kids in the early 70's what with getting the train from Euston as well. I remember the ferries back then being more like cattle ships- people just packed in and some really rough crossings, people being sick everywhere!
You must remember the old ferry terminal at Holyhead? As east as it is now from the railway station to the new terminal, the bus ride to the ship for foot passengers just doesn’t have the same feel for me.
@@LetsMakeaTrip I do. Even 10 years ago the bus only took you so far and you had to walk the rest of the way
You should have tried the old Liverpool to Dublin ferries in the 1960/70 MV Munster and MV Leinster, which did carry cattle on the lower deck!!!
Been on this crossing several times to Ireland with Irish Ferries & Stena Line. Prefure Stenna Line as their ferries are only a few years old. Irish Ferries tend to cancel their sailings in rough weather more than Stenna also.
We often get very cheep off season offers to Dublin as low as £10 for 2 foot passengers but you must return the same day.
Yes I’m lo9king at a Stena day return now for £20. Not bad value tbf 👍
Have travelled on ships on this route many times, but some years ago but never remember seeing a tug in use.
Used to enjoy the route into Dun Laoghaire, when Stenna had the high speed ferry in two and a bit hours.
Yes I remember sailing into Dun Laoghaire then getting the Dart into Dublin. Seemed much easier somehow.
I've sailed many times from Holyhead, even back in the Sealink days, living back in the Northeast I use Cairn Ryan, I prefer Stena over P&O or Irish Ferries.
I used the Stena service Belfast - Cairnryan and thought it was a very good ship. It was the sail rail vid I did a few months ago and you can find on the channel 👍
Will only sail with Stena on the Dublin or Belfast crossing these days, Never had anything other than excellent service 👍
I love watching your videos from Dublin. If you book a cabin on the day trip on Stena it is twenty euros or twenty pounds. It is much cheaper than Irish Ferries. I heard that it is cheaper to bring a car onto Stena. I heard that from one person however, people with cars would have to check it out for themselves. I think the food and drink is cheaper on Stena. I think the 14:45 p.m. sailing is the best it gives people that little bit longer to get to Holyhead by train.
I am always travelling from the Netherlands and I have figured out that for me, travelling by train, booking a B&B in advance in Holyhead both to and from Ireland is very relaxed. Travel lodge is not far (walking distance) from station/ferry. Last time I was almost 3 hours late in Holyhead because of delays by both Eurostar and West Coast Mainline and it was very nice to know that I didn't have to worry about connections in Holyhead: the ferry was leaving the next morning at 9 o'clock. On the way back there was the direct train for London Euston, leaving at about the same time with 2,5 hours to catch Eurostar from St. Pancras to Brussels in London.
Yes and I think the Stena service is worthy of a separate review to see how they compare. Certainly some cheap foot passenger fares about atm 👍
MS Oscar Wilde is a river cruiser operating in Belgium/Netherlands. The previous MV Oscar Wilde is now named GNV Allegra, and operates out of Genova, Italy.
*The current MV Oscar Wilde was originally ordered by Tallink Group, Tallinn, Estonia in 2005, keel laid down in 2006 and was built by 2007, and christened STAR, to operate ferry services for the Tallink Shuttle until April 2023. By May 5th 2023, she was reflagged, and renamed MV Oscar Wilde* (as you know,)
She was sent to Harland and Wolff (Belfast) on May 17th 2023, via Perth for berthing trials, after leaving Estonia. MV Oscar Wilde was repainted in dry dock, before being sent to the repair dock on May 27th 2023. Then, on May 28/29th 2023 she underwent more berthing trials (Holyhead/Dublin) and following those trials she started on the service between Rosslare and Pembroke Docks, until February 1st 2024, when she was sent to Larne for a refit.
On February 10th 2024, MV Oscar Wilde took up full-time service between Dublin - Holyhead/Cherbourg, although she did serve another 3 weeks as temporary cover on the Rosslare route for the P&O vessel MV Norbay. (Feb 26th - Mar 24th)
MV Oscar Wilde has only operated unbroken service between Dublin and Holyhead since March 24th 2024.
Although she is officially leased, Irish Ferries have a buy clause written into the lease.
Cheers Steven. I didn’t know about the buy clause in the contract. I was wondering whether they would keep hold of the ship past the 20 months initial lease. Interesting Irish Ferries refer to the ship as the ‘largest passenger ferry’ in their official leaflets but Ulysses and WB Yeats are bigger. They may mean largest passenger capacity but it seems a bit misleading to me.
@@LetsMakeaTrip I think the way you seem unfazed by a choppy crossing, I think they should keep hold. I must say I love the wide range of travel you take. One of the horrible parts of going anywhere for the 'first' time, is the unknown pitfalls. One look through one of your videos takes the edge right off. Brilliant 👍🏻
You forgot to mention that that the ship was built in Finland 🇫🇮
Thanks for your footage .we made this crossing from 1974 to 1985 brought back memories .we had good and very rough crossings we used to lay on floor when rough .we played irish music missed this on your film .l supposed this was aloud as mainly night crossing made for great atmosphere as we were not the only ones playing .like you we up load to our channel. We will watch more of your recordings and have subscribed .thanks nice job.
Irish ferries changed to a Cypriot flag and basically, got rid of most Irish staff, replacing them with East European workers. That was about 15/20 years ago..
Cheers Sean, yes that seems to be the general consensus on here. Quite a while before P&O did by the sounds of it.
That certainly looked like a near miss, the fact that the Tasman felt it necessary to blow her whistle would appear to back that up, would be interesting to know if the Master of the Tasman reported the incident to the harbour authority.
Yes I did wonder whether there was any way of finding that out? I thought I may be over exaggerating tbh and I wish I’d have caught the first bit on camera but there must’ve been some concern. Great skill to get to the berth though - vey impressive!
For info, the "Oscar Wilde" you travelled on was the second to have that name but that was only for a year before being renamed as the James Joyce. by early 2024 Irish Ferries had aquired the P&O ferry Spirit of Britain which was named "Oscar Wilde"
That was a near miss at the end, Mark but as you said the skill it must take to manouvre these vessels is something we cant grasp!😂
Yea and the tug(s) must play a vital part in that. I don’t profess to know anything about what’s going on tbh but I really enjoy watching it all happening (providing it doesn’t actually turn into a real life drama of course!).
A ghost ship until you got into the Club Class Lounge. A top review as always mate.
Cheers mate, glad you enjoyed it 😊👍
Would be interested to hear about your experience of disembarking and getting into Dublin as a foot passenger. (I've not done the Holyhead route as a foot passenger for 25+ years and that was via Dun Laoghaire with Stena.)
It is common practice for larger ships to be assisted by tugs and I have seen such operations in the Grand Harbour of Valletta with cargo and cruise ships and even experienced so on some cruises and ferry crossings. The worst case was in Catania, when the mooring of our boat from Malta with a tug took the better part of two hours.
Seems a great ferry ride overall and I am not sure if Irish Ferries adheres to the Rail and Sail initiative. Might have to try it as I never travelled between the UK and Ireland by ferry
You can do the by sail rail Enrico - as with Stena. I would’ve done it myself but I didn’t want to stay overnight in Dublin on this trip. There’s the Pembroke - Rosslare option too 👍
@@LetsMakeaTrip totally agree on avoiding to stay overnight in Dublin. Last time I did so it set me back €120 for one night
I have been on the ship it used to do the rosslare to cherberg route until it was replaced by the w b years Dublin to cherberg route
Yes 20 odd year ago you would walk straight out to the train
Hi, great video as always. I have a trip coming up dublin-holyhead return which, after travelling with Stena recently, will be my last. The service and On board crew with Irish Ferries is not a patch on Stena. Anyway, I digress, I was just wondering what type of food is served in club, if you noticed. As far as I can tell it is just snacks, pastries, muffins etc...all off the cards for a pre-diabetic, I don't want to pay the extra if I can't eat anything but the fruit 😅 also, I always travel on the overnight crossing so they may have even less on offer. Unfortunately, their website doesn't offer much info on club as far as I can see. Any info you can give would be greatly appreciated 😊 thank you
Hi mate, yes I think it's just snacks, pastries and some fruit unfortunately. If I was in there, I'd get my money's worth eating as much of that stuff as I could and taking some with me for later (plus wine and coffee of course). Unfortunately, I think you're going to struggle to get value here. Spend the money you save on over-priced food and I wish you safe travels.
@@LetsMakeaTrip haha...a few months ago I would have been the same. Ok, thanks for your feedback
good day, you need to have a status or something enabled to show on the control or there is a control
I looked up the tug Giano
and it has two propellers
fore and aft
and is highly mobile
and their webpage talked about
"next generation tug"
The design was interesting and suggests
that this is a new addition to the Port of Dublin.
I was watching the guy in control and he was sitting in this kind of 360 degree cockpit. Don’t know if this comes out well enough on the vid but yep it looked highly manoeuvrable. What a job! I’d love to do that 👍
I understand Giano is a private rival tub provider to the 2 tugs Dublin Port own and operate.
I remember the old Oscar Wilde back in Jan 2010. Remember the mermaid statue thingy on it. Anyway enjoy it.
I think outside deck space is slowly been done anyway with.
More shops these days. 😮
Ferries make me feel old as they change so much (bar calmac 😆)
Remember Sealink. I feel old 😂 did look close. I've heard the loud horn once when there was a medical emergency and had to return to port 😮
Yea I agree with you wrt deck space and cal mac. There is quite a variety of ferries up there I could make many more trips just focussing on the west of Scotland 👍
I think this ship also serves the Dublin to Cherbourg route aswell
I've been one stated as "full" (though it was Stena), it didn't feel anywhere near full but presumably the vehicle decks were full.
Yes vehicle decks may be full but no guarantee the cars are full of passengers I suppose or how many lorries were taking up space.
I don't recall any snide remarks about the Cypriot flag when you were on Stena Line.
I've never seen a tug used at either the Dublin (or old DunLaoghaire) ports or in Holyhead but the 'windage' on these ships is tremendous and it must make berthing a nightmare on occasions like that.
Interesting. Must be immense when it’s side-on to the wind! Also, WB Yeats probably had the easier berth on this occasion. Those tugs are pretty impressive though aren’t they!
England and Wales are not the connection Ireland has to continental Europe.There are also connections from Ireland Roscoff,Cherbourg,Dunkirk,Le Harve in France 🇫🇷
and from Ireland to Santander and Bilbao in Spain 🇪🇸.
I thought Ulysees was largest ship of Irish ferries fleet? Excellent video really enjoyed watching.
Yes, Irish Ferries are giving out misleading info as they refer to Oscar Wilde as the largest but I reckon hey mean passenger capacity not actual size.👍
great video 😀
Cheers mate 😊
In terms of the near miss it was close but no foul, possibly the tug captain misjudged the wind and she is a big old lump, under normal conditions they can use bow and stern thrusters to turn
Dublin is pretty tight. Ulysses was quite a design challenge as it’s quite shallow there.
Interesting, didn’t think of the depth of the port tbh.
As far as I am aware of, it’s not abnormal to have assistance from a tug when entering a port for such a large ferry. Especially if there is some wind.
Yes that seems to be the consensus on here too 😊👍
All of these ships have bow and stern thrusters but a lockout is sometimes better than a camera, as you said, they are paying the staff with international levels, about half of uk rates, Brittany ferries pay french rates, negotiated, with french unions, pay up or the country shuts down,
Ahhh international waters paying in the individual employees' national pay rates. This is exactly the same trick cruise ships use to pay such minimal wages.
And mainly Cypriot crew, cheaper labour. Yep, makes sense but they don’t seem to have had such bad press as P&O. Maybe it’s the way they did it?
They nearly always use the two tug boats to nudge the Irish ferries ship into port as I think it’s a very tight turn for such a big ship.
Hi Mark another great video Holydead never gets any better does it looks even worse on a grey day still think Stena is better way to cross the Irish Sea I totally agree about the class 175’s taken out of service far to early a few of them are stored at Ely now
Cheers Paul ‘Holydead’ - your word not mine 😂 Shame about the 175’s I thought they were a comfortable ride personally.
Finnish 🇫🇮 shipbuilding 🎉
What’s going on with the hair at 3.14 my man. Last of the Mohicans 😏 Loving these videos though keep up the great content 😊
Haha, yep. Should’ve kept my hat on 😂
That was an exceptionally dangerous manoeuvre in Dublin Port. Given the wind speeds and the high sided ferry acting like a giant sail. Its very easy to lose control of the ship in a tight port area and in high winds. The purpose of the tug is to allow the ferry to slow down and take whatever manoeuvering actions necessary under control at a slow pace. Excess speed as in this case, meant that the captain effectively lost control of the ferry and if a gust of wind had come from the wrong direction at the wrong time, the ferry could well have been pushed by the wind into the cargo ship. I have never witnessed a ship in port, tied up on the quayside feel it necessary to sound its ship's horn to alert the other ship's captain that in their view the situation has become hazardous.
I hope that this near miss was investigated by Dublin Port and the report published.
Its only in doing so that we find out who was on both bridges commanding both ships and what actions were taken when to allow this to happen. As well as what action was taken to try to ensure such a near miss doesn't happen again.
i was on oscar wilde december 27 th 2023 rosslare to pembroke ....ship was full and it was a very rough crossing left late and took 5 hours to cross to pembroke ....i always pay for a cabin its well worth it .(bed private toilet)..there are a lot of areas on this ship closed off / unused ... that were in use when she was named star ....large buffet restaurant and burger king all not used ....irish ferries have the option to buy star after a 2 year charter....there is very little difference in price between irish ferries and stena line as they have a price cartel running between them ....another great upload ....ruclips.net/video/2ixu_C_o6NQ/видео.htmlsi=HOqb7kzhdGGhflSL
My last visit home to Ireland was in October 2022 and on my return to the U.K. on SailRail, despite my best efforts to avoid it, because of a mix up at Dublin, I ended up being stranded in Holyhead for 2 days because of a train strike, unable to get back to Manchester - and I ended up paying twice the amount that I would have normally paid, being forced to pay for another single ticket from Holyhead to Manchester - never in my 23 years living in Manchester and in using SailRail have I seen it so bad
Worst I had it was many years ago when it was too rough to dock in Holyhead. When we did get in, missed the train which left empty. Had to wait a while for the next one I think it was very early in the morning!
Yes Bulgarian Lithuania
I am going to Dublin in July by a ferry
Enjoy Nathan, whichever way you get there! 😊👍
Big ship with BIG BIG on-board prices. Absolutely SHOCKING⚡ PRICES.⚡⚡
Lovely video I used to go Dublin on the isle of inishmore from holyhead
Thanks, glad you enjoyed it 😊👍
❤
Was wracking my brains for ages through the video about why the ship looked so faimiliar until you mentioned it's a charter from Tallink Silja. Must've done the Helsinki-Tallinn route 20 times on that vessel. Still desperate to know how you sneaked into the lounge!
I think someone said on here that Irish Ferries have a clause in the lease to buy it (or at least extend the term).
@@LetsMakeaTrip Highly likely given that Tallink launched MyStar fairly recently on the Helsinki-Tallin route
I still remember the era when at most ports you could simply hop off the train onto the ferry. The trains and ships were timed to connect and it would take minutes to get from one to the other, including going though customs if necessary. Shame that's all come to an end for some reason.
Yes I would imagine the introduction of larger ships and more road traffic put an end to the old terminal at Holyhead.
The trains and ships in those days were operated by the same company British Railways.
Fascinated to know whether the foot passenger bus stays on the ferry, and if not, does it turn or reverse back off the deck? Not sure if you will have stopped to watch.
if like irish ferries pembroke Rosslare its a bus on one side and then it goes of and another bus meeting them the other side once the car decks are clear of traffic, foot passengers are last off the ship
@@rhysmorgan8946 That's clever 👍🏻
When I took the Ulysses last year I think the bus was doing shuttle runs to the vehicle deck ship from the terminal at Holyhead for the passengers - I assume it just stayed in Holyhead as there is a gangway for passengers at Dublin.
What is that beautiful music at 11:00 ?
Have a few drinks 55mph will seem like a breeze …. Cheers mark love ya vids, Tallink on Charter limissol registered and tbh if it was still a Tallink in Scandinavia it would have atmosphere it just looked dead , even the Ulysses has a much better overall atmosphere tbh and mark you obviously sneaked in behind someone else open door to the lounge to get your free biscuits and cheese !!! Go on babby !!!! And just to correct you WB YEATS is the biggest ship in the Irish ferries fleet 51,000 tons ( Oscar Wilde 36,000 tons
Cheers mate. Thought the ship handled it pretty well- I bet it’s seen a lot rougher conditions than this! It was extremely quiet though. On the Irish Ferries official leaflets they go on about it being the ‘largest passenger ferry in the fleet’ which is a bit misleading isn’t it unless they’re talking about passenger ‘capacity’ but there you go. I do want to give Ulysses and WB Yeats a try at some point. They do look impressive 👍
please come on northlink ferries
I've seen some great videos on that service
I’ve done it before - loved it but it was a long time before I got into this RUclips thing. I have got plans to return (two ideas actually) and I promise you it will happen. Probably before the end of the year 😊👍
Your thumbnail is of the WB Yeats 🤔
Correct, we passed it on the way into Dublin.
Be Great full you were never on the Hibernia from Holyhead .
Never seen so much Vomit in my life
Alot of freight is going directly to France from Ireland now because of Brexit . there are several ferries operating out of Rosslare harbour directly to mainland Europe
Yes, Cherbourg was one I looked at thoug it’s quite expensive for foot passengers but I guess that’s because of the freight prioritisation.
I think hoverspeed seacat did that route when i was younger in the 90s if my memory serves me right lol keep the vlogs comming
Cheers guys, not sure about hoverspeed but I bet someone will know 👍
Golf, the ruination of a good walk!
I do like both Irish Ferries and Stena Lines. There is not much difference between the two as far as I have experienced till now. I make the crossing almost every year as I have relatives in Ireland and being not brave enough to get on a direct plane from the Netherlands there is not much choice...: I travel by train and ferry. Stena however has one big advantage: their connecting bus from the ferryport in Dublin goes all the way to Dublin City centre AND Heuston Station, where as the connecting bus from Irish Ferries goes to Dublin City centre only. There you have to change (and collect a ticket from a ticketmachine at the tramstop) on the LUAS tram for Heuston Station. Therefore my first choice always is Stena. Prices for food and drinks are very high (I think anyway) on both ferries. But otherwise: there is all on board a ferry must have and they are comfortable and clean. We must keep in mind: these are not cruise ships and the crossing is not too long.
Thanks Jaap. A detailed (and very accurate) comment on the onward travel choices. And I think you’re right, I was actually travelling from Heuston to Cork on the day and the bus driver very kindly dropped me off by a tram stop (which he didn’t have to) but I still needed to get a ticket to Heuston. If I was doing this again, I would probably go with Stena who I do prefer overall and chances are I won’t be staying in Dublin due to their over-inflated accommodation prices. Thanks for the comment 😊👍
@@LetsMakeaTrip Yes prices for hotels in Dublin are very, very high. I think even higher as they already are in London.... That's why I try to sleep outside the City when I visit London for a few days (which I like a lot).
The Cyprus registry is for tax purposes. A flag of convenience to be prescise. No Cyprus nationals are working onboard. They are mostly Eastern Europeans.
Stena still employ Local and Irish people on, not as favourable conditions when i worked on the Sealink ships.
You couldnt work in those days if you weren't in a Union.
Things are different these days.
Cheers for the info 😊👍
their Ulysses is 209 metres long a lot bigger it is huge.
Yes, Irish Ferries are giving out misleading info as they refer to Oscar Wilde as the largest but I reckon hey mean passenger capacity not actual size.👍
Ex. ms STAR
M/S Star has 11 decks, 2300 seats, 520 beds and can accommodate up to 1900 passengers. The car deck of 2000 lane meters has space for up to 120 trucks or 450 cars. The new vessel has a gross tonnage of 33 000, length of 186 and width of 27,7 meters, power of engines is 48 000 kW and speed 27,5 knots.
The vessel was constructed by Finnish Aker Yards Helsinki shipping yard, the vessel cost over 110 million euros.