If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Will someone tell Ciao!
If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Will someone tell Ciao!
Member since:29.07.2007
Reviews:205
Members who trust:100
I visit Northern Ireland several times a year for my company & use budget airlines for getting there as they provide the cheapest form of transport to the province. However recently I had to take some delicate equipment with me to Belfast & the airlines were just not suitable, so it had to be the car which means a ferry to get there.
Until the budget airlines started providing cheap transport to Northern Ireland I used the ferry companies on a regular basis. The cost then for one adult & a car was around £100.00 - £125.00, you can imagine my surprise when I went on the ferry companies' websites to find the cheapest price I could find was a hefty £245.00.
From Scotland there are three choices for ferry trips to Ireland, the most popular is Stranraer in the far south west. This is ideal for people living in Northern England or Southern Scotland & the link is operated by Stena to Belfast who I have used in the past. From further north in Scotland, Stranraer
is not the easiest place to get to with just 'A' type roads approaching it where you always get stuck behind several HGVs, tour buses, tractors, caravans & the odd Sunday driver, even on a weekday. Cairnryan is slightly further north & the link there is served by P&O direct to Larne which is about 30 minutes driving time to Belfast, traffic permitting. This time I chose Troon in Western Scotland close to Ayr as it meant less driving time for me to get there & it went direct to Larne. It too is operated by P&O & for this trip they use a high speed ferry which has a journey time of around two hours.
P&O's website quoted £245.00, a little steep I felt but after spending the good part of 20 minutes looking at cut price ferry fares websites the cheapest they offered was £257.00!! Purely by accident & not listed on the first three pages of Google's search site I came across www.ferrysavers.co.uk who quoted me £208.00 plus a £4.16 charge for using a credit card giving a total of £212.16. Their website was easy to navigate but you really need to know the length of your car as they charge more if it is more than 5 meters long which thankfully mine wasn't. They won't accept Amex cards but will accept most others & they provide you with two booking reference numbers. One is their own & one is from P&O, they don't send you tickets you only need to quote the number at the ferry port when you arrive.
On the day when I arrived at Troon ferry port, which incidentally is very easy to find & well signposted it was raining very heavily indeed. I arrived sooner than I hoped, the do insist you arrive about an hour beforehand but I ended up about 90 minutes early. I gave the lady my print off of reference numbers at the ticket booth on entry to the port & in return she gave me a ticket that needed to be left on top of the dashboard & a coloured hanger to hang from my interior mirror clearly stating the sailing time.
From the rain sodden booth I drove a short distance to the security section which is under cover. You are asked if you carrying any dangerous goods like gas canisters or fireworks. Whilst one security person asks the questions the other runs a scanning device along the under side of the car & then they direct you to a numbered lane, mine was number six.
I went straight to the front of lane 6 & looked around to see lanes 1-5 were already full. You would have thought that when it comes to loading the ship the cars in lane 1 would go first followed by lane 2, 3, 4 & so on. Not so, who got on first? Me, in lane 6, I could see some of them people in lanes 1- 5 giving me real dirty looks when the P&O staff member waved me through!
You drive another 500 yards to the ship & then make your way to the car deck. This particular high speed ferry (unlike most others) is very tight to manoeuvre on the car deck. Even with a modest sized car many people were having difficulty turning around each level. It didn't help when the staff members just stood & watched with their hands in their pockets whilst some people were reversing & trying a second time to turn their cars. Two staff members started arguing about where the cars should be going & totally ignored the request from some drivers on where you want the cars parked. Not very professional to say the least & oddly enough the same happened on the way back. Some cars were left awkwardly parked as the staff couldn't agree on which level they were supposed to be left. One motor cyclist told me they threw a strap with metal buckle round his bike to secure it & nearly damaged the paint on his bike. Their attitude was the bikes had to be secured at any cost & totally ignored the fact the bike is somebody's pride & joy.
Once we were all parked we had to ask the grumpy staff how we get to the upper decks as there are no signs whatsoever at the entrances. Once upstairs the atmosphere was much better, the seating was very comfortable, they provide rows of airline style seats that recline & have fold down tables for lap tops etc. There are seats with tables like you see on a train & many are situated at the window. P&O also provide a separate area for eating & drinking which was also very comfortable. Their prices a little on the high side but it is the usual 'take it or leave it' as there is no competition.
For such a large ship I would have expected more toilets than they provide. For the gents (I didn't get a chance to inspect the ladies toilet!!) there was only two cubicles which meant that within minutes a long queue formed of men with wobbly legs!!
There is a small shop on board selling newspapers, magazines, chocolates, sweets & some gifts but the staff are even worse than the crew down below. They just couldn't manage to say the words 'please' or 'thank you' or even twist their facial muscles to create a smile. Aside from the pleasant girl who was extremely busy at the money exchange counter the remainder of the staff spent most of their time speaking to each other & ignoring the passenger's needs.
P&O run a safety announcement before the journey stars via TV monitors that are situated all over the ship, even on the day of travel which was a bit wild the crossing was very smooth indeed.
Once we arrived in Larne you are directed to your car deck to make arrangements for driving out. Once again there was confusion from the staff & after the ship had actually docked there was another 15 minute delay where no one appeared to know what was 'going on' or 'coming off' for that matter.
The return journey was much the same with no help from the staff on the car deck, more confusion but at least they emptied the ship a little quicker at Troon. Each port provides toilets, refreshments & a ticket office for passengers that don't have a car.
Would I recommend this ferry service? Both Troon & Larne ports are very user friendly & P&O provide a smooth crossing on a very modern ship. However the staff were not very professional & not particularly approachable & for the price they charge, that is simply not acceptable.
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Advantages: Inexpensive, wide variety of things to do. Fun for the whole family Disadvantages: Not much time in Bilbao, not for those prone to motion sickness, small cabins
Gladallover 30.12.2007 (30.12.2007)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of P&O Ferries
Advantages: Inexpensive, wide variety of things to do. Fun for the whole family Disadvantages: Not much time in Bilbao, not for those prone to motion sickness, small cabins
Gladallover 30.12.2007 (30.12.2007)
·
Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of P&O Ferries
Advantages: relaxing and inexpensive way to visit the continent for a short break. comfortable cabins excellent food Disadvantages: crossing can be rough in winter months and lack of security is a bit worrying in the present climate
Sep 10th, 2008
(Sep 12th, 2008)
exceptional by (14%):
very helpful by (86%):
