Ferry to Ireland

[TotesGodsWill]

I usually go to Ireland a couple of times a year to visit family, using Flybe. No other airline currently flies the route I need, so considering the options. I’ve always avoided the ferry as I get seasick, but my only ferry experience was a school trip to France I’ve never got the ferry to Ireland.

Just wondering for anyone’s experiences? Especially those with seasick tendencies?

We do Holyhead to Dublin a lot, always on Stena as we prefer the boats, better play areas etc. It's generally not that bad. The new boat Estrid seems to be fairly well stabilised. We've only ever had one really bad crossing when the wind speed was about 55mph and we were all as sick as dogs. Stugeron tablets work really well but unfortunately knock me out and I'm not save to drive for five or six hours. But generally it's not that bad. We never bother getting a cabin as the crossing is only 4 hours or less.

We're hoping to get the ferry this Christmas. We live in east Anglia and need to get to derry. Does anybody know what's the best journey:
Holyhead/ Dublin then drive up north a few hours
Liverpool/ Belfast then shorter drive
Longer drive to Stranraer to go to Belfast then shorter drive after.

TIA

I went with Irish ferries about 20 years ago 🤢

Handy to have the car though.

Mummyshark2018 I think I'd do Stranraer to Belfast. I'd rather be in the car longer and able to stop and have breaks etc than spend longer on the boat if the crossing is rough. I think Stranraer is also less likely to be rough than Holyhead but might be wrong.

I am interested what route you can not fly to now Flybe has gone. You can fly Cork, Shannon and Dublin and Belfast from a city within an hour or so of most places in UK. The ferry is fine now unless it is very rough. They have stabilisers that smooth out the ups and downs. I have done the journey hundreds of times over the last 30 years.

@Mummyshark2018 I go to Portman Road a lot from Ireland as I have a 40 year strange obsession even though I'm from the North. I would do the Liverpool Belfast as you can do M1 and M62 and avoid the trip across north Wales. Driving to Scotland from Ipswich was along long drive when I did it. How ever you look at it Derry is a distance from East Anglia. Why not have a stop over and do Dublin and then across to Galway and up the West coast.

What route did u used to fly?

Any tips for cheap tickets? We'd prefer to take the ferry over flying but when I looked it was very expensive for a 4 hour ferry crossing with a car (compared to similar length cross channel routes), about quadruple the price of flying

I can manage it once I've taken the sturgeon tablets but yes agree with pp who said it's much worse than crossing to France. You prob won't be able to drive straight off though if you've taken the tabs so do evening one and stay overnight once off?

VirtualHamster maybe use Tesco points with Irish ferries?

We do Fishguard Rosslare a few times a year, it's a very comfortable boat and my seasick prone DH rarely has a problem. Mind you, we had an .. interesting.. crossing a couple of weeks ago at the tail end of the storms, taking an extra 2 hours as they changed the route to avoid the worst of the weather. Not the most pleasant trip but we survived it! We stay in Rosslare overnight and get the morning ferry- there are plenty of hotels and b &b's nearby.

We do France - Ireland every simmer. I have terrible sea sick’ess But if I get my legs off the floor I’m grand. I mostly take a seasickness tablet and sleep it off. Though not an option with dcs I know.

Mummyshark
Its worth putting the options into a trip planner
but the drive from Derry to Dublin was easy last year