Arran Ferry

[IKEA888]

Anyone travelled Ardrossan to Brodick route recently.
We did yesterday and I was gobsmacked at the apparant reduced capacity on board.
Both car decks full.
Called everyone together back to car deck so social distancing impossible.
Hardly anyone wearing the mandatory face covering. Kids running riot arpund the boat... adults wandering exploring .
Announcements made to wash hands yet no soap or way of drying hands in the toilets.
Just wondered if anyone else has had a similar experience.
I've made a comment on cal Macs facebook page but no one else on board seemed concerned !

How is Arran? We’re going in a couple of weeks but taking the Lochranza ferry

Good move re Lochtanza.
Arran was lovely.. we did a lot of walking but did go to the bakers in Brodick and cheese shop.. both v good social distance measures.
roads v v busy. I havnt been midsummer before so I don't know if quieter than normal for the time of year.

Cal Mac staff have no power to enforce face masks. They can request they are worn, but that's it. I would imagine the biggest issue on that particular route is the number of non-essential passengers. 🤷🏻‍♀️

non essential travel is allowed now?

what I mean is @SamSeabornforPresident
my issue was calmac have said rheyvwill do x, y and z main one is restricting numbers. Thus making people feel safer when in effect they aren't .

@IKEA888

non essential travel is allowed now?

But discouraged.

I have to disagree.
Arran needs tourists.
if you can show me the Scottish legislation or info saying non essential travel is discouraged I'd be grateful

I had heard calmac wouldn’t allow day passengers. They had said only passengers staying more than one night on the island but maybe that’s changed...

All communication from Visit Arran and accommodation has been ‘please come but be careful’. We will ensure we spend money with local businesses but will be mainly outside and in our cottage. The ferry sounds a bit of a nightmare as it’s so tight on those stairs.

You’ll just need to charter your own boat. Not quite sure what you realistically expected to happen here. 🤷‍♀️

I always wonder on threads like this, would you prefer you were refused travel? If the boat was full you yourself contributed towards that, so what would be your ideal? That you were not allowed to travel or that someone else got bumped? I think mists operators are doing what they can.

That's strange dh was in arran on Monday (for work) and said the exact opposite, said ferry was run very well and everyone was wearing masks.

He was on the early ferry, maybe the problem is peak tourist times.

ah I've been misunderstood.
calmac said for social distancing there would be a max of 100 on a ferry.
there were way more.
They asked people to stay 1m away from.each other and wear masks. people.didnt.

It seems unlikely that Calmac would say that, when their ferries are such dramatically different sizes. In terms of access to the car deck, it is unsafe to allow access to the car deck during the journey, so staggering is impossible.

As a pp said, did you want to be left behind, or would you prefer that someone else was?

They're damned if they do, damned if they don't, particularly on the Arran run.

I’m from Arran and have travelled recently and couldn’t believe how quiet the ferry has been. Maybe a max of 30 cars and capped at 100 passengers - normal capacity is 1000 and during the summer would be nearly full. Everyone inside was wearing masks but most passengers went outside for the duration of the journey. To be honest we thought it was ridiculous that people were being refused travel when the ferry was practically empty - the cafeteria had one person in it! Island residents were not allowed to travel during lockdown so have been prisoners on the island unable to see family or friends for months and now still can’t travel because passenger numbers are so restricted. Many businesses rely on tourists and are really struggling as tourists can’t get over to the island. Im surprised you’ve had such a different experience to me onboard but honestly if the numbers have increased I’m glad.

We're coming in holiday and staying near Ayr. Is it feasible to go to Arran for the day given current restrictions? Which one would you recommend?