# Ferry UK - Ireland Overpriced ( Ferry Expensive ! )



## alitone (Jun 17, 2009)

Having just priced some Car Ferry options from the UK to Ireland return I am puzzled as to why they need to charge such high prices for a 2/3 hour journey. Example Cairnryan to Larne is about £300 return. Time of the year.... you might say, but no, I can get to France from Dover for £83 return. So come on the UK and Irish Tourist Boards and Ferry Companies, you are not "encouraging motorhomers" to travel either way and the prices are over the top. So we like many others this year are off to France instead. !


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## krustyhoor (Feb 22, 2007)

*Re: Ferry UK - Ireland OVERPRICED ( Ferry Expensive ! )*



alitone said:


> Having just priced some Car Ferry options from the UK to Ireland return I am puzzled as to why they need to charge such high prices for a 2/3 hour journey. Example Cairnryan to Larne is about £300 return. Time of the year.... you might say, but no, I can get to France from Dover for £83 return. So come on the UK and Irish Tourist Boards and Ferry Companies, you are not "encouraging motorhomers" to travel either way and the prices are over the top. So we like many others this year are off to France instead. !


One word - "cartel"


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## bognormike (May 10, 2005)

and another 

competition!

The dover - calais / dunkerque routes(s) are very competitive, and it's hard to see how the operators can make any porfit with the charges they make. It's good for customers now, but if Seafrance go down (struggling now), expect other operators' fares to go up  

and do you expect tourist boards to subsidise ferries? I can just imagine Mr O'Leary's airline (and others) having something to say about that :wink:


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## jiwawa (Jun 22, 2007)

Yes, the prices can be eye-watering! 

It's worse if, like us, you live on the island and have no choice but to pay - and again, to get to the continent!


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## thieawin (Jun 7, 2006)

gosh, as little as that?

Try booking IOM routes!

I have to do that before any trip away. 

Makes BF western channel mile per mile seem cheap.

Incidentally which Irish Sea route were you looking at. There are quite a number GB to Ireland and such a variety of distances so it can be a shortish trip or an overnight 8 hour one.

Several routes and two departure ports have been pulled over the last 12 months and operators have pulled out, merged and rationalised as well. They were losing money, even at those prices.

Its not a cartel, nor competion, directly that cause the eastern channel and Irish Sea cost differential, although they may have some bearing, its numbers, ie sheer volume, that is the real determinant.


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## alitone (Jun 17, 2009)

thieawin said:


> gosh, as little as that?
> 
> Try booking IOM routes!
> 
> ...


I was looking at P&O .... Cairnryan to Larne which is the shortest distance for £320 and by the way for just £450 I could have overnight cabin for 2 all the Fab on board entertainment 15 hour return each way and Motorhome plus 2 on DFDS Seaways Newcastle to Holland. So it must be price fixing going on beween UK Ireland Routes.


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## Autoquest (May 16, 2007)

Fleetwood - Larne folded a few months ago due to high costs.... 

Try Liverpool(Birkenhead) - Belfast


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## BillCreer (Jan 23, 2010)

As they say, time is money. 

Dover to Calais is only 1.5 hours they probably do at least twice as many crossings in a day as the boats to Ireland and IOM.


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## teemyob (Nov 22, 2005)

*Cost*



thieawin said:


> gosh, as little as that?
> 
> Try booking IOM routes!
> 
> ...


I did some costings last night

Brittany Ferries v Eastern Channel v Flying and Villa/Hotel

Christmas 2011 - New Year 2012

To simplify for MHF, I will take the Flying out.

From Manchester:

Brittany Ferries UK-Spain-UK (inc Campsites) £1,350.00

Eastern Channel - Spain - UK £1,250

We would only save £100 by using the Short sea crossing and I did not include any Tolls. Using the Brittany Ferries option, there are hardly any.

TM


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## LPDrifter (Aug 17, 2005)

alitone said:


> Having just priced some Car Ferry options from the UK to Ireland return I am puzzled as to why they need to charge such high prices for a 2/3 hour journey. Example Cairnryan to Larne is about £300 return. Time of the year.... you might say, but no, I can get to France from Dover for £83 return. So come on the UK and Irish Tourist Boards and Ferry Companies, you are not "encouraging motorhomers" to travel either way and the prices are over the top. So we like many others this year are off to France instead. !


You are absolutely right. The costs for that little boat ride across the Irish sea are disgracefully priced.

From Ireland, we are going to France in Sept. Rosslare to Cherbourg - an 19 hour voyage - will cost 416 Euro. That includes a three star 2 bed cabin out and back.

On similar dates with same company Irish Ferries to do a two to three hour trip across the Irish sea from Dubin to Hollyhead would cost almost the same - just a few Euro in the difference.


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## Zozzer (Aug 13, 2006)

I've often fancied revisiting Cork Co in Ireland a place I went to on a school holiday.

But the cost of the ferries are prohibitive.

I once worked it out that for the price of a ticket, we could travel down to dover from the northwest, cross the channel, and travel as far as Wiesbaden in Germany for the same price.

Ireland is a beautiful country, but I'll be blowed if I'm going to screwed just to see it again.


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

It is a shame its so expensive

Keep thinking about a trip to Ireland but the cost of the ferry does put us off

Havent been in years but it was really beautiful

We hired a horse drawn caravan and riding horse, and they knew the exact route to take between overnight stops

Remembering might just go in spite of the high ferry cost

Aldra


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## Suenliam (Mar 22, 2006)

We live a leisurely 2 hour drive from Stranraer and would love to have a hol. in Ireland. However we have always been put off by the ferry fares. As a matter of interest (possibly) a friend told us that if he booked as a foot passenger online it costs about £50 return. If he risked it and bought the ticket at the terminal on the date of travel it cost £17 single.

If it is true it might prove a good saving, but it also incurs the risk of having to wait for a space on a ferry.

Either way it's still very expensive.

Think you can use Tesco vouchers on one of the crossings.

Sue


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## teemyob (Nov 22, 2005)

*Email*

I have received an offer yesterday that expires Today.

Holyhead - Dublin - Holyhead

Weekend return £450

I dont think so. I can get to Beneluxe for that.

TM


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## Sideways86 (Feb 25, 2009)

*tesco vouchers*

Club card vouchers £10 vouchers = £30.00 travel, my crossing in October costs me £17.00

Happy days

Dont forget Tesco!


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## krustyhoor (Feb 22, 2007)

Given that our two main markets for our agricultural produce are France and the UK the main carriers are guaranteed a constant revenue stream out of the country. With the expansion of British retailers into the Republic they are guaranteed the revenue stream inward. ( Followed a M&S truck with UK reg all the way from Mallow to Killarney recently ).

My main use of ferry to UK would be for occasional rugby matches with Munster, or visiting family. More often than not the Stena and Irish Ferries prices are all but identical throughout the year. It's a pity as I would love to take my wagon to Devon and Cornwall ( daughter a huge fan of Doc Martin ) but when I think of UK diesel prices and exchange rate, the ferry price is the final crunch that makes me decide to save towards annual trip to France instead.

One upside on the Ireland France route is that Celtic Link are starting to provide a valid alternative to Irish Ferries and Brittany.


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## teemyob (Nov 22, 2005)

*Cheapest*



krustyhoor said:


> Given that our two main markets for our agricultural produce are France and the UK the main carriers are guaranteed a constant revenue stream out of the country. With the expansion of British retailers into the Republic they are guaranteed the revenue stream inward. ( Followed a M&S truck with UK reg all the way from Mallow to Killarney recently ).
> 
> My main use of ferry to UK would be for occasional rugby matches with Munster, or visiting family. More often than not the Stena and Irish Ferries prices are all but identical throughout the year. It's a pity as I would love to take my wagon to Devon and Cornwall ( daughter a huge fan of Doc Martin ) but when I think of UK diesel prices and exchange rate, the ferry price is the final crunch that makes me decide to save towards annual trip to France instead.
> 
> One upside on the Ireland France route is that Celtic Link are starting to provide a valid alternative to Irish Ferries and Brittany.


So what is the cheapest route Uk - Ireland then?

Please

TM


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## davidod (May 28, 2005)

My experience was almost identical to that of LPDrifter. 

Last November (2010) in response to an email flyer from Irish Ferries I booked a France trip - that's Roslare to Cherbourg for the 19 hour journey. The overall cost for camper, 2 adults, and the 3 star cabin, Return was €353.00. We are off in 10 days time.

In January I paid €320 for travel from Roslare to Pembroke in April - a 4 hour journey with no accommodation required.

Can't disagree that the competition with Celtic Link and Brittany Ferries is real. Whereas they have a cartel with Stenna.

The problem with P & O is that it is an overnight journey rather than 3 hours. I do remember pricing the Dublin/Liverpool route with them but I ended up booking the Roslare/Pembroke route with Irish Ferries as the P & O price was not that different.

I know if the price was more competitive we would be using the ferry a great deal more over the year overall and they would end up getting more cash out of me.

I know of no solutions other than check the flyers when they come in. Sometimes they may contain a genuine offer.


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## alitone (Jun 17, 2009)

LPDrifter said:


> alitone said:
> 
> 
> > Having just priced some Car Ferry options from the UK to Ireland return I am puzzled as to why they need to charge such high prices for a 2/3 hour journey. Example Cairnryan to Larne is about £300 return. Time of the year.... you might say, but no, I can get to France from Dover for £83 return. So come on the UK and Irish Tourist Boards and Ferry Companies, you are not "encouraging motorhomers" to travel either way and the prices are over the top. So we like many others this year are off to France instead. !
> ...


Thanks for that LpDrifter it really backs up what im saying and this probably includes all forms of transport and holidays at home so Nth Ireland, ROI, Scotland, England and Wales plus IOM are all loosing out on tourism to mainland Europe.


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## alitone (Jun 17, 2009)

*Re: Cheapest*



teemyob said:


> krustyhoor said:
> 
> 
> > Given that our two main markets for our agricultural produce are France and the UK the main carriers are guaranteed a constant revenue stream out of the country. With the expansion of British retailers into the Republic they are guaranteed the revenue stream inward. ( Followed a M&S truck with UK reg all the way from Mallow to Killarney recently ).
> ...


Cheapest is Scotland to Northern Ireland but is not suitavble for the bulk of England and Wales. I hope Stena, P& O and Irish Ferries take note


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## Motorglasto (Aug 19, 2011)

Found a link to this page on a search about Ferry prices.

Please "like" our facebook page:

Rip Off Ferry Prices

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Stop-...-Northern-Ireland-and-Ireland/144053689015370


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## thieawin (Jun 7, 2006)

It won't happen. Its all about market size, whether or not there are cartels or less competion, although as I have said before those situtations may contribute and they may be symptoms of the underlying cause.

The underlying cause is market size or volume, ie population. There are 60 milion people on GB and 8 million on the Island of Ireland.

There are 700 plus million on continental Europe (excluding european Russia and its satellites), over 400million within a 6 hour drive of a port with connections to GB. I chose 6 hours because everyone in GB (except outlying Islands) is within 6 hours of either a port with departures to Ireland or the continent and everyone in Ireland is well within that driving time to a port with departures to GB.

Until recently you had too many companies, operating too many routes, for the size of the Irsih Sea market, presently we are a company down and several routes fewer. Most of the sailings are much longer than the short sea channel crossings against which the cross channel traffic has to compete and bench mark its prices and more widely distributed.

That distribution of departure ports is also important.

Specialist long distance routes apart, ie departures from Newcastle and Harwich on the East coast and from Plymouth in the south west, the channel ports are no more than 120 miles apart from east to west and all are relatively easy to get to by motorway from most of mainland GB.

For Ireland crossings you are looking to a much greater geographic spread between Swansea and Cairnryan and not as good communications, east west to many departure points nationally, ie to places like Pembroke, Holyhead or Cairnryan. That means that each of them tends to serve a much smaller GB population base, which exaggerates the effect.


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## teemyob (Nov 22, 2005)

*Double*

I wish they would Bring back Ferries to Norway.

Would pay double and a twice weekly service would be enough.

TM


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## Zozzer (Aug 13, 2006)

*Re: Double*



teemyob said:


> I wish they would Bring back Ferries to Norway.
> 
> Would pay double and a twice weekly service would be enough.
> 
> TM


Isn't that the long way around to Ireland ? :lol:


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## grandadbaza (Jan 3, 2008)

*Re: Double*



Zozzer said:


> teemyob said:
> 
> 
> > I wish they would Bring back Ferries to Norway.
> ...


Not if you have one of those " Time And Relative Dimension In Space " thingamebobs


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## leisuretime (Mar 24, 2011)

*Extortionate Irish Ferry Costs*

I do not know if this is of any use to anyone. Living in Ireland and doing a number of trips a year to the UK I pay for my trips using Tesco vouchers. I have a Tesco credit card which gives me credit every time I use it. Between that and my Tesco purchases I get around €200 points a year. Irish Ferries offer a 4:1 deal on Tesco points, so that gives over €1,000 towards ferry costs. Stena line used to be the same but is now limiting it to €100 of vouchers per leg.
Since I live in Co Cork I am trying to encourage the new Cork to Swansea route to offer the same deal.


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## thieawin (Jun 7, 2006)

As I posted above the Irish routes are bargains compared with the Isle of Man routes. IOM routes make BF wesyern channel routes seem cheap!

Just booked a trip to Spain in November

IOM Birkenhead and return Heysham IOM night crossing with landrover, 3 dogs, 2 pax and cabin each way, 18 days away, £446, no discounts available. 7.5 hours aggregate sailing time.

Portsmouth to Bilbao and return £744 includes two nights cabin on way out and 1 night on way back. Includes vouchers for breakfasts totalling £45. All this for 55 hours sailing time. (NB usually its 23 to 24 each way but our outbound stops off in Roscoff en route to change French crews

NB I have a Mananan Executive Club card and a similar card for Brittany Ferries. I get 10% off in the shop on iomspco and free papers and tea/coffee in the club lounge so saving £30 per round trip in reserved 1st seating, cost £400 for 2 per year. On BF I pay £135 each year, I got a £140 discount on the next trip to Spain and have previously saved over £375 on fares so far this year (two previous round trips).

Neither IOMSPCo or BF do Tesco vouchers as far as I can see


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