Irish Ferries

I have finally managed to find time to write to thank Irish Ferries for almost the worst ferry crossing experience I have ever had and I have had many as far afield as The Baltic, Greece, New Zealand, Malaysia and Canada.

The only one that has surpassed it for unpleasantness was over 6 hours bobbing in a Force Ten about just outside Dover. In this case it wasn't the effect of the weather as that is something out with the control of the ferry company. In this case it was the apparent inferior treatment of the passengers actually booked on the Epsilon for that crossing.

The 14:30 crossing of the Jonathon Swift was cancelled and in it's efforts to (so it seems) minimise the inconvenience to the passengers on the cancelled crossing Irish Ferries managed to very greatly inconvenience the passengers who booked to travel on the "slow boat".

I (and my wife) arrived in very good time, checked in and were instructed park up in the lower numbered lanes on the left hand side. We noticed (and thought strange) that much later arrivals who were parked up in the higher numbered lanes some way to the right hand side were all moved up and queued up alongside the security fence in front of the terminal building some 30 - 50 minutes before we were even told to start up. Indeed we were told we had time to visit the terminal building for refreshments. By the time we returned to our motorhome all the pre-queued vehicles along the security fence had been boarded. When we were eventually boarded all the lower car decks were full and we had to be accommodated on the open deck right at the stern of the ship.
When we entered the ferry itself we were astonished to find it's totally inadequate passenger areas already fully occupied and passenger milling about vainly trying to find space to sit down.

It seemed to me and others actually booked on the Epsilon I spoke to and who were boarded at the same time, that the displaced passengers from the later ferry had been boarded first and the Epsilon's actual passengers left until last.
If it wasn't for the fact that large numbers of passengers, including myself, purchased cabins (at an additional unplanned cost of 38€) at the earliest opportunity, travelling conditions in the very restricted passenger "Lounge" (I use that description very advisedly) would have been illegal if the "passengers" had been livestock instead of human customers.

I am stunned that a vessel with such restricted passenger accommodation can even be thought suitable for a 3.5hour crossing, I have been on much larger ferries for crossings of less than half that time. I would certainly avoid booking any crossing in future, if there was any chance I would be travelling on the Epsilon for more than 30 minutes.

I am sorry but the appalling experience of the return crossing soured what had until then been a pleasant 2 week holiday touring Ireland. The real slap in the face for the passenger actually booked to travel on the Epsilon was reserved until last - the point at which passengers were asked to return to their vehicles. The Master/Captain/Driver/whatever came on the PA and offered extensive and profuse apologies to the Jonathan Swift's displaced passengers hoping they hadn't been too inconvenienced too much and Ohh so sorry their crossing had had to be cancelled. What was offered to the Epsilon's real passengers - nothing - zilch - nowt. We had had OUR crossing totally spoilt, to the extent that it was only bearable at the extra cost of buying use of a cabin so we could at least sit down in reasonable comfort - well lay down actually, have you ever tried sitting on a bed with a hard wooden rim?

I would hope that in future displaced passengers from another vessel do NOT receive the preferential treatment they appeared to receive in this instance.

S.......... E..........

PS On second thoughts the Friday overnight "Booze Cruise" crossing from Sundsvall to Vasa was nearly as bad as last Tuesday, at least we had a cabin included in the fare then to get away from the boozers.

Good Morning Mr E..........



Firstly sincere apologies for any inconvenience caused.



Our aim is to provide a positive memorable travel experience for all our passengers and to that end we greatly appreciate customer feedback as it helps us to concentrate our efforts on improvements needed. Your constructive comments regarding your travel experience on the Epsilon have been forwarded to the Manager of the ship for information.



I am really sorry that you had such an unpleasant experience. As a gesture of goodwill I have refunded the cost of the cabin you purchased on board. A refund for £30.00 €38.00) has been made to the card used to pay for your booking. Please verify on your next bank statement.



Thank you for bringing the issues to our attention and I hope we will have many opportunities over the coming years to welcome you on board.



Kind regards

Mary Whirdy

Customer Support.

Thank you Mary, for that I'm most grateful.

If I may could I just reiterate the following point.

At no time was anything (as far as I and others booked on the Epsilon could tell) said or done to apologise for or minimise the inconvenience and disruption endured by the Epsilon's own passengers.

The passengers from the Swift were continually apologised to and so far as we could see granted precedence over the legitimate passengers booked on that crossing and that on a ship that had IMHO barely adequate passenger accommodation in the first place.

Should this situation occur in future (as it no doubt will) could Irish Ferries please ensure the legitimate pre-booked passengers on the Epsilon are loaded first and treated as the priority they should be. If need be offer them complimentary cabins if they wish and so clear the decks for the Johnny come latelies - the fuel cost saving alone from only running one boat should more than offset the cost of a few free cabins.

Please show consideration for the pre-booked passengers in future - the re-booked Swift passengers should just be grateful they are getting a crossing at all.

Regards

S............ E.........

PS Or get a more suitable ship, capable of absorbing that number of displaced passengers.

Good Morning Mr E...........

Thank you for your reply.

I can appreciate that you were frustrated by events. However the delay in loading related to the fact that you were in a campervan. The Loading Officer has to take many factors into account, including safety rules, height and length of vehicles in order to stabilise the ship. Consequently loading cannot be based only on the order and time that vehicles arrive at check-in.

I hope you have a better experience the next time you travel with us.

If I can be of assistance at any time please do not hesitate to contact me.

Thanks and Regards

Mary Whirdy

Customer Support

Sorry to labour this matter, but how can that be?

I was one of only 2 motorhomes amongst a vast majority of cars and small vans in the lanes loaded last. Other vans, caravans and motorhomes from the other lanes were loaded ahead of the mixed group of vehicles I was in.

I travel by ferry a lot and I am all too aware that it is usual for similar sized vehicles to be segregated into separate lanes and then loaded together - however that did not happen in this instance. Sorting appeared to be entirely random with vehicles of all sizes in different lanes and in both groups of lanes. One group of lanes containing all sizes of vehicle was then loaded before the other group - that is not normal.

If ALL the vehicles held back and loaded last had been vans, caravans and motorhomes I could accept that explanation, but they were not. The only other motorhome in the group loaded with me was displaying a blue badge and was parked immediately outside the doors to the passenger accommodation as is usual.

My motorhome was the only vehicle larger than a car or small van on the open deck, all the other large vehicles in the lanes loaded first were already parked on the lower decks.

So if the Loading Officer's assertion is correct all the large vehicles should have been on the lower deck or all should have been on the upper open deck, not most on the lower decks and the only 2 from the held back lanes on the top deck with the cars and small vans.

Regards

S....... E..........