new Rosslare ferry

Great news, be good to get some competition going

Don't get too excited yet. Some of the rumour mills have Brittany Ferries moving into Rosslare, possibly reducing services from Cork. I hope they're wrong and a new ferry operator is coming.

https://www.irish-ferries-enth…open-soon/

A totally new operator would be great to see alright

What would make anyone think a new service would Help? They will come in and charge more then the others and tell us it's because they are offering a better service into a new location. Why would you charge less to take fish out of a barrel when there is no other way of getting out. When Stifco left Rosslare Stena, instead taking over the route and going all out to get the extra business, they put their prices up.

I’d throw in a couple of hundred quid and we could buy a big boat

Seatruck when i used them Liverpool- Dublin was £80 each way 2017, now £185 each way .

There'll be a short term gain at the very least as they seek to establish market share, after that, it'll depend on the load factor on the ship and the business model they employ. The configuration of the ship will be important too on an Ireland - France route. Cabins are important and create a ceiling on the level of passenger bookings they are likely to get.

Cork - Santander is a looong trip on one of those relatively small Italian economy ferries, especially in a sea area as volatile as The Bay of Biscay.
Would the economies of scale of a bigger boat, added to better seakeeping in bad weather, which should provide a more reliable service at a lower cost be a more sustainable formula.

For one, I'd definitely prefer a couple of days driving and a couple of nights on an Aire to a couple of nights in a storm-tossed ship and time spent looking at the four walls of a little cabin.

Regarding the last message this is the entire letter less there be any confusion re Cork-Roscoff


Sailing date: 20/05/20

I'm writing to you today to confirm important changes to your booking and our économie services between Ireland, Spain and France.

From the 28th February 2020 we are moving our scheduled sailings from Cork to Santander to the ports of Rosslare and Bilbao. Additionally our midweek économie sailing from Cork to Roscoff will now operate from Rosslare.

I'm sorry to confirm your forthcoming sailing is among those affected. The dates of your sailing will not change and we will email you separately to confirm departure times within two weeks.

We hope you will still choose to travel with us and, if you do, you'll receive a contribution to your onward travel costs to cover the distance between the original ports booked and our new destinations. We will arrange this for you. If you now no longer wish to travel with us, please reply by email to sailing.changes@brittanyferries.com or over the phone on +353 (0)21 425 3117 to confirm you wish to cancel within 14 days and we'll arrange a refund for you.

Please note our classic cruise-ferry services between Cork and Roscoff remain unchanged.

We've decided to change our économie services on the back of significant customer demand, especially from our freight customers who are vital to the ongoing success and viability of our Ireland to Spain services. The road networks into and out of Rosslare and Bilbao are more convenient for many customers, and critically, most hauliers. We need to adapt to their needs, although I acknowledge and regret this may be inconvenient for others.

As things stand, we are determined to continue offering fabulous holidays to Spain for our Irish customers but need to make these important changes to grow our market share and maintain the route's viability.

Please click here https://www.brittany-ferries.c…rts/bilbao to learn more about Bilbao, including our port and its facilities.

If you have more than one sailing booked on any of our affected routes, we will be in touch again, by email and SMS to confirm changes. In the meantime I hope we can welcome you on board soon.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your custom and understanding.

Yours sincerely,

Hugh Bruton
General Manager
Brittany Ferries Ireland

We just got the same email. We don’t sail until July. We had booked the 32 hour late crossing on a Friday night so we can work that day. I’m hoping the crossing from Rosslare won’t be any earlier. The additional sailing time to travel to Bilbao therefore shouldn’t really affect that crossing.

I wonder how much the “contribution to your onward travel costs to cover the distance between the original ports booked and our new destinations“ will amount to?!

The changes actually suit us on both counts as it was our intention to head East anyway as we travelled West last year. Also we’re in Dublin so Rosslare suits better than Cork.

However I can see that it might inconvenience an awful lot of passengers, especially those with children booked to travel in the peak season and may have already booked campsites. As they’ve stated it’s to suit the hauliers who make up the bulk of their business.

Will they look for a contributioon from you since you will have a saving

I hope not I’d better keep quiet so 🤫
I’ll be interested to hear what the new sailing times are. Very unfortunate for anyone travelling in a few weeks.

Liam gave them a brown envelope

Why, was it insted of a paper bag, were they hyperventalating ?

I have just received the same email, but nothing in to suggest compensation. luckily I have only booked the homeward leg of journey Santander to Cork, so shouldn't really bother me that much ( hopefully )…..Not what you would call good customer service.

Rosslare’s gain, which IS really needed, is Cork’s loss. Can’t say I’m overly happy with taking business from one rural area to another. I certainly won’t be jumping up and down with glee, like some did, when IF moved from Rosslare to Dublin for their Crossing to France

Same same here. Going out mid April, back end of June. Perfectly OK with the change: Rosslare is an easier drive from Belfast. I'll miss the overnight stops in Cobh, though.

We were on the Kerry on its first sailing (end Oct) from Santander to Cork. It was a bit of a shambles. Nothing was really working. The cabin signage was a mess, the bar was lightly stocked (if at all), but the staff, transferred over without notice, were superb. Could not have been sweeter.

Brittany ferries are moving two routes to rosslare, spain route and french route according to their website.

Anyone get an email today regarding compensation? The sailing times are broadly the same as when it was Cork-Santander and Santander-Cork.

I got 2 separate emails, one for each leg so presumably the compensation will be €106 in total for a return journey?

“As explained previously, we will be providing a contribution toward the travel cost, to cover the additional distance between Cork and Rosslare (€35) and Santander and Bilbao (€18). These amounts have been applied to bookings affected by these changes”.