Irish FerriesArvostelua 

Wer Chaos mag, der darf sich gerne Irish Ferries anvertrauen. Wir haben bei beiden Passagen von Holyhead nach Dublin und zurück im Juli 2025 bemerkenswerte Erfahrungen gemacht. Bei der Hinreise nach Irland erhielten wir die Nachricht, dass die Fähre in Holyhead 20 Minuten früher ablegen werde als im Fahrplan vermerkt, folglich auch die Ankunft im Hafen 20 Minuten früher erfolgen müsse. Zur angeblich geplanten vorzeitigen Abfahrt war das Schiff noch nicht einmal im Fährhafen angekommen, die Abfahrt erfolgte schließlich mehr als eine Stunde später als angekündigt.
Richtig "heiter" wurde es bei der Rückfahrt von Dublin nach Holyhead. Während ich mit dem Motorrad einwandfrei abgefertigt wurde, erhielt meine Frau, die unseren Pkw steuerte, von einem offenbar überforderten jungen Mann am Schalter die Auskunft, dass ihre Fährpassage nicht bezahlt worden sei. Nachdem ich auf einen Anruf meiner Frau hin zu Fuß aus der Warteschlange zurück zum Schalter gelaufen war und dem jungen Mann auf dem Handy den Fährbeleg zeigte, dessen Ausdruck ihm meine Frau auch schon ausgehändigt hatte, gab es dann nachgefühlt 15 weiteren Minuten endlich "grünes Licht". Unsere Furcht, das Boarding zu verpassen, war unbegründet, auch diese Fähre fuhr mit Verspätung los, und die Reihenfolge des Beladens erschien nicht nur mir, sondern auch Mitreisenden eher willkürlich. Motorräder gehören in der Regel zu den ersten Fahrzeugen, die an Bord gelotst werden, was diesmal nicht geschah. Der Hinweis, dass die Biker an diesem Tag keine Unterweisung, geschweige denn Hilfe beim Sichern der Motorräder erhielten, ist nur eine kleine Randnotiz. Ein irischer Biker, der die Strecke regelmäßig fährt, könnte diese Bewertung um viele Geschichten ergänzen, die er mir geschildert hat.
Den zweiten Stern der Bewertung gibt es für das freundliche Personal auf dem Schiff und die Tatsache, dass wir (bei extrem ruhiger See) unbeschadet am jeweiligen Ziel angekommen sind.

Made two trips this week, they were cheap and I am fed up with the tunnel. I was suprised, they appear to be getting the hang of things Calais-Dover.
Some of the crew could cheer up, all rather dour.
At £50 each way though at pretty short notice I cant say too much. Clean, comfortable and the food almost edible.

Shambolic crossing today . Huge queues at the bar with one person off on her break for half of the crossing , apparently .very rude and unhelpful barman in Lafayette Bar. Dirty overflowing toilets , no toilet paper , terrible food and wine and disabled toilet broken . Never again ! Complete contrast to Brittany Ferries over to the continent a few weeks ago ! 1820 crossing from Calais to Dover.

Disgusting food quality in the restaurant. The ferry was very old and tired. I will not sail with this company again.

Wow what an incompetent bunch. At the port two hours before, but the check in process was so bad we managed to miss the ferry. What a joke! Either get better systems or people. Usually use DFDS, I will be rebooking with them next time

Wir sind schon öfter mit Irish Ferries von Cherbourg nach Dublin und umgekehrt gefahren. Bisher sind unsere Erfahrungen sehr positiv, weshalb ich die negativen Bewertungen nicht nachvollziehen kann.
Check-in klappte immer hervorragend, die Fähre fuhr pünktlich, das Essen war gut. Auch finde ich es schön, dass es eine Bar mit Live Musik gibt.
Die Kabinen sind sauber und für haben für eine Nacht alles, was man braucht.
Auf dem Autodeck gab es immer genügend Platz zum Aussteigen und auch die Unterbringung und Besuchszeiten für die Hunde finde ich okay.
Ich kann Irish Ferries nur empfehlen.

My experience with the night shift manager on August 8-9, 2025, was appalling. Their communication style was unprofessional, aggressive, and utterly condescending, leaving me feeling belittled and disrespected. Rather than addressing the issue at hand, they bullied and coerced me into apologizing for something I didn't even do, threatening to deny me boarding if I didn't comply. This blatant abuse of authority was unacceptable, and the lack of transparency regarding my ticket price was staggering. The whole ordeal left me feeling humiliated, frustrated, and disappointed in the level of service provided.

Travelled from Pembroke to Rosslare in early August ‘25 and have to say the pet den was a welcome upgrade. For years was so stressful leaving our dog in noisy Kennels on board or last year in the car with Scores of alarms going off. Was clean, bright and very relaxing for our cavalier King Charles. Well done Irish ferries for taking care of your four legged passengers and making the experience better for owners.

Booked Irish Ferries’ new 'Pet Den' expecting an stress-free, pet-friendly option where my dog could stay with me on lead and not in a kennel. Instead, I was shouted at, humiliated, and treated with outright hostility by staff at Dublin Port.... all because my small, friendly dog (11kg, on a lead) wasn’t in a carrier.
To be clear: no carrier is required onboard, in Holyhead or on the train... only while sitting or passing through the terminal building at Dublin Port! And no they won’t provide you with one as you walk 100m through to the gangway. The entire situation is an absolute farce.
After being publicly humiliated in front of other passengers, I was eventually allowed to travel but not before being stopped again at boarding and handed a sheet of fine print in what was a final, petty power play.
Avoid Irish Ferries if you're travelling as Sail & Rail passenger with a pet. The service is nothing like what is described in their PR and you will be treated with utter contempt and humiliation

Very efficient service. Arrived and departed on time. Very smooth crossing from Pembroke to Rosslare and return.

I sustained a ruptured Achilles tendon on holiday in France and therefore my mobility was very much reduced. On request, Irish Ferries provided a wheelchair and staff to assist my boarding and disembarkation for my return to Ireland. I would like to pass on my thanks to the Ferry company and the crew who assisted me. It was very efficient and greatly reduced the stress of my journey home. Thank you.

Excellent
Kim at the booking office Dover or UK
Helped and and advised me today
Professional polite and efficient service
Thankyou

I sent the following to Irish Ferries on the 25th June. I had an email response that I would be contacted within 48hours . I am still awaiting!

I would like to complain about our trip on the Isle of Inishmore this morning. We are on the ship as I write this email. We were directed onto the port side of the lower deck & close to the front of the vessel. On opening the car door there was a very unpleasant smell of diesel. We then had to walk over the deck floor which was wet with oily diesel. Our shoes continue to smell of it now. It was/is extremely unpleasant. To add to this the crossing was 50 minutes late in perfect weather conditions. I am a long term customer of Irish Ferries but I am very disappointed today.

J'ai fait 3 voyages avec Irish Ferries avec mes 2 chiens. Les deux premiers voyages ont été très bien malgré du retard. Bateaux propres, le personnel à bord compétent est disponible, avec des supers espaces dédiés pour les chiens. Loin des passagers. Mention EXCELLENTE pour la traversée Dublin Holyhead du 25 juillet à 8h30 . Le personnel est venu plusieurs fois pour voir si nous allions bien et ils ont même fait des photos. Le dernier voyage du 25 juillet à 22 h de Dover à Calais était INACCEPTABLE. J'ai payé 36 euros pour l'espace Pet Den. Et me retrouve dans un espace au fond du bateau avec des chaises de jardin . Des vibrations impressionnant dû à l'emplacement et odeur de fioul. Entouré des clôtures de jardins (!) et passages permanentes par des passagers sans chiens. Nous avons eu des remarques tel : faut pas voyager avec des animaux qui aboient sur des gens, faut les mettre dans les cages, c'est dangereux pour mes enfants etc... Il faisait froid et ce n'était pas du tout accueillant. Pourquoi avoir payé 36 euros pour un espace pas adapté? Les deux autres traversées le Pet Den était gratuit avec des supers espaces et des chiens apaisés et tranquilles. Bateau très sale. Dommage. Je regrette cette traversée.

Very disappointed with Irish Ferries.
The ferry was nearly an hour late. The manager was rude and inflexible — insisted that our small cat stay in the pet area full of barking dogs, despite the obvious stress to our pet and our requests. No understanding or respect at all. The ship is old and reeks of fuel so badly that it’s almost impossible to stay inside. A terrible experience, especially at the end of our holiday.

Never again
Always used DFDS but in this occasion wanted to give Irish Ferries a try as their departure time from Calais suited better. Will never use them again. We have been sitting waiting to board and the sailing time came and went. Still waiting. No information on the sail times. No one around to ask. Completely stranded. Don’t even know when the next sail time is. I wouldn’t use them again even if they paid me.
Booked through Direct Ferries ref: DFP187092968
I F ref: 33017331

I am in dispute about the cost of a reservation. Agents are unable to help me. I ask how I can escalate. They tell me I must email customersupport at irishferries.com. I do so and after ten days I get no response. I phone again and am told that email is the only way to escalate an issue and that they receive thousands of emails a day and I must wait for however long it takes. Not good enough.

Just use stena line. These lot couldn’t organise a knees up in a brewery. Late, no information given, clueless staff. Just pathetic service. Don’t bother.

Useless personal, extremely slow service. Never again! All other cars with other companies moving without problems. This one 10 minutes per car at the end of July!!! Awful!

My god this is a tragedy just waiting to happen, been put on a elevated platform against a stupid loose handrail with a 20ft drop, if I’d have took my eyes off my autistic grandson for a second he would have been dead and that’s not an exaggeration, then we had to walk against oncoming traffic with a pushchair weaving in and out of oncoming cars , I’ve pics to prove this and I will be taking this a lot further when I get home, Irish ferries you should be ashamed , didn’t even get a reply, not that it would have changed anything, taking this all the way, my footage and pictures will open eyes, amateurs