IMM 2008 - Ferries

Post by **zakgt** » Wed Jan 16, 2008 12:47 pm

Just a quick note, members would have received details of ferry routes in the post along with the AGM notification.

Another route to consider is Irish Ferries fast sailings to Hoyhead and then P&O Hull to Rotterdam. This reduces the drive across England, and increases the time to catch the next ferry, especially comming back on Tuesday 13th.

Wed Jan 16, 2008 1:58 pm

I was in contact with Irish Ferries this morning and asked for a quote for 2 people in a car heading out from Dublin on the 8th of May at 08:45am, getting in to Holyhead at 10:45am then leaving Hull at 09:00pm and reaching Rotterdam on the morning of the 9th of May at 08:00am local time, the return leg would be leaving Rotterdam at 09:00pm on the 12th of May getting to Hull at 08:00am on the morning of the 13th then catching the ferry in Holyhead at 05:15pm and back into Dublin at 07:15pm.

The Irish Sea crossings being handled by Irish Ferries and the English Channel being with P&O.

The price I was quoted was €528 but this did not include any sleeping accommodation on the P&O ferry, the cheapest option was to pay for a bunk in a 4 berth cabin which would cost €48 per person for each crossing. If you wanted a separate 2 birth cabin then the charge is €138 per cabin per crossing.
So the total price would be either €720 or €804 depending on your sleeping arrangements.

I then went and priced the P&O crossing separately and was quoted a price of €354 which included the cost of a 2 birth cabin and the return sailings.
Irish Ferries were quoting €302 for their Irish Sea end of the journey, which gives a combined total of €656.

Amazed at the difference I rang back the desk in Irish Ferries and pointed out that the fare would be less expensive if I booked 2 separate tickets, so we went through the system again and in this case it seems to be so.

I did learn however that the price on the web will remain as long as there are spaces available, however the price will rise 28 days prior to the sailing or if places become limited, telephone booking will cost you an extra charge of €15 and if then you want to pay by credit card they will require a further €4.

I then rang P&O Irish Sea and enquired as to whether they do a landbridge fare to Holland, but I was informed that P&O and P&O Irish Sea were two different companies and had no passenger agreement between them, so you would have to book the fares separately, they were looking for over €500 for the return Dublin /Liverpool crossing alone.

Post by **Billy** » Wed Jan 16, 2008 3:19 pm

What might be worth checking is the sterling prices, bearing in mind that the Euro has risen nicely against sterling and the sterling prices may have been fixed before the Euro hit 0.76

Billy

Wed Jan 16, 2008 3:50 pm

Good call Billy, I redid the P&O booking quote and it came back at £253 sterling, which going by todays exchange rate is only €338.

Wed Jan 16, 2008 3:55 pm

There isn't an option to do the Irish Ferries booking through Sterling.

Wed Jan 16, 2008 4:03 pm

P&O do an "eat-as-much-as-you-like buffet, serving exciting cuisine from around the world " (their words not mine) for £16.75 sterling per adult or £15 if pre booked.

Post by **Billy** » Wed Jan 16, 2008 4:15 pm

Anything KMG doesn't eat, there'll be a queue of fat bastards ready to pounce!

BTW, you can access the sterling side of Irishferries.com if you state Holyhead as your start point and book a single crossing.

Billy

Post by **zakgt** » Tue Jan 22, 2008 1:41 pm

So lads are we taking the Hull - Rotterdam route ?

Post by **Billy** » Tue Jan 22, 2008 2:24 pm

Seems to be the way to go

Wed Jan 23, 2008 9:30 am

I'd wait until after the IMM event booking deadline to decide this for sure, so give it another week, I had a very serious inquiry about the trip from an other IMM newbie yesterday.

Post by **zakgt** » Thu Jan 24, 2008 12:30 pm

Lads , time to list who's planning to go:

1. O'Carrolls - Adrian and Killian - Ronan wants to, but cannot commit yet.
2. Mulqueens - Billy and full family
3. TMG
4. Aidan and son
4. Malones - Full family (Flying)
5. Kellys - Paul and James driving, Joceyln flying
6. Mini66

Post by **Billy** » Thu Jan 24, 2008 3:41 pm

Lads , time to list who's planning to go:

1. O'Carrolls - Adrian and Killian - Ronan wants to, but cannot commit yet.
2. Mulqueens - Billy, Majella and 2 kids
3. TMG
4. Aidan and son
5. Maloneys - Full family (Flying)
6. Kellys - Paul and James driving, Joceyln flying
7. Mini66

Post by **BlackSe7en** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 4:32 pm

For those going to the IMM, get your thinking hats on and design a Tee Shirt for the trip.

Post by **Billy** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 4:59 pm

Something involving The Orange & The Green

Sent our entry form and cheque to TMG today.

Post by **66mini** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 5:36 pm

For those of us who have an boss (other than the wife) do we have travel dates yet as I for one have to book time off

David

Post by **Billy** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 5:45 pm

David,

It's looking like leaving Dublin on Thursday morning May 8th and back on the 13/14th. Depends on ferries but the Hull option appears to be the preferred route. Neil as organiser is having internet problems so perhaps you should call him directly.

Billy

Post by **66mini** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 6:00 pm

Thanks

Can you give me a phone no please, if you wish by PM

David

Mon Feb 04, 2008 11:54 am

The entry date for the IMM has been extended until the 1st of March, so I propose to hold off the IMM booking until the 25th of February, the day after the IMOC AGM, after that people will have to book their own tickets and pay the extra admin charge.

So far I have received 7 bookings , 1 flying and 6 driving (5 from Ireland, 1 from Germany). There is a possibility of having 2 more cars travelling from Ireland, but I will approach the ferry companies concerning a group discount based on 5 definite bookings.

Mon Feb 04, 2008 5:45 pm

Anyone who has a Tesco Clubcard might be interested to know that they can exchange their Tesco Clubcard tokens for 4 times their amount in Travel Tokens which will be accepted by both Irish Ferries and Stena Line.

€25 of Tesco Vouchers = €100 in Travel Tokens.

Check out page 30 of the Tesco Ireland Clubcard Deals Booklet Feb-May 2008 for details as well as their T&C

Post by **Billy** » Mon Feb 04, 2008 5:52 pm

This is brilliant news.

Check out the travel section on tesco.ie. It applies to Irish Ferries and Stena

http://www.tesco.ie/clubcarddeals/

Post by **Billy** » Mon Feb 04, 2008 6:00 pm

Just checked. We have 244 points on the clubcard. What does that mean?

Mon Feb 04, 2008 9:58 pm

It means that you dont spend too much in Tesco's

It's not the clubcard points that you need , its the cash vouchers that you exchange.

Post by **Billy** » Tue Feb 05, 2008 8:06 am

O worldly wise one,

How and where do you get the cash vouchers?

Tue Feb 05, 2008 8:35 am

They come in the post

Post by **Billy** » Thu Feb 07, 2008 11:41 am

Some ferry discussion from the official IMM2008 website forum

http://www.imm2008.nl/forum/viewtopic.php?t=8

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IMM 2008 - Ferries

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