"The Only Way To Go"
I'm a professional commercial and wedding photographer, based in Cambridge. I needed to travel to Dublin for a week to take architectural and interior photographs of the newly fitted-out offices of both Yahoo! and Twitter. I also tagged on a couple or so days to stay with my cousin, in Dun Loaghaire. For what I was doing the equipment I needed to take with me was not particularly extensive, even with essential back-up equipment. My clothes, apart from my walking boots, were minimal.
Surely, the 'obvious' travel solution would be Ryanair from Stansted, just 30 minutes down the road from where I live. Unless you're going to Costa Blanca with a tee-shirt and tooth brush, don't even go there, unless you want to open up the logistical nightmare from hell of petty policy enforcement, whilst racking up extra cost on extra cost, or risking the humiliation of re-packing your bags or re-distributing your luggage weight in front of a queue of other passengers...or is that Easyjet? It's bad enough travelling as a photographer, but think of those poor musicians - cellists and double bass players.....
For me the solution, at least on this occasion, was absolutely trouble free: hire a car from my local garage; drive up to Holyhead; join my £248 return Irish Ferries crossing. The ferry booking online with Direct Ferries was simple. I ended up with a fast ferry out, slow ferry back. Slow? Well, hardly. A couple of hours longer than the plane, but then when you factor in check-in and transfer times, it's a pretty fair match.
The staff on the ferry were very kind, welcoming and friendly. The facilities, just right. The crossing, smooth. My sanity, intact.
Clearly, not every journey can be made like this, for all sorts of reasons, and I still have to fly to destinations. However, what I will say is that if you get the chance to incorporate a ferry crossing in a similar fashion as I did, recently, to Dublin, then do it! OK, not all ferry operators are equal, but generally, in my experience, they are clean and hassle free. And, if you have a family travelling with you, then the economics just gets sweeter.
Just saying, don't overlook the ferry option. Plane operators do have their place from Ryanair's restrictive cheap and cheerful-ish to BA's 'humane' scheduled, but expensive flights, at more than double the cost of my ferry crossing for a business class seat.
Dublin was my first time in Ireland, but I did manage a walk up the Sugarloaf, and a visit and walk around Glendalough. I'm considering going back to Ireland later this year, with my family, to explore what appears to be a quite magical place. My mind is already made up how I will travel there. Any guesses?
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Recommended?
Yes
Reviewed by Andrew who travelled with Irish Ferries on Epsilon
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