Hmm....perhaps it was because it wasn't working properly or something? Who knows I guess they are limited in what footpassengers they take because of the logistics of getting them off the ferry etc? Don't have a clue tbh.

Travelled home by that route on Saturday after being stuck for two days in London and have to say, in the circumstances, they coped very well with the obvious surge in passenger numbers. Also have to say, not having travelled by ferry for some years, it was a pleasant surprise and very comfortable experience, to the extent I'd think seriously about using them more often. Holyhead terminal was thronged but the one thing that stood out, compared to air travel, was the absence of that awful, intrusive search business.
I know the security issues are completely different but, using airports a lot in my work, I'm often left with the distinct impression that some of the airport security staff are over-zealous to the point of enjoying making air travel the misery it has become.. but that's another story entirely.

It'll be interesting to see how many people change after this experience. It's a pity the Holyhead train service has been messed up a bit in recent years and nothing goes to Manchester, virtually nothing to Crewe and the Birmingham's go the slow way. With good connections a lot of journeys to Dublin would be faster by train and the Stena HSS or Irish Ferries Jonathon Swift than by air.

Would echo the above. The train journey and connections to Holyhead were a bit haphazard. London to Chester, change for Holyhead, stopped at every hole in the hedge but, again, have to say the scenery and the seaside towns we passed thru would make me want to go back and spend time. That ill wind from Iceland has definitely blown some good, for the ferry companies, for starters, and for those of us forced to change our pace, seeing and appreciating the alternatives and having whole new vistas opening up.

The other thing to be aware of is the Sail&Rail ticket price is usually much better than buying seperates. check http://www.sailrail.co.uk/ and remember, no extra taxes or luggage charges!

Reasonable prices quite impressed , try and get over when I can to see family so might give this a go .
From the ferry port at Dun LaoghIre can you catch the train into Central Dublin ? Cheers

I went Holyhead-Dublin Port with Stena. There are courtesy buses (at least I think they were courtesy - no-one asked for fares at either end). Mortons, I think they were called.
These take you to Connolly rail station and also operate back to the Port in the other direction.
Other buses went to Tara Street.

Dublin Port is at the north side of the city and used by all Irish Ferries (fast and slow) and Stena slow boats, some of which don't take passengers without cars.

Dun Laoghaire is south of the city and only used by Stena high speed.

On the Sail&Rail site, If you select route Holyhead-Dun Laoghaire and then an Irish station as destination (or origin) the train fare will be included in the one ticket. For just Dublin city centre it's a couple of quid extra . A through ticket from a British station to an Irish station will normally be quite a bit cheaper than buying it in sections train-ferry-train. The station is just across the terminal car park and there are usually 4 - 6 trains an hour to the city centre. see http://www.irishrail.ie for Irish times and http://www.nationalrail.co.uk for British times.

The HSS used in peak summer is a bit like an airport lounge area inside but it goes fast enough to water ski behind! I've not been on the smaller fast craft used outside of summer but it looks like the ones that used to go to Ostend and I loved those.

You can also get through tickets via Dublin Port but the operators are not interchangeable.

Guess what, it's Monday and once again the fast craft has a "technical" problem that prevents it being able to do the second round trip of the day! Cancellation notice on their website timed 10 minutes before the unaffected first round trip set off (currently on it's way back and expected Holyhead on time). This is the third time this season I know of when the second round trip on a Monday has been cancelled like this. I get the feeling this is either a routine maintenance or crew roster issue that they forgot to plan for when they published the schedule.

When I didn't where to sail from ages ago (been to Ireland now and been back 3 months lol), I was told it was because of the rising price of diesel or something that made them take them off service?

Close, they used to run the big HSS Stena Explorer twice a day but because of fuel costs dropped it to once a day and then for most of the year replaced it with the smaller catarmaran Stena Express. During peak summer the HSS comes back (not sure where from!) but during spring and autumn they have a capacity problem where one trip with the Express isn't enough so they schedule 2 trips.

The first thing that struck me with that plan is where do they get the crew from? They will find it hard to recruit temporary qualified staff for the two odd periods so I'm guessing they use either overtime or spread the ones they've got thinly making themselves vunerable to not having the legal minimum if anyone goes sick. There's also the question of maintenance, there is presumably a cycle they follow and that might sometimes not give them enough availability to do 2 trips on some days. I know that it was cancelled on Easter Monday, then I saw the announcement during the Ash Cloud weekend and yesterday when I realised it was Monday (takes time some days!) I had a look and there was the notice. I certainly wouldn't book for the second trip on a Monday!

I quite fancy a trip on the Express but I'll be booking for the first one of the day!!

looks like the end of an era.

Stena have announced there wil be no fast craft sailings this winter (which starts in 2 weeks according to their timetable) so Dun Laoghaire is effectively closed. Whether it will reopen next summer remains to be seen.

Their Holyhead service will be 2 return trips a day to Dubin Port with ships BUT one of those doesn't take foot (rail) passengers and Dublin Port isn't very convenient for them anyway.

Closure of the route came coincedentally with news that they have completed the take over of the DFDS route from Birkenhead to Belfast. They market Birkenhead as Liverpool which might not go down too well with either residents or people driving from north east of Liverpool.

More about those cuts to HSS Stena Explorer services on the Holyhead - Dun Laoghaire route:
http://www.rte.ie/news/2011/0830/stena.html

as well as cuts to HSS Stena Voyager services on the Stranraer - Belfast route:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-14755140

David

ironic that they made these cuts due to the rising cost of fuel but when travellers stop using their own cars for the same reason they are blocked from 50% of the Dublin ferry sailings and several of the Belfast's (many more once they move to Cairnryan, 6 miles from the rail station instead of across the road like Stanraer). So the car less traveller will turn to Ryanair and Stena will wonder why trade in the shop and restaurant has dropped off. Manchester to Dublin centre to centre used to be faster by train+HSS than flying!

When I looked at the stena site in June for timings for my holiday, I noticed that they where not operating the stena fast from October, the last sailings when up to September so it's not new news.

it's still come as a shock to the staff - Stena only confirmed it to them this week. The timetable on the website wasn't always accurate so maybe they assumed another mistake and were waiting for winter to be added.

It could have wider ramifications - Virgin run an early train from Birmingham to Holyhead that puts people onto the morning HSS, much of the traffic on that after Bangor will be lost so they may cut it there.

To be brutally honest, the HSS was a bit of lemon during the winter as it didn't like rough seas (have you seen the Irish Sea in winter?). This caused a lot of cancellations and people hanging around waiting for hours. A reliable ship is probably better but the current sailing times are hopeless for rail connections.

I've been ON the irish sea in the winter does that count? But I went from Pembroke Dock to Rosslare in a January, one was calmish, the other rough. I knew IF run a fast ferry, but I am travelling in October and I didn't want to risk a delay.

wise move if you are booking in advance and haven't seen the forecast. Not sure about the Jonathon Swift operation limits but the HSS was limited to about 9ft waves - it gets worse than that in the summer sometimes! Not a first for bad planning though, the Belgians used to run (or try to run) Boeing Jetfoils from Ostend to Dover, they were fast but tiny and the cancellation rate was appalling.

yes, I thought it was a wise move too You just don't know do you At least if the weather is rough for standard ferries, you have a chance they will sail, albiet delayed. I do remember hearing about the jetfoils but that was long before I started travelling anywhere.