Oscar Wilde was converted three years ago do dual fuel use. This allowed her operate to Cherbourg which was in the low sulfur zone,

Oscar Wilde was converted three years ago do dual fuel use. This allowed her operate to Cherbourg which was in the low sulfur zone,

To be more specific she could run on MGO with limited range.  Running on MGO part of the time is an entirely different proposition to running on it all the time.  Theres also the price difference as well

Oscar Wilde was converted three years ago do dual fuel use. This allowed her operate to Cherbourg which was in the low sulfur zone,

To be more specific she could run on MGO with limited range.  Running on MGO part of the time is an entirely different proposition to running on it all the time.  Theres also the price difference as well

In Q2 this year ICG paid an average of €395 per ton of HFO.  Compare that to the average €516 per ton of MGO.  This is on a ship that is already expensive to run and crew compared to the competition.  ICG also got around double their book value for the vessel and replaced two ships with one!

Just off WBY this morning from Cherbourg to Dublin. I have to say I wasn't looking forward to the journey. After reading so many negative comments and speaking to friends who had traveled, my expectations were not high. The reality was not too bad, but still not brilliant.

A Monday afternoon sailing in September was not the busiest so I have to take some of that into account.

Boarding was quick and efficient. Started at 16:00 and i'd say everyone was on by 16:40 and pushed off on time at 17:00.

Accommodation: We had booked a 2 berth outside cabin. What we got was a 4 berth. Not sure if they actually do true 2 berths or not. But cabin was very comfortable, good air con and spotlessly clean. 2 well positioned poser sockets. good quality tv signal as well.

Food & Drink. This was disappointing. They are advertising the live WOK station which on the Oscar was excellent, but was gruffly told by staff no not available today. I had a chicken curry which was tasteless. My friend had ribs which were also tasteless. Later in the evening we did have pizzas which were excellent. €11.50 or €14 with a pint of Heineken. Beer in the bar was expensive at €5.75 for a pint of Coors. i just had a 'kids' breakfast which was only €6 with coffee. It was good, but draining the scrambled eggs a bit before dumping on the plate would help! :-)

General:

The ship interior has held up really well to the first season. To be fair everything was spotless and still looked new. Out on decks there are already signs of a number of repairs. e.g Cables going into the rail lights are not all a mix of colours as if some have been replaces. A number of metal patchings around and also some pipes with like a wapping around them.

The bar was comfortable, although with the majority of seats bolted down it can be a little uncomfortable. On a busy sailing I can see there being a general issue. People were eating meals and then just staying in the seats as there is limited places to sit.

My biggest disappointment was the staff. I always found the staff on Oscar excellent and friendly. The majority of staff on WBY were gruff and in some cases actually ignorant.

There appeared to be some confusion over arrival times into Dublin. The tickets said 10:15, the sign in reception said 10:45 and the website said 11:00! But it was 11:00 when we docked.

We had traveled over on the Pont Avon. It was great, the only draw back being the 2 bed inside cabin. There wasn't actually room for 2 people to stand up in the room! But good food, friendly staff and reasonable beer prices.

Yes i have to say i completey agree with that review 100% especially the staff
was live music still there?and at night time were the full lights still on in the bar.

i think she fails in comparssion to the OW big time regarding passenger areas and i cant understand how they didnt take what worked for them on the french run onto the WB the small things,they have being running a ship on the french since 1973 so they have the experience and knowledge

on a sperate note i seen a video on youtube taken of the GNV Allergra(EX Oscar wilde) in july of this year and bar her funnel and hull colours being changed ,nothing else has, everything is in the same name and guise as when she was with Irish Ferries ,the bars and restaurants are the exact same even the pictures of oscar wilde and his quotes are still up.
i would have thought at the very least GNV would put their branding and give her their idenity.

was live music still there?and at night time were the full lights still on in the bar.

There was still equipment there, but we were told that the music had finished for the season.
They did turn the lights down in the bar later in the evening.

on a sperate note i seen a video on youtube taken of the GNV Allergra(EX Oscar wilde) in july of this year and bar her funnel and hull colours being changed ,nothing else has, everything is in the same name and guise as when she was with Irish Ferries ,the bars and restaurants are the exact same even the pictures of oscar wilde and his quotes are still up.
i would have thought at the very least GNV would put their branding and give her their idenity.

ah this one! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wya4d31Y_7w

Good memories.

Interestingly, the customs man in Dublin told us the port rumour is that WBY will be moving back to Rosslare to free up space for cargo in Dublin post Brexit?

I see WB Yeats is out of service for a week in October

I assume she will go for a drydock survey as part of her build guarantee

yup thats the video

glad to hear they put lights down when i was there they had the live music and full lights on really killed the mood

.Interestingly, the customs man in Dublin told us the port rumour is that WBY will be moving back to Rosslare to free up space for cargo in Dublin post Brexit?    that is very intersting indeed,
would love to see a bit more character put into her


I see WB Yeats is out of service for a week in October

I assume she will go for a drydock survey as part of her build guarantee
i dont think they will drydock her she isnt long in the water that long, maybe a quick underwater survey and a check of the systems but not a drydock.

I wonder will she go to Birkenhead for the survey.

Interestingly, the customs man in Dublin told us the port rumour is that WBY will be moving back to Rosslare to free up space for cargo in Dublin post Brexit?    that is very intersting indeed,
would love to see a bit more character put into her

I see WB Yeats is out of service for a week in October

I assume she will go for a drydock survey as part of her build guarantee
i dont think they will drydock her she isnt long in the water that long, maybe a quick underwater survey and a check of the systems but not a drydock.

They could also undertake any warranty work which would require dry docking, something that is not uncommon on a new vessel.  As a first of her type built by the yard I imagine they will err on the side of thoroughness and take her out of the water.

The Rosslare switch talk has been doing the rounds at Dublin for a while.  We shall see - it would be a heck of a U-turn from a company that doesn't really do u-turns.  Also waves goodbye to the competitive advantage of having the route in Dublin in the first place versus Rosslare or Cork of course!  Irish Ferries will have the numbers to make a call on it in any case.  Any switch won't bring back OSCAR WILDE or her type of service mind, though it will be more convenient to those of you further south.  Rosslare will also have a lot less in the way of customs facilities, but doesn't have full ships arriving from Holyhead (and going in the opposite direction) multiple times of the day either!  The talk I heard was more about scheduling rather than lack of space though - I suspect there are different versions of the same thing going around.  Chinese whispers and all that.

I wonder will she go to Birkenhead for the survey.

CLBH are pretty busy - I'm sure H&W being out of action has meant they are even more so!  There are other options not too far out of the way such as Brest and Falmouth to think of just two.   If it was an IWS (which I doubt) she wouldn't need to go anywhere near a shipyard anyway!

Seems significant parking space has been lost at Dublin Port with calls for a parking area at Dublin Airport

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/hauliers-want-trucker-toilets-parking-in-case-of-brexit-delays-at-port-1.4017451

It could be a case of Irish Ferries hand being forced if the worst happens in order to keep the France route flowing

Could they just stop France and use Yeats to Holyhead if the new one isn’t built?  Can move lots more on that short crossing

We will find out more about build 777 in late October.

There is a good article about WB Yeats in this months engineers Ireland Newsletter,

Unless FSG delares bankrupt later this month i would be surprised in build 777 is not built in Flemsburg.

http://www.engineersjournal.ie/2019/09/23/irish-ferries-wb-yeats-poetry-in-motion/

Heard Rumour  W.B. has to go to Drydock .Its gone off their bookings next week