WB YEATS Dublin Bound

Started by ferryfan, December 15, 2018, 02:27:54 PM

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Rob 1987

Isle Of Inishmore had a problem with her fuel
Regards Rob

Steven

Looks like there was another press launch in Cherbourg.  They got live music - something Irish Ferries has confirmed passengers won't be getting.  They have said there will be entertainment for kids from "June to August".

Also, a couple of press releases

Firstly, W.B. Yeats bagged a couple of shippax awards!

https://www.niferry.co.uk/pr-w-b-yeats-wins-international-shipping-awards/

Secondly, there was another release today for the first revenue earning crossing from Cherbourg, complete with some green lighting in the port

https://www.niferry.co.uk/pr-w-b-yeats-cruise-ferry-embarks-on-its-maiden-voyage-from-cherbourg-to-dublin/

The Lady Gregory is opening this evening with a seasonal spring menu apparently.  AFAIK this is the first time they have opened it in the evening.  There were some complaints on Twitter from passengers on the Dublin to Cherbourg sailing that their only food option was Boylan's which was serving food that needed to be reheated - I've seen criticism before of the food being cold when she was in service to Holyhead.  Seems there are still some teething problems.
Steve in Belfast (suburbia)

Flickr: www.flickr.com/tarbyonline

A83

Cherbourg celebrating the arrival of WB Yeats.

Not sure if there is a translation facility but it a positive article looking forward to traffic between Cherbourg and Dublin doubling over the next 10 years. Mind you they state that the WBY is 'the biggest ferry in the world'. They seem pretty happy with it anyway.

https://www.lamanchelibre.fr/actualite-676713-a-cherbourg-escale-inaugurale-pour-le-w-b-yeats-plus-gros-ferry-du-monde

DaveW1946

Most of the above was bullxxxx spoken by Irish Ferries Director of Customer Services.
Just spotted at 1600 hours that next WB Yeats trip is delayed. Cannot the "biggest ferry in the world" cope with a bit of weather?


jgf

I traveled on the WBY for the 1st time 2 weeks ago. I must say she is a fabulous ferry, interior finish is high quality. Foot passenger boarding at Dublin Port was simple. Sailing was very quiet. didn't try the food. had a couple of drinks. all very enjoyable. the lack of 3 pin sockets is the only issue I noticed. Although I had seen this flagged beforehand.

ferryfan

Quote from: jgf on March 17, 2019, 07:07:05 PM
I traveled on the WBY for the 1st time 2 weeks ago. I must say she is a fabulous ferry, interior finish is high quality. Foot passenger boarding at Dublin Port was simple. Sailing was very quiet. didn't try the food. had a couple of drinks. all very enjoyable. the lack of 3 pin sockets is the only issue I noticed. Although I had seen this flagged beforehand.
The 2 pin sockets are mainly for plugging in cleaning equipment. 3 pin sockets are located on the table legs like seen here;

jgf

thanks Ferryfan. although I don't think I will be on WBY again for a long time!

mountainmini

hi, new to the forum though I have lurked for some time. We are avid ferry users, have done all sorts of ferries, Cork and Dublin to France of course, but also UK to Denmark (before the route ended) freighter to Norway, Gothenburg to Kiel among others - we do like a ferry!
We won a trip on the WB Yeats on a radio competition last summer however with the debacle of the delay ended up on the Oscar Wilde, no problem, it was practically a free holiday anyway but we were intrigued to sail in the WB...

So we Got home today from a cheeky weekend in France, sailed out on Thursday 14th March on WB Yeats on what I believe was it`s first trip to France, returned yesterday, 17th arriving 18th into Ireland

Here is my tuppence worth...

the crossing to france was perhaps just one third full of passengers, so we had lots of room to park on the car deck, nice to be able to open doors etc without fear of hitting the car beside, I`m sure it will be jam packed in the busier months though
Cabins felt small, it really felt that just a few inches made a difference in space. We got the basic 4 berth indoor, no window for 2 adults and an 11 year old and 14 year old. It just felt that you stepped out of the shower/toilet and were faced into the upper bunk, we all nearly hit our noses several times
outward there was no handsoap in the wash hand basin, then no shampoo/body soap in the shower and no bath mat coming home - not the end of the world but annoying though all the furnishings and carper felt very clean and fresh
food was expensive and mediocre - soggy sad chips, chewy lasagne, no battered fish available, main courses 13-14 euro, although we went to the brasserie as soon as we got on the ship, the food looked tired and sweaty already. Kids menu was the usual sad sausages and nuggets - go for the salad selection, it was good and a large plate was just a fiver, fill it with cous cous and feta cheese and it`s fairly substanstial!
€12 for a G&T (think the barman said it was a special offer on the gin and mixer) and pint of Heinekin in the Maud Gonne bar, but en route home we discovered that a nice bottle of red or white was €9.50 in Boylans Brasserie and lasted a lot longer
€4 for a little box of cereal and 250ml of milk at breakfast, daylight robbery!
yes only 2 pin plugs in the cabins (though there are 4 sockets in the cabin) and the plugs that I could see in the public areas -  I did not crawl around the floor to look at legs of chairs for 3 pin plugs though the crossing to France was so rough I thought I might end up on the floor!
Chairs in the eating area constantly seemed to have crumbs on them, though the staff were endlessly brushing them off - perhaps the colour scheme is not ideal for that
some confusion as we left the car deck for the cabin deck with staff telling us we had to get cabin keys at reception when we had already been issued with them at check in, probably with it all being so new some of them were still getting used to things
just our thoughts after a very quick trip and the weather was poor in both directions so we didn`t get to walk around as much as we usually would have, if I can answer any questions I will gladly help

Davy Jones

Thanks Mountain Mini, very informative post and welcome to the site (and Trucker as well)!

SEA

With regards to the two pin sockets  I just read the below on the Irish ferry facebook page ..

"Glad you like it Marie! Adaptors are available from reception for a small deposit if need. - Sarah

Ferry2france

Thanks Mountainmini that's very informative - I will be sailing out in a few weeks and I'm a little concerned about the size of the cabins as my hubby has some mobility issues - they do look very tight in the pictures and the bigger cabins are wogiously overpriced - :)

conor

Nice to see WB going at nearly 26kts off the cherbourg peninsula. Very impressive

A83

I travelled back from Cherbourg on last night's crossing. To add to the generally good reviews I was impressed. The loading was quick and efficient. The cabin [a four berth for 2 of us] was adequately sized, compared to the Oscar Wilde it was much better equipped. Lots of shelves to put things on, a TV, a view out over the ocean, not over the deck and a thermostat that worked.

Dinner was in Boylan's Brasserie. We looked at the Lady Gregory [posh] restaurant but it cost 40 euro each for a 3 course set menu of 5 or 6 main dishes that looked unexceptional. As already  noted the range of food is ok in Boylan's Brasserie but expensive. Like mountainmini we had the 9.50 euro bottle of wine which was acceptable. Beforehand I had a pint in the bar overlooking the bow on deck 11. A Guinness cost a fiver which was ok. There was a certain vibration evident at the very front and in the raised rotunda that overlooks the sea. Breakfast was a tenner for a filled baguette [very nice; rashers, eggs and tomato] some milk and a yoghurt. On the back of mountainmini's experience we brought our own cereal and tea bags. Marmalade and hot water were free.

There were a good number of passengers 90% of whom were French school kids [there were at least 7 buses on the ship] everyone else was like myself [of a certain age, as they say].

The criticisms were as follows: the TV in the cabin did not work, we got the crew to sort it and it worked for about 30 minutes then gave up, in any event there were only 5 stations available. The WiFi on the main decks was very slow and next to useless. And as noted above the prices were generaly expensive.

On the plus side the crew were very pleasant and very helpful. The crossing was very smooth [Moderate seas were forecast] so I can't comment on the stability of the ship in rough weather but it felt solid. I went on deck later in the evening, the ship was off Start point, she was going very well, looking over the stern and the propellers churning away it felt  that she was that much faster than OW.

All in all I enjoyed the experience and it was really good to land in Dublin and be home within 40 minutes of landing which was a few minutes early.



francebound1982

Has anyone who has travelled so far on the Cherbourg route any experience of the Inisfree club lounge?  Getting inconsistent info from IF as to whether you can order food from the menu there on the route to France and we will be travelling with our son who has autism and was hoping to eat there in a less packed venue than Boylans Brasserie.

Also has anyone any idea of the menu options yet in Lady Gregory and are there DVD players in the TVs in the cabins?  Thanks  :)

Very excited for our trip next week so trying to tie up loose ends now!