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Majority of crew on board are foreign and it would be impossible for them to return home for two days over the Christmas period. The ships only tie up for two days . Instead the tie up Christmas eve close up all the doors and have there own "Party" on board

Hi There.
If you are returning the next day to Holyhead by Hss best place to get pictures would be on Dun Laoghaire pier when she apptoaces and swings on to the berth not sure if it suits your travel arrangements its very close up and very impressive.

Hi all
Yes it is true because if you watched the documentary on the discovey channel about the ship being built they do mention about the ship having gas turbines as auxilary engies for when more speed is needed.

It was supposed to be tomorrow but I hear rumours of Thursday now

Celtic horizon and Epsilon are alike but they don't appear to be identical .funnels are different .

Don't forget this is a chartered vessel. What is the point in spending a lot of money on painting logos on her side when the Ship may or may not be suitable for the run

Larry,
Its due in Rosslare before it arrives in Dublin for Berthing trials . so keep an eye out

At long last Epsilon has departed Italy for Dublin.  I would think it will be the weekend before she arrives.

Weekends including Mondays are quiet days for freight. For example P & O ships tie up Mondays as there's no work for them . The Holyhead ships run nearly empty on Mondays .

For someone living in Dublin or northern Ireland  it might be very convenient to drive to Dublin Port rather than the 2 hour + drive to Rosslare or Cork. However I would agree its a long passage from Dublin to Cherbourg on a ship with little facilities. Lastly European Ambassador (Stena Nordica) was always full when she did the run to France many years ago. we will wait and see.... :)   

isle of Inishmore coming to Dublin for christmas like last year to increase Passenger capicity.  This is in case the Swift is un able to sail due to bad weather ,,,cannot leave anyone stranded in Holyhead or Dublin for Christmas

Upon reading the press release from ICG. Ireland France does get a mention, Don't be surprised if we see a weekend round trip between Dublin and Roscoff or Cherbourg in the summer season. Freight volumes are quiet at the weekends and the Swift and Ulysses have ample capacity for this . Kind of ironic that her competitor Stena Nordica - while operating for
P & O (European Ambassador) operated this route at the weekends and was a huge success  lets wait and see....

Good Afternoon,
Did anyone hear that "Ir.Fer." might be getting another vessel next year to compete with Stena Nordica ?? ......I must stress this information came from an un reliable source  and I cannot confirm this by any means . However it does seem possible considering how well Nordica is doing ....

FYI...
Stena fowarder was very un realiable on the Irish sea in bad weather as she had poor sea keeping qualities . And bow thrusters were not powerful enough. The ship was only chartertered to compete with Ulysses while adventurer was being constructed.

Thanks Giftgrub,
I was under the impression whilst covering the Nordica's run she would do the same twice daily round trip

Stena Scotia left her berth this morning at around 5 am and is currently tied up on Dublin's south quays, I think she should be on her way to Holyhead