Irish Ferries Reviews 35

Over £500 return from Holyhead to Dublin and there is no WiFi available. You have to use the Global Maritime network at a cost of £5 per mb yes that's correct. So to even just send a photo would cost nearly £25! There was no soap in the dispenser in the mens toilet and that was just after leaving port. The food that was available was extortionate £3 for a small tub of Pringles. There were no Vegan options available. There was a dog wee area on the top deck and that hadn't been cleaned for some time. The smell of urine was terrible and there was a pool of wee swilling around

If I could give 0 stars I would. We’re sitting at Pembroke Dock waiting to board a ferry that is so far over 3 hours late. And it’s clear it’s going to be some time before we can get on - which means we won’t arrive at our destination until the early hours. Communication has been poor - the online sailing status still says the boat should have left already. The only thing we’ve been given is one voucher for a soft drink on board. I asked about compensation and was told that it doesn’t apply because it’s due to poor weather. But it’s notable that this same ferry has been significantly delayed on every journey for the past several days - and the Stena sailings from a nearby port to the same destination are all running on time. So I don’t believe their excuses - they are simply using the weather to avoid their legal responsibilities.
Edit: we’re finally on the ferry and the purser has told me that the bad weather is not today (“everyone can see that”). He said the bad weather was 2 days ago and the boat won’t catch up with its schedule until 3 days time when there is the one weekly gap in sailings. In other words, they use one day of bad weather to try to wriggle out of their legal obligation to pay compensation for the following 6 days. The experience has led me to do some more research on Irish Ferries and I’ve realised they did a fire-and-rehire operation to get rid of all their unionised staff, which is appalling. It also explains the incredibly poor English language skills of many of the crew, which would surely be a danger in the event of an emergency (the staff member greeting people onto the boat was very smiley but couldn’t understand someone asking her where to go for a meal.

Pembroke - Rosslare 13 September

The ferry arrived at Pembroke over an hour late, and arrived at Rosslare nearly 3 hours late.

There wasn’t the slightest sign of an apology from the captain or crew for this delay which for some meant an unplanned stay in an expensive hotel.

Of less importance, perhaps, is the fact that it appears that most of the crew were people whose native language wasn’t English, which made it quite difficult even to find out where the toilets were.

The crew were friendly and courteous, which made up for their lack of good English.

I didn’t even bother trying to point out that one of the toilets was blocked.

I don’t think I will travel by Irish Ferries again in a hurry.

Writing this as we sit waiting to disembark...no clue what the hold up is...were due to dock at 15.30...its now 18.00...ferry delayed leaving Dublin and then poor weather slowed us down enroute.... first time doing this crossing and will probably be the last.... incredibly shaky and bangy crossing....the ship feels too small for a 21 hour overnight voyage...I see that someone else has commented on it...The isle of Inisheer....it's essentially a freight ship and not exactly geared up for passengers...limited seating.. certainly not plush...and not a lot of open deck space...it's been an endurance test!
To be fair it was very clean,cabin was clean if very Spartan and staff were pleasant. Captain most apologetic for delays...didn't eat as it was expensive and we brought our own food on board.At over 800 euro return it's a rip off...I think we'll revert to driving down to the tunnel from Cairnryan....and we're still waiting to get off....

Made two trips this week, they were cheap and I am fed up with the tunnel. I was suprised, they appear to be getting the hang of things Calais-Dover.
Some of the crew could cheer up, all rather dour.
At £50 each way though at pretty short notice I cant say too much. Clean, comfortable and the food almost edible.

Shambolic crossing today . Huge queues at the bar with one person off on her break for half of the crossing , apparently .very rude and unhelpful barman in Lafayette Bar. Dirty overflowing toilets , no toilet paper , terrible food and wine and disabled toilet broken . Never again ! Complete contrast to Brittany Ferries over to the continent a few weeks ago ! 1820 crossing from Calais to Dover.

My experience with the night shift manager on August 8-9, 2025, was appalling. Their communication style was unprofessional, aggressive, and utterly condescending, leaving me feeling belittled and disrespected. Rather than addressing the issue at hand, they bullied and coerced me into apologizing for something I didn't even do, threatening to deny me boarding if I didn't comply. This blatant abuse of authority was unacceptable, and the lack of transparency regarding my ticket price was staggering. The whole ordeal left me feeling humiliated, frustrated, and disappointed in the level of service provided.

Never again
Always used DFDS but in this occasion wanted to give Irish Ferries a try as their departure time from Calais suited better. Will never use them again. We have been sitting waiting to board and the sailing time came and went. Still waiting. No information on the sail times. No one around to ask. Completely stranded. Don’t even know when the next sail time is. I wouldn’t use them again even if they paid me.
Booked through Direct Ferries ref: DFP187092968
I F ref: 33017331

Normally I have a relatively ok experience. I do 3 return trips from Dublin to Cherbourg per year. Occasionally I get a room without a flushing toilet. This time I had a room without shower soap, without a flushing toilet and without hot water.

Normally the boarding experience is poor. The people directing the traffic are not very skilled at giving directions and get very agressive when you don't immediately follow their cryptic directions. There is one particularly pig ignorant guy who is always there to ruin the first day of my holiday. To top it off this time they decided to load the ship from the front this time and none of them seemed to have a clue what they were doing. I will try Brittany ferries or fly for my next trip. I have already booked Christmas but I will cancel it.

I used Irish Ferries for first time Dover-Calais return. They offered the lowest price. The Ferry was a bit smaller than the huge P&O Ferries and we preferred the seating layout and the smaller size, this made it much quicker to embark and disembark. Staff were very friendly, not sure why so many negative comments from others.

I made a booking over the phone earlier today for 3 cars with 12 passengers, as I was having a lot of difficulty completing this on line. I rang through to Customer Service and spoke to a lady by the name of Janet, she was extremely helpful and patient completing the booking on my behalf, she split payments for the individual cars without issue. Thank you Janet for taking the time to process my query, you were a pleasure to deal with over the phone. Its really great to receive top quality Customer Service.

Great Ferry Service. Travelled from Calais to Dover today on the Oscar Wilde, we have done all ferry Companies and the Shuttle but really impressed with this crossing, VERY competitive pricing, Great Service and Food was lovely. Will definitely use again. ☺️ Thank You

Poor time keeping, No customer communication or apology.
1)Used the ferry service from Dover to Calais (Oscar Wilde)
Sailing out and return sailing were considerably later than advertised.
11th & 19th Sept 2025

2) The on board food is basic, poor quality and very expensive

Dear Irish Ferries, as a frequent traveller across the channel we would recommend your company takes a close look at the way other ferry companies operate and treat their customers.
Your customer service leaves a lot to be desired. Good customer service starts at the top.

The worst ferry ever, The Isle of Inisheer. Old, scruffy, poor decor, many outer seating areas roped off due to poor maintenance. Netting closing gaps on the sea facing safety rail. Inadequate seating, a joke of a duty free shop, poor service in the bar and restaurant. The overall experience was that of a baltic ferry during the communist era of the 1970's.
The ferry was late, that happens sometimes but the crossing took just short of 2 hours, not 90 minutes.
There were two announcements, upon nearing Calais, that we should have our passports ready for presentation after disembarking!. Wrong, French Passport Control is at Dover, PRIOR to embarkation.
The off loading procedure was decent.
Take this wreck of a ship and consign it to Davey Jones locker.
Not fit for passenger service.
Avoid this ship.

Recently travelled on the Irish ferries again after using them
Rather than the Eurotunnel. First time food was ok. Today absolutely appalling. Add that to the late departure is it it worth it.

Travelled off peak Dover-Calais return. Ferries on time, friendly and helpful staff on board, booked into club lounge and had a great crossing - no stress, snacks, soft drinks and coffee available throughout, comfortable sofas. Very enjoyable start and end to our holiday. Will use again.

Travelled to Calais in December and back to Dover in February. Both times the service from the staff was excellent. We turned up early and both times were put on an earlier ferry, no questions asked. The ferry itself whilst quite utilitarian but comfortable. Coffee was great and on the occasion there weren’t paninis available, the staff made us toasties. Along with competitive prices, I would definitely recommend Irish Ferries if I was doing this route in future.

I booked two last minute tickets from Dover to Calais and back in October. This was the only company who didn't raise their prices for last minute bookings, which was great. The customer service was excellent while booking. At the cafeteria there was both times one very helpful person and one slightly less so. I was able to have a vegan mean meal twice which was tasty and they made a good effort to ensure it is fully vegan both times.

The 2pm ferry was overall better and the 7pm get was just one level accessible for general passengers, but with sightly tastier food.

I would go again and recommend for anyone.

While travelling on their ferries has mostly been an okay experience, their customer service is diabolical. It took them over two weeks to answer a simple email about changing my booking to include a roofbox and then when I promptly answered their reply they wrote back saying I could only have the roofbox for the outbound journey which makes NO SENSE WHATSOEVER. I suspect if they had answered my request within a reasonable period it wouldn't have been a problem. Be wary when buying.

Excellent service.
No queues at either border control, security or check in.
We were too early for our crossing, so we were offered an earlier one.
Absolutely no complaints.