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CUSTOMERS HAVE BEEN expressing their anger and frustration with Irish Ferries, after the operator announced cancellations that will affect thousands of passengers.
Those with bookings affected described receiving emails notifying them of the cancellations on Friday evening.
The company said in a statement on Saturday that the cancellations arose after it was informed by a German shipyard building its new ship the WB Yeats that it was likely to be delayed in arriving.
“While this delay is not yet fully confirmed by the shipyard we have, in the interests of minimising the level of potential disruption to our customers, taken the decision to cancel a number of affected sailings in July from the 12 July to 29 July,” Irish Ferries said in a statement.
It added that an alternative ferry service would be offered “close to their booked sailing date” but a full refund was also available if customers weren’t satisfied with the alternative offer. It added:
Unfortunately due to this extraordinary circumstance, this is beyond our control. Please accept our utmost apologies for this inconvenience.
Due to many families’ original holiday plans, however, many have been left out of pocket by the cancellations.
One passenger, Terry McCorry, told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland that he had booked his ticket well in advance due to his mobility requirements.
“I booked it before Christmas,” he said. “The whole holiday was put into disarray on Friday evening when I received an email to say that my booking had been cancelled but I would try to be facilitated on another sailing.
It’s left me very unsettled. I’ve paid a big deposit for the holiday home we’ve booked. Sending an email out late on a Friday evening with very few staff in on Saturday morning was just abysmal. I was trying to ring the number for hours.
He said that Irish Ferries had offered him an alternative booking where he would sail from Rosslare instead of Dublin a day later than his original booking.
“Because of my disability, we wanted the shortest drive possible,” he said, adding that he would have to incur an extra cost getting to Rosslare for the alternative sailing.
A number of customers took to Twitter to complain about the cancellations and how it was communicated to them. They also reported being offered a €150 voucher by the company.
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Not really sure what the problem is here, what would these people prefer, that they didn’t give 3 months notice? It’s outside their control, they are giving a heads up now that there is a issue and they have laid out alternative plans as best they can
@Ronan Fahy: Well said. I’m a long time customer of Irish Ferries and have always found the service excellent. I empathise with the people who have paid deposits etc for accommodation however it is not Irish Ferries’ fault the ship may not be delivered on time. Those who are moaning about having to get to Rosslare though…..!
@Ronan Fahy:
I think the big issue is sending out an email late Friday evening so panic stations for the people receiving the email and nothing can be done because everyone has gone home. Saturday only a skeleton crew are working so on hold for hours. They should have had every staff member in to answer phones or sent the email this morning.
@Ronan Fahy: they deserve €18000 compensation
@Lily: the big issue is that Irish Ferries took bookings on a ferry (W B Yeats) that they didn’t even have . To do so there must be some guarantee from the ferry manufacturer that it would be ready in time.
@Windy Atlantic Way: Im going to assume that the shipyard will have to pay compensation which Irish Ferries will use to cover the E150 vouchers and the bad press they are getting.
To be fair this sort of thing happens with airlines too, usually with far less notice.
@Windy Atlantic Way: All travel companies do the same. how do you think they get passengers on board for the first voyage?. do you really think that they get the boat leave it at the dock for a month until it’s fully booked?
@Ronan Fahy: Should never have booked passengers unless they were 100% certain that the ferry was available. Sloppy management that some find acceptable.
@Johnny Bellew: Sloppy management would’ve been to not take bookings until the ferry was available, as Rob Dowling mentioned above.
@Kevin Gallagher: No. You should not book passengers unless you are certain that the ferry would be ready. Sloppy management at best. Downright negligent in my opinion.
@Johnny Bellew: Sloop management is telling you the day before your trip. Every shipping company in the work books passengers for the voyage months ahead.
Do you really expect Irish ferries to have there brand new flag ship for months in port at Dublin until it gets enough passengers for a maiden voyage?. They were told by the ship builders when the ship would be ready, they would then be told when the ship passed sea trails. So there legally allowed to sell tickets for a voyage after its past sea trials. Irish ferries did nothing wrong.
@Johnny Bellew: If you were building a new hotel would you wait until the day of opening to take bookings?
@Kevin Gallagher: Yes.
@Johnny Bellew: of course not !
@Johnny Bellew: I can tell you straight up that new hotels begin taking bookings months in advance of opening.
It also sometimes happens that due to unforeseen circumstances the hotel needs to delay the opening date, and have to cancel a few reservations as a result.
These things happen.
Its like saying theatres shouldn’t begin taking bookings until the act arrives on stage.
Same for concerts – do not accept bookings until the day for the concert and only once the act has shown up and is ready to go.
What you are suggesting doesn’t make any sense.
I think in this case, 3 months notice is quite a lot of notice to give, and fair play to them for doing so even when their is uncertainty as to if the ship will be ready.
They could have left it be, crossed their fingers and hoped for the best and cancelled a couple of weeks prior once they were sure. But they chose this avenue even though it is going to cost them, and at the end of the day they might just end up with the ship delivered on time, and down quite a bit of money.
That’s call good management.
@Lily: and if they had waited til Monday, you’d have everyone giving out that they knew on a Friday, and waited until the Monday to tell people, when those people could have spent the weekend rebooking themselves etc, etc etc. They can’t win. Lesser of two evils here I think.
@Johnny Bellew: haha, makes sense. It’s important to have a brand new hotel empty on it’s very first night. It makes it all the more exclusive! ;)
@Johnny Bellew: I seriously hope you do not own a company for the sake of any employees you might have, given your complete lack of business sense.
Yeah, it’s not like there’s been any weather that would delay shipbuilding or anything. Three months notice is pretty good. Yes it’s stressful but it could have been worse
@Gavin Conran: I knew it Gavin. Typical complacent patronising know all on every topic.
At first I thought they had given them a day’s notice or something. Three months notice, sort out a different mode of transport like.
@Porter Paddy:
I was looking to see costs for ferries to France last month. The years was the only ferry with cabins still available. With a long cruise like that at nighttime with kids, you need a cabin a reclining chair doesn’t offer one any privacy.
Flights too are extortionate I paid 1400 for 4 of us. I’ve never paid over 800 (for 5 of us ) for flights in July until now! So extra expenses will occur, then the added car hire.
No issue here at all. I’m an affected customer, it gives me plenty of notice to plan ahead plus €150 off a trip next year. No panic, all good.
Fair play giving as much notice as possible .. while annoying 3 months is more than enough time to sort new arrangements … at least they’re not waiting till the day and folks show up to the port with no ship
Bunch of moaning myrtles anyway. There been offered alt ferry travel and €150 voucher to use on future sailings so travel from Rosslare on either the MV Oscar Wilde or use Stena Line
@Tom Harpur: alternative ferry travel is grand if you don’t have holidays booked off work and your campsite not paid for already for certain dates.
@murt de murty:
the days off work thing is over-egged – there isn’t an employer or business in ireland that doesn’t have the flexibility and will allow amendments to holiday arrangements with 3 months notice – the same people using this as an excuse would be the first to call in a sickie to work giving no notice to their employer when they need a day off – its nonsense.
Given the reactions I thought that the voyages being cancelled were soon, not three months away. Then with the anger over the alternative trips I figured that they had to be very different from the originals, not a single day off.
Honestly, they did a great job with the situation given that it was something that they had absolutely no control over.
That’s a clickbait headline , initially I thought they had cancelled trips the day before, 3 months notice is more than fair for an issue outside their control .
It is beyond the control of Irish Ferries.I have always enjoyed travelling on their Ships.I used to travel many times a year on B+I ships from Dublin to Liverpool.I hope your new vessel is lucky for you, when launched!
First world problems, Irish ferries handled it well in my opinion, building a ship is hard complex work, like the other commenters said its a prototype in every build. And you would swear rosslare was a couple days drive away from the original port.
Disappointing sure but really no big deal. Plenty of time to sort something out with a full refund given.
But it’s April..
Much ado about nothing
When reading the comments I am not sure if people realise that some customers have had to coordinate a lot of things, the ferry dates are just one of them. If it is a family holiday then both parents may have had to choose their work holiday dates to coincide.. that may not be easy or even possible to change and re-coordinate. There may be hotels and other types of accommodation booked and paid for, and if it is 7 days in some place it may not be possible to change dates or cancel….. Those who have no worries changing then fair enough, those who are not booked then OK fair enough – for families organising their summer holidays and coordinating everything it is a huge pain in the neck – even if not Irish Ferries fault – but I am sure they (Irish Ferries) have a penalty clause on delayed delivery and this should help, and be used to help, those affected by this – I know it would be a huge deal for me if I had booked… I hope people do get sorted
@Niall Ó Cofaigh: what if there’s a gale, did ya read that comment ? No, cause you’re lying like most other wums on this thing.
Rosslare is lovely …
Can some one please think of Rosslare..
Will the town survive this bunch of wailers having to drive an extra bit and get 150 off next years holiday…
Funny all the whinging, what would have happened if the was say, a gale on the day of departure? Passengers would still be delayed but instead sitting in the port, best to know in advance of plan changes! Get over yourselves moaners
@Mundo79: I really would understand if this were a last minute thing but 3 months notice – Credit where credit is due to Irish Ferries on this one.
Is it a pain in the hole? Yes
Is it a complete disaster? No
It’s kind of like the developers offering houses off plan in the boom…..sign of an inevitable economic collapse…..
@Paddy: except building a ship is much more complex than your standard semi-d, each ship of this size is practically a prototype and sometimes unforeseen problems can arise to delay delivery.
Sometimes the ship doesn’t pass the complex safety checks required, sub contractors or suppliers become unavailable and at present ship building is picking up again.
At least 3 months notice of the delay is better than 3 days
I was one of the affected customers, I got an email at 9.00 pm on Friday night informing me of the problem. On Saturday morning I called Irish Ferries and got through after about a fifteen minutes wait. The agent who answered was apologetic, pleasant and helpful and got me on the previous day’s sailing from Rosslare. She also thanked me for being civil; it appeared that a lot of customers were very angry.
The way I see it, schitt happens. This is a very first world problem. Can’t get on one ship, get on another ship. Difference refunded and a voucher for 150 euro to use on one of their Ferries next year.
Nobody died.
“WHY should not old men be mad? ”
I wouldn’t have booked a ship that doesn’t exist , never seen in Dublin or undergone sea trails.
It like eating in a new restaurant, never do that until they let the dust settle & find a chef and staff
Stena Line did the same in March. Refit on the Horizon not finished timely. Sailing cancelled (though the ship actually sailed for freight) 5 days beforehand. Not the end of the world but a pain in the neck like any travel disruption. Would have had a domino effect on all our other bookings so never mind driving to Rosslare. We had to endure a land bridge through the U.K. to make it to France on the original date. With two youngs kids and a newborn. And the ship from Dublin sailed with almost two hours delay so once at Holyhead we had to belt it through the night without stops down to Portsmouth to catch the next ferry.
So yes first world problem but I totally empathise with those passengers as when people take time off work and book ahead to get cheaper rates etc etc they are ready for a holiday and a break from everyday life stress and routine not to face more stress.
I got no mail but I called today to be sure only to be told yes your ferry is canceled- I even printed my booking details on last Friday with no mention from Irish Ferries of a possible issue!
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