post-cruise Southampton to Dublin

[bob-a]

We are going transatlantic next May (2011), disembarking at Southampton June 3. We plan to spend the next 10+ days in Ireland, starting in Dublin. Does anyone have experience with SailRail? I'm considering it as an alternative option to flying.

3 reasons - 1) cost, 2) the amount of our luggage v. restrictions by Flybe (airline flying out of S'ampton), and 3) desire to see a bit of England. We'll have been on a 27 day cruise and the train might be a good break before I try driving in Ireland for the 1st time.

Anyone with SailRail experience or knowledge would be very helpful and much appreciated

[handfordr]

How much luggage will you be travelling with ?

 

Travelling by rail in the UK is different to Amtrak or similar in North America.

Travelling on rail here you have to be much more self sufficient. If you have more than one large case per person the luggage can become very tedious and a millstone around your neck.

If you have such amounts of luggage, hiring a car might be a better solution.

[bob-a]

I hope to keep it at 1 large and one carry-on each - I just doubt I can keep to a 20Kg limit for Flybe. Even if we could, the cost differential between SailRail and Flybe (at its lowest economy rate) is GBP100+.

I checked into driving, then ferry, but apart from worrying about hopping into a car right after the cruise and driving on the other side:eek:, the cost differential is similar to that with Flybe. I was puzzled to see that the cost of just the ferry, Holyhead to Dublin, is 50% higher than the SailRail cost of both train and ferry (84GBP v 61 for SailRail)

Makes me think I got the estimate wrong, but it comes up the same every time.:confused:

Looks like I can avoid major station changes in London by going thru Wales or Birmingham to minimize strain. The SailRail site doesn't give a whole lot of info, so I'm hoping to hear from someone who's used this service.

[Chester & Brewster]

Never used Sail & Rail myself as the trains are not convenient for us, but travel across the Irish Sea with Stena Line frequently. The S&R prices always look pretty good too.

 

It looks like you can get from Southampton to Fishguard via Reading & either Cardiff or Swansea, that means 2 changes of train with all your baggage. The connection times aren't too bad either - not too much hanging around in a 6 hour train journey, but on the other hand if you're delayed & miss one of the connections then it's a long wait til the next Fishguard train. Check the UK train details on http://www.thetrainline.com

 

Irish rail links at Rosslare will take you straight to Dublin. They're not *that* frequent, so again delays can mean a long wait at Rosslare for the next one, or a bus trip :eek:

Irish train times can be found at http://www.irishrail.ie

[DMRick]

We just started figuring out how to get from Southampton to Dublin on our May cruise, so I'll be following this closely. Our son will pick us up in Dublin (he lives there), and he suggested we get to Holyhead and take a ferry from there. We just started figuring it out now, so I'm off to read this thread with great interest! We also do not want to fly, because of our luggage, although if we have to, my son will pick up most of our luggage when we port in Dublin, but last time we did that, it was difficult to know what to keep and what to send.

 

 

We are going transatlantic next May (2011), disembarking at Southampton June 3. We plan to spend the next 10+ days in Ireland, starting in Dublin. Does anyone have experience with SailRail? I'm considering it as an alternative option to flying.

3 reasons - 1) cost, 2) the amount of our luggage v. restrictions by Flybe (airline flying out of S'ampton), and 3) desire to see a bit of England. We'll have been on a 27 day cruise and the train might be a good break before I try driving in Ireland for the 1st time.

Anyone with SailRail experience or knowledge would be very helpful and much appreciated

[bob-a]

I'm really planning on going to Holyhead for the Dublin ferry, rather than taking the crossing to Rosslare. The travel times seem about the same w/o having to train up from Rosslare to Dublin (assuming that I'm reading the train schedule part of the SailRail route correctly).;)

There's no "contact us " e-mail address provided for SailRail on its website, so the only contact that I see is a phone number. Hopefully somebody has a contact e-mail address. Otherwise I'll have to call and ask add'l questions re things such as breaking the trip (spending an overnite in Birmingham, for example).

But we won't be using their service 'til June, so I'll wait for now before calling.

[DMRick]

Please update as you go, as will I, and between us, we'll figure out how to get from A to B.

 

We hadn't given anythought to stopping on the way, but if I do, I"ll have my son call and get more info for us.

I'm really planning on going to Holyhead for the Dublin ferry, rather than taking the crossing to Rosslare. The travel times seem about the same w/o having to train up from Rosslare to Dublin (assuming that I'm reading the train schedule part of the SailRail route correctly).;)

There's no "contact us " e-mail address provided for SailRail on its website, so the only contact that I see is a phone number. Hopefully somebody has a contact e-mail address. Otherwise I'll have to call and ask add'l questions re things such as breaking the trip (spending an overnite in Birmingham, for example).

But we won't be using their service 'til June, so I'll wait for now before calling.

[bob-a]

I was able to get an e-mail contact for SailRail. sailrail@irishferries.com . When I contacted, they advised that the journey can't be interrupted (e.g. topping over in Birmingham) but there's no problem if a connection is missed, taking the next.

They did advise waiting, since we won't get into S'ampton until June 3, since schedules/rates could very likely change over the next 9 months. It is at least nice to know that we do have a contact to ask questions;)

 

At this point, I'm looking at 4 alternatives, the least expensive (if not the fastest) of which is the SailRail option.

1 - Flybe from S'ampton to Dublin - But can we control our baggage:confused:

2- Drive from S'ampton to Holyhead, ferry to Dublin - similar to cost of air, but time is longer, & then there's the issue of driving a substantial distance on the "other" side of the road in a country where I've never been. But at least they speak the same language (kinda). Since we land on Friday, would be problematic to drop off car on Sat or Sunday at Holyhead.

3 - Jump ship in LeHavre (our next to last stop), spend a couple of days in Paris:D, then fly over on Air Lingus (less of a baggage restriction than Ryannair or Flybe). Using expedia or similar, only big add'l cost is Paris hotel. Worth pondering:cool:

4 - SailRail as already noted.

 

Any comments or advice re any or all of the above options would be greatly appreciated.

[DMRick]

3 - Jump ship in LeHavre (our next to last stop), spend a couple of days in Paris:D, then fly over on Air Lingus (less of a baggage restriction than Ryannair or Flybe). Using expedia or similar, only big add'l cost is Paris hotel. Worth pondering:cool:

 

Can you do that? We practically had to get a court order to take our luggage off in Dublin on our last Europe tour, even though we explained we were passing it on to our son, who we would be visiting after the cruise. We did have to clear customs with it (on the ship) and it took us forever to get off, but they did ask if they could check to be sure we still had luggage in our room.

 

Our son is now meeting us in Wales with his car, and we'll ferry back to Ireland with him.Where to meet him (he said no further than 2 hours from Holyhead) is still in question. He's mention Chester, and at this point, we wonder if it's better to just go back to London and take a train from there to wherever we are going. Not brave enough like you are to drive a car on the wrong side of the road!

[bob-a]

I've seen numerous postings of people who've said they have and/or plan to. BUT, arrange it with the Cruise line before sailing is the one caveat that's repeated.

nationalrail.co.uk can give you lots of loctions w/in 2hrs of Holyhead - esp. Chester. Or train in to Holyhead and meet him there.

[DMRick]

Actually, it's sounding like so much work to get there from Southampton, we are starting to consider renting a car (yikes, the wrong side!!). I don't know if we want to drag out luggage on and off for the train changes.

 

We did make arrangements ahead of time (before the cruise) to take our luggage off. We didn't think it was a big deal...but it was.

 

I've seen numerous postings of people who've said they have and/or plan to. BUT, arrange it with the Cruise line before sailing is the one caveat that's repeated.

nationalrail.co.uk can give you lots of loctions w/in 2hrs of Holyhead - esp. Chester. Or train in to Holyhead and meet him there.

[aquilegia]

It's going to take you around 5 and a half hours to drive from Southampton to Holyhead. Perhaps you could plan a stopver for the night on the way.

[DMRick]

I wonder Bob, as we look over all the ways to get from here to there, if you have thought about going to London, then to Liverpool and take the ferry from there to Dublin?

 

We want to meet our son (who would be coming from Dublin) and see some of Wales, and that looks like it might work. Can anyone tell me why it wouldn't?

[bob-a]

Yes,

I considered London, either SailRail thru London, or stopping over in London for a day or two and then fly or use SailRail from London to Dublin.

 

SailRail thru London would require a change of stations, not something I would look forward to, dragging luggage. Other routes (train) don't change stations, just trains.

 

Train into London- Heathrow, then fly Aerlingus (or perhaps another non-discount Line) to Dublin would reduce the baggage weight limit of Flybe or Ryanair - just more expensive than SailRail. Cruise lines provide transfer from ship to Heathrow

 

As for a stopover in London, that would be entirely workable, but as you saw from my last note, I'ld rather stop in Paris (I grew up in NYC, and Paris just seems more exotic to me than London - purely a personal thing).

 

Cost, Time and Comfort level - these are the variables to consider. Oh, and the amount/weight of baggage we'll have - gotta remember that:eek:

[DMRick]

I wonder if there is sailrail direct from Southampton to Liverpool..looking at that now. The ferry on it's own is so expensive..and I think you mentioned the sailrail is better. The one ferry we looked at from Liverpool doesn't appear to take foot traffic, so we would have to be sure our son comes because we'll need his car.

 

We've been to Paris (husbands mom and brother born there) and have relatives there so that sounded good at first look, but then it's even further from Dublin and just as complicated, if we don't fly. Plus we would really like to spend time in Wales.

 

Flying..yikes, we'd have to give up a lot of luggage.

 

What to do, what to do.

 

Yes,

I considered London, either SailRail thru London, or stopping over in London for a day or two and then fly or use SailRail from London to Dublin.

 

SailRail thru London would require a change of stations, not something I would look forward to, dragging luggage. Other routes (train) don't change stations, just trains.

 

Train into London- Heathrow, then fly Aerlingus (or perhaps another non-discount Line) to Dublin would reduce the baggage weight limit of Flybe or Ryanair - just more expensive than SailRail. Cruise lines provide transfer from ship to Heathrow

 

As for a stopover in London, that would be entirely workable, but as you saw from my last note, I'ld rather stop in Paris (I grew up in NYC, and Paris just seems more exotic to me than London - purely a personal thing).

 

Cost, Time and Comfort level - these are the variables to consider. Oh, and the amount/weight of baggage we'll have - gotta remember that:eek:

[bob-a]

From what I've seen, the only SailRail routes to Ireland go to Belfast, Dublin, Dun Laoghaire (bit south of Dublin), or Rosslare on the southeast coast.

If your son will meet you , he could ferry over to Liverpool or Holyhead, and you could go to meet him by train at Liverpool (thru London I guess), at Chester or at Holyhead. Looks like Chester is close enough to Holyhead, but well enough into Wales - from what I've read there is much to see in/around Chester. You can find a lot by searching right here.

[bob-a]

I read what I just wrote and realize that I don't want to give the impression that I really know what I'm talking about.:o When our cruise gets to Southampton on May 22, that will be the first time I will have set foot in England.What I'm setting out is what I understand from reading info from the rail and ferry websites, and what I've gotten from other, more knowledgeable folks who have written on this and other boards.

 

For example, we'll be hitting Liverpool on 5/26. Busybus has a tour into Wales that seems great, including Chester. Checking other boards, lots of info is there re both Liverpool and North Wales. What I express is with the hope for confirmation or correction.

 

So, If your son is going to pick you up, say in Liverpool - you might consider a train in (via London, probably), and a couple of days there before he comes. You could use Busybus to take a tour into Wales, take a Beatles tour in Liverpool, and/or rest up from you cruise. Just a thought

[celle]

I was able to get an e-mail contact for SailRail. sailrail@irishferries.com . When I contacted, they advised that the journey can't be interrupted (e.g. topping over in Birmingham) but there's no problem if a connection is missed, taking the next.

They did advise waiting, since we won't get into S'ampton until June 3, since schedules/rates could very likely change over the next 9 months. It is at least nice to know that we do have a contact to ask questions;)

 

At this point, I'm looking at 4 alternatives, the least expensive (if not the fastest) of which is the SailRail option.

1 - Flybe from S'ampton to Dublin - But can we control our baggage:confused:

2- Drive from S'ampton to Holyhead, ferry to Dublin - similar to cost of air, but time is longer, & then there's the issue of driving a substantial distance on the "other" side of the road in a country where I've never been. But at least they speak the same language (kinda). Since we land on Friday, would be problematic to drop off car on Sat or Sunday at Holyhead.

3 - Jump ship in LeHavre (our next to last stop), spend a couple of days in Paris:D, then fly over on Air Lingus (less of a baggage restriction than Ryannair or Flybe). Using expedia or similar, only big add'l cost is Paris hotel. Worth pondering:cool:

4 - SailRail as already noted.

 

Any comments or advice re any or all of the above options would be greatly appreciated.

 

It really seems to me as if you are making your life too complicated! So many complicated options!

 

Why don't you give serious thought to packing lighter and keeping within the baggage restrictions of Flybe? Then you won't need to make all those complicated travel arrangements, but can just take one flight from Southampton to Dublin.

 

It is perfectly possible to restrict your baggage to 20 Kg (about 44 pounds).

 

We've just been traveling for 3 months (including 2 cruises) and kept inside the 20Kg baggage allowance all the way.

 

On an earlier trip this year, we did another extended journey, near the start of which we had to comply with a baggage limit of only 15 Kg (flying from Iguassu Falls to Buenos Aires). We managed it!

[DMRick]

The air is so expensive when you have more than a carry on in England. Are you saying that we can bring on a piece of luggage without the outragous costs if we keep it under 44 pounds? I think I can do that. How about a medical item..can that fly as an extra carry on? Oh, I just found it..a cpap must be part of the carry on. I found the luggage..that is a lot more reasonable than other flights.

It looks like they don't fly to Holyhead or Liverpool though, so unless we want to go directly to Dublin, it won't work for us.

 

 

It really seems to me as if you are making your life too complicated! So many complicated options!

 

Why don't you give serious thought to packing lighter and keeping within the baggage restrictions of Flybe? Then you won't need to make all those complicated travel arrangements, but can just take one flight from Southampton to Dublin.

 

It is perfectly possible to restrict your baggage to 20 Kg (about 44 pounds).

 

We've just been traveling for 3 months (including 2 cruises) and kept inside the 20Kg baggage allowance all the way.

 

On an earlier trip this year, we did another extended journey, near the start of which we had to comply with a baggage limit of only 15 Kg (flying from Iguassu Falls to Buenos Aires). We managed it!

[bob-a]

The air is so expensive when you have more than a carry on in England. Are you saying that we can bring on a piece of luggage without the outragous costs if we keep it under 44 pounds? I think I can do that. How about a medical item..can that fly as an extra carry on? Oh, I just found it..a cpap must be part of the carry on. I found the luggage..that is a lot more reasonable than other flights.

It looks like they don't fly to Holyhead or Liverpool though, so unless we want to go directly to Dublin, it won't work for us.

From this more recent comment, , unless you're flying on business or otherwise have minimal baggage, flying on the discount A/Ls is likely to be hazardous to your wallet and (mental) health.

 

Unless it's just me and an overnitr bag, I don't think I'll give any thought to using one of these discount Lines. Sail/Rail or drive/ferry seems the best bet so far.

[DMRick]

So is Flybe's website info is wrong? We had finally decided to fly to Dublin and then take the shuttle back with our son in his car for a few days in Wales. It looks like you can have a 44 pound bag at minimal cost. I'm not getting the thread below that talks about this airline. I get a thread from 2005 talking about the galaxy.

 

 

 

From this more recent comment, , unless you're flying on business or otherwise have minimal baggage, flying on the discount A/Ls is likely to be hazardous to your wallet and (mental) health.

 

Unless it's just me and an overnitr bag, I don't think I'll give any thought to using one of these discount Lines. Sail/Rail or drive/ferry seems the best bet so far.

[Maryandi]

Hi Bob-A, sorry to interrupt all these complicated dilemmas - we found that out last year and decided to take the cruise and come back another time directly to Ireland.

 

We have a roll call going for the cruise that you ( & I ) are taking. Look under the Princess Roll Calls - Crown Princess -there is a roll call for the people getting on May 7th. We are going to June 3rd. Another roll call was started for the people getting on May 22nd. So, Join both roll calls.

 

We are going back to the USA on the Queen Mary 2 on June 3rd.

 

You can get info. from some of them, I'll bet.

 

TTYL,

 

MaryAnn

[bob-a]

DMRick,

Sorry, I must have connected the wrong thread - try this one

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1279751

 

The post heading was "flybe experience" - The discount airline's attitude re customer service puts them into my only-as-a-last-resort category. Saving a few dollars/pounds/euros isn't worth it sometimes

[DMRick]

DMRick,

Sorry, I must have connected the wrong thread - try this one

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1279751

 

The post heading was "flybe experience" - The discount airline's attitude re customer service puts them into my only-as-a-last-resort category. Saving a few dollars/pounds/euros isn't worth it sometimes

 

I read it. Someone was unhappy because the case that was too big/heavy was allowed on an earlier flight and they had to pay extra for it on this flight. All those discount airlines are really fussy about the size/weight. It's on their website what they allow. I would hope I wouldn't have a problem, if I stay within their guidelines,not just what I was allowed to do another time or on another airline.

 

That said, no idea yet, if we can get away with such a small amount of luggage (although we will leave some off in Dublin when we port there..wish Dublin was one of our last stops.). Still looking at all our options, but to stop making my brain feel like it is going to explode, that might still be the best option for us.

 

I'll keep an eye on this thread and see if you get other suggestions.

[LaBelle]

I have just come across this thread - not quite sure where the arrangements stand at the moment for the two parties who are going to/from Dublin, but as I have done railandsail (Stena line) and independant rail travel and ferry from Belfast to Liverpool, thought I'd add my tu'pence worth.

 

I have travelled to and from Southampton by train from Liverpool prior and following a cruise - there is one change at Birmingham New Street and the journey takes 4.5 hrs. Booked 12 weeks in advance gets you the best train fare.

 

Ships from Liverpool (Birkenhead) to Belfast and Dublin are with Norfolk Lines http://www.norfolkline.com/EN/Irish_Sea_Ferries/ and you can travel as a foot passenger with or without a berth which will cost you more. There are 2 sailings per day - 10.30 am (except Mon.) and 10.30 pm, so if you use the daylight sailing you would need a night in Liverpool. Otherwise, your train from Southampton will give you plenty of time to sightsee. You need to take a taxi from Liverpool to the Birkenhead dock (approx £10).

 

Hope this is of some help.