Ferries, Ferries, and still more Ferries
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Ziv
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There are several ferries that go from Wales to Ireland. Both Dublin and Rosslare have ferries from Wales plus Dublin has a ferry from Liverpool (England as opposed to Wales) still, I believe.
Way back in the day I took a ferry from Swansea to Cork which is a bit longer trip. Great time thought the ride was a bit of an eye opener due to wind and waves. The worst part of the journey though was that they served a carbonated Murphy's Stout. I like me a stout but the carbonated version (or was it due to the motion of the ship?) was a bit frothy. And Cork is a PHENOMENAL little city!
I think the time of the year is a fairly good indicator of when the Irish Sea will act up. Summer is a good bet for a "smooth" crossing. The shoulder months are a bit hit or miss and if you sail in the winter you are fairly likely to get blown about a good bit.
Way back in the day I took a ferry from Swansea to Cork which is a bit longer trip. Great time thought the ride was a bit of an eye opener due to wind and waves. The worst part of the journey though was that they served a carbonated Murphy's Stout. I like me a stout but the carbonated version (or was it due to the motion of the ship?) was a bit frothy. And Cork is a PHENOMENAL little city!
I think the time of the year is a fairly good indicator of when the Irish Sea will act up. Summer is a good bet for a "smooth" crossing. The shoulder months are a bit hit or miss and if you sail in the winter you are fairly likely to get blown about a good bit.
JontyMort
Lead Service Attendant
The Liverpool-Dublin crossing is 8 hours, which makes little sense as a daytime job, though much more as an overnighter. Swansea-Cork is 10 hours overnight. Fishguard-Rosslare is about four hours and Holyhead-Dublin similar. Both routes have used fast sea-cats in the past - not sure if they still do.
As you say, time of year is a good indicator of when the Irish Sea will play up. If it’s between 1 January and 31 December there’s a good chance. The trouble is that the natural swell always seems to run across the east-west routes.
Swerving back to railways, Holyhead was traditionally the main port for Dublin, and the traffic - especially mail - was considered important enough for Robert Stephenson to get the line all the way to Holyhead over the fantastic Britannia Bridge (from the mainland of Wales to Anglesey). This was the prototype for his Victoria Bridge over the St Lawrence of 1859 (to bring the discussion back to North America).
NS VIA Fan
Conductor
Here's Marine Atlantic's new ferry for the Nova Scotia to Newfoundland route due to arrive in 2024. It will carry 1000 passengers and have 2.5 km of lane length (that can accommodate about 450 cars or 90 18-wheelers) There will also be 146 cabins, 40 sleeping pods and a full range of meal and lounge options.
https://www.niferry.co.uk/marine-atlantic-opts-for-stena-to-supply-new-ferry/
https://www.niferry.co.uk/marine-atlantic-opts-for-stena-to-supply-new-ferry/
NS VIA Fan
Conductor
The new Ferry (above post) will have a new concept for sleeping accommodations on Marine Atlantic....'Sleeping Pods' This video shows the Sleeping Pods on similar Stena Line Ferries:
Currently on Marine Atlantic night crossings you have the option of a private Cabin or Coach & Business Class type seats......but going back to the older ferries of 15-20 years ago there were also 'Dormitory Sleepers' (photo below) with rows of upper and lower berths (but no curtains!) in a big room (a dormitory) There was no segregation....men, women, kids altogether. They gave you a pillow and blanket or you just took your own sleeping bag. These were a fraction of the cost of a cabin and very popular. People just wanted a place to put their head down for the 7 hr crossing!
Currently on Marine Atlantic night crossings you have the option of a private Cabin or Coach & Business Class type seats......but going back to the older ferries of 15-20 years ago there were also 'Dormitory Sleepers' (photo below) with rows of upper and lower berths (but no curtains!) in a big room (a dormitory) There was no segregation....men, women, kids altogether. They gave you a pillow and blanket or you just took your own sleeping bag. These were a fraction of the cost of a cabin and very popular. People just wanted a place to put their head down for the 7 hr crossing!
I slept in many of these Dorms on Ferries in the Old Days in Mexico and Canada.
As you said, they were a good deal!
The same thing still applies in Hostels all over the World!( the ones that are Open that is!)
DFDS had four-berth unisex cabins on the overnight Copenhagen<>Aarhus run when I made the trip in 1970. That region, naturally, had many ferry lines. Some have since been knocked out by higher speed rail lines or cheaper air fares.
One intriguing route that is still operating from that era is Iceland<>Denmark. I'm surprised that some firm hasn't tried Canadian Maritimes<>Iceland so that motorists could "drive" the Atlantic. It's a horrible thought, but might work.
NS VIA Fan
Conductor
That would be an interesting route!
After taking your car on Marine Atlantic to Newfoundland...its 1600 miles to Iceland but only 350 miles further would get you direct to Cork, Ireland. Add about 450 miles to those distances if starting from Halifax.
Icelandair flew Halifax-Reykjavik right up 'till the Max8 grounding.....then Covid hit. Hopefully they'll be back next near.
Not a ferry...but it's possible to ship a personal vehicle including RVs/campers from Europe to Halifax and several other NA ports. On some of the crossings you can even travel on the same ship with your vehicle.
https://ivssuk.com/vehicle-shipping-usa-canada/
Good points. Of course, I picture a guy with a camper top on an F-350 wondering why his credit card was maxed out at the gas station. Next time take the train.
NS VIA Fan
Conductor
Returning home from Cape Breton on Sunday evening....its a straight shot down the Trans Canada Highway but I took the more scenic diversion that included the Little Narrows Ferry. A 2 minute crossing that could easily be replaced by a bridge....... but it's navigable waters and the Coast Guard would require that to be a costly swing or lift bridge.
https://novascotia.ca/tran/hottopics/ferries.asp
https://novascotia.ca/tran/hottopics/ferries.asp
JontyMort
Lead Service Attendant
Is that a chain ferry? Looks like it.
NS VIA Fan
Conductor
Yes it is. There's four chain or cable ferries in Nova Scotia on the provincial highway system. Here's another at Country Harbour. The cable doesn't impede navigation as it lays on the bottom except when the ferry is approaching the ramp.
Here's a YouTube covering several B.C. ferries.
Nice Video, thanks for sharing!
Brings back Good Memories of Summers in BC, when we'd get of Vancouver, but I don't remember it being so HOT!
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Here's a few shots of the Cross Sound Ferry we rode from Orient Point to New London on our way up to Maine this year. Given the traffic jam we endured in Brooklyn on the Belt Parkway during our drive up to Orient Point, I don't think we'll traveling by this route again. 
I was going to ask you about the Traffic, I still remember the Traffic and the Hours Long Ferry Lines on the Texas Coast on weekends and Holidays in the Summer.( we have 2 Free Ferries operated by the Texas DOT, one @ Port Aransas,and one to Galveston from the Bolivar Peninsula)Here's a few shots of the Cross Sound Ferry we rode from Orient Point to New London on our way up to Maine this year. Given the traffic jam we endured in Brooklyn on the Belt Parkway during our drive up to Orient Point, I don't think we'll traveling by this route again.
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Oh, there's no traffic at the ferry terminal, or, for that matter, really anything that bad out on the North Fork Of Long Island. However, coming up from Maryland, we took the New Jersey Turnpike to the Goethals Bridge, then across Staten Island to the Verrazano Narrows Bridge, then the Belt Parkway to the Cross Island Parkway to the Long Island Expressway. They are doing road work on the Verrazano Narrows Bridge and the Belt Parkway, and that's where the horrible stop and go traffic was. Even beyond the traffic jam, the drivers are crazy, or just typical New York drivers, who seem to have a method to their madness in darting between lanes, but I can't figure out what the method is and only see the madness.
It didn't turn normal until we were almost at Riverhead.As for the Cross Sound Ferry, they actually take reservations, and you can pick your crossing and preferred boat. We got to Orient Point about and hour and a half before our reserved departure. (The ferries run hourly in the summer) However, the agent put us in the "standby line," and we had no trouble boarding the earlier boat. Getting into New London an hour early was actually a good thing, because it gave us a time cushion when he hit the next horrible traffic jam on I-495 near Lowell, Mass. (road work).
NS VIA Fan
Conductor
Here's a few shots of the Cross Sound Ferry we rode from Orient Point to New London on our way up to Maine this year. Given the traffic jam we endured in Brooklyn on the Belt Parkway during our drive up to Orient Point, I don't think we'll traveling by this route again.
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Thanks for posting!
Your first photo looks like it might be the Susan Anne. The former Prince Nova that sailed with Northumberland Ferries between Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia until 1997. Scroll down here to the second item: CSF | Cross Sound Ferry
The Prince Nova (below in 1988) was sold to Cross Sound Ferries in 1998 and extensively rebuilt as the Susan Anne.
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JontyMort
Lead Service Attendant
Presumably that low level bridge is on the New Haven’s main line to Boston? How long is the ferry crossing to New London? It sounds an excellent alternative- but then I love ferries.
JontyMort
Lead Service Attendant
Duplicate post by mistake.
That last shot has a Group of Seven feel to it.
1. I’ve taken both Ferries of Long Island Sound - the West Haven and the preferable New London. I like there flagships best. (Dining wise - haha)
2. I plan to use Amtrak voucher $$$s and go South Sta. Boston to New London then take the ferry for a day trip to Fishers Island off the CT Coast. There’s an important conservation land and museum there. Not much in the way of b&b or eateries. There’s an exclusive hotel/condos accessible only by maritime or air not the little ferry.
3. The Canadian ferries are fabulous! There are many to travel on throughout Canada -they’re low in cost to promote tourism. I definitely want to go Amtrak to Portland ME then the ferry (in this direction it’s an overnighter) to Halifax. Then ViaRail west maybe to Toronto: it also like to take the ferry from Sydney NS to St John’s NF
4. In 1973 I went to Nova Scalia by car on land (the long way) without an initial ferry but returned to the states on a ferry - the Bluenose Ii - Yarmouth NS to Bar Harbor ME. Of any place I’ve travelled the ferries from Derby NS to Brier Island were absolutely unforgettable! Each with car was 25¢.
5. In 1998/99 I took the ferry r/t NS to PEI before the hridge. From east PEI there’s a ferry from Souri to a small QC island.
6. I’ve been to Nantucket by ferry. There’s always a cricis on that ferry... haha.
7. 1995 marked the end of my corporate days and I had ff miles to burn! My best trip ever was fly Boston to Seattle then rent a car to Vancouver City and stay at a nice hotel - all free. By ferry I took the car over to Vancouver Island. The ferries are cheaper in Canada than the US. (Ike Vancouver Island). I found an okay hotel and took the ferry back to Vancouver City and found a super hostel for $6. The night view of the Vancouver skyline from the hostel was stunning. I was only able to schedule four days off with my new job but it was the best possible four days
2. I plan to use Amtrak voucher $$$s and go South Sta. Boston to New London then take the ferry for a day trip to Fishers Island off the CT Coast. There’s an important conservation land and museum there. Not much in the way of b&b or eateries. There’s an exclusive hotel/condos accessible only by maritime or air not the little ferry.
3. The Canadian ferries are fabulous! There are many to travel on throughout Canada -they’re low in cost to promote tourism. I definitely want to go Amtrak to Portland ME then the ferry (in this direction it’s an overnighter) to Halifax. Then ViaRail west maybe to Toronto: it also like to take the ferry from Sydney NS to St John’s NF
4. In 1973 I went to Nova Scalia by car on land (the long way) without an initial ferry but returned to the states on a ferry - the Bluenose Ii - Yarmouth NS to Bar Harbor ME. Of any place I’ve travelled the ferries from Derby NS to Brier Island were absolutely unforgettable! Each with car was 25¢.
5. In 1998/99 I took the ferry r/t NS to PEI before the hridge. From east PEI there’s a ferry from Souri to a small QC island.
6. I’ve been to Nantucket by ferry. There’s always a cricis on that ferry... haha.
7. 1995 marked the end of my corporate days and I had ff miles to burn! My best trip ever was fly Boston to Seattle then rent a car to Vancouver City and stay at a nice hotel - all free. By ferry I took the car over to Vancouver Island. The ferries are cheaper in Canada than the US. (Ike Vancouver Island). I found an okay hotel and took the ferry back to Vancouver City and found a super hostel for $6. The night view of the Vancouver skyline from the hostel was stunning. I was only able to schedule four days off with my new job but it was the best possible four days
NS VIA Fan
Conductor
Thanks!
That shot overlooks Whycocomagh Bay and the We'koqma'q Mi'kmaq Nation just west of the Little Narrows Ferry.
NS VIA Fan
Conductor
Thanks for the video link.
These are the inland ferries operated by the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure. There's 14 routes and they're all free.
3917_inlandferryservices_brochure.pdf (gov.bc.ca)
But not to be confused with BC Ferries that operate the big ferries linking the mainland and Vancouver Island along with other coastal routes.
https://www.bcferries.com
NS VIA Fan
Conductor
Here's a bit of an update:
You'll have to find a way to get a little further up the coast. When the ferry resumes in Summer 2022 (not running now due to covid) it will be a Fast Cat from Bar Harbor, Maine (instead of Portland) to Yarmouth NS. This is the original CN Bluenose route.
https://www.ferries.ca/thecat/overview/
Northumberland Ferries still run from Nova Scotia to Prince Edward Island. Here's the Confederation.
A new ferry (below) just entered service a month ago on the run from Souris PEI to the Magdalen Islands, Quebec.
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