Hi Johnny. I really enjoyed your video. For those who prefer more real world experience than flying Belfast Glasgow, the ferry route is quicker than it seems at first. When you take into account getting to the airport and away again the other end, airport check-in & security and then bag pickup, it's only just under two hours longer by ferry than plane. The experience makes it well worth it. Last summer I actually spent the whole ferry journey after the Belfast Lough views (in the bar with a drink) in the ferry sauna and jacuzzi. Anyone can go, it's an extra charge for the 2 hrs of the sailing and it's nothing to do with lounge plus or special tickets in advance. Just go up to the top floor and pay and get changed in the locker room. Massages also available. Very relaxing. Finally you were comparing the prices between Hannon's bus on the ferry and getting the bus yourself. There is another way - "Rail and Sail". These tickets really beat Hannon's for price though there is a ln extra change stop this way. There's no straight through rail line from Cairnryan to Glasgow, so off the ferry (quick because times are tight), there's a coach waiting to take you to Ayr Station for the train to Glasgow. (Getting off the coach from Cairnryan to Ayr Station, you probably have to run to make the connection. The train leaving Ayr waits for no person and often leaves a couple of minutes early. When the bus alights at Ayr Station quick march with your luggage.) If you've any kind of a railcard (and you should) it's honestly somewhere around £28 Belfast port to Glasgow, with half the land journey by rail rather than bus. These tickets have to be bought in advance - usually to around 10 hrs before any sailing, online only, on thetrainline.com. You cannot just go to the trainline.com website. Search "Rail and sail stena Glasgow" and find the Stena website page. That page will then send you to the right trainline.com page to buy the ticket, which otherwise you probably won't find on that site. You probably need to be referred directly from the Stena website. The other thing is Rail and Sail offers amazing full journey by rail prices travelling on much further than Glasgow. 2 years ago I paid £35 all the way Belfast Port to Dundee by Rail and Sail, and this summer I travelled all the way from Belfast Port to Newcastle-upon-Tyne (via Ayr, Glasgow and Carlisle) again for around £35 - both times with a railcard. (With Rail and Sail, a one year Railcard can pay for itself in the one, single journey. So even if you don't live in or visit much Great Britain and don't know if you'd ever use a Railcard again, it makes sense to buy it in advance for one of these journeys alone). Currently there is only one Rail and Sail sailing per day from Belfast, the late morning sailing and there are no Rail and Sail options on other sailings. The other thing is that all travel just be on the same day. The journey ticket expires. Examining the website I've seen it's possible to get from Belfast to Aberdeen / Inverness, again for around £35 with a Railcard and also you can get as far south as Warrington by 9.30-10pm w (all day enjoying ferry and train) with an advance Rail and Sail booking and Railcard - again for an astonishing £35 or so. Each route, you start online on the Stena site Rail and Sail page and it will eventually, with your choices, bring you to the right page on trainline.com for the extremely low priced long journey tickets. When I say £35 to Aberdeen or Warrington, I don't mean £35 in addition to the ferry cost. I mean the whole cost - ferry and a long rail journey on Great Britain. If you miss a connection through your own fault then you would lose the rest of your ticket. The Rail and Sail ticket gives the advance booked route only and is not transferable onto other trains earlier or later (unless your train is cancelled and a later one is available) or any other route. Once booked you have to make each booked train leg on the route or the ticket becomes useless. Rail and Sail - magic.
@@lecochonbleu thanks! All that info is most excellent. I did not know about the on board sauna... will definitely be checking that out 😎 Thanks again and thanks too for watching 👍
Got lucky with the weather there, I understand the Irish Sea can be brutal at times. Love the reference to the 'car alarm symphony'. Oh... and spotted the #noP&O tag, well said!
Yes I really lucked out on the weather. But the storm was coming, so when you see the following "Stranraer to Glasgow" video next week, you'll see there was "a bit of weather" in that one. Thanks as ever for watching and commenting. Very much appreciated! #noP&O ✊
Another brilliant trip video Johnny, I loved the Bin Liner taunt @Geoff Marshall. Another Very informative as per usual. Keep up the great Travel stories. I thought the Ferry was like a Mini Cruise Ship!!
@@JohnnyHooverTravels Yes, Sorry. Geoff and Vicki's all the Station's Series was one the reasons I travelled from NZ to the UK in 2019. I had the best travels ever.
Good video and you were very lucky with the weather 😁! Unlike Steve Marsh 😱. I was going to be catching this ferry when I move to Northern Ireland next week due to Holyhead Port closure. I was not looking forwards to the 8 hour journey to get there 😫. However ..... Stena now reopening their berth on the 16th ,so we are booked onto Stena Estrid 😁😁.
@JohnnyHooverTravels it's only Stena berth that's reopening, Irish Ferries still closed until further notice. I expect the port will be rammed next week!
Enjoyed the video, but ferries don't seem to be my thing these days. Did I blink and miss the loo review. I shall watch again to check. Travelled from Rome to Mestre on Saturday on a Frecciarossa 1000, and it wasn't very exciting. Cant wait to do to Kings Cross--Edinburgh on LNER in January; that's real excitement!
Haha! No loo review indeed. I decided that it was not a good plan to walk into a public Gents holding a GoPro 🫣 Envious of the Frecciarossa and also of being in Italy in general. I need to get back there soon. I'm rebooked on Avanti in Feb, so we'll see if I end up at King's Cross again! Have a great time in Edinburgh 👍
FYI - The Hannon's is fantastic, but the Ulster/Translink coach is more frequent and has an almost identical price. Depending on your schedule, it may work a bit better. However, the coach drops you off at the port, with another bus/coach waiting on the other side. But it really is pretty seamless.
Nice to hear you taking trip from Belfast to Cairnryan, I used to got that ferry with my family when i was child visiting my grandparents. What's song you played in beginning?
So many people never venture on to the deck, but for those like us that do, it is one of the delights of any sailing. Sad to here there was no forward view. Thanks for watching and commenting 👍
Nice video Johnny, as always. What a lovely day for the crossing and what a lovely ship into the bargain. I am investigating making the same journey this summer but I am leaning to buy a RailSail ticket from Belfast to my local station on the other side of Glasgow. It will only cost me £23.10 single using my Senior Rail Card; a better deal than Hannons and others. As well as a bag, I will be travelling with a folding bicycle and I was under the impression I could just carry it on as I would my luggage. However, you appear to have checked your luggage in and then collected it at Cairnryan. Were you obliged to do this, or was it through choice?
Thanks for the kind words. As I recall it was through choice. There's no charge or anything. If you kept hold of the bike and bag, then you would have to carry them around with you on the ship, which would be a pain. I like the sound of that railsail deal. Pretty good! I just checked and Exeter to Belfast is £38.25 with senior railcard. That is very cheap too. The times are awful mind you!
@@JohnnyHooverTravels With the Belfast / Cairnryan / Belfast route only 1 crossing a day in each direction is a RailSail. On my route, the RailSail ticket is not confined to Belfast - Glasgow apparently.
That's a very fair comment. I'll do it next time I'm doing a ferry crossing. As you say, how will you know about the value of something if I don't try it? Thanks so much for watching and commenting. 👍
for me, just proof of identity. not sure, post Brexit, how much you require if you are not a citizen of either UK or Ireland - I'd advise you check with national websites or the ferry operator's own website.
If you're from the UK, the ID is just anything which proves your address. Last summer I bought my ticket in advance with my UK bank card, ticket sent to my home in Belfast by the day before the sailing. At check-in I showed my ticket and they could see I used a registered debit card from a UK bank, which included my address details on their computers. That was enough for them and they didn't ask for any real ID If you're paying cash at reception they've told me in the past just to bring along two utility bills proving your UK address. Bank state would also do, tax communications, Rates bill or Council Tax etc. If you're visiting the UK then you should make sure to bring your passport or other official document which had you allowed entry to the UK in the first place. There is no customs between Northern Ireland and Great Britain as they're both parts of the same nation of course, the UK. These checks are "sensitive infrastructure checks" which have nothing to do with Brexit actually and were there decades before Brexit. They're just security checks basically because major ferry travel within the UK is considered sensitive in numerous ways - for example keeping terrorism at bay and checking for illegal migrants who may have entered the UK through the land border from the Republic of Ireland. So if you live in the UK, having a real ID is not important as long as you have an official way to prove your home address when you're boarding the ferry.
Haha, I’ve never been on this route but thanks for the shout-out, could’ve easily have been me on another day! Great video mate 👍
I wondered if you'd notice 😉
Hi Johnny. I really enjoyed your video. For those who prefer more real world experience than flying Belfast Glasgow, the ferry route is quicker than it seems at first. When you take into account getting to the airport and away again the other end, airport check-in & security and then bag pickup, it's only just under two hours longer by ferry than plane. The experience makes it well worth it.
Last summer I actually spent the whole ferry journey after the Belfast Lough views (in the bar with a drink) in the ferry sauna and jacuzzi. Anyone can go, it's an extra charge for the 2 hrs of the sailing and it's nothing to do with lounge plus or special tickets in advance. Just go up to the top floor and pay and get changed in the locker room. Massages also available. Very relaxing.
Finally you were comparing the prices between Hannon's bus on the ferry and getting the bus yourself. There is another way - "Rail and Sail".
These tickets really beat Hannon's for price though there is a ln extra change stop this way. There's no straight through rail line from Cairnryan to Glasgow, so off the ferry (quick because times are tight), there's a coach waiting to take you to Ayr Station for the train to Glasgow.
(Getting off the coach from Cairnryan to Ayr Station, you probably have to run to make the connection. The train leaving Ayr waits for no person and often leaves a couple of minutes early. When the bus alights at Ayr Station quick march with your luggage.)
If you've any kind of a railcard (and you should) it's honestly somewhere around £28 Belfast port to Glasgow, with half the land journey by rail rather than bus.
These tickets have to be bought in advance - usually to around 10 hrs before any sailing, online only, on thetrainline.com.
You cannot just go to the trainline.com website. Search "Rail and sail stena Glasgow" and find the Stena website page. That page will then send you to the right trainline.com page to buy the ticket, which otherwise you probably won't find on that site. You probably need to be referred directly from the Stena website.
The other thing is Rail and Sail offers amazing full journey by rail prices travelling on much further than Glasgow. 2 years ago I paid £35 all the way Belfast Port to Dundee by Rail and Sail, and this summer I travelled all the way from Belfast Port to Newcastle-upon-Tyne (via Ayr, Glasgow and Carlisle) again for around £35 - both times with a railcard. (With Rail and Sail, a one year Railcard can pay for itself in the one, single journey. So even if you don't live in or visit much Great Britain and don't know if you'd ever use a Railcard again, it makes sense to buy it in advance for one of these journeys alone).
Currently there is only one Rail and Sail sailing per day from Belfast, the late morning sailing and there are no Rail and Sail options on other sailings. The other thing is that all travel just be on the same day. The journey ticket expires.
Examining the website I've seen it's possible to get from Belfast to Aberdeen / Inverness, again for around £35 with a Railcard and also you can get as far south as Warrington by 9.30-10pm w
(all day enjoying ferry and train) with an advance Rail and Sail booking and Railcard - again for an astonishing £35 or so.
Each route, you start online on the Stena site Rail and Sail page and it will eventually, with your choices, bring you to the right page on trainline.com for the extremely low priced long journey tickets.
When I say £35 to Aberdeen or Warrington, I don't mean £35 in addition to the ferry cost. I mean the whole cost - ferry and a long rail journey on Great Britain.
If you miss a connection through your own fault then you would lose the rest of your ticket. The Rail and Sail ticket gives the advance booked route only and is not transferable onto other trains earlier or later (unless your train is cancelled and a later one is available) or any other route. Once booked you have to make each booked train leg on the route or the ticket becomes useless.
Rail and Sail - magic.
@@lecochonbleu thanks! All that info is most excellent. I did not know about the on board sauna... will definitely be checking that out 😎
Thanks again and thanks too for watching 👍
Really enjoyed your very informative and very down to earth...cute deadpan humorous style!!
Martin...(Dublin-Adventurer)
haha - well yes, I always find its worth smiling as you travel! Thanks for the kind words and thanks too for watching 👍
Got lucky with the weather there, I understand the Irish Sea can be brutal at times. Love the reference to the 'car alarm symphony'. Oh... and spotted the #noP&O tag, well said!
Yes I really lucked out on the weather. But the storm was coming, so when you see the following "Stranraer to Glasgow" video next week, you'll see there was "a bit of weather" in that one.
Thanks as ever for watching and commenting. Very much appreciated!
#noP&O ✊
Brilliant - loved the Geoff Marshall, Steve Marsh and Let's Make a Trip reference's! Your dry sense of humour is always a highlight!
Always worth honouring your heroes 😉
Thank you for watching and for the kind words. 👍
Looking forward to welcoming you to Northern Ireland again. Hannon Coaches are excellent.
Yes indeed! My wife and I are coming back for halloween in 2023!
Another brilliant trip video Johnny, I loved the Bin Liner taunt @Geoff Marshall. Another Very informative as per usual. Keep up the great Travel stories. I thought the Ferry was like a Mini Cruise Ship!!
Yes it was a bit of a cruise. Mind you, it was supposed to be an homage to Geoff, rather than a taunt!
Thank you for the kind words 👍
@@JohnnyHooverTravels Yes, Sorry. Geoff and Vicki's all the Station's Series was one the reasons I travelled from NZ to the UK in 2019. I had the best travels ever.
@@TheUncleGrant that's a wonderful story! 😃
Good video and you were very lucky with the weather 😁! Unlike Steve Marsh 😱. I was going to be catching this ferry when I move to Northern Ireland next week due to Holyhead Port closure. I was not looking forwards to the 8 hour journey to get there 😫. However ..... Stena now reopening their berth on the 16th ,so we are booked onto Stena Estrid 😁😁.
@@tazminmoore455 ah very pleased to hear you can get through from Holyhead now 😀
@JohnnyHooverTravels it's only Stena berth that's reopening, Irish Ferries still closed until further notice. I expect the port will be rammed next week!
Nice video and great trip report. Thank you.
Thank very much for saying so! I really appreciate you watching and commenting 👍
Beautiful ferry trip!
Thank you for this video! 🤗
Thanks for watching 👍
Pleasant video
Really professional done
Thank you. It is very kind of you to say so. I'm pleased you enjoyed it.
Great thanks
Thanks for watching!
Nice journey 👌 👍
Thank you 👍
Enjoyed the video, but ferries don't seem to be my thing these days. Did I blink and miss the loo review. I shall watch again to check. Travelled from Rome to Mestre on Saturday on a Frecciarossa 1000, and it wasn't very exciting. Cant wait to do to Kings Cross--Edinburgh on LNER in January; that's real excitement!
Haha! No loo review indeed. I decided that it was not a good plan to walk into a public Gents holding a GoPro 🫣
Envious of the Frecciarossa and also of being in Italy in general. I need to get back there soon.
I'm rebooked on Avanti in Feb, so we'll see if I end up at King's Cross again! Have a great time in Edinburgh 👍
Nice and full information .. thanks
Thank for saying so, and thanks for watching 👍
FYI - The Hannon's is fantastic, but the Ulster/Translink coach is more frequent and has an almost identical price. Depending on your schedule, it may work a bit better. However, the coach drops you off at the port, with another bus/coach waiting on the other side. But it really is pretty seamless.
Yes. I'll definitely be using one of those options next time i travel the route.
Thank you so much for watching and commenting 👍
Nice to hear you call the SHIP and not a boat! Ex seaman.
I shall try to remember in future too!
Thank you so much for watching 👍
Nice to hear you taking trip from Belfast to Cairnryan, I used to got that ferry with my family when i was child visiting my grandparents.
What's song you played in beginning?
@@aaronweyl2272 nice to hear that the video brings back some memories.
The tune? Just a royalty-free track available from UA-cam...
Travelled on the Nordica coiple of days ago Fishguard to Rosslare. Absolutely no forwatd facing open deck space which was disappointing.
So many people never venture on to the deck, but for those like us that do, it is one of the delights of any sailing. Sad to here there was no forward view.
Thanks for watching and commenting 👍
I would like to go to Northern Ireland by ferry. 🤩
If you get weather like I did, then it will be great!
@@JohnnyHooverTravels Nice 👍
These Ships where Superfast Ferries in the past from Greece
@@jenes-6065 thanks for that. And thanks too for watching 👍
@@JohnnyHooverTravels no problem
Nice video Johnny, as always. What a lovely day for the crossing and what a lovely ship into the bargain. I am investigating making the same journey this summer but I am leaning to buy a RailSail ticket from Belfast to my local station on the other side of Glasgow. It will only cost me £23.10 single using my Senior Rail Card; a better deal than Hannons and others. As well as a bag, I will be travelling with a folding bicycle and I was under the impression I could just carry it on as I would my luggage. However, you appear to have checked your luggage in and then collected it at Cairnryan. Were you obliged to do this, or was it through choice?
Thanks for the kind words. As I recall it was through choice. There's no charge or anything.
If you kept hold of the bike and bag, then you would have to carry them around with you on the ship, which would be a pain.
I like the sound of that railsail deal. Pretty good! I just checked and Exeter to Belfast is £38.25 with senior railcard. That is very cheap too. The times are awful mind you!
@@JohnnyHooverTravels With the Belfast / Cairnryan / Belfast route only 1 crossing a day in each direction is a RailSail. On my route, the RailSail ticket is not confined to Belfast - Glasgow apparently.
Enjoyed your vid but would have liked to see what the Stenna plus lounge gave you ie how much for what cost and the comfort value
That's a very fair comment. I'll do it next time I'm doing a ferry crossing. As you say, how will you know about the value of something if I don't try it?
Thanks so much for watching and commenting. 👍
I am guess you have watched Geoff Marshall videos.
yes indeed. We all take cues from him!
May I ask what type of documents would be required for the check in please
for me, just proof of identity. not sure, post Brexit, how much you require if you are not a citizen of either UK or Ireland - I'd advise you check with national websites or the ferry operator's own website.
If you're from the UK, the ID is just anything which proves your address.
Last summer I bought my ticket in advance with my UK bank card, ticket sent to my home in Belfast by the day before the sailing.
At check-in I showed my ticket and they could see I used a registered debit card from a UK bank, which included my address details on their computers. That was enough for them and they didn't ask for any real ID
If you're paying cash at reception they've told me in the past just to bring along two utility bills proving your UK address. Bank state would also do, tax communications, Rates bill or Council Tax etc.
If you're visiting the UK then you should make sure to bring your passport or other official document which had you allowed entry to the UK in the first place.
There is no customs between Northern Ireland and Great Britain as they're both parts of the same nation of course, the UK. These checks are "sensitive infrastructure checks" which have nothing to do with Brexit actually and were there decades before Brexit. They're just security checks basically because major ferry travel within the UK is considered sensitive in numerous ways - for example keeping terrorism at bay and checking for illegal migrants who may have entered the UK through the land border from the Republic of Ireland.
So if you live in the UK, having a real ID is not important as long as you have an official way to prove your home address when you're boarding the ferry.
@ thank you for your fantastic reply