Eurofest Ferries

["Paul Feagan" <paul@xxxx>]

I've spent an hour or so looking at the various options for getting my D
from London to Belfast. This is what I found out:
There are ferries leaving from Holyhead in Wales, Liverpool and Heysham (30
mins drive North of Liverpool). I didn't check the Scotland route.
The Holyhead ferries are run by Irish Ferries
https://resweb.travellog.co.uk/cgi-bin/booking.cgi?cl=icg +44 8705 171717
and only go to Dublin. However, they are quite quick 1hr 49 mins. Autoroute
says that the journey from Dublin to Belfast takes 2hrs 21 mins. Autoroute
also says that the journey from Wimbledon to Holyhead takes 6 hours. So I
decided against the Holyhead route. However, FYI they go at 09.15, 15.15 &
20.45 H-D and 06.15, 12.15 & 18.00 D-H for 204GBP return.
Two companies run out of Liverpool, Norse 0870 600 4321
http://www.norsemerchant.com/ and Steam packet 01624 661661
http://www.steam-packet.com/
Autoroute says that Wimbledon to Liverpool is 4hr 11min.
Norse take 8 1/2 hours but do provide food and a cabin for 235GBP return on
the overnight run. You need to go on the Wednesday night or Thursday morning
to get there in time. Chris Parnham is on the Tuesday night out/Sunday night
back.
The Norse Sailing Schedule is as follows:
Ex Belfast or Liverpool (they seem to leave at the same times)
Mon 21.00
Tues 09.30 + 22.30
Wed 21.00
Thur 09.30 + 22.30
Fri 21.00
Sat 09.30 + 22.30
Sun 21.00
Steam Packet run SeaCats from Liverpool and Heysham. The Liverpool seacat
goes to Dublin, but the Heysham sc goes to Belfast. As Heysham is only 30
mins away from Liverpool I looked at that route. The H-B seacat goes at 12
noon and gets you in at 16.30 - just in time to check in and get a beer.
Unfortunately the only seacat back on sunday is at 07.00 which nobody will
make after Mr.Lamrock has taken us out on Saturday night, plus you'd miss
the Bushmills and Giant's causeway visit on Sunday.
As you can see it's all getting a bit complicated, with none of the routes
doing exactly what you want. So, I've booked myself on the 24/5 12 noon
SeaCat from Heysham to Belfast (135GBP) and the 27/5 21.00 Norse from
Belfast to Liverpool 8 1/2 hr (165GBP). That way I can get over quickly
during the day and travel back after the festivities with the Parnham fleet
on Sunday. I know it cost more than a return with one company, but I can now
take my time travelling up on Wednesday night, stay at a Travelodge near
Heysham, get up Thursday and get the boat. If I tried to make the Norse at
21.00, then something would go wrong and the traffic would be bad. Plus I'd
arrive early in the morning and I bet the hotel won't let us in until noon
or later. On the way back the 8 hours doesn't matter as Monday is a Bank
Holiday in the UK and I don't need to go to work.
I hope this wasn't too boring. Next week I hope to provide a detailed
analysis of the British Rail Timetable from London to Penzance!