Foot access to Liverpool - Dublin terminal

[Fredsie]

Hi, this may sound like a silly question but does anyone know how to get to the Dublin ferry terminal on foot? The ferry website says you need to enter via the Freeport entrance (up the dock road towards Bootle), but then they say that the terminal itself is another mile away from the entrance inside the Freeport. I can see how this is OK for someone taking a car, but how do foot passengers manage?

Cheers all

[Oudeis]

Help is sure hard to find. Is this any help?...

http://www.directferries.ie/liverpool.htm

[grekko]

Hi, this may sound like a silly question but does anyone know how to get to the Dublin ferry terminal on foot? The ferry website says you need to enter via the Freeport entrance (up the dock road towards Bootle), but then they say that the terminal itself is another mile away from the entrance inside the Freeport. I can see how this is OK for someone taking a car, but how do foot passengers manage?

Cheers all

I'm afraid it's a taxi mate if you're arriving by train or bus. Black Cab will cost an arm and a leg, try a private hire firm, loads of them... Delta, Seaforth radio cabs, Davy liver etc.

[irishseashipping.com]

P&O Ferries who operate the service from Seaforth to Dublin do not take passengers without cars. See their info page:

http://www.poferries.com/tourist/content/pages/template/routes_dublin_-_liverpool_routes_-_Liverpool_to_Dublin.htm

As the Birkenhead service operated by DFDS closed in January folloiwing the sale of DFDS interests on the Irish Sea to Stena Line it is currently impossible to travel direct to Dublin by sea without a car - which really is rather sad.

Seatruck carry a limited number of passengers on day time sailings from Brocklebank Dock on their day time sailings but once again a car is required.

There is a rumour doing the rounds that once the dust over the DFDS / Stena sale has settled (it went via competition commission who only finally waved the deal through quite recently) Stena may eventually restart a service from Birkenhead which probably will carry passengers without cars as does the Belfast service.

John

[Fredsie]

Well that pretty much settles it! Thanks John. No wonder the terminal is so hard to get to. :rolleyes:

This does seem a ridiculous policy though. Most ferries will take foot passengers, in fact this is the first one I've heard of that doesn't. Looks like there really is no alternative to Ryanair. :gnasher:

[Oudeis]

I did notice that the terminal at Fleetwood says early on that they don't take foot passengers. I am surprised that some enterprising Liverpudlians don't offer their spare seats for a price?

There is this...

http://www.stenaline.co.uk/ferry/coach-2010/holyhead-dublin/

[grekko]

Or go the roundabout route: http://www.steam-packet.com/ ......Liverpool -Douglas...... Douglas - Dublin, might need a few days to spare looking at their timetables plus not exactly bargain prices.

[irishseashipping.com]

P&O has always been vehicles only.

Whilst the Liverpool terminal is hard to get to, the Dublin Terminal is the closest to the city centre (by the Point) and is within brisk walk 15 minutes or so. Quite unlike the passenger terminal at berth 49 which is at the far end of the docks and requires a bus or taxi to access it without a car!

It may appear strange to not carry foot passengers but there are a number of ferry routes operating to the UK from Europe which also have foot pax restrictions or only carry foot pax on certain sailings.

If you don't want to do Ryanair there is an alternative I think Stena and Irish Ferries offer railsail deals via Holyhead and Bus Eireann offer through bus services to Liverpool the bus goes onto the ship. Link below gives details:

http://www.buseireann.ie/inner.php?id=210

---------- Post added at 02:15 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:11 PM ----------

Of course grekko we did once have a direct Liverpool Pier Head to Dublin service operated between 1997 and 2004 when the Isle of Man Steam Packet company was part of the Sea Containers group. Then it was operated for a few months by the short-lived Irish Sea Express company which charted one of the Steam Packet vessels.

Unfortunately there was never enough traffic foot passengers or passengers with cars to make the route viable even though it saved the long trip to Holyhead. Long ferry routes really do need freight to make them viable - passengers are just the icing on the cake these days.

P&O have actually realised the market in recent months by increasing the number of sailings available to passengers with cars from two most weekdays to three. One of the three daily sailings had previously been freight only.

John