Favourite Current or Former Passenger ship operating in the UK

[Blindtraveler]

Hi.

Just wondering about the above. I have a soft spot for what used to be the Irish Ferries owned P and O Chartered Pride of Bilbao, now owned and opperated by St Peter Line. just interested in foalks faves, big or small.↲

 

[306024]

On the Harwich - Hook of Holland route the St Nicholas was a step change in passenger comfort with it's night club type atmosphere. Today's super ferries, the Stena Britannica and Stena Hollandica are as good as it gets for a short sea crossing.

On the Harwich - Felixstowe route - the Brightlingsea,

 

[deltic1989]

I quite liked the MV Quiberon and MV Val De Loire that did the Plymouth to Santander route and the MV Normandie on the Pompey to Cean route. Lets say Brittany Ferries in general very nice vessels.

 

[Greenback]

I like Brittany Ferries, but I prefer the Bretagne to the flagship Pont Aven.

 

[Liam]

MV Lord of the Isles, operates mainly out of Oban on the Castlebay and Lochboisdale route, but has seen service almost everywhere across the Caledonian MacBrayne network.

Also quite fond of the former P&O Scottish ferries St Ola, St Clair and St Sunniva.

 

[Ploughman]

Brittany I would agree are pretty good.
Lot better than Townsend Toreson ever were.

Worst regular Ferry service was on Sir Lancelot from Marchwood to Antwerp.


I know its not UK but.
Best Ferry though was the "Chi Chimaun" in Canada between Tobermory on the Bruce Peninsula and Manitoulin Island on Lake Huron

 

[richw]

I like Brittany Ferries, but I prefer the Bretagne to the flagship Pont Aven.

Agreed I don't think the Pont Aven is a very good sea handler. I find Cap Finistere to be the most comfortable vessel I've used but her lack of facilities brought the crossing down.
Majority of my crossings are on Armorique and I quite like her probably proclaim to be my preferred, she is a great sea handler.

 

[jopsuk]

Whilst I do like the Bretagne, came back from France last year on the Mont St Michel which has replaced it as my favourite

 

[CC 72100]

Whilst I do like the Bretagne, came back from France last year on the Mont St Michel which has replaced it as my favourite

I had an absolutely lovely crossing back on the Mont last year, flat as a pancake, great cabin, lovely weather, well-looked after vessel... ticked all the boxes.

As for the favourite, I find that a little more difficult. Despite the not-so-impressive service often received from their on-board crews, I always found the SeaFrance twins Rodin & Berlioz to be very comfortable on the DOCA run, and streets ahead of anything P&O offered at the time. I haven't experienced the new P&O Spirit class nor the twins under MyFerryLink (horrible name!) so can't comment on whether this is still the case.

Least favourite would have to be any High Speed Craft. They have their uses. They also have their fans who appreciate the speed that they bring. I however, don't.

 

[34D]

Great question. Manannan is the only boat I've been on in the past decade. correction, it was the Ben My Chree I travelled aboard!

What would have operated Harwich-Hoek van Holland in the mid 90s please?

 

[SeanG]

34D I feel for you on the Ben. The Seacat is far far better to travel on

 

[richw]

Great question. Manannan is the only boat I've been on in the past decade. correction, it was the Ben My Chree I travelled aboard!

What would have operated Harwich-Hoek van Holland in the mid 90s please?

Stena seatrader, Stena brittanica (now stena saga, not the same stena brittanica now on this route) and Stena Europe. Stena Seatrader I believe was a freight ferry.

 

[Lrd]

I have a slightly biased view and should probably say Red Funnel with either the Red Falcon, Red Eagle or Red Osprey. The Red Jet's are great fun too :P

Always liked the P&O ferries between Dover and Calais, any of the Pride class operating between 2003 ish to present times. I was too young (and had no interest at the time) to notice which ones I have travelled on.

 

[Strathclyder]

A tie between the MV Loch Linnhe (Tobermory - Kilchoan) and the HSC Express (Larne - Troon) for me.

 

[34D]

Stena seatrader, Stena brittanica (now stena saga, not the same stena brittanica now on this route) and Stena Europe. Stena Seatrader I believe was a freight ferry.

Thank you. Stena Europe rings a bell actually

 

[306024]

Stena Europe was on the route from March 94 to June 97. Had the misfortune to use this ship once when brown water came out of the shower. However Stena refunded my fare, and gave me a future free return trip so can't complain at their response.

Koningin Beatrix was the Dutch ship at this time, which sailed from April 86 to June 97, and yes Stena Seatrader was a freight ship which sailed from May 90 to Aug 06.

Stena Britannica, which became Stena Saga, sailed between June 91 and March 94 before being replaced by Stena Europe.

Credit: Harwich Hook of Holland, 1893-2010 by John Hendy, Miles Cowsill and Stephen Brown.

 

[kylemore]

Depends how far back you want to go!

Longer distance - DFDS vessel MS WINSTON CHURCHILL out of Newcastle in the 1970s.

Shorter distance - CSP (forerunner of CALMAC) steamer TS DUCHESS OF HAMILTON on the Clyde (withdrawn 1970)

 

[fowler9]

I really liked the Olau Britannia and Olau Hollandia sailing from Sheerness.

 

[trentside]

Haven't sailed on a ferry for about 10 years, but always liked P&Os Pride of Bilbao - sailed on her twice when she had strayed from her normal route. Didn't particularly like any of the other P&O Portsmouth vessels, the Pride of Cherbourg (former MS Viking Valiant) in particular was awful. We only used P&O once on our family holidays, and my Mum refused to use them again thanks to the Cherbourg - other experience was on school trips.

We used to sail regularly with Brittany Ferries, and I'll always have a soft spot for the Normandie and the former Duc de Normandie - we used to go overnight to Ouistreham on the Normandie and back on a day sailing on the Duc. It was the same every year, until my parents got bored with France.

 

[harry42]

Brittany: Plymouth to Roscoff...whatever that one is!!! Loved that ship for the distance.

 

[richw]

Brittany: Plymouth to Roscoff...whatever that one is!!! Loved that ship for the distance.

Could be one of three or four!

Armorique is the main one though from Plymouth to Roscoff - This is a picture of her I took of her over in Roscoff in October

Armorique by Rich.W., on Flickr

 

[daikilo]

Could be one of three or four!

Armorique is the main one though from Plymouth to Roscoff - This is a picture of her I took of her over in Roscoff in October

Armorique by Rich.W., on Flickr

I haven't travelled the channel in recent years but, after the demise of the excellent hovercrafts, I tended to go for Brittany on the longer crossings and the sea-cats on the shorter. It worked for me.

 

[507 001]

Have sailed on both pride of Rotterdam and pride of hull, The isle of mull, the Bretagne, the amorique and the pont aven.

Out of all of them my favourite is the pride of Rotterdam/hull, lovely comfortable ships, great restaurant, amazing piano lounge on top deck etc etc.
second favourite would be the isle of mull, purely because it was the first big ferry I sailed on and is a common sight in my favourite place in GB, Oban.
The Bretagne is a lovely boat, comfy etc and the cinema is great.
The pont aven and the amorique were lovely too. Great seated areas on board both.

 

[CallySleeper]

Probably the HSS Explorer, they deck it up well at Christmas.
I also have a habit of frequenting the Stena Superfast VIII (n.b. not the VII which I prefer for alliteration )
I think I'd also like to try the Red Jet one day.
Also, anybody remember this gem?

 

[BestWestern]

Would have to be the former P&O (previously Olau) Pride of Portsmouth/Le Havre, which I sailed on many times. They were 'happy' ships, as were most of P&O's sailing out of Pompey; rather careworn and ludicrously over-specced for the route, but always a pleasure to travel on. We would regularly go off on a wander and get lost in amongst the substantial lower cabin decks, exploring the forgotten corners - swimming pool and couchettes come to mind, along with the cinema on the main decks! Sadly they did little to stem the losses being made, offering too little freight capacity and too much unused passenger space, but I do miss my cheap jollies on them both!

Somebody already mentioned the brief appearance of the second Pride of Cherbourg. Rather the opposite, with little passenger space but plenty of room for freight. Perhaps if they'd gotten hold of a pair of them they might have turned around the Le Havre route? I did enjoy the Irish pub though, it was a slightly odd thing to look through the traditional stained glass and see lifeboats! The 'conservatory' on the back was a rather pleasant place to enjoy a few slow lagers too

On a smaller scale, the Gosport Ferry Co still has it's pair of "Queens", Gosport Qu. and Portsmouth Qu., which hail from the 1960's I believe. Always nice to cross on one of those, far more charm than their newer sisters. And, stretching 'ship' well beyond credibility, the Southsea - Ryde hovercraft is surely the most entertaining sea journey in the UK!?