Irish Ferries Reviews 

Served us a vegan lasagne with cheese on it. Please don't trust their food outlets if you have dietary requirements. Response on the day and via complaints email pathetic. Could have serious consequences if you have an allergy.

Over an hour delay on a Saturday lunch time in Calais at customs resulting in a missed ferry and a 2.5 HR further delay.

Complained over the phone and told that one should arrive 2 hours early for a crossing. This requirement is not stated elsewhere.

Asked for a refund but refused.

A very poor service, save yourself the hassle and get the tunnel instead

Shambles. 3 hours late sailing - ok it happens. Booked and EV Charge Point which they push. Was directed down wrong lane so was last on and didn’t get a charger. Horrendous. Will look for any other possible way in future.

We travelled with Irish Ferries from Holyhead to Dublin and back a couple of weeks later. For the outward journey, we received a message about a delay of half an hour at the moment all cars were already in line for boarding. This must have been known before. Other than that, this journey went relatively smoothly and the ferry had lovely inside and outside areas for pets, including an area with sand.

The return journey was a disaster. We were supposed to leave at 7:30 and received a message about a delay of ‘up to 4 hours’ at 5am. We received another message at 6:45 that with an update of the departure time to 11am. In this last message, it was mentioned that we should check in no later than 9:30. In the end, we started boarding at 11:10, which means that all cars have been waiting in line for at leas 1:40hrs. During this time, no updates were given whatsoever, except for a very late (at 10:30) update on the departure time (of 11:30).
On board we were offered the booked place to charge the car. When we noticed that the car was not charging, we asked and it appeared that we should have turned on a switch. This could very easily have been explained in advance to people who booked a charging place.
We understand that delays can happen, but the communication by Irish Ferries is miserable, including the communication to their own staff, who get the questions from the customers but are not kept updated about the status. This lack of communication was really frustrating, even more so because we were unsure if we would make it to our connection in Hull in the evening, which in the end appeared not the case and therefor we had to speed through England to get the train and drive through the whole night.
This time it was a different ferry (Ulysses) than the outward one (forgot the name). The inside area for dogs was fine, but outside there was only a small artificial grass area, which our dogs refused to use. The area on the other ferry was thus much better.

Best breakfast ever! I ordered a full Irish breakfast but with out beans, black pudding and bread but I asked for extra bacon, sausage and eggs. I was so surprised when my breakfast came with four eggs, four sausages and four slices of bacon! And it was cooked to perfection.! Thank you 🤩

I would like to thank the members of staff who went above and beyond to sort out the mess of my booking made. via another company on 18th March 2026. As a disabled person travelling alone the staff could not have been more helpful. I hope your 2nd line management acknowledge your dedication to customers.

Tesco Boost users should know Irish ferries increase the cost of most tickets when using Tesco Boost.

So much so that the price of the Flexi ticket will be more if you use Tesco Boost, additionally they do not allow you to book a Flexi + ticket

Very bad experience it was 1am in the morning and there's people screaming and shouting we asked the staff twice to tell them to be quiet they just said ok and never said anything to them I would advise you take stena line they delt with problems like this right away

I’ve had the misfortune of booking with this company twice now, and both experiences were a complete disaster. Both original trips were cancelled, forcing me to reschedule.

When I finally did travel, the first trip was hit with a 2-hour boarding delay. The return journey was even worse—we were delayed docking for over 5 hours. Throughout the entire ordeal, communication from the crew was virtually non-existent. We were left in the dark with no updates and absolutely zero goodwill or compensation offered for the massive inconvenience.

This is a really poor service from a company that clearly doesn't value its customers. Save yourself the stress and never use them. Terrible.

The onboard cleanliness was outstanding, and the queue times to board were very short. Staff were amazing, hats off to Matthew, Dover to Calais, absolutely amazing service. Not a jot of negativity, an amazing company and would definitely recommend! 👍 -

I wish there was a zero star option. An absolute nightmare from start to finish. Booked a ferry in January from Dublin to Cherbourg with a pet friendly cabin to travel in April. Got an email in February to inform me our journey was cancelled so I rang Irish ferries and one of their agent changed the booking with me over the phone.
Got a confirmation email weeks later to confirm a journey from Cherbourg to Dublin (opposite way to what I had book) with NO PET CABIN.
Rang them again and there was no more journey available till mid may. Not even an apology, nothing. Had to request a refund and book with a different company. I will never travel Irish ferries ever again. (Still waiting on my refund at this stage too)

The company cancelled the crossing I had booked for my return (as foot passenger) to Holyhead for the catch-all 'operational reasons'. Having been forced to re-book with Stena, I arrived at what seemed to be THE passenger terminal (by local bus), only to discover that the two companies have separate terminals. The attitude of the young woman at the IF desk was totally unsympathetic, and she refused point blank to ring Stena to say I might be late for check-in. Also the food on their ferries is expensive. (The staff at their Holyhead desk were better.)

Train delayed 15 mins check in wouldn't stay open.
Staff said check in closes 40 min before departure.
This is the second time this has happened to us think before using this company would not recommend them at all.

A bunch of lying thieves!
My sailing was delayed, I was told to get a refund and book another ticket, which I did. Now they refuse to provide the refund!

Absolute shambles, avoid at all costs. Ferry cancelled by Irish ferries both ways, no accomodation offered on board etc.

Ferry from Hollyhead to Dublin booked for 8:15AM on 7th Feb.

-irish ferries cancelled this due to "operational issues and the ship needing to run another route", offering 1:30AM or 1:15PM. Due to prebooked (paid for) plans we had to go for 1:30AM.

-Customer service advised us that they wouldnt provide a room free of charge onboard (spoke to them ahead of the ferry via email and on the phone) even though we only needed one due to their cancellation. They wanted an additional 48 euros for the privilege. Of course they didn't get this, so I had to sleep on my back (I'm pregnant) on seating in the lobby. They refused any form of accomodation to cover the morning we landed, which again was only necessary due to their cancellation. Were quite happy to leave a pregnant, sleep deprived, woman wondering the streets of Dublin at 5AM.
-we weren't offered any funds back, even though booking the 1:30AM ferry originally would have been cheaper.

Were advised that our ferry on the way back on the 20th Feb at 2:30PM was first changed to 1:45PM then later cancelled due to "operational issues" again (they clearly just didn't fill it). They advised us that we could chose either 7:30AM or 7:45PM, both of which would be massively inconvenient as you have to arrive at least an hour before and we have animals to get back to at a decent hour. We moved our ferry a day earlier to 1:45PM on the 19th Feb.

While on the phone switching the dates, the agent advised us that we should have been offered a 7:30AM ferry on the 7th.

The whole experience has been incredibly unnecessary, frustrating and a waste of money.

They gave us the wrong boarding time for the ferry. They left us waiting in the parking area. Why do they give a specific boarding time if we still have to wait another 2–3 hours? I’m very disappointed, and this is not the first time this has happened.

At a stretch 3 stars. Used the Cherbourg - Dublin route for the first time in years. Boarding, ferry itself, hut were all ok.
I had planned to take the opportunity to do some work on my new website. To my utter dismay…. 20 minutes free basic internet!!!! On a 19 hour trip. Otherwise up to just 4 hours for mega bucks. Madness in 2026.
Fish and Chips, spread out in a box to make it look like you get loads… €21,50 !!!! And not even a drink with it.
To cap it all, and not only IF, but Stena, DFDS and Brittany have replaced Irish crews for Eastern European/FarEastern (speaking) crews. This is NOT correct.

I travel to France very regularly and have used Eurotunnel and all the rest to get there, but Irish Ferry’s is the only company who seem to value regular users and offer a very good frequent benefit scheme. This is unlike P&O, DFDS and Euro Tunnel who offer virtually nothing meaningful. If you take their ship ‘Oscar Wild’, pay a bit extra and use the Club Lounge, its well worth it. The Lounge is very comfortable with a selection of free and tasty hot food and drinks (unlike DFDS) with its own toilet and balcony and attentive staff (unlike DFDS).

Filthy! the pet services were terrible, awful seating and freezing cold, smelled of cigarettes. Vending machine took money from card repeatedly but did not deliver products and the staff were unbelievably rude. Would not recommend and will never use again

Another bad review and unhappy customer
Waiting from 21:15 and could start boarding at 2am. Now 1:53 still waiting
It's freezing cold here in Dover. My advice don't ever book with Irish ferries