By Lakshmi:
“Let’s put our car on the ferry and go to Ireland.” It was these words that propelled us on this beautiful trip from Wales. On a rainy morning, we commenced our drive towards the tranquil port of Fishguard.
After some debate early on, we made the decision to traverse the 3.5 hour journey to Rosslare in First Class. Why? For one, the tickets were fully refundable if our plans changed. Second, we would get access to the Stena Plus Lounge which would provide us pre-boarding, complimentary drinks, snacks, newspapers, wi-fi, priority disembarkation and more.
At the port, clearly marked lanes with priority access for First Class travelers led us to the check in kiosks. Now came the first impressive moment. As we approached the kiosk, the technology in place read our license plate and a staff member confirmed if it was a party of three going on the journey.
The next awe inspiring moment was when the gates opened to embark on to the ferry. We looked in wonder and amazement as each car including ours drove onto the parking lot on the ferry and parked one behind the other in orderly fashion. All we had to do was disembark and follow the pathway to the elevators that took us to the different floors of the ferry.
We proceeded to the lounge which felt like its luxurious airline counterpart with plush seating, lots of connection ports, live tv, movies and an endless variety of food and drinks.
The staff was courteous and efficient. No fawning over people, just letting them be. We relaxed and post some snacking spent time walking the decks, shopping at the duty-free shop and of course people watching.
When the ferry approached Rosslare, we simply got into our cars, entered the SatNav code for our hotel in Dublin and drove off into the green expanse of the “Emerald Isle”. In our next post, we’ll tell you how we snagged a three night stay at a very pricey Radisson Blu property in Dublin for free.
PS. I’d like to extend a special thank you to the Stena Line. You were so worth every penny and you left us genuinely longing for our next journey to Scotland that would happen soon. To learn more about the routes offered to Ireland on the Stena Line, click here:
a global affair 