Irish Ferries Reviews 

To start with the crossing was fine all on time no hiccups.
My issue with them is earlier crossings, we arrived on our outward 2 crossings earlier along with our friends in a motorhome they allowed us both on without a surcharge, so no problem there either.
It was the return crossing is what has annoyed us.
We arrived again 2 crossings earlier, the guy at the checking thought he was a comedian saying there was a problem as we early and he would have to speak to his manager, he then said we could travel on earlier crossing for a additional charge of £20.00.
Now we don't have a problem with this as long as it is across the board, which it isn't.
Our friends in a pretty much identical vehicle was checking in at the same time at another booth was offered earlier crossing same as us with no extra charge.
I have just been on the phone to there customer services and was given no sensible answers.
I can only guess these charging details are decided at the booths.
So beware of Irish ferries they are cheap for a reason.

Not recommended.

UPDATE.
After this response by Irish ferries I emailed them and they came back with
Dear mark crease,

Thank you for your email.

I have looked into this and I am unsure as to why, for your outward, that you were not charged for turning up for crossing 2 sailings before your booked one. I can see on the sailing updates there are notes advising of busy queues at border control so they may have made a gesture of goodwill and not charged you.

However, normally if you turn up for 2 sailings before the one you have booked, there is a £20 charge, which was correctly charged for your return journey. We do apologise for the inconsistency in this, and can advise that if the port was quieter on 31st July then you would have been charged a £20 amendment fee on that day as well.

There is a reason they are 2.6 and p&o are 4.4 and dfds are 4.1 they are rubbish.

The Dover to Calais crossing is advertised as you being in Calais after 90 minutes, not true, the crossing is 90 minutes and then it takes 20 minutes for the boat to dock before you can drive off. Cheap prices for a trip on an old boat from P&O.

Simple booking process on line. Friendly staff. Clean and comfortable ship and cabin.

Brilliant service all round and the dog den is a game changer.. Fantastic facility and reduces stress of leaving the dog in the car. On time sailings and helpful staff.

Freindly helpful staff,clean,comfortanle and good value.I always use Irish Ferries to take my own car,dogs and see my family.
Hope to travel again soon.

I am very happy with the ferry trip and for a good price, I recommend we always book IRISH FERRIES..

All smooth and delightful till we came to book the return ticket to come home - website was down and the price of the ticket art the port was more than double the online price - buyer beware!

We have traveled with Irish ferries for years and never had a problem if you go with them they have a loyalty program we have always enjoyed our journeys with them over the years and have found the on board staff very helpful i book online and it's quite easy 😀

Good communication with me prior to departure. Clean public areas and food areas. Prompt sailing. Booked using my Tesco club card rewards which helped reduce the cost. The staff although working hard were friendly and helpful.

Poor traffic management at Dublin Port.
Really old ferry - James Joyce.
Club class Really tired and not very clean
Really slow crossing......I thought we had stopped at one point
Duty free Really expensive compared to same deals on Stena.
Delayed getting to Holyhead and then half an hour in the car as the ferry dock doors wouldn't open.
Stenna line is much better.
Irish Ferries???. Not one Irish person working on the ship.......

I used to travel with another shipping company and decided to try Irish Ferries again due to their great pet den. I was pleasantly surprised about their very high standards on board. Well done Irish Ferries for getting your act together!

The ferries with Irish Ferries are always newer and more luxurious, they look attractive and bright and they're comfortable and fun. They inform you at all times exactly what you should do and where you should go. They even let you jump on an earlier ferry that's leaving in seconds if you arrive early. I love the shop and the food and the different areas - which are always luxurious and well maintained, clean and bright and attractive.

Don’t know why they are still called Irish ferries as haven’t met an Irish crew member to date. But we’ve never had a problem with them and their pet travel facilities on the Rosslare to Pembroke run are great. Would be even better if there was access to refreshments for single travellers with dogs \pets as you can’t leave them on their own while you go down to the next deck for a coffee

Ferry was easy to book and changing the booking at the last minute at the gate was simple, pleasantly handled and instant.
However, they have achieved something I thought impossible. Their cafe food offering is worse than P&O's; which is dreadful.

Doesn’t even deserve 1 star. This company transport calves to live their short lives in veal crates in Franc, no daylight, unable to move around. This is extreme cruelty and torture.Some even have to go further afield to other countries with low animal welfare standards. Shame on you Irish ferries. How do you sleep at night .

Despicable company. Inhumane, barbaric transportation of young unweaned calves, left to suffer for hours on your ferries. Shame on you.

Awful - DO NOT PAY FOR WIFI

Paid €12 for the PREMIUM WiFi and nothing worked, constantly buffering and they rip you off! Very angry and wont be using this ferry service again

Cheapest Dover-Calais ferry crossing by miles. However, they only have two ships in service, one fairly modern, the Oscar Wilde, the other not so much. If one goes out of action things go wrong very quickly.
If my experience is anything to go by, you are given no information as to when you might get away or what you are told is misleading. I was due to sail on the 1335 Calais departure but the ship broke down and was stuck in Dover. Left in a long queue on the dockside with just the basic toilets and a vending machine. The local dock staff had no sailing information and the update texts from Irish Ferries just kept pushing the schedule back by an hour or more. Finally got embarked and underway at 1900. The only compensation offered was a drink voucher for a small bottle of water or soft drink. Obviously the boat was jam-packed as it had to cope with the delayed passengers as well as those on that sailing.
I can't recommend Irish Ferries on this route unless you are happy to gamble on your luck. Probably better to pay more with one of the rival ferry companies who have far bigger fleets and therefore more resilience. One star for the low cost and the other for refunding 50% of my return crossing fee promptly.

I booked a ferry with Irish Ferries to travel from Dover to Calais at 2.55pm crossing on the 1st of Aug 2026. I am a disabled passenger and I have two children.

Firstly the ferry was delayed by over an hour and now the crossing was taking place at 4pm. I was then put into the wrong lane with no other disabled passengers, as we were boarding and an employee took my boarding pass he was confused as to why I had been put in that lane.

He then had to radio another employee because of this mess up to see if they even had space for me as I asked specifically to be close to a lift. This was all discussed in front of me and I was made to feel like an inconvenience due to their error.

When they found out that there was indeed space for me I proceeded to board the ferry. Once I got to the top of the ramp I was told to go to the left hand side, to which I did. The employee pointed to me where he wanted me to go which was in-between 2 parked cars.

As I started to reverse into the space given to me, he then shouted at me extremely aggressively and said move right in to the left hand side. I replied yes I am but I need to pull the car forward first so I can reverse into the spot safely. He then proceeded to have no patience for me and was getting irritated that I had to reverse. He shouted at me several times in front of alot of people which sent my anxiety through the roof and I started to panic as alot of people were staring at me. Another employee was laughing at the situation because the guy continued to be irritated with me because he wanted to get the lane I was reversing from filled, to which I understand but it was their error in the first place.

Once I got into my parking space the same man came over to me and then said calmly as he could I see I was very upset, he told me the lift is behind me. I went on board with my wife and 2 children and then had a panic attack with heart palpitations. The anxiety and stress was too much to handle.

I am disabled, made it very clear from the get go that I needed assistance and to be close to a lift. I was then treated really badly because of an error Irish ferries made. It was completely unacceptable and unprofessional to treat me like that when all I did was what they asked.

I booked Irish ferries via direct ferries so I contacted direct ferries about this issue immediately. I raised a complaint because the service I was given was very poor and as a paying customer who was very clear about being disabled I didn't deserve any of that.

I understand that it's a stressful job and that we were already delayed but that does not mean you can treat your customers with no patience, no understanding and with no respect. I would not recommend Irish Ferries and this is the last time I will ever be sailing with them.

Waiting now to hear what Direct Ferries and Irish ferries have to say from the complaint I made and the feedback I left.

Avoid this ferry line at all costs because we as customers who have paid for a service should en treated with care, dignity and with respect.

I’m not even going to bother looking and booking after how rude the scouse woman was on the phone to me.

She couldn’t even do her job just asked what prices was like on 28th December ans her response was I don’t know