Overview

On our return journey from Dublin to Holyhead, we chose a 2 hr 15 mins fast ferry crossing on the Dublin Swift rather than one of the larger vessels that takes 3 hr 15 mins. The ship is a lot smaller and you can't book a cabin, but the crossing was smooth and the access was fine. In Dublin port, the Irish Ferries terminal was largely still closed due to Covid, but the loos were open and the accessible one wasn't bad. On the ship itself, the crew directed us to park our car near the lift up to the passenger decks, and then one of them came with me to operate the lift (I think this is to stop people who don't need the lift from using it and making wheelchair users and people with babies wait). This arrangement worked fine, and a crew member appeared promptly to operate the lift again when I needed to get back down to the vehicle deck at the end of the crossing. During the crossing, the cafe and shop were pretty limited in what they had to offer, but getting around on my small scooter was fine, and there was one decent sized accessible loo. Something to note when you're booking this ferry is that it only has two slots available for wheelchair users, which I believe is due to evacuation requirements, so get in early with your booking at busy times of year. The larger slow ferries have more wheelchair slots as well as cabins available. I believe this information is true of both the main ferry operators on this route: Irish Ferries and Stena Line.

Transport & Parking

It's a car ferry, so fully set up for parking in the port and onboard. When you book as a wheelchair user, they put in a note to get you parked near the lift that takes you from the vehicle deck to the passenger decks.

Access

It's fine getting around, although don't expect to get out on the open deck. Transferring from my scooter to one of the fixed seat and table arrangements was a bit tricky.

Toilets

There was a nice big clean accessible loo onboard with rails that were fine for me. Beware, though, that this is the only accessible loo and also serves as a changing place for babies, so you might have to queue a while to get in. I was lucky to only have one person in front of me, and when I came out there were several increasingly impatient parents with prams.

Staff

Staff were pleasant enough and appeared promptly to operate the lift. I was with my family and didn't really need staff members' help with anything else, but the first lift guy checked that I was OK with where we were sitting, and I'm pretty sure he would have arranged for a colleague to carry food over from the self-service cafe if I had needed this.

Anything else you wish to tell us?

Mask wearing was well observed when people were moving around the ship.