‘It’s a nightmare... we have spent a lot and it might be for nothing’
A FAMILY of six from Co. Dublin who booked on the WB Yeats say their family holiday to France is turning into ‘a summer nightmare’. Nicola Redmond, her husband Alan, and their four children – Liam, 13, Holly, 11, Daisy, five, and four-year-old Oscar – are set to travel to Saint-Jean-De-Monts in France in August. Primary school teacher Nicola told the Irish Daily Mail that her carefully planned holiday is now at risk. ‘We were set to sail on the WB Yeats on August 4, but now we are not sure if our holiday will be possible,’ she said. ‘I have four children, so a lot of planning went into this holiday – like the hundreds of other family holidays that are now in limbo. ‘We booked the ferry from Dublin this time to cut down on travelling to Rosslare as we are taking our own caravan to France with us. We paid the extra money to sail from Dublin and now the whole thing has turned into a summer nightmare for us,’ she said. Up to 20,000 customers travelling to France later this summer have been affected after Irish Ferries cancelled all bookings for August on its new WB Yeats ferry. It is the second time in as many months Irish Ferries has been forced to cancel thousands of bookings, as it annulled all bookings on the WB Yeats for more than two weeks in July.
‘My husband has had no success in contacting Irish Ferries in the past 24 hours, which has been hugely frustrating,’ said Mrs Redmond.
‘We will not be taking the land-bridge option. It’s too much travelling all across the UK with four children and there are a lot of added costs with the tolls and stopping for food. Our holiday is going to be ruined if other sailings are not put on.
‘Our whole holiday would probably cost us €5,000 and until we are able to avail of a refund, then it looks like there will be no summer holidays for us.’
She added: ‘We haven’t had any contact whatsoever from Irish Ferries; we only heard about the cancellations on the news. There hasn’t even been a general email to customers, which I find extremely frustrating.
‘We have used the company before and never had any issue, but this is really unacceptable.’
Mrs Redmond continued: ‘We have spent a lot of money and time to plan this – and to think now that it might all be for nothing.
‘August is a really busy time in France as a lot of French people take their holidays. We won’t be able to travel on an earlier sailing as it would cost too much for accommodation for the six of us, and where do you park the caravan? The whole thing is a nightmare.’