BIG Ferry Comparison: DFDS, P&O, Irish Ferries - Which is Best from Dover?

Great video- thanks. It mirrors in most respects our 3 journeys into Europe last year.

Irish Ferries, check in at Calais took 2 hours due to only one booth and they hand write the lane hanger for each vehicle. The food in the restaurant was great. Loading took ages and the boat vibrated horribly all the way to Dover. Never again.

DFDS to Dunkirk (even in gale force winds) was great apart from the Fish & chips was like your Mum’s!

DFDS to Calais and back was great.

We used to use P&O spirit class ships but refuse since what they did to the crew. It’s a real shame they used to be lovely but your video shows how bad they’ve become. I wonder what will happen when their new ships arrive this year!

I would seriously consider eating meat as vegan and veggie diets generally don't provide all the nutrients your body needs.

Irish Ferries WB Yeats is unmatched (built in 2018, I tihnk) but you'll need to travel from Dublin to Cherbourg. Happy travels.

Sounds like your the problem staff allways good with me on dfds

This guy complains about everything. Delays happen some times get over it. And complaining about people traveling with kids that are in the luxury lounge....what a douche

what does q or cue mean?

An interesting video, I think DFDS took over from Norfolk Lines which was always the best company on the cross channel route. Arriving in Dunkirk instead of Calais is also less stressful!
One point you may want to look into / content for a video, is around EVs on ferries. There have been a few stories around damaged EVs recently and if an EV was involved in an accident in Europe, you may be denied entry to the ferry. It might be worth checking the small print on that and how an EV would be recovered back to the UK if damaged abroad?

We had a nasty surprise on the p and o spirit of Britain. We were expecting to have a nice meal, but instead we had the fish and chips at £14 each. This was rubbish considering it is served in a takeaway container.
Also, I remember that the crew member who assisted the embarkation of cars was later serving people in the duty free. P and o need to employ more staff…

Great video, two observations from me and my recent trip to France from the U.K.

1) I found the same experience as you coming back through Calais on 3/7/23 - It took us over a hour to clear both French and British passport control, out of the two whilst both were lengthy, U.K. passport control took the longest (and we are all British nationals). When I asked why it was taking so long we were told a lot of Germans were going through however it still seemed to take a long time to process us at the checkpoint ourselves.

2) unpopular view I am sure for understandable reasons - whilst it is pricey at £24pp in the P&O Club Lounge, crossing with two children who wanted to eat, have snacks and drinks I actually felt it was value for money vs. Eating in the standard self service restaurant. Our hot food choices were far better and we had a full three course and good tasting dinner on our way out on the Spirit of France and return on the Pioneer.

Whilst more than expensive that the other two operators you have also reviewed, given the full hot food options we had, I would still opt for P&O Club Lounge if intending to use the ferry as a half way rest and refill point of the journey.

How in your opinion does Irish Ferries compare to Stena and P&O on the Irish Sea?

I recently had a very bad experience on a journey involving Irish Ferries but it wasn't IF's fault (the ferry was 30 minutes late, the problem was the train back from Holyhead).

We normally go with P&O but last year Irish Ferries was the cheapest so we went with them. Couldn't fault them. Yes the food is dear, but it is on all the ferries. The weird thing was, this was in the middle of July (on a Wednesday afternoon) and the ship was deserted! It was the quietest crossing we've ever been on. They had a 10% discount earlier this year, so we booked with them again. We also went P&O from Hull to Rotterdam and that was a fantastic crossing. The staff were really great. I knew the British Govs bark was worse than its bite when it all hit the fan, and I would have loved to hate the staff on the P&O crossing. But at the end of the day, it's not their fault, they are only workers after a job.

Hi, I only eat meat and organs (health and eco reasons) - which ferry would suit me best? I don't eat seed oils or any other dangerously processed foods

irish ferry's is the best sea trip i ever been on i hope they will win next year

Great video - agree with the comments especially with regard to P and O….

I think the best Irish ferries service by far is the WB Yeats from France to Ireland everything else is just ok

I believe premium lounge on DFDS is no longer available, they offer Relax lounge instead with reclining chairs and work desks strictly over 16 (it costs £6 per person),

i use dfds because i live not so far from dunkerque and i like the service i have been once on the irish ferry to dover from calais and back but for me i cant see why i would drive to calais. p and o i will never ever use after they got rid of the workforce and i advise everyone i know who want to go to the uk not to use p and o they are a very bad company with a very bad c e o and management . SO DONT USE P AND O.

This vid cool I’m gonna watch it forever

What a fabulous video! I appreciate your clear and concise review of all relevant aspects of a channel crossing. This will make my choice this year much easier. Thank you :)

Your smile when you bought that gin bottle, its contagious😇😇. Cheers mate😎

Awesome video and Thank you for sharing as I am embarking on a ferry crossing soon!

Why is the flag of Cyprus considered as a flag of convenience? Also, the reason that the prices on alcohol are higher on the Irish ferries is because a duty-free free shop company is renting the space on the ship. As a result it raises the prices. On the other ships like Stena and P&O where they own the shops they can sell at lower prices.

This video shows us that there can never be a perfect ferry vessel. All 4 of these car ferries have the best of at least one thing, something unique to other ferries, their ups, their downs and their worst of something.

DFDS (Dunkirk), Being the only vessel that takes you to Dunkirk, has the best duty free shop, excellent food options, very comfortable places to relax and a great outdoor area, but has the worst club lounge of all 4 crossings.

DFDS (Calais), Being the newest vessel and most relaxing, has an better club lounge than the other DFDS vessel, a really nice duty free shop, the same great food options, the best places to relax and sockets to charge your devices, but it flaws a bit when it is time to leave the ferry, as it takes a long time to get back to your car in the crowd despite being the longest ferry.

Irish Ferries, being the oldest vessel, has the best club lounge, an decent duty free shop, good food options, sockets, like DFDS Calais and a lot of really good places like the club lounge, but has no lifts so anyone who’s disabled would have trouble going upstairs, and the vessels looks rusty and and the prices are more expensive than DFDS.

P&O, being the most expensive and most flawed vessel, has a big club lounge, sockets, a okey duty free shop and is the only vessel with a pet lounge, but has the worst food options, overpriced items like Irish Ferries and the ferry just looks outdated compared to the other 3 vessels.

Overall DFDS is the best one of all. It has the best duty free shops and food options and it makes you feel more prepared to drive. Then there’s Irish Ferries. I would say if you want to fell relaxed or want to have a great place to work while traveling that I think Irish Ferries is good. Then there’s P&O. I guess if your traveling with a pet than you should take P&O, otherwise , I wouldn’t recommend it.

I have been on countless numbers of Irish ferries always Britain to Ireland (Pembroke to Rosslare) or (Holyhead to Dublin) and I insist that they are an excellent service and company please travel on them because you will be happy

I love Irish ferries and have always so whatever you say I will always be with them

Easy to travel on

Will never not milk never

I’m sorry but as an Irish man I milk never leave Irish ferries I have always traveled from Britain to Ireland (Pembroke to Rosslare) but before the Calais to Dover route came about we were on the isle of innishmore which is now on the Calais to Dover route which is a shame because it was my favourite ship however I have never done the Dover to Calais route so wouldn’t know what it is like however I have always found that Irish ferries is easy to they have excellent experience and crew and have never had any trouble with them I now travel on blue star one the ship designated to my trip from Pembroke to Rosslare

seriously though ... what DID you expect after Brexit, of course passport control is an issue. Also I am going to call you out - Irish Ferries did exactly what P&O did over FOC and has exactly the same issues over crewing and cutting corners on the crew contracts..

Anyone but P&O

During the pandemic DFDS allowed me to move a booking FOUR times without penalty, simply superb. Contrast this with a Eurotunnel booking that they allowed 1 move and then it expired 6 months later, so i won't go near them ever again. DFDS have always had a consistent high quality of customer service, in my experience. When P&O sacked all it's staff i removed them from my comparison list, i'd rather pay more somewhere else than use them at all. DFDS get my money every time now.

I might have missed it but how do the other operators compare with PandO with regard to pet crossings? Just 'stay in cabin'?

thanks for video.

As a lorry driver myself, DFDS is by far the best operator to use to cross the channel out of dover.

Just booked Dover-Calais-Dover on DFDS after watching your review. Thanks!

Thank you very much for this very instructive video !!!

So refreshing to see a video that tells it as it is. Great report.

Many thanks for a very well made and informative video. I drive to Norway once or twice per year to visit relatives, and used to use the Dunkirk route (since it's a bit further in the right direction), but recently I have grown to like Stena Line from Harwich to Rotterdam. It's kind of awkward -- too long for a day sailing, too short for a night sailing -- but it does get you a fair bit further north, and it tends to be surprisingly reasonably priced considering the distance.

Can someone explain how the existing firms DFDS and P&O were recently joined by an additional operator: Irish Ferries?

I went on Irish ferries and when I went to france, i was given lane 105 aswell

Andrew thanks for this

BOYCOTT P&O. SCUM.

Can you take motorcycle on the ferries??

Superb video. I’ve been on both DFDS AND PO
PO used to be amazing, great staff and decent food. I can’t believe what they have done to the same vessel I was on just on 4 years ago in 2019.

DFDS was great when we went to Dunkirk, but you must have got the same shop staff as me as we had similar issues in buying something and it turned into a bit of a nightmare which was a shame. .

But thanks for the video and also great to see one on Irish ferries to which I’ve not been on yet.

Spot on 👍🏻

P & O used to be excellent, we used to travel with them all the time when they were competing with Stena. We haven't been over to France for 5 Years, but next time we are going to try DFDS with the Caravan. Brittany ferries are very expensive, although they do get You closer to the west of France.

I look forward to the day p&o goes into bankruptcy

Excellent report as usual, will never travel P&O after sackings but was looking at Irish Ferries as slightly cheaper on C&MH club site, however after your report think I will stick with DFDS always been a good overall standard.