The latest HRG worldwide hotel price survey show that Dublin Hotel prices dropped again in 2009.  Hotel prices in Dublin are now down 21% on 2008 prices. 

Ireland now has one of the steepest declines worldwide in hotel prices.  Only Dubai shows a similar decline.

http://www.hrgworldwide.com/HRGreleases2009HotelSurvey/tabid/12135/Default.aspx

How long will this last?  2010 is expected to be a tough year for hotel in Ireland but there is only so far the prices can go down.  Enjoy it when you can.

The Julia is  currently at Ringaskiddy ferryport (Cork) following successful berthing trials on Monday.

The new cruise ferry the Julia, which will sail between Swansea and Cork from March 1, is expected to sail to Swansea for dry-docking this weekend.

Many congratulations to Conor Buckley who was named as Cork person of the month.  Conor received the award for his work in reviving the Cork Swansea ferry service which will start on the 01^st of March.

Well all good things come to an end.  My consultancy period with Fastnet Line is now over.  I wish the company & all the people involved in getting this route up and running all best success.

Irish Cities Hotel Value Survey –

Date selected Monday 04^th Jan 1 night on www.booking.com 

Must be at least 3 star hotel

Cork 

 The 4 Star Montenotte Hotel €55.   Free parking & Leisure Centre www.themontenottehotel.com 

Dublin 

Me old sparring mates at D4 Ballsbridge Inn.  Have a 3 night special on www.booking.com that can be booked for 1 night for €35.10.  I won’t tell them if you won’t. 

Limerick 

3 Star Patrick Punches Hotel.  €49.  Now that is value and right smack in the city. 

Galway 

3 star Clybaun.  €39.  Wow.  As far as I know it is out Salthill way 

Sligo 

4 star Radisson Hotel @ €70.  Was not much choice in Sligo.  Is it a city?? 

Waterford 

3 Star Travelodge.  €45.  Stayed here once.  Clean new hotel on Cork road as you come into Waterford

FASTNET LINE LAUNCH BOOKING SYSTEM FOR SWANSEA TO CORK FERRY SERVICE

Thousands of people expected to book sailings in the coming weeks

Fastnet Line today launched the booking facility for the Swansea to Cork ferry service which will commence sailing on March 1^st 2010 from Cork to Swansea. Sailings can be booked on www.fastnetline.com

The price of travelling on the new service starts from € 99.00 one way for a car and driver. For bookings made by April 1^st, 2010 and for travel in that year, 3 children per car booking will travel free each way, (excluding cabin). Children under 4 travel free all year round.

The service expects to enjoy strong demand from both tourist and freight customers on both sides of the Irish Sea. Fastnet Line believes that it will contribute greatly to the development and promotion of tourism in the south and sustain more than 1000 jobs. The service is worth more than €50 million annually to the local economy.

Tom Barrett, CEO of Fastnet Line says, “”Today marks another important step towards our first sailing between Cork & Swansea on 1st March 2010. Since the start of 2009, funds have been raised, a ship purchased and now today, our 8,700 pre-registered passengers and many more, can book their preferred sailing dates. We look forward to welcoming them aboard our fantastic ship and providing a relaxing and efficient route between the South West of Ireland and the UK”.

Benefits of the Swansea to Cork Ferry Service:

• The service will save 600 km driving on a round trip and connects direct with the M4 motorway
• Sailing will be overnight departing at 21.00 hours and arriving 07.00 a.m. next day
• The service will operate 6 nights a week with additional sailings in July and August
• Extensive selection of bars and restaurants, shopping, cinema and kids area onboard. Dog kennels are also available.
• The service will operate all year round for convenient travel in and out of season

Log on to www.fastnetline.com or call 0 21 453 0440 for further information

Ends/

For further information contact:

Christine Duggan,

DMpr

028 23756 / 087 9641729

Well another week down.  As we get closer to the New Year you realize once we soon hit 2010 we will just be over 8 weeks away from our 1^st sailing.   The dream of an amazing group of people who started the whole Bring back the Ferry campaign  will become a reality.   

This week Cork County council decided to invest in the Cork to Swansea Ferry service by Fastnet Line.  In these tough economic & political times it should be noted that all 48 councillors supported the investment.   A sure sign of the goodwill towards the reinstatement of the link. 

Everyone agrees that this service will bring benefits into the Cork & Swansea regions.  

Our pricing has been up now for over a week.  We are very happy with booking levels so far.  Thanks to everyone that have contacted us so far with feedback.    We meet every day to discuss the previous day so all feedback is discussed. 

We are getting questions on Land bridge, Tesco breaks club etc.   We wanted to get our regular pricing up 1^st and hope to roll out other pricing initiatives soon.  

Ann Cronin our Sales Manager spent a few days in Wales this week.   She meet up with supporters of the service.  Visit Wales and companies interested in using the Cork to Swansea service. 

On Friday I received a visit from Mick Regan & friends from  www.dispora.ie .  It is great to hear people saying how impressed they are with the onboard facilities.  

I would like to wish a very happy Christmas to everyone & will we will talk again before we hit 2010.

www.fastnetline.com

The week was an eventful one for Fastnet and also myself. 

Unusually I will start on a Sunday 

Last Sunday I took a visit to Hosfords garden centre just outside Bandon.  It was their annual Xmas Farmers market.  I was very lucky to get a car space at 1pm.  I really enjoyed the day.  I had lunch as I enjoyed xmas carols. 

It was great to  meet John Hosford & Adrian Brentnall both major players in the Bring back the Ferry Campaign.  

Check out http://www.hosfordsgardencentre.ie/ for more info.  Well worth a visit anytime of the year.

On Tuesday it was an early start to meet the people who provide our booking engine.  They are the 2morrow group based just outside Oxford.  I spent the day going through last minute checks before our pricing went live. 

 I also spent some time in their call centre.  I had a chance to listen in to some Agents taking reservation calls.

 Later that night we drove down to Portsmouth to see the operational side at Portsmouth Ferry terminal.  It was very interesting g to see how quickly the vehicles get on and off the ships. 

Everyone at the 2morrow group were very helpful and I enjoyed the trip.

Thursday was the big day.  At 12pm we set our prices live on www.fastnetline.com Bookings for the 1^st day were very positive.  We also received some feedback on things on the website/booking engine you would like to see and we will consider all feedback.

Just to recap some important info.

The Inaugural sailing will be from Cork on the 01^st March 2010.

The Julia will then revert to schedule leaving Swansea the 03^rd march 2010.

Our opening prices include up to 3 children  with and adult & car travel go free.

Since I have started the blog I have been trying to pin down the Ships Operations Manager Owen Barry for an interview.   Owen is a busy man but I told him I was annoyed when I saw him giving a scoop to the Irish Examiner over my blog.  

This week I told Owen I would do a blog on him and fill in the blanks if he did not come into me.  Wisely Owen came into see me this morning. 

As I said Owen is the Ships Operation Manager and hails from Timoleague in West Cork. 

Owen has been involved in the shipping industry for 15 years now.  He previously worked with Irish Ferries.   He also spent some time with BP in Singapore & Texas.  

Owen is a key person in getting the Julia ready for action.  Of his many duties working with the ports of Cork & Swansea, suppliers & crewing are keeping him busy at the moment. 

Fuel costs in a year could be as high as €4m running the Julia so getting the best deal possible is vital for Fastnet line.  On a sailing between Cork/Swansea the Julia could use up to 20,000 litres of fuel on her engines & 8,000 on the generators. 

Owen said service speed would be around 19 knots as the Julia cruises across the Irish Sea.  

Among the other duties that the ships Operation Manager is responsible for are 

Overseeing safety procedures for the company 

Moving to new offices at Ringaskiddy 

Talking to customs & immigration in Cork & Swansea 

A big decision to make is where the Julia will go to dry dock for her annual survey in Jan/Feb.  Price and Quality of work will be the major factors in deciding this. 

Owen said Fastnet Line is a close team which will work well for the company.  If you give me the scoops Owen it could even be closer? 

Prices 

We had hoped to have our prices online this week.  Apologies for the slight delay.  We will go live with prices next Thursday the 10^th of Dec in the afternoon or early evening.   Thank you for your patience.

Other news -  Ann Cronin started this week as Sales Manager for Fastnet Line.  I am sure we will be hearing more about Ann on the blog soon.

This weeks exclusive twitter offer by irishbargains is for a  4 Star Dublin Hotel.  The Louis Fitzgerald Hotel.  The Louis Fitzgerald Hotel offers the best in modern facilities.  In a word it is sharp.  With the LUAS nearby Dublin City centre is not far away.    

Louis Fitzgerald is offering Irishbargains twitter followers 15% off.  This means you can enjoy this 4 star hotel for as low as €50 (example Sunday 06^th Dec)     

Can this offer be any better.  Well yes it can.  Louis is throwing in a free bottle of wine per reservation just for this offer.  

How to book?  Go to www.louisfitzgeraldhotel.com   & use Promo Code Twitter