It wasn’t always like this, for Fiftysomethings it was toy cars on the deck, but for today’s kids Stena’s Holyhead family hub is a racing cert.
It is safe to say that Seventies chidren, or maybe just this lad, got to know the deck of the ferry pretty well.
On those schoolday Easter trips from Stranraer to Larne with my Dear Old Mum, on our way to her Co. Donegal homestead.
And always on my eyes ducking passengers’ feet.
The Irish Sea diaspora
For those of the Irish Sea diaspora, and with air prices sky high, the car ferry was always the vessel of choice.
With the good people of Donegal and the north of Ireland always decamping to Scotland on account of its proximity.
And those from Dublin and the south relocating to England through the port of Holyhead on Anglesey.
The ferries became a window into the world of the Irish Diaspora on the move.
Men exchanging the craic in a swirl of smoke and booze in the bar.
And the women trying to keep their kids under control as their kids whizzed their newly procured toy cars through’ folks’ legs.
Bells and whistles
Times have, of course, changed.
And no tech-savvy kid would put up with a toy car for entertainment on a ferry.
And Stena has too with its bells and whistles family hub to keep Mum, Dad and Junior happy… and outta the way.
With an interactive wall, digital floor projections and a cutting-edge gaming corner, Stena Line.
And there’s space too on the top-of-the-range Estrid which I’ve road tested and so has their team of kid testers.
Estrid’s family hub boast a seating capacity for 115.
And Stena offers a 2.2 family and car return from Dublin to Holyhead on board the top-of-the-range Estrid from £353