Stena Line Reviews

Appalling customer service
I have travelled with Stena Line frequently. Unfortunately I have had an issue with an upcoming future travel. So I contacted Customer Service. The lady I spoke to was trying to be helpful but was limited in her abilities to help me and recommended I emailed a feedback email address. Now a week later I have not received a response to my email, I have called again and have been promised to be called during office hours next day and haven’t been called and have just spent 30 min on the phone again to somebody who is unable to address the issues and whose sole solution was for me to send another email or call a different line which now turns out to no longer be in use. Additionally turns out the lady who initially tried to help me has misinformed me to my financial detriment. Having spent much time on hold, I have been on a continuous loop of the recording on Stena Line’s “Passion to deliver great service” - what a terrible experience!

Clean cabin, punctual.

I never thought I would be leaving a negative review about Stena Line. We travelled Harwich to Rotterdam in early December & noticed a definite decline in the service for the A La Carte restaurant schedule they have rebranded (downgraded), although the prices remain the same. Our top end cabin stank. On our return in January we were told our booking in the “Taste+” restaurant had been cancelled & we would have to eat & sit in the self service restaurant, in fact everybody including the drivers, who used to have their own restaurant, were sitting in the same place. No refund was offered to us other than a bottle of water & a drink. Even the waiters, who know us because we travel on Stena so often, we’re embarrassed by the situation. Although mandatory wearing of face masks was in place around 30% of passengers simply didn’t bother. There were drivers from all over Europe walking around without face masks. None of Stena’s staff seemed very bothered.

StenaLine - Holyhead to Dublin (14:45, 13/11/2021)

I can't complain at all. This was my first time taking a car on a ferry and it went incredibly smoothly.

From the reviews I was expecting something far worse than what I got, in fact the place seemed pretty luxurious. I had no problems finding a place to sit, had a nap, watched some stuff that I'd downloaded from iPlayer before the journey and before I knew it, I was docking, so overall it was a really pleasant journey.

A couple of other notes is that the 20-minutes of free WiFi were slow but functional, and the bartender was even happy to refill my water bottle for me when I asked.

The one small thing I think could be improved is clarity about check-in times. They sent information about checkin closing 30 minutes before for those with vehicles, but I think it would be nice to also recommend how long beforehand you should arrive.

(Since it was my first time, I saw people who required assistance were advised to arrive no later than 75 minutes before, so I went for that as a safe bet).

I can't vouch for onboard service; I never got to travel because of Covid-19. What I can say is that their response to my request for a refund was first-rate. No quibble, full refund, and appeared on my card within three days. This does give me considerable confidence in the thought of booking for future trips.

This is to warn all users when using Stenaline Freight for transferring unaccompanied cars about possible damage because the staff do not take care of your car while transporting. And even worse after damage they do not report to their supervisor.

This was my experience when I use Stenaline to transport my car from Holyhead to Dublin on the 20th June 20. Imagine my surprise that when I picked it up on the 25th June to find the rear window had been broken and the back of the door stoved in. It was more of a surprise to find that someone had not even bothered to report it to management.

The damage cost 560 Euros to be repaired. Stenaline, needless to say, you will not be getting my custom ever again.

This company is guilty of deliberate cheating. I accumulated 913 loyalty points with Stena Line, saved for a future purchase. These were simply deleted, because it suited a new marketing strategy. Now I travel DFDS instead, and enjoy dealing with a straightforward company.

Cairnryan to Belfast. NOT DUTCH FLYER
They improved this trip. It was hard work to get them to let me park next to the blue lift though. What part of disabled do they not get? Most of the other disabled cars were put further up and in the middle lane. It is not good enough. There was plenty of room. However the suite was not sprayed with air freshener this time thank goodness. Apart from being late departing and arriving, and the kids running around like wild animals (until I eventually shouted shut up), all went well.

Booked a package holiday with stenaline/pontins accommodation was unsecure and filthy so bad that I paid for hotel accommodation.I complained to stenaline who just Ignored my complaint but did stop Taking Bookings for pontins so I take it I was not alone in my complaint Regarding pontins southport

Many thanks to Llinos who handled my query/complaint very promtply and in a satisfactory manner and in the past to Jade & Lesley in the eXtra Member Services Team. They all have been very patient and helpful.
Now looking forward to a smooth 17h crossing from France to Ireland !

Oh my goodness, never again. I had cause to travel to Ireland & stupidly thought, I will have a change from my usual route & carrier, & decided to use Stena on their Holyhead to Dublin route, & return with them.
NEVER AGAIN!!!! On the way over, I decided to have a breakfast bap, well it was the early hours of the morning and I was starving!!! I would have thrown it together better for my dogs!!!!! It was expensive, greasy and indigestion, I thought I would die. The shop, which on Irish Ferries stays open during the whole of the crossing, thereby giving you something to do, only opens on Stena at 5am, for less than an hour, mind you I can see why, it's useless!!!!!
Also on IF, the restaurant stays open until you dock, so you can grab a cuppa and take it to your car. NOT SO on Stena, they close long before you dock and are busy counting their money, while you stand looking on parched.
The journey back was as bad, if not worse. The boat was freezing, the shop, again open at 5am, marginally better, as it had Molton Brown!!! When you bought a hot drink, you could have as many refills as you liked, oh good, I thought, I'll get a cuppa from machine before we go back to car!!!!!!!! Surprise, surprise, no milk and where were the staff??? You guessed it counting the money behind the till!!!!!
The man eventually got the milk cartons, but the tea was cold by then!!!!

IRISH FERRIES, I LOVE YOU XXX

Travelled in the Fishguard to Rosslaire route for the 1St time in 5 years. Before travelling I joined the reward programme and I was told boarding card upon check in would allow points to be added . Checked in early hours of morning for outward sailing which was without incident.
Before sailing we also received an email saying that I could purchase a meal deal where we could receive 2 adult meals and up to 3 kids meal and ANY 5 drinks for a set price. Sounded Fab with 3 children. So upon return crossing we tried to avail ourselves of this offer. Despite showing restaurant staff email we were told we were only entitled to 2 adult and 2 kids meals and kids must have a cheap squash drink not ANY drink. They told me to take it up with onboard customer services but again no joy. So I emailed customer services upon my return. They sent me standard apologetic email but no compensation for lies.
Furthermore crossing was really busy and we couldn't even find seats together.
Only positive of return crossing was kids entertainment which was great.

I have to use Stena to visit family - there's no other operator that does this route. The fares are now offensively high, the offers are not worth the paper they're written on and the onboard prices are just laughable. To expand - the offers are massively restricted so they generally don't apply to most cases. To meet all the criteria would be so expensive as to render the offer completely pointless. For me travelling alone - forget it!

Website is a bit shaky, it only works on certain browsers and even then is intermittent. They are so slow to respond to help requests that if I could possibly avoid using them, I would.

Everyone I've ever spoken to at Stena's Holyhead call centre has always been a pleasure to deal with.

They are to be commended for their high standards of customer service. Always really friendly and helpful.