Lately I’ve been doing a few jollies over to Ireland from holyhead to Dublin and back up to Belfast or Larne and across to Cairnryan.
tonight is my first night crossing, is it common for drivers to stay in the cab on the lower decks?
I’ve only noticed it tonight and didn’t think it was allowed.
I’m bored and not a tad bit sleepy 
It’s not allowed but if nobody sees you nobody knows.
Just bare in mind the carnage that ensued on those lower decks just a few weeks ago during a rough crossing.
harrawaffa:
It’s not allowed but if nobody sees you nobody knows.Just bare in mind the carnage that ensued on those lower decks just a few weeks ago during a rough crossing.
That’s what I was thinking about, I’m happy in the cabin reading my book
one other thing, how do fat arsed drivers supposed to get out the cab on the deck as they are parked so close, I’m struggling and I am only just the wrong side of skinny
Apparently about a week after the carnage on the Larne to Cairnryan P+O the Stena boat from Cairnryan to Belfast slipped into Belfast and didnt anounce its arrival . Nobody was allowed down to the decks and the local police came on board and started knocking the doors of the trucks on the vechile decks . 7 drivers were found in their trucks , fined £100 and told the next time they would be barred from all Stens sailings .
Can’t confirm the story but you take your chances .
I used to stay in the cab on the LD lines Portsmouth to Le Havre crossing quite regularly. As I drove a fridge I was one of the first to be loaded, so once on I’d go upstairs and book in, get a cabin, go for a shower and then back down onto the deck where everyone was too busy to notice me getting back into my cab.
I’m sure the deck crew knew it went in as they’d come round half hour before docking knocking on all the cabs with closed curtains.
I was happy doing it in that boat as it was a semi open deck so escape in the event of an emergency was a possibility.
I was always very wary doing it on the Brittany boats as most were sealed truck decks and so you’d be trapped in the event of an emergency.
The exceptions were top deck of either the Mont St Michael or the Normandie.
Go back far enough and it was common practice on the Poole Cherbourg crossing with either the Coutance or Purbeck. Not sure what H&S would make of us climbing across carwalks while drunk as a skunk trying to get back to our cabs after a night in the bar!!
Aren’t most if not all car deck doors alarmed when opened at sea with the alarm sounding on the bridge, I might be wrong (not unknown) but I thought that was the new regulation ■■?
lie in your bunk and itl not be a problem.
be aware on the dublin ferries the taliban deck crew might batter your door 10 mins after sailing to see if your in your kip,so just make a point of not automatically jumping up.
they will only try once.
on stena/p&o then its par for the course and the done thing,just dont make it obvious before it drops the clutch to set sail.
set your alarm for 1hr 50 and wait till you see the decks filling up before you jump up.
if its the birkenhead boats,then make sure you give your ticket to another irish/brit driver so he can have the cabin to himself then as before set your alarm for 7-30 after the clutch drops and you will awake nicely half way up the mersey or lagan.
they wont mix races/countries/origins,so the taliban bunk with each other and the pinks get bunked accordingly.
when they measure the ferries for the lanes,they dont take into account for the mirrors and assume each loading will take about 3 weeks so the drivers can comfortably meander down from their cabs with no rush and open doors.
the reality is get out sharpish or just lock your fdoors and set your alarm when your horizontal.
your going to drown like a rat in a trap anyway,so why not be in your bed at the time.
you can always get out the cab and open the deck doors from the deck,you just cant go down mid sailing without the 4 digit code.
play around with the code for the truckies lounge and you wont be far away if you want to pass the time,or watch the flipflop open it.