OnTheWight has been pursuing for some weeks the ability for those travelling on the Isle of Wight ferries to stay in their vehicles during journeys, during the Coronavirus outbreak.
Red Funnel just announced four crossings where passengers can stay in their vehicles. Meanwhile Wightlink have also announced a relaxation of the rules, but offering more crossings where you can stay in your cars.
Crossings on the hour
From Thursday 19th March, some sailings on the Portsmouth – Fishbourne routes will operate on a ‘remain in vehicle’ basis for all drivers and their passengers. No foot passengers will be carried on these services.
We will use one of our larger ships St Clare for this purpose. She sails on the even hour from Portsmouth (06:00, 08:00 etc) and the odd hour from Fishbourne (07:00, 09:00 etc).
In summary:
- From Thursday 19th March 2020, all drivers and their passengers sailing on St Clare will remain in their vehicles during the crossings.
- St Clare sails on the even hour from Portsmouth (06:00, 08:00 etc) and the odd hour from Fishbourne (07:00, 09:00 etc). No foot passengers will be carried on these sailings, passenger lounges will be closed and shops and cafes will not be open.
- There will also be no access to onboard toilets from the vehicle deck so customers should use the facilities provided at Portsmouth and Fishbourne terminals before departure.
Other services remain the same
All other services (both Portsmouth-Fishbourne and Lymington-Yarmouth) will operate in the usual way with all customers leaving their vehicles after embarkation and spending the crossing in passenger lounges.
Customers wanting to change their bookings can do free of charge online.
Wightlink thanks customers for their patience as we have endeavoured to resolve this issue.
Image: grassrootsgroundswell under CC BY 2.0
