Ryanair are reintroducing the direct Faro-Cork flights in November through Christmas which is fantastic for us. It is our turn to visit our granddaughters in Mallow this year. It has been a real pain having to travel Faro-Dublin then train to Mallow. The last time this route was run it made it easy. The Dublin route was a 12hr travel day if everything joined up trains-planes and automobiles.

Good news for you but not much use to anyone who's airport of choice is not Faro and doesn't want to go to Cork!

Not bad for those who like flying. I was hoping that the new Galicia ship would go from Ringaskiddy but now it seems it's only from Rosslare. For me it's a bit shorter down to Cork and easier to drive than Rosslare.

We prefer Pont Aven have sailed on her into Cork, Portsmouth and now Plymouth. We have also sailed on the new class of boats with Irish Ferries from wales to Rosslare and Dublin. It may be nostalgia but I think th old boats were nicer. However the new ones do seem more spacious, having once climbed out of the window to leave the car. That just shows the increase in car dimensions over 5-10 yrs when boats have a 50 or more yrs lifespan.

I hope the cabin crew are not all from Cork or at least they do 2 "speeches" as who from not there can understand them... LOL

Love the Pont Aven and it's a shame it doesn't go to Spain from Ireland. At the moment they only have the Connemara and that's very basic, so most of the time I go via France. I would love to avoid France more in the future once the Connemara is replaced and anything would be an upgrade. I agree though and although more spacious, the new Irish Ferries boat is a bit boring.