Wightlink Ferries

If you’re not prepared to swim, there are 3 ways to cross from the mainland to the Isle of Wight with dry feet. Thr girlfriend and I had done the hovercraft, which was fun and the fastest crossing as a passenger
On our weekend trip this weekend, we took the car and chose the Portsmouth to Fishbourne route as it’s the shorter of the car ferry journeys (Red Funnel leave from Southampton)
The route is well signposted from the M27 and we encountered no traffic, coming down for the 8pm ferry on a Friday night. Nice to see that, especially as it was the weekend of the IOW round the island race
On arrival, we were directed to a lane to wait for the ferry. There was no mention of the 45 minute delay we then noticed on the large dot matrix sign. The time for the next ferry was also wrong as it was for 19.30 and we arrived at 19.45. There were no announcements or explanations about the delay but one of the marshalls we spoke to at least tried to be helpful but perhaps, they could try and keep their customers informed a bit better
We popped into Greggs, located in the car park area, for a little nibble. There’s also a Costa Coffee available
The other slight annoyance was the lack of firm marshalling when the time came to board. There wasn’t enough vigilance to stop some naughty cars from cutting in line ahead of other cars which had arrived before them
The journey itself was pleasant enough with some light refreshments available though we chose to enjoy the lovely sun-​dappled views of the Solent from the outdoor promenade deck
Incidentally, the 3^rd way to cross over is by catamaran to Ryde

Not a bad mode of transport overall, although really not much choice if you want to go from Portsmouth to the IOW! The prices are quite high for taking a car onto the car ferry, but foot passengers are slightly less panic inducing!
Once on board, the ferries are clean and the staff responsive to questions and eager to help. The ferries themselves are in good condition.
The café on board the car ferries is expensive, but you can take along your own food, and generally can always find a seat to pop yourself down on.
The fastcats are one of the quickest ways to get over to the island, and fairly resonably priced for the trip i think. No facilities on board except a toilet (generally clean and in good condition), but then what else do you need for a 15 minute trip?

This ferry company runs ferries from Portsmouth and Yarmouth to the Isle of Wight and all it’s ferry services are much the same.
The boats themselves are in good condition, clean, comfortable enough and run on time.
The negative point is the price. For the short journey the prices are ridiculous but if you are going over the island you have to use the ferries.
I would say that it is a good service but the price unfortunately overshadows the rest.

Again like Red Funnel great service, dedicated boarding lane for blue badge holders, quicker crossing than Red funnel because Portsmouth is closer than Southampton to the IOW. All in all can’t fault wightlink it’s a great ferry service.

Wightlink ferries which operate to and from the Isle of Wight go from Portsmouth to Fishbourne and Lymington to Yarmouth. The company also run Fastcat services from Portsmouth to Ryde. The Portsmouth route being the most popular.
We have never experienced any delays and if we were early and there was space on the ferry prior to ours they would put us on this (Bonus)
The ferries themselves are quite good, theres a café on board which is overpriced obviously, but the food is just microwaved so I recommend taking your own. There is plenty seating for everyone and seating outside you like. The average journey time is about 45 minutes.
Now, we come to the price, Wightlink charge the highest out of all the ferry operators going to the IOW, I would personally recommend Red Funnel from Southampton as they are much cheaper, and there are coffee shops, a café serving proper food and a var on board.
Check my other reviews for Red Funnel, I would say use Red Funnel if possible.