Worst Ferry Crossing you’ve been on?

[Scotrail314209]

For those of you who have travelled by ferry, I’m interested to hear the worst crossings that everybody has experienced when they’ve used a boat.

The worst I’ve had was relatively minor on the Caledonian Isles from Ardrossan to Brodick, it was a rough day and because of the swell it meant it was difficult to keep balance on the lower deck. We also sat at the bow meaning we felt everything.

 

[LSWR Cavalier]

Worst/best experience, not sure
Booked my car on Harwich-Hamburg. Car broke down on the way the port, rebooked for a few days later
Ferry was late, too much weather in the North Sea, docked at Cuxhaven instead of Hamburg, turned back from there
Received 30 quid compensation, +1. Cuxhaven has a good motorway connection, better than Hamburg, +2
Would have been worse the other way, check-in at Hamburg, then being told to drive to Cuxhaven

Unhappy end: Harwich-Hamburg no longer sails

 

[306024]

For bad weather it has to be a Newcastle - Bergen crossing. We had the cheapest cabins below the water line in deck 2. All was going OK until the sea got rough so feeling a bit queasy (it must have been rough as normally I’m OK) I retired to the cabin. However it must have been near a fresh water tank, as all you could hear was water sloshing around. A bit disconcerting when the ship is pitching around too.

Second was a Dover - Boulogne trip which was like riding a see-saw no sooner than we left the protection of Dover harbour. Some very green booze cruisers.

Most Harwich - Hook crossings have been fine, indeed these days are superb. But for a while the Stena Europe was employed on the route. Stepping into the cabin shower a rather dirty brown water came out which had me leaping backwards in alarm. No immediate harm done fortunately but Stena not only refunded my fare but gave me an additional free return crossing.

Wettest was Sydney - Manly. All us tourists standing at the front of the boat when a larger than normal wave hit and soaked many.

Strangest was the ceremony on the Hurtigruten when crossing the Arctic circle but I won’t spoil the surprise.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I've not really had a bad weather one that I can remember though I'm told I did when I was a kid, on Sealink's Earl William to Guernsey.

I've done Harwich-Hamburg and back a few times, the best part of that was the Elbe cruise, it was the beginning of the end when it was truncated. However the first time I used it we booked one of the "third class" cabins which were at about the waterline in the bow and were incredibly noisy and didn't have full partitions, and I just don't feel safe being down there as if anything happened you wouldn't be getting out. I think they were sold as couchettes, but even that was talking them up - proper "scum class", as you might put it. I gave up as it was so noisy every time we hit a wave and went and (attempted to) kip in a chair in the cafe. I did sleep on the way back as I was so tired! (It was a mini cruise break).

 

[LMS 4F]

Any BR ferry in the 1960s was one to forget but the Heysham - Belfast midnight boat on 30-12-1969 took the biscuit
En route to Omagh to join my new unit With two large suitcases we were the last train too arrive, from Leeds
No berths or seats sat on my two cases against a bulkhead for 7 hours of Irish Sea journey
Ended up sharing with a Belfast girl who no doubt would have thrown stones at me some weeks later given the chance
As for the cafe no chance
Then a bus journey to Omagh of about 2 hours
Never again I paid to fly home

 

[plymothian]

The Swift Holyhead - Dublin.
Going to Ireland was extremely rough weather and the ship skipping over and slamming in to the waves made everything shake violently, I was quite queesy.
Returning, docking didn't quite go to plan and we ran into the pier, ripping a hole down the side.

 

[TDMB_1907]

Two bad crossings I can remember:

A couple of years back we had a crossing back from Calais to Dover during a winter storm (gone over for a Christmas market break). Crossing was pretty bad, but thought we would be OK once inside the harbour wall. Wind so vicious it took another hour for the ferry to berth (in Dover 9 I think). We were (eventually) glad to drive off, although the wind and rain made the A20 back to the M20 an interesting drive in the dark.

The second one was going from the Icelandic mainland (Landeyjahöfn) to Vestmannaeyjar, Heimaey: a simple 35/40 minute crossing. As soon as we left the small harbour the boat pitched up and down like a theme park ride and didn't stop for the entire crossing. Cue plenty of staggering, toppling and green faces. Weather on the way back was not much better, and the normal route back was cancelled and we ended up on the much longer route to Þorlákshöfn (~3 hours), eventually arriving back on the mainland around 12 hours later than we were supposed to.

 

[CW2]

I turned up at a windy Oostende for the evening sailing to Dover, as the last leg of my marathon 2-week winter trip around Europe. "Cancelled, bus to Zeebrugge". Oh cock, that's spoiled any plans for reaching London tonight. The bus duly dumped us at Zeebrugge, where we boarded by walking in between the lorries which had already been loaded, and firmly tied down. I went straight to the purser's office and tried to book a cabin. Apparently on the Zeebrugge route the cabins were only for HGV drivers, but he took my name, and about 30 minutes later there was a PA announcement, and I was allocated sole use of a 4-berth cabin. Meanwhile the wind was getting up ...
Six hours into the four-hour crossing, I awoke to find my belongings had scattered themselves around the cabin, and the whole vessel pitching about like an angry buffalo. I staggered carefully to the Purser's office to enquire. Apparently a preceding sailing had tried to enter Dover Harbour and had got wedged in the harbour wall like a cork in a bottle. We had dropped anchor off Sandling, and were now at the mercy of the storm. Several more hours passed before eventually we were able to enter Dover Harbour. That cabin was an absolute bargain. My eventual arrival at Dover Priory left me with about 15 minutes before the first London train of the day.

 

[alxndr]

I discovered that I get violently seasick on the ferry to Norway as a child. I don't want to get too graphic, but the antisickness tablets we tried were bright pink, and it was lucky we paid for the plate of toast (that I tried warning them was a bad idea) in advance. Thankfully the return was slightly calmer and less messy, but it's put me off ferries for life.

Even the short trip across the Firth of Forth from South Queensferry to Inchcolm Island was enough to make me feel very rough (somehow I forgot about my seasickness when planning the trip). Felt a bit of a fool as both the youngest person on the boat and the only one suffering.

 

[gordonthemoron]

Worst ferry crossing: Ostend-Dover 1991, it was so rough that it was nye on impossible to walk in a straight line whilst the ship was still in Ostend harbour
Worst ferry: Mersin-Famagusta 2012, ancient, nowhere to sleep,took ages, mainly lorry drivers

 

[SteveM70]

I hate going on boats, always have done. According to my mum she thinks it’s from a holiday in Cornwall when I was 4 where they took us on a boat trip and it was a bit rough and the boat was small.

Two spring to mind:

Felixstowe to Zeebrugge in 1986ish. I was 15 or 16 and on a school trip. We got to Felixstowe and it was vile weather and the waves were pretty big even in the harbour. We decided the solution to a rough crossing was to get drunk and sleep through it. All that did was make it ten times worse. We were all very ill

Circular Quay to Manly on the ferry in Sydney. Going across the swell so the boat was rolling rather than pitching. My rational head was telling me it was normal, my irrational head was seeing water within maybe 6-12 inches of the top of the side of the boat and I convinced myself we were going to sink. I was apparently white as a sheet and rigid. My then wife decided the best way to calm me down was to tell me not to worry about drowning because the sharks would eat us first. Needless to say everything was fine

 

[Devonian]

Without a doubt, the Scillionian from St Mary's to Penzance on a fairly windy day: the boat is flat-bottomed to cope with the shallow sea and rolls, twists and turns like a fairground ride: not for nothing is it known as the Great White Stomach Pump.

In comparison, a force 8-9 Plymouth to Roscoff was like a picnic.

 

[gordonthemoron]

Felixstowe to Zeebrugge in 1986ish. I was 15 or 16 and on a school trip. We got to Felixstowe and it was vile weather and the waves were pretty big even in the harbour. We decided the solution to a rough crossing was to get drunk and sleep through it. All that did was make it ten times worse. We were all very ill

Zeebrugge-Felixstowe in 1994, the crossing was so bad we spent the entire journey in the cinema to stop us throwing up

 

[dgl]

Probably worst for me was on one of our day trips to the Channel Islands from Weymouth, probably to Guernsey.
Personally I did not feel queasy but most of the other passengers did, banging and crashing around, plus every now and then you would hear things falling of the shelves in the shop!
In all fairness I found it quite fun and saw it as more of a theme park ride than a ferry crossing.

 

[LSWR Cavalier]

One bad experience was on Rotterdam - Hull, found myself sleeping near the live music. Actually it was some way away, but it spreads a lot, many cabins are affected
Best to check where the cabin is on boarding, often one can get moved

I have many more good than bad memories of sea travel, do others agree?

 

[Bletchleyite]

I have many more good than bad memories of sea travel, do others agree?

Yes I would say so, it's very civilised.

 

[Scotrail314209]

So many stories, I don’t envy you all in the slightest.

I’m surprised the Northlink from Aberdeen to Orkney/Shetland hasn’t came up yet as that one can be particularly awful.

 

[Dr Hoo]

Even the Scrabster-Orkney ferry across the Pentland Firth can be pretty wild although the trip is much shorter of course. A few cattle lorries (with their inevitable stench) can add to the queasiness of the crossing.

My worst experience was undoubtedly as a foot passenger on Dublin-Holyhead a few years ago now. Apparently all sailings had been cancelled in view of an impending 'storm' but I then received a text saying that a ship would be sailing very early in the morning for 'essential' journeys. Got to the port with a very few other passengers and we were welcomed on board. The crew said the the conditions were the worst for at least five years. Extremely rough as soon as we left the shelter of the harbour. Just over halfway and the vessel gave a tremendous roll that really did make everyone think "is it going to capsize". There was huge crash as most of the shop and restaurant stock and equipment fell from shelves and much loose furniture in the lounge slid to the lower wall. Some passengers experienced minor injuries. The ship then righted and after a short pause a slightly broken voice from the Captain over the PA said "sorry about that". Shortly afterwards we were told that we were making for the shelter of the Llyn Peninsula.

Creeping up the coast we eventually made it to Holyhead. Needless to say there was no planned train connection. However there was a train in the platform. Travelling light I made it to the rear door just as the guard began the despatch procedure. I was OK but the only one who was as the remainder of the hardy bunch of survivors were left on the platform screaming "You b*st*rd" as we pulled out.

But at least I wasn't sick.

 

[Scotrail314209]

In these bad conditions, it shows off the sheer skill of the crew up on the bridge.

It can't be an easy job to navigate a large passenger ferry through extremely bad conditions, my hat goes off to them.

In terms of rough crossings, I believe The Minch can also get pretty bad and leads to frequent cancellations of the Stornoway ferry.

 

[Gloster]

At the age of seven I travelled with my parents from either St Malo or Cherbourg to Southampton on an overnight sailing. The weather was so bad and so many were sick that I spent the whole trip tucked up next to a young Dutch woman (I was too young or too miserable to appreciate that) in the little bit of shelter under the bridge wings. The young woman had abandoned her fiancé as he was being ill down below.

There was also a daytime trip across to Dieppe on either the Valençay or the Villandry during which I also remained on deck due to the number of people being ill.

More mundane memories, mere mild inconveniences, include being woken up several times in the night on a Göteborg-Harwich sailing by the grunting from the bunk above me as the only other occupant of the four-man cabin had sneaked his girlfriend in. Or the sheer boredom of being stuck with a Swede who appeared to know every detail of the history of Arsenal FC. Then there was the rush at Korsør on the Great Belt to get a decent table in the ship’s restaurant: it could be annoying if I grabbed a place, only to find I was on the smokers’ side (two of the ferries had non-smoking on the starboard side, but on the third it was on the port). Or catching a ferry from Hirtshals to Kristiansand after being lucky enough to turn up a couple of hours earlier than intended and finding that the ferry was leaving two hours earlier than the time on my pre-booked ticket. Then finding that the reason for the early departure (and late arrival in Norway) was a shortage of lifeboats, meaning the ship had to hug the coast rather than go straight across.

 

[vlad]

I can't really remember any really bad ferry crossing - but then I don't travel by sea that often.

One that people around me certainly weren't enjoying was the ferry back from Flat Holm to Cardiff. It was a small boat, only about 40 passengers, half of whom had a seat in the cabin and the other half outside. The swell on the Bristol Channel was high enough that waves were breaking over the boat, meaning we were soaked from the start, and we were given strict instructions to remain seated, or we'd probably fall overboard due to the motion of the boat.

We all agreed it was an experience - I quite enjoyed it, although I'm glad it didn't last too long!

 

[30907]

Rough crossing: the Normannia to Boulogne with the school railway society about 1970 - we were supposed to use the Hovercraft but it was too rough
Poor facilities: a day crossing from Roscoff in the mid 90s - the only free seating seemed to be in the cafeteria, and it was a 6-hour crossing

 

[gingerheid]

I once travelled from Tallinn to Aegna on Juka on a lovely calm day and returned on... well, we were lucky the boat ran, I was imaging spending the night inside one of the abandoned houses on the island during a storm

 

[philthetube]

My worse ever was Bergan to Newcastle, really rough, all cars chained down.

Huch worse however for those doing the booze cruise return, they had 21 hours of seasickness, should have been 18, then 2 hours in Denmark and 21 hours back.

 

[randyrippley]

Not a personal experience, but one of a former girlfriend.


She was traveling Heysham-Douglas on the Manx Viking (Sealink Manx Line), late 70's early 80's.
They left Heysham on time, heading into a gale, by the time they got to Douglas the weather made entrance to the harbour impossible, so they returned to Heysham. By the time they got back, Heysham was also impossible, but Douglas was open again - so they turned round once again and headed for Douglas - only for it to be closed again when they got there. So back to Heysham in hope of better weather......but the better weather never came so the ship headed for the protection of the Clyde and weathered the storm.
Eventually as casualties grew desperation kicked in and the ship was taken to the west side of the Island and tied up alongside at Peel, to be met by a cavalcade of ambulances. Thirty six hours after departure.
No linkspan at Peel, so the smashed cars couldn't be offloaded until the weather abated enough to take the ship to Douglas two days later. Allegedly many of the vehicles were simply dragged / scraped off the cardeck by a bulldozer

 

[Bevan Price]

Liverpool to Douglas when I must have been about 8. It was a very rough day, and due to some "old wives tale", my parents had fed me some barley sugar, which was claimed to "settle the stomach". That was a failure, and although I just avoided being sick, the barley sugar made me feel a lot worse than I might otherwise have been. (And plenty of other passengers did get seasick. )

 

[Scotrail314209]

Not a personal experience, but one of a former girlfriend.


She was traveling Heysham-Douglas on the Manx Viking (Sealink Manx Line), late 70's early 80's.
They left Heysham on time, heading into a gale, by the time they got to Douglas the weather made entrance to the harbour impossible, so they returned to Heysham. By the time they got back, Heysham was also impossible, but Douglas was open again - so they turned round once again and headed for Douglas - only for it to be closed again when they got there. So back to Heysham in hope of better weather......but the better weather never came so the ship headed for the protection of the Clyde and weathered the storm.
Eventually as casualties grew desperation kicked in and the ship was taken to the west side of the Island and tied up alongside at Peel, to be met by a cavalcade of ambulances. Thirty six hours after departure.
No linkspan at Peel, so the smashed cars couldn't be offloaded until the weather abated enough to take the ship to Douglas two days later. Allegedly many of the vehicles were simply dragged / scraped off the cardeck by a bulldozer

Wow, all the way up to the Clyde? That must’ve been hell... enough to put you off ferry travel for life

 

[randyrippley]

Wow, all the way up to the Clyde? That must’ve been hell... enough to put you off ferry travel for life

They were lucky it was the Manx Viking....she was lively in rough seas but had massive fuel tanks - in theory she could have reached the Falklands unrefueled. Some other ships would have been running on fumes after that time at sea.

 

[dgl]

In addition to my previous recollection, we once had a tour of the bridge when they were restarting Condor sailings from Weymouth after the harbour was repaired and were having a day where one of the catamarans stayed in Weymouth harbour so you could have a look round.
The captain said that the restriction in the height of the waves that the catamarans could travel in was completely different when not in service and the delivery trips were supposedly very lively in places, much, much more so than would be allowed in passenger operation. Would have loved to experience what that must have felt.
And this experience would not be at low speed either as I understand they are at their most efficient when running at full pelt, they certinaly use more fuel on a crossing if they have an engine out.

 

[swt_passenger]

Liverpool to Douglas when I must have been about 8. It was a very rough day, and due to some "old wives tale", my parents had fed me some barley sugar, which was claimed to "settle the stomach". That was a failure, and although I just avoided being sick, the barley sugar made me feel a lot worse than I might otherwise have been. (And plenty of other passengers did get seasick. )

Isn’t the barley sugar trick supposed to be for helping clear your ears when flying? I can see why they might get mixed up as it’s seen as a travel issue...