The ferry trip over

[Fred Asparagus]

Every time I've been to Shetland i have flown over, This time i intend to catch the the ferry after driving up from down south, can anyone tell me what to expect regarding check in times / actual arrival times / will i be sea sick. I am hoping to come for 7 weeks this year, although "visitscotland" brass me off with there £4.00 booking fee, £4.00 for doing there your own job,Eh. brilliant i think i will start charging my customers for claiming there shortages / damages.

[benjiesmum]

Lucky you, Fred. I have heard (but I'm not sure) that you have to have identification with you these days to board a ferry within the UK. Do you know if this is true. You see, I haven't got a passport anymore nor have I a new UK photocard driving licence either. If it is true it must be terrible to arrive at the ferry to be told that you need ID. Maybe george knows.....

[Fred Asparagus]

Hi BM yep Ive never had a passport, i only had a photo driving license since last year, cos i wasn't sure what eastern airways required. Ive never been on a boat for more than a couple of hours (weymouth 2hrs) and twice on the inter island (Yell / Unst) so was just wondering how bad it is

[georgeg]

Hi. fred.
You will need a photo ID. to get on board, your photo license will be fine..

check in time is one hour before sailing time..

I can't remember the sailing time's, but if you google up northlink, it will tell you.. comeing up to shetland the arrival time is 0730

going back to aberdeen, the arrival time is 0700...

sea sickness he.he he. I was only sea-sick once, it was blowing a right storm, I thought I was dieing, strangely enough it did'nt bother my late wife.. she was never sick on the ferry at all.. it would be better to have a cabin, that would help you, if you are a bad traveller, then go to sleep in da cabin..

I hope this help's you fred..

if it's an orkney sailing, then it's 14 hour's on board..

12 hour's if it's a direct sailing..

PS.. when I came home just three week's ago, one hour out from aberdeen the wave's were breaking right over the ship.. ;D ;D ;D

[MG]

Jul 2, 2008 21:50:29 GMT 1 @georgeg said:

Hi. fred.
You will need a photo ID. to get on board, your photo license will be fine..

check in time is one hour before sailing time..

I can't remember the sailing time's, but if you google up northlink, it will tell you.. comeing up to shetland the arrival time is 0730

going back to aberdeen, the arrival time is 0700...

sea sickness he.he he. I was only sea-sick once, it was blowing a right storm, I thought I was dieing, strangely enough it did'nt bother my late wife.. she was never sick on the ferry at all.. it would be better to have a cabin, that would help you, if you are a bad traveller, then go to sleep in da cabin..

I hope this help's you fred..

if it's an orkney sailing, then it's 14 hour's on board..

12 hour's if it's a direct sailing..

PS.. when I came home just three week's ago, one hour out from aberdeen the wave's were breaking right over the ship.. ;D ;D ;D

George you're a wicked man, frightening Fred like that.

Fatty pork sandwiches are the answer.

[malcolm]

Jul 3, 2008 8:34:36 GMT 1 MG said:

Jul 2, 2008 21:50:29 GMT 1 @georgeg said:

Hi. fred.
You will need a photo ID. to get on board, your photo license will be fine..

check in time is one hour before sailing time..

I can't remember the sailing time's, but if you google up northlink, it will tell you.. comeing up to shetland the arrival time is 0730

going back to aberdeen, the arrival time is 0700...

sea sickness he.he he. I was only sea-sick once, it was blowing a right storm, I thought I was dieing, strangely enough it did'nt bother my late wife.. she was never sick on the ferry at all.. it would be better to have a cabin, that would help you, if you are a bad traveller, then go to sleep in da cabin..

I hope this help's you fred..

if it's an orkney sailing, then it's 14 hour's on board..

12 hour's if it's a direct sailing..

PS.. when I came home just three week's ago, one hour out from aberdeen the wave's were breaking right over the ship.. ;D ;D ;D

George you're a wicked man, frightening Fred like that.

Fatty pork sandwiches are the answer.

MG is also wrong!


A huge fry up is what is needed, Burnt sausages, Greasy bacon, Runny egg, chunky black-pudding, tinned tomatoes and fat soaked fried bread. ;D ;D

[Fred Asparagus]

Thanks for the tip's George, I do not know if i am going to be seasick or not, but i think i will take Mg's and Malcolm's advice and have a great big fry up prior to boarding ;D ;D 4½ months to go, it's to early to be getting the collywobles over a boat trip

[deltinglass]

WellI would take MG's and Malcolm's advice with a muckle pinch of salt I think
My advice is to take travel sickness pills beforehand and then go and lie down as soon as the boat sails - don't wait until you start feeling seasick! I eat a light meal at lunchtime and take sandwiches for supper - if I feel ok when the ferry has passed through the Roost I eat them, if not then I starve but I am not seasick!

[malcolm]

Roll roll roll the boat across the heavy seas


;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

[heimdal]

Best thing for sea-sickness is raspberry jam. Take at least three spoonfulls.
It won't stop you being sick, but it tastes a lot better ;D

Seriously, most of it is in the mind, if you start thinking about being seasick, you probably will be. If you decide to take a tablet, Stugeron will not make you sleepy, like some of the others do. Apparently it acts on the 'balance tubes' in the ear.
If you do start to feel queesy (sp ?), get your head down and have a sleep.

[benjiesmum]

Jul 3, 2008 23:51:15 GMT 1 heimdal said:

If you decide to take a tablet, Stugeron will not make you sleepy, like some of the others do. Apparently it acts on the 'balance tubes' in the ear.

My mum used to swear by these tablets!

I thought walking about on the boat worked because you are meant to look at the horizon - that has worked for me when I was younger but I don't think I've ever been sea-sick.

[malcolm]

Nothing to worry about, These crossings are always smooth

www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhsBfNxWILg

[Fred Asparagus]

Oh cheers Malcolm , Now i'm really looking fore ward to my boat trip DG / BM / Hd i think i will go with the tablet jobber (+the breakfast) then go to bed ;D

[Fifi]

Fred, pay no heed to Mal de Mer ;D wot is just trying to scare you. The Hamnavoe isn't even a North boat. Well, not north as in far northern extremities <ie Shetland>. It does the Pentland Firth crossing <Orkney - mainland> which can be rough at times. Whereas the Shetland crossing is like a millpond. Ok, I'm fibbing too. ;D

Honestly, joking apart, in summer you shouldn't have a problem, unless you're the sort of person who gets seasick looking at a boat. The Aberdeen-Lerwick crossing is usually fine in the summer. We've recently done it and it was very calm. Winter is when you might have to dive straight into your bed or some go for the Stugeron. Even then, you might find a winter crossing is perfectly fine.

A cabin is advisable as it's a long overnight crossing, and if it did happen to be a bit rough <yours shouldn't be if it's summer> you could go to bed. Some people don't get a cabin and get a reclining seat which is one step up <or down, depending on how you feel about it> from lying down on a seat in a public area or the floor. <some people like the seats in the bar, although you're at the pointy end so can feel the movement more> You might find students, backpackers, etc littering the floor and seats but if you can afford it, get a cabin. You can also get a single berth in a cabin if you're travelling alone of course or pay to get exclusive use. I shared once some years back - you can hit it lucky and get it to yourself. I think I had it to myself one way and shared the other way.

The boats are quite new and actually not bad at all. There's a self-service restaurant <which I always seem to find chilly> and an a la carte one. Shop, games machines, soft play area for kiddies, bigger bar and smaller one. The smaller one services hot drinks and snacks after the main restaurants close. TVs and also they show 2 <or 3?> films in a separate area which you have to buy tickets for. There's probably other stuff I've forgotten about.. someone else might chip in.

Your ferry ticket also acts are your door key. When they introduced the new boats, they thought about putting TVs in every cabin, but didn't. This last time we were down, we paid a little extra and got one of the posher cabins - TV & DVD, 2 bottles of water, tea making stuff plus a peerie pack of 3 Foord's choccies.

With the old boats <P&O> everyone had to leave the boat immediately it docked, whereas now you can stay on for an hour or two and take your time getting up, having breakfast etc if you want. If you have a car, you still have to get up and get the car off, but can come back on with your ticket if you want. If you want, you can get Northlink to take your car off <or on> for you. <not sure, you might have to pay for that>

£4 booking fee with Visit Scotland? Is that for booking accommodation? You could just book direct with the providers and avoid the fee, I suppose. 7 weeks! Well done you - you'll be an honorary Shetlander before long.

[MG]

Fiona/Fred

This sounds very much like the Hull-Rotterdam ferry.
I expect the Aberdeen-Lerwick ferry is smaller.
The North Sea ferry was like a floating hotel. disco, casino etc.
Meals were inclusive.

And no I didn't get seasick.

David

PS My reference to pork sandwiches, although a joke, did have some reality. When I was a wee boy my parents took me to Guernsey on a holiday and the ferry hit really rough seas and every one was ill, except me! I could be found in the canteen (as it was in those days) chomping ham sandwiches at 1/4 price as they couldn't sell them!