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The North Boat (Northlink ferries)


peeriebryan
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Where should the North Boat dock?  

447 members have voted

  1. 1. Where should the North Boat dock?

    • Aberdeen
      223
    • Rosyth
      102
    • Peterhead
      11
    • Barbados
      125


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Last time my friend and I travelled to Aberdeen for a hospital appointment, we left our overnight bags in the luggage store with identity tags and picked them up to put on the correct trolleys on our return. Something I have done in the past with all my luggage when returning from England by train or plane and I,ve time to spare before sailing, there is a time from to return for the luggage but I have found from experience that if you return an hour after that all the coach/ group passengers have sorted their bags out and it is less hassle and waiting time to getting on the boat. The person who supervises this has always been polite and helpful. :) My family and friends can't be the only ones who have positive experiences surely. We're travelling again this summer and returning with our grandson for a holiday, and an adventure sailing instead of flying.

:D

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  • 2 weeks later...
cold folk dinna sleep and are more likely to spend money in the bar or bandits through the night, or am I just being a cinic.

 

The bar shut at 1am - that still didn't stop our driver spending an hour finding our cabin, 20 minutes getting into the top bunk laughing all the time, laying in it for approximately 5 minutes before falling on top of me in bottom bunk opposite. Oh yeah, and it was a calm sea! Must have been the beer then ...

 

... followed by several black coffees in the morning.

 

Cheers for the wishes Tlady (safe journey) - it rained all the way from London to Spennymoor and then the next day, all morning from Spennymoor half the way to Aberdeen. Poor Kia was stuffed in a small dog kennel onboard (they alleged they were all taken but when we went down in middle of night, they weren't all taken but wouldn't let us move her into a bigger one) whereas Buff was quite content growling his head off at the sniffer dog in the next cage.

 

Hey, I made it though!

 

<

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em... you can get coffee from the bar at any time. or hot chocolate. or soft drinks. Not everyone drinks alcohol!

 

How many bars are there on the ship(s)? Perhaps I didn't explore enough but the bar on the ship we came over on (well, the bar that I found) definitely didn't serve coffee all the time.

 

5.30am to be precise. We ended up going in the cafe when that opened.

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Maybe one of those tents that you just throw on the floor and erect in 2 seconds would be the thing to sort out the cabin problem on the Northlink boats. They are made by a company called decathalon and are sold under 'QUECHUA' brand. They would be a bit warmer and more secure.

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Maybe one of those tents that you just throw on the floor and erect in 2 seconds would be the thing to sort out the cabin problem on the Northlink boats. They are made by a company called decathalon and are sold under 'QUECHUA' brand. They would be a bit warmer and more secure.

 

We tried that one night but the ships officers were not amused

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The aft deck of the Alaska ferry is always packed with tents due to the shortage of berths and the neccessity of booking 6 months in advance! You just need to duct tape them to the deck to make sure they don't blow away while you are out of them.

 

Not my idea of the most comfortable way to travel on a 3 day journey from one end to the other. :shock:

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Guest willz320

no idea spencey7 im afraid! re: heating

 

as for pitching a pop-up tent, i would personally be all for it. sounds like a good idea. but you wouldnt catch me pitching one on the aft deck in winter!! no chance!

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This is obviously far from ideal for people in Aberdeen for the day and travelling without cabins, dealing with backpacks and sleeping bags (the latter of which are essential as Northlink deems it necessary to turn down the heating in the middle of the night and make all possible "sleeping" areas freezing cold).

 

I found this out on a night I just had a t-shirt and jeans, never again!

Why do they turn off the heating? Why even offer non-cabin accommodation (either in the "well-appointed lounge" or in reclining seats which don't recline) if you plan on making the temperature sub-zero between 1am-5am?

Sleeping rough on the boat is unpleasant but entirely achievable. Most people just sleep in their clothes. I usually sleep in a t-shirt and breeks with my cardigan as a part-quilt.

 

Some people sleep on the streets remember, where temperature DOES get to sub-zero. We're pretty luck with what we have. The boat isn't _that_ cold.

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