For the first time in my life, I took a ride on the Superferry.
Glynn and I, together with BNFF (batanes new found friends) Liela, August and Leah along with Wendell (whom Leila and August met during their Batad trip and Glynn knows thru our community --- hanep sa pagka-friendster ano?)decided to go on a budget trip to Coron, Palawan last June 7-8. And since it's a budget trip, that also meant taking the ferry instead of flying in. It also made sense: we were to travel Friday afternoon and get to Coron by 5.30am Saturday which meant just going on a half day leave from work. Since June 9 was declared a holiday, we had time to rest as our departure from Coron was Sunday 10.45pm and we were in Manila by 1pm. Hence we booked our ferry tickets to Our Lady of Good Voyage (OLGV pic here taken by August) as soon as we decided to go on this adventure, after all the ferry ride was part of the entire experience. And quite an experience it was.
BOARDING
If you booked an e-ticket, you had to go to the Superferry Ticket Office ahead of your departure schedule to exchange this for a real ticket. For safety, we went there 2 hours ahead of our ETD. Pretty much like on a plane, your stuff had to go thru the x-ray machine. But it also had another step where you had to line up your bags and a k9 will smell thru your things as well. That was a first for me. No checking in of baggage here. But if you did have extra baggage than your hand carry, you go thru the baggage handling area where I think a porter will assist in bringing your stuff on board the ferry. But there really wasn't any luggage storage area as your stuff will be literally brought to you and these luggages, baggages or boxes will lie next to your bed.
Immediately after boarding, we saw a convenience store, hair salon (who knows you might need a haircut during the trip), and a prayer room. Quite fascinating already no?
THE TOURIST CLASS
We were only able to book T
ourist Class (or blue section) for the Manila to Coron leg of our trip as cabins weren't available anymore. This meant double deck beds in an air-conditioned common area. The bed consisted of synthetic leather covered mattress and pillows. If you wanted bedsheets and blankets, you have to rent for P30 (I think). I brought 2 sarongs that served as my bedsheet and blanket for the night. Unfortunately, if you were a tall person, you may have difficulty as the beds had low headroom. The good thing about Tourist Class is that there were partitions on the beds which provided some semblance of privacy.
As I mentioned earlier, your stuff would lay next to your bunk, or on the floor if you had the upper bunk. It would be cautious for you to padlock your bags to ensure safety of your belongings.
It also meant common toilets which were relatively clean and had good running water. The toilet area also had a shower room in case you need a bath. I just thought the space was a bit too small and cramped to have a comfortable bath. It also risks getting your change of clothes wet in the shower.
Surprisingly or not, there was also common celfone charging area! How interesting the way we've developed such a celfone dependent culture that Superferry felt the need to provide its passengers with a charging area. I digress, but Glynn noted that the charging station was pretty much used 95% of the time with boys or men as majority users. Actually there was hardly any signal in the Tourist Class area so it makes one wonder what they used their phones for... maybe for games? Drafting messages to their txtmates? Taking pictures with their camphone? Who knows?
Our booking also came with dinner (menudo with rice was the ticket meal at the time). Food was your typical canteen meal in a typical canteen atmosphere. You had to line up (and it was quite a long line). We decided to try the restaurant aka Horizon Cafe for dinner as we didn't want to line up initially. It turned out that service took quite long for orders. Given the long waiting time, we were able to get our ticket meal from the canteen aka Island Fiesta faster. I guess the Cafe is not equipped to respond quickly for additional orders. Oh it would be wise to bring your own water or drinks as it tends to be expensive on the ferry. At least for the duration of the 12hr trip.
Curiously, the canteen area also had a videoke for entertainment among the other ammenities being offered by OLGV.
Downside to Tourist Class: Be prepared to be awaken at 4am by busboys offering coffee, as in "kape kayo diyan?" Also, there are passengers who wake up that early and would start chatting without caring if they wake up other passengers in the process. Also, you will be bombarded with all the Superferry jingles ever made as this will be played over and over except for sleeping hours.
THE CABIN
On the way back to Manila, Glynn, Liela, August and I were able to reserve a cabin (picture here c/o August). Ah, what a world of difference a cabin makes. You have your own toilet and bath. There was a
lso TV provided which played The Matrix Reloaded the next morning. It also played a video of the safety reminders for the trip. There was a cabinet provided to store your things. The bunk beds had extra curtains for more privacy. There's a small side table with chair as well. I wasn't sure why there was an electric fan as it was freezing cold. Not to mention, we had our OWN CHARGING AREA! Ayos ba?
A word of precaution too. Make sure to check that all four of you are booked in the same room. When we were getting our key to the cabin, to our horror, we found out that Glynn was assigned to another room! How can that be when we booked the rooms together? Anyway we had to talk to the guy assigned to our room and ask him if it was ok for him to exchange rooms with Glynn. He was kind enough to oblige to our request. With this we realized that booking a cabin, you had to be a group of 4. If not, the ferry will assign a 4th person to your room. This meant being in a closed room with a stranger. With this, I think taking the Tourist section would be the more palatable option.
Overall, it was quite an amusing ferry experience for me. I wouldn't mind going on another ride. Friends, balik tayo ng Coron!
