Spirit of Tasmania
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Everything Rent smoothly. Everything was on time as usual as we have used the ship several times with our car and Caravsn, the staff are so friendly and helpful. I would give it five stars, but there isn’t a match protector on the mattress, and as I German, it freaked me out a bit.
Second review for Spirit of Tasmania ferry. Our return day trip from Devonport to Geelong. Again we give this product a one star. This time we had booked recliner seats for the day trip back. They were old,tatty and full of holes. See photos. Very dirty. The toilets in the lounge area stunk of sewage. Two of the ladies cubicles were shut off,… Read more
leaving just one. The person fixing the problem was still inside the cubicle doing their job. The process of getting on and off again, was slow and very frustrating. We arrived at 6. 30 am and queued until 8.15 am. They were still unloading. So many stops and starts, we had to go through several checkpoints. We will never use this service again, not only was the sea rough, but the ship was very old, very expensive and it took way too long. We arrived at Geelong at 9 pm and had to find our hotel in the dark with rain, instead of its scheduled arrival Time of 7 pm. All the pretty pictures on their website do not match the ship that we were on and all our expectations were not met. See other review for trip from Geelong to Devonport.
Travelled from Geelong to Devonport on 12 March, on the overnight ferry and I honestly can say it's the worst travel experience I have had ever. The ferry was delayed and there was a long wait to get on ferry. We started in the queue at 5 pm finally got on board 11 pm. Ferry is old and tattered. There are not enough lifts to get everyone up to… Read more
level 8 to the cabins. Had to take stairway from starboard one to level 8. The cabin is claustrophobic and needs updating. Mattress thin and uncomfortable. Carpet old and faded. There was no staff at reception only a phone for emergency. When we finally got to Devonport after a very choppy ride we finally disembarked at 11.30 am instead of the schedule arrival time of 8.30 am. The process of getting cars and people off is very long and frustrating. I will fly next time. The trip isn't good value for your money and the cabins are very overpriced.
Reviews with attachments
- +1
Ups and downs of cruising – We travelled on this vessel from Devonport back to Geelong. I had injured my hip whilst holidaying in beautiful Tassie. I was on crutches and struggling with pain and my asthma. When we drove our car onto the boat, we realised we were some distance from a lift. A crew member (Howard) arranged a wheelchair for me. Nothing was an issue for him. He… Read more
wheeled me to our cabin and back to our car before disembarking. Howard, you are a legend and I'll never forget your kindness. Thank you. When we boarded for our return trip, the lift was out of order. The cabin area had a pungent smell of dampness, possibly wet carpets. The whole experience on this vessel is run so smoothly. The meals were amazing, and reasonably priced! I feel security staff need to step up. There was a group of non-Australian speaking people (at least 12 of them), who during dinnertime service, spread themselves out at the front of the ship with their bags and coats. They placed them on tables and around the lounges located in front of the windows. They were filling their cups with water from the toilet facilities and sharing it, as well as their meals. They paid $60 for 2 meals, and piled the plates with food and then proceeded to sit around and share it amongst themselves (all 12 of them!) We came down for breakfast this morning to find them all still asleep on the lounges in the eating area. We were pretty angry as one of the rules on board is that you either have to pay for a cabin or a recliner on another deck. These rude people were loud and obnoxious, speaking in a foreign tongue (so rude!). It was very uncomfortable. Security had all night to move them along. Our trip over on the Spirit of Tasmania ii, was very pleasant. A much better maintained boat. Was a very rough night, so if you suffer from motion sickness, I wouldn't recommend it. It didn't bother us. We enjoyed a film in one of the cinema's. We can't wait to sail with you again. All of our issues were addressed and the staff were so lovely! Hopefully your new ships will be ready soon. Cannot wait! Thanks again Howard!
Sailing Away – The Spirit of Tasmania was great, travelled from Geelong over to Tasmania. Didn't have any problems booking our journey or with embarking and disembarking. I have never been on a big ship nor travelled over any big bodies of water, so I found it fascinating and exciting. Loved the way the ship looked and there was something for everyone. The… Read more
food was delicious, loved the buffet type menu. We had a private room which was really nice. I did get a lot of seasickness on the trip over but figured out how to combat that for the trip home. Highly recommend to get a room mid ship to try and avoid the rocking and rolling movement of the ship. The staff on the boat were really helpful with my sea sickness and were caring and concerned. Overall we had a wonderful time.
Beer, beer, beer!!!! It should not be hard! – Beer was not the correct temperature & poorly presented. Staff were sort of pleasant but need additional training on pouring correctly. Even the canned beer was not cold. Come on! Isn't Tasmania always spruiking it's beer history. You can do it guys ....just try!
Positive reviews
service was good food was good pizza small you need 2 so 28 bucks carvery good did not bother with a cabin for 12 hours too expensive just waited till we got there new ferry will be a blast cant wait value way to travel
Our recent trip on the Spirit of Tasmania didn’t quite go to plan thick fog delayed us for almost six hours but what could have been a frustrating experience turned into one filled with laughter and good spirits, thanks to the incredible service of stewardess Sophie. Sophie went above and beyond to keep everyone comfortable and uplifted during… Read more
the long wait. She has a natural warmth, a great sense of humour, and a genuine way of connecting with people that makes you feel well looked after. Instead of focusing on the delay, she managed to create moments of lightness and reassurance, making the journey one to remember for all the right reasons.
She is truly an asset to the Spirit of Tasmania team and absolutely deserves recognition for her outstanding service. Thank you, Sophie, for turning a long delay into an experience filled with smiles.
Return trip from Geelong. Despite roadworks around the terminus in Geelong, was easy to find. Queued with other cars etc, process of getting cars onboard & cabin allocation very streamlined and easy. Only one elevator that we could use to our floor, so needed to wait. Cabins small but neat. Food tasty and plentiful, not terribly expensive. We did… Read more
not use cinema or other entertaining facilities and after a well deserved sparkling beverage, went to bed. Rolling of the ship told us when we were in Bass Strait, but was not bad. My sister had a disturbed night on the top bunk as it was close to the ceiling and she was more claustrophobic than she realised. Coffee in the morning from one of the bars was good. Disembarkation took some time as we were at the very bottom, but as long as you listened to the staff guiding you, it was easy. Return trip from Devonport was much later, again, easy to find. Took longer to be directed on due to freight loading. Again, streamlined once we were boarding. One lift from the bottom to level 7 is a problem, so waiting in cramped areas with other cranky clients, was not particularly nice. Staff helpful. Too late for a meal, so another sparkling before bed. Only 2 of us on the return trip. Had breakfast in the morning which was adequate but not anything to brag about. We docked at 830am but did not drive off until nearly 10am, which was a long wait. All in all, would recommend as is an easy way to travel with as much luggage as you want and you have your own car.
Negative reviews
12th December, daylight sailing. Ferry supposed to be leaving at 8:30am…. It’s 8:35am and they are still unloading!!! Can’t see us getting to devonport by 7: 00 tonight. But no updates so far from the company
It is the boat which you can pay to go to Tasmania on. There isn't another boat (unless you count the other boat). There is things on the boat which are good. There are $33 plates of food and the wifi costs $40 for 10Gb and doesn't work. I highly recommended booking a recliner ($20) or its Xmas Carols in the Food Court. It costs all your money Show details
Over priced to the maximum. Complete rip off for the price, especially price for cabins Rude bossy male staff when parking in Melbourne, much nicer in Devonport, gave them an extra star Weak expensive coffee and very over priced food. If they had competition, they would do much better, but beggars can't be choosers. Lucky for them Show details
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Recent reviews
During onboarding the security guy marked my car bonnet with a red marker pen presumably to remind himself he had checked my car, unfortunately it turns out the pen he used was actually permanent. When I was unable to wipe it off after disembarking, I contacted them and asked for help to remove it, they made me get two cleaning quotes and sign a… Read more
stat dec to say I had indeed witnessed them draw on my car, after sorting all that out for them, they then told me there was no evidence it was them who had drawn on my car… despite the fact I watched them do it… infuriating!
Make sure your dash cam is running when you board Spirit of Tasmania
Tried to find Geelong departure port. Regular entry closed. Extremely poorly signed for alternate route. When close signage vague. Went through environmental check no worries, but no directions given where to line up for boarding. Huge queue of caravans. Only one guy, not paying attention, supervising. What a fog’s breakfast. Shame on you Geelong port. Show details
Not so much the ship but the total lack of communication from customer services. Due to a medical emergency, the ship was delayed sailing from Geelong, eventually arriving at Devonport at 1.30am. Received a message earlier in the day around 1pm advising of the late arrival, no time given. Was told more updates to follow, these never arrived. As I… Read more
had a flight booked from Melbourne back to Adelaide, I had to guess when the ship would sail and at what time we would arrive into Geelong. Even when calling customer services several times, they had no idea what was going on. Utterly ridiculous in this day and age that they couldn’t be bothered to update the passengers. It’s not a cheap crossing and I know unforeseen things happen, but please, keep your customers updated to they can change their arrangements accordingly. Total shambles
Booking a horse on the Spirit online was easy once, now your have to ring up freight services and they slog you another $600+ontop of your original fare. Many phone call to sort out to get a spot to sail in 6-month time. I can see why TT line have a 66% negative rate on this site, major highway for us Tasmanians what a joke. TAS Gov and TT line need to get their ducks inline as the tourism and trade are in turmoil at the moment, lift your game! Show details
Very disappointing experience at TMK restaurant on the Spirit of Tasmania. They said half-price vegetarian meals, yet chips and vegetarian pasta don’t qualify. If you want chips, you must pay full price. Misleading policy and poor service overall.
Booking process is smooth. Booked a return trip to Devonport from Geelong. Boarding was easy. The trip did not match my expectations. The toilets were blocked on way to Devonport. So could not use them. Called the woman at the reception and was met with a rude response that the plumber was at the front helping the staff to anchor the ship as we… Read more
were expecting to touch down in 40 mins “unless you want the ship to not land!” Food was expensive on board the ship and not of matching quality especially the Tasmanian market kitchen. On our way back the toilets were flushing but had a bad stink. Also, we were met with another rude behaviour from a staff member helping us park our park at the deck on our return journey. He loudly yelled “oye” while showing us where to park the car. This could have been done another way. Overall, the experience was not worth the expense. Cabins were clean. The only reason they continue to have customers despite providing poor service and turning deaf to customers’ requests is because they have no competition from another company. I’m rating it 2 because of the boarding experience on the way to Devonport, the clean cabin and the fact that we had a safe sailing, otherwise would rate it 1.
Firsty, it's dear as sin. Some people will likely need to sell their first born to fund a return journey with a vehicle. They have removed the pokies from the ship which I presume was helping with revenue, and while I don't flutter to often, it would help at least pass.the time. The food is ok, beer was reasonably priced. Wifi should be… Read more
complimentary at the price. Accommodation is very basic, but was comfortable enough. Boarding was a breeze ans the staff were great. We did a night sailing in rough weather and I definitely recommend a cabin. I will be looking at searoad to transport my vehicle next time and flying into.Launceston with car hire to Devonport, which will likely still be cheaper. Unless you have a van, it is most likely cheaper to fly to Launceston and hire a car during your stay.
Great to come back from the late movie and find two people fast asleep in or allocated seats. It appears those in the know snaffle the choice sleeping seats whether they are their seats or not. Ticket is not worth the paper they're printed on. A staff member is required to make sure people are where they should be. And no I didn't want to create a scene at midnight. Show details
Ripped off cancellation 9 months before departure – 1st time calculating cost of trip with caravan and miss understanding size of the van and car, I assume the van measurements was separate from the car but was wrong, tried to fix my mistake only to be told it's going to cost 2x the amount I 1st paid adding $1000 each way and that I am no longer able to fit on that date, so the trip was planned in… Read more
9 months time and I could be put on standby just incase I could fit. Well even though the trip is 9 months away I cancelled it and was slogged 25% cancellation fee, I understand that a penalty charge should be applied but 9 months before departure is ridiculous, if i had of paid the extra 2k for my trip and they still didn't have room it would have cost me 900 instead of 400 I paid to cancel. Differently not a spirited traveller
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Avoid wasting your time and money, food un-edible – Turd 1 and 2 these boats are so run down, there is no love on board. Food is a disgrace and the last 2 trips bar staff rude, we were 3 hours late boarding and hence no dinner provided, no communication and cabin bed was uncomfortable Spirt 2…. Today spirt 1 booked recliners but none assigned for us, poor guy singing on deck 9 is drowned out buy… Read more
the tvs that nobody are watching, so many people including myself asked to turn them off as it was rude for the musician. Where is the love ? Why send surveys when you don’t care for the simple things. Get a plane it’s a far better experience.
Embarrassingly inadequate – This is shamefully inadequate. Don't pay for a recliner. It's not worth it. Uncomfortable is where you start. On seat charging. Don't waste your time. It's ancient. Wifi which you pay for is disgracefully inadequate. Spotty at best,slow as an old dog and quite frankly an embarrassment. I'd never ever do this trip again. Cabins are the price of a 5 star hotel $269. Food....yeah right. If you can avoid the ferry and.fly.... fly.
Very dissapointing – On our return trip today, found the food to be less than acceptable. Ordered meat lovers pizza, which only comes in small but cost $12. Topping the very ordinary 4 slices, was half a piece of salami and a miniscule piece of bacon. That's it, other than cheese and sauce. Came out with burnt edges, very unpleasant to eat The food choices and… Read more
standard of catering has declined immensely. Given how much it costs to take the ferry with car and caravan, in tow, this journey is no longer viable. Come on TT Lines, Covid was five years ago. You can't use that as an excuse anymore for cutting costs and delivering sub standard food. No wonder most passengers choose to bring their own.
The most terrible trip on the Spirit of Tasmania – I suffer from Chronic Health Issues and we were just returning on the day trip on the Spirit on 23rd January 2025 after a 3week trip to Queensland for a funeral and a wedding. On the day of return on the ship I was not feeling well so my husband and I found 2 comfortable seats with tables so we could have some breakfast. The seats we chose were… Read more
outside the gift shop and boy was that a big mistake. First of all the meals we ordered were dried out and probably reheated leftovers from the previous trip. Then after eating I put my head down to have a snooze due to not feeling well from my health issues. It was impossible to doze off due to staff in the gift shop which varied from 2 to 5 staff at a time standing around talking, laughing loudly continuously. I even lifted my head and looked at them and gave them an unimpressed look of which one of them looked directly at me and continued to laugh. We eventually found another seat and I was able to doze off. We noticed that it took a long time before anyone else took our previous seats and now we know why!! If staff had nothing to do, which is what the 2 working in the shop kept continuously saying, they should get out and do some covid cleaning, restock shelves, help other staff or walk around checking on passengers to make sure they are ok. Never sit outside the gift shop on the Spirit!
Medical support – I developed cellulitis whilst boarding and contacted the medical officer. I just want to say what a knowledgeable and helpful person she was. I could not have asked for better service. Thank you . Show details
Significant problems mar a generally good experience – Very friendly staff but why on earth no toilets for when on the queue in Devonport. And why are gas bottles not offloaded first rather than making people wait until all other vehicles are out. Crazy stupid.
Friendly customer service – I had cause to call In and book as I had a credit from When we had booked and paid then found out that my husband had to have an operation for cancer. I phoned on 30/12/24 late afternoon. My customer service officer was Scott. It was a long and complicated process (took an hour to sort out) and yet Scott remained calm, gentlemanly and determined to get it sorted which was so helpful for me. a very big Thank you to Scott.
Not value for money and pet care lacking – Travel Geelong to Devonport with 2 dogs and car. Despite promises of wellbeing checks the dogs were completely out of water and extremely thirsty. There was no control over dog pickup and people were uncontrolled , the dogs were overwhelmed, cages being opened and people pushing to get to their dogs. Understandably we were all stressed but the… Read more
pickup process was not good and could have lead to injury of dogs and people . One dog escaped and was running around the cars. Human Food was very poor quality and limited range. Chef should he embarrassed. We did a daysail. The allocated seats were dirty and difficult to use but comfortable enough.
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Long waits in queue