if you are just visiting downtown victoria then I guess it's not that bad because I'm assuming harbour air drops you off in dt victoria and you can probably just cab/bus...whereas if you drove/ferry you'd have to go to tswassen and then from swartz bay to victoria...not to mention the flight would cut down travel time by 3/4

As I mentioned above, our boats are very nice and the food is 10x better than anything I experienced in Europe at half the cost. Yeah, it sucks but with rising fuel prices and such it's to be expected.

I really don't understand people complaining about the "service" being horrendous.

Does the boat not get you to the other side safely and (barring any weather/mechanical problems) relatively on time?

Like what the fuck do you want, the staff to valet your car and wipe your ass after you take a shit?

I have used the ferries a lot, and apart from the reservation system I have never had any real reason to complain. Those people who complain about cancelled sailings due to weather/mechanical problems are assholes. BC Ferries doesn't control the weather, and sometimes shit breaks down.

I don't complain about the rate hikes. They are what they are, and to me it's just the cost of getting away from the circus gong show of the lower mainland.

..and the service from the people cooking your food may be shitty, but their primary role is to save your life in case of emergency. That's why they get paid the big bucks.

Not a single person on that boat, from gift shop to food service doesn't have full training for emergency situations.

You don't exactly know why they need a rate hike. For all you know, it could easily be the cost of fuel.

And please specify, how is the service exactly "horrendous"? What are your expectations?

The trip is under 2 hours and before you know it, your already at the other side.

taken from another site:

Transport Canada Minimum Safe Manning Document (focus on the minimum here) crew size is for no passengers when the ship is on its way to or from refits changing terminals and is just a minimum compliment of deck and engineering crew.
If even 1 passenger is carried there must be at least 1 fully manned life saving or evacuation point and at least 1 fully mannered assembly point, so you have to add an additional crew member to man the evacuation point.
Each increase in passenger capacity requires enough crew to man and operate one complete evacuation station. So on larger vessels may mean an additional crew of 3 or 4 every increase.
So your crew size has to increase based on how many passengers will ride that day, and you have no idea how many passengers will show up on any given day. You have to overestimate the amount of passengers, but adding a single additional person is at least a four-hour salary that you have to pay, even if that person is needed or not.

Or how the boats are "shit"?

Like what the fuck does he want? The Oasis of the Seas?

still waiting for someone to explain to me how this affects me

It doesn't. Stay on the mainland where you belong.

amen to that

Don't forget that this is just the first of 3 fair hikes in the next 3 years.

I wonder if they didn't spend money on advertising at Roger's Arena it would have only been 2 fair hikes...

They cancelled that advertising a couple years ago. Mainly because of the public complaints. Which was mainly because the public don't understand that while the ferries are a necessity for SOME people, the advertising was aimed at people for whom it ISN'T a necessity, to try to get more of them to take the ferries and thereby help subsidize those who NEED the service.

Get dark tinted windows, make everyone sit in the back seat, say "just me in the car" ...profit?


:troll:

but on topic, it is retarded expensive. Me and my family went over a few months ago, 2 loaded cars and we paid nearly $500 both ways :fulloffuck: I had a hard time wrapping my mind around a boat ride costing that much lol.

My issue here, and this could be bad reporting, but you tell me that ridership is down, so we need to increase fares.

Shit, tell me fuel is expensive, and that staff costs a fortune. Tell me these fucking boats don't just buy themselves. Tell me that the new CEO has expensive tastes and charges hookers on the company card. I understand it, I may not like it, but at least I can nod my head and say, "yup, hookers-good hookers, ain't cheap"

But don't sit there and pretend that I'm going along with the logic that increasing fares isn't going to make that ridership problem worse. It could possibly fill a gap in the short term, but you have a real capacity issue if you can't get more butts in seats. And let's do the math, if everyone dropped travel to and from the island unless they absolutely had to...what does that do to you?

Usually, when people don't have enough customers, they cut hours and cut the price. Just sayin'.

wow this sucks my dad uses the ferry quite a bit like minimum twice a week to and from tofino

The ferry is the only reason I'm never on the mainland.

The higher the prices get, the more often I will take a float plane over... but not taking my car means I only really do this to get to YVR for an international flight or very rarely for a specific event.

we already pay a fuel surcharge it's right on the receipt. So this hike is not for fuel costs. The gift shop is ridiculous they sell things like jackets and jewellery. They also close down for 15 minutes sometimes so the worker can take a break. They do the same thing for the
cafeteria. it's a 2 hour boat ride take your break when it docks. They should just close the gift shop and put in a few more vending machines. I wonder what the sales numbers are for the gift shop, can't be that much. They have free Wifi but it's only on 1/2 the boats and it's crap, it blocks sites like YouTube. Why not give customers the full internet and charge them. For the cafeteria they should just get rid of it and put in a McDonald or a subway. The should also charge the workers for the food they get from the cafeteria.

The problem the the number of customers is in the summer it's packed with sailing waits. You have to get there a hour or more before if you want to drive on. In the other months it is a lot slower.

Last thing I want to see and smell on my relaxing ferry ride is another fricken McDonald's or subway.

Relaxing?? whens the last time you have been on a ferry?

Have you paused to consider that the gift shops may very well operate at a profit, and that shutting them down would deduct much needed revenue?

I'm also unclear as to why they should remove the cafeteria in favour of fast food. It's not an overly sophisticated menu that caters to people with a specific taste, it's essentially just a streamlined White Spot. While almost everyone can enjoy a White Spot style meal, there are many people who do not eat fast food like McDonalds and Subway. It's also totally standard for people who work at any level of food preparation above fast food to have a meal included as compensation during the shift, so there's nothing wrong with that happening on BC Ferries vessels.

Charging people for wifi, that would go over well. In an age where every Tim Hortons, Starbucks, McDonalds offers free wifi, let's make people pay for internet access on BC Ferries vessels.

Also, I've always enjoyed riding the ferry and find it relaxing, and the last time I traveled on one was mid-August.

I agree.

At 10:30, I went to BC Ferries site and checked the capacities of the two vessels sailing at 10:45, 32% and 45%. Unless yesterday evening was an unusually slow day, I'm inclined to ask why a run that operates at those capacities exists, because I'm sure it's hemorrhaging cash.

I don't think that BC Ferries is too inefficient though. If it were, private industry would capitalize on the opportunity and offer a less expensive alternative.

[QUOTE=MindBomber;8045519]Have you paused to consider that the gift shops may very well operate at a profit, and that shutting them down would deduct much needed revenue?
/QUOTE]


Have you seen whats in the gift shop? They sell jackets and sweaters. Wanna make some money start selling red bull, chips and other things you find at a convince store.

Passages Online Gift Shop


http://giftshop.bcferries.com/media/...omeImage_1.png

There featured product:

http://giftshop.bcferries.com/media/.../file_4_13.jpg

Only $149

Can't forget this great item that everyone needs on a ferry boat:

http://giftshop.bcferries.com/media/...spoon-02-l.jpg

11½” Silver-Plated Frog Spoon only $59.99

The cafeteria is not just a streamlined white spot. They have there own B.C. ferries menu with food like Teriyaki Chicken Noodles and Baked BC Wild Salmon. Plus they sell stuff from the bread garden. They should get rid of everything else and just stick with the white spot menu. That will reduce the amount of space required and reduce the number of staff needed.

I was on the ferry last week and will me on the ferry this weekend and If I did not have my laptop I do not know what I would do. After you have gone on it for the 100th time it gets boring as hell.

I didn't say it is a streamlined White Spot, I said it is essentially a streamlined White Spot. The items on the menu that aren't direct take-offs, still feel very White Spot to me, and given that BC Ferries is partnered with them, I get a strong feeling that there's a connection there. White Spot does have terriyaki chicken and baked BC salmon on the menu. Maybe I'm crazy. Point is the cafe portion doesn't seem over complex, but you're welcome to disagree.

The gift shop merch is overpriced and kitchy, but that's true for any gift shop. All the products have obscene mark-ups, and there are enough people willing to make foolish impulse purchase out there to make it profitable. I do agree they should sell convenience store style stuff, which they did at one point.

Even when I was on the ferry a couple times a month for work, I always enjoyed hanging out on the deck. It's simple, but the fresh air and water are a relaxing break; that's obviously something that will vary from person to person though.

I think part of it may be that the union is really out of control. Every worker on the ferry, from the navigational crew to the dishwasher, makes WAY WAAAAAAAAY more money than they ever would doing the same job ANYWHERE else.

Living an the Island I get fresh air and water every day. The deck only fun when it's nice out. The cafeteria sells white spot burgers and fries but also has there own menu. FYI their pulled pork sandwich is no good.

They also have the Seawest lounge that is closed 1/2 the time and almost empty the other 1/2.

|Seawest Lounge.

With almost any other union position, I'd be the first to agree... in this case, however, you have to remember that (as mentioned previously) every person working on that boat has been trained in emergency and lifesaving procedures and if shit gets real, their ONLY job becomes making sure YOU get off the boat safely. That's a massive responsibility and I'm not going to begrudge anyone working on that ship a single cent.

Here's the thing you have to remember: BC Ferries doesn't JUST cater to BC residents who need to get back and forth. They rely a lot on tourist traffic and "optional" travel... hence the reason for advertising, including in Rogers Arena. Hence they kitchy touristy gift shops. Hence the spiffy murals of whales and forests and shit. If they were strictly commuter ships, you'd be lucky if they had any amenities at all.

Take a spin by BC Ferries Vacations sometime and poke around - they have complete vacation packages that wrap up accommodations in places like Tofino, Whistler, Parksville, etc. along with the ferry fares. This is one I'd love to take: five-day circle trip up the Sunshine Coast and back via Nanaimo, all accommodations and ferry fares included, even things like some meals and kayak rentals: BC Ferries Vacations | Coastal Circle Tour

I love the ferry ride. On a nice day, I'll easily spend most of my time on deck, just walking around and around the ship, taking in the scenery.