Pretty well organized considering how much traffic comes through here. There can be waits to get on the ferry but that's expected. The fairy ride itself is quite nice, with really nice scenery.
The city bus was late getting in. Three of us ran for the desk. We were there at eleven minutes to the hour. Ticket cutoff is meant to be at ten to the hour. They refused to sell tickets for the sailing. Fifty people from the bus were refused. We asked the ticket agent to contact the tower and let them know that the bus was late and fifty people were waiting to get on the ferry. The tower refused to open ticket sales. Everyone had to wait ten minutes before they would sell us tickets for the next sailing. After buying my ticket I walked to the gate at a casual pace. Arriving at the gate, I asked the gate attendants if the tower had changed their minds and would please let us on. The attendants shook their heads. I then sat down and looked at ferry just sit there for another ten minutes. Fifty people are left waiting at the terminal, for no fault of their own, for another hour. I am missing a dinner party tonight because of this. I doubt that I am the most negativity affected by this out of the fifty people sitting here. It’s time for the province to review BC Ferries and hold them accountable for the public service they hold a monopoly on.
Everyone hates the ferries. I'm currently on board, using my data connection to leave this rating because the wifi hasn't come even close to working the entire trip. The only way to excuse the length of this trip is because you're supposed to be able to work on the way.
Furthermore, they recently made the decision to force everyone upstairs. There's hundreds of seats downstairs, yet everyone is packed in up here. They now have to make multiple announcements to tell people to take luggage off seats and crowd in. Somehow BC ferries keeps finding ways to get worse.
Worst service ever. It took 44 minutes to talk to a person. Then they booked it wrong. Then another 40+ mins to talk to a person. I suggest not using the phone service. They suggested not to reserve and I missed my ferry. BC Ferries need to improve their service and make user friendly. Even 1 star is too much.
Well organized terminal with good signage. The car lanes are clearly marked. The shopping and restaurants in the middle are good.
Plenty of parking for short and long term. The waiting for areas for walk-on passengers are clean, with vending machines and café food available.
It's just so expensive to take your car on the ferry. Especially if you travel to the island often.
really nice experience, very well organized transport operation! neat and clean, comfortable, well maintained ferries, great food options, tasty foods!! enjoy nice ocean breeze and feel the vastness of nature!
BC Ferries â›´ Excellent choice of transportation from the greater Vancouver Area to Vancouver Island, Victoria and the Gulf Islands! Efficient, safe and clean! Love the 2hrs sailing and enjoy the wonderful scenery and sights! Economic and friendly service onboard! Truly a enjoy enjoyable experience, worth the trip!
Now you can't sleep in your car??!
And the safest place to smoke is the ocean right?! No smoking anywhere on a boat?!!!
We are totally going to lose European & Asian tourism.
I pay all that money for my car and I can't use it. So will there be free hammocks set up for automobile passengers? Free anything???
Not to mention families with kids sleeping. You are seriously going to tell a mother to wake-up her sleeping child.
Wow.
#badbusiness #Vancouvertransit
BC Ferries is the unloved transportation centre of BC. They run a near monopoly and so are often lambasted for high prices. When all is said and done it is a disservice that successfully transports hundreds of thousands of passengers annually. They have made some improvements with better food, more entertainment and occasionally wifi that works(though it often doesn't). Staff are as friendly as they need to be not always helpful if you approach them directly. They have paid parking but are on a major bus route. Food access while waiting is on the parking step with twelve shops or the cafeteria at the end of berth five which had a load of hot and cold items.
Friendly attendants at the gate. If you show up on time, and they aren't stressed by a lot of impatient people, they'll engage you in pleasant conversation. There's a place to walk your dogs. Lots of areas to sit and enjoy some ocean breezes while waiting for the ferry. A nice little shopping area to get coffee, ice cream, and other savouries.
One star for "Cafe Taste Beyond" in Berth 5. If they booted these clowns out on their asses, I'd raise my rating to three stars. Ignore the libertarian cranks griping about this being a government run monopoly. I've used private ferry services that were infinitely worse than BC Ferries.
The terminal itself is very clean and big, and offers a good selection of dining and shopping while you wait for the ferry to depart. It kind of feels like an airport terminal. The ferry ride was very efficient and timely; my one complaint is that the prices were very high just to get to Vancouver Island and back. I would recommend booking online so you skip the lines and avoid the risk of missing the ferry, seeing as they deduct the reservation fee when you check in at the terminal anyway. All in all, was a good experience using BC Ferries from Tsawwassen Terminal.
Fairly expensive but also fairly well appointed ferries. Fun as an occasional event. Particularly enjoyable for the kids.
Great playground for kids while you wait for the ferry as well as a indoor market-like building with many stalls set up inside and sushi and other fast food
BC Ferries has a complete, government sanctioned monopoly over transit to Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands. As such, they often increase costs while limiting conveniences, such as removing all water fountains or padded seats. Tsawassen terminal is poorly designed for ease of consumer use, all while encountering that signature lack of care experienced when interacting with the poor employees of this bloated company. If I could supply am alternative, I would recommend anything else. However, because if their monopoly they have the luxury of ignoring reviews completely, which they exercise to the fullest extent.