The Ferry ride to the Rock

Before I go on and on about Newfoundland, let's go back to the ferry ride from North Sydney, NS to Argentia NL.  They recommend getting to the ferry terminal 2 hours ahead of the 5 o'clock departure, so, I get there 2 1/2 hours early at 2:30.  Typical me.  The ferry ends up being over 3 hours late departing due to some minor detail.  Seems the front loading door won't close.  I supposed that's important.  I had booked the ferry just a couple of days ahead of time and any overnight accommodation was sold out.  There is, however, a number of very comfortable lounges with big reclining seats so I settled on that.  The first lounge, although very comfy, was also very hot so I moved downstairs to the movie/lounge area.  The a/c was working very well so I settled in for a long night.  But first, I had to sit though 2 movies which were played very loud.   The first was an animated movie that was at least entertaining but the second movie, which started at 11:00 was one with Jennifer Anniston and Adam Sandler.  As Andy and I both agree, ADAM SANDLER ISN'T FUNNY!!!!  When that was finally over, I tried to sleep.  I got maybe 3 hours of broken sleep and gave up trying around 6 am.  The ferry was supposed to arrive at 8 am but with the delayed departure, it finally got in at 11:30.  Now, unlike the BC ferries where you head down to the car deck early and get ready to peel out the minute it docks and open up, the Atlantic-Marine Ferries don't let you go below until the boat is docked.  So by the time me and the other 100 or so Harley bikers (there was a big rally in St. John's) got ready, it was another 45 minutes.  All in all, the ferry was very similar to the cruise ship we were on in May.  The big difference is that you pay for your food. 


On the Ferry