We are think of doing a trip to Tassie, we are finding it difficult to get a booking on the boat with the Van 2850mm high
Seems that you have to book many many months before you need to travel?
Is this normal ?
Regards Chris
We have just returned from Tasmania and there were helps of trucks and fifth wheeler higher than a normal van. I do know that booking are hard to make at present. I have friends who were having trouble getting on
Any thing over 2.1m is limited number of spaces allocated for caravans, motor homes due to the space being reserved for freight.
We booked 5 months ahead to leave Tasmania in early May and could not get the date we wanted and had to take a later time. We book our departure and return fares at the same time so to avoid any inconvenience of not being able to book a return far at a time that suits us.
oh - there is another freight shipping line that makes the same sailings and take wide and tall loads as they primarily take freight. Slightly cheaper than The Spirit - cant remember the company name - google - shipping companies to Tasmania and you will probably find them. They run two ships. I inquired with them about a year ago and got a reply with all the info and prices with 24 hours and there weren't long wait times either
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Cheers Bruce
The amazing things you see when nomading Australia
Now days I always book direct on the TT line website and it is rare that I cannot get a booking for the days I want (or very close to). I can specify my requirements and get immediate feedback.
The only times I have had problems is when I tried to book thru. an agent. Never again.
come back to Tassie from wa last march, booked online when I got to Barossa and had no problem getting a berth for a 24 foot van which id over standard height. Been traveling back and forward for 20 odd years and never had a problem of more than 2 days
cheers
blaze
If you are booking a concession fare there are limits to the number sold for each trip.
I have been playing around with their booking system for some time. That certainly applies to the popular times, especially the day sailings. To make sure we could get a group of 8 vans we booked mid May last year. Our required time was the first day trip of the cheaper rices. We also missed out on getting into Ashley Gardens CP in the middle of November and had to settle for a park further out (Werribee South.)
You cant come over to Tasmania on a whim in the popular times if you want pensioner rates.
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PeterD Nissan Navara D23 diesel auto, Spaceland pop-top Retired radio and electronics technician. NSW Central Coast.
Hi Baz421, There's no competition with semi-trailers/freight, they win all the time, take precedence all the time. Just plan well ahead and pay the money upfront at the same time. Just another gripe. They have the use of your money from the time you pre book. If you are booking on a cruise ship you pay a deposit and the balance closer to the time. They have us over a barrel!
-- Edited by reeb51 on Thursday 18th of February 2016 08:15:39 AM
We are think of doing a trip to Tassie, we are finding it difficult to get a booking on the boat with the Van 2850mm high
Seems that you have to book many many months before you need to travel?
Is this normal ?
Regards Chris
Way back when we left Tassie (3 years ago) we had to book 6 months in advance to get on, because of our height. Doesn't seem like anything has changed :(
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The Mobile Madhouse: me (Rosie), him (Troy), a kelpie, a kelpie-dingo, a husky & a rainbow lorikeet.
oh - there is another freight shipping line that makes the same sailings and take wide and tall loads as they primarily take freight. Slightly cheaper than The Spirit - cant remember the company name - google - shipping companies to Tasmania and you will probably find them. They run two ships. I inquired with them about a year ago and got a reply with all the info and prices with 24 hours and there weren't long wait times either
Toll? Green ships, yellow writing?
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The Mobile Madhouse: me (Rosie), him (Troy), a kelpie, a kelpie-dingo, a husky & a rainbow lorikeet.
Hi Rosie. No it wasn't Toll - and couldn't find them on google. They had two large roll on, roll off ships - something like Subrisky Freightlines or a name like that. I went back through all my old emails and couldn't find their reply to my inquiry. I very much doubt they have gone belly up or not advertising though. At that time Toll wasn't advertising a ship service - maybe they bought the other company out?
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Cheers Bruce
The amazing things you see when nomading Australia
My experience is the same as that of Blaze (see above) and my MH is 10M by 3.3M Always on the bottom deck as they cannot put me between deck where there is a restriction on height.
Hi Baz421, There's no competition with semi-trailers/freight, they win all the time, take precedence all the time. Just plan well ahead and pay the money upfront at the same time. Just another gripe. They have the use of your money from the time you pre book. If you are booking on a cruise ship you pay a deposit and the balance closer to the time. They have us over a barrel!
-- Edited by reeb51 on Thursday 18th of February 2016 08:15:39 AM
Sorry but we do compete with trailers. I Dce15 it was big news here in Tassie with 20,000 head of cattle and sheep for Vic stranded because not enough trucks could get on the Spirit PLUS many empty trailers were "stuck" in Melb waiting to get back to Tassie.
Agree with the rest of your post.
Cheers baz
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Why is it so? Professor Julius Sumner Miller, a profound influence on my life, who explained science to us on TV in the 60's.
Rosie - it may be - they were putting on a brand new ship mind last year. Booking was quick - like you only needed to give a couple of days notice of intention to sail. No cabins, but food and comfortable seating from memory
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Cheers Bruce
The amazing things you see when nomading Australia
There is no new vessel on the run. During the winter layup period last year they did a more thorough reworking of the ships. They went to Garden Island Dock. During each trip up they gutted the ship whilst the other was left behind to maintain a reduced service. They rebuilt the interior of the ship whilst it was in dock. They then swapped the ships and repeated the exercise.
This is what they are referring to as the new ships. They have been renewed. You can go onto their home page of their web site and see some Youtube videos on how it was done.
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PeterD Nissan Navara D23 diesel auto, Spaceland pop-top Retired radio and electronics technician. NSW Central Coast.
