SeaLink - Hamer Street Ferry Terminal — Attraction in Waitematā

I had a ferry trip booked for myself and  7 other  girlfriends going to Waiheke Island for the wine  tour end of March 2021 and ended up having so many  issues with this booking. First , just a day before the trip our  departure time got changed from 11AM to midday, and then few hours later the return time got changed as well, reason given " vehicle maintenance". This was of course far from ideal as,  like I said we had the wine tour booked with  4  wineries,  where everything was of course planned to the minute. When I rang the Sea link  customer line to explore our options , I was dealth with  by an operator by the name of Marianne ( or Mary-Anne, unsure is the spelling - this was Friday 26 March @ 10.03 AM) who was not only unbelievably  unsympathetic and inconsiderate, but also very unpleasant with her tone of voice and quite opinionated. When I raised why is the maintenance being done on Saturday, which I'm guessing is the busiest day of the week she impolitely  commented that if it wasn't for the maintenance "our ship would sink"  and when I voiced concern over her suggestion of changing the ferry departure point from Hamer street (Akl central) to Half moon bay (way away) reason being we didn't want to drive  given the wine intake,  she found it appropriate to comment that "we shouldnt be driving intoxicated anyway", the whole time maintaining  that "at least we ( the SeaLink) are taking you to the island not cancelling altogether". When I asked her for a refund / cancellation options I was advised that being so close to the trip we would lose half of the booking money despite the fact that none of this was  through fault of our own/ caused by us. We ended up going on a midday ferry from the city only to discover that this ferry was slower and took twice as long to reach the island compared to the one we were supposed to be on at 11 AM, which she also failed to mention during our phone conversation, even though it was quite an important piece of information as it meant us losing additional 45 mins of our time on the island ( so instead of arriving midday we have arrived about 1.40 PM) . Being the wine tour we had a tour operator organised to take us from winery to winery, and needless to say this hugely affected their schedule as well . We ended up missing out on one whole wine tasting and had to cut our lunch considerably short. ....  As unfortunate as all this was, none of it would have been quite so bad ( sometimes things are just beyond one's control)  had  she been proffesional, understanding and consideate rather than blunt, argumentative and opinionated. Needless to say I will not be using Sea link services again , nor recommending them,  unless there's been some changes in their policies to bring them in line with other companies out there ( ie Fullers which offer full refund in these types of circumstances)  and  the way they treat...

It was our first time taking the car ferry with two young children. We went for a long weekend over Auckland anniversary. It was a very relaxing way to transfer to Waiheke and have independent transport to explore the island. The terminal is very close to the motorway turn off. The terminal entrance was the driveway one over - if you follow google maps by the fully wrapped building. Staff were super friendly and helped reschedule our return ferry ride without any issues. Highly recommended 5/5 We were comfortable throughout. Some tips: If you can, take the smaller car, easier to drive on those narrow streets on the island as well as parking. Also note, our little car was showered in seawater on the way back. Bring eftpos if you want to purchase snacks at the cafe. I also suggest to be early if you can...

I regularly take sealink to Waiheke because I like the more traditional relaxing journey and also to Pine Harbour to go bike riding. I recently left something on the ferry to Pine Harbour, and have been immensely impressed by the care staff took in returning it to me. The staff are always friendly and helpful. I contacted Sealink about half an hour after I realised I had left it on the ferry, they found it, kept me up to date, and as I was catching the ferry back to Auckland later in the day, ensured it was on the ferry for my return. The staff were caring, professional, connected and followed through as a team. AWESOME, just the best !!! ABSOLUTELY recommend to sea-travel with...