Bluebridge Cook Strait Ferry Wellington Terminal — Local services in North Island

Horrible experience. We arrived (4 of us) at the ferry terminal at 07.00am. We had our bags checked in at 07.10. We had booked a car rental who informed us once we arrived to collect the car and not during our booking, that we needed to return the car in Wellington and collect another on the other side. We explained we had booked the ferry + car and they told us to ask for a refund at the ferry terminal and go as foot passengers. We rang ace the day before departure and they had no out of hours key drop and told us to leave the keys at 07.30 once the office opened. The ferry started boarding at approx 07.20. The extremely rude and passive aggressive staff member behind the counter in the wellington ferry department gate (with red hair) was looking at my mum and I so I explained our situation and told her that the 2 others who went to return the car, would be here in 5 minutes. This was at 7.27. She was raising her voice across the room to us (we were sitting) telling us boarding had ended, we were delaying the cars entering the ferry etc etc. I explained to her that ace told us to leave the car at their office (7minute drive) and that we'd no option bearing in mind the ferry doesn't LEAVE UNTIL 8.15!! She began, at the top of her voice, unprofessionally, talking to colleagues about us and how we were delaying everything and said our other 2 parties would 'be here in 5 minutes, 10 minutes ago'. She continued to argue that we should have checked with the ferry about car drop off etc. I explained to her ace had given us these instructions, knowing we were getting the ferry and she needed to take her issue up with them. At this stage it was at the latest 07.35. FERRY DEPARTING 08.15. She was so rude to other passengers who arrived at 07.30 telling them boarding was over etc. Stressing people out unnecessarily when the ferry wasn't even leaving until 08.15. She was so rude and unprofessional and needs to be given a lesson in customer service. You can still speak to people kindly and still get the ferry going on time too. Especially people that arrive at 07.00. EARLY!! I have never experienced anything like this and my elderly parents were visibly upset after the stress she created. Low and behold we boarded at 07.40 and the ferry didn't take off until 08.10. We were also not the last to get on. I only wish I got her name. The rest of the staff on board were lovely, relaxed...

Very officious and rude staff. Unhelpful crew giving unhelpful advice when securing motorcycles - they talk to you like children. Poor signage for those who booked cabins (don’t leave car park deck 4 on starboard side expecting correct signage to your cabin), non existent WiFi in inward cabins despite website advertising WiFi. Many internal cabins without portholes - very claustrophobic. No staff supervising disembarking traffic long after ramp was lowered and securely in place. Eventually we gave up waiting and drove off the ship ourselves and everyone else followed. I’m going back to using InterIslander. They’re not perfect but far better service than Bluebridge..... Thank you for your RESPONSE below Pedro. Your crew told me they receive cabin allocations from shore (showed me their printed list) and said they could not change them. They also said WiFi NEVER works in the internal cabins due to steel bulkheads and a lack of WiFi boosters on board. You should be more HONEST with your responses Pedro just as your company should be far more HONEST with disclosures on it’s website when describing the cabin and WiFi facilities it’s offering before unsuspecting consumers pay extra costs to purchase cabin tickets. Even when connected to your ships WiFi it was so overloaded as to be useless. I believe that’s likely to be misrepresentation under the Fair Trading Act. When passengers board a ship to cross one of the most dangerous stretches of water in the world they need to be able to totally trust the company providing every aspect of...

Our 1:30 pm ferry was 0.5 hour late (the weather was amazing today, so it cannot be a weather related issue). Then, it took about an hour longer to get to Picton from Wellington, so total of 1.5 hours late. The main staircase that foot passengers are using to get to the passenger deck smells like urine. So does the outside deck, so you cannot really enjoy the views outside. The inside deck is nice, clean and comfortable.

Other information: In Wellington, this ferry is located about 3 kilometers from where rental cars are dropped off (if you are renting cars with certain companies, such as Hertz, Avis, and some of the other large rental companies, you have to stop off the car before getting onto the ferry and you will pick up another car either at Picton or Wellington depending where you are going). Given the distance, plan enough time to catch a taxi or ride share or walk. Upon arrival to Picton, a shuttle came by and drove up to the main Bluebridge ferry building to pick up the bags (which were available upon arrival of the shuttle, so that was fast) and to take us to the car rental facilities. The bus itself was fast, but it was not designed to transport passengers with multiple pieces of luggage per person. There were no luggage racks on the bus, so people ended up cluttering the walkway of the bus or putting luggage on the seats, but there was really no choice.

We have not tried the other ferry company, so not sure if it...