Superfast!

[ecm]

Mentioned on Bob's Inchkeith thread that I sailed from Rosyth to Zeebrugge on the Superfast ferry last year.

It's a fantastic vessel (i use that word cos I don't know if it's a ship or a boat). It's like a pretty snazzy hotel with lots of carpeted hallways and lots of smoked glass mirrors and the like. Very comfy cabins and frighteningly efficient and helpful staff, all of whom are continental europeans apparently.
I believe the company who own the ferry got into some bother about the fact that they don't employ any Scots.

Anyway, I was horrified to discover that I am a complete wreck at sea. As soon as we lost sight of land I went into a state of anxiety and spent the whole time (18 hours) imaging my watery demise! What a baby, eh?
The crossings both ways could not have been smoother but I couldn't shake off the terror!
Ali, who incidentally in a previous life sailed across the Atlantic ocean in a fishing boat , did his best to keep me calm but to no avail.
Anyway, has anyone else sailed on Superfast?

[ecm]

P.S. We're going back to Belgium in a couple of weeks time and this time we're flying!
Great, I thought until someone at work told me they flew the same bmi flights from Edinburgh and they use these little bone shakers called Fokkers which they found terrifying as they shudder, shake and make alarming noises from take-off until landing.
Oh well, the flights are only 1 hour 40 mins - we'll cope I suppose.

[wangi]

It'll be a blue moon if Fokkers are flying EDI-BRU. Normal equipment is s - nice wee regional jets.

But saying that nothing wrong with Fokkers - if you're flying EDI-AMS with KLM then all but one (I think) flight each day is on F100s... And there's nothing wrong with them, well apart from KLM never washing the outside!

[ecm]

[Poppy]

El Presidente and I did the Superfast thing in June [sounds a bit dodgy - ] and loved it. As ecm says it's quite swish. Good grub, too. It made the journey part of the holiday rather than the tedium of airports.

We were, however, a bit horrified on our way back as we were watching the fuel being piped into the tanks from a mini-tanker alongside and saw one of the guys roll up and light a fag ...... while sitting on the edge of an open tank!! In fact double

Apparently, the fuel is too heavy for there to be a huge danger of fumes igniting, but it was a teensy bit concerning and I went to the other side of the ferry. Not that it would have helped had there been an explosion.

[Porty]

[ecm]

[Jay]

[ecm]

[Jay]

[ecm]

[Porty]

[ecm]

[Porty]

[Sandra]

[Jay]

I've had one or two horrendous journeys by ferry too, a couple of them round the northern and western coasts. But given the choice between sheer rigid, petrification while 35,000 feet up in the air, with no logical means of support, and being seasick for a few hours - not in the air - I know which I prefer! I expect you do, too, Sandra! I tried everything to knock myself out before flights, and even copious amounts of alcohol, or sleeping tables, didn't help.

[ecm]

Jay,
Sleeping tablets might have more effective!!

[Jay]