Spirited Away to Tassie

Spirit of Tasmania I and II welcomes you aboard!
With ten decks on board and the ship full of things to discover, your journey to Tasmania begins here.

Or is it?

You see there are 11 decks but deck 1-6 are all garage and deck 8 is entirely cabin and ocean recliner area.

Thus all the activity is in deck 7 with 2 restaurants where Leatherwood Restaurant is of a higher class with waiter service and which require compulsory bookings. Only dinner was provided based on the menu I was reading.

Captains Table is more like a foodcourt serving a variety of hot and cold savoury dishes and includes a continental breakfast too in the morning.

Of course cafes and bars will never be missing in action in Australia culture thus you have the Lavender Cafe which is a relaxing lounge bar,

and you get a Spirit Bar on deck 7,

a bar kiosk on deck 9

and another on deck 10 during day sailings.

They also mentioned the children's playroom but hmm I really find it small to be of too much fun.

Same goes to the games arcade.

I did not even check out the Star Club casino because it closed around midnight. And the only activities I partaked is the 2 movie screenings in the Cinema

catching some rest as the reclining seats were really comfy in my humble opinion.. much better than those air plane seats

with pillow and blanket provided

as well as a reading lamp which I never really got to use...

Lastly, the tourist information centre to grab my map on Devonport to roam around when I disembark.
Not that there were much activities available where the restaurants, gift shop and tourist centre close after my second movie screening ended.. The only redemption is I got complimentary drinks when the Captain Table was closed too.

Caught sight of this sign while exploring the ferry... haha

I'm not saying I regret my journey but seriously an air ticket from Melbourne to Lauceston costs one third of the price I paid for my Spirit of Tasmania journey.

And because it started raining when I embarked the ship, I did not see the sun final rays along the Melbourne skyline,

nor the beginning rays shining the Devonport shoreline. Sigh!

Perhaps the day sailing would be better as you will get the chance to see the sea view with longer daylight hours during summer and you get to move around. In fact day tickets could be cheaper since you do not really require a fixated recliner to rest your body.

Check out day sailing here.

Sail and drive is another reason I would recommend boarding the Spirit of Tasmania when you have a car as one cannot go anywhere without a car and if you owe one in Melbourne, boarding the Spirit of Tasmania is indeed where your journey to Tasmania begins...