Two nights, not a bed in sight. I really like the Northlink ferry, but was this a bad idea?

[Music] hi folks i'm doing this little intro today tucked away from the fierce aberdeen wind welcome to commercial key and welcome to the north link now i'm going to be doing a ferry journey tonight a wee bit different normally i love an overnight ferry tucked away in your cabin but what's it like when like me you can't afford a cabin or certainly you can't justify it when you're traveling on your own to give you an example this ferry is costing me 36 pounds each way to add a cabin on would be a supplement of over 120 pounds each way so i just can't justify it tonight so welcome to a cheapskate review we're going to see what it's like with this return journey on board for about 26 hours without a bed let's get going i ran into a bit of a problem straight away something that i'm finding more and more these days as i was challenged for filming despite always being really discreet i don't really understand the issue as all i do is advertise their product for free though i guess that's proof that this isn't a sponsored video for tonight's journey i've booked myself one of the pods on board which is technically like a business class seat but it's a product that's been slammed in online reviews so be really interesting to see what it's like on the return journey i don't even have that i'm just going to be in a bog standard reclining seat and i don't sleep too well when i'm traveling so this could be a bit of a brutal journey there's only two decks for public access deck five is where all the cabins are and everything else is on deck six that's where i'll be in the pod lounge you've got the restaurant the magnus lounge the shop and there's a little cinema there somewhere as well when you get on board you get a card for your pod lounge and there's also some toilets here with showers i'm not sure if they're just for pod customers but we'll find out [Music] at first glance the pods look pretty good value to be fair a bit like an aging airlines business class seat with good storage the customary pillow and blanket and one of those footrests that i never use anywhere oh and you're not going to miss this it's the biggest table anywhere on the high seas okay on to the armrests and on the right hand side you've got usb charging and light controls and on the left it's the recline button dropping you back far enough for some decent privacy but i was still concerned about that leg room for comparison here's a look at the regular recliners in the main cabin a much cheaper option at 3 pounds 50 against the 18 pounds for the pods even if you don't have a pod there's plenty of benches where you can stretch out and at least get a nap and i've seen people before just lying down on the carpet as well overnight with sleeping bags so that's another idea [Music] like i've decided to grab some dinner before we set sail so i can film was leaving the harbour and this is quite good i got a brew dog beer and beef olives it was 12 quid the beef olives are pretty good to be fair i'll be back to the fish and chips for the return journey cheers guys i'm hoping that's not an omen [Music] this weed deck at the stern of the ship's primarily for smoking but if you travel in the winter this is probably the only outside area that's going to be open but today we've got upstairs as well [Music] so [Music] now without the north sea it's starting to get cold so i'm heading back inside as you'd expect the bar is the real heart of the ship and priced well for drinks too around four pounds a pint and there's a big tv to help you pass the time the shop is small but it's well stocked with all the usual suspects you'd find on any ship this size including some products made on orkney and shetland toilet review time i know we've just set sail but it's spotlessly clean in here and a shower as well i'm really tempted to try that out but i don't have a tool okay you need a little token to use the shower and you can hire a tool for two quid [Music] meanwhile back in the pod i passed some time recharging my batteries and well recharged my batteries until it was time for a wee something to help me sleep we're cutting through some pretty heavy seas now but nothing this ship can't handle believe it or not it's almost 10 p.m and it's still like broad daylight out here i went up on the top deck for a wee while but it was way too windy so i'm back down here i'll come back in a week while i'm fascinated to see how dark it will actually get that's a heavy door you can see here that every seat is tied down these ships are built for big seas the bar's now gone from full to pretty much empty that's probably something to do with the tennis match being finished now nadal's just won we are doing most of our sailing in cromerty and wind gusting six sea state slater moderate slight or moderate i've not got sea legs i tell you i can barely walk it's just coming up towards midnight now so just a final little look around the ship and a stretch of the legs before we try and get some sleep the pod seats are really good for sitting in but it's a different matter for sleeping i think i can't fully stretch my legs and i think that's going to be a problem tonight i've taken a towel and a shower token so i'll be able to freshen up in the morning even if i don't get much sleep i'm gonna be okay i think it's all very quiet out here on the aft deck darkness has fallen at last and there's a bit of rain started as well all i can see is a couple of lights from ships off in the far distance and the swell's still pretty bad so i'm struggling to walk straight that's not because i spent some time in the bar and they've now closed off access to the upper decks i'm not sure if that's because it's night time or because the weather's just kind of closing in a bit let's get back inside it's a bit wild out there it's lovely to be able to walk through the ship at this time though it's so quiet this is just like the kind of restaurant area so there's no comfy seats there's nobody actually sleeping here they're more up towards the bow over to my left that's where i'll be back in about four hours to get my breakfast oh what i'd do for a cabin right now i was tempted to use my sugar token tonight but i think it'll be better to refresh a bit in the morning all right let's get back into the pods it's time to be as quiet as possible good morning folks well that was one hell of a night i think i've maybe had one hour's sleep so it's time for a shower [Music] you see the coaster shetland now wherever i'm traveling if i can get a shower unexpectedly it's such a treat the restaurant should be open for breakfast in about 10 minutes i think it opens at 6 30 and i should really just take on as much food as i can just now i'm not sure the next time i'm going to be able to eat today time for some fresh air [Music] so how was the sleeping pod in the northland seriously pretty bad it was okay as a daisy but as soon as you went back and tried to sleep there it was a different story maybe i'm just too big but i couldn't stretch my legs and that's a real problem for me when i'm trying to sleep especially as i've got quite dodgy knees so it was quite painful at times as well and there was just no space to move about i think in theory it's a really cool concept but in practice it doesn't really work look at my breakfast fantastic cheers guys so good that's us just arriving in the port now but we had a different approach this morning we went round the back of brescia so it was so good to see the high cliffs on the far side i've never gone that way before normally it just comes straight into lerwick but the main thing is we're on time welcome to shetland folks i'm going to head off now and film another video here in shetland and i'll see you back on board for the return in about 36 hours right folks let's get back on board for the return ferry to aberdeen and this time i'm not paying the 18 pounds supplement for a pod oh no i'm going with the cheapest ticket possible and that's a supplement of three pounds 50 for a reclining seat what's more this ferry is going to be longer about an hour and a half longer because we're going to be calling in at kirkwall and orkney in the way home although the weather's still closing in and it's going to be dark so i don't think we're going to see much [Music] now it's still about an hour and a half before we sail but i'm getting on board early so i can find a nice quiet corner of the ship to base myself for the next 14 hours i've not quite found my favorite seat but i've found a really quiet corner and it's long enough to actually stretch out so i think it should actually be more comfortable than the pods my early boarding plan has been thwarted there's been a security announcement saying you can't just leave your stuff at a seat so if i go for a wander or go for something to eat then i'll lose my seat instantly i haven't quite worked out what to do yet but i don't want to just sit down there for 13 hours that'd be the most boring video ever wouldn't it i think my channel needs an assistant who can just sit with the bags who kind of get to do that arrival time we should be in slightly earlier and together tonight she belongs about half past 10 and they don't have a pin for seven o'clock tomorrow morning i've literally only just noticed we're on a different ship tonight the reason i noticed because the winch only text is printed differently on the deck these are sister ships but they are pretty much identical sisters our next door neighbor the heliar that's also branded up as a northlink i didn't do anything about this one i guess so it must be like a dedicated cargo ship [Music] you see i traded my comfy bench seat for views like that and food like that i got all excited because i went back to the bow of the ship and my seat was still there and then i realized why it was still there five minutes after sitting down i was feeling so sick there's a really big swell tonight and up at the bow is not the place to be so i've come back to the after the ship i've come outside to get some fresh air actually feels a wee bit better here but i think midships is the place to be tonight one of the great things about going back via kirkwall is you do a really close sale pass fair isle this is such a thrill for me fair isle is a dream destination i haven't had the luck to go there yet but hopefully someday up here [Music] we're tied up in kirkwall now although it's more like what maybe ryanair would call kirkwall we're miles from town but anyway that signals time for me to go downstairs and find somewhere to sleep the ship's a bit mental tonight it's like a mix of drunk people and excited teenagers just running about everywhere there might be a few of these getting used anyway the bar is almost closed it's almost midnight i kind of hope it quietens down a bit i'd still rather be here than caged in one of the pods but we'd like to get some rest and it might be right here this is already so much better than spending almost 20 quid in a pod and my secret weapon smelly feet no one will come near me good morning folks that's us just coming into aberdeen harbour now so how was it last night it was okay i'm not gonna say it was easy but it was still much better than in the pods i was more comfortable able to stretch out i probably only got about the same amount of sleep as i did in the pod but it was just so much better to be in the main cabin and have free reign of the whole place find somewhere comfortable to sit and to sleep and you could just go for a walk as well you weren't restricted to that one space so i would always take the reclining seat option rather than the pod because you don't have to sit in one of the reclining seats you can just lie anywhere i'll probably just go and brush my teeth now get into aberdeen get back down to stonehaven and sleep for the rest of the morning [Music] so there we have it folks welcome back to the granite city after a total of 26 hours aboard without a bed i hope you enjoyed the video and found it interesting and i'd love to know your thoughts as well would you consider a cabin a luxury or a necessity let me know in the comments below and i'll see you again somewhere soon bye do [Music] so [Music] you

Channel: SteveMarsh

Views: 443,437

Keywords: Northlink, Northlink Ferry, Northlink ferries, Shetland Ferry, Orkney Ferry, Northlink Aberdeen, Northlink Aberdeen to Shetland, Aberdeen to Lerwick ferry, Aberdeen to Shetland ferry, Overnight ferry, Overnight ferry without a cabin, Overnight ferry in a seat, overnight in a seat, Northlink Pod, Northlink sleeping pod, Northlink reclining seat, Steve Marsh, SteveMarsh, Steve Marsh trip report, Steve Marsh travel reviewer, Ferry to Shetland, Aberdeen to Lerwick, Visit Scotland

Id: 1RbdRWa-MZ8

Length: 19min 38sec (1178 seconds)

Published: Sat Jul 16 2022