Macau Ferry: Ramen is a Great First Class Amenity
Traveling between Macau and Hong Kong? Taking the relatively inexpensive ferry is your only option, but you do have a choice between coach or first.
Coach runs roughly $20-$27 and First Class an extravagant $7-$13 more. The ride is only an hour, is paying more for First really worth it? Yes!
First class is on the top level of the boat, coach class down below has narrow seats and gets very crowded. First offers more leg room and a quieter atmosphere.
As someone who gets terribly sea sick, even with dramamine and even on large cruise ships, having a lot of space and air makes a big difference. Seats are typically assigned at the gate, so if you’re traveling with at least one other person, its worth asking for a seat in row 1 (seen below) as it comes with a giant table between the rows.
I also really like First Class because I get a childish thrill anytime I get to walk upstairs on a plane or a boat — something about the multi-level? I don’t know 🙂
First class gets a free snack — your choice of flavored ramen and a soda, coffee, or tea. This is seriously the best ramen cup I’ve ever had and destroyed any college opinions of the dish I’ve had. (If anyone knows how I can track down this brand in the US, I’d appreciate it!)
The other major perk of going first class is when you’re disembarking. Because you’ll be going through immigration, being at the front of the line dramatically speeds up the time it takes to get outside to the taxis (in either direction).
First class gets to disembark first and attendants are ready to help you find your luggage at the bottom of the stairs. It may not seem like alot, but its the small conveniences that can reduce stress across the board.
Cotai Water Jet vs TurboJET?
You have two ferry companies to choose from. Cotai tends to be a little cheaper ($20-27 USD) than TurboJET ($27-$40). TurboJET is a little nicer, but I’ve found Cotai to be perfectly comfortable (pictures above are of Cotai). For me it really boils down to times and terminals.
Whichever company is departing from the most convenient terminals and times is the best one to go with. Most TurboJET sailings are to the Macau Ferry Terminal, most of Cotai is to the Macau Taipa Temporary Ferry Terminal. Which leads to the next question:
Which Macau Ferry Terminal is better?
It all depends on your end destination in Macau. If you’re staying in the historic older part of town (or just seeing the sites for the day) then you’ll want to go to the Macau Ferry Terminal which is just minutes from all the historic sites. If you’re staying at or primarily visiting the casinos, then the Macau Taipa Temporary Ferry Terminal is the most convenient.
However, should you pick the wrong one, cabs are cheap and plentiful, so its easy to get from one end of Macau to another.
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You can also take the heli
Doll Instant Noodles. You can order from Amazon.
Thank you!!
The title of your post is deceiving: I thought some japanese airline was serving authentic, tonkotsu-based ramen in F. LOL
Sorry about that! That would absolutely have been better ramen. At least this stuff is much better than the instant stuff I’d tried in the US.
Don’t take taxis. There are free shuttle buses to almost every hotel that has a casino.