Traveller left ‘traumatised’ after rough and rocky journey on a ferry in Greece: ‘Now I understand what people warned me about’
A traveler has shared her regret after a nightmare experience taking a ferry in Greece that cost more than AUD150.
Nikki said she booked a €100 ticket on a Greek ferry despite hearing horror stories from other travellers.
She said she knew she was “in trouble” when she first saw the ferry as it rocked dramatically in the waves and spent the entire journey hearing and smelling the vomiting of fellow passengers.
The travel blogger had taken four different ferries around Greece without any problems during her trip, but on this particularly choppy day she said it was a “miracle” she wasn’t ill.
“NOW I understand why people warned me about the ferries in Greece,” Nikki, who is from North Carolina in the US, captioned a TikTok video.
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American traveler Nikki (pictured) has recounted her “traumatizing” experience on a Greek ferry, saying it was a “miracle” she wasn’t sick among the passengers who had to vomit around her for two hours
‘Watch out for these speed ferries, they are really just big speed boats that are tossed about by the waves. And this was even one of their bigger ones.’
Nikki and her travel companion Colton had booked a speed ferry with SeaJet for €100 or $166 per person, as the journey would take less than two hours.
“The moment I saw the ferry I knew we were in trouble, it was being tossed around in the waves like a rag doll,” she said.
‘We saw the ferry and it moves, it rocks back and forth. I don’t even know how people walk off it and I’m immediately scared: this is a nightmare about seasickness.’
Nikki paid $166 for a ferry ticket from Santorini to Crete. She was shocked by the loud sounds of scraping metal and the clatter as the boat was tossed by the waves
While waiting to board, Nikki was shocked by the loud sounds of metal scraping and clanking as the boat was tossed about by the waves.
“People are audibly gasping around us,” Nikki said as a woman in the crowd next to her announced, “This doesn’t seem safe to me.”
“We get on board and get tossed about by the hull of the ship as everyone stows their luggage,” the traveler recalled.
“It took so long for everyone to even put their luggage away because people were falling over trying to get their bags on the racks.”
While they were packing their luggage, Nikki, who is prone to nausea, took a preventative motion sickness drug known as Dramamine.
“We walked up and it was random seating, there were staff members telling us where to sit and luckily we were seated next to a window, I mean it was just a miracle,” she said.
Grateful for her window seat, where she can keep an eye on the horizon to curb her seasickness, and with her sea band, noise-canceling headphones, and meds on board, Nikki said she felt pretty good.
However, just 15 minutes into the journey, staff began handing out sick bags to passengers, as the water was rough and rocky.
“You know it’s bad when the staff say, ‘You’re all going to puke,'” she said.
“It reached a point where everyone was quiet, everyone was so miserable that it became very quiet and we all went to our happy place.”
After 25 minutes, Nikki began to hear other passengers vomit from the choppy conditions that caused the boat to sway violently.
“The woman in front of me started throwing up and then I heard another person and another person,” she said.
“Then I swear there were six or seven people around me throwing up at one point and I was trying so hard not to listen.”
Nikki tried not to get sick herself for the rest of the ride, as she could hear and even smell those around her, but she made the hour and 45 minute journey unscathed.
“It’s really not SeaJet’s fault – it was just the scenario, but I was really happy to be off that boat,” Nikki admitted.
“I still can’t believe we paid $200 to have people throw up around us for two hours.”
Nikki’s ‘nightmare’ clip has been viewed a whopping 10.5 million times and shocked many in the comments.
“I would have jumped overboard when I heard the first person throw up,” one viewer wrote.
“The sweat on your brow tells me I would NEVER have survived this boat trip. Throwing people up is my biggest fear,’ another exclaimed.
Viewers shared their own experiences traveling on ferries in Greece. Some had an unpleasant journey, while others compared it to being “rounded up like cattle.”
“This happened to me and my friend. We said, if there’s a hell, this is it,’ one woman said.
‘The SECOND said you ferry between Santorini and Crete. I knew. I am traumatized. My friends were traumatized,” replied another.
“This happened to me in October and I swear I’m never taking one again,” someone added.