Majestic Fast Ferry Review
Majestic Fast Ferry is one of the many ferry operators that provide ferry transportation between Singapore and Indonesia.
While other ferry operators use the typical Wavemaster fleet that can accommodate about 160 passengers, Majestic Fast Ferry stands out as the only operator that uses big fleets which can accommodate over 300 passengers.
In this review, I’ll share my own experience traveling with Majestic Fast Ferry from Singapore to Batam, and back.
Read: How to Take Ferry to Batam from Singapore
Majestic Fast Ferry Route
At time of writing, Majestic Fast Ferry has 4 routes:
- HarbourFront ⇌ Batam Centre
- HarbourFront ⇌ Sekupang
- Tanah Merah ⇌ Batam Centre
- Tanah Merah ⇌ Tanjung Pinang
Both HarbourFront and Tanah Merah are ports in Singapore. Batam Centre and Sekupang are ports in Batam, Indonesia. And Tanjung Pinang is a port in Bintan, Indonesia.
The schedule of Majestic Fast Ferry changes from time to time, you can view the latest schedule here.
My review will be focused on HarbourFront ⇌ Batam Centre route.
Majestic Fast Ferry Price
Here are the normal prices of ferry ticket between Singapore to Batam and vice versa:
| Type | Price |
|---|---|
| One-way | S$43 |
| Two-way | S$76 |
Majestic Fast Ferry Fleets
For easy reference, the fleets of Majestic Fast Ferry can be broadly categorised into 2 types: Majestic and Wavemaster.
Wavemaster is the smaller-sized ferry that is typically used across most ferry companies that operate Singapore-Batam route. It has the capacity of 168 passengers.
Meanwhile, Majestic is the bigger-sized ferry that can accommodate over 200 or 300 passengers, depending on the fleet.
Majestic Fast Ferry has 3 generations of Majestic fleets, namely:
- Majestic M200. This first generation of Majestic fleet is 33m long and can accommodate 200 passengers. Fleets under this include Majestic 7 and Majestic 9.
- Majestic M317. The second generation is 39m and can accommodate 317 passengers. Fleets under this include Majestic Dream, Majestic Pride, Majestic Faith, Majestic Wisdom, Majestic Liberty and Majestic Grace.
- Brilliance & Excellence of Majestic. The latest series is 42m long and can accommodate 322 passengers.
This review is focused solely on the Majestic fleets, not the Wavemaster.
I was pregnant when I traveled to Batam, and I was worried about seasickness and turbulence, hence I decided that I only wanted to travel with big ferries, hence the Majestic fleet.
The challenge for me was finding out which departure timing is being served by Majestic fleet. The ferry company doesn’t publish on the website which fleet is departing on which time. And I don’t want to purchase a ticket only to find out that I’ll be traveling in a Wavemaster.
So, I asked the company. And fortunately, there is a solution. I can call Majestic Ferry Company one day before my intended departure, in the evening at about 8pm, to enquire what’s the fleet for certain timing. That way, I can be sure that the timing that I’ll book will indeed be served by a Majestic fleet.
For Singapore-Batam route, I had to call the Singapore branch. Meanwhile, for Batam-Singapore route, I had to call the Batam branch one day before my departure, at about 6pm local time (they’ll be closed at 7pm) to enquire about the fleet.
Return Ticket vs Open Ticket
When purchasing your ticket, a 2-way is cheaper than one-way ticket, so I’d highly recommend that.
Next, for your 2-way ticket, you need to decide whether you want a return ticket or open ticket.
Return ticket means you have to determine your departure date and time, as well as your return date and time, at the time of booking.
Open ticket means you don’t need to determine your departure date & time for the second leg, or for both legs, at the time of booking. You can determine your departure date and time by directly checking-in at the counter, on the same day of your departure, or earlier.
Check In and Boarding Procedure
If you’ve already had your boarding pass (either because you purchased online or purchased on the spot in advance), you don’t need to check-in at the counter, you can use the boarding pass to enter departure gate.
However, if your ticket is an open-ticket, you need to head to the counter to collect your boarding pass.
Before entering departure area in Harbourfront, make sure you’ve already prepared any foreign currency that you’ll need for your trip. That’s because inside the transit area, there is neither ATM nor money changer. I learned this the hard way.
Inside the transit departure area, there are shops selling drinks but they’re kind of overpriced. So, if you want, get your snacks / drinks before entering the transit area.
Once you are ready with your boarding pass and foreign currency, head to the departure gate located at Level 2. The latest time to enter the departure gate is 30 mins before departure.
Scan your boarding pass and you will arrive at immigration area. After clearing immigration, you will then arrive at the waiting area to wait for your ferry.
Journey Duration
The ferry travel duration between Singapore and Batam is 1 hour. However, the duration may be shorter or longer depending on the weather and sea condition.
For my case, my first leg from Singapore to Batam took 80 mins, while my return leg from Batam to Singapore took 60 mins.
Ferry Interior
The ferry that I took was Majestic Joy, which is the second generation of Majestic fleet.
The entry and exit point is at the middle of the ferry. When you first enter the ferry, you will immediately see the main luggage rack at the center divider of the ferry.
If the luggage rack is full, there are additional racks at the front, just below the TV.
The ferry has 2 sections: the front section and the rear section. It is a single-storey ferry.
All the seats are indoor. The seat configuration is 3-4-4-3. All the seats face the front direction.
At the very front of the ferry is a TV which plays a silent movie throughout the journey.
Inside the seat pocket, you can find the evacuation route, instruction for life jacket, and a magazine.
If you need water, you can get cup water from a distribution point near the luggage rack.
At the rear section, there is a mini-shop that sells snacks and drinks.
Toilet is located at the end of the rear section. There are 5 toilets in total, including 1 for the handicapped. All of the toilets are unisex.
During my journey, the toilet was pretty clean. It has a modern toilet bowl, a small yet functionable sink, and a half-height mirror.
On my return journey, I also took the Majestic Joy. But this one has different seat color than the one I took during my first leg of the trip.
Since I was one of the first ones to board, I was able to take photos of the interior without many people.
The layout and configuration are exactly the same as what I’ve wrote in the above paragraphs.
External Areas
The external areas are quite narrow and they’re not exactly great to hang out at. But I guess it’s much needed by guests who need fresh air.
Comfort and Stability
In terms of comfort, the seats are quite new and quite comfortable. For someone short like me, the legroom wasn’t a problem. Even my spouse who’s 1.7m tall found the legroom to be sufficient.
But, the legroom might be too restrictive for very tall people or claustrophobic people. The man behind me kept kicking my seat as he adjusted his leg’s position *ugh*
In terms of stability, the ferry is quite stable most of the time when it’s in Singapore waters because it has to navigate the waterway near Sentosa and the Southern Islands carefully.
However, the ferry speeds up near Batam and I was feeling a little sick due to the turbulence, luckily it was just for a short period of time.
Conclusion
With ticket price similar to other small ferry operators, it’s a no brainer that Majestic Fast Ferry’s big vessel is a better choice for people who are looking for more stability, better comfort.
It is especially great for pregnant women who are prone to motion sickness. As someone who was pregnant during my Batam trip, choosing Majestic Fast Ferry even though my hotel wasn’t near Batam Center was the best decision. I had very comfortable rides both way, and I wasn’t feeling sick most of the time, except when the ferry sped up at the open water near Batam.
The only downside I could think of is the amount of crowd you have deal with when arriving at destination. The big ferry carries more passengers, so the queue at immigration will definitely be longer compared to small ferries.
Would I take Majestic Fast Ferry again? I wouldn’t hesitate, unless they increase the price or the service gets worse.
