Sado Island Ferry
We're visiting Sado Island in June and reserved tickets for the jetfoil ferry from Niigata. However I couldn't figure out how to reserve specific seats on the ferry. The ferry company website FAQ says I should be able to select seats, but there was no option to do so during the reservation process. I tried emailing the company and didn't hear back. We won't arrive in Niigata until right before our ferry leaves so I'm worried our family of 4 (including our kids) will end up with the "remainder" seats and all be split up. Can anyone tell me how to reserve specific seats on this ferry? Thank you!
Which boat are you on? https://www.sadokisen.co.jp/en/
Click on "Boarding a Ship." "Seat Availability to check.
Scroll down for "Click here to reserve seats."
Edited: 1 year agoMamajelli thank you for the reply! I'm feeling a bit dumb but I only see a link for "click here to reserve TICKETS", which is how I made our reservation. I don't see anything about reserving specific seats so we can be sure to sit together.
We are on the jetfoil from Niigata on June 10 at 11:30, and I see the chart shows there are still plenty of seats available, but I cannot figure out how to choose specific seats on the boat. Thank you for your help!
Sado Kisen's FAQ states that seat vacancy can be seen more about 10 days in prior to the boarding date. How many people are you traveling with? When it's 2 or 3, it won't be difficult to be together. On the contrary, it may be sometimes difficult for more than 5. Boarding with group tours also make it difficult, but I don't think tour runs that frequently by the ferry route.
Thank you ETflyer, that's great to know that we should be able to sit 2 together. There are 4 of us but it's fine to split up 2 and 2, so at least my youngest kiddo isn't sitting by herself. I also saw that in the FAQ about more seat availability 10 days out but I'm not sure what that's referring to- I'll check the website again in a few days to see if anything new appears for our travel date.
In case you get separated from your youngest, I am sure some kind people would offer to switch seats. I wouldn't worry about it too much. They might be shy speaking to you, so approach them with simple words and gestures.
The jetfoil trip is only an hour, so being split isn't a big issue. Also note in rough weather it doesn't operate, but the 2 1/2 hour car ferry is quite pleasant.
Normally, ferry operators run an extra run when certain exceeding number of passengers are expected on the date to avoid confusion in ports and residents inconvenience. I imagine their limit is ten days to dispatch vessel, crew, and port staff, and they release seats for potential group travel (a group of 15 or over is their definition).
Dr. Shibuyakko thank you, that's a very good idea. My youngest kiddo isn't super little, but she gets motion sick so I want to be next to her just in case she has a problem. Thanks for your help!
JapanCustomTours thank you for the reminder about the Jetfoil possibly being cancelled due to weather. Hopefully if that happens we can just reserve a spot on the car ferry instead.
ETflyer that all makes sense, thank you for explaining!
Hi can you share about your jetfoil experience please? Im proned to sea sick if the ride is a bumpy one. Is it safer to take the car ferry?
I took the jetfoil ferry in late May....it didn't seem bumpy to me.....
