Interislander Premium Plus Lounge, Picton to Wellington

Interislander runs five sailings per day in each direction, the boats are pretty big, so the terminal is always either super busy or super quiet.

We made the mistake of arriving shortly after the incoming boat did, so the place was a bit difficult to navigate.

The line to check in was short, though, as was the (separate) line for checking baggage.




Upstairs in the waiting area, there isn’t much to do and there aren’t enough seats. As one might expect.




I walked around and took some photos of the environs and then had a seat until it was time to board.



At that point, everybody swarmed the gangway at once.




Lots of space for people to walk around, so boarding went quickly. Cars were also driving on board at this point.




General seating areas included several cafés, a few areas with lounge-type seating, a few areas with airline-style seating, and the rooftop sun deck.
















$20 extra per person would buy one access to the QC lounge, with a slightly nicer seat and a food and beverage voucher.



However, past me evidently had decided that $120 per person instead of $65 per person was the best deal of all for the Premium Plus lounge, which had couch seating, free wifi codes, a hot buffet, and an open bar.







The food was pretty good, too, with lunch served for the first half of the trip and afternoon tea for the second half.








Three and a half hours after leaving Picton, the boat arrived in Wellington, where we claimed our bags, took the free shuttle to the central railway station, and walked to our hotel.





The review

This was a really nice way to cross the strait, and if I had to do it all over again, I would certainly pick the premium product again.

That said, all of the different classes of service were pretty pleasant, at least for a three-and-a-half-hour duration. And in this case, the journey was definitely half the fun of being there.