Northumberland Ferries

We’ve taken the Northumberland Ferry twice from PEI over to Caribou, Nova Scotia, and enjoyed ourselves on both trips. To cover the basics first, the ferry is reliably on schedule, and it’s a safe and quick, about 75 minutes. The on-​board experience is very pleasant. There’s reasonably comfortable seating around the top passenger deck and a cafeteria with a decent collection of snacks and beverages. There’s also a Cows ice cream stand, and we strongly endorse stopping by here. The Wifi is free if slow, and the process of boarding and off-​loading goes smoothly. The cost is $ 70, which seems a mite steep, though it definitely saves time if you’re driving off the island over to NS via the Confederation Bridge (which will cost you about $ 40). Frankly we think the comfort and shortened route is worth it.

I took both area ferries, PEI — Nova Scotia and Nova Scotia — New Brunswick. The service is outstanding and the personnel are just wonderful. Especially the check-​in woman at Wood Island, PEI. Great way to travel and take some driving miles off the trip.

We had a great experience on the Holiday Island ferry going from Caribou, NS to Wood Islands, PEI and back. We had booked our itinerary online before we left and so when we arrived, the operators quickly located our reservation and ushered us into the appropriate queue. Boarding was orderly and organized and the ship left promptly.
The rest of the 75 minute trip was very pleasant. The weather was beautiful and the deck allowed for a lovely panoramic view of the Northumberland Strait. We saw small fishing boats pass by, with friendly fishermen waving lobsters at us.
The concession stand sold tea and coffee, ice cream and snacks while the cafeteria served hot sandwiches and breakfast. They even had poutine, which was still deliciously unhealthy even if it featured pale (rather than the typical dark) gravy used in Québec. The ‘green’ side of me loved that disposal of waste was separated into compostable, recyclable, and then finally trash bins.
Overall a great experience; although it was pricier (~$ 70) than driving to PEI on the Confederation Bridge (~$ 40), it saved us time rather than having to reroute our itinerary and was a more enjoyable experience sailing across the Strait.