We have this week "tested" the EXPRESS 3 on Molslinjen from Odden to Aarhus on an midweek day afternoon-dep. :
Best and fastest ever ticket-sale, check-in boarding etc. :
Just choosen a car-lane "ticket buy", there is an automat very easy to use from the driver-window.
Just click on "car 6 m" and choose the number of persons and click on "Next departure" - then the price is shown, juszt push in the credit card in the automat and some seconds later the lane is green with showing the boarding-lane-number on the automat-display.
There is a XXXL LED screen replacing all marshalling-crew and showing when the next ferry is going etc. .
Then a few minutes waiting only and "my" lane-number traffic-light change to green and i follow the other cars to the upper deck.
Here onboard seen the first person from Molslinjen showing the lane inside the ferry - there is nobody on land - all automatic, but very easy and fast - to buy a ticket for a tram / metro / train anywhere with an automat is normally much more complicated !
So absolute effective, modern, fast and easy operation-system with minimum-costs for staff, crew etc. .
Very good timing also - departing in time just when the last car was onboard - no lost unused time for the ferry - very short turnaround.
Ramps off and seconds later the ferry is leaving the port and driving faster and faster.
The decks was filled circa 90% with cars and 3 Kombardo-Express-buses.
Trucks 0. Motorhomes / Caravans 3 or 4.
Wide lanes onboard, comfortable leaving of the cars, no risk for scratches, dirty clothes etc. .
We was the first 20min at the small balcony-outside-deck at the end of the ferry for to watch the speed, waves etc. .
Then later inside we have found "the last" free table-group nearby the Barista Cafe.
((No joke - we walked around the complete ferry and all other seat-groups / table-groups was occupied, only really 1 was still free - and only some single-seats anywhere available)).
Furthermore there was a self-service-restaurant and in the business lounge section a bar.
Prices much higher than on land, 98% of the people onboard has bought nothing in the cafe / restaurant.
Generally it could be some more seats and tables. The ship felt overloaded inside - but there was free space for a number of cars / motorhomes and the buses was more empty than full.
So with full-booked buses and full-booked carspace many passengers would have not found a seat, i was walking around the complete ferry - there was really no space anymore for 1 family more onboard.
The Front Business-lounge area is much too big. There was 2 alone-travelling men looking as "business-travellers" with laptop etc. only.
And 2 "pay what ever it costs" families with some loud crying smaller kids only. So from maybe ca. 30 - 35 tables only 4 was in use.
But all other spaces onboard felt as fullbooked or overloaded.
So the "business-people" pay only much extra for a garanteed table and the coffee, snack etc. - but not for silence.
Really many many many families with smaller kids onboard - especially for them it is much better that the kids can running around onboard than to sit in the car many hours on the parallel motorway over the Storebaeltsbron.
Traveltime was ca. 80 min, the ferry was in time.
So summary:
POSITIVE Ca. hourly departures, fast speed, easy ticket-sale, no booking needed, very good efficiency, minimum crew / staff, ticket-prices ok, car-lanes onboard wider than on "normal" ferries, fast on - fast off. No lost waiting time as on other ferries with "you must be there latest 1 hour before departure"- the last cars was only 3 or 4 min before the departure at the ticket-automat arriving, we self only 11 min before. So you can arrive and drive onboard here also really in fact at "last minute".
NEGATIVE Would be much much better for all with a very small business lounge only and instead much more seats / tables for all normal people. Complete nonsense to block 1/3 of the full ship for ca. 10, 12 or 14 people only.
Minimum ca. 30, 40, 50 more table-groups would be needed if the decks and the buses are 100% full.
Why the sun-deck is so super-small ? Generally an error on most Catamarans.
The screens (showing infos / ads) onboard are much too small (Why notebook-size under the roof ? Who can see / read it from the seats ?).
Food / drinks are much too expensive. We was sitting just opposite the cafe with 2 staff-girls nearly the complete time only hanging around there and talking with each other all the time - nearly nobody has wished a coffee or cake - but it was just in the afternoon-hours when normally everybody is drinking coffee and eating cakes in Danmark (99% danish cars onboard).
So here the Molslinjen managers should better have a look to the Biltema Cafe-chain with selling cafe+cake together for 43 cent (5 swedish Krones) only and having then long rows of lucky people in the restaurant-cafes all the day - instead of to pay 2 staff-girls all the day for nearly nothing and most tables full with private picnic food and drinks.
The same situation it was at "Mollys Diner Restaurant", staff hanging around... .
So in fact the saved money for marshalling crew is threw out of the window in the cafe and restaurant for staff having (nearly) nothing to do because the prices are much too high.
So it was a nice experience - but if i would need travel Copenhagen-Aarhus often i would demand
- more space (seats / tables) onboard (i think when they have ordered the EXPRESS 3 the plan was not to travel with 3 double-deck-coaches onboard and that especially many full family-cars with a lot of kids use the ferry...)
- bigger sundeck (costs nothing, why it is so small ? Terrible to stand there as non-smoker with many smokers on a full mini-balcony deck)
- much cheaper food and drink prices (Please copy Biltema-Cafe and not Starbucks !)
for to choose this ferry-travel-option and not the motorway with the Storebaeltsbron (and free choice of cheaper restaurants).
Extra-Bonus for best, easy and fastest ticket-buy, check-in system and fast on/off driving with minimum crew only needed !
Best and fastest ever ticket-sale, check-in boarding etc. :
Just choosen a car-lane "ticket buy", there is an automat very easy to use from the driver-window.
Just click on "car 6 m" and choose the number of persons and click on "Next departure" - then the price is shown, juszt push in the credit card in the automat and some seconds later the lane is green with showing the boarding-lane-number on the automat-display.
There is a XXXL LED screen replacing all marshalling-crew and showing when the next ferry is going etc. .
Then a few minutes waiting only and "my" lane-number traffic-light change to green and i follow the other cars to the upper deck.
Here onboard seen the first person from Molslinjen showing the lane inside the ferry - there is nobody on land - all automatic, but very easy and fast - to buy a ticket for a tram / metro / train anywhere with an automat is normally much more complicated !
So absolute effective, modern, fast and easy operation-system with minimum-costs for staff, crew etc. .
Very good timing also - departing in time just when the last car was onboard - no lost unused time for the ferry - very short turnaround.
Ramps off and seconds later the ferry is leaving the port and driving faster and faster.
The decks was filled circa 90% with cars and 3 Kombardo-Express-buses.
Trucks 0. Motorhomes / Caravans 3 or 4.
Wide lanes onboard, comfortable leaving of the cars, no risk for scratches, dirty clothes etc. .
We was the first 20min at the small balcony-outside-deck at the end of the ferry for to watch the speed, waves etc. .
Then later inside we have found "the last" free table-group nearby the Barista Cafe.
((No joke - we walked around the complete ferry and all other seat-groups / table-groups was occupied, only really 1 was still free - and only some single-seats anywhere available)).
Furthermore there was a self-service-restaurant and in the business lounge section a bar.
Prices much higher than on land, 98% of the people onboard has bought nothing in the cafe / restaurant.
Generally it could be some more seats and tables. The ship felt overloaded inside - but there was free space for a number of cars / motorhomes and the buses was more empty than full.
So with full-booked buses and full-booked carspace many passengers would have not found a seat, i was walking around the complete ferry - there was really no space anymore for 1 family more onboard.
The Front Business-lounge area is much too big. There was 2 alone-travelling men looking as "business-travellers" with laptop etc. only.
And 2 "pay what ever it costs" families with some loud crying smaller kids only. So from maybe ca. 30 - 35 tables only 4 was in use.
But all other spaces onboard felt as fullbooked or overloaded.
So the "business-people" pay only much extra for a garanteed table and the coffee, snack etc. - but not for silence.
Really many many many families with smaller kids onboard - especially for them it is much better that the kids can running around onboard than to sit in the car many hours on the parallel motorway over the Storebaeltsbron.
Traveltime was ca. 80 min, the ferry was in time.
So summary:
POSITIVE Ca. hourly departures, fast speed, easy ticket-sale, no booking needed, very good efficiency, minimum crew / staff, ticket-prices ok, car-lanes onboard wider than on "normal" ferries, fast on - fast off. No lost waiting time as on other ferries with "you must be there latest 1 hour before departure"- the last cars was only 3 or 4 min before the departure at the ticket-automat arriving, we self only 11 min before. So you can arrive and drive onboard here also really in fact at "last minute".
NEGATIVE Would be much much better for all with a very small business lounge only and instead much more seats / tables for all normal people. Complete nonsense to block 1/3 of the full ship for ca. 10, 12 or 14 people only.
Minimum ca. 30, 40, 50 more table-groups would be needed if the decks and the buses are 100% full.
Why the sun-deck is so super-small ? Generally an error on most Catamarans.
The screens (showing infos / ads) onboard are much too small (Why notebook-size under the roof ? Who can see / read it from the seats ?).
Food / drinks are much too expensive. We was sitting just opposite the cafe with 2 staff-girls nearly the complete time only hanging around there and talking with each other all the time - nearly nobody has wished a coffee or cake - but it was just in the afternoon-hours when normally everybody is drinking coffee and eating cakes in Danmark (99% danish cars onboard).
So here the Molslinjen managers should better have a look to the Biltema Cafe-chain with selling cafe+cake together for 43 cent (5 swedish Krones) only and having then long rows of lucky people in the restaurant-cafes all the day - instead of to pay 2 staff-girls all the day for nearly nothing and most tables full with private picnic food and drinks.
The same situation it was at "Mollys Diner Restaurant", staff hanging around... .
So in fact the saved money for marshalling crew is threw out of the window in the cafe and restaurant for staff having (nearly) nothing to do because the prices are much too high.
So it was a nice experience - but if i would need travel Copenhagen-Aarhus often i would demand
- more space (seats / tables) onboard (i think when they have ordered the EXPRESS 3 the plan was not to travel with 3 double-deck-coaches onboard and that especially many full family-cars with a lot of kids use the ferry...)
- bigger sundeck (costs nothing, why it is so small ? Terrible to stand there as non-smoker with many smokers on a full mini-balcony deck)
- much cheaper food and drink prices (Please copy Biltema-Cafe and not Starbucks !)
for to choose this ferry-travel-option and not the motorway with the Storebaeltsbron (and free choice of cheaper restaurants).
Extra-Bonus for best, easy and fastest ticket-buy, check-in system and fast on/off driving with minimum crew only needed !