Hello from
Rochester: The CAT - An Awesome Beast
by: Susanne Pacher
For a while
now I have been dreaming of taking the
recently re-introduced high-speed ferry
service from Toronto to Rochester. The ferry
service briefly ran last year, introduced by
a group of private investors, but stopped
running after a few weeks due to financial
difficulties. It was reintroduced this year
after the City of Rochester purchased the
ferry at an auction and contracted an
experienced ferry service based out of Nova
Scotia to run it.
North
America's newest CAT fast ferry is an
amazing vessel. Built in Australia in 2003,
it made its way around the globe to its new
home on Lake Ontario in 2005. It's as long
as a football field and can also reach
speeds of up to 80 kilometers or 52 miles an
hour. The CAT can carry up to 774 passengers
and 220 cars, and is one of the fastest and
largest car ferries in North America.
It's a
sharp-looking ship and its aerodynamic style
and 44,000 horsepower engines allow it to
make the lake-crossing within only 2.5
hours. I had a look around the ship and when
you first come upstairs from the cargo hold
area, you arrive in a sleekly designed
passenger room that has airline-style seats,
some of them with tables in-between so
people can comfortably sit down and enjoy
food that they may have purchased at one of
a number of on-ship bars and bistros.
I took a
stroll around the ship and was quite
astounded by the amenities: the CAT offers 2
movie theatres, a duty-free shop, a video
arcade / children's game area and a gorgeous
Panorama seating area at the front of the
ship that allows you to take in the scenery
as you approach the harbours.
While it was
raining 2 days ago on my trip to Rochester,
yesterday was a crisp day with crystal-blue
skies and the experience of approaching
Toronto's skyline in the ferry was
breathtaking. The Panorama lounge holds
comfortable table and airliner-style seating
and offers excellent views through its large
windows. The only unfortunate thing is that
when you ride the ferry with your car, you
have to leave about 10 minutes early to get
to your vehicle so you don't get to see the
complete docking process.
I really
enjoyed the expansiveness of the CAT. You
can walk around, sit in different areas, or
you can go up to the top level viewing deck
and watch the vessel depart the harbour.
Since it was such a beautiful day yesterday,
I went upstairs to the open-air deck and
watched the process as the ferry pulled away
from the attractive Rochester Ferry
Terminal, a 55,000 sf terminal facility
built at the Rochester Harbor with ground
level restaurant and retail facilities. Then
it slowly proceeded to glide out between the
two long stone piers, and picked up speed
once out on the open water.
The return
price for one passenger is US$ 144.00
including passenger, vehicle transportation
and security fees and it shaves substantial
time off the drive the Rochester. There is a
$15 return vehicle discount in addition to
numerous packages and special offers
throughout the year. I thought one of the
greatest advantages of taking the ferry are
the border processing facilities. The
inspection procedures on both the American
and Canadian side were extremely efficient
and friendly and definitely alleviated one
of my worst fears of crossing the border
since 911: the wait times at the border
crossings. If passengers have proper ID and
travel documents as required by Canada and
US Customs, the check-through procedures are
very smooth. On the way back I was actually
the second vehicle out of the ship and
within less than 5 minutes I was on my way
home, well-rested after an exciting ,
luxurious high-speed adventure across Lake
Ontario.
