I rode the Caledonian Macbrayne (sometimes shortened to Cal Mac) ferries twice as part of a Scotland heritage travel trip in July 2019. The first ride was Ullapool to Stornoway on Wednesday 10 July 2019 in the afternoon/evening (before nightfall). The holding lanes and ferry terminal in Ullapool even had a restroom building nearby. For the ride, concessions were available, though I opted instead for exploring the different passenger decks and charging my phone with one of the available plug-ins. The views from the outdoor deck were breathtaking. There were few waves on this sailing and parking my car on one of the lifting decks was straightforward.
My second sailing was Sunday 13 July 2019 from Tarbert to Uig. This one was a later sailing (arriving around 11 p.m. in Uig). The views were beautiful and I parked on a lifting deck again. This time I went through concessions before the line was too long. The workers were well mannered. On this second sailing, the waves were bigger and the ferry rocked gently. I went with charging my phone and once partially charged, opening up the plug-in for someone else and sitting in one of the cushy chairs. For the ride, I was given a card for the lifting deck parking that I returned when going to depart the ferry. read more