The wait is nearly over. On 31 October the first commercial sailings of the new Bass Strait ferries leave the dock, and anyone with a ute, a caravan or a campervan booked for a Tasmanian summer is about to find out whether the upgrade is real or just a nicer brochure.
I've done the crossing in a rental camper and in a hatchback stuffed with camping gear, and the overnight sailing has always been the strange part of the trip. Eleven hours of nothing in particular. The new ships change some of that. They don't change the maths of planning around it.
Start with the news. The new Spirit vessel's commercial sailings are locked in for 31 October , after trial runs and berth work at Devonport. For self-drive travellers, two changes matter more than the shiny interiors.
First, the vehicle decks. The lanes are bigger, which is good news for caravans and tall campervans that used to eat up booking slots. Second, pet-friendly cabins. If you've ever left a dog with a relative for ten days because the ferry made it too hard, that one is for you.
Capacity is also up, around 1,800 passengers per vessel according to the RACV's guide to travelling on Spirit of Tasmania , so the old pre-dawn crush at disembarkation should ease. Should. I'll believe it when I'm standing on deck 7 at 5:40am with a coffee going cold.
Book early anyway. Launch season means curious locals and interstate tourists will fill the first month of sailings. Waiting for a mid-November deal is a gamble, and it's not the fun kind.
Here's the thing nobody puts on the booking page. Bass Strait is a long stretch of water, and mobile coverage in the middle of it is somewhere between unreliable and imaginary. Onboard Wi-Fi exists, but it's the kind of Wi-Fi you pay for and then regret.
So what do people do? Some read. Some sleep, if the swell is kind. Some hit the bar and the dining deck, which Broadsheet's look inside the new ships suggests has been given a proper refresh. And plenty reach for their phones, because eleven hours is a very long time to look at the horizon.
If some of that phone time turns into a few spins or a hand of blackjack, fine. Plenty of adults do it on the couch at home, and a ferry cabin isn't a different moral universe. The risk is where and how. A bored traveller on shaky ferry Wi-Fi, tired after a day of loading the car, is exactly who rogue sites are built to catch. They tend to bite when you've stopped paying attention.
So vet first, deposit second. The honest answer to "which sites are worth trusting" is that safe online casinos Australia players actually rely on all share the same boring traits: a verifiable licence from a recognised regulator, clear terms on wagering and withdrawals, and payment options that don't make you feel like you're sending cash to a stranger. A flashy sign-up offer on its own tells you nothing. The licensing page tells you plenty.
I learned that the unglamorous way. I once signed up somewhere from a hotel lobby, uploaded my passport to a verification form that looked fine, and spent four days chasing support about a withdrawal that was "under review". Nothing was stolen. It was just slow, murky and avoidable. A five-minute licence check would have saved me the headache.
Even if you pick a trustworthy site, the connection matters. Ferry Wi-Fi is shared by hundreds of people, and shared networks are where casual snooping lives. Logging into a bank or a gambling account on an open network without protection is a habit worth breaking before the ship leaves port.
Some practical basics:
That last one gets skipped. I skipped it once, and spent half the crossing watching a progress bar crawl.
If you want a fuller briefing before the trip, our guide to staying online and safe on a long road trip covers the car prep and the phone prep in one pass.
The ship is only half the plan. A Spirit crossing drops you in Devonport with a full day of options, and the smartest travellers have already decided which way they're pointed.
If you're after coastline, Freycinet National Park on the east coast is the classic pick for camping, with Wineglass Bay a short drive from the better campgrounds. Book those sites early too. Peak summer fills them weeks ahead.
For a more flexible loop, plan around fuel, not just scenery. Distances in Tasmania look short on a map and feel longer on winding roads, especially with a caravan in tow. Budget twice the time you think you need.
A few tips from years of getting this wrong:
None of that is glamorous. It's the stuff that makes the difference between a trip that flows and a trip that fights you.
When do the new Spirit of Tasmania ships start sailing? The first commercial sailings of the new Bass Strait ferries are scheduled for 31 October 2026, following berth work and trial runs at Devonport. Book early for the launch window, because curious travellers and returning regulars will likely fill the first weeks of departures quickly.
Can I take my dog on the new ships? Yes, in designated pet-friendly cabins, which are one of the headline upgrades on the new vessels. Spaces are limited and likely to book out fast, so reserve your cabin when you reserve your vehicle, and check current pet rules on the operator's booking page.
Is onboard Wi-Fi reliable enough to bank or gamble on? Not really. Shared ferry Wi-Fi is slow, patchy and open to snooping. Avoid logging into financial accounts without a VPN, and keep two-factor authentication switched on. If you do play online, stick to licensed sites and use your own hotspot where a signal allows.
How do I spot a safe online casino before depositing? Check for a verifiable licence from a recognised regulator, read the withdrawal and wagering terms, and look for reputable payment methods. Avoid sites that push big bonuses without clear terms. If the licensing page is hard to find, treat that as your answer.
The new ships are a genuine upgrade for self-drive travellers, and 31 October will be a busy first day. Book early, check your vehicle dimensions, and plan the Tasmanian leg before you leave the mainland.
And if your phone is going to fill the quiet hours on the crossing, set it up like you'd set up the rest of the trip: checked, licensed, and on your terms. Gambling involves risk. Please play responsibly and only wager what you can afford to lose. If gambling is becoming a problem, visit BeGambleAware.org or call 1-800-GAMBLER.
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last updated
24-Oct-2026
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