Makana Ferry service

0 STARS! I would strongly caution anyone considering Makana Ferry. I booked tickets online, received confirmation, and nowhere in the process was it stated that we had to physically check in at the office before boarding. We arrived on time at the dock, but there were no signs, no instructions, and no Makana staff present to direct passengers. Only after asking around did we realize we had to go to the office, by which time, we were told it had closed just 7 minutes earlier. When we explained the situation, the staff (including the so-called "manager") repeatedly told us it was our responsibility to know their procedures, comparing it to an airport check-in. This would be reasonable if such information was actually provided in the booking process, tickets, or emails but it was not. Instead of acknowledging this clear failure in communication, they refused to assist us, denied boarding, and accepted no accountability. This is not only extremely unprofessional but also shows a complete disregard for first-time riders and tourists who rely on clear instructions when traveling. To run a service that fails to provide basic guidance, then place blame on paying customers, is unacceptable. Makana Ferry needs to take responsibility, update their booking system with clear instructions, and train their staff to handle situations with professionalism instead of dismissiveness. Until then, I DONT recommend this service to anyone.

Such low professionalism at the reception that you wonder if the person is actually being paid for their job. And of course, everything is paid in cash!

Makana got us to St. Maarten only about 30 minutes late, which is fine. Problem is that you then get dumped on an open concrete dock with zero shade, at midday, and it can take 1.5 HOURS to clear Immigrations. Saba and Statia are very efficient in processing arrivals, so I don't know what failed in Philipsburg. Very hot, sunny day, so keeping kids and old folks on the dock in the noon sun over an hour is just inhuman. Total disaster. I'd have left with the same ferry if it had departed on time. It really didn't help that Makana sent a staffer along that apparently only speaks Spanish and just stood in the way, blocking the line and slowing things down even further. Absolutely no chance it can be like this on the cruise ship pier because no way would these big players put up with this sort of nonsense. Oh, also be very careful if you book online with a cc. The payment came up with an error, so I processed it again and got one ticket. However, my cc was debited twice, and now they won't answer queries about it. My advice, pay cash and never give them your cc details! Once you have paid for two ferry tickets you may as well fly here, and in half the time.

No really bad experience in several trips. Ferry service was on time, check in and out worked. Online booking is terrible because you have to fill in a lot of data even when you register. Waiting areas especially in St Martin have room for improvement (waiting in the sun, no seats). Staff is more or less friendly but they do their job and are attentive when people get sea sick.. Four stars because in comparison to other ferry services we used here, Makana always worked well and even on time.

I arrived at 8:15 for an 8:30 ferry from St. Kitts to Statia and was informed that the boat had left at 8:05. I did not receive a refund/credit for my ticket nor a call, text, or email stating that the boat would be leaving early. Very disappointed overall… what is the point of selling a ticket for a set time if the ferry leaves 30 minutes before the ticketed time?

It gets you from point A to B. Going to Saba in early December it left 15 minutes early with only a handful of passengers. We sat out on the "sun deck" (LOL) because the smell of diesel fuel in the dingy and dirty cabin was overpowering. The fumes from the engines were only slightly better but it was quite fun. Conditions were calm with 1/2 metre swell and perhaps 10 knots of wind, yet it was quite a bumpy ride. The digital ticket you get booking online isn't actually used - you checkin at the little green hut where they very slowly look you up by passport and give you a wristband that lets you board. Jump right in as they'll never offer to help you. You can also drop your luggage off here, although we waited until the crew came with a cart so it wasn't sitting out in the open. You wait in the general area of customs hut near the duty free shop and someone will call it out when ready to board, after which you'll be in line for customs. In our case that was super fast on both ends and the officials very friendly. The reason for 2 stars is because the Makana agents were rude and unhelpful on the phone and the staff at the booth even worse. You have to guess your way through the process and ask about everything, which they'll begrudgingly answer with the least effort possible. This is NOT a cheap ride and you'd think the boat and the staff could be just a little bit better for the price.

The ticket tells you to be there 1.5 h earlier before departure, bobys marina has no place to sit ... And then the ferry leaves with a 2h delay ... So we supposed to leave 12;40 but of course we haven't. No one informed us of what is going on. Arrived to St Kitts at 6pm makes this journey unnecessarily long.

I’m giving them a 1 star because there is nothing less. One would think that the company would have the same baggage policy where ever you travel from. Baggage policy very different between St Kitts and St Maarten. We (6 people) used them from St Kitts to St Maarten on 18/8/23. We were told 3 bags per person so we labelled them accordingly. To be honest the service from St Kitts was good. Friendly check in staff, crew and captain very nice and helpful on the boat. They even had gazebo to keep passengers under a shade. Very choppy seas but that’s expected. On 28/8/23 we (6 people) used them from St Maarten to St Kitts … the check in process was HORRIBLE! Really rude staff at the weigh in counter. She first said 2 bags a person (no sign to show that or mentioning the weight) which was ok (we didn’t have any extras), 10 in total. We did the same as we did in St Kitts. I don’t know how she didn’t understand that we had 10 bags for 6 people (we labelled 3 bags per person). She charged my friend (different surname) $30 because he labelled one of my bags as his. 2 passengers had no bags to their name. I tried so hard to explain to the lady that one was my bag but she refused to listen and said we cannot change the names. I even told them that’s what we did in St Kitts. She was point blank so damn rude. We had to pay $30. No where in the Makana office there is a board telling us what the baggage policy is. St Maarten has no shade for passengers it’s very hot standing in the sun waiting to board. It’s a health hazard. That wasn’t all- 2 of us had a box each carrying a fragile religious item. Just as we were getting on the ferry the same lady pulled us up and wanted to charge each $30 for the boxes. Personally I think because we were tourists who were not white but Asians she chose to harass us. We actually felt picked on because of our ethnicity. Again we tried explaining to her that it was a fragile religious item … hence we put it in a box. She still wanted to charge us (reason because it’s a box) I agreed to pay so I asked her for a receipt … her colleague said we will email it.I said no email I need a paper receipt. Then I had a brainwave and removed the item from the box (then there was no charge). That’s ridiculous. It’s not for business it was for personal use. I’m actually disgusted at her behaviour. Again credit to the crew on board- really helpful. Whilst waiting to board we spoke to the captain and told him about the check in experience , even he agreed that we shouldn’t have been charged and should ask for our money back. At that point my friend couldn’t be asked to face that rudeness again. There are many sign shops in St Maarten … it’s not hard to get a board up with the baggage policy. I have been to the island 12 times and have never been harassed like this.I will not be recommending them to anyone. Terrible service from St Maarten check in staff.