RODNEY AND ARLYN'S RETIREMENT

December 5th, 2025

To make the trip to Bolusao, we needed to book passage on a ferry for our car and gear. We selected Roble Shipping for this trip. On December 5th, we drove to the Roble ticketing office to purchase our tickets.

We purchased the tickets needed for Arlyn and me to ferry from Cebu City to Ormoc City, Leyte. We sprung for the VIP room. We also paid for our Fortuner to join us as freight. The ship we booked passage on was the M/V Immaculate Star.

Itinerary

Date/Time	Event
December 17th, 2025 10:00 PM	Depart Cebu Port Pier 4
December 18th, 2025 5:00 AM	Arrive at Ormoc City Pier

Normally, the Immaculate Star's VIP room costs ₱3,630.00. When a purchase is made to ship a vehicle, it includes a ₱600.00 credit for the driver to stay in Economy class for the Cebu City to Ormoc City run. Since we chose the VIP room, the ₱600.00 credit was applied to the ₱3,630.00 price, resulting in the ₱3,030.00 cost.

We were advised to be at the pier three hours prior to departure time.

Terminal and Wharfage Fees

While we were at the Roble ticketing office, we learned that we would need to pay for a terminal fee and wharfage fee. We were instructed to visit the Cebu City Pier 4 Terminal Building located on Quezon Blvd (Google Plus Code: 8W38+42R Cebu City, Cebu). These fees can be paid days before the actual departure date.

A port terminal fee is a charge paid by passengers for using port facilities. It is a fee for the passenger terminal.

A wharfage fee is a charge for using a port's wharf or dock to load or unload cargo from a vessel. This fee is levied by port authorities or terminal operators and is typically calculated based on the weight or volume of the cargo to cover the costs of maintaining and operating port infrastructure.

We went to the Pier 4 terminal building. We picked up the terminal fee for me and paid the wharfage fee. The officer at the terminal building did not mention anything about a terminal fee for Arlyn, so we did not get one.

While we were in the area, we proceeded with acquiring the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) stamp.

You need a stamp from the Coast Guard when using a roll-on/roll-off, or Ro-Ro, vessel in the Philippines to verify that your vehicle's documents (i.e., Original Receipt and Certificate of Registration) are legitimate and that the journey is safe. This stamp is part of the process to ensure compliance with maritime laws and to get clearance for boarding, as the Coast Guard has the authority to enforce laws on the water and inspect vessels for safety and legal requirements.

The Coast Guard station building is located at 8W27+RHH Cebu City, Cebu, near the Pier 4 Cebu City Port Authority building. Upon arriving at the Coast Guard station, Arlyn visited with the Coast Guard to receive the required stamp on our ticket. There was no charge for this stamp.

Payee	Item	Cost	Form of Payment
Roble Shipping	Freight cost for Fortuner	₱8,484.00	Debit
Roble Shipping	VIP Room	₱3,030.00	Cash
Cebu Port Authority	Wharfage Fee	₱168.00	Cash
Cebu Port Authority	Terminal Fee	₱25.00	Cash
Total		₱11,707.00

December 11, 2025

Arlyn and I returned to the Pier 3 terminal building to get her terminal fee paid.

Payee	Item	Cost	Form of Payment
Cebu Port Authority	Terminal Fee	₱25.00	Cash
Total		₱25.00

December 17th, 2025

We loaded our gear into the Fortuner at the Mandani Bay Condominiums. At 7:30 PM, after grabbing a cheeseburger at the new Abaca restaurant on the boardwalk, we departed the condo's garage. We made the drive to the Cebu Pier 4 entry gate in about 15 minutes. We had all the necessary terminal fees and coast guard stamp, so the guard let us enter with no issues. We did get pulled over for a K-9 inspection. That took about 10 minutes. After buttoning up the car again, we drove to the Immaculate Star. We parked near the ferry's vehicle entrance and waited. At around 8:30 PM, after loading some of the trucks, we drove onto the ferry. Once parked and chocked, we grabbed our overnight bag and backpacks and headed to the VIP room. We arrived at our cabin at around 8:30 PM.

The cabin's key is provided to you when you surrender a piece of identification. I handed over my Philippines driver's license.

The VIP room is large with a queen-size bed. There is a seperate air-conditioner that you can control. There is a padded bench, small table with chairs. The bed does have a light blanket with sheets. There are also pillows included. The cabin also has a private bathroom. The bathroom has a shower, comode and sink. There is a bidet, but no toilet paper, so bring your own. There is also a television in the room, but we did not use it.

Unlike previous trips on the Immaculate Star, this trip was packed with people. This is probably because of families traveling to relative's homes for the holidays. On two occasions, people tried to enter our cabin. We were in the cabin with the door locked. People would try to open the door by jiggling the handle and pushing on the door. It was, mostly likely, other passengers trying to gain entry into the room for free as the room is not always booked. After realizing the door was locked and the room was unaccessible, the passenger quickly left. It was a little unnerving.

The ship left the dock at 10:15 PM, 15 minutes late.

There is a cafeteria onboard the ferry. The cafeteria's operating hours are from 7 PM to 12 AM. The cafeteria does not reopen again during the trip. The cafeteria is large and bright with several servers available to assist you. The food was freshly made and was adequate. There were also some premade desserts that were obviously prepared earlier. Chips, raman bowls, bottled water, Coke Zero and beer were all available.

The ferry does not have Wi-Fi. For those with cell phones, it is possible to get a weak signal from a cell tower from a passing island, but the connection is weak and unreliable.

It is at this point that I must mention that traveling on a ferry is not like sailing on a Norwegian cruise ship like the Encore. The VIP cabin is located on the starboard side of the ferry, very near the bow. Once we left Cebu, workers needed to perform various activities near at the bow that included adjusting the anchor chain. There is no insulation, so every metallic sound reverberated through the cabin. There was a constant clanking, banging sound that continued for the better part of an hour. It was difficult to sleep. Fortunately, the sounds subsided and we were able to fall asleep.

Payee	Item	Cost	Form of Payment
Roble Cafeteria	Dining	₱45.00	Cash
Total		₱45.00

December 18th, 2025

At about 4:45 AM, I woke up to the sound of the bow anchor being unlocked. This signaled our imminent arrival to the Ormoc City pier. I looked over at Arlyn, who was still sleeping, and realized she did not have a good night's rest. I woke her up and turned on the cabin light. We got dressed, visited the loo and brushed our teeth (with bottled water of course). At around 5 AM, the air-conditioner was automatically shut off. I guess we had worn out our welcome and it was time to leave. We repacked our overnight bag and gathered up our gear. We headed out from the cabin, making sure we surrendered the cabin key and had my license returned to me. We found our car and reloaded our gear.

The chockes were already removed and we were on our way. We drove off the ferry and approached the pier security gate. The guard wanted to review our tickets before allowing us to leave the pier. It was 5:15 AM.

We drove from Ormoc to Tacloban in about 2 hours 20 minutes. We did not stop along the way.

We drove from Tacloban to Bolusao, E. Samar in 1 hours 40 minutes. We arrived in Bolusao, E. Samar at 9:15 AM.