With my confirmation print-out I arrived to Ultramar ferry 10 minutes before the next boat was scheduled to depart. There were MANY people in line to purchase tickets and a representative was stationed at a podium in the center, which I had never seen before. I showed her my print-out and she told me I still needed to wait in line to get a ticket.
The line moved fast and in a few minutes I was next. I presented my print-out and to my surprise the clerk didn’t even look at it! She exchanged it for 1 round trip ticket and that was it.
So is it faster to purchase Ultramar ferry tickets online? Yes and no. I may have saved 30 seconds at the counter because the clerk did not need to give me change, however I spent a good 10 minutes online making the reservation, paying for it, and printing it out. Also I have checked the www.granpuerto.com.mx website every other day for the last month and it has always been down…it does not display anything except an error message now. I must have gotten lucky on the day I made my purchase. If the online purchase eventually has the benefit of bypassing the counter, I would try that. Until then I prefer the cash option. Fast, simple, no printing…in my opinion that is still the way to go.