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For Mandy Archer, booking a caravanning adventure is far more frustrating than it should be.
The lack of availability on the Spirit of Tasmania ships has made her so angry she has written letters to Premier Jeremy Rockliff and government ministers calling for a fix.
"You can't [book when you want to travel]. It's basically impossible," Ms Archer said.
"We're going away next March and we tried to book the date we wanted eight months in advance, and you just can't get the date you want so you take any date."
Mandy Archer is frustrated by the situation. (Supplied: Mandy Archer)
A lack of capacity for caravans and motor homes is one of the reasons the Tasmanian government decided to buy two larger Spirit of Tasmania ships.
The two new ships are 9 per cent longer and 15 per cent wider, with 60 per cent more lane metres available for passenger and freight vehicles.
But, crucially, all vehicle spaces in the new ships are what the Spirit of Tasmania calls "high deck", meaning they're suitable for caravans and motor homes.
That's not the case at the moment.
The ABC checked availability for bookings on the Spirit of Tasmania, both with a hatchback car, and with an oversized caravan.
It found that apart from a scarcity of spots travelling from the mainland to Tasmania in November (the ABC could only find a booking for three of the 29 sailings), travelling over with a car is pretty smooth sailing.
It's a different story with a caravan.
The number of spots available for caravans out of each month's total sailings from Geelong to Devonport. (ABC News: Magie Khameneh)
Caravaners cannot sail from Geelong to Devonport at all in November, and have three day sailings to sneak onto in December.
Spots are still left on a third of all sailings in January, while 12 of the 40 sailings in February still have room for oversized vehicles.
If you can wait until March to travel, there are 33 sailings with a spot for a caravan.
It's a better story if you're travelling the other way, trading the little island for a bigger one.
The number of spots available for caravans out of each month's total sailings from Devonport to Geelong. (ABC News: Magie Khameneh)
In each of the next four months, you can book a caravan onto more than half of the scheduled sailings, and on 17 of the 43 sailings in March.
Spirit operator TT-Line said the increased availability was due to a change it announced on Friday, when it committed to adjusting its vehicle decks to allow extra caravans and motor homes to travel between January and April.
It said it had already cleared 300 caravan bookings from the wait list, and would "continue optimising bookings to accommodate high-clearance travel needs".
"Typically, these high-clearance adjustments are made close to each sailing date," a company spokesperson said.
"However, in response to strong demand, TT-Line has proactively adjusted the deck formation for all sailings in the first four months of 2025 to ensure greater availability for caravans and other high-clearance vehicle bookings."
TT-Line says a change to the vehicle deck means there will be more capacity for caravans between January and April. (ABC News: David Hudspeth)
Tourism Industry Council of Tasmania chief executive Amy Hills said tourists told her that booking to come to Tasmania on the Spirit was "a struggle", especially in the shoulder periods.
"It was a welcome first step from Spirit last week to try to clear the backlog and the wait list," Ms Hills said.
"And my understanding is they're going to continue to try to look at what they can do to accommodate that additional caravan and campervan traffic because that was lost opportunity we were hoping to gain with the new Spirit of Tasmania ferries.
"Certainly in the working group that will be working with the government and various stakeholders … will be working on exactly that — what we can do to give our visitors an opportunity to bring those caravans across, and working with Spirit to give that certainty."
Amy Hills says TT-Line's efforts to reduce the backlog of caravans on the waiting list was "a welcome first step". (Supplied: LinkedIn)
While there's now more certainty about when caravaners can get on the Spirits in summer, finding a spot back to Geelong in winter — a time traditionally used for maintenance, meaning just one of the ships is in operation — can be even tougher.
Shauna Laird, from Tasmania's north-west coast, has also struggled to get on the Spirit.
She tried to book for next May, to travel around the country, with a stop at a big dog show in Adelaide.
"I thought having seven months in advance to me, is really good [but] we can't get on until the end of the July next year, that's the earliest we can get on," she said.
"This is ludicrous. It really, really is wrong."
"We've been planning this holiday for ages … and you get all these messages on Facebook, be a spontaneous traveller. How can you be spontaneous when you can't get on the boat?"
Mandy Archer says the Spirit replacement "debacle" has been "a real blow". (Supplied: Mandy Archer)
The frustration felt by caravaners was supposed to end this summer, with the two new Spirits set to be sailing across Bass Strait.
But a series of delays means a new purpose-built berth won't be finished until early 2027, with the government now considering leasing the new ships out to a private operator overseas in the meantime.
For Ms Archer, that news hit hard.
"We were hoping we'd be able to come back on them next year when we go on our big trip," she said.
"And so it was a real blow when we heard that that debacle even happened."