What is the purpose, exactly, of reclining chairs on ferries?

I had assumed that they were to enable passengers to relax and have a sleep after a long drive, but from recent experience I realised this is a very stupid idea.

Firstly, it is supremely uncomfortable on the neck to lie in the reclining position, with one’s feet, having nowhere to rest themselves, doomed to dangle in the air unless the legs are long enough to let them reach the floor (mine are not). From the ceiling, blindingly bright lights beamed down like interrogation lights onto the face of recliners. From the adjacent children’s bouncy area blood-curdling shrieks and extreme-decibel squeals pierced the eardrums. (I was awed when I saw that there were just two tiny tots creating all the noise). Ahead, the television mumbled, not quite loud enough to hear what was being said, but loud enough, in the short but blissful intervals between shrieks and squeals, to invade the head.

There is another recliner lounge on the higher deck - just behind the bar where less tired travellers were clinking cups and glasses and talking and laughing (nothing wrong with that), and adjacent to a heavy door that opened with a very loud groan and closed with a very loud slam and through which a constant stream of people went in and out for no apparent reason. This room also boasted a large television, which a thoughtless idiot turned on and flicked from channel to channel for several minutes, waking those few lucky souls who had managed to find comfort in the bosom of Morpheus, before wandering off muttering bad-temperedly to himself.

Trying to snatch half an hour of sleep in one of these torture chambers was just about the most frustrating experience I can remember; so instead I bought a cup of hot chocolate and looked for a quiet place to sit and read my book (Sebastian Faulks’ “Birdsong” - very highly recommended). In every lounge there was a television, offering a viewing choice of either French game shows or a football match. The one lounge that didn’t have a television was next to the gaming machines. I realised, sadly, that there are no quiet places on a ferry.

On a previous trip I had booked a cabin, with the intention of having a few hours peace. This strategy was a failure as the people in the next door cabin alternately talked or hurled themselves against the cabin wall.

For future reference, when travelling by ferry: Mental note, reinforced by a written one: Next time, bring earplugs and a blindfold.

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