It's only recently that I learned that Super Ferry, Negros Navigation and a couple of other shipping lines merged into what is now known as 2Go Travels. Anyway my very first tip is, as much as possible, don't take a ferry. The trip is boring and more expensive than if you are taking a budget plane ticket. Always keep an eye of promo tickets, especially on yearly scheduled travels.
Buy groceries in advance. 2Go ferries have a convenience stores that sell everything for twice or thrice the original price. A 500 mL of bottled water costs P45 pesos! Pier 15 is very close to Robinson's, where you can buy maybe three liters of bottled water - as well as junk foods, cup noodles and other essentials for the whole trip. The ship has a water dispenser for both hot and room-temperature water - for free, but the water is probably the same thing that comes out of the faucet.
The 2Go website allows online booking, where you can either use a credit card or a Bancnet-affiliated ATM card. I used the latter option, which didn't work as I kept getting a "Wrong PIN" prompt. I ended up getting ticket from a travel agency where I paid an additional 300 processing fee.
Tourist accommodations are the cheapest - but don't expect the same kind of accommodation for every ferry in the fleet. I've only taken a ferry twice before - both were bound for Nasipit, Agusan del Norte. It appears that the same ferry is used in every route. The ferry for Nasipit is new, the tourist accommodation decent and had a full-blast aircondition perpetually turned on. The ferry for Cagayan de Oro was noticeably older. The tourist section - which was the accommodation I booked - was just an untiled "floor", double-deck beds. There was no airconditioning - just huge openings facing the ocean. The comfort rooms didn't have trash bins, the toilets frequently clogged, and the shower rooms were full of shampoo sachets.
The staff in the one I took weren't very visible - the only ones making rounds are usually those that sell tapioca salad, water, cigarette and prepared meals. On the other hand, the ferry I took for Nasipit appears to have more adequate staff. A sudden strike of a disaster will most likely send passengers frantically grabbing life jackets. Imagine what can happen if there aren't enough staff to immediately facilitate the distribution of life jackets.
Keep an eye of your belongings. Padlock your baggage. On the ferry I took, a passenger lost two brand new cellphones - still in boxes. They were supposed to be her gifts to her parents.
Also, bring something that will occupy yourself during the two or three days that you will be travelling - game console, books, sudoku puzzles, whatever suits you.
The port at Cagayan de Oro is just a jeepney ride to the city proper. There's no need to take a taxi - just hail a multicab for Agora (P15) which will take you to the bus terminal. If you are disembarking at Nasipit, Agusan del Norte, take a trike for the bus terminal in Nasipit, and from there, take a van or multicab for the bus terminal in Butuan City.
The perks of travelling by 2Go: First, of course, tickets are cheap, even if you're travelling within two days. My tickets costs P2300, whereas the airline tickets I found on the same date cost more than P10000. When midnight strikes, the bar at the dining area opens, and there are karaoke contests and stand up comedians.
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