Is advance booking required for ferries from China to South Korea?

Question

We already have a question about prices of ferries from China to South Korea, my question is: can I just show up at the port and buy a ticket for the same-day ferry or do I have to book it in advance?

I usually never know when I arrive somewhere or in this case when I will be ready to leave China, so ideally I don't want to make any advance bookings except when the prices are significantly cheaper.

I don't have a vehicle and I don't know yet which of the ferry routes I will use.

Answer 1

I finally got to Qingdao which is one of several Chinese port cities that have ferries going to South Korea.

I went to the ferry terminal in the morning and managed to get a ticket for the afternoon sail of the same day without a problem.

That doesn't mean the ferry will never be fully booked, but from what I understood, that is not a very common case.

So no advance reservation was required.