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Hi /sakartvelo, I hust came back from Georgia and loved the country and the people. I asked a few weeks ago if somebody has experience with the Batumi-Odessa ferry but sadly no one responded (but thanks for the upvotes!).
Ukrferry is an ukrainian ferry line, who have a conection from Ilyichevsk (very close to Odessa) to Batumi and back. They also go from Batumi to Varna, Bulgaria but I only took the way from Batumi to Ilyichevsk/Odessa.
Ukrferry goes several times a month this route and they use two ships. The MS Greifswald (an older ferry from East Germany) and the Kaunas Seaways (more modern from Lithuania). Both ships take passengers and cars, but mostly trucks. We were in the Kaunas Seaways and took a double stock bed room, which had a bathroom, a window and was quite comftable. The have more luxury rooms, for 80$ more with television and two rooms and cheaper rooms with four beds.
The price for the tickets was 110+25 (fees) USD per person. It is a 2-3 nights trip with three meals a day included. The food is quite good (all kind of combinations with salad, meat, rice) and since they placed all the english speaking guests on one table we had good company and the kitchen staff begged us to leave after each meal. Most of the other guests were georgian and ukrainian truck drivers. Some of the drivers spoke a little bit of english and invited us to drink wine with them. The second evening was a bit ruff and nearly every truck driver was drinking, it was a noisy but not a bad experience. We felt safe all the time. There is one Bar, but no Shop on the ship. Beer is 3$, coffee 1$, Water for free. You can pay in almost every currency, but the exchange rate is not the best. It is wise to bring own wine, to the ship and enjoy it at the evening at one of the tables outside.
How to get tickets? You can get tickets online and pick them up, in Ukrferrys office in Batumi. It is in front of the mosque. Also you can buy tickets in the office, or at the office in Odessa, or in Tbilisi, what we did. Buying tickets in Tbilisi is kind of complicated. First of all, if you look for the number on the street it is the big building with the many floors next to the casino. Ukrferry has two offices. The office on fifth floor is unhelpful, but the office at the end of second floor is very helpful. One guy speaks english and was very friendly. Since they can not take money, you have to pay the money cash at a bank counter, as soon as he gives you the invoice. Then you send him a picture of the receipt via Whatsapp, Email or Viber. Later you have to pick up the tickets in Batumis office.
On the day the ferry starts you go here: https://goo.gl/maps/GW2k59Nqtxr It is a bit of a walk, and there is only one small shop, so buy some food and wine earlier and take a cab for a few lari. After entering the ship, we had to wait some hours, till it was completely loaded with trucks and took off at sunset. For the next days we laid in the sun, played cards, waited for dinner time and watched dolphins. We should have arrived at the third evening but they told us that (for what reason I could not understand) we had to stay a third night on the ship and can leave in the morning. If you do not have a car, you can leave the ship pretty early and fast. But beaurocracy is strong with the Ukrainians and so we had to wait (1.5 hours) after leaving the ship in the harbour for a second (first was on the ship) passport check. If you bring a car from Georgia, you have to wait 3-4 hours, till you get your five stamps from five different offices around the harbour.
As conclusion, I have to say taking the ferry was one of the many highlights on our trip. It is a very slow, but relaxing way to travel.