Travels With Clo

If you’ve read my other blog posts, then you know I love a bargain! I had this tripped booked a few years back, but the day before we were due to go, we got our dog instead, so things were postponed.

I rebooked it when they ran their sale for £49pp including transfers. It was a deal I couldn’t pass up.

Sunday lunch time we drove to the Hull ferry port, and made our way to check in. The whole process was very easy, and we arrived early so there was no queue. Our cabin was basic, with a double bed and a small bathroom. There was no window or tv, but there was plenty of on-board entertainment to compensate for this.

After we ditched our bags, we sat in the main bar/stage area and had a few drinks and participated in the general knowledge quiz. We sadly didn’t win, but we gave it a good go.

I had pre-booked dinner at the buffet restaurant, and not knowing what to expect, I was impressed with the food. It was very British, with mainly roast dinner items, but I had some noodles and vegetables, and the dessert offerings were very appetising. Who doesn’t love mini brownie and cheesecake?

We didn’t have try it out, but there was an on board cinema, as well as other restaurants, an Irish bar and an arcade. The ship also has pet friendly cabins so if you have a well-trained dog, you can bring them on board with you.

The next morning, we opted to skip breakfast and headed straight for the coach transfer. The time to Amsterdam centre was 90 minutes, and since they changed the drop off point to kind of out the centre, we booked a taxi and went straight for some Dutch Pancakes to start our five hour visit.

I had booked tickets for Anne Frank’s house (you must do this at least four weeks before), but due to traffic, we missed our slot and as they were full they didn’t let us in. We did take a photo from the outside though.

We ventured into many weird and wonderful shops, including ones selling rubber ducks, weird condoms, lots of cheese and flowers.

Not having enough tome to thoroughly visit one of the larger museums in the city, we opted for the sex museum. I don’t need to elaborate on that one, it does exactly what it says on the tin.

We also popped into Tony’s Chocoloney to watch them make the custom bars.

We didn’t feel quite as rushed as I anticipated, and had a leisurely wander around the main square and through the red light district. We stopped for a drink at an Irish pub, and tried some delicious brownies.

With an hour to spare, we stumbled upon a World War Two museum close to our drop off point, which Callum thoroughly enjoyed. It was full of recounts from Dutch people, bringing real stories to life.

We also popped into a bakery to grab a bag of stroopwaffles for the coach journey back to the ship.

All the sweet treats filled us up, and we didn’t feel like a big dinner. We shared a pizza from the on board Costa for dinner, and once again lost at the general knowledge quiz.

Overall, it was a lovely little break, and we were back home in time for work on Tuesday morning! I definitely want to do this trip again with friends. It’s great for parties or celebrations, and at the price, it’s cheaper than a night out!