caravanman
Engineer
This is one of those “it’s about the journey, not the destination” trips!
I have been whiling away the winter months by watching far too many you tube travel videos.
One that I came across was a video about an offer from DFDS Ferry services, which featured a so called “mini cruise” from Newcastle, across to Amsterdam.
I felt in need of a little jaunt, so I went online and soon grabbed myself a ticket.
My journey started with an early morning coffee at Nottingham station, and then a short ride to Newark Castle station.
This is the Newark castle, not the station...
I tend to book the cheapest options, so to continue my journey, I had to change stations, and walk to Newark Northgate station, a 25 minute trek for this old man.
Northgate is on the mainline from Kings Cross to Edinburgh, and my LNER Azuma train soon arrived. A comfortable seat, on very smooth rail track, the ride up to Newcastle took around 90 minutes.
I always add too much padding into my bookings, I don’t trust tight connections, so I had a few hours to kill before boarding the shuttle bus to the ferry port. One benefit of this today meant that I had plenty of time to enjoy a leisurely pint in a local pub…
The bus ride to the port takes around 30 minutes, and the ferry check in was quick and easy. I was surprised by the large number of people waiting, but the security and passport checks only took a few minutes, and we soon headed up the gang plank, or boarding tunnel, as they preferred to call it.
Nice little cabin, comfortable bunks, shower, all fine as the cheapest option, but no external window view at this price point.
(The cabin looked a lot more respectable before my nap!)
We were allowed to board early, so I thought I would just test how comfortable the bunk was, and immediately fell asleep. I only woke up when the captain announced over the tannoy that we had left the River Tyne, and were now in the North Sea! (Or American North Sea, as I think it has been recently re named…)
To be fair, it was a chilly February afternoon, not the weather for promenading around the open decks, so I was not too disappointed to sleep through our departure!
The crossing takes about 16 hours, and we departed at 5pm.
Being styled as a mini cruise, there was entertainment in the evenings, a DJ, a dance band, bingo, as well as several bars, restaurants, and a duty free shop available.
As one might expect, given the “captive audience”, prices were quite high in the restaurants. I had my own food with me, as well as my trusty travel kettle, which worked fine in the cabin.
Thankfully, the sea was quite calm for both sailings, just a slight swell noticeable at times.
I slept very well, and next morning, after a crafty cabin coffee, I did venture outside for a chilly walk around the deck.
Soon enough we arrived at the port, and after our passports were checked, we boarded the coaches to take us into Amsterdam itself. This ride into town took around 40 minutes, and we left the coaches just beside the Amsterdam train station, so very central for sightseeing.
Having been to Amsterdam several times previously, I had no objectives on this visit, except to eat some french fries with mayo, which I achieved almost straight away!
About 20 different options for mayo flavours, ketchup, etc!
We had about 5 hours free time in Amsterdam, just enough to get a flavour of the place. On real cruises, I think one also only gets a whistle stop visit at most ports, so that aspect at least seemed authentic!
Leisurely strolls along the canal banks, avoiding the hundreds of cyclists, taking care to avoid looking into any “shop” windows, riding the free ferries, and it was soon enough time to head back to the coach for the return trip.
Pretty much the same procedures on the way back, and again, a nice calm crossing.
Pleased to find sunshine and blue skies on arrival back at the Tyneside port, and disembarked to board the bus into Newcastle. It was quite amusing to note that the Dutch tourists, who do the reverse “mini cruise” to visit Newcastle, all opted to ride upstairs on the top deck of the bus, to try that British novelty!
Being unsure of potential delays, I had booked my return trains somewhat later than I needed to, but that now gave me time to enjoy a few hours taking in some of the Newcastle sights. (Well, yes, I did have another pint too…)
I left home on the Wednesday morning at 7am, and arrived back home at 6pm on the Friday. 59 hours travel and only 5 at the destination?
Definitely I went the long way round!
It was fun, it felt nice to just have a silly mini adventure...
I have been whiling away the winter months by watching far too many you tube travel videos.
One that I came across was a video about an offer from DFDS Ferry services, which featured a so called “mini cruise” from Newcastle, across to Amsterdam.
I felt in need of a little jaunt, so I went online and soon grabbed myself a ticket.
My journey started with an early morning coffee at Nottingham station, and then a short ride to Newark Castle station.
This is the Newark castle, not the station...
I tend to book the cheapest options, so to continue my journey, I had to change stations, and walk to Newark Northgate station, a 25 minute trek for this old man.
Northgate is on the mainline from Kings Cross to Edinburgh, and my LNER Azuma train soon arrived. A comfortable seat, on very smooth rail track, the ride up to Newcastle took around 90 minutes.
I always add too much padding into my bookings, I don’t trust tight connections, so I had a few hours to kill before boarding the shuttle bus to the ferry port. One benefit of this today meant that I had plenty of time to enjoy a leisurely pint in a local pub…
The bus ride to the port takes around 30 minutes, and the ferry check in was quick and easy. I was surprised by the large number of people waiting, but the security and passport checks only took a few minutes, and we soon headed up the gang plank, or boarding tunnel, as they preferred to call it.
Nice little cabin, comfortable bunks, shower, all fine as the cheapest option, but no external window view at this price point.
(The cabin looked a lot more respectable before my nap!)
We were allowed to board early, so I thought I would just test how comfortable the bunk was, and immediately fell asleep. I only woke up when the captain announced over the tannoy that we had left the River Tyne, and were now in the North Sea! (Or American North Sea, as I think it has been recently re named…)
To be fair, it was a chilly February afternoon, not the weather for promenading around the open decks, so I was not too disappointed to sleep through our departure!
The crossing takes about 16 hours, and we departed at 5pm.
Being styled as a mini cruise, there was entertainment in the evenings, a DJ, a dance band, bingo, as well as several bars, restaurants, and a duty free shop available.
As one might expect, given the “captive audience”, prices were quite high in the restaurants. I had my own food with me, as well as my trusty travel kettle, which worked fine in the cabin.
Thankfully, the sea was quite calm for both sailings, just a slight swell noticeable at times.
I slept very well, and next morning, after a crafty cabin coffee, I did venture outside for a chilly walk around the deck.
Soon enough we arrived at the port, and after our passports were checked, we boarded the coaches to take us into Amsterdam itself. This ride into town took around 40 minutes, and we left the coaches just beside the Amsterdam train station, so very central for sightseeing.
Having been to Amsterdam several times previously, I had no objectives on this visit, except to eat some french fries with mayo, which I achieved almost straight away!
About 20 different options for mayo flavours, ketchup, etc!
We had about 5 hours free time in Amsterdam, just enough to get a flavour of the place. On real cruises, I think one also only gets a whistle stop visit at most ports, so that aspect at least seemed authentic!
Leisurely strolls along the canal banks, avoiding the hundreds of cyclists, taking care to avoid looking into any “shop” windows, riding the free ferries, and it was soon enough time to head back to the coach for the return trip.
Pretty much the same procedures on the way back, and again, a nice calm crossing.
Pleased to find sunshine and blue skies on arrival back at the Tyneside port, and disembarked to board the bus into Newcastle. It was quite amusing to note that the Dutch tourists, who do the reverse “mini cruise” to visit Newcastle, all opted to ride upstairs on the top deck of the bus, to try that British novelty!
Being unsure of potential delays, I had booked my return trains somewhat later than I needed to, but that now gave me time to enjoy a few hours taking in some of the Newcastle sights. (Well, yes, I did have another pint too…)
I left home on the Wednesday morning at 7am, and arrived back home at 6pm on the Friday. 59 hours travel and only 5 at the destination?
Definitely I went the long way round!
It was fun, it felt nice to just have a silly mini adventure...
