We had been on a P&O Ferry twice before, going to Bruges in Belgium in 2008 and 2011, (take a look at our Bruges review here) and it was pretty straight forward to find the parking and check in, however this time we didn't seem to have any details to instruct us where to go. On arrival we had to go either left Terminal 2 or right Terminal 1 and noticing something about foot passengers, we went right, parked up, went inside the terminal and was told we were at the wrong terminal, we needed to go back to the roundabout and second left, follow it 'round and into the multi storey. This wasn't a big deal (we had arrived early), but some more information on the booking would have been helpful, although I get a feeling the terminal signs indicated the destination port(s) of Zeebrugge and Rotterdam, therefore we should have known we were heading to Rotterdam.
At terminal 2 we checked in, headed into another room and our bags were given a very thorough check, almost emptied, followed by myself being frisked, not that we were unhappy about thorough security checks, but more surprised it being more thorough than an airport, however they had no bag scanners or metal detectors.
We were then instructed to go to level 4 and down the tunnel onto the ferry (Pride Of Hull), where we were greeted by friendly staff, who directed us to our cabin. As we headed to our cabin on deck 10, we immediately realised it was a much nicer, more modern ferry. Opening the door to our cabin we were very pleased, having previously had bunk beds, we had two singles opposite each other, one folded against the wall giving us more space and the other opened into a sofa, the beds weren't too bad, but the pillows were a bit flat. The bathroom was also quite nice, once the shower curtain had adequately stuck to the walls and not you, the shower was quite powerful shower, with the odd minor tweak on temperature required every minute or so and the sink isn't a bad size, although the shelf does get in the way a little when washing your face. In summary it felt more like a mini hotel room, than cabin and made travelling that bit more comfortable, even if it was through the night. The only negative I have is this is a British ferry (Pride of Hull), based in Britain, yet the one and only socket in the cabin was a European one, (that also could take a USA plug) and we hadn't really thought about it being anything other than a UK socket until it was too late and to buy 1 adapter plug was a ridiculous £6.99! Luckily we had brought my wife’s backup battery, which was enough to charge our phones, but if you're going to need to use your hairdryer, straightners and/or charge up the kids’ tablets, remember to take your 99p adapter plug with you!
At terminal 2 we checked in, headed into another room and our bags were given a very thorough check, almost emptied, followed by myself being frisked, not that we were unhappy about thorough security checks, but more surprised it being more thorough than an airport, however they had no bag scanners or metal detectors.
We were then instructed to go to level 4 and down the tunnel onto the ferry (Pride Of Hull), where we were greeted by friendly staff, who directed us to our cabin. As we headed to our cabin on deck 10, we immediately realised it was a much nicer, more modern ferry. Opening the door to our cabin we were very pleased, having previously had bunk beds, we had two singles opposite each other, one folded against the wall giving us more space and the other opened into a sofa, the beds weren't too bad, but the pillows were a bit flat. The bathroom was also quite nice, once the shower curtain had adequately stuck to the walls and not you, the shower was quite powerful shower, with the odd minor tweak on temperature required every minute or so and the sink isn't a bad size, although the shelf does get in the way a little when washing your face. In summary it felt more like a mini hotel room, than cabin and made travelling that bit more comfortable, even if it was through the night. The only negative I have is this is a British ferry (Pride of Hull), based in Britain, yet the one and only socket in the cabin was a European one, (that also could take a USA plug) and we hadn't really thought about it being anything other than a UK socket until it was too late and to buy 1 adapter plug was a ridiculous £6.99! Luckily we had brought my wife’s backup battery, which was enough to charge our phones, but if you're going to need to use your hairdryer, straightners and/or charge up the kids’ tablets, remember to take your 99p adapter plug with you!
