16.th July 2008:
Stena line, London – Amsterdam all in one ticket
The deal “Train&Sail”: Starting Friday evening from Liverpool St Station and take the train to Harwich international. From there you catch the ferry and will arrive in Amsterdam the next morning. On Monday we will take the daytime ferry back to London.
We decided to travel in luxury! : )
I booked the captains cabin on the way over, which is £52 extra (for two people). Which brings the all-over fare for two people return up to £250.
My review:
The captains cabin is very much to recommend! We had the most stunning view, as the cabin is placed at the very front of the ship (under the captains Bridge)- where you find the most stable condition. At night, you can see the lights of other ships passing by under a sky full of stars.
We had lots of space (for a boat) and even the bathroom was so functional designed that 2 people could clean there teeth at the same time.
The Beds are adjustable, so if you want a double, you simply pull them together with comfortable foam mattresses. Oh, and the best thing, you get a whole fridge of drinks, snakes and fruit complimentary! We hardly could believe it and went out twice to ask if that is really true – it was! 2 little bottles red wine, 2x white wine, 2x champagne, Orange juice, water, coke… nice!!!
On the way back, we took the daytime ship, and it really is a looonnng time (6,5h). So take something to do and take some food with you (it is quite pricey and not as good as one might have hoped for) -or simply take a cabin and relax.
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Were we stayed:
We decided to go for something small and hopefully cosy, with the real Amsterdam feel! I booked a double room with Bath and garden view (canal view was taken) for €115 per night.
Hotel Keizershof
Keizersgracht 618
1017 ER Amsterdam
tel:+31.20.6222855
fax:+31.20.6248412
just 4 rooms, closed between 1pm to 4pm
Directions: tram line 16, 24 and 25. Stop at Keizersgracht.
Prices from € 65,- to € 115,- per night
and incl. a Dutch breakfast and VAT.
My review:
I can’t recommend this Hotel, even the women who run the place are very friendly and it was clean enough. The breakfast was very good two, with pancakes on Sunday and scrambled eggs all the other days, lots of different kinds of cheeses and bread, good location…. BUT … fist of all the standard of the rooms is simply very low. One wallpaper type stops in the middle of the wall an other one starts, the mattresses are very uncomfortable, the carpet is ancient as well as the furniture (sadly not in a good way). The worst thing was that our room had so much mould on one wall, that a big piece was broken out of it. My husband couldn’t breath properly for the whole next week as he suffers from asthma. (mould can course serious health problems) I am not sure if the Mosquitos really came in through the mould whole in the wall, but all the windows had a fly screen. Anyhow, I had to kill 12 Mosquitos the first night and we both got stung a lot.
