We chose the ferry to the Netherlands from the north of England over the Eurostar for a few reasons. First, we’ve done the Eurostar route a few times now, the journey through England without stopping doesn’t hold much interest and we like to avoid London if at all possible. Also, we would be required to use two days of our Interail pass as well as pay the seat reservation fee of €30 (€38 to Amsterdam). DFDS had an early booking sale so the ticket price was only £48 per person each way and that included a cabin and the city centre bus transfers. When you take into account the fact that you are saving a night’s accommodation this is actually quite a bargain.

Check in, passport control and security were pretty slow as the ferry was very busy. There were a large number of younger folk, presumably heading to Amsterdam for the weekend, including a considerable number of what Rob calls Oompa Loompas, young women with thick fake tan and lip filler. What struck me was how dramatic this look is on the young women, but how ordinary their boyfriends were.

Our cabin was an internal two berth bunk cabin and although small it was comfortable enough. We had a wander around the ship, a standard cruise ferry with a large duty free shop, restaurants, bars and live entertainment, then headed back to the cabin to eat our picnic. The weather was completely still and the crossing was flat calm. I’d always recommend taking plenty of water with you on these overnight crossings, temperature can be difficult to control inside the cabins and the air conditioning is intent on desiccating you.