Ferry Travel Enters A New Era (P&O North Sea Ferries)

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Product:	P&O North Sea Ferries
Date:	16/02/03 (2465 review reads)
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Advantages: Modern, Quick, All-Round Excellent Facilities

Disadvantages: Can Be Expensive

Travelling on the North Sea has in recent times developed a bad reputation. Passengers usually expect any old tub waiting to carry them on an overnight crossing, with poor cabins and no proper facilities.
But no more. P&O Ferries have re-branded themselves with a new cruise-style background, and it really does work.

Company Background
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The company started in 1966 as North Sea Ferries, a joint venture between P&O and Dutch shipping giant Nedlloyd. Having begun with a passenger service from Hull to Rotterdam, the company quickly expanded to operate a passenger service to the Belgian port of Zeebrugge and various freight routes.
Not much changed till 1996 when P&O bought out Nedlloyd?s share to become a wholly owned P&O company. In 1997 P&O European Ferries freight routes from Felixstowe to Rotterdam and Zeebrugge were combined with the old North Sea Ferries services to form P&O North Sea Ferries.
In 2001 the company introduced two huge new cruise ferries, the Pride of Hull and Pride of Rotterdam; the largest car ferries in the world, onto the Hull - Rotterdam route. The two ferries previously operating the Rotterdam route each underwent a £7 million refurbishment and were introduced onto the Zeebrugge route.
In 2002 the Felixstowe routes were axed in order for P&O to buy out Stena?s share of P&O Stena Line. Following this all P&O ferry operations were merged to form P&O Ferries, which is where the company stands today.
As P&O Ferries, the company now has a much better and easier booking scheme, and the single brand works very well. There is also a more common fares scheme.
www.POferries.com

My Experience - Hull - Rotterdam (Pride of Rotterdam)
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Hull sadly has a reputation as not being one of the nicest places in Britain... But there is light on the horizon and change is already starting to happen. The Dee
p, the city's new aquarium, is a major tourist attraction, among other new developments.
With their two new cruise ferries, P&O have also invested in a new terminal as well. Access to the terminal is seemingly through a busy industrial estate (but you'll find that in any port).
Once in view of the terminal you are also in view of the ferry you will take. After reading the on-board magazine I read the ferries were designed to 'provoke the wow factor', and it works, the ferries are truly breathtaking. They have been designed for that cruise image, and their sleek design shows this, although the 4 long decks of passenger accommodation sit on top of several huge vehicle decks which make the vessels look a little uglier.
Car Passengers:
There is generally a queue of cars waiting to get on the ship, particularly if you arrive early. Generally you are asked to be there around an hour before departure.
Once through the barriers, you drive up a ramp to get onto the ship, where there is usually a line of security officers lying in wait. To access the ship with your car, you have to drive over a ramp and through side of the ship (Pride of Hull and Pride of Rotterdam are side-loading only for cars). Once you've had your car parked, you have to use a huge lift to get up to the passenger decks.

Foot Passengers
Foot Passengers have to go to the terminal itself and wait to be organised before walking onto the ferry.

Accommodation
First impressions of the new ferry (Pride of Rotterdam) are not good - basically because you're crammed into a lift with a load of strangers.
However, once you get out onto the main passenger decks, however, this changes. The ships interiors are clean, bright and modern. When designing the ship, the market researchers came out with 3 main key words; 'modern', 'natural' and 'nostalgic'. Like many new ferries, the materials used were actually real (unlike olde
r ferries), and the Pride of Rotterdam features real moulded plaster cornicing on the ceilings, warm-toned woods and natural timbers, natural stone, and specifically designed furnishings, carpets, curtains and blinds in 'punchy' colours (the European element).

The cabins were actually quite comfortable - we had one without a window, but it was well-lit and furnished, (with a desk) the beds were long and comfortable (actually 2.10m long, instead of the usual 1.95m), with reading lights, and pillows (other North Sea operators have been known to deprive their customers of pillows in any class lower than the first class).
The 'bathroom' (roughly around the size of a cupboard) had a shower, toilet and washbasin. The bathrooms have tiled floors, polished granite worktops, and Philippe Starck-designed taps! Stylish...
Whilst there are predominately standard cabins, there are also 14 luxury cabins, 4 'staterooms', 2 suites and a few special cabins for disabled passengers.
Some cabins have doors through to the next one, so parents can have children in the next cabin without having to worry about them. Much.

As the ship usually sets sail at 9 o'clock, (though passengers can board from around 4) it means that a wide range of facilities and entertainment is provided on both the Pride of Rotterdam and Pride of Hull. For early-boarding passengers, there is a sun deck (which is teak-planked). Whilst you can appreciate the idea that some people do board early, generally passengers don't make it to the sun deck till around 9, when the ship sets sail, by which time it is usually dark, rendering the Sun Deck entirely useless.
One of the best things the ship has on offer is the Sky Lounge. Sitting at the very top of the ship, (it's right next to the funnel) the Sky Lounge was designed to work both day and night. At night, the bar, and the 'warm, rich-coloured' wood create a good atmosphere, and there is a p
iano player, which can be a good feature or a bad one, depends who it is playing! By day, the
lilac colour in the Sky Lounge makes this a light and fresh area for breakfast, as well as helping the 'Lounge to serve it's full purpose; to provide views, and it certainly does work.
Other areas include the Cyber Zone, which has 9 computers with permanent online access, perfect for e-mailing friends to inform them of your travels, or even just to surf the web. This is also the perfect place to waste time!
There is a Business Lounge (for people planning on working onboard) which has some comfortable seats, and permanent online 'workstations' so you get down to work, instead of unwinding like we all should do, really. There is however, a bar in the Business Lounge.
These are just some of the features of the Pride of Rotterdam and her sister vessel. There is also the 318-seater Sunset Showlounge, which has a good variety of entertainment and a bar. There are two cinemas, bars, several restaurants (the main one being the Four Seasons), shops, a bizarre 'quiet room' for unwinding and several cafés, and of course, a very good amount of open deck space for fresh air.
There is very much sufficient entertainment for the crossing, but if all else fails, the cabins are a good place to crash anyway!

Passengers who are somewhat apprehensive about taking to the North Sea; do not be so, these vessels are huge and have the very latest stability technology. You wouldn't guess you were out at sea when I went, it seriously was that comfortable.

With their new cruiseferries P&O have entered a new era in North Sea travel, the standards on the ships are far removed from what could be found on the route 20 years ago.
With the new single brand of P&O Ferries, the standards set by Pride of Rotterdam and Pride of Hull are spreading across the fleet, and sea travel could actually be an enjoyable experience.
I thoroughly enjo
yed the experience, I would certainly like to do it again, and I advise all others take my word for it and travel with P&O Ferries.

Company website:
www.POferries.com

Parent company website:
www.pogroup.com

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