Haven at Caister On Sea. Family Fun On A Budget. (Haven Holidays in general)

Member Name: KTW

Product:	Haven Holidays in general
Date:	12/10/06 (1447 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great for kids, and fmilies with a tight budget.

Disadvantages: The parks a little run down, and you need good weather.

What could be better than a caravan holiday in Caister on Sea (near Great Yarmouth) in early October?

A caravan holiday, in Caister on Sea, in early October, with 4 kids aged 4-8, one hormonal pregnant sister, one sister suffering an "im turning 30" crisis, both their husbands, my mother who feels the cold, and her husband who is very child intolerant. Then there’s little old me, all alone because my hubby recons he HAS to work that weekend!!!

A recipe for the perfect weekend, im sure you will agree.

Things started marvellously, as on Friday afternoon I got off the bus in Stratford to meet my mums hubby (who was driving us up there) in what can only be described as torrential rain, 60 seconds in that rain was enough to have me still drying out when we approached our caravan 4 hours later.

A....A.....A.....CHHHHHOOOOOOOOO!!!

We had hired two caravans from Friday to Monday, and went self catering, at a cost of about £160 for each caravan. The accommodation was classed as "silver" by haven, which is the middle option.

Our caravan was a children’s themed caravan, which meant we had the privilege of a decorated exterior to the caravan and a few pictures of Rory the Tiger on the walls of the single bed bedroom and some glow in the dark footprints on the ceiling and shower.

If I sound sceptical, you should bare in mind that the kids loved it!

So the standard of the accommodation...........

In the caravan with 3 rooms, the rooms were very very very small, no room for anything but the bed and a built in wardrobe which was fine for a weekend but hard work for a week I would say.

The bedroom size in the two bed caravan was much better and it also benefited from an ensuite toilette off the master bedroom.

The beds themselves were not the most comfortable I have ever come across, but hey they were okay. The linen was provided by Haven for a £10.00 deposit. The duvets were very thick (oh you needed it!) and the sheets were of a good quality. On departure you had to strip the beds and return the linen to get your deposit back.

The lounge and kitchen area was the same size in both caravans.

The kitchen was small but the open plan design made it feel more spacious. The cooker was clean and well maintained. The fridge was also clean and odourless, with a small freezer section. There was plenty of crockery and utensils, cooking pots and pans, which were all clean, well kept and looked fairly new.

Adjacent to the kitchen was a round table and seating, big enough for 6 to sit round at a squeeze.

The shower room and toilette were separate and each equally tiny, but clean and well kept.

The lounge area had enough seating for at least 10, and a low level coffee table. There was a portable television and a gas fire also in the lounge area. The fire really heated up the caravan very quickly and the gas supply was constant (not a cal gas like the old days!)

Now I am no caravan expert, but, I thought our accommodation was of a good standard. My sister (the hormonal one) however thought that she had stayed in better caravans with Haven before and she was not overly impressed.

Being a themed caravan aimed at children we were surprised to find that ash trays were provided in caravan, although it didn’t smell Smokey to me. Also our fold out bed in the lounge was broken, although we didn’t need it in the end. The water pressure in the shower was quite low, but it was hot and more than a trickle. There were a few broken door handles in the kitchen and the tin opener didn’t work. Nothing major but still I want you guys to be fully informed.

The park and attractions.....................

The beach was about 2 minutes from the caravan and it was lovely. It was a sand beach and it was clean and well kept. It was nice for a long walk by the sea. We played cricket, Frisbee and football.

Later we actually paddled in the sea (yes in October) and it was great, the kids loved it and we walked down the beach and found one or two rock pools to look in.

One or two hundred sand angels later and it was time to get the kids out of there wet clothes.

Next we sampled the on sight swimming pool, which was freezing cold, I might go as far as to say that the sea was warmer (note, no exclamation mark, I am not joking)!!

There were two water slides and a Jacuzzi area, plus plenty of room for real swimming and splashing about. Kiddies loved it; I was a pale blue shade by the time we got out. The life guards were very attentive and more than a little whistle happy!

Back to the caravan for a spot of supper and a shower.

We catered for ourselves for the entire weekend to save on money, however if you wanted to eat on site there was a Chinese take away which also sold fish and chips. An American style Bistro Grill which served cooked breakfasts as well as lunch and dinner and an all you could eat Chinese buffet.

There was a supermarket which sold not allot other than bread, milk, butter and other staples and a convenience store which sold news papers. Sweets and souvenirs.

None of the prices seemed to be too greatly inflated, with bread about 70p a loaf, and a portion of fish and chips £3.00ish and a chow mien the same.

The men in the caravan settled down to watch the England match and the girls took the little ones out to the high light of their holiday..................

Rory Club

If you don’t know who Rory is allow me to enlighten you, he is a tiger and he and his friends, anxious the elephant, manic the parrot, greedy the gorilla, and Bradley bear (could be more that I never had the pleasure of meeting!)Provide on sight entertainment for the children.

Rory Club starts at 6.00 and finishes at 8.30, they play silly games (you know the stuff custard pies for grumpy dads), sing songs, dance etc.

The onsite children’s entertainers FunStars (aka I wanted to be a red coat but got rejected!) help run the club, but more about them later.

The kids loved this club, but sadly I had important matters to attend to, Bingo was on for the adults at the other entertainment site.

Well when your at a sea side resort playing bingo, you like a bit of a wolf whistle for legs 11, or two fat ladies at 88 but there was none of that here. This was a serious business. That’s why I felt I was justified in trying to strangle the kids at the next table!!!

Those who like bingo anyway would probably love it, but for me it was all a little bit serious, oh and I didn’t win, which always takes the shine off. Cash prizes ranged from £25 -£70 and it cost £14 to play about 10 games.

After bingo it was back to the kids who wanted to go to the arcades. What can I say about the arcades, they are a huge waste of money, but that’s all arcades not jus this one. There were the usual 2p and 10p slot machines, air hockey tables, racing car games, donkey darby games, and slot machines for the over 18s, oh and how could I forget the obligatory grab a teddy machine, that never ever grabs!

£10 lighter (call me a soft touch, my nieces and nephews do) and its back to the caravan, the kids are so tiered that they are barely through the door before they fall asleep. The adults have a game of trivial pursuit which I win, result!

Barely 5 hours after I crawled in to my sack, my darling niece is tickling my feet, oh yes its 06.45 and my crazy family want to make the most of the last day.

We head off to a children’s entertainment session run by the FunStars, where I had my only disappointment with Haven.

The hormone fuelled 18 year old lads (funstars) were chasing a young (around 15) female guest around the hall stamping each others faces with ink stamps, while the kids sat on the floor colouring in. It was not impressive.

Following this uninspiring hour we had Bradley the Bear for story time, he was so bad that even the kids asked to leave.

We left to find the park which was again nice. It was clean, safe and well maintained and age appropriate up to about 10 I would say.

5 goes on the huge helter skelters for a £1, and I was let on free to help my little niece down, height restrictions apply and they are very strict on them but all the kids were tall enough for 2 of the slides and my eldest nephew (8) was allowed on the sheer drop one.

Crazy Golf, oh how I hate that game, but the others enjoyed it although it was a little pricey at £1.50 per person.

40p a go on the quad bike type things, and yes boys adults are allowed on.

There was so much to do but we had to cut it short as we had a long journey home, there was a bucking bull, and trampolines, and bouncy castles which we just didn’t have time for.

So in summary, despite all my reservations, I had a good time. We had nice weather which helped but the main thing was that the kids loved it. It was very family orientated, and the whole park was safe, well maintained and secure. If we had had more time we were only about 10 miles from Great Yarmouth, and 20 from Norwich.

If your looking for a cheap weekend break with the kids, then this is the place to go.

Summary: As with anything, it is what you make it, but I had fun!!