We have just come back from a 2 night plus 1 night in Brugge going Hull to Zeebrugge on 'Pride of Brugge' returning on 'Pride of York' travelling outbound on Brugge and back on York.
Trip cost £182 and was in a Premier 2 berth both ways (window out) and (inside) return.
I would throughly recommend as a different way to reach Eurupe and explore the lovely city of Brugge.
We took the trip based on an excellent trip to Calais earlier on in the year and this trip was equally enjoyable - albeit a little different to a Dover day trip.
While P and O have a detailed and relatively easy to use web site it can be glitchy sometimes needing several attempts to book both the right day and right direction. Differing cabin classes seems to cause problems. We had hoped to book both ways in club but were forced to book premier as club was fully booked on the way home. booking engine crashed out if we tried other combination.
We trained from Leeds on a cheap deal and then decided to walk to the terminal - be ware its about 4 miles from station to terminal and if we go again we will catch a cab or bus - we pack light but it was still an effort which we will not repeat. (£24 for 2 leeds return versus petrol and £15 parking)
Checkin proved fast and minimal emigration and customs meant we were onboard and in cabin within 20 minutes .
We discovered P and O premier cabins are still bunk and the difference from a standard is apparently the interior decor and deck (green deck both ways) - bear this in mind,website leads you to believe that premier are standard beds, they are not. Bathrom bigger than we expected with good shower.
We were presented with a clean if small 2 bunk cabin with a window on the starboard side about 2/3 of the way up the accomodation bank.
On exploring the Brugge we discovered the usual array of shops on the website set out in a way not all that different from the Dover ferries. The only real difference on the longer range boats is the addition of a cinema and the Casino has tables as well as slot machines.
We bought drinks - £2.90 a pint and sat in the cafe watching the departure. We then had dinner in 4 seasons at about £37 for two for a buffet with nice food and very attentive staff - seemed to be a Philipino crew predominantly who were very polite but a little robotic at times.
Slept quite well and arrived on time in Zeebrugge - only problem with side cabin seems to be you do hear the anchor hitting the hull periodically in moderate seas and there was not much to see once we cleared the Humber.
We opted for a croissant breakfast at £10 for 2 instead of the buffet at £16. The coffee is alot better in the cafe.
Once again arrival formalities were easy and we decided to take our chances with the transfer bus (which we had not booked) and they let us on for 7 euro. as opposed to the £12 'prebook' option.
After a great night in Brugge, we arrived back for the bus to Zeebrugge only to be told we were unable to get it because we had not prebooked. We explained we had originally came on the bus and the driver let us on. Not sure this would work all the time.
We had an easy check in and once on board the York headed for our inside premier bunk cabin. Once again clean and seemed bigger than the windowed cabin because there was slightly less furniture - once again lovely and clean.
Crew were a mix of British and Spanish on the York. Just as polite and attentive but with more familiarity with English than the outbound crew.
We had opted to have a snack dinner instead of the buffet on the way home and had brought a supply of food with us, a cheaper option than the onboard fare, perfectly edible but expensive.
Once again a good nights sleep and timely arrival (be warned if you go for the cabin coffee option they deliver this at 6.00 am!) we found this cabin very quiet and the bow to stern orientation of the bunks lead to a better night sleep.
HM customs and emigration only had one officer on initially and if you are a non-eu passport holder this presents problems, they herd you off to the side and you have to wait, we waited 20 minutes and eventually another officer turned up to process us with a somewhat rude attitude to the couple who were infront of us. More pleasant to us (perhaps because I am a British national and my wife is a Australian permanent resident - who then held everybody else in the building up swiping passports on the other scanner anyway!.
Bus transfer at Hull to station was easy and quick (15 minutes and £4.50 for two).
PRO's relaxing and pleasant way to travel to Europe with capable and attentive crews and a range of food and entertainment options if you choose them.
CON's website booking engine fiddly, innacurate cabin discriptions and expensive onboard food. Be aware to leave extra time for connections if inbound on a non EU passport.