First of all I'd like to say that some people expect this ship to have massive rooms and 100 different places to eat, but can I remind you that the pride of Bilbao is for mini-cruises, meaning that it won't have as much services!!
I went with my sister and mother from Friday to Monday, with a booking with Gold Crest, which was excellent and Gold Crest provides the transport to Portsmouth, where the ship departs.
Once on the ship, I found there to be a friendly atmosphere, and got the card key for my cabin which was on deck 5, with a window. I had a little trouble getting in as I didn't put the card key in far enough- oops. But when I got in I was that little bit disappointed - the room was rather small, however if you think about it, the rooms in a mini-cruise ship like this won't have rooms as big as the bedrooms in your house, the cabin had two tables, a chair and an en-suite bathroom. Again, I was quite disappointed with this at first because the shower only had a curtain to block from the rest of the bathroom, meaning I thought the water would go every where when I shower (there wasn't anything sticking out of the floor so the water could leak out everywhere, but there is one from the bathroom to the sleeping part of the cabin). However, I was to find
out that it didn't happen very much as the shower floor was loped down. The sink was nice and big and provided drinkable water and the toilet were pretty nice as well (it was blue!!) but again I took a while to learn how to flush it, as you had to close the lid, then pull the knob upwards. I would say pay the extra money for a room with a window because they are higher up and the lower rooms smell (the corridor!) The window is also better than any window in the cabins on those £2000 a person cruises.
Other reviews say that the beds were way to narrow and they ended up falling out of bed. I thought that thy were completely fine- they were a little on the thin side, but I found it quite hard to attempt falling down from it. If you do find trouble with bed, bed guards are available free from the reception. Last things about the room, it has a nice place to keep your card keys so you won't misplace it, and there are two nice, big mirrors, one in the bathroom, one in the sleepy area.
It was the first night, and I went out to eat with my Mum and sister at the International Food court. The food there were Okay value, you could have for example, a pie (around 14cm by 6cm), potatoes, peas and carrot, cake for £8.99, and the portions are quite big, and we almost couldn't finish all the food.
After being very tired, we went to bed that night.
We woke up the morning and went out for breakfast, we had bought the meals before hand, meaning we could only go to the Four Seasons and Calvary or we had to pay £6 elsewhere. The breakfast turned out to be a buffet, and a rather nice one. Some foods included tomatoes, bacon, sausages, toast and lots of eggs, cereal (fruit and fibre, muesli, lots of others). Lots of foods where there apart from the usual, I can't remember much of the unusual, you will have to find out for yourself!!
We found out that day that the Pride of Bilbao was going through the Bay of Biscay, the best place in the world to see dolphins and whales. There was a free talk about them by a charity; the guy was very friendly and funny. And you could buy some of their products at the end or donate money or borrow some binoculars for some money to see the whales and dolphins. There was the top deck where you could see them, the highest one was very windy on the way there and there was on of those massive chess boards where you could pay on them, and you are very likely to have a mini audience watching you if you play!!
On the top deck there is a bar and lots of deck chairs free to sit or lay on for a suntan.
Apart from the top deck, there is an observing lounge where you can observe the wildlife.
Other than observing the wildlife, there are many bars around the ship, and at the 7th deck (8 in total) there are the restaurants and a place where discos are placed at midnight, and performers and magicians perform there. There was a children's tea party on the last night and the magician there was actually pretty ace :)
The lunch at the Four Seasons was also a buffet with an even better selection of foods. There are two roast, there was lamb or Turkey my first meal, and beef or pork on my second. There was a variety of salads, and vinegared sardines and d roll mops which were brilliant, and mussels, prawns, and squid. Cheese, yogurt and ice cream and cake were of course available too. There were also a few plates of oriental foods as well.
There are places where you can listen to people playing the piano and playing, but I never watched that, so I can't comment about that.
There were a few shops on the 6th deck, the products not as expensive as I thought it would be but the travel pills were, they were £4.99 a packet but there were three sheets of them and about 24 on each of the sheet. There was also a bag shop and a perfume shop. A hair dressers was also there but there weren't many people there. Before I forget there was also a children's play area, and a room with a few of those massaging chairs, £1 for 5mins, which I personally hated but my mother loved.
The most disappointing thing though was the swimming pool, it was tiny!! It was about the size of 3 toilet cubicles by 6 toilet cubicles, and the children's swimming pool was probably 2x2. I could find the Jacuzzi and didn't go into the sauna, but there were three f them, so I suppose they should've been fine.
The gym was pretty small as well and was on the same floor as the swimming pool. There is a nice bar just outside of them too.
On the way back, the weather wasn't very good, and quite a few people I saw was feeling sick- the ship was really quite rocking so I would advise you to please, please remember your travelling pills!!
Here are a few tips for those of you going on the cruise:
It may say not to bring kitchen appliances, but don't worry about bringing a kettle.
It says no food or drink on board. Ignore that. Everyone bought there own food and no one cared.
At Spain the tickets are £12 adult £6 children if you go in a tourist group (correct in 2008)
The coffee or tea for breakfast at the four seasons are included in the price per person
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Advantages: Relaxing travel, good price, If you want a cruising taster a good option Disadvantages: Expensive onboard food, innacurate cabin, transfer bus confusion.
likka75 22.08.2008 (22.08.2008)
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