Writelink Arena

Okay you article people, check this out.

As you know I don’t do much in the way of factual articles. By the time I’m three paragraphs in I’ve usually got a full novel planned.

But I’ve had a bash, summarising the P&O minicruise to Bilbao, complete with piccies. I need your advice to tighten and brighten it, and where I may be able to sell it. (I need the money back that the cruise cost me.)

It’s long-ish at 1700+ words, but your advice will be greatly appreciated.

The Pride of Bilbao

A four day minicruise on the Pride of Bilbao gives you a taste of cruise life, and even leaves time for a few hours on Spanish soil.

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The Pride sails from Portsmouth and the berth is easy to find. Drop off the M275 following the continental ferry signs, and the terminal is on the right, the car park to the left. It’s wise to telephone in advance to learn if she is on time. We had a five hour drive from Manchester and when we got there, we learned that high winds had delayed her 7 hours, so instead of a 4-hour wait in the terminal, we had 11 hours hanging around, with few facilities. Those that were on offer were crowded with other passengers waiting for, not only the Pride, but other ferries, too.

Normal access for foot passengers is via a gantry, with three or four flights of steep steps leading up to the gangway on Deck 4. Disabled passengers and those with small children in pushchairs, are bussed from the terminal, and dropped off on the car deck, from where lifts are available to take you to your accommodation deck. There can be a lengthy wait for the lifts, all of which are manned by crew members during embarkation. Disabled passengers were first on the boat, and we were eventually called at 1:15 in the morning, but it was 2:20 before we finally got to our cabin.

Accommodation is basic. We had a twin, inside cabin. Small, cramped, there was little room for two people to move around, and there were no wardrobes to store our minimal luggage. Eventually, we opted to leave the suitcase open, laid flat under one of the bunks. You can upgrade, even when you are on board, but they are subject to availability. If she is fully booked, as she was when we sailed, you have to stick with the accommodation you booked, so think ahead. If you are the types who liked plenty of room, opt for the larger cabins when you book.

The journey takes about 35 hours each way. If she sails on time, departing Portsmouth at 9:15 on Friday evening, she will arrive in Bilbao around 8 o’clock Sunday morning. There’s plenty to do on board during that day and a half.

The upper three decks (6,7 & 8) are where the shopping and entertainment are located. Reception is on Deck 6 along with the discount shopping area (the term “duty free” is no longer applicable in the EU) the food courts are on Deck 7, along with a couple of bars, and deck 8 houses two cinemas a quiet lounge, the observations lounge and outside areas both port and starboard. Although the Pride of Bilbao is not obliged to follow European guidelines on smoking in enclosed areas, she does so. Smoking is not permitted anywhere other than the outside areas of deck 8, and the galleries above it.

Reception Area on Deck 6

The shops are good value for money. AT £21 for eight hundred cigarettes (Mayfair & Richmond brands) these are less than half the price of most English supermarkets. A bottle of Campari came in at £10 and a 50ml bottle of Christina Aguilera’s Inspire perfume, which retails at over £40 in the High Street, cost about £23. Fashion accessories are expensive, but they still of savings on the order of 15% when compared with the High Street.

Opposite Reception on Deck 6 is Olivios Café, a snack bar with prices similar to those on Motorway service areas. Deck 7 provides the main eateries. A range of foods at reasonable prices is available in the self-service International Food Court, but the carvery provides a more formal atmosphere. Meals are still self-service, with an excellent choice of menus to suit all tastes. Breakfast in this room costs £10.50, for which you eat as much or as little as you wish. Wines are available with the meals in the carvery, with a glass of house white costing £3.95.

If you prefer waiter service, Langham’s Brasserie is located just along the same deck, but at busy times, you may have to reserve your table.

There are two bars on deck seven. The cabaret bar at the far end, and the pub next door to Langhams. Prices are perhaps slightly higher than those in an English pub, and the cabaret bar is the busiest. It’s also where the host the “fun” spots, such as bingo and games like “name that tune”. For those who like a quieter atmosphere, try the Posh Bar on Deck 8, where the seating is comfortable, soft jazz music plays in the background, and most passengers can be found reading, poring over puzzle books or quietly chatting. A pianist/singer entertains in this bar and the Deck 7 pub at different times of the afternoon and evening.

The Posh Bar, one of the quieter areas

Not all the bars are open all the time, but reception usually puts up a notice of the different opening times. Entertainment during the afternoon, evening and into the early hours, is to be had at different times in different bars.

The cinemas are also to be found on deck 8, and run a list of feature films for both children and adults. Tickets cost £5 and are available from Reception.

All the shops, bar and restaurants take £Sterling, Euros and other currencies, but change is given in £Sterling. Credit and debit cards cannot be used to purchase cigarettes, and there are occasional problems with the use of debit cards if the satellite connection fails.

There are areas of the ship where children are kept entertained, including their own playroom and arcade room.

As well as the entertainment, the ship has its own wildlife officer, who runs frequent presentations on the marine wildlife in the English Channel and the Bay of Biscay. Favourites with the passengers are the dolphins and whales. Although a school of dolphins was spotted on the outbound journey, I found it impossible to distinguish them from the grey seas, even with binoculars.

Sunlight on the sea from Deck 8

Seas in the Bay of Biscay can be rough. If a member of your party suffers motion sickness, remedies are available from Reception. The shop also offers homeopathic remedies. Although she is a stable vessel, when heading into the wind, the ship’s motion can be quite acute, and the advice is to hold onto the handrails when moving around.

On arrival in Bilbao, disembarkation is compulsory under immigration rules. You are obliged to leave the ship for about four hours, although you can leave your luggage in your cabin. Disabled passengers may be the first to board, but they are the last to disembark. The car deck has to be cleared to allow the buses on which will take them to the terminal. Once there, however, passport checks are fast and efficient, and within 5 minutes of joining the queue, you should be through.

Excursions are available while you are ashore. You can visit the Guggenheim Museum, take a tour round Old Bilbao, or take the third option, which is a visit to Castro-Urdiales, a small fishing town about 15 miles along the coast. The excursions are extra and the one we took to Castro, cost £12 per person.

The return journey is a mirror of the outbound, and at some stage you will be given an ETA for Portsmouth. Depending on the arrival time, the shops and eateries will close early.

Despite docking at 8:40 pm, a bout three and a half hours behind schedule, the cabin crew were preparing the accommodation for the next passengers at 5pm. This meant a large gather on decks 6, 7 and 8, of people with luggage a couple of hours before berthing. On the final approach to Portsmouth harbour, the ship sailed past the naval dockyard, and there were fine views of Destroyers and an aircraft carrier, on the quayside.

For disabled passengers, disembarkation in Portsmouth was a trial. The ship docked on time at 8:40, but it was fully 9:20 before the crew began to help disabled passengers down to buses on the car deck. Once off the ship, however, it was a speedy process coming through immigration and back into the terminal, from where trolleys can be used to take luggage back to the car, 400 yards away. The trolleys need a £1 coin to free them from the chain, just like a supermarket trolley, and the pay on exit car park will accept credit and debit card.

Overall, a minicruise on the Pride of Bilbao is excellent value for money. Booking online there are huge savings to be had on the price, especially when P & O are running a 2 for 1 offer. We went on a Halloween special, and the price was just £94 for two people. Over and above that, I paid £140 for the meal deal, which secured vouchers that could be used in any of the ship’s restaurants and cafes, and saved 10% on the cost of 12 superb meals (6 each). In addition parking at Portsmouth terminal cost £40 for the 4 days. Excursion to Castro Urdiales cost £24 for the pair of us, and the all-up cost for two people was £298. I’ve taken short breaks in England which have cost much more and upon which I’ve fared worse.

There are a few things the minicruise passenger needs to be aware of. The Pride of Bilbao is first and foremost a ferry. She is not a cruise liner. Service and entertainment are of the highest order, but accommodation, especially at the lower end of the options, is basic.

Also, ships are often delayed by weather conditions. If you have a long journey to Portsmouth, check the ship’s progress before you leave home, and bear in mind that you could be getting home in the early hours of the morning, so take a day’s holiday from work the day after your return.

That said, the minicurise is an enjoyable break, particularly in the autumn and spring months, when Christmas is the only break from work and school for months either side of the year’s turn.

P&O also run minicruises from Hull to Rotterdam, with excursion options to Bruges and Amsterdam, and they run “shopper” cruises from Dover to Calais.

For more information visit the website at http://www.poferries.com/tourist/

Bon Voyage