We review a mini-cruise from Newcastle to Amsterdam with DFDS ferry operator
We take our children across the North Sea on an overnight ferry from England to Amsterdam
Ferry operator
DFDS
Our journey
Newcastle to Amsterdam
The service
This route runs every day linking England and Holland/The Netherlands, with overnight crossings both ways. The ports are North Shields near Newcastle and Ijmuiden ferry port in the Netherlands.
Journey time
15 hours 30 minutes.
The ship leaves at 5pm from Newcastle and arrives in Holland at 9.45am local time. Returning, the ship leaves Holland at 5.30pm and returns to Newcastle at 9.15am.
The ferry
There are two ships which operate this crossing – we sailed out with the ship Princess Seaways and back with King Seaways.
DFDS calls them cruise ferries because of the facilities and entertainment on board.
They each have 140 crew. The King takes 1,300 passengers and the Princess 1,250.
We thought that they were great ships and our children loved exploring them. There is plenty to occupy a family between boarding time and bedtime.
Facilities
The ships each have two restaurants, a cinema, play areas, games rooms, a small casino, bars, a club and a shop.
There is good entertainment on board. Our children took part in children’s entertainment on King Seaways and enjoyed it. The play areas and games rooms were slightly bigger on the King.
A play area on the King Seaways ship
Food (same on both)
*Explorer’s Kitchen – a buffet restaurant for breakfast and dinner which we tried on King Seaways. Perfect for families, not too formal with lots of choice.
For dinner, there is a variety of foods from different parts of the world including Chinese, Indian, German, Dutch, Italian and British. There’s an ice cream bar, where you can order your own soft scoop flavour with a selection of toppings.
*North Sea Bistro – we ate here on Princess Seaways. It is formal with table service – the food was more expensive but delicious.
North Sea Bistro
There is a three-course menu for adults featuring steak, sea bass and other upmarket options.
The children’s menu offers two courses for £11.95 from a starter, main and dessert. Main course options included spaghetti Bolognese and a burger. Pancakes for pudding went down well with our pair.
My delicious dessert at North Sea Bistro
*Coffee Crew – a café next to the play areas which serves snacks.
Our cabin
All the cabins are en suite, ours were five-berth – with two bunk beds – a double on one side and triple on the other! The bathroom has a shower. Towels and bedding are provided.
Our cabin on Princess Seaways
Cabins are well located away from all the communal areas.
Who can travel?
Cars, caravans, motorcycles, bicycles, motorhomes and lorries can all use the ferry or foot passengers without a vehicle.
How does it work?
You check-in at the port in North Shields near Newcastle, at least 45 minutes before departure – and if you are in a car or other vehicle, drive to a vehicle check-in booth, open the window and hand over your passports to be checked.
You are given boarding cards which are also your cabin keys. There are lots of crew around to direct you into a lane and then on to the ship. You are told exactly where to park, the crew guide you as far forward as possible in your lane in order to fit all the cars on board. Remember your deck number so you can find your car quickly again in the morning!
Foot passengers check in at the passenger terminal.
Disabled facilities
There are six disabled cabins on King Seaways and three on the Princess. There are lifts and disabled toilets.
Benefits
It may take longer than flying but there are lots of benefits to the ferry:
*You have your own car, so you don’t need to rent or worry about children’s car seats in Holland.
*You can pack more luggage – there is unlimited baggage on board.
*You can take bikes and scooters.
*You can take pets. Pets can travel on board in their own area or there are even pet-friendly cabins. Make sure you are up-to-date on requirements for pet passports and vaccinations.
*The mini-cruise is a fun experience, part of the holiday rather than the journey.
Top tips
*We headed for the ports both ends early to make sure we arrived in time and then stretched our legs on a beach – at Long Sands beach in Tynemouth near Newcastle and Zandvoort beach on the way to Ijmuiden port in Holland.
Long Sands Beach, Tynemouth
*Keep an eye on young children outside on the ships, it can get very windy. Also, the doors to outside are very heavy to open and may slam shut.
*The car deck is locked once the ship sets sail. You can’t return to your car then so make sure you have everything with you that you need. We packed a separate bag for the cruise so we didn’t have too much to carry.
*Don’t book a restaurant time until half an hour after sailing time if you want to enjoy the ship setting off.
*There are a lot of stairs but lifts are available if you have a buggy or a pram and there would be room for a pushchair in the five-berth cabins we had.
*The restaurants are fantastic but bring water/drinks and food from the car for your cabin to save money. You are not allowed to take your own alcohol.
*Breakfast can get very busy. There is an announcement at 8am to wake everyone up so lots of passengers eat after that. The quiet period, where you are more likely to get a window seat to enjoy the sea view, is 7am to 7.45am. Also 9am is quieter – but you are called to your car as soon as the ship docks, around 9.15am.
*Don’t feel you need to rush to your car as soon as they announce it as you will be sitting in it for some time, wait a few minutes, but not too long!
In conclusion
A great experience for the children and a fun way to travel to Amsterdam. This really makes the journey a fun part of the holiday rather than a chore.
Prices from £81, via the DFDS website.
Read about our holiday in Amsterdam here: Is Amsterdam child-friendly? We take a family trip to the beautiful capital of the Netherlands to find out
Our visit to the Netherlands was in two parts, read about our second adventure here: Deserts, fairytales and glamping – a family trip to Efteling and the Brabant region of Holland.
RELATED CONTENT: Amsterdam’s top attractions and activities for children
RELATED CONTENT: Our full guide to getting around Amsterdam with children
RELATED CONTENT: Amsterdam’s park and ride service – all you need to know
RELATED CONTENT: We review Efteling – the biggest theme park in the Netherlands – and give our top tips for visiting
(We received a free ferry trip for the purposes of this review, all views, as ever, are our own).
