Hull ferry tomorrow. What time to arrive?

Hi folks,

Sailing to Rotterdam @ 830pm tomorrow and boarding shuts @ 7 pm.

Wondering if anyone knew what the queues are like at the mo?

Will be cycling on with my family so was maybe planning on getting there a out maybe 5 or 6pm to park up in the multi-story and sort bikes/kids out.

Anyone sailed recently?

We get it 3 or 4 times a year.
There are pretty much never any queues.
You can get there really early and sit on the sun deck, there’s a cinema, bars, restaurant is quite expensive. There’s a little Starbucks franchise that does pizzas and nachos, much cheaper.
We normally arrive 2 hrs before sailing and never have a problem.

hi – I came back on the Monday night sailing. We arrived early (17:00) for a 21:00 sailing and it was pretty busy – took about 45 minutes to get through check in and passport control at Rotterdam – but then went straight on to the boat. The check in process is quite slow, which is a bit frustrating. Going out was much quieter but that was on a Thursday night about 2 weeks ago. The boat ended up sailing 30 minutes early!

The boat is there all day and boarding starts quite early and most of the facilities are open – so turning up early is fine you can go through and get to your cabin.

Make sure you’re in a low gear after check in – the ramp is pretty steep.

Thanks for the intel.

Think we will play it safe and get there early.i hate waiting around at home to catch a flight/boat anyway.

@dinge – thanks for the heads up about the ramp. Be a good family challenge to make it to the top:)

@colp yes to Starbucks. We have booke b’fast but I was too tight to pay for dinner too sounds like it will be a pizza lunch.

We get it 3 or 4 times a year.
There are pretty much never any queues.

Ditto, use it quite often, will be on again in August. Always takes longer/more faff coming back, Both in car or on foot.

Never really queued much. Restaurants aint cheap but I’m sure you get a discount by prebooking – the ‘a la carte’ one is fairly decent but pricy, the buffet is pretty good as buffets go, loads to choose from and actually some nice food.

The usually lone person running the little starbucks/pizza place in the corner is often quite overrun, and if your hungry, by the time you’ve had some pizza, some chips, a drink, a slice of cake etc, theres not much in it and you could have spent an hour gorging yourselfs in the buffet anyway.

If the weathers good, go up top and watch the world (Grimsby!) go by – the route actual stays quite close to the coast line for a long, long way as you head out the humber and then down toward east anglia.

Oh and – if you sit in the main bar downstairs (the one with the circular stage), get a table, you can also order Pizzas from the bar there and eat whilst the kids entertainer is on. Good for families and they have them running around and dancing to tire them out before bed. Some of the later bands/singers are straight out of Phoenix nights, mind!

Pizza in the bar for the win while the kids watch Dave Spikey and Rave On:)

Watch out for the Lagunitas IPA, it’s around 6.5%!

We were once so late after bolting down from Edinburgh I swear it was already moving as we drove on – through the side IIRC. The door closed right behind us and it was definitely moving then. Late, but not too late!

After 15 years of no choice but Marstons Pedigree on every sodding boat trip I was momentarily excited by the option of that IPA last summer! But then:
A) They didn’t have any.
B) Why a 6.5% beer (with few other options) on a ferry where a good chunk of passengers have to drive early the next morning?

Eldest is now 21 but that ferry is still a highlight of family euro road trips. One of the two ships had a short bearded guy as the kids entertainer – think we’ve seen him do the same show for at least three different years…..

As others have said – very chilled at Hull and never queued for more than a few minutes. Rotterdam feels a bit slower but usually because we’ve arrived earlier (often driven from Switzerland with a crazy early start and big safety time margin) and they haven’t started boarding.

is there no cheaper options than 200 quid for a 1 way cyclist?

Its the overnight cabins that are the spendy bit.

Think sleeper train type of thing but a different size, shape, less wheels, and less speed but with an entertainment team, cinema, restaurants and more water.