Night Ferry Harwich to Hoek
Discussion
Been a few years since I used this route, pre Covid.
Got there for boarding start at 2030 and despite being near the head of the queue we sat in the car for quite a long time.
Idea was to eat, relax, have a drink then retire to the cabin.
Anyone got an idea when it's best to arrive at the port and just get on, cheers.
As an aside, the price quoted was £230 odd but by checkout it had risen to £255. Environmental levies. If they are charging this it should show in the quoted price
Got there for boarding start at 2030 and despite being near the head of the queue we sat in the car for quite a long time.
Idea was to eat, relax, have a drink then retire to the cabin.
Anyone got an idea when it's best to arrive at the port and just get on, cheers.
As an aside, the price quoted was £230 odd but by checkout it had risen to £255. Environmental levies. If they are charging this it should show in the quoted price
croyde said:
Been a few years since I used this route, pre Covid.
Got there for boarding start at 2030 and despite being near the head of the queue we sat in the car for quite a long time.
Idea was to eat, relax, have a drink then retire to the cabin.
Anyone got an idea when it's best to arrive at the port and just get on, cheers.
As an aside, the price quoted was £230 odd but by checkout it had risen to £255. Environmental levies. If they are charging this it should show in the quoted price
There's a levy per person and per vehicle so they need to know the number of people and the number/type of vehicles before it can be added.Got there for boarding start at 2030 and despite being near the head of the queue we sat in the car for quite a long time.
Idea was to eat, relax, have a drink then retire to the cabin.
Anyone got an idea when it's best to arrive at the port and just get on, cheers.
As an aside, the price quoted was £230 odd but by checkout it had risen to £255. Environmental levies. If they are charging this it should show in the quoted price
Not having a screen that specifically spells it out before proceding is crap though, agreed.
I've done this a lot - I'd say get there for about 9/9.30. - Thats only really for passport control, but it's never been too bad
They get the heavy stuff on first (lorries) and then you board from about 10.30. It is a polished operation and you are on and parked in no time. When i did it in June for the MotoGP they had refurbed the ship and it was a big upgrade - very nice. Less ferry, more like a mini cruise ship.
If you are coming back in the day - get a cabin if you can, it makes such a difference as you can get your head down if you want.
Have your map route ready for when you get off, as last time there were road improvements and lots of one-way reroutes which had me completely flummoxed.
Enjoy
They get the heavy stuff on first (lorries) and then you board from about 10.30. It is a polished operation and you are on and parked in no time. When i did it in June for the MotoGP they had refurbed the ship and it was a big upgrade - very nice. Less ferry, more like a mini cruise ship.
If you are coming back in the day - get a cabin if you can, it makes such a difference as you can get your head down if you want.
Have your map route ready for when you get off, as last time there were road improvements and lots of one-way reroutes which had me completely flummoxed.
Enjoy
I posted this note re the ferry when the subject was mentioned in another Thread a month or so ago:
"We did Harwich - Hook of Holland overnight in early August, £275 (one way) on the way to Germany.
Worked really well. Boarding was quick & had a couple of pints in the bar before bed. It was very busy for food/drink in the morning and took just over an hour from getting back in the car, leaving the ferry & getting through Dutch passport control. Easy journey after & made it to Koln's Motorworld for lunch."
Couple more thoughts:
- The closet PFS is at Harwich Asda, this was being refurbished in August, assume that's completed & back in service now
- Roadworks on the A12 at Mark Tey/Colchester (which had been going on for ages) have finally been completed
- once through passport control the route to the motorway using Waze was straightforward, unsurprisingly lots of lorries about
"We did Harwich - Hook of Holland overnight in early August, £275 (one way) on the way to Germany.
Worked really well. Boarding was quick & had a couple of pints in the bar before bed. It was very busy for food/drink in the morning and took just over an hour from getting back in the car, leaving the ferry & getting through Dutch passport control. Easy journey after & made it to Koln's Motorworld for lunch."
Couple more thoughts:
- The closet PFS is at Harwich Asda, this was being refurbished in August, assume that's completed & back in service now
- Roadworks on the A12 at Mark Tey/Colchester (which had been going on for ages) have finally been completed
- once through passport control the route to the motorway using Waze was straightforward, unsurprisingly lots of lorries about
I'm currently sat in the var, waiting to leave the Netherlands, having used the ferry for the first time.
Cabin on the way here really was quite pleasant. We arrived about 1.5hrs before leaving and went nearly straight on.
We were allowed to our cars at about 8am, but it was probably half an hour before we moved whilst they got lorries off. After that though, inly a few minutes wait through passport control.
Turned up about 1.5hr before sailing just now, and there was two cars in front of us. Very quiet.
Cabin on the way here really was quite pleasant. We arrived about 1.5hrs before leaving and went nearly straight on.
We were allowed to our cars at about 8am, but it was probably half an hour before we moved whilst they got lorries off. After that though, inly a few minutes wait through passport control.
Turned up about 1.5hr before sailing just now, and there was two cars in front of us. Very quiet.
croyde said:
Are there two queues, one for UK and one for EU?
An hour to get off sounds bad.
Last time I did it, it was an hour from getting into the car to having breakfast at my mum's.
Pre Brexit though, but I do have a Euro passport.
There were two queues, but they directed us to use both as nearly all British.An hour to get off sounds bad.
Last time I did it, it was an hour from getting into the car to having breakfast at my mum's.
Pre Brexit though, but I do have a Euro passport.
FatChops said:
If you are coming back in the day - get a cabin if you can, it makes such a difference as you can get your head down if you want.
I don't think this can be emphasised enough. It's a pretty long trip to be hanging around a boat doing not very much. If I remember correctly cabins are half price during the daytime. Get one with a window and chill out. The better cabins have coffee machines and a free, although limited, mini bar. If you're feeling really flush and they have any left, get a Captain's Suite and you end up with a double size cabin at the front of the ship with a double bed, sofa, chairs, coffee table and large windows along with the coffee machine and mini bar.
I just remembered.
When you get off UK side, all the cars are funnelled into 3/4 lanes. Keep in the far right lane.
All the lanes bend around an S shape and go into 2x lanes - Most times lanes 1, 2 and 3 converge into the new lane 1.
This will also got you into the far right ticket booth which is ALWAYS quicker.
UK side is much slower then the Dutch side to get though.
I'm slightly embarrassed that i know this information
Fatchops
When you get off UK side, all the cars are funnelled into 3/4 lanes. Keep in the far right lane.
All the lanes bend around an S shape and go into 2x lanes - Most times lanes 1, 2 and 3 converge into the new lane 1.
This will also got you into the far right ticket booth which is ALWAYS quicker.
UK side is much slower then the Dutch side to get though.
I'm slightly embarrassed that i know this information
Fatchops
cml24 said:
I'm currently sat in the var, waiting to leave the Netherlands, having used the ferry for the first time.
Cabin on the way here really was quite pleasant. We arrived about 1.5hrs before leaving and went nearly straight on.
We were allowed to our cars at about 8am, but it was probably half an hour before we moved whilst they got lorries off. After that though, inly a few minutes wait through passport control.
Turned up about 1.5hr before sailing just now, and there was two cars in front of us. Very quiet.
When you get off at Harwich try to keep in the left lane for passport control, it goes round a 180 degree left corner before the booths so for a given point in the queue there are 8-10 more cars in front of you in the right lane than the left lane! annoys the crap out of me when I forget that.Cabin on the way here really was quite pleasant. We arrived about 1.5hrs before leaving and went nearly straight on.
We were allowed to our cars at about 8am, but it was probably half an hour before we moved whilst they got lorries off. After that though, inly a few minutes wait through passport control.
Turned up about 1.5hr before sailing just now, and there was two cars in front of us. Very quiet.
I've also never figured out why when I turn up at Hoek and there are 5 or 6 cars in from of me, it takes half an hour for the queue to get though checkin, but when we get there it take about 2 minutes. What are they doing with the rest of them?
croyde said:
Are there two queues, one for UK and one for EU?
An hour to get off sounds bad.
Last time I did it, it was an hour from getting into the car to having breakfast at my mum's.
Pre Brexit though, but I do have a Euro passport.
That was from getting in the car, leaving the ferry, clearing Dutch customs & being on the road - it was peak summer though. An hour to get off sounds bad.
Last time I did it, it was an hour from getting into the car to having breakfast at my mum's.
Pre Brexit though, but I do have a Euro passport.
Thanks for all the input chaps
Took 3.5 hours to drive here from the wrong side of London, most of it stuck on the M25, but I was through the port in 10 minutes.
Now in the mainly Dutch Lorry drivers bar drinking a massive Scotch for just £7
They won't let me eat here though, as I'm not a Lorry driver, need a voucher apparently.
Grub looks good but I'll have to eat with the hoi polloi car drivers
Took 3.5 hours to drive here from the wrong side of London, most of it stuck on the M25, but I was through the port in 10 minutes.
Now in the mainly Dutch Lorry drivers bar drinking a massive Scotch for just £7
They won't let me eat here though, as I'm not a Lorry driver, need a voucher apparently.
Grub looks good but I'll have to eat with the hoi polloi car drivers
The 100 kph speed limit in Holland is a ball ache. Otherwise, as I live close to Harwich, I think this is a very civilised way to start a trip after work & on the road in the morning for a full day without a knackering stupidly early start & the hour time difference seems easier to accommodate in the itinerary
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