Summer 2024: Europoort to Haarlem

We had a generally good night on The Pride of Hull although inexplicably I had an upset stomach in the night. This settled by mid morning.

Breakfast was good although I saved some of my Continental Breakfast for a later snack.

I cannot understand the design decision that put three sides of the cabin bed against a wall - otherwise it was very comfortable.

While my ethical concerns about the way P&O Ferries treated their staff recently remain, I must confess to liking the service and the ship. It was very much 'cruise like'.

We had booked assistance for my wife to disembark because we never know how much standing in queues and walking there is going to be. This worked extremely well - getting us through passport control and onto the transfer bus quickly and seamlessly.

The prebooked transfer to Amsterdam took 90 minutes on a very comfortable (and clean) coach - perhaps longer than I'd expected. The drop off point is at the Cruise Terminal which is a good 20 minutes walk to the centre of Amsterdam.

We spent most of the rest of the day walking around Amsterdam - which is a very tourist orientated city centre. It's quite a disappointment for the day visitor.

At 2.30 we decided to go back to Centraal Station and get the train to Haarlem. Buying tickets was straightforward using the multilingual machine and it's contactless payment.

Haarlem was much more relaxed than Amsterdam when we arrived. It was a longer walk than anticipated to our B&B - by my! It is splendid!

We've got a meal at an Italian restaurant booked for later. Bon Apetit

I'd put pictures here, but doing it on the phone is defeating me at the moment, but I'm weary.

Tomorrow is a day in Haarlem itself.