Spain Mini Cruise with Gold Crest Coach Hloidays

[kitty1950]

We are thinking of taking one of these mini cruises from Portsmouth to Bilbao in Spain next month. Has anyone been on one of these trips and can give us any comments on what we can expect? We have done the Hull to Rotterdam mini cruise and that was quite hectic but worth it to stock up on the cigarette allowance. Thanks, Kath.

[dzug]

Can't comment on the Gold Crest Coach aspect but have been on the Bilbao ferry and it's very good. Meals on board can be pricey though if not included in the package.

The shore excursion in Bilbao if you take it will be hectic - more so than Rotterdam as it's only a 4 hour (?? from memory) turnaround, not all day.

You'll have more cruising in daylight than a North Sea crossing. Whales and dolphins can often be spotted.

[scanner]

Agree with the above post .

We went in Sept last year and the crossing was flat as a pancake , but the next crossing after we got back had Force 8 gales across the Bay of Biscay so it's the luck of the draw .

The Ship is one of the largest Ferries in Europe and has plenty of entertainment / Cinemas and a small pool and health suite .

As said the food can be the biggest drain on the money front, but they had family deals which wasn't bad value.

The trips are short and sweet but get you off the ship for a few hours and see some local sights.

[netibiza]

Did this journey independantly, and it great EXCEPT I was so seasick in the Bay of Biscay. Have travelled on ferries without sickness so many times so this caught me by surprise. There is a great cinema on board and good bars with amusements. I just stayed in the cinema (4 weddings and a funeral) until I felt better. Enjoy but be warned.

[kitty1950]

Thank you all for your welcome comments. It sounds a good trip apart from the seasickness which is, as said, the luck of the draw. We have pre-booked meals before on our first trip from Hull to Rotterdam but we find that the evening meal wasn't worth what we paid (in our opinion) so the next time we just used the snack bars. The main point of our trip is to stock up on cigarettes whilst having a short break, can you buy cigarettes in Bilbao at spanish prices or are they only available on board ship? if so what sort of prices are they for ones like regal or lambert & butler? I am going to search on google to see if I can find out anything on cigarette prices abroad. Thanks again, Kath.

[scanner]

Here you go...

http://www.poferries.com/tourist/content/pages /template/offers_shopping_offers_tobacco_offer s_-_tobacco.htm

[kitty1950]

Thanks scanner, I have just found the site myself by googling for cigarette prices in Bilbao. It's unbelievable the difference in prices to each destination and worth remembering when calculating the overall cost of each trip. Kath.

[auntiebertie]

It is a ferry! Why not go on a taster cruise on a proper sized ship instead. P&O, NCL and RCCL offer these. You would have a much better experience I suspect.