The Best New Year Ever!

I have just returned from a New Years mini cruise on P&O Oceana and it was the best New Year Ever! A four night sailing out of Southampton with a group of friends, 8 of us altogether. I, as the travel Agent, was responsible for booking the trip and I must admit I was a little worried as 6 of the party had never cruised before.

We drove down to Southampton on 29th December and quickly checked in at the new Ocean terminal around 11.45. Once on board we headed to Tiffany`s bar, as the cabins were not yet ready, and ordered some drinks. The next cry was ” we’re on holiday – already ! ” and from that moment on we had a ball.

Our cabins were balconies on deck, all next to each other, apart from the two girls who had and inside on the same deck . As they spent all their time eating and sleeping that was fine for them ! Edwin, our cabin steward, was great and my friends by now had stopped worrying about being seasick!

We went down to dinner the first night and, again, I was a bit worried as two of the party are real ” foodies ” . We had a lovely table for eight and the meal was excellent, Jane the wine steward ,looked after us brilliantly and everyone went to bed the first night well fed and watered AND no one was sick ! ( I told them they wouldn’t`t be but no one believed me ! )

We arrived in Zeebrugge the next morning and, finally after much discussion, decided to take a taxi for the 6 of us who wanted to go into Bruges. This cost about 8 euros each but was much quicker and easier than taking the train.We found a really old chocolate shop in the centre that served the nicest hot chocolate I have ever tasted, laced with Grand Marnier – delicious!

We decided to try Marco Pierre White`s Café Jardin for  the second night and, again , it was excellent, the food and service were superb. How were we going to better this on New Years Eve!

We arrived in Amsterdam on New Years Eve morning and decided on a canal boat cruise, an hour long taking us through the major canals and districts of Amsterdam. I would suggest doing this to anyone who visits the city as it can be quite difficult to find your way around on foot.

It was back to Adriatic Main Restaurant for New Years Eve dinner, again it was really lovely. A six course dinner starting with Haggis, which  was paraded round the restaurant by the head chef in true Scottish style. A lovely evening which we finished by going back to our cabins and watching the fireworks in Amsterdam which went on well into the small hours.

 New Year’s day was spent travelling back to Southampton and relaxing. We did spend some time watching Oceana pass through the locks as we headed out into the sea though, I never realised before that there were locks there!

We arrived back in Southampton on Thursday morning , tired, eaten too much but had a brilliant time – and we will definitely be doing this cruise again !