Have you heard the saying ‘Butlins at Sea’?

Well,I have taken that saying to another level, for me anyway! My husband and I decided to head off for a weekend at Butlins with my stepson who is 8.

We were looking for a UK break, with plenty on offer to keep a very active, on the go 8 year old happy, and if he’s happy, were happy! So we decided on Butlins in Minehead for the weekend.

And I have to say we surprisingly had a great time! A little unsure on what to expect, but for Ben there was so much on offer, funfair, arcades, waterworld waterpark, entertainment, food venues the list was endless, we never had to leave the site once except for a walk across to the beach. We stayed in a silver suite accommodation which was very clean, and looked like it had recently had a refurbishment.

Butlins offer a half board option, but we opted out, we knew this would not be for us so decided to eat at the restaurants on site.

The reason I have mentioned ‘Butlins at sea’ in the title is because this is a popular cruise phrase, and can be very true especially during school holidays. Some cruise ships can become very busy with loud music around the pool, crowds of people, queues in the buffet restaurants ( although the food would be extremely better on a cruise of course! ) lots of entertainment day and night etc. Realistically what would I prefer? A cruise of course! Personally I don’t mind things such as music around the pool, as long as I can find a sunbed I’m happy! Queue’s I am not a huge fan off but I do have patience which I think if you cruise it’s always good to have patience as you can often come across queues on board a ship.

Another reason we chose a UK short break with Ben this year was because I am pregnant, the cut off date for cruising whilst pregnant is generally 24 weeks. We would have loved to have taken another mini cruise with Ben as we had such a great time on our last short cruise with him on P&O’s Ventura. I really can’t rave enough about how great cruising is for children, the clubs on offer are amazing, we couldn’t get Ben to leave! Plus having the fantastic food on board it makes for a great holiday for adults and children alike.

I am sure we will head of on a family cruise in the next couple of years! In the mean time , Butlins was a great little alternative break away in between our main holidays!