With our holiday in Germany coming to a close and us having reached Rotterdam earlier in the afternoon onboard an NS ICD service (read about that here), all that was left to do was make our way back to England. As with leaving the UK at the start of the trip, our return was to be via an overnight ferry, once again with Stena Line doing the reverse crossing from Hoek van Holland to Harwich. And so, after catching a local train from Rotterdam Centraal to Schiedam Centrum and a metro from there to Hoek van Holland Haven, we were at the port at 1900, around three hours before departure.
There was conflicting information online and with our booking confirmation as to whether check-in for the evening sailing started at 1845 or 2000 and so we arrived prepared for a bit of a wait, however thankfully we were able to head straight through to check-in. With it having only just opened, there was a short queue, but we were soon through with it taking us around 15 minutes from stepping off the metro to reaching the other side of passport control. As with the boarding in Harwich, there was a bit of a walk up some gangways from the port building to the ship, thankfully with most of the ramps having travelators to assist.
With the foot passenger gangway entering the ship on deck 7, there’s then two lifts to take to reach the passenger cabins on decks 10 and 11. The first takes you up to deck 9, the main deck with the restaurant, duty free and other passenger amenities, with the second then taking you up to decks 10 and 11. Unfortunately this second lift is shared with passengers coming up from the car decks meaning it can be very busy and there is a bit of a wait at times. There are also stairs, but when you’ve got large bags these aren’t really an option, so after waiting for the lift we were in our cabins just before 1930.
The ship for the voyage back to the UK was the Stena Hollandica, the sister ship of the Stenna Britannica that we had travelled from Harwich on. Our cabin was room 404 on deck 11, a forward-facing outside bunk-bed room which comes with an ensuite, with the latter thankfully not having the weird smell this time round. With our ship berthed facing towards Rotterdam, we had a view from our cabin of the Stena Transit preparing for departure to Immingham, and the Maeslantkering flood gates which protect Rotterdam and its port from storm surges and high tides. Thankfully it was a calm day, and we were hoping for a relatively smooth crossing to Harwich, although obviously outside the breakwaters, the North Sea would have its own opinion.
Heading down to the restaurant for dinner, we were able to get a window table at the front of the ship and as we settled down to eat, the Stena Transit departed for its journey to the Lincolnshire coast. For dinner we went for the Stena Burger (essentially a bacon and cheeseburger) and the Mushroom and Spinach risotto which were both tasty. Unfortunately, the loaded fries that we’d also ordered had some weird sauce on them that wasn’t particularly nice and so most of these went to waste. Obviously, food costs a bit more than it would for the equivalent in a normal restaurant as the market is pretty captive, however its not as extortionate as it could be which is good.
Not quite ready for bed, we decided to have a wander to the rear of the ship and get some air on the ‘sun-deck’. Having not made it beyond the shop on the outward voyage, we also had a look at the ‘Social café and bar’ which is down this end of the ship but decided at this point just to grab some chocolate and bottles of water from the shop before heading up to bed. Settling down before departure, I vaguely remember us setting sail as the dock lights disappeared from view, but I’m pretty sure I was asleep before we passed the breakwaters.
Waking up at 0445 UK time, we were already approaching Harwich, almost 2 hours before our scheduled arrival time. It did take a while before we docked, with the front gangway lowering around 0520, 70 minutes early, and the freight vehicles soon alighting. Despite the early arrival, both foot and car passengers weren’t allowed to alight until 0635 however when we did it was a quick walk to passport control where thankfully there was barely any queue. This allowed us to catch the 0709 London Boat Train as far as Manningtree, which in turn allowed us to make the VERY tight three-minute connection onto a train to Ipswich.
As with the journey out, I really have no complaints about our journey with Stena Line from Hoek van Holland to Harwich. The cabins are large and comfortable, the food onboard was alright and we arrived on time. It would be helpful if passengers were allowed to depart earlier in the case of an early arrival, as for foot passengers it would certainly allow more options for rail connections. However, we made the trains we were hoping for and ended up reaching Peterborough just over 12 hours after the Stena Hollandica had set sail the previous night. If you’re heading to Europe for a holiday, the Stena Line connection between England and The Netherlands, certainly makes for a relaxed start and end of the trip.
Flights & Times 