Travel
Holland to Harwich by ferry
05/July/2010 07:33 PM
Journey: Hook of Holland to Harwich
via Stena Lines - Hollandica Superferry
This ferry was launched in
April this year and will join another Superferry
in Autumn. These cost £375 million pounds. Shame
they didn't spend much on thinking about the
overall experience for disabled people. Granted
the ship had some nice touches but compared to
our first crossing, the staff support was very
poor.
Cabins.
Again, we pre booked a
cabin with wheelchair access. We had our tickets
printed at the car booth which they told us also
acts as your room key. This was the same as our
first journey.
On locating the cabin (which had us wandering the isles of cabins to work out the number system) we found the door had a small low touch pad with a slot to insert the room key card. It also had a normal handle on the door. I believe the door was supposed to open automatically. I say supposed, because it didn't work.
My husband tried several times and the light flashed but nothing opened. Eventually a member of staff said we had to have a normal key to put in the door. What use is that! The automated door was not working and when we got in we could see why - the opening door arm was not fitted but the electronics were there.
On entering you can see the
cabin above (the lighting made the picture a bit
orange). The bathroom featured a level entry
(roll in) shower area with seat and lots of grab
rails. The toilet had two grab rails either side
and room to side transfer to one side. I'm not
that fat but due to scoliosis, lean to the right
side. When the grab rails come down they
basically wedged me onto the toilet and are
closer than what you would find in your average
UK accessible toilet. The floor surface is very
soft, with good grip but like the previous
ferry, the sink is not suitable for hair washing
and difficult to reach for me personally.
The bathroom is rather nice but the flat push panel to open the bathroom automatic door is situated above the side unit of the bed on the left of the cabin. So if you have to sleep on the right bed (which I do because of my spine) you can't press the button from bed. However, if you are a wheelchair user, how someone could sit on the bed, press the button, transfer into their chair and then get through the door before it closed again in about 10 seconds is beyond me anyway! The bathroom door swings back and because it is wide, there is only a few set places your wheelchair can go or it hits you and closes again. If you are standing in the way of the door the force would knock you off your feet - my wheelchair would rock with the force and it's a weighty machine. The location of the switch hasn't really been thought through in the overall design I felt and the close mechanism is rather violent (but possibly needed to close a large heavy door).
The cabins were nice though putting these problems to the side even if they did vibrate something chronic.
Customer service.
I was a bit miffed that the free wifi was only for 3 hours and the 'reception all over the boat' meant one bar if you're lucky. We also got an incredibly poor service when purchasing food as what we wanted from the menu wasn't actually available and my husband ended up with a microwave meal and I ended up with a chicken burger that makes McDonalds look like a 5 star restaurant. The guy who 'cooked' our meal was more interested in the football on the plasma tv installed in the food court than customer service. We had no offer of help to carry the tray and no 'quiet area' as in my previous blog. Too much money spent on umpteen plasma screen tvs and bars than on customer care I think.
Cabins.
On locating the cabin (which had us wandering the isles of cabins to work out the number system) we found the door had a small low touch pad with a slot to insert the room key card. It also had a normal handle on the door. I believe the door was supposed to open automatically. I say supposed, because it didn't work.
My husband tried several times and the light flashed but nothing opened. Eventually a member of staff said we had to have a normal key to put in the door. What use is that! The automated door was not working and when we got in we could see why - the opening door arm was not fitted but the electronics were there.
The bathroom is rather nice but the flat push panel to open the bathroom automatic door is situated above the side unit of the bed on the left of the cabin. So if you have to sleep on the right bed (which I do because of my spine) you can't press the button from bed. However, if you are a wheelchair user, how someone could sit on the bed, press the button, transfer into their chair and then get through the door before it closed again in about 10 seconds is beyond me anyway! The bathroom door swings back and because it is wide, there is only a few set places your wheelchair can go or it hits you and closes again. If you are standing in the way of the door the force would knock you off your feet - my wheelchair would rock with the force and it's a weighty machine. The location of the switch hasn't really been thought through in the overall design I felt and the close mechanism is rather violent (but possibly needed to close a large heavy door).
The cabins were nice though putting these problems to the side even if they did vibrate something chronic.
Customer service.
I was a bit miffed that the free wifi was only for 3 hours and the 'reception all over the boat' meant one bar if you're lucky. We also got an incredibly poor service when purchasing food as what we wanted from the menu wasn't actually available and my husband ended up with a microwave meal and I ended up with a chicken burger that makes McDonalds look like a 5 star restaurant. The guy who 'cooked' our meal was more interested in the football on the plasma tv installed in the food court than customer service. We had no offer of help to carry the tray and no 'quiet area' as in my previous blog. Too much money spent on umpteen plasma screen tvs and bars than on customer care I think.
Harwich to Hook of Holland
05/July/2010 06:51 PM
Journey: Harwich to Hook of Holland
+ Overnight stay at Premier Inn
Premier Inn is situated at
the port next to Lidle and adjoining a Brewers
Fayre. One night cost £61 at the time we booked
in January. We had to stay overnight because it
meant getting to the ferry 45 mins before we
sailed at about 9 am. Much less than 8 hours
sleep and my body falls apart. We had a roll in
shower, plenty of space and the sink was at a
good height to wash my hair in. Lacking in
personality like all of these sorts of rooms -
it did the job for the night and we were
relatively comfy with little noise outside.
Stena Line - to Hook of Holland on board Britannica (older ferry).
This slightly older ship was refurbished in 2007 and was fantastic.
We selected a disabled cabin for one person as a space to chill out and appeared to be the only wheelchair user on the boat getting a large disabled cabin with tables for 1-2 disabled people.
You can see a 360 of that cabin (with roll in shower) on their web-site here.
The only difficulty was the sink is quite high and basin is inset a way from the edge as opposed to the usual type of sinks in say a Premier Inn. It was airy, clean and the beds were firm with a soft mattress topper which even I found comfy having scoliosis.
On board we had free wifi
for the duration available on the decks which
suited me and my iPhone!
Top Class Service
We were met just outside the lifts by a steward who said they had a reserved area for wheelchair users on board away from the crowds of people and closely packed tables. So, just to the side of everyone else were 3 tables by a window, with a rope barrier and larger access space clearly signed 'reserved for our wheelchair accessible guests' which made me giggle as perhaps the intention got lost in translation now everything was Dutch/English bilingual. Either way, our steward said just to ask if anyone took our spot and he would 'hoof them out'. Sounds good. Not a single person or child tripped over us in our lovely corner and it was away from the hustle and bustle which was lovely. Some people might see it as segregation but there are times and situations you really need your own spot - not just wheelchair users but other people with impairments too. Our steward watched out spot as we went to get some lunch, went to get our cutlery whist my husband carried the tray and basically got us anything we needed. We felt like royalty,
Our meal was lovely and the journey didn't last long at all. Right from pulling up in the car, to boarding near the lift through our journey and off the other side it was very good. The ship was clean and tidy and not many people onboard in general. 10/10.
Stena Line - to Hook of Holland on board Britannica (older ferry).
This slightly older ship was refurbished in 2007 and was fantastic.
We selected a disabled cabin for one person as a space to chill out and appeared to be the only wheelchair user on the boat getting a large disabled cabin with tables for 1-2 disabled people.
You can see a 360 of that cabin (with roll in shower) on their web-site here.
The only difficulty was the sink is quite high and basin is inset a way from the edge as opposed to the usual type of sinks in say a Premier Inn. It was airy, clean and the beds were firm with a soft mattress topper which even I found comfy having scoliosis.
Top Class Service
We were met just outside the lifts by a steward who said they had a reserved area for wheelchair users on board away from the crowds of people and closely packed tables. So, just to the side of everyone else were 3 tables by a window, with a rope barrier and larger access space clearly signed 'reserved for our wheelchair accessible guests' which made me giggle as perhaps the intention got lost in translation now everything was Dutch/English bilingual. Either way, our steward said just to ask if anyone took our spot and he would 'hoof them out'. Sounds good. Not a single person or child tripped over us in our lovely corner and it was away from the hustle and bustle which was lovely. Some people might see it as segregation but there are times and situations you really need your own spot - not just wheelchair users but other people with impairments too. Our steward watched out spot as we went to get some lunch, went to get our cutlery whist my husband carried the tray and basically got us anything we needed. We felt like royalty,
Our meal was lovely and the journey didn't last long at all. Right from pulling up in the car, to boarding near the lift through our journey and off the other side it was very good. The ship was clean and tidy and not many people onboard in general. 10/10.
