What do you do in that gap between Christmas and New Year? Clean up the house? Eat cold turkey? How about a mini cruise? Even better if you can rock up somewhere a lot more exciting than your average High Street for New Year’s Eve.
Boredom, with a dash of a hangover and a little bit of indigestion can lengthen those days between Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve. So we decided a mini cruise was the answer.
And we were right!
We booked a cruise to Bruges and Amsterdam, sailing from Southampton on board P&O’s Ventura.
It is one of the larger ships and has everything for the whole family, from a theatre, cinema, covered swimming pool, casino, gym and health spa – as well as a great choice of restaurants, bars and kids clubs.
We skipped the gym, but took in a show, read a little in one of the various bars, or nooks and crannies such a ship provides and even partook of a little gambling of an evening.
The food was superb and catered for every taste and the restaurant team made every night special.
Our first stop was Bruges, which is one of Western Europe’s finest old cities; full of Flemish architecture, Christmas markets, fine bars and eateries, and canals to walk by or take a boat trip along.
For New Year’s Eve we were in Amsterdam, which is unique in many ways. The architecture is amazing, beautiful skinny houses either side of its legendary canals, spattered with bars, restaurants and cafes. Trams are cheap and take you everywhere but bikes are even cheaper and have the right of way in the city.
We visited the Rijkts Museum, recently restored, which houses some of the finest paintings in Europe, by the likes of Vermeer, Rembrandt and Van Gogh.
Then on to the house of Anne Frank – make sure you book before you travel – which our teenage daughter especially wanted to see. Finally we just strolled by the canals, taking care to avoid the bicycles, and popping in to the occasional café.
We returned to the ship, to get all frocked up and enjoyed a sumptuous New Year’s Eve dinner, complete with Rabbie Burns and piping in the haggis. We decided to bring in the New Year on board, where we had a bird’s eye view of the firework display as the cruise ships dock close to the city centre.
It was a wonderful party and the next day we could just relax – although my daughter persuaded me to take part in a Foxtrot Lesson – ‘Strictly’ has a lot to answer for.
All in all it was a great ship, a great way to see a couple of Europe’s finest cities and a great way to bring in the New Year.
Here’s to the next one!
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