Hello! Nicole here. I have just come off an amazing 4-night Voyage to Rotterdam and Bruges.
On the first day, I arrived at Southampton around 2.30 pm ready to board. Luggage drop-off was very easy with clearly signed areas of where to leave them. Security was a breeze with no queueing and very helpful staff. Once on board, I went straight to my assembly point to get that checked off and cleared that I have been there and know where it is. Then went to my cabin, with Laura from our Malmsbury shop who I was sharing with. Upon entering the room was so spacious and the tv was playing safety videos.
We then went down for drinks in The Yacht club on board. This place was amazing with disco lights, live music and a resident DJ, DJ Bobby! Here they do a variety of mocktails, cocktails, spirits, beers, and wines.
For dinner on our first night, we ate in the Britannia dining room on anytime dining. The queue was quite long, however, you do have the option to join a virtual queue on My Voyage web page if you don’t wish to wait at the dining room. The service in the dining room was great! They were all very attentive and even accommodated requests if there was anything you didn’t want/wished to swap. The menu did give a variety of options to choose from and an extensive drinks list was also given to us.
The next morning, we got to explore the ship as it was a sea day! We started off by having breakfast in bed! Very easy to do, the night before we filled out the form which is in every stateroom and put it on the door ready to be collected the next morning at 8am there was a knock on the door with our food!
The décor on this ship is beautiful! From the views on the top deck to the grand staircase on deck 2, it really is something to be seen. We made sure we covered every part of the ship and the one thing I noticed was how well the ship flows and each room continues into the next! For lunch, we grabbed a quick bite in the Lido restaurant which is an all-you-can-eat buffet. There’s even a make-your-own pizza and pasta station!! At 3 pm it was afternoon tea time!
We got there around 2.30 pm and it was already very busy, so I definitely recommend getting there at least 30 minutes early. It was one of the best experiences on board! The staff came around with a complete variety of sandwiches, cakes and pastries along with unlimited amounts of tea. Have as much or as little to eat as you want!
The evening was a black and white gala night! Everyone was dressed to the nines. For this evening we went for drinks in the commodore club with their signature gala night cocktails and complimentary light bites before eating again in the Britannia main dining. We then finished the evening by watching the musical ‘Top Hat’ in the theatre which was absolutely stunning, and the show was like watching a musical in London!
The next morning, we arrived in Rotterdam. We decided to take a walk into the centre and go to Market Hal, an indoor market full of different food stalls with a variety of cuisines! The walk into the centre was around 30 minutes and involved crossing the Erasmus Bridge which is nicknamed the swan due to its shape. As it was a Sunday, nothing really opened until 12 pm so we sat in a breakfast café and had light savoury snacks. After exploring for a few hours, we headed back to the ship. In the evening, we got to try the speciality restaurant Dinner at the Lido which was serving Pan-Asian cuisine. This costs an extra $25pp for a 3-course meal. The food was delicious and have very big portions!
The next morning, I woke up in Bruges, Belgium. This morning we had a walking tour with a river journey planned. This excursion is one of Cunard’s own which is bookable online or on board. We got on a coach which took us to the centre and then we followed our tour guide on foot for around an hour before getting on a boat to travel along the river while hearing all about the history of the area.
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Make sure to wrap up if doing this in the winter as it can be very cold! We were then given an hour afterwards to explore ourselves. I got myself a nice warm waffle which was delicious. Stopped in many chocolate shops and a traditional Christmas shop.
For our final night, we ate in the Steakhouse at The Verandah! This is a specialty restaurant which costs an extra $25pp for lunch and $39pp for dinner. This was the best meal I had on the ship. It was absolutely amazing! From choosing your cut of meat to even getting to choose the knife you eat it with, it was truly amazing! The best steak I have ever had. It’s a three-course meal and you can order as many sides as you’d like to go along with your steak! They really do make an evening out of it, you don’t feel rushed at all.
The next morning, I did self-disembarkation as I had things I still needed to pack in the morning. They do offer assisted disembarkation where you get given luggage labels and leave your bags outside your room the night before and collect it once you leave the ship at your designated time.
This cruise really was amazing and offers something for everyone. I could not recommend Cunard enough and encourage you to give it a try either on a short trip like mine or even on a world voyage! Go on, give it a try.
