Hi, never having done this particular crossing before,can anyone give me an idea of their set up please?just length of voyage,cabin quality,dock procedures type of stuff.Thanks in advance.
It’s about an 11 hour crossing. Cabins are OK. You would be unlucky to have to share. Truckers have their own area in the main self service restaurant. Meals are included in the truck ticket price. Make sure your reversing skills are up to scratch cos that’s the way you’re going on board 
the boat is quite old but still in good condition,
the food is good,
the beer is expensive,
the entertainment sometimes has a lot to be desired !
but all in all it is one of the better crossings.
happy sailing.
Reverse??..bloody hell I thought that only happened in Greece.Quite freaked me at the time.Thanks though it does sound most agreeable.
manalishi:
Reverse??..bloody hell I thought that only happened in Greece.Quite [zb] me at the time.Thanks though it does sound most agreeable.
Its quite common and is also used to board the Cotentin [ Poole - Santander] and the Cap Finistere [ Portsmouth - Santander]. You also had to reverse onto Finnlines ships for thr Travemunde - Helsinki crossing.
Hullo all,
It’s a few years past now, quite a few. The last time I was on North Sea Ferries, and I used them a fair bit, you drove on, drove up the ramp, down the left hand side, Port side wing of the upper deck, then either right round the top and carried on down the Starboard wing, or when that was full down one of the lanes in the centre of the ship. Just in case this is confusing, I DO know my Port from Starboard, 
But you load through the Bow of the ship. The food was always very good, the cabins were also very good, the bar and entertainment were fair. ( Mind you there were a couple of trips that had some more than interesting entertainment on board 
But when you get round a table with some of the other lads you make your own entertainment anyway, it’s just that getting off in the morning is a bit tricky.
Cheers, Archie.
Very unusual to reverse on either of these ferries, Rotterdam or Zeebrugge. The cabins are generally single berth with a shared shower and toilet, if you forget to press the red button between the cabins you may get a visitor mid ■■■ 
Archie Paice:
Hullo all,
It’s a few years past now, quite a few. The last time I was on North Sea Ferries, and I used them a fair bit, you drove on, drove up the ramp, down the left hand side, Port side wing of the upper deck, then either right round the top and carried on down the Starboard wing, or when that was full down one of the lanes in the centre of the ship. Just in case this is confusing, I DO know my Port from Starboard,
Cheers, Archie.
Your memory has played a trick or two on you though Archie.
You board both the Zeebrugge and Europoort ferries through the stern.
Both have 2 decks which they use for wagons.
On the Zeeby boat, for the upper deck we use, you drive up the ramp on the Port (left) side, drive to the bow where you do a U turn and drive back down the Starboard side and park up when you can’t go any further, which could be on the Port side.
You reverse onto the lower deck.
Hullo Simon,
Thank you for pointing that out to me, but as you say," we drive on on the Port side", I gather you mean at the present. I did say it was a few years ago when I used these ferries. But the Bow section definately was raised and we loaded and exited through this door. The two ships on the run when I was useing them were the passenger ships “Norwind” and the “Norwave”. The lower deck was unacompanied trailers and tanks, and the upper deck was for us. I must admit that I did see an occasional wagon have to back on in the middle on the lower deck before they lowered the ramp though. That usually meant positioning the trailer, dropping it, and backing the unit in beside the trailer. I have been on the newer ships on the run, but only as a fare paying passenger with either a car or motorhome.
Cheers, Archie.
not been on one for a few years now wasnt it a top deck drive on and swing round and reverse onto bottom deck i had a magnum in those days so tight parking not a problem,but it would be with a scania with those silly fold out steps,and they had just refitted cabins to singles with a shared bathroom between 2 ,food was good and plentyfull beer dear