BOOK BY THURSDAY 31 OCTOBER AND GET A COMPLIMENTARY DINNER & BREAKFAST (value €42,50)
NOTE ALSO THE EARLY BIRD OFFER ENDS THURSDAY 1 NOVEMBER (date on right may not be correct due to recent upgrade website!) FREE UPGRADE TO FIRST CLASS SEATS ON BUS FOR FIRST 20 PERSONS
BOOK EARLY TO GET THESE SPECIAL OFFERS!!!
Christmas is celebrated all around the world. But only in England you can celebrate it in Dickens-style. Therefore we organise a second edition of the Weekend Christmas Cruise to York in Northern England. York is a picturesque historic town with a beautiful city center, completely dressed up for the Christmas season. Not only is the destination itself great, but the overnight ferry from Rotterdam Europoort to Hull is great fun too. We’ll have a nice a group buffet dinner on board and socialise in the bar afterwards with live-music. To make it even more interesting, you will visit one of England’s very best Christmas Markets!
This awesome Christmas trip takes place from Friday 30 November until Sunday 2 December (departure 16h00 from Place Schuman in Brussels on Friday, and a return around 12h00 noon on Sunday). So it is not even necessary to take a day off, although maybe you have to leave your office 1 or 2 hours early. We will travel by P&O overnight ferry from Rotterdam Europoort to Hull, and vice versa. For your information, P&O also sails from Seabruges to Hull, but we consider Rotterdam Europoort a better option due to the later departure time on Friday, as well as the earlier arrival on Saturday morning in Hull, and finally later departure on Saturday evening from Hull. This means we can leave later on Friday, and also enjoy considerable more time in England. Besides these boats are larger and newer, so it’s all in our favour!
Included in trip
Trip to and from Rotterdam Europoort by 5* luxury coach
Return trip overnight by ferry from Europoort to Hull
Two nights accommodation in sea-view hut with 2 separate beds
Trip from Hull to York by 5* luxury coach
Guided tour in York by an official local guide
Complimentary buffet group dinner outbound journey (alcoholic drinks not included) – OFFER UNTIL 28/10!
Complimentary breakfast outbound journey – OFFER UNTIL 28/10
Optional
Breakfast inbound journey
Dinner return trip (buffet or brasserie)
First Class seat (free for first 20 reservations)
Child ticket
Families of small groups are more than welcome on this trip to England. Please contact us before by email or phone though, 0495-345144 or info@expatclub.org.
Pictures
Celebrate Christmas in York
In 2017 we organised our first trip to the beautiful Northern England city of York. With its immense Cathedral, lovely city center and unique Christmas atmosphere, this is one of our best seasonal destinations.
Few cities in England are as old as York. Founded in 71 AD by the Romans, it quickly became an important regional capital. That importance grew through the middle ages when it was chosen as one of the main centres for the Church of England. It grew as a city due to wool trading. During the industrialisation the city was transformed into one of the countries primary railway hubs with the confectionary industry being one of the foremast blossoming sectors. With about 200.000 inhabitants in the metropolitan area, York is nowadays especially known for its university, the health care industry and local tourism. And for tourists, there is definitely a lot to see!
Our schedule is carefully planned and we should have enough time in York to enjoy the city and Christmas markets. Please note that the schedule may still change for various circumstances, such as weather or traffic conditions. Your host, the bus driver, local guide and receiving destinations will always do their best to give the best experience. Thank you for your understanding.
Friday 30 November
16h00 – Departure from Brussels by luxury coach
18h30 – Arrival and check-in at Rotterdam Europoort
20h30 – Departure from Rotterdam Europoort to Hull
Saturday 1 December
08h00 – Arrival in Hull
09h30 – Arrival in York
10h00 – Guided city tour
12h00 – Group lunch (optional)
13h30 – Free time
17h30 – Return to Hull by bus
20h30 – Departure to Rotterdam Europoort
Sunday 2 December
09h00 – Arrival in Rotterdam Europoort
12h30 – Arrival in Brussels
Transportation
We travel with a 5* luxury coach. This one is much more luxurious than a regular 4* coach that we usually use. It even has a limited number of First Class seats, with just 3 seats per row, instead of 4. It really doesn’t get any better than this! We now offer a FREE UPGRADE to first class for the first 20 reservations!!! After that a first-class upgrade costs €23,50 per person for the return trip.
Ferry
We travel with P&O Ferries from Rotterdam Europoort to Hull with the Pride of Hull. It has several bars, restaurants, a casino, shops, a cinema and a show lounge, all spread over over 12 decks. It has 546 huts for 1360 passengers. And yes, the bus and driver will join us to the other side as well.
Choose your hut
You can choose between a single hut and a twin hut. The twin huts have two single beds and they can be used by couples, 2 friends sharing or 2 solo travellers who don’t want to pay the additional single room surcharge. For 3 or 4 friends travelling together, or for families up to 4, we can also arrange huts with bunk beds, which are basically the ones as above with two extra beds hanging above the lower ones. There are no double beds (i.e. one large bed) available on this ship, so also couples are invited to stay in a twin hut. The huts are not very big, but they are comfortable nonetheless (good beds). Expat Club only arranged outside huts for you, so you will have a window. Each huts includes:
En suite WC and shower
Toiletries
Bedding & towels
Continental plug points
Clothes hooks & hangers
Air conditioning
Reading lights
Sea-view window
Located in a preferred area of the ship
Meals
There are various restaurants to choose from during this trip. Expat Club offers you a complimentary buffet dinner and buffet breakfast on the outbound trip. THIS OFFER IS VALID IF YOU BOOK BY SUNDAY 28 OCTOBER. On the inbound trip you can pre-order your dinner voucher for €30, a breakfast voucher for €15, and a combined one for €42,50. You could also opt for the brasserie style dinner and breakfast menus on the inbound trip.
York
Upon arrival we will be welcome by our friendly guide Matthew who also showed our group around last year. He will take us to all the most important parts of town, including the Cathedral, the abbey and the Shambles.
The famous Minster. Our guide will take us around it.
The well preserved York city walls
The Castle of York
Climb up to the impressive Clifford’s Tower
The highly-acclaimed York Railway Museum where you can see England’s history through a rail-perspective. It’s the largest rail museum in the world!
What is the next part of town you would like to visit?Typical English houses and gardens
The Minster from behind
The famous tourist street The Shambles | by Magnus Minske (own work), via Wikimedia Commons
The Olde Stare Inne, York’s oldest pub at a stone’s throw of the Minster Cathedral
Visit the York Minster
No doubt the highlight of our visit to York will be the visit of the famous York Minster. Â We leave it up to you if you would like to visit this church inside. The entrance fee is 10 GBP or 15 GBP including the ascent to the tower. Both fees include a guided tour (upon availability). The entrance fee covers the very high operating costs of the Minster (21.000 GBP per day).
Christmas markets
After the guided tour, you will have a lot of free time to visit any of the main tourist attractions in town. However, you are also more than welcome to hit the Christmas markets. Traditional chalets shine out from their positions along Parliament Street, St Sampson’s Square and The Judge’s Lodging, where Small Business Christmas will be taking place with stalls selling locally-made handcrafted gifts. Explore Davygate and Coppergate for inspired gift and stocking filler ideas or find local flavour at York’s famous Shambles Market. Thor’s Tipi is back on Parliament Street after a popular first season. Cosy up around a log fire and enjoy a hot chocolate or something stronger.
Return journey
We depart again in the late afternoon to catch the boat from Hull. Like on the outbound journey, you can have dinner on-board (not included), enjoy the facilities on the boat and of course use the time to enjoy the company of a fun group of expats. In the morning you can have a healthy breakfast again before getting off the boat and driving back to Brussels. We should be back by noon on Sunday, so you can relax and eventually plan something for the afternoon or evening.
Comments
The bus trip will be carried out by Lauwers Reizen, one of our trusted coach partners.
For this trip you require a valid passport, eventually in combination with a U.K. visa. To check if you need a visa, click here.
We need the gender and age of all passengers at the date of travel. We prefer you enter this information during the checkout process, but you can also send us an email or call us later about this.
This trip is carefully planned. Still, all timings are indicative and may change due to various circumstances.
The trip is sold as a package. You cannot go with your own transportation and arrange your own accommodation. If there are specific things that you do not want in the package, please let us know and we will try to find a solution.
You are personally responsible for getting a good travel insurance that covers you for any unforeseen emergencies and medical expenses during the trip towards the United Kingdom, and a possible cancellation coverage.Â
You are personally responsible for using the ferry hut in an appropriate way. Any missing or broken items will be billed after the trip.
Expat Club cannot be held liable for delays that are beyond our sphere of influence, but which impact the program (e.g. missed guided tours due to delay of the ferry), neither can Expat Club be held liable for weather-related cancellations or any other unforeseen events that influence the course of the trip, including, but not limited to technical problems with the coach, strikes, storms etc.
Expat Club cannot be held liable for personal injuries during the trip, such as, but not limited to, things that happen during the guided tour. Joining this trip is at your own risk.
If you do not find a hut partner on your own, we will find one for you (male/male, female/female).  If you book for a shared room, you will not be required to pay for a single room in case there is no room partner for you. Also, during the outbound trip we will connect you with others in the same position. If you decide to take a single room during the trip, then you will have to fully pay for it yourself.
If you book a double / twin room and your travel partner (friend) cancels, you will have to pay the single room supplement.
Due to the nature of this double overnight trip by ferry there is a 6 weeks cancellation period. This over-rules the regular conditions, in line with section VIII-e of our terms & conditions. You can cancel up to 6 weeks before departure with a refund (cancellation fees apply).
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