Back home on the PRINCESS SEAWAYS. After our trip on the KING SEAWAYS we were very happy with the…read moreoutside cabin. Until..... We came back from the coffee bar and found the door wide open. The laptop and I-Pad in plain sight so it was no burglary. Maybe didn't close the door properly when we left? Not something in our nature but indeed, it needs a firm pull to hear the lock closing correctly. Pushing, pushing again... No. It won't open. Let's go to the shop and blame it to ourselves. Just for the fun and to ensure ourself the door was closed I turned back after a few steps and gave it a friendly tap on it's "shoulder"...... The insurance company wouldn't have believed me I think but the door opened again. And again, and again. Luckily the lock could be repaired by a technician. Yes, it happens every now and then.... It's alright now. No worries...... Ok. Skip the shop and straight to diner. The Bleu Riband this time. Starter Tuna carpaccio tasteless, sour if any. Yes, it went back almost untouched, yes, we explained why, no they didn't do anything about it. Luckily the Lambs rack made up for it. But...... No second time for us. As it happens the shop was still open so we went to taste and buy some Whisky....... After a good night sleep, thanks to the bed, not the tasting, and a closed door we arrived in IJmuiden before we knew it.....

These do really cheap cruises for a day trip to amsterdam - the boats are bad - the food is horrid…read moreand the cabins are small and dirty. There was no entertainment on when we went. You get to spend the day in amsterdam which is fun, better if ou dont take the optional coach tour as ou get more time to explore on your own. You have enough time to go to a cafe, a couple of musuems and the famous red light district but its in the day so not to seedy The duty free shop on board is okay Okay if you want a really cheap trip away as they sometimes have offers on.

Just back from a holiday to BULGARIA the hotel was first class as were the staff .we had a…read morebeautiful junior suit overlooking the pools and the beach .could not fault the food we were all inclusive different things every day .The evening entertainment was really good different acts each evening . now the down side to this holiday The airport was one of the worst we have been too no organisation .We had asked for assistance we were given a wheelchair then given directions of how to leave the airport and find our coach .The JET 2 reps were beyond belief i had my partner in the wheelchair and 2 suitcases asked the rep for help but was told he could not leave his post if it had not been for a kind taxi driver i would have struggled .ON the return leg it was worse no one met us we got a wheelchair after booking in then given direction again to get to the departure lounge but had to que up with every one else to go through security no help at all from staff or JET 2 again .The final straw as we needed a lift to get into the plane we are normally first but this time they boarded everyone else before us it was pandemonium and to cap it all we had to sit on the tarmac for nearly 2 hours WESTOE TRAVEL were brilliant at everything they did pity they can not run airports i think ALICE could handle it HIGHLY RECOMMENDED JOHN R

Great little independent travel agents in South Shields. They have some very competitive deals on…read morethe DFDS ferry cruises, as well as being able to book coach trips to Disneyland Paris and other European city breaks. I have been on a few trips booked by Westoe travel and in general, the hotel accomodation has always been sufficient. The people on most of the coach trips have always been very friendly and made the trips memorable. The prices offered are very competitive, too. They now have their own website on which they advertise any special offers that they have. These often sell out very quickly though so you have to be on-the-ball! Definitely worth popping in if you're looking for an affordable break away somewhere as they have plenty to offer.

In town recently for the Newcastle vs. West Ham game, we took a train to London the next morning…read more Being our first time in town, we didn't know what to expect in terms of the station, but our experience was positive and in line with the other reviews... We found the staff helpful, the station easy enough to navigate, etc... I was glad that we arrived early to find which platform our LNER train was on (#3) and then figure out what area to board based on our prebooked tickets. I didn't realize until it was too late that there was a designated warmer indoor area for us to wait. Bummer! Our train departed on time but did hit a delay on our route... clearly that is not the fault of the Newcastle Central Station, however. I'm not sure if/when I'll be back, but if you find yourself in the area, this is a beautiful station to come into or out of. Safe travels!

It's living history in this city of seven bridges. The train station is 224 years old and it is…read morefree to go into, explore and admire. The station opened in August 1850, as part of the then Newcastle & Carlisle Railway and York, Newcastle & Berwick Railway. Now it's a Grade 1 listed building located in the city's Grainger Town area, to the west of the Castle Keep. The station was noted for its complex set of diamond crossings to the east of the station which facilitated access to the High Level Bridge and northbound East Coast Main Line and was said to be the greatest such crossing in the world. The crossing was the subject of many early-1900s post cards, titled The Largest Railway Crossing in the World, photographed from the castle (towards the station), or from the station towards the castle. Trains cross the River Tyne on one of two bridges. The older High Level Bridge, south-east of the station, was designed by Robert Stephenson opened on 27 September 1849. Its location meant north-south trains had to reverse in the station to continue their journey. The King Edward VII Bridge south-west of the station opened on 10 July 1906 allowing north-south trains to continue without reversing. The two bridges enable the trackwork north and south of the river to form a complete circle, allowing trains to be turned if necessary. The former Gateshead depot next to the connecting tracks on the south side of the Tyne, mirrored Newcastle station.

Do not use for taking your dog on vacation…read more The website specifically advertises dog-friendly crossing to Europe. The conditions are disgusting, nothing is organized, and your dog will be traumatized. The "kennels" consist of two disgusting cages shoved in a small hole by the trucks. I was not able to visit or care for my dog during the journey because the crew simply could not be bothered to escort me, which is required to go to the truck level. At disembarkation, the crew had no consistent policy. I was told by the information desk clerk I was not allowed to take my dog off the boat and that someone would drive me back on to get her. Then at the shore office, I was told someone with the crew would collect her with the luggage. Finally, when the very rude station manager brought her off the boat, he lectured me that I shouldn't be taking my dog on boats. Seriously?! TL,DR: if you care about your dog, use Stena Line and go through Holland instead

We've come here twice for the cheap weekend away to Amsterdam from Port of Tyne. This time we drove…read moreand found the car park (kind of) easily, parked up and were ready to check in! We unfortunately managed to choose the SLOWEST queue in the world so ended up taking ages to check in which is annoying- please sort this! Once we got on the ferry however we loved it, just like before. Our seaview cabin, our all you can eat buffet, the views. Everything was brilliant. Staff are all happy to help and polite and everything is well organised. Make sure when you get off at Amsterdam that you are first in the queue as once the coaches are full they set off for Amsterdam, so the quicker you get off the more time you get in the Dam! We took advantage of the 2 for 1 £85 for 2 people to Amsterdam deal which is such good value for money. To leave my car in the port of tyne for 2 days for only £24 which I think is really reasonable. Will always come back for some mini breaks :)

When is a bridge not a bridge but still a bridge?..when it is a transporter bridge. This example in…read morelinking Middlesbrough in the south with Stockon in the north crosses the River Tees in a record-breaking fashion. Built in the early 1900's it was the world's largest transporter bridge in the world. You go onto a platform and then you are ferried accross the river. It costs 50p each way on foot but you can take cars and lorries. Run by Middlesbrough Borough Council it even has a visitor centre. It occisionally shuts for people mad enough to bungee off its very very tall arms accross the river. If you have not been on one it feels weird and worth a visit, even if just to come back a moment later. However if you commute using it then the bridge is vital it is a 10+ mile round journey to the next bridge crossing upstream. Finally, the Transporter bridge is famed as a symbal for the town tyo the extent that the bridge has its own BBC webcam which you can view here (http://www.bbc.co.uk/tees/webcams/transporter.shtml ) and even featured in the flim Billy Elliot and the titles of Auf Wiershien Pet, a UK TV show about people from the area going to live in Germany in its construction boom of the time.

If you are remotely considering a trip to Scotland to visit distilleries (be it any regions,…read moreHighland, Lowland, Speyside or Islay), you must contact Willie and Craig at Celtic legend/Whisky Tours Scotland! After doing some research on-line, I found their site and immediately contacted them to organize a tour with 8 people in the Islay region. We price compared options and their prices were right in line what one could expect finding accommodations and travel. When you factor in their tour guide service and everything else they set up, their prices were quite excellent! And the key being that they are so pleasant to deal with! Willie helped organize the Tour, and Craig was our guide. They also gave us numerous names of folks that toured with them to discuss some of their experiences. They will answer e-mail promptly. For a little background, we planned a larger scale trip that had us fly from Los Angeles to London, then flew into Glasgow (where Craig picked us up), went to Islay, were dropped off in Edinburgh by Craig, then flew to Dublin, then went back to Los Angeles. From the moment Craig picked us up at the airport in Glasgow, the tour was amazing! We spent the first part of the day venturing the countryside on our way to Islay, took the ferry to Islay, stayed the night and began the real tour in the morning! We had the most amazing tour at Laphroaig, went to Ardbeg for an amazing lunch (where the brave of us tried haggis and lamb burgers that were delicious!) , then went to see ruins of the oldest church in Islay (which was uniquely beautiful) and we concluded our tour day with a fun tour at Lagavulin. We then had some delicious dinner at Bridgend. The next day had us go to Bruichladdich, then off to Finlaggin to see the amazing ruins by the sea, then to Kilchomen for some tasty food for lunch, and lastly to Bowmore for the grand finale! The last day was a travel day to Edinburgh, where Craig stopped at many spots along the way for all of us to soak in. Craig was the kindest and nicest guide one could ask for! He was very tolerant of all the odd personalities of our tour group, me especially! We planned out our trip for about 9 months before actually going. We went this past July 2011. Be prepared to pay some deposits to lock in an amazing stay. I simply cannot recommend Celtic legend/Whisky Tours Scotland enough to anyone considering such a trek! Please look Willie and Craig up! They will treat you well! All of us in our group cannot thank them enough for the most amazing experience! (...and a few of the people in the group don't even drink!)

Had a really bad experience with this firm. I have complained but they have done nothing about it…read more I booked a minibus for 6 people travelling to the ferry terminal at North Shields, it was late by 30 minutes, it was a people carrier so we had to have luggage on our knees, the taxi driver had no idea where he was going, he did not have enough fuel for the journey, he nearly wrote us off twice. That was going, got there on time fortunately and complained so they would send a minibus for our return journey. Return journey they sent a car, 4 of us got in that the other 2 had to wait 45 minutes for a second car. One good thing they are cheap but would never use them again.