As a change from the normal easyJet weekend, we decided it might be nice to take a trip over to Holland by ferry.
Seeing as there's not really a lot to do in Amsterdam if you're not into smoking copious amounts of ordinarily illegal substances, or visiting art galleries, entertainment was always going to be sparse, so we thought the ferry trip would be part of the fun.

Sadly, it was no such thing. Now, if you check out this link you see Stena's list of reasons why the ferry is so much better than flying. Check their list out first, and then, I thought I'd do my own:

	Flying	Rail and Sail
Total Cost	Not usually very much. Usually around 60 quid all in.	A ludicrous amount, because your ticket only starts at Liverpool Street, so you have to get yourself to London first. It cost us 50 quid for a return from Luton. Bargain.
Total Time	You've hardly got time to blink, and you arrive at Schiphol. Then it's just a quick train journey to the centre of Amsterdam.	Hours and hours and hours. Fair enough, you only need to get to the port within 30 minutes of the boat leaving, but you have to spend nearly 2 hours in a train to get there in the first place. Then you sit (if you can get a seat) on a ferry for 4 hours, and then it's over an hour and a half on another train to get into Amsterdam. Does that sound like fun to you? Well, I can assure you, it isn't!
Duration	No time at all. OK, so the legroom and 'facilities' are not great, but the journey is so short, who cares?! Oh, and you get a seat!	3 hours 40 minutes of the most tedious journey you can possibly imagine. If you're lucky enough to get a seat, then you can sit down and stare at a blank wall for the whole journey, but seats are pretty scarce. As for the 'facilities', all you get is the most unhealthy crap food like burgers, fry-ups and pizzas with half an inch of cheese on them, or a total rip-off a la carte restaurant. You also get endless kids running around screaming and treading on your feet, so don't even think about trying to get any sleep.
Delay Time	Never had any problems after dozens of return flights	Our return journey was delayed half an hour due to the delays in checking in us foot passengers. This must happen pretty regularly, as the train from Amsterdam only gets in half an hour before the boat is due to depart, so it's a mad rush to get everybody processed.
Travel To Amsterdam	No time at all. 20 minutes from Schiphol to Amsterdam Centraal. No stops.	Ages and ages. The train messes about with going into Rotterdam and then back out again and then onto Den Haag and then, ironically, to Schiphol!
Hassle Rating	Not much - you can be there in time for breakfast	Way too much hassle. You're basically on the go ALL day long and the whole experience is rubbish.
Comfort Rating	Fine. The legroom isn't fantastic, but it's ok. And at least you get a seat.	If you don't mind standing for 4 hours, it's great!

So, apart from that, we walked about a bit, and rode around on the Canal Bus boats, oh, and we went to Anne Frank's house which was surprisingly bigger than you'd expect. And that's it, really.

Oh, and in case you didn't get it, don't bother with the ferry (unless you REALLY need your car). Just fly.