free pontins holiday

penypincher

Off to hemsby tomorrow, lone parent with 3 kids (one not mine! bringing a friend's).... you will recoginze me by my moneywise magazine!!!

gentlepurr

also off to hemsby tomorrow. still trying to work out how to make myself mse, but acost me if you can!

xx

Dizzie_3

I'll be at Prestatyn tomorrow with my oh and 3 kids (2 boys and a girl), say hi if you recognise me, we'll probably be in the bar on the first night :beer:

CGG

Look out Hemsby! Here we come!
Just about to head off on my freebie break, and again want to say thanks to pondie1 for the privilege.

deanos

Back from Hemsby !

Only spend 2 nights, accomodation was very clean and tidy, we arrived at 9pm got to the chalet and no electric so had to go to the security gate to get a £1 token, got back put it in and had 99 on the timer 20 mins later i checked and its was on 89 , i did think it was using the electric quickly for just a lightbulb !

Top tip No1 there is a switch for the water/cooker if its on the water it eats electricity so i switched it to cooker and the units were hardly going really slowly now !

The entertainment complex stank like drains and the smoke from the smokers hit you as you entered, now heres the crazy part the smoking section is right at the front next to the stage where all the babies and kiddles are dancing so they can breathe in all the smokers smoke and the no smoking section is far away at the back, this is back to front to me and the children should be protected from the smoke, i guess it will all be non smoking next year anyway.

Top tip No2, the breakfast is help yourself it was quite easy to add an extra sausage or bacon if you so wished

We didnt eat apart from 1 breakfast on camp but did glance at the menu and it seems very reasonable fr example half a rost chicken and chips was £4.95, as mentioned before you are given £75 of vouchers to use on the complex too.

It was a good experience and i would visit Pontins again, i do prefer Haven better tho as all activities are free and the entertainment is alot better

barginunter

Well, just got back from Pontins in Southport. I can honestly say I have never been anywhere so dire in my entire life. There is no effort at all to make the site in the least bit attractive - it's like a concentration camp.
The accomodation was not bad - we had a 2-bedroomed Classic apt which was spartan and dated but clean. The swimming pool is just like any old municipal pool. Perhaps other sites are nicer than Southport.
My 12 year old daughter enjoyed some of the activities although some were cancelled either because there were not enough kids booked in or the weather (which was rotten on Sat and Sun). The outside activities are run by PGL so you know they're in safe hands.
The inside theatre/bar/restaurant was pretty ghasty although again my daughter enjoyed the shows and competitions. For adults, unless you are the type who wants to sit all day and pour ale down your neck, there's nothing except bingo to look forward to. Thank goodness Southport was only 10 minutes away by car. I pity anyone there who doesn't have a car.
The weekend highlight for me was leaving the camp and going to see Pirates of the Caribbean and eating at Pizza Hut.
No wander they're giving holidays away so freely - everyone who won a contest there won a holiday.
Sorry to be so negative but I've never been so happy to be home.

diana11

We have just returned from Southport also. Had a great time but pity about the weather. Loved Southport and admit that we spent most of the weekend in the town. Chalets were much better than we expected. Our electricity lasted for such a long time. Only went down by 20p for the entire weekend even though we all had showers, the heaters on as well as the oven. Took our electric card back to get a refund as there was £3.55 on arrival and £3.33 on our departure!

Adult entertainment was dire and smokey but our kids enjoyed theirs. Thought the staff could smile more!

Teresita_2

We are off to Prestatyn tomorrow and wonder if anyone has any info, tips about the place.

Also those that have been could you let us knowwhat we should take with us. We are staying in a club apartment but have no idea what is included.

Thanks in anticpation.

T

Genevieve_C

Any feedback from how the Pontins in Cambersands fair?
We're going tmw and wondering if we need to pack the kitchen sink with us too

freebie_junkie

just got back from prestatyn tonight. i suggest taking spare towels for kitchen, bath and hands and you only get a couple small pans, one veg knife and one stirring spoon so you may need more of these depending on what you are gonna cook. the bog roll, shower gel and hand soap in teh bathroom ran out really quikly so take these and dont forget washign up liquid (teh free pack contains one thats about 5mls!), hand soap and spray for the kitchen. the apartment was much nice than i thought it would be but even so me and my oh gave teh bathroom and litchen a once-over before using them and i also suggest washing any pots before you use them as you are relying on teh prevoius guests otherwise (soem were a bit mucky!) the evening entertainment was ok, there was karaoke, a comedian (think like peter kay but even less funny....), a singing duo and a cheesy disco and beforte taht is a kids show by really over-enthusiastic blue coats. also, every night there is a sponsored comp which enables you to win another holiday, a medal and a £10 voucher to use in the gift shop. the food places are over-priced and generally junk, so i cooked every day. some of the vouchers in teh book are good, i.e. 3 for 2 slush drinks so its only £2 for 3 kids drinks which is good. you have to look thru teh voucher book very closely coz most are rubbish! you also get newspaper vouchers if youre in club class which you can exchange at the site shop, one each morning of your stay. club class look very nice inside and out and are right near the stuff, but the others are quite far away and look like my council flat. teh pool is very grotty and even my sister who is a real water baby wouldnt go anywhere near it. dont expect any luxury at all, you strip your own beds before you leave and change your dirty towels for clean ones at the customer services every morning. prestatyn town isnt really work a look to be honest, unless youre there on a sunday and then theres a very big car boot/market worth a trawl but you do still have to pay for parking on a sunday. prestatyn's beach looks really promising from the road but is deserted as is teh sun centre, its really delapidated and deserted, horrid, i would recomend it at all. rhyl is really close and is better for a look around, i recomend the sea life centre we all loved that, other than that theres a parade of shops (usual shops you expect in a british town) and a million arcades. for £30 it was brilliantly cheesy and wonderully tacky- i wouldnt recomend it for two weeks, a few days is just right