'The Sun' Holidays are back!!

suexf

rosebyanyothername wrote: »

so if i am collecting tokens when is earliest i can book with no priority booking form?

you can book as soon as you have the correct amount of tokens & booking form from the newspaper

chocaholic110

This might be a stupid question but we are hoping to book for June and July and want to book ASAP. However, I am due to have a baby in three weeks. Obviously the baby will come with us but I can't put booking details down before he arrives! Do I just out the four of us for now and can I add him later??

Rachie_B

jembie wrote: »

Unfortunately not an option if you have to cart them on the trains

we take sleeping sacks / bags
easy to roll up into their own bags ,the kids'came with little rucksacks to carry them in

pollyskettle

jembie wrote: »

Unfortunately not an option if you have to cart them on the trains

A word of caution to anyone planning to go to Skegness by train ( the connection starting at Nottingham, calling at Grantham, Sleaford, Boston etc), this train is normally only 2 carriages long, sometimes only 1 (although I have known it to be 3 on 2 occasions!) and from just before Easter until after the October school hols is a total nightmare. You can't book seats as the train is so small IIRC and it's standing room only, often all the way from Nottingham. Many people seem to cart their entire wardrobe in several suitcases each plus buggies etc to Skeggy over the summer and I've known people turned away from this train at Grantham as it was too busy. The trains run every 2 hours (I think) so it's quite a wait if you do get turned away.

If it's likely to be extremely busy (ie turning people away) they have had the forethought before to put on a direct bus to Skeggy from Grantham train station, but on the one time I have known this to happen not one person took them up on the offer! I can't speak for the likelihood of coaches much beyond Grantham as I rarely travel to Sleaford and beyond.

Mondays and Fridays are obviously the worst (both ways) but the rest of the week gets very busy too.

A new franchise has taken over this route this year, but the trains are small as they stop at village stations with very small platforms so it may well be exactly the same this year.

Carmina_Piranha_3

i remember the first sun holiday we went on - i went on the train with my hyperactive 2 year old, my deaf cousin (i can't sign!!) and my disabled gran in her 80's./ that was a giggle :rotfl:

i don't know if the train companies still do this, but back then if you had a disability or baby buggy you could talk to the train company a few days in advance and ask for help at the stations and during changes.

we took our own linen. they provide the pillow and duvet - you just bring the covers. we only took one towel each etc. and tried not to take too much luggage, and we used the launderette during the holiday. if weather is warm you can usually dry your washing in the van anyhow, every caravan i have stayed in has has a hanger thing to hang washing out of the window or over a door.

my parents take their own pillows etc. because they don't like using used ones. i take waterproof pillow protectors because you never know how old the pillows are, if they get washed/if they're full of mite droppings

pollyskettle

Carmina_Piranha wrote: »

i don't know if the train companies still do this, but back then if you had a disability or baby buggy you could talk to the train company a few days in advance and ask for help at the stations and during changes.

They are very good at Grantham with helping people in wheelchairs etc and they'll make sure they get on the train, but it was quite a regular sight to see a wheelchair user wedged amongst towers of suitcases last year.

In fairness, people should be allowed to take as much luggage as they want/can handle but with this particular route is a nightmare due to the train sizes. People tend to try to make space for others luggage by piling their suitcase up quite high (normally in the spaces by the doors and in the spaces designated for wheelchair users) but just outside Grantham the train does a 180 degree turn. If the train doesn't hit a red light just before the turn, it can hit it with reasonable speed and everything goes flying if it's not precisely balanced.

It's not just over the summer, the first Saturday after Christmas I went into Grantham on a 1 coach train and the guard was threatening to charge full adult fare for bags on seats as so many people were stood up - personally I don't know why the people stood up don't just ask them to move their bags - I know I do :rotfl:

Rachie_B

Carmina_Piranha wrote: »

i remember the first sun holiday we went on - i went on the train with my hyperactive 2 year old, my deaf cousin (i can't sign!!) and my disabled gran in her 80's./ that was a giggle :rotfl:

:rotfl: did you have fun ? :rotfl:

Carmina_Piranha_3

we did thanks. that might have been ruda actually. my sense of direction is dreadful. we changed at exeter or something like that, it has stairs and no lift, and we had to change platform. what fun and went to barnstaple, and waited there for lift from somebody who was already at the holiday park. i don't know what transport is like between train stations and parks though. some parks have a bus directly from the train station or the town centres.

pinknfluffy29

hi people

we have been on about 8 sun holidays and can highly recommend the stay we had in porthmadog last april at greenacres was perfect!!!

have stayed at the resort in bembridge isle of wight which was lovely and woolacombe bay which was in november and too cold and wet to enjoy!!!

we were looking at going to ireland but theres only 2 parks so might plump for lakes or scotland!!!

where is the code word sand from??

i have keep from saturday and look from today but there wasnt a code word in NOTW on sunday????

Carmina_Piranha_3

i've been to lots of parks on sun holidays. we are always annoyed at presthaven, but for some reason we keep going back. it's our closest and we like the beach. staff are terrible though and nobody cares about customer service. sometimes we've had clean caravans but other times they have been dirty and mouldy.

hafan y mor has always been lovely. we went to a haven park in cleethorpes last year and it was really nice. they had golf courses and a duckpond. the park was really pretty. it's too far for us to travel to more often though.