Port Shuttle at Zeebrugge?

[Ron & Kristy]

Can anyone tell me if Princess has a port shuttle that will take you to either of the train stations in Zeebrugge.  We want to go to Ghent.  Thanks.

[Ron & Kristy]

If there is a princess shuttle do you know the cost?  Thanks again.

[John Bull]

Zeebrugge Dorp has a very limited service, and the journey time is 25 minutes plus.

Ditto for Zeebrugge Strand, and in addition that station isn't open year-round.

 

Princess (and most other cruise ships) offer a payable shuttle to Blankenberge station, about 2 miles from the port. Direct hourly trains from there to Bruges take 13 minutes.  I'll be out-of-date on costs, but the shuttle shouldn't be more than $15 and the train around €10. Both are return (round-trip) fares.

The only problem is that the train service is only hourly. 

If you had control over your arrival time at Blankenberge you could plan to be there 10 - 15 minutes before the train leaves. But because of the shuttle bus you don't have that control, so it's a matter of luck whether your wait at Blankenberge is 5 minutes or 60 minutes. High-capacity trains (they carry on to Brussels) so no problem of insufficient space

 

You have other options

- Ship's Bruges-on-your-own excursion. Bus from ship to Bruges, return at set time.

- Privately-operated shuttle between port & Bruges, run frequently. I don't know the operator (can anyone help?) but it's available thro' Viator.

- Taxi from the port. Last time I heard the cost was €50 e/w. Sounds expensive but some hold up to 8 passengers. Best to pre-book. And check your cruise RollCall to see if anyone has arranged one & is looking for sharers.

 

Both bus options take you to the coach stops on Bargeplein, a pleasant 15 min walk from the city centre (buses not permitted there). Train station also a 15 min walk from the centre. Taxis can tke you to he centre - usual place is Grotmarkt.

 

JB 

Edit.

Silly me. My usual trick of not properly reading a question. 

Everyone wants to go to Bruges. 

But same station for Ghent. Not sure if there is a direct train. 

Edited January 13, 2019 by John Bull

[gma rae]

The name of the shuttle is cruise express and you can buy tickets directly from them, from Viator or from Get your Guide on line. The fare is E20 per person for the round trip. According to my printed tickets the bus leaves from the cruise terminal every 30 minutes from 8:30 to 12:00 and then in the afternoon they return every 30 minutes from 12:00 to 3:30-4pm.  The drop off for the this bus is the bus parking at Bargeweg 8000 Bruges, which is reportedly a few minutes walk to the train station.

There is a red free shuttle that takes you from the pier to the Cruise terminal and the buses are outside the terminal to the left. You can also buy tickets near the bus on the day of your visit.

 

I have not done this yet, the information comes from the printed ticket I purchased for our day in Brugge.

 

 

[Ron & Kristy]

Gma Rae, we are not going to Bruges. We're going to Ghent. It would waste too much time taking the shuttle to Bruges and then the train to Ghent. Not to mention it costs more doing that. I'm only interested in getting to one of the train stations from the port in Zeebrugge. Thanks though.

[gma rae]

removed

Edited January 13, 2019 by gma rae
retracted

[Ron & Kristy]

No worries. Maybe I confused the issue. We are trying to figure out the easiest/fastest way to get to the train station from the port and also which is the best train station to go from. All this research is making me a little crazy! 😜

[John Bull]

Sorry, R & K, my fault,  

 

There's a free shuttle from ship to port gate. 

According to the local train timetables there are trains to Ghent from Zeebruge-Dorp (village) and Zeebrugge-Strand (beach) but do check your date because they don't run every day. Some direct, some require a change. 

Zeebrugge-Dorf is a 15 minute walk from the port gate, Zeebrugge-Strand is much closer.

 

I'm 99% certain that cruise lines offer a payable shuttle to Blankenberge station, but not to the Zeebrugge stations.  

 

The train from Blankenberge is direct - at 42 minutes a little quicker, but not if you factor in getting to Blankenberge.

 

JB 

Edited January 14, 2019 by John Bull

[Ron & Kristy]

Thank you for the clarification JB. Are cabs readily available at the port?

Kristy

[John Bull]

1 hour ago, Ron & Kristy said:

Thank you for the clarification JB. Are cabs readily available at the port?

Kristy

 

There were when I was last there Kristy, but it was a while back.

 

And one problem with cabbies in mainland Europe is that cabbies may not be willing to accept a fare, because Zebrugge-Dorf is only about half-a-mile - they'll be looking for more lucrative work, such as to Bruges.

 

JB 

[Ron & Kristy]

2 hours ago, John Bull said:

 

There were when I was last there Kristy, but it was a while back.

 

And one problem with cabbies in mainland Europe is that cabbies may not be willing to accept a fare, because Zebrugge-Dorf is only about half-a-mile - they'll be looking for more lucrative work, such as to Bruges.

 

JB 

Actually it would be Zeebrugge to Blankenberge not that it is all that much further.  Hopefully we will be able to get there fast enough using either the shuttle or the tram.  Thanks.

[John Bull]

8 hours ago, Ron & Kristy said:

Actually it would be Zeebrugge to Blankenberge not that it is all that much further.  Hopefully we will be able to get there fast enough using either the shuttle or the tram.  Thanks.

 

Despite any potential wait while a ship's shuttle fills, I think it would be quicker than the kusttram.

For the kusttram you'll likely have to take the free port shuttle to the gate, walk to the tram stop buying your ticket on the way, and wait at the stop for a tram (every 10 mins high season, every15 mins shoulder season). The stop is directly outside the station in Blankenberge.

I think a day ticket on the tram is currently €8 - I guess about the same as ship's shuttle.

 

JB 

[BarbinMich]

I've used the tram at Zeebrugge several times.  First time, went west to Blankenberge, a quaint town protected by a huge dike with hotels, restaurants, and a casino atop it.  The beach there is beautiful white sand and a nice walk out to the water's edge.  The town also has something like a miniature golf course.  The other time I went east to the end of the line at Knokke.  The latter is much larger and more sophisticated than Blankenberge--lots of high-end shopping if one's interested in that.  Lovely neighborhoods to wander through (as I did).  Note: we'd been to Bruges and Ghent on a river cruise back in 2007 so didn't feel the need to go again.  Enjoyed them both very much.

Edited January 18, 2019 by BarbinMich

[53sunset]

On 1/18/2019 at 11:20 AM, BarbinMich said:

I've used the tram at Zeebrugge several times.  First time, went west to Blankenberge, a quaint town protected by a huge dike with hotels, restaurants, and a casino atop it.  The beach there is beautiful white sand and a nice walk out to the water's edge.  The town also has something like a miniature golf course.  The other time I went east to the end of the line at Knokke.  The latter is much larger and more sophisticated than Blankenberge--lots of high-end shopping if one's interested in that.  Lovely neighborhoods to wander through (as I did).  Note: we'd been to Bruges and Ghent on a river cruise back in 2007 so didn't feel the need to go again.  Enjoyed them both very much.

How far is the walk from the Zeebrugge terminal to the tram station?  We're limited on how far we can walk but we would like to go to Blankenberge as my husband was there years ago and would like to go back.  Thank You

[BarbinMich]

It's maybe maybe 2,000 ft (less than half a mile).  I would say about 2 blocks although there aren't any cross streets, marking out blocks so I'm guessing.  At least the ship will have a shuttle bus that gets you from the ship to the street because it's a container port with lots of truck traffic and also it would be a bit of a walk if you had to do it on foot.  Enjoy!

Edited March 18, 2019 by BarbinMich

[BarbinMich]

On 1/13/2019 at 6:57 PM, John Bull said:

Sorry, R & K, my fault,  

 

There's a free shuttle from ship to port gate. 

According to the local train timetables there are trains to Ghent from Zeebruge-Dorp (village) and Zeebrugge-Strand (beach) but do check your date because they don't run every day. Some direct, some require a change. 

Zeebrugge-Dorf is a 15 minute walk from the port gate, Zeebrugge-Strand is much closer.

 

I'm 99% certain that cruise lines offer a payable shuttle to Blankenberge station, but not to the Zeebrugge stations.  

 

The train from Blankenberge is direct - at 42 minutes a little quicker, but not if you factor in getting to Blankenberge.

 

JB 

We've docked at Zeebrugge several times.   A few years ago, Princess did not offer a shuttle to Blankenberge, just to Bruges (and it was an excursion, I believe).  I took the coastal tram to get to Blankenberge (we'd been to Bruges on a river cruise years ago, probably with the help of a bus from wherever the canal boat docked).  I've also taken the tram to Knokke in the other direction (east).  Pretty sure there are train stations at both those places.