My thoughts on British isles cruise ports, Just returned

Just returned from Caribbean Princess British Isles cruise May 20-June 1st. I've never written a review but felt that some thoughts on the many ports will hopefully help others in their planning. Please bare with me as I'm still jet lagged from yesterday.

This was a family cruise for our family of 4 including our 2 college age daughter and son. We traveled to London via British Airways and stayed at the Conrad St James using Hilton points for several days.

LONDON: The Conrad St James is conveniently located near Westminster and Big Ben also a walkable distance to Covent Gardens where we ate both nights (Balthazar) We used the Big Bus HOHO bus which was fantastic. One thing to keep in mind is to look for their own bus stop signs which we didn't do the first day ( I blame that on lack of sleep). Remember the traffic in London is horrible if you are using the bus to get to point A to point B by a certain time. The water taxi to London Tower was a nice change, but we didn't have time to ride the London Eye, (Thank goodness).

There is a Rolling Stones exhibit at Saatchi Gallery by Sloan Square, I highly recommend it! We took the subway to Victoria Station and afterwards walked through Eaton Square (Where the beautiful people live) to catch the hoho bus. Our final day we used Smiths for airports to take us from London to Hilton Aeges Bowl Southampton via Windsor Castle. Thoroughly enjoyed Windsor Castle, btw the Queen was there!

GUERNSEY: Listen up people, this is the most important thing I'm going to say on this post. PLease take motion sickness medicine if it the water looks the least bit rough. The captain told us the weather would worsen throughout the day so going over on the tender we look medicine just in case it was bad coming back. We walked around the adorable town and gardens even though is was a misty rain. We decided to head back to avoid the long lines. The water was indeed rough and after being tossed around like rag dolls we finally made it to the ship. However, the waves banged the tender against the ship so hard only one person could get out of their seat at a time with the crews assistance. Several were seen getting sick on the tender! I don't mean to deter anyone from going because Guernsey is a lovely town, I've read the book and couldn't wait to see it, just be aware if the weather looks iffy.

COBH: Arrived on Sunday so most everything was closed in the morning. We walked up the hill to attend a true Irish Catholic Mass, afterwards we took the train to Cork and walked into town center and ate at SOB (Son of a Bun) Burgers. Quaint craft beer and burger joint with probably the best burger we had on the trip. We didn't do Blarney Castle bc I wanted to save up and do the longer excursions in Scotland with the kids.

DUBLIN: Our plan was to take a taxi into town and use the HOHO bus to go to Trinity and Guinness. The line for taxis was about 30 minutes so a group of college age kids along with us started walking to town. About 5 minutes into the walk taxis started showing up so we flagged one down. I know this sounds bad, kinda like we broke in line, but it wasn't the intent we we started walking. We asked the taxi driver where the best pub was and he directed us to the Brazen Head, oldest pub in Europe. Who doesn't want to drink a beer where the vikings did in 1197.

We went Trinity and Book of Kells, stop by Guinness but decided not to go in and then wandered around Temple Bar area. We technically could have done all this without the bus bc we only rode on it for about 30 minutes, the pub crawl took up most of our time. JK

LIVERPOOL: Booked a 3 hour tour with Ian at Liverpool Beatles Tours and it was fantastic. He met us at the pier, drove us by the liverpool Cathedral and then the complete Beatles tour. We arrived at most of the stops before the other tours so plenty of time to take pics and had the rest of the day on our own. We asked Ian to drop us off at the Cathedral and then walked to albert docks for lunch. Another great day and great weather.

BELFAST: This is where I probably messed up bc everyone said that Belfast Tours was great and we did everything on our own. Took a taxi to Titanic Museum and beat the crowds then took a taxi to Belfast Castle. The Castle was free but a big disappointment. Great views but nothting else to see which is probably why it's free. The taxi driver recommended that we go to the oldest pub across from Europa Hotel, The crown liquor saloon. It wasn't anything special but we wanted something to eat and to get free wifi. BTW, most ports have cafes where you can get wifi, starbucks has the best connection!

GLASGOW: We booked with Discover Scotland Tours for a full day tour of Highland Lochs, Glens and Castles. Stuart Little, (No joke) was our guide and it was an amazing day. The drive is around the lochs and up and down the mountains so take medicine if you get car sick. It didn't bother me but one person felt icky by late afternoon. We stopped for pictures around several lochs, toured Inveraray Castle and stopped by Drovers Inn for a beer. I highly recommend this tour. BTW our men (not Downton Abbey fans) decided to stay in town and eat lunch while the girls did the castle and gardens tour.

INVERGORDON: We booked THE Dunrobin Castle tour with Gavin at Invergordon Tours and he is HILARIOUS! Just a side note, his company does several tours but he only does Dunrobin and not Loch Ness. We stopped several times for pictures along the way to Falls of Shin, No salmon where seen bc it's too early in the season but it was still a nice stop. Dunrobin Caste was incredible along with the falconry show. Another stop in a small town to eat lunch, wifi and shopping. Another amazing tour with amazing weather!

EDINBURGH: Husband and son had a 11:15 tee time on the castle course at St. Andrews so they booked a private transfer to St. Andrews and took the train back to Queensferry. This was one of my son's favorite spots, amazing golf and amazing weather. My daughter and I planned to take the train to Edinburgh but the trains were delayed so we took the shuttle and were dropped off at Charlottes Square. We then walked to the castle and arrived by 9:45. if you intend to visit the Castle, PLEASE ARRIVE EARLY! When we left the line was sooooo long!. We walked down the Royal Mile, stopeed at starbucks for wifi and then ate lunch at Ciao Roma on south Bridge street. Yummy! We heard Princess Street had great shopping but were disappointed that it was more H and M, Urban outfitters, TOPShop etc... Nice views of the city but felt more like NYC then Edinburgh. Tender to and from Queensferry was very efficient.

LE HAVRE: BC of the strikes we waited till the last minute to decide what to do. We felt like taking the train to Paris would be an adventure but everyone warned us of the strikes so we decided to take the bus to HonFleur. We woke up to pouring rain, and once off the ship were told the bus to HonFleur doesn't run until lunchtime so we decided to take a taxi to town center. We arrived at 10 am and absolutely nothing was open except one or two cafes to get coffee. I guess we missed the memo about nothing opening until lunchtime. We went back to the ship and enjoyed the spa and a 3 hour monopoly game.

Disembarkation was very fast and easy!

Final thoughts:

*Weather was amazing

*Everyone, and I mean everyone was nice and hospitable. You learn so much from not only the tour guides but from the taxi drivers also.

* Don't be afraid to book tours on your own and don't feel like you need 8 hour tours everyday.

Thanks for taking the time to write of your experiences and suggestions! We leave on the 13th and trying to put together final ideas of what to do and see...this is a great help!

Thank you for the review, especially info on Guernsey. We are doing Aug British Isles cruise with some friends and our friend is very stubborn, I keep telling him to be prepared for potential rough seas, we are also visiting Shetland Islands and he thinks he will be fine. I will show him this review maybe he will believe someone else.

realnice46

We were in the Orkneys on a cruise last August and couldn't believe how bad the weather was. It rained all day long and was only 15c.

When I was a child we often used to go to Guernsey for summer holidays and travel by ferry. Sometimes the sea was very rough, so tell your friend to listen to what is being said. Although, you could be lucky and the sea be like a mill pond.

I appreciate you taking time to pass along this info. We'll be in just three of these ports (Glasgow, Belfast, Cobh) on our September Transatlantic, but Belfast is the one where I'm trying to figure out what to do.

Sounds like a private tour is the way to go. I can get a tour that includes the Giants Causeway and coast drive for about $42 PP through Odyssey Coach Tours, which seems to be highly recommended too. The ship tours with this itinerary all seem to north of $150.

Again, thanks for a really useful post.

Jim

Thank you for taking the time to do a write up about your sailing...we will be doing a similar sailing in July with Celebrity and your info about what you did in some of the ports are very helpful...

Happy future sailings!

Thanks for posting this. Loved my trip down from Invergordon to Edinburgh.

Wish the ship would stop saying Princes Street is great for shopping - it's mainly shops for cheap fashion these days. Two blocks behind is George Street leading to Harvey Nicks and John lewis department stores. Shame you missed them - sure they were what you were looking for

We currently are booked on a British Isles cruise for 2017 on Celebrity but currently looking at Princess itineraries as well. Thank you for this review. Very timely for us and very helpful. Glad you had a good time.

Thank you for all of the helpful information!

im doing this Princess cruise in July, and appreciate your thoughts. I did a Trafalgar tour of Ireland last year, and the Blarney Stone was great fun (Cobh). Not only is the surrounding area lovely, the woolen mills provide great shopping! Only half the people made it up the narrow stairs to kiss the stone, but Im glad to say I did it![emoji847]

Bookmarking

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Thanks for taking the time to post your comments.

Glad you had a good cruise.

Following

We will be on The Princess cruise through Scotland and Ireland beginning on July 31. Thank you so much for the advice on using private tours. We will be watching for these at each port. Do they usually have info on these when you get off the ship?

Thank you again for all your information!

Living in Guernsey and writing the blog "Last Tender" I see most of the liners that visit St Peter Port and the tender ride can be a unpleasant experience or a ride you hardly notice. This year I can remember a few days when the conditions changed markedly from morning to afternoon and the short journey back to the liner looked unkind. The Royal Princess cancelled on the 26th August last year, conditions were rough, no tenders and no visit.

There does seem to have been less cancellations due to the weather recently, and the last few days it has been incredibly calm giving good conditions, the images from the last few visits show this.

I hope you all enjoy your visit to Guernsey, it is great seeing so many nationalities in St Peter Port enjoying where I live and was born.

Have fun

http://guernseyliners.blogspot.com/

Living in Guernsey and writing the blog "Last Tender" I see most of the liners that visit St Peter Port and the tender ride can be a unpleasant experience or a ride you hardly notice. This year I can remember a few days when the conditions changed markedly from morning to afternoon and the short journey back to the liner looked unkind. The Royal Princess cancelled on the 26th August last year, conditions were rough, no tenders and no visit.

 

There does seem to have been less cancellations due to the weather recently, and the last few days it has been incredibly calm giving good conditions, the images from the last few visits show this.

 

I hope you all enjoy your visit to Guernsey, it is great seeing so many nationalities in St Peter Port enjoying where I live and was born.

 

Have fun

 

http://guernseyliners.blogspot.com/

Thanks for the link to your great blog. We will soon be aboard the Silhouette with arrival in Guernsey on 8 August.

How was the Caribbean Princess for this cruise? We were looking at this cruise for next summer, a mini suite. It looks like all the mini suites are on the Dolphin deck which is totally uncovered. Your thoughts on the Caribbean Princess? We would love to do London, Scotland, and Ireland!

How was the Caribbean Princess for this cruise? We were looking at this cruise for next summer, a mini suite. It looks like all the mini suites are on the Dolphin deck which is totally uncovered. Your thoughts on the Caribbean Princess? We would love to do London, Scotland, and Ireland!

There are a few covered mini suites at the stern of Emerald Deck but they go quickly

There are a few covered mini suites at the stern of Emerald Deck but they go quickly

We love the caribe deck balcony cabins...large balcony, half covered, half uncovered....

How was the Caribbean Princess for this cruise? We were looking at this cruise for next summer, a mini suite. It looks like all the mini suites are on the Dolphin deck which is totally uncovered. Your thoughts on the Caribbean Princess? We would love to do London, Scotland, and Ireland!

Just returned last night! Great itinerary! Did private tours in most ports for 25% of the Princess price. Rode local bus in Guernsey for the bargain of the century....one GBP. Id do this again, but in August so i could see the Tattoo in Edinburgh. We skipped Liverpool on our tour and went to Wales on Busybus.. a highlight!