mgcharleston

We did this last year as well. My only caution is to make sure you have enough in layover. I know I'm stating the obvious but we were flying on Aer Lingus from Southampton to Dulles, with a layover in Dublin. The Aer Lingus flight only allowed 90 minutes in between. I had read about how efficient the preclearance process there was... until it wasn't! The SOU flight took off late (due to the notorious English weather) and the customs line was backed up, etc. etc. We squeaked through but I would never do it again without more time for a layover.

Thank you for that info! this is my first time cruising princess in a suite and I had actually wondered that exact thing!

Glad you got yours fixed! I am going through this exact thing right now. We are cruising to the UK in July, cruise is PIF, have the premiere package and booked in a suite. I have two specialty dining reservations made- one on embarkation night (which should be complimentary because of the suite) and one on another night. It wants to charge me for the 2nd specialty dinner. All I can figure is the computer thinks the first night is included in my package and not complimentary. I have called them, chatted with them, they have filed an IT ticket just like for you, all to no avail. Its just frustrating watching the time slots slip away but I guess I will have to deal with it on board! Enjoy your cruise!!

We ported in Greenock last year and did this as a private tour. I booked a day trip through Martin Cairns at E2G travel and we visited the Falkirk wheel, the Kelpies and our driver found us some local heelan coos to pet (they were the highlight). while the Falkirk wheel is an engineering marvel, we found the tour on sight to be very underwhelming. In fact, it was our least favorite thing in 3 weeks of traveling. The staff at the wheel just didn't do a good job. Perhaps a different crew on a different day would yield different results! I can highly recommend the travel agency though. It says they do airport transfers but they will arrange a private all day tour with a local driver. We found them to be a good value and, overall, a good tour experience!

Many thanks to everyone who chimed in and the letter was super helpful. I have heard that WS were a good thing but there isn't much info out there on them... maybe that's for a strategic reason 😁 priority tendering is important because I am trying to time tour pickups and tendering always make that a crapshoot as we all know...

I am scheduled to sail in a window suite on the Caribbean Princess this summer on a very port intensive itinerary. Can anyone confirm for me that suite passengers get priority tendering during the cruise and priority disembarkation on the last morning? It's going to make a difference on some of the excursions I book timing wise. If anyone has stayed in one of these window suites, I would be happy to hear your thoughts on it as well 🙂 TIA!!!

Wow! What an unexpected surprise. Thanks VMax! I will definitely check into that area- it was not even on my radar before... 🙂

That's certainly an interesting perspective that I had not heard about. It definitely makes sense though. We ended up booking a tour with a private guide as I was just too leery of the car rental place. I will certainly ask him about this as well. Thanks again for all your help!

Thank you so much for this insight and for verifying they are legit! I did note they were quite costly for a one day 8 hour rental. The Hertz in Cork City is half the price. I guess it comes down to the convenience factor vs. taking the train and a cheaper cost. Either way, we are only wanting to visit Killarney for the day and finding that a simple transport up there and back is not as easy as it should be. We have visited Cork before and done the Blarney stone, Kinsale, etc. so Killarney seemed like a different option!

Has anyone rented a car from Great Island Car Rentals in Cobh before? There is very little info on line about them and the few reviews that ae there are very mixed! The cars are pricey and non-refundable, so I don't want to book unless I'm sure they are a legit company. Unfortunately, there doesn't appear to be many car rental options here,so if anyone has stopped in Cobh before and had luck with a car rental (good or bad), I would be interested in hearing about your experience! TIA!

That is great to know! Those are two of the ports I am concerned about. I appreciate the insight that tickets can be collected at the Photo Gallery (random spot!) and that's where I can go to check on them. Every line and, it appears most ships within the line, have different procedures so thank you for the heads up!

Many thanks for all the replies! I had wondered if it was this set up but I am glad to confirm it. Now I know the early bird gets the worm and I can mentally prepare for the chaos 😝

Hi cruisers! I am a first time cruiser on Princess sailing next month on the Regal. I am hoping someone can enlighten me on what Princess tendering process looks like. We are doing all our own excursions, so we will not be in the priority groups for the ships excursions. I would like to figure out the process though so we can get off sooner than later 🙂 For example, on NCL you sign up for a tender group ahead of time and you are just assigned to that tender group for that day. But if you don't know to sign up on the first day of the cruise and you wait, you can be stuck in a high numbered group, thus waiting a couple of hours to disembark. Other cruises I have done, you simply to go to a designated location and get in the queue ahead of time. Although I have seen some lines start forming WAY too early... I would appreciate any insight on how to make it off the boat in a timely fashion!

I am cracking up right now 😂 I do appreciate everyone's insight. I had forgotten about O'Sheehan's for lunch so I am thinking that will be better than the buffet. I remember they had these yummy hot wings a few years ago!!! That should make the entire family happy!

I love all these suggestions! Rocketman- thank you for the reminder about the muster station check in. That's my husbands favorite part of the entire trip... It sounds like the entertainment reservations need to take priority. I assume if I can connect to the app while in the terminal, I will be able to make the reservations. please correct me if I'm wrong and I need to go to the box office instead!