Malleykatt

Hi. The beach can be found by walking left as you leave the ship. Walk through the little restaurants in the front...a couple do good fish dishes. Follow it past the fort and you'll see it stretching away in front of you. Definitely bring beach towels.

I like this idea as well. I have booked MDR times for our cruise by nice to know the alternative when available.

Hi. Just to add for info. The WW2 tunnels and O'Hara's battery are currently closed to visitors. We took a taxi tour a couple of years ago, eldest son was History mad (now a first year qualified teacher of history). We wanted longer at the siege tunnels so left the tour. The taxi driver gave us a map and highlighted some other sights to see on the walk down. Entry to the Moorish castle and the 100 tonne gun were all included in our tour price we just showed our tickets. We like walking but we did walk along the road to near the police station and caught a bus back into town. Will be stopping off again in August.

Have a great cruise. Will be watching for updates as we board July 29 for the Med. Any tips or info will be of interest. Our 3rd Princess cruise first on Sky. Enjoy.

Thank you.... I was typing too quickly and added a full stop..took it off ...sorry...then missed the /

I would second Invergordon Tours. Gavin held our booking open due to the pandemic and it was worth waiting for. Our driver on the day was Jim and we had a great day from start to finish. Book early because their slots full very quickly.

Might be worth a look here. https://www.otga.co.uk There is a contact all guides button and you can let them know what you want to visit. We were very happy with our local guide Davey Malcolm.

If on the 29th July sailing from Southampton we are on the same ship. Barcelona on exiting the cruise terminal you will find the shuttle buses that drop at the bottom of Las Ramblas there is also a taxi rank....no queue jumping. Our stop on Sardinia is Alghero and is by water shuttle ship to shore. This hopefully puts us near or at the Old port area. We are just staying in Alghero as none of the ship's tours caught our eye. Livorno doesn't allow foot passengers to the gate as it is also a working port...as yet I am unsure of cost for a shuttle bus. Marseilles is a new one for us as I believe again a shuttle bus is required due to distance city to port. If you are on that cruise.....47 days to go!!

We have only sailed Emerald once, August of last year for a British Isles cruise. The shop was around 2/3 full and sections closed in case of isolation rooms if needed. Our room steward was brilliant, happy and always around. First stop Guernsey, we queued for the tender back to ship and behind us in the line was the captain and his wife no queue jumping allowed everyone waited their turn.We had a technical hitch leaving Guernsey but we had regular updates on arrival times for Cobh our next stop and even arriving 3 hours later than scheduled all the yours went ahead even the private ones. Regular updates on health were in the cabins, mask wearing was implemented. All the time not a single moan or complaint did we hear. Cabins were clean and well maintained, yes a bit of paint on the outside wouldn't have gone amiss, but these are not normal times. Food.....Well we all expect different things where that's concerned but never had a problem there. The crew were settling back into the job gaining routine but never had issue with them. Post covid who knows what will be our normal standards, each to their own. We are just glad to be able to cruise this year .....many can't.

Enjoy your cruise. We are on-board at the end of July so will be keeping an eye out for your helpful posts as you update.... But remember your on holiday have a great time.

Barcelona is a great walking city. Where needed we hopped on the bus and have used a taxi from the port to Sagrada Familia for our early entry tickets. If you are talking about the little electric scooters think hard about your insurance there will be people and cars everywhere this is a busy city. The pedestrians will be your biggest problem.

We did this last summer but booked with Paddywagon for the tour. Cruise ship arrived late due to a power problem leaving Guernsey so we all arrived at Blarney later than expected but are really lucky. When we walked to the tower we joined the queue at the bottom of the steps so it took a slow move to climb the steps (more than 100) . Even though it was August we had torrential rain at one point and thunder like I've never heard before! Once the rain stopped the queue grew and was last the 90min sign at 3pm when we left. Views from the top were amazing but I didn't kiss the stone once I saw the drop you bend backwards over.

Wowzz. Have enjoyed your little check in on how things are onboard. We board July 29th for the med so hope all goes well. Enjoy the Baltic and I will keep a look out for your update. Malleykatt.

In Dubrovnik look around the shops in the old town. When we visited 2019 there was a couple of Christmas shops yes in July. They had little wooden ornaments and decorations. Some lovely pieces on display.....hubby had to limit me to a couple of pieces.

Irish lamb stew.....in a word no. We did the British Isles last year and didn't see these choices on board then. That might have been fitting.

Hmmmm. Bangers and mash and bubble and squeak!!! I wonder what's on in the buffet? They were my nana's comfort meals 50 years ago not what I'd look for on a menu. I do hope its different when we board in July.

Hi. yes we've decided it looks good just to mooch about. A couple of coffees and local gelato and a walk around the old town. Nice for more of a chilled day. We are on the sailing on 29th July at Southampton.

We also took a taxi, you'll find lots right by the ship as you dock. If you pre book the tickets you can miss any queues. I booked the White Star experience tickets last year but they are £51 this year. The tour was good though and the walk around outside out the size of Titanic into context. Taxi rank is right outside museum.

We are due to arrive in August on Sky Princess, it will be a tender port. Can someone tell me what is around the town for a day when we can just wander about. The shop excursion don't appeal. Or we might stay on board and just chill ....it is a holiday after all. Many thanks.

Yes they wanted to see our little blue cards. Did not ask for our NHS app as proof even though we had it all loaded and ready. Process was quick. More worrying was the amount of people bundling into the lift on those first two days all minus masks. Then the letter went out saying they were required on board and I think nearly 90% on board complied ......some didn't but there are always some that think it does not mean them.

Hi. we got back Thurs from our British Isles cruise. At home we all did a lateral flow test and took photos. Did not have to show photos was just asked if we'd taken a test. They did ask if we had our immunisation cards on us as proof of vaccination which we did as well as a photo but they wanted to see the little cards. Very smooth process did not take any more time than our last cruise pre covid. Around 2200 passengers on board or so we were told. Ship was quiet no busy areas and Aloha deck was shut off port side from central elevators and starboard from a little further down. Mask wearing came in after a couple of days following some cases amongst passengers and crew. We enjoyed the holiday and are back home planning next years.☺☺

Thanks for the update. I've booked Edinburgh castle as I have a Historic Scotland pass......no really no pain no gain if we don't make it. We are doing Stirling with Princess as could not find a good private one and lots of rail strikes on different days I wasn't confident of freewheeling. Thank you stay safe.

Shame about the delay I hope the passenger is ok. Thank you for the details I've booked ahead for the castle so the time should be do able. Guess it will all hang on the tenders used. Enjoy Le Havre. Thanks

Many thanks junglejane. Taxi is a much better option. I have pre booked the castle as I purchased a Historic Scotland membership for our trip ,well worth buying to save money. Never got into Vera myself but can go wrong with scenery like that.

Thank you so much for that. We looked at doing Edinburgh on your own with Princess but the cost was silly. Dublin isn't on ours we over night in Cobb then Belfast. I agree about Bamburgh the coast of Northumberland is so beautiful. We stay cationed there last year and we saw a large pod of dolphins just off the beach.