kaiiak

When I go to make a reservation for the cruiselong pass to the thermal suite on the website, I cannot get it to go to completion. Is that a glitch? Or maybe too soon to purchase? My cruise is in June. We have a very port heavy itinerary and thought it would be nice to relax in there after a long day of touring.

7 hours ago, TheProfessionalTraveller said:

As noted above Uber doesn't operate in Invergordon. Local taxis are available near the port exit gates. They charge around £50 per hour for day tours.

 

You can easily reach Inverness by public transport. You can reach Culloden by local bus from Inverness quite easily.

 

If you wanted to visit Urquhart Castle you would need to go back to Inverness and then catch another bus to Urquhart Castle. This bus can be extremely busy on port days and having a ticket doesn't mean you are guaranteed a ride. 

 

I've written a detailed guide on how to get from Invergordon to Inverness by public transport (train, bus) or by taxi. 

 

There are a number of private tour operators operating group or private small group, or private car tours from Invergordon that could easily combine these elements together for you.

 

Personally, I think it would be difficult to do all this on public transport from Invergordon as the timings would be very difficult to co-ordinate, meaning you would lose a lot of time waiting and transferring.

 

Hope that's helpful.

Thank you. Very helpful. We do not have a specific plan yet, but are doing tours in almost all other ports so were hoping to be a bit more relaxed in this port. Taxi sounds like a good option. If it is too difficult to go to all of it,  will probably likely stick to Culloden and Inverness.

On 1/18/2024 at 9:15 PM, charliedalrymple said:

 

We went on a very similar cruise, although ours also included Cork.  And we agree, it was wonderful!  I would say it was our second favourite (after Alaska), but we've only done eight cruises.  The only disappointment was that we couldn't dock at Invergordon due to rough seas. I'd say Edinburgh was the highlight--it's a breathtaking city. It was closely followed by Cork, where we hired a very entertaining private guide.  (He recommended that we skip the Blarney Stone because we would fight crowds of tourists, and we didn't feel deprived.).  The only missable stop was Le Havre.  Not much to see or do there.

 

This will sound strange, but there were almost too many ports. We stopped in a different port every day, and it got to be a little exhausting.  Of course, we didn't want to miss any of the destinations, but we are accustomed to have sea days throughout a cruise to relax and recharge.

We are on this cruise in June 2024 and it almost feels like a land trip because it is so port intensive. I am forgetting I will be on a ship! I feel like we will be so exhausted after the day's itinerary that we won't really feel up to exploring on the ship and will end up just relaxing with room service or a quick bite in the buffet. But I am really looking forward to all of the ports!

Looking to do our own thing in Invergordon versus a ship tour. Considering visiting the town of Inverness and possibly Culloden and Urquhart Castle. Is Uber readily available in these areas? 

52 minutes ago, fishman620 said:

You can do it.....if you hit the ground running....check in to your central London hotel, then go on a night bus tour of London......set your alarm for an early morning wake up to walk to the sites that you want to visit, or you can use internationalfriends.co.uk for your transfer to Southampton and tour Windsor or Stonehenge......it is by no means much time at all in London but you could get a little taste of it.....

I was thinking about that transfer to the port. I am sure the jetlag will be pretty bad, but we have business lie down seats on the overnight flight so hopefully can at least get a good 4-5 hours of sleep. For us arriving it will feel like 7am when we get there.

23 hours ago, Ashland said:

Sorry, but I would have allowed more pre or post cruise time in London. We've flown from LAX-LHR and it was a long flight...best of luck.

Yeah, we limited the time before our cruise so that we could tack on a few days at the end to go to France. With my spouse's work schedule it is hard. I realize London is a trip in itself for probably another time, but was hoping to at least experience a night there. The hotels in Southampton don't look too great either, but we may end up just going there for the night. Still debating. We have time.

20 minutes ago, Island2Dweller said:

If you land at 3.30pm, you'll not be arriving at a central London hotel before 5pm, and that's at best.  Then time to shower and change.  On the plus, in June it'll be daylight until late evening, towards 10pm. 

Next morning, you'll need to allow between two and three hours from hotel to Southamton quayside, so you really only have a small window to see anything of London.

You'll have to decide if this is worth it. 

Yeah I am unsure at this point bc that is what I was thinking about travel time.

Hello all!

We are flying in and landing around 3:30pm the day before we cruise out of Southhampton next June (tons of time to plan). We have never been to London and were hoping to get a hotel there and maybe see a bit of the city in the evening or morning before traveling to the port. Is this unrealistic time wise? Should we just head straight to SH and spend the night there? We are flying from Los Angeles so will for sure be pretty jetlagged and turned around timewise. 

18 hours ago, 1965 said:

We're on the June 8 cruise. Which one are you on?

We are on June 20th!

On 7/15/2023 at 12:32 PM, azbirdmom said:

 

We just got off the cruise last Friday so I will throw my two pence in while the OP is enjoying their cruise!

 

Our itinerary included Liverpool, there are a couple of different slight variations in ports. But for most of what we did independently the Princess excursions didn't come close to providing what we saw.

 

In Guernsey we booked a lovely tour through Amanda at Tours of Guernsey.  We got to see the Little Chapel, the German Underground Hospital, German Occupation Museum and many other sites.  I absolutely loved the beauty of Guernsey and hearing about the little known WW2 history was fascinating.

 

In Liverpool we did a true DIY as we are Beatles fans.  We booked the Magical Mystery tour through the Cavern Club and selected the 11 AM tour time well in advance.  We got off the ship early to walk over to Albert dock and visited the Beatles Story first, a wonderful audio and visual experience through Beatles history.  The check in for the Magical Mystery tour was right next door and it was fantastic seeing Penny Lane, Strawberry Fields, the boyhood homes of the Fab Four as well as many other sites.  The tour ticket included entry to the Cavern Club which could be a museum.  We sipped a pint while enjoying great music and then walked back to the ship.

 

In Dublin we did the green HOHO bus booked through Do Dublin at the port.  Just get off the ship and walk towards the train (signs everywhere).  Just before the train station there will be booths for both the red and green HOHO buses where you can buy your ticket.  Our ticket included round trip train transportation on DART into the city and back.  We hopped off at Dublin Castle, Guinness Storehouse, and Jameson but there is so much to see.

 

In Belfast we took the Princess shuttle ($15.95 PP) to city hall and then walked back to the Titanic Belfast experience.  Fascinating place!  We had to wait an hour before we could get in because tickets are timed and probably would have gotten them in advance had we known.  We had actually planned to take the HOHO there but later figured we only wanted to hop off at the Titanic museum.

 

In Inverness we booked a private tour with Nigel at Invergordon Shore Excursions.  This is the tour we took: http://www.shorexcursions.co.uk/loch-ness-tour.htm .  It actually included so much more as it was just our group of 4 and our driver / tour guide Allan was amenable to spending more or less time where we wanted.  Just a fantastic day.

 

And in Le Havre we booked the tour to Omaha Beach, American Cemetery, Bayeux, and Honfleur with Overlord Tours.  Worthwhile to see all of this.

 

Our Princess excursions were just OK.  We did a small group tour to Blarney Castle and Kinsale in Cobh, to Glasgow Castle, Kelvingrove Gallery with free time in Glasgow, and a city tour with free time and a visit to Edinburgh Castle in Edinburgh.  You can get to the castle on your own by city bus but they do sell out so if you're planning to DIY just do so well in advance.

Thank you for this. We are on this cruise next June and have no idea about what shore ex we would enjoy. 

21 minutes ago, DUCHESSRN said:

I promise it depends on your age !!!! 

One direct flight from LAX at 73 takes me around 4 days ....25 years ago I just blew through it .

I find coming back worse .

 

Hmm we are in our early 50's, but I tend to get tired easily!!

Going on a British Isles cruise in 2024. How far in advance do you travel in order to get somewhat acclimated to time zone and make it safely to board ship? Coming from Los Angeles I know we will lose some time traveling. If the ship embarks on a Thursday, would it be best to travel on Tuesday night? Or earlier like Monday? Experience? It is far in the future, but trying to plan for how many days we will be taking off work and how long we can extend travel after the cruise etc.

On 3/11/2023 at 8:10 AM, Ombud said:

Elite tea is delivered to staterooms around 3pm, same time as tea in 6th deck MDR. Available all sea days 

 

 

What is Elite tea? Have not cruised Princess in many years.

15 minutes ago, Btimmer said:

After waiting for over a week for my credit card company to process refunding the refunds received from HAL, I finally received them direct deposited to my checking account.  From the date of first cruise we cancelled on 3/12 until now, it's been 98 days start to finish.  The second one was 2 weeks later. I can now officially stand down and wait out the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on future cruising.  I'll not be re-booking until it's once again reasonably safe to be cruising.  We do have a small FCC to use in the next year or so, but I'll wait until closer to its expiration date to re-book.

urgh still waiting! HAL says they refunded last Friday, June 12th, but no money on either of the cc yet that were used to purchase. Still waiting since 3/12 as well.... glad you finally received your refund!

2 minutes ago, GRACECRUISE said:

Got or refund in for cancelled March cruise.  Also got a free cruise offer.

Funny I got a similar offer today from the HAL Casino. I was almost tempted to take up that offer, but I'm too concerned it may not be safe to cruise next year.... the final sailings on the offer were April 2021.

Followed up today on chat regarding my April 5th sailing. They said that the refund was set for June 4th but there was an issue for the air portion purchased through HAL, so now they are working on that. They could not give me a date but cross fingers it will be soon...

11 hours ago, Woofumz said:

We received a full refund for our April 5th cruise today.  I online chatted with HAL on Tuesday to ask about the status.  They said the refund had been posted to our credit card on June 1.  It took until today to show up.  I don't know enough to say if that is normal.  It's fine. 

Crossing fingers here. We also had a sailing on April 5th but have not received any refund yet. 

4 hours ago, Cruising-along said:

We're itinerary cruisers, we love to see new destinations.  So no, not interested unless it was a short get-away between our regular cruises.  Definitely not interested in more than a few days of that.

Same here. Many years ago we did do a one night cruise to nowhere on NCL bc it was in our home port of Long Beach and we treated it more like a night away to have a good meal, go to the casino, etc. It was a lot of fun, we probably stayed up almost all night, but the next day we felt kind of bummed out that it was over so quickly. I would maybe do a cruise to nowhere for 2-3 nights to be sort of like a Vegas weekender to gamble, eat, relax poolside, but that's it. I'd rather do a longer cruise to see new places.

9 hours ago, Roz said:

 

Yes, that's what I was referring to as the Explorations area.  Very underutilized, and takes up a lot of space. 

Interesting! to each his own I guess. My family and I went up daily and used those interactive boards! We also looked through a lot of the books, had coffee or other drinks, played checkers, or just sat and looked out the windows. It was one of our favorite spots to visit each day. Although now in a post COVID world I would give pause to using the interactive board or reading the books and playing games for quite some time!

2 hours ago, Nymich said:

That FCC offer at the end tells me it will be awhile before any refunds are issued. They are still in sell mode.   At least April thru August HAL cancels know what to expect.

Yes I got the same email today as well for our HAL canceled 4/5 cruise that I requested refund for after the March 13th email.  I though the same thing when I got the email today reminding me that I could still request FCC instead of my refund.  Then I got a sales ad a few hours later.  The email today coupled with layoffs worries me that I will never see my money! 

8 hours ago, npcl said:

I do not think that returning to the old HAL would survive with what cruise lines will be facing.  That said that they do have some advantages with their overall smaller ship sizes compared to the other main stream lines. Their demographics with a tendency for older passengers is also not in their favor post COVID-19

 

I think that HAL should get a near total reboot.  Build on the classic design and smaller size of their ships. Position the line between the main stream lines and the premium lines.  They could, for example, go with a higher quality, more inclusive model kind of like Oceania.  They could do that with only having to raise fares by about 30%.  That would position the line in a unique space when it comes to features/cost. 

 

In doing that they would reduce pressure on the onboard sale items, allowing some of them to be removed entirely. Leaving more space to be used for some of the more traditional features like crows nest.

I agree. I am in my 40s and although I am a book lover, the thought of touching books with lots germs in a post-COVID world is not enticing. Same with a buffet, while I love the Lido changes need to be made to feel comfortable... The current thing I love on HAL are the elegance of the ships, the traditional style, Billboard Music venues and BB King, afternoon tea service and some of the restaurant options such as Pinnacle Grill, the Dutch Cafe, and Tamarind. I'd be willing to pay a little more if i knew I was getting a more upscale product, excellent service, better food, some entertainment by the pool (not a hairy leg contest but a live band would be nice), and more production shows but in smaller venue on small - mid sized ships.  

28 minutes ago, slidergirl said:

If you had the discretionary funds, done any way, you are still far better off.  If you need those funds to pay your rent, perhaps you shouldn't have put it down for a cruise; you would have cancelled earlier to get your money back.  Just sayin.'  "discretionary" means not necessary for life's necessities.

 

If you want, engage an attorney to try to get you to the front of the refund line.   

Of course, I was just waiting for someone to reply with a snarky remark about money... didn’t take long. 🙄 Thanks Dave Ramsey! Luckily I’m still working & being paid, but I do have compassion for folks who are not & need their money back ASAP. I’m guessing some retirees are also stressed about $ since the stock market tanked. 

13 minutes ago, slidergirl said:

This is pretty much a First World Problem.   We're waiting for our discretionary spending money back from a cruise line.   There are people waiting for their first unemployment check to be processes after 10 weeks (Hello Florida), there are people waiting for that $1200US check from the Feds, so they can pay their rent, their mortgage, feed their family.

 

Perspective people, please.  

Many of us who are waiting for refunds are not wealthy. Some may have saved up for years, or were making monthly payments in increments over time, or maybe chose a vacation over other purchases. Some maybe were working & now have lost their job & need those extra funds to get by to pay the rent. It’s not outrageous to expect some basic communication from any company that is holding onto your $. 

11 minutes ago, Nymich said:

60 days since you submitted the request but not 60 days from sail date which is what we heard when HAL bottomed out and had to cancel our March cruise.  Either way terrible follow up job with no communication at all.  

 

I actually really don’t know which it is... 60 after cancellation paperwork or sail date and seeing that nobody on CC has really gotten their refund yet it’s a guess! 

5 hours ago, dave34 said:

My TA was told today it may be 90-180 days from date of cruise, June 14, for cash refund. Starting my credit card dispute tomorrow. 

We submitted our refund paperwork on 3/20 for our HAL canceled 4/5 cruise. Our TA confirmed with HAL on 4/1 that paperwork was received. A follow up call was made yesterday to our TA and he now says he is hearing 90-180 days for refunds from HAL.  I'm just hoping against hope that this is for the more recently canceled cruises and the initial wave of 30 day cruising pause is still held to the 60 day refund. I guess I will find out as we are coming up on the 60 days in another 2 weeks.