cfly

so can you eat your whole meal at just one restaurant if you prefer, like people typically do.

Appetizer, main and dessert and coffee. I understand if you want a later dessert elsewhere, but is this a good deal if you don't want to interrupt your meal

Thanks for the info! I think I will prepurchase the internet package, and book dinners onboard with OBC.

If I book a specialty dinner in advance , just to make sure I get my desired time, once I am onboard can I request that my credit card be refunded for the cost of the dinner, and have it charged to my OBC instead. Could I also do that with a purchase of an unlimited internet package? Thanks.

thanks for the info-it is reassuring. It sounds like we probably won't have to wait too long.

We will be doing ATD on Crown Princess. I have read many posts but still have some questions so thanks for your responses.

I know that we can call day of starting at 8am to reserve a time, but we will generally be off the ship by then so that will not be an option for us.

We are a couple and are happy to eat at a table for 8 each night. Many nights we will be happy to eat at 5:30. If we just show up at the MDR at that time are we likely to have a long wait? more than 15 minutes?  What about eating later on a long port day-say after 7pm? Will there be a long wait then? I read that Princess changes its dining on long port days so that everyone is on ATD. Is that true-no one has reservations? We usually like to see the early shows so we will want to be finished dinner early enough to get to the theatre venues for decent seats. Is getting into the shows an issue too?  

Some nights we plan to book specialty dining but there are no times between 5:30 and 7:30. Does this mean they are all sold or that we are likely to be able to get such a time on the ship?

yes I willget it onboard instead. thanks

just bought the card. thanks for all your advice

your experience sounds positive. I hope I have the same. Is there a line up/wait for shuttles? Did you just take a taxi back at the end of the day?

On 3/16/2019 at 2:46 PM, ChattTenn said:

We were on the Royal Princess (2018) first sailing into Dublin May 4. Princess had a free shuttle to down town Dublin and dropped us across from Merrion Square/Park and it was a short walk to the Trinity College (on Nassau Street).  On our sailing Princess changed the arrival time to 2 PM (due to the tide) and we got a ticket for 4PM and had a few minute to spare once arrived at the place and we were on the 2nd bus leaving port and did not see too many taxi around the port that day due to a free shuttle. 

We do not know if they would let you in if you are a few minutes late, they did not check our ticket too much.  The line for online ticket is on the left and no ticket would be on the right and moving very fast.

The Old Library is upstairs in the same building with the Book of Kells.  There was no time limited on viewing the Book of Kells or the Old Library.

Hope the above information helpful.

Have a good cruise.

ps:  Our ship backed in to Dublin (whole trip) as I understood no place to turn around once reached to Dublin.

thanks for the info.I hadn't considered the ship not docking on time. That would certainlymess upplans.

I will be on Crown Princess on Monday July 15 and it arrives at 11am. Disembarking starts at 11:30. If I want to get off right away should I go to the disembarkation point at 11am? If I take a taxi right to the gates of Trinity College would I be able to get to the book of Kells by 12pm?  How long will the taxi take and what will it cost, approximately? I will buy a ticket online in advance. If I am a few minutes late for the 12pm entry will I still be able to get in? I am thinking about 1 hour in the Old Library and then the 30 minute tour of Trinity College. I could switch to doing the tour of Trinity College first, and then the library but I am worried the Trinity College tour will go over 30 minutes and interfere with my Book of Kells ticket timing. Any comments are appreciated.

52 minutes ago, vjblk said:

We were on the Royal Princess and we were at the dining room getting our tender tickets a little before 8 and we were on the bus by 8:25.  There was traffic and we were at the drop off point at 9:20.  We only stayed in town long enough to go through the castle and ride the hop on hop off bus for their whole loop. We walked through some shops and got back on the bus around 1:20 and were back at the pier at 1:40.   At that time traffic was much better but if you go later you want to allow enough time for traffic.  I believe their brochure tells you what time the last shuttle leaves to get you back in time. 

thanks. It sounds like you didn't have an issue with waiting for tenders at all, although from what I have read elsewhere your experience sounds unusually good.

23 minutes ago, vjblk said:

Are you in South Queensferry?  If so, last year there was a shuttle bus that ran from the pier to St Andrew sq for about £6.  We then walked to near the Info center and caught the hop on hop off bus and got off up near the Castle. (we had pre purchased tickets for the castle) Then we reboarded and road it around for an overview tour.  Here is a link to last years info. We found it a good way to get into Edinburgh from South Queensferry.  https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2534675-new-shuttle-bus-service-to-edinburgh-from-queensferry-2018/    

 

so it seems like I can easily get to Edinburgh but can you remember how long it took to get off the ship/was there a long wait for independent passengers before they could get off? What time did you get back to the port in order to tender back?

3 minutes ago, Wandering_star said:

They usually prioritize the Princess excursion passengers first - so taking the excursion would get you on a tender first thing in the morning.  

 

A couple of years ago there was an independent shuttle that run from the tender dock and dropped off at Charlotte Square (just off of Princes Street). At the time the cost was 10 pounds per person for a return ticket. It only took about 20 minutes and they ran shuttles all day (this was on a Saturday, so weekday traffic may take longer). Hopefully someone who in Edinburgh last year (or later this year) can verify if this is still operating.  The drop off location was great as it's a short (but steep!) walk up to the Castle and Royal Mile. 

 

To maximize your time and budget in Edinburgh, consider buying your attraction tickets before you leave home... we waited in line for 30 minutes to buy tickets to the Castle, and this was just as it was opening.

 

Happy Travels!

Thanks for the info. How long before ship departure did you return to the dock?

I am on  Crown Princess July 12 tendering in Ed, 7am-7pm. They offer an Explore Edinburgh on your own tour for $69, departing port at 8:30, and lreturning at 3:15 back in port at 4pm. It is more money than the train but I can cope with that. My goal is to maximize time in the city and minimize stress. I could take the train myself and tender off the ship by 8am, and then depart E. at 4:30 or 5pm. This would give me an extra 60 or 90 mins. in the city. But is that too late to return, given that I have to tender back to the ship. Is it realistic to plan to be on a tender by 8am? Would the Princess excursion end up actually giving me more time in Edinburgh? Comments welcome and appreciated.

Thanks for the info!

I have a large OBC for a British Isles Cruise on Crown Princess and am thinking of purchasing the coffee package. Will I be able to order specialty coffee in the MDR or specialty dining venues and use this card? If I want to buy a coffee elsewhere on sea days will specialty coffees  be available in various locations, without long lines?  How is the regular coffee in the MDR?

thanks JMSquared.We may follow the plan you have written. I would like to both walk and ferry.

thanks for all the input. I think we will take a taxi directly to Vasa in the morning. We might want to take the ferry over to Old Town just to have the experience. Is there a place to buy a single travel ticket right there before we board? We do want to see the Royal Palace horse show so will try to time it right by leaving Vasa at 11:30 .

thank you so much for that helpful information. Our ship docks at 8 am so I am assuming I will be able to follow the painted line to the MS Emilie, and pay onboard, even if I have to wait a bit for the boat. Do you think it will be packed with cruise passengers doing this? I have two more questions. What is the best way to get fromVasa to the Palace-I am thinking ataxi will be fastest.

To return to the ship from Gamla |Stan can I take a boat from Slussen or would a taxi be better? Thanks again.

I am docking at Statsgarden and want to go to the Vasa first, and then to Gamla Stan.

When I look at the M/S Emelie website I don't see any info on how to get a single trip from the dock to Vasa . Can you please post more details on where the stop is in relation to the cruise ships. Otherwise I am thinking that a taxi would be the easiest option although it would be nice to try the ferry.

We will be docking at Stadsgarden 167 at 8am and want to go to Vasa early in the morning , then to the Royal Palace for the changing of the guard, and then walk around Gamla Stan before our ship departs at 5pm.

I am thinking that a taxi will be the quickest and most cost effective for 2 people. It looks like the HOHO boat would be about twice the cost of this since we would have to buy two 24 hour tickets.

Does anyone know if there is a single ticket to Vasa option in July? Any suggestions are appreciated.

We will be disembarking from Zuiderdam in Copenhagen in July, and will be spending an overnight there. We want to use AirLuggage Copenhagen to transfer our luggage from port to hotel. I need to give them a time to meet us at the dock to hand over our luggage. We want to carry our luggage off ourselves because we think it will be more convenient and spare us time. So if we are self disembarking can we choose the time, so that we leave our cabin around 9am. Will there be a long wait at Customs at that time? We don't want to get off at 7am when it appears some self disembarkation starts, since we really don't need to be anywhere that early.

Thanks for your advice.

glad to help! maybe you should consider changing hotels?

Our cruise leaves Copenhagen on a Saturday at 5 pm. We may want to spend time in the city before boarding, because I can't see any advantage to being on the ship early. Are there good reasons to board early? What time should we leave the downtown area to begin boarding, if we are not interested in getting to the ship early. How long will the boarding process take?

Has anyone used Airluggage Copenhagen to ship bags from the hotel directly to the cruise ship? They say your bags will arrive securely in your cabin. Also they can pick your bags up from the ship and send them to your hotel so you don't need to take them to your post cruise hotel and can check into your hotel later.

Any feedback is welcome.

thanks for the feedback on Skansen. I think the other two spots will be enough for a great day.