Cruising the British Isles

[crop junkie]

My husband and I are looking into a 12 cruise around the British Isles in August 2011. Someone has just told me that it is a pretty rough sailing and a couple of ports they couldn't dock because of this. Does anyone have any first hand knowledge of British Isles cruising?

 

Wendy

[5fathom]

Last year we went back to back 12 day British Isles and 12 day Western Europe. This was in July and we experienced no rough seas and missed no ports. The only rain we encountered was in Belfast Ireland and a few places in Scotland. Don,t worry about rough seas. Enjoy the cruise.

[paul929207]

We have taken a couple of cruises around the British Isles and never had a problem. We never missed a port.

[BobT172]

We sailed the British Isles on the Crown in July 2009. ZERO rough seas.... it was great weather too. Never had a port problem...

 

The only thing we didn't like about the cruise was the casino was closed probably 60-70% of the time due to being in British waters most of the time.

[Stevesan]

We sailed the British Isles on the Crown in July 2009. ZERO rough seas.... it was great weather too. Never had a port problem...

 

The only thing we didn't like about the cruise was the casino was closed probably 60-70% of the time due to being in British waters most of the time.

 

You should be grateful. :rolleyes:

[Love the beach]

We just did the Aug. 22nd sailing and only had some heavy seas on our first night out---had to miss our first port of Gurnsey since it is a tender port and the seas were too rough but after that we had very calm seas & great weather for the rest of the trip.

[montreallawgirl]

My traveling companion and I just recently came back from the British Isles cruise of August 10 - 21. We were very fortunate in that we had wonderful weather with only about 1-1/2 total days of mist/rain. As for the choppy waters, we felt it a bit one night, but it was nothing to really upset anyone. The Crown Princess is HUGE, 19 decks in all and is an absolute delight to sail on. Also, the ports of call were amazing.

So go ahead, book it and enjoy!:)

[junglejane]

We did this cruise in July 2009 and it was fantastic. We encountered a little bit of misty rain, but not enough to be a problem. No rough seas to speak of. Go for it!

[crop junkie]

Thanks for your quick input everyone. That puts our mind at rest. I know there are never any guarantees as far as weather goes, but it is nice to have good feedback.

 

Wendy

[jkocpa]

My husband and I are looking into a 12 cruise around the British Isles in August 2011. Someone has just told me that it is a pretty rough sailing and a couple of ports they couldn't dock because of this. Does anyone have any first hand knowledge of British Isles cruising?

 

Wendy

 

We did this cruise in late June - early July of 2009. Wonderful, smooth weather except the last night coming across the channel from France. But, the NOrth Sea (where I had expected rough seas) was smooth as glass. Loved the late sunsets too. Great to be sitting in Crooners by the big windows, and watching a sunset at 10 p.m. or later. Wonderful, wonderful cruise. Enjoy

[hcat]

aside from the weather issues, I am wondering if many people book this cruise closer to the sailing dates?

 

we are booked for July 16, 2011 & have only a few on our CC roll. Some have cancelled. It is making it difficult plan private group excursions & makes we wonder if there is a large group on board we are not aware of..

 

This is a big trip for us & we have already booked our air & hotel. Thought many others would do the same...Perhaps the economy is having an effect and more Europeans will take advantage of this itin & can book later on...

 

prices have not gone down any so I am not sure if bookings are slow????

 

just wondering

[junglejane]

Hcat, I'm like you and plan, plan, plan many months in advance. But I think lots of people just book the cruise and then forget about it until much closer to the sailing date. We had an active Roll Call for our July 2009 sailing, but it didn't really get going until the spring. And you wouldn't believe how many people made their first appearances on the Roll Call in the last two weeks, hoping to join in private tours.

 

I also remember having the impression that there were quite a few Eastern Europeans on board.

 

Also, our cruise had a significant price drop in January. It always pays to keep watching the prices.

[bphman]

HCAT, we are also booked on that cruise. I will eventually go to the Roll Call but it is pretty far out. I have a friend in from London and asked about the terrorist scare and she did not make much of it. I am sure that it will deter some but lets not forget that the same warnings apply here at home. Hope to see you on board.

[bphman]

By the way, the President is coming to our sleepy little town tonight for a fund raiser. Have already heard the helicopters hovering in preparation.

[hcat]

HCAT, we are also booked on that cruise. I will eventually go to the Roll Call but it is pretty far out. I have a friend in from London and asked about the terrorist scare and she did not make much of it. I am sure that it will deter some but lets not forget that the same warnings apply here at home. Hope to see you on board.

 

Hope you'll sign up on the roll call--to chat & maybe help plan some of the ports.. We are not deterred by the threats--living near NYC they are a constant in our lives. The economy is why several couples cancelled--

 

We and another couple have already planned a nice trip in one of the ports (Cobh) & got an early price of only $20 per person with Butler's Busses.. The other couple is looking for folks to share a Paris excursion & something in Liverpool..

 

We usually prefer ship's excursions but some are very expensive & in some ports not that inspiring....we are looking for someone to go on a nice excursion in Invergordon--group of 4 or 6. It is seems better than the ones with the cruise line for that port..

 

Anyhow, we look forward to your joining us on the roll call ! the first few pages are kind of slow but it will get better!!

[hcat]

Hcat, I'm like you and plan, plan, plan many months in advance. But I think lots of people just book the cruise and then forget about it until much closer to the sailing date. We had an active Roll Call for our July 2009 sailing, but it didn't really get going until the spring. And you wouldn't believe how many people made their first appearances on the Roll Call in the last two weeks, hoping to join in private tours.

 

I also remember having the impression that there were quite a few Eastern Europeans on board.

 

Also, our cruise had a significant price drop in January. It always pays to keep watching the prices.

 

Thanks for the encouragement-- we will keep checking for price drops! that'd be a very nice thing!!!

[Pam in CA]

We did the British Isles last year and a T/A last month. Last year, we had pretty good weather and made all our ports. Last month, the storms in the Irish Sea were so bad we were kept docked in Dublin for an extra 24 hours, missing Belfast. Which was a good thing because HAL's Prinsendam got caught in the same storm and reported a Force 12 gale which broke 50 of the ship's windows. That kind of weather is highly unusual so I don't want you to think it could happen to you. The bottom line is that there is no way to predict the weather and you can, and might, miss a port.

[Posaune]

We have done this cruise twice and made every port and had decent (for the British Isles) weather. In 2009 we cruised in late August and never really felt like we were on a ship, and the trip right after ours had horrible weather. They missed a couple of ports and take an alternate route back to Southampton. This year the end of August-early September cruise also had a bit of rough weather.