British Isles Trip Review w/Pics: A Thesis :)

[cruis247g]

Thank you so much for your thesis! I am thoroughly enjoying every morsel of information and entertainment. I'm also a planner -- "Have binder, will travel!"

 

We're scheuled for the CB Norwegian Fjords/Iceland cruise this summer, but since reading your review I keep trying to figure out how we could do a B2B with the British Isles!! After all, we'll already be in Southampton:p. We may have to wait on that one, however, I'm traveling vicariously through your review.

 

Thank you:)!

[loma linda ca a & j]

Thank you so much for your thesis! I am thoroughly enjoying every morsel of information and entertainment. I'm also a planner -- "Have binder, will travel!"

 

We're scheuled for the CB Norwegian Fjords/Iceland cruise this summer, but since reading your review I keep trying to figure out how we could do a B2B with the British Isles!! After all, we'll already be in Southampton:p. We may have to wait on that one, however, I'm traveling vicariously through your review.

 

Thank you:)!

 

if you can possibly swing it - $$ and timewise, while you're already there, do it !!;)

[etsmom]

Thanks so much for all your time posting this. I will be on a transatlantic in September and we stop at Dublin, Belfast and Greenock, so really loved your description of those ports. Did you by chance keep copies of the "shopping maps" that they usually pass out on ship? Could you post those along with your Patters, if you have them? :D

[DeloreanGirl]

Thank you so much for your thesis! I am thoroughly enjoying every morsel of information and entertainment. I'm also a planner -- "Have binder, will travel!"

 

We're scheuled for the CB Norwegian Fjords/Iceland cruise this summer, but since reading your review I keep trying to figure out how we could do a B2B with the British Isles!! After all, we'll already be in Southampton:p. We may have to wait on that one, however, I'm traveling vicariously through your review.

 

Thank you:)!

 

if you can possibly swing it - $$ and timewise, while you're already there, do it !!;)

 

I agree with lomalindacaa&j!!

 

Thanks so much for all your time posting this. I will be on a transatlantic in September and we stop at Dublin, Belfast and Greenock, so really loved your description of those ports. Did you by chance keep copies of the "shopping maps" that they usually pass out on ship? Could you post those along with your Patters, if you have them? :D

 

I didn't save them, sorry. Actually, I don't think I saw shopping maps, really. There was just a paper insert inside the patters that had a story about the port with some currency information or highlights and the map on the back. It didn't have numbers for shops like Caribbean cruises have. In fact, I was thrilled to go on a cruise that didn't involve Diamond International or Del Sol.

 

If you wanted to do shopping on this itinerary, you had to figure it out on your own.

 

Guernsey = didn't see souvenirs but i'm sure they are in the shops on the main street

Cobh = small souvenir stores on the main street

Dublin = busy city with lots of stores, not sure if they had touristy stuff but I'd assume they do

Liverpool = the Albert Dock area had shopping

Belfast = didn't get to head into Belfast proper

Greenock = no souvenir stores but there is a mall in the heart of town

Inverness = we were out of town that day but Inverness is supposed to have shopping

Edinburgh = shoppers paradise down the Royal Mile

France = no matter where you go I'm sure there are stores

Edited June 18, 2012 by DeloreanGirl

[DeloreanGirl]

Edinburgh: The Most Beautiful City, Ever. (Day 10)

 

If there is one port in which you do get off the ship and make your way into the main town, please let this one be it. Edinburgh is worth every minute of effort you put into getting to the city, for it is GORGEOUS.

 

The cruise ship anchors in the Firth of Forth, right near the Firth of Forth bridge in which trains rumble across every 15 minutes. It’s the second and last tender day to get ashore into the small town of South Queensferry.

 

{Observation:} I noticed on the back of the Patter it says “allow at least 45 minutes for the tender ride.” What? Who? Where are you sailing to? France? The shore is right there...you can see it! It’s not a 45-minute tender ride. It’s 7-8 minutes, tops. So don’t freak out if you read that on the bottom of the Patter.

 

I saw three tenders working this day to drop off passengers. There was also a large boat, the “Maid of the Forth” that can hold quite a bit of people which looked to be hovering near our ship, ready to help out.

 

The tender pulls up alongside a giant cement docking ramp in South Queensferry. This town looks to be small but we didn’t have time to visit it as our day was to be spent solely in Edinburgh.

 

How to get into Edinburgh, let me count the ways?

This caused way more hoopla than it had to, so here is what I found:

 

1. Princess Cruise Line Transfer: $59.00/per person just for the 30-minute bus ride.

2. Princess Cruise Line Excursion: $79-$179/per person depending on the tour.

3. Private taxi or van, price split among passengers.

4. ScotRail train: 4.40 pounds/ per person for a 12-minute ride.

 

Can you guess which one we did? I’ll give you two guesses but you’ll only need one.

 

 

 

 

Yep, we took the train.

 

What scares people off from taking the 12-minute journey into the center of Edinburgh are “The Stairs”. Yes, worthy of caps and quotes, “The Stairs” are much talked about and people loathe and fear “The Stairs”. Even the professional port lecturer, Ken Broadhurst (who I wish I could record reading the dictionary because his voice was so soothing it could put me to sleep, in a good way) was speaking to a group of people near the Shore Excursions desk one night and when he mentioned the train and that people would encounter “The Stairs”, they would gasp and shake their heads as if it required a passage along a wooden rickety bridge with fiery lava and dragons below.

 

Unless you have a cane, wheelchair, or oxygen machine with you, I’m going to go out on a limb here and let you know that “The Stairs” are not that bad. Yes, I know some people have mobility issues. Yes, I know some are incredibly out of shape. Heck, I’m horribly out of shape. But once we saw the stairs, it was one of those, “Wait… this is it? This is them? This isn’t that bad!” moments.

 

 

 

 

The story (or shall I use “legend”?) about the stairs is that there are 109 of them that are steep. Honestly, it did not feel like I walked up 109 steps and there were worse and steeper stairs in Greenock and on the Caribbean Princess herself.

 

To get to Dalmeney train station, you exit the tender dock, head to the left up the road until you see a sign with an arrow and then walk into a wooded area until you reach the steps. The stairs are simply flattened dirt squares with some wood holding them up. They are very wide, so that you could stand on each “step” with both feet and rest if you wanted to. You are surrounded by a mini forest with birds chirping and there is shade all over. You can see the top of the stairs from the bottom of the hill.

 

Once you reach the top of the stairs (you can do the Rocky dance here, go ahead) there is a bit of a nature walk through a wooded area with a dirt path over to the train station. Do not get sidetracked and veer off towards the right into the subdivision. If you find yourself in the subdivision, you veered off path. Simply go back to the wooded dirt path and you will reach the train station. The walk from the tender boats to the train station is probably a ½ mile.

 

What I’m about to attach below is (I’m trying not to pat myself on the back here) EXTREMELY IMPORTANT. If you are in any way, shape, or form going to take the train, here is your DeloreanGirl hand-drawn and approved walking map. You’ll thank me later, as you’ll be getting to the station correctly and not getting lost in the subdivision as I saw others almost do.

 

 

Once you are at Dalmeney station (and by “station”, I mean a kiosk that takes credit cards only and a train platform – no employees) you put in your card and purchase a “return ticket”. Simply touch the screen and tap the upper left corner where it says “Edinburgh Return Trip” which should cost roughly 4.40 pounds a person. Wait for it to print and make sure to collect your train tickets for both rides in the tray below. It will print out 3 orange paper tickets: One is for your trip out to Waverley (Edinburgh) Station, one ticket for you to hang on to for your return back to Dalmeney, and then a receipt.

 

Walk over the bridge and wait on the opposite side of the ticket kiosk for the ScotRail train. Then, hop on and enjoy the super fast ride! The train will make two quick stops at small stations before reaching Edinburgh Waverley Station. One is called South Gyle and the other is Haymarket. Just hang out and wait for the doors to open and close. There is no verbal announcement of what station is next until you get near Edinburgh. Waverley is large and indoors and I believe it’s the end of the line.

 

Once you arrive in Edinburgh Waverley Station, you’ll notice it’s a bit under construction. They have big signs saying “WAY OUT”. Just follow those and you’ll reach the large open-air exit. Once you walk up a flight of stairs, you’ll be greeted to the bustling streets of Edinburgh and the beginning of the most photographically beautiful city I’ve ever seen in my life.

 

I don’t even remember how I found my wait to the castle. We passed by the giant park and the part of town with the museums (and bumped into some UK Cruise Critic members – hi!) then simply made our way uphill and to the right until we saw the castle walls.

 

As mentioned in the first post of this review. Please, please, please, please do yourself a favor and buy your Edinburgh Castle tickets online before your trip. The line to buy tickets outside the castle was easily over an hour long. It looked miserable. We simply walked through the arched entrance of the castle on the left hand side where an employee scanned the barcode on our e-mail and that was all it took to grand you access to the castle. Well worth buying ahead of time!

 

For lack of better words, Edinburgh Castle is like the Disneyland of Scotland. It’s incredibly popular and people from all over the world come to visit it. It was a bank holiday for the Queen’s Jubilee when we were there so it may have been more crowded than usual, but not so much that we felt overwhelmed. There’s not much more to explain about the castle. It’s truly amazing and there is lots and lots to see. We didn’t spend as much time there as I thought. I was expecting to have lunch there and drop a good 3+ hours but honestly I think we felt we had seen it all (including the 1pm cannon fire) in about 90 minutes or so. We went inside some of the mini-museums but did not wait in the long line for the Crown Jewels. They were already building the huge, sturdy bleachers for the Military Tattoo in August!

 

 

 

Once we were finished with the castle, I was very excited to head down the mile-long stretch of the picturesque tourist trap known as The Royal Mile. This is the part of our day where Mike and I had our jaws on the floor. The entire stretch of The Royal Mile is downright gorgeous. I would crash CrusieCritic’s server if I were allowed to post all the pictures here that I took. The way they have preserved the old part of town and kept it looking as if you were in a 1700’s fairytale is astounding. You can truly stare down the street and imagine yourself with a horse and cart or walking down a cobblestone road with troops. It was incredible.

 

 

 

We stepped in and out of each store. They all carry pretty much the same things (plaid scarves, Scottish fudge, shot glasses, tartans, postcards, t-shirts, etc.). When you reach the end of the Royal Mile, you will find yourself standing in front of the Palace of Holyrood House which is where the Queen stays when she is in town. I regret not buying tickets for this place as it looked fascinating. The gift shop nearby had charming souvenirs and tons of Buckingham Palace soaps and lotions that I wish I had grabbed. Across from Holyrood House resides the Scottish Parliament in the newfangled modern building which I personally think is a huge eyesore.

 

At this point, we headed back up Calton Road which parallels the main roads and leads back up to Edinburgh Waverley station. Leaving from Edinburgh Waverley is very confusing because Waverley is massive (like a small airport) and there are electronic signs everywhere for trains going all over the country. I believe Platform 1 is the platform you need to find the ScotRail train back to Dalmeney (South Queensferry). There are employees all over the station that were very helpful. I panicked fearing that we might be on the wrong train until I saw the handy dandy blue Princess Cruise Line tote bags being carried by others on the train.

 

{Observation:} Whenever you think you’re lost in a town, just follow someone with those bright blue Princess tote bags!

 

Our train had a bit of a malfunction and we had to sit on it for a while before it started up and headed back towards the Firth of Forth. Once off, we trekked through the shady woods and back down the stairs towards the quaint town of South Queensferry and into a very short line (3 minutes, I clocked it) back onto the tenders.

 

What’s really fun about being anchored in the Firth of Forth is that the ship did a complete 360-degree turn (in place!) with its thrusters before heading back out to sea. It was really neat to be out on the balcony and see the rear slide one way and the bow pull to the other side. If only someone on land had a time lapse camera!

 

I can’t remember much of what went on that night, but I do know that we were extremely excited about the next day, our Sea Day, as we were one of the 12 lucky enough to do the “Ultimate Ship Tour”!

 

 

 

 

 

 

To view all of my Edinburgh photos, you can visit: http://photobucket.com/edinburgh2012

For all of the Princess Patters, including Edinburgh, you can visit: http://photobucket.com/princesspattersbritishisles

 

Movies Under The Stars = “We Bought A Zoo”, “Metropolis”, “In Time”.

Theater: “The Kings Speech” (movie) and “International Crew Show” (I would tell you how I feel about this one but I’d lose readers.)

 

 

 

Next Chapter = Second Sea Day & Ultimate Ship Tour! (Day 11)

Edited June 18, 2012 by DeloreanGirl

[caribill]

Edinburgh:

{Observation:} I noticed on the back of the Patter it says “allow at least 45 minutes for the tender ride.” What? Who? Where are you sailing to? France? The shore is right there...you can see it! It’s not a 45-minute tender ride. It’s 7-8 minutes, tops. So don’t freak out if you read that on the bottom of the Patter.

 

The 45 minutes they say to allow may be because of a possible wait to get on a tender before the actual 8 minute ride.

[80pence]

Aaah, I love Edinburgh, what a fabulous city. You've prompted me into action to get back there soon (no excuses really, it's only a couple of hours away from us!)

 

Have to agree with you about the Parliament. Not my cup of tea, and it certainly doesn't fit in with the rest of the Royal Mile. Maybe that's the idea, I'm no architect.

[pizzalady1]

Were there taxis waiting at the tender dock? Did you hear anyone say how much the taxi ride was?

 

Really loving this, thanks.

[nostalgiaguru]

Were there taxis waiting at the tender dock? Did you hear anyone say how much the taxi ride was?

 

Really loving this, thanks.

 

I didn't see taxis, but the port city provides bus rides to Edinburgh for 10 GBPs round trip, that's what we did. And, it's there right on the port.

[nostalgiaguru]

Emily, if you go to the Princess Roll Call board and sort by number of replies, the Roll Call for this cruise that you started over a year ago is the sixth most active roll call ever on the board! I think that's cool! Thanks so much for getting us together and organized - we owe it all to you!

 

Roll Call thread http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1396977#

[JeffandMelissa]

Were there taxis waiting at the tender dock? Did you hear anyone say how much the taxi ride was?

 

Really loving this, thanks.

 

Pizzalady - Like Emily and Mike, Jeff and I did the train going into Edinburgh. The Steps were definitely manageable and Jeff and I are no means crazy fit.

 

We toured the Palace of Holyrood House...fabulous. It was my favorite tour of all the ports. Just a wonderful presentation.

 

We were too lazy :o to make it back up the Mile to Waverly Train station, so we took a taxi from Holyrood back to the ship tenders. 19.50 GBP for the two of us, and we were the only ones in the cab.

 

I hope that helps!

Melissa

 

One more thing....there were taxis waiting at the tender docks when we got off the ship. And finding a taxi in the city was easy as well...walked out of Holyrood and across the street was the taxis lined up.

Edited June 18, 2012 by JeffandMelissa
Added one more thing...

[jambocam]

We came down to see the CB on 4 June at Sth Queensferry as it was the 1st anniversary of us boarding her in NYC for our Honeymoon cruise in the Carib.

 

Weird seeing her on our doorstep.

 

Watched her rotate and depart but sorry never thought of videoing it.

 

Stills attached. As you can see there was a wee Tug helping her round.

 

 

 

 

I'm glad that you enjoyed Edinburgh so much. We tend to take it a bit for granted.

 

You are lucky you were on the stop of 4 June, however. CB was due back in Sth Queensferry on Saturday (16 June) but skipped the whole stopover. The weather was absolutely horrendous so I guess it was not safe to negotiate the Firth of Forth (although I have not seen an explanation anywhere).

 

Sorry for everyone who travelled so far but missed out on Edinburgh. But as we say "if it's not raining, then it is just about to". You don't come here for the weather.

 

By the way, the review and photos are great.

[DeloreanGirl]

Were there taxis waiting at the tender dock? Did you hear anyone say how much the taxi ride was?

 

Really loving this, thanks.

 

I thought I heard a guy say "Shuttles here, ten pounds" but I wasn't sure if it was legit or not. Thanks to nostalgiaguru's comment, it looks like they were.

 

Emily, if you go to the Princess Roll Call board and sort by number of replies, the Roll Call for this cruise that you started over a year ago is the sixth most active roll call ever on the board! I think that's cool! Thanks so much for getting us together and organized - we owe it all to you!

 

Roll Call thread http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1396977#

 

Sixth most active roll call ever, really?!?! WOW! :eek: Maybe it's because a few of us are still chatting even after the trip is over?! I'll have to take a screen-shot of that statistic, that is awesome!

 

We came down to see the CB on 4 June at Sth Queensferry as it was the 1st anniversary of us boarding her in NYC for our Honeymoon cruise in the Carib.

 

Weird seeing her on our doorstep.

 

Watched her rotate and depart but sorry never thought of videoing it.

 

Stills attached. As you can see there was a wee Tug helping her round.

 

[ATTACH]237003[/ATTACH]

 

[ATTACH]237004[/ATTACH]

 

 

I'm glad that you enjoyed Edinburgh so much. We tend to take it a bit for granted.

 

You are lucky you were on the stop of 4 June, however. CB was due back in Sth Queensferry on Saturday (16 June) but skipped the whole stopover. The weather was absolutely horrendous so I guess it was not safe to negotiate the Firth of Forth (although I have not seen an explanation anywhere).

 

Sorry for everyone who travelled so far but missed out on Edinburgh. But as we say "if it's not raining, then it is just about to". You don't come here for the weather.

 

By the way, the review and photos are great.

 

Thank you for the photos! I'll be saving them. So the cruise after us missed Edinburgh altogether? :eek: :( :( That is so sad to hear. That sailing has been cursed with problems. First mechanical, then skipping Liverpool. Oy. I think their voyage just ended so I'm curious to see if anyone writes about it. Ugh, poor June 7th'ers.

 

Actually wait, the June 7th people had a mechanical issue and their entire cruise itinerary was bumped ahead by a day. Maybe they ended up in Edinburgh on June 17th?

 

Also, the captain said that we got to do the 360 spin with help from the tug because "there are buoys out here and the tug company owns the buoys". Cleverrrrrr....... ;)

Edited June 18, 2012 by DeloreanGirl

[Mrs Moho]

Thank you for the photos! I'll be saving them. So the cruise after us missed Edinburgh altogether? :eek: :( :( That is so sad to hear. That sailing has been cursed with problems. First mechanical, then skipping Liverpool. Oy. I think their voyage just ended so I'm curious to see if anyone writes about it. Ugh, poor June 7th'ers.

 

Actually wait, the June 7th people had a mechanical issue and their entire cruise itinerary was bumped ahead by a day. Maybe they ended up in Edinburgh on June 17th?

 

Also, the captain said that we got to do the 360 spin with help from the tug because "there are buoys out here and the tug company owns the buoys". Cleverrrrrr....... ;)

 

Hi Emily

 

We're here in Southampton waiting to join CB tomorrow, she's due in in the morning. Yes they def. missed Edinburgh, I had seen the webcam in the morning & it said 'bound for Edinburgh' then around 1 p.m. said Bound for Le Havre, so took from Sat till this morning to get to Le Havre. It really has been a pretty ukk cruise for the passengers. Our m&g organsier for Norway is also on 7 June so will interesting to hear what he has to say when we meet him on Wednesday - hope all goes well tomorrow:D

 

Maureen

.

[Shogun]

Hi There

 

Once upon a time Princess used to do night tenders after the tattoo in the Forth but the safety folks put an end to it,

 

the Forth has very strong tide and if running fast with strong wind would expect any large cruise ship to give it a miss,

 

good news is they are hoping to build a real deep water cruise terminal in the next few years,

 

glad you had a good day in Edinburgh she is a fine old city with much to offer,

 

yours Shogun

[Texas]

Emily, you are such a talented writer -- "where are you sailing to, France?", made me laugh out loud. We are sailing on the Caribbean Princess on 13 August. Love, love, love your travel log. Thanks for all the great info.

Angie

[DeloreanGirl]

Emily, you are such a talented writer -- "where are you sailing to, France?", made me laugh out loud. We are sailing on the Caribbean Princess on 13 August. Love, love, love your travel log. Thanks for all the great info.

Angie

 

Thanks!

 

Not to sound all Miss America, but "if it can help just one person, I'll be happy"!

 

Nobody really wrote a detailed trip review from last year's British Isles sailings that I know of. Most of us had tons of questions not only about the ship but about the ports, transporation, currency, airport, etc etc. and I was hoping that this review would help answer some of that since it's a pretty big journey. :o

[windsor26]

Hi There

 

Once upon a time Princess used to do night tenders after the tattoo in the Forth but the safety folks put an end to it,

 

the Forth has very strong tide and if running fast with strong wind would expect any large cruise ship to give it a miss,

 

good news is they are hoping to build a real deep water cruise terminal in the next few years,

 

glad you had a good day in Edinburgh she is a fine old city with much to offer,

 

yours Shogun

 

When we did the Tattoo from a P&O Iceland cruise the ships tenders were not able to cope and the local larger ships wee used - they said it was to get us back on board quickly but I think that was just an excuse.

[pizzalady1]

Hi There

 

Once upon a time Princess used to do night tenders after the tattoo in the Forth but the safety folks put an end to it,

 

the Forth has very strong tide and if running fast with strong wind would expect any large cruise ship to give it a miss,

 

good news is they are hoping to build a real deep water cruise terminal in the next few years,

 

glad you had a good day in Edinburgh she is a fine old city with much to offer,

 

yours Shogun

 

So, what do they do now in August when hoards of people are coming back from the Tattoo if they are not doing night tendors?

[vaughan]

I thought I heard a guy say "Shuttles here, ten pounds" but I wasn't sure if it was legit or not. Thanks to nostalgiaguru's comment, it looks like they were.

 

 

 

Sixth most active roll call ever, really?!?! WOW! :eek: Maybe it's because a few of us are still chatting even after the trip is over?! I'll have to take a screen-shot of that statistic, that is awesome!

 

 

 

Thank you for the photos! I'll be saving them. So the cruise after us missed Edinburgh altogether? :eek: :( :( That is so sad to hear. That sailing has been cursed with problems. First mechanical, then skipping Liverpool. Oy. I think their voyage just ended so I'm curious to see if anyone writes about it. Ugh, poor June 7th'ers.

 

Actually wait, the June 7th people had a mechanical issue and their entire cruise itinerary was bumped ahead by a day. Maybe they ended up in Edinburgh on June 17th?

 

Also, the captain said that we got to do the 360 spin with help from the tug because "there are buoys out here and the tug company owns the buoys". Cleverrrrrr....... ;)

 

Don't think so about Edinburgh on the 17th - only Geurnsey, Cobh, Dublin would have been affected by change - by skipping Liverpool, all the other stops would have been on schedule --- just shows how lucky we were in not missing either tender port / other port --- a few years ago we were on a five day cruise out of Miami - due to a small plane crash in the "cut" (21 persons died - Dec 2005?) and besides losing a day, our entire itinerary was changed - at least 1/2 of the passengers elected to leave the ship at Miami with full refund - Carnival Imagination.

[WhereIBelong]

OMG Emily!

 

This is absolutely THE BEST REVIEW EVER! DW and I had to cancel the May 14 sailing at the last minute due to her illness. We really really really want to do this cruise later this summer - or next year if we have to wait that long.

 

Is it possible to email your entire review in one document? I would love to save it and read it again before we sail. Of course we won't have your FABULOUS photos.

 

Please let me know if that's possible. I'm at trcoopermail@aol.com.

 

P.S. You should be a travel writer, if you aren't one already...

[High C's]

Wow - what a review! You have such a knack for writing. I have enjoyed this immensely. It really is making me feel like I'm on a cruise, because just like when we are on vacation, I'm starting to feel sad knowing it will soon be over! :(

[Starlaker]

Whereibelong,

 

Copy and paste.

[DeloreanGirl]

OMG Emily!

 

This is absolutely THE BEST REVIEW EVER! DW and I had to cancel the May 14 sailing at the last minute due to her illness. We really really really want to do this cruise later this summer - or next year if we have to wait that long.

 

Is it possible to email your entire review in one document? I would love to save it and read it again before we sail. Of course we won't have your FABULOUS photos.

 

Please let me know if that's possible. I'm at trcoopermail@aol.com.

 

P.S. You should be a travel writer, if you aren't one already...

 

Hi there,

 

Thanks for the compliment, that's so sweet! In a perfect world, that would be a dream job if I was to stay home with a future baby. Seeing as the Princess headquarters is in my town, I'd love to work for them after starting a family. I suppose "I just like helping people" and I have a passion for cruising, so perhaps I'm only good at writing about experiences that I've been on. If that meant that someone would pay me to go on cruises and write about them -- sign me up! :eek: :D

 

I just emailed my parents a huge email that has each chapter's link in URL form (just the post and not all the inbetween comments). So I could send that to you. That way you would only have to read the posts and not scroll through the pages.

 

I write my reports in Word and then copy/paste them and add photos in CruiseCritic later. Unfortunately I throw out the Word file when I'm done. However, I have to copy/paste all the text anyway to put into my Shutterfly scrapbook. So I can send you just the text if that's all you want?

 

Wow - what a review! You have such a knack for writing. I have enjoyed this immensely. It really is making me feel like I'm on a cruise' date=' because just like when we are on vacation, I'm starting to feel sad knowing it will soon be over! :( [/size']

 

I'm feeling sad that it is over. I still have my itinerary and photo tacked up on the corkboard here at work. I'm not ready to take it down yet. :(

Edited June 19, 2012 by DeloreanGirl

[DeloreanGirl]

Sea Day: Ultimate Ship Tour! & LeBlah…I mean, LeHavre, France. (Day 11 & 12)

 

 

By now we were on our 11th day of the trip and, while still absolutely loving every moment of it, were getting tired and spent the day enjoying the ships activities and food. {Observation:} As far as MDR food goes, I personally had the best salmon I’ve ever had in my life and the cheesecake was phenomenal. The only meal I wasn’t thrilled with was the breaded veal and my hubby didn’t like the “Floating Islands” dessert. Otherwise, every meal we consumed in the dining room at night was superb.

 

I had heard rave reviews about the “Ultimate Ship Tour” from others on Princess ships so I knew it was something that my husband and I would be really, really excited to do. From what I read, they only allow around 12 people (but I did hear groups as little as 10 and as much as 20 have gone) so we wanted to make sure we got our names on the list the moment we boarded the ship in Southampton.

 

 

Luckily for us, the list hadn’t even been created yet so the nice Austrian kid (I call him a kid because he looked 12) at the Passenger Services desk added us and called our room to confirm we had made the list. Also lucky for us was that two of our Cruise Critic Roll Call buddies ended up in the group as well (hi Jeff and Melissa!)

{Tip:} When they ask you to write down your size on the list, you might want to put one size smaller than you normally wear (as far as S/M/L/XL goes).

 

I don’t want to give away most of the secrets and surprises of the “Ultimate Ship Tour” because it is WAY TOO COOL and you must experience it for yourself if you have any fascination in how a cruise ship operates. So I will only list the places that they take you and will leave the other surprises for those who choose to go on it. It is $150 per person which I know is steep, but what you see and what you get are very much worth every penny and the tour is 3 hours long. A security guard and ship photographer follow you the entire time and he take pictures in certain places. You aren’t allowed to bring cameras and you must dress appropriately since you’ll visit some chilly places and other passageways so closed-toe shoes and a sweater are a must. You get 15 minutes in each “section” where someone from that department will give you a speech and Q&A in each part of the ship.

 

 

After meeting at the lounge and guided by the Assistant Cruise Director, you will see (in no particular order):

- Backstage, stage lifts, props, dressing room with available dancers. {Photo op!}

 

- Bow area, ropes, anchors (and the officer we met looked exactly like Colin Firth….)

 

- Galley and kitchens, meet the head chef, see how all food is prepped and made fresh daily. {Surprise gift here!}

 

- Laundry, dry cleaning organization, steaming and pressing, towel and sheet folding machine, giant washers and dryers. {Surprise gift here!}

 

- Printing office, see how Patters are made. {Surprise gift here!}

 

- Photo lab, learn how 20,000 photos are orgainzed and distributed and see the machines. {Surprise gift here!}

 

- Medical ward, meet the head doctor, ask crazy questions, see all the rooms. {No free fun pills, we asked.}

 

- Food storage, giant refrigerators, all the boxes of cold foods, explanation of food ordering, meat freezer.

 

- Engineering room, marvel at all the buttons and beeping. This is where I opened my big mouth and asked about Caribbean Princess’ broken left propulsion engine which the head engineer glazed over at first. I also asked about the lack of azipod motors. Lets just say he had no idea that there’s a website full of folks that were onto their every move. {Photo op!}

 

- Crew quarters, hidden hallways, fun stuff.

 

- The Bridge. Wow! So awesome! A good half hour with the Captain and First Officer. Caviar, appetizers, champagne, a small speech about how everything works, a Q&A session, and a bucket-list moment for Mike and I as we soaked up as much alone time with Captain Manfuso as possible. Someone brought up the Costa Concordia disaster and they are very mum on the subject (probably because Costa and Princess are under the Carnival Corporation umbrella). I had some questions about the stabilizers and asked the Captain what his favorite itinerary to sail was (Mediterranean). The view from the bridge is stunning and we could have spent forever up there asking endless questions. {Photo op!}

 

 

So that, without giving all the goodies away, is the “Ultimate Ship Tour”. I’m sure I forgot a stop in there somewhere and I’ll sit bolt upright at 3am and remember it. But if you have any sort of passion or fascination with cruise ships, this is the crème de la crème of tours. I’m so glad we put our money towards this instead of a land excursion. It was cruise ship geekery at its finest and I highly recommend it.

 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

LeBlah, I mean… LeHavre, France:

 

Anyone who was on my May 26th Roll Call knows that I went through various stages of enthusiasm about our France stop. For the first 8-9 months, it was, “We’re gonna do Paris! We’re taking the 2-hour high-speed train! It’s only $30 round-trip! This is awesome! I’ll just run from sight to sight!” Then, I did the math and realized that between the train schedule and riding the Metro and walking from the Eiffel Tower to Notre Dame left me only 2.5 hours to see the city. In my mind, it seemed fun and doable but one month out from the start of the trip I became restless and exhausted and didn’t want to chance not making it back to the ship on time and being stuck overnight in a country that hated Americans.

 

So I changed my tune. I decided that Paris is best visited when you have, gee, a little more than 150 minutes to give to it, and decided that we’d visit a local area which is much less stressful: Honfleur. I was excited to visit a small, seaside town that looked charming with its old wooden church, sailboats, and vintage carousel. Then, when it came to researching how to get to Honfleur, there were more snags. Buses weren’t as plentiful as I thought and I worried about trying to get on one without knowing the language, cabs were really pricey and wouldn’t return e-mails, and I was left booking the Princess excursion which only went from 8am to noon.

 

It wasn’t until we got our excusion tickets on the ship did I realize that, a.) I’d have to wake up at 6am to get showered and dressed and to breakfast and down to the meeting area, and b.) It included a 90-minute walking tour which ate into the free time you had to spend there. Mike and I technically had no idea what Honfleur was and we were insanely tired from the day before and weren’t thrilled about getting up super early to go to a town we didn’t know about with a walking tour of things we’d never heard of. We ended up making a pact that we would use the last day to sleep in, do laundry for the last time, and visit LeHavre because, “there’s gotta be something cool to do in LeHavre, right?”

 

Oh boy.

 

Even Ken Broadhurst, the port lecturer, tried his best to make LeHavre sound appealing.

 

We had a leisurely breakfast and stepped off the ship into the port area and onwards into the tourist building. They have people there to help you with tours and rentals and there is also a tiny gift shop where you can buy a mini Eiffel tower and say you’ve been to Paris.

(I didn’t do this, I promise, but our dining room server did for his wife. Ha.)

 

There are free bus shuttles into the center of LeHavre. We, of course, didn’t notice this until we were 10 minutes into a 23-minute walk into an unappealing town.

 

Fantastic.

 

Luckily, the French were nice enough to paint an Abbey Road looking pathway on the ground that led us from the cruise ship into town. And by town, I mean a boulevard that I think resembled a main street. It was called Rue de Paris so it had to be nice, no?

 

We walked around town and I made it a goal to create the most pseudo-realistic France adventure I could think of. Such as:

 

Seeing the Siene River!

 

 

 

 

Spotting the Eiffel Tower!

 

 

 

 

Visiting the Notre Dame! (True story, it's really called "Notre Dame")

 

 

 

Witnessing people smoking and drinking, how very French!

 

 

 

 

Looking at “fleurs” and sidewalk chalkboards!

 

 

 

 

Photographing a café!

 

 

 

 

See? It’s all right here. You totally don’t even need to see Paris! Look at the money I just saved you!

 

[…end sarcasm.]

 

Most of the stores we passed by were closed. I’m assuming they adhere to the same siesta timing where things are shut down between noon and 2pm every day. I couldn’t even get my croissant that I was looking forward to getting. Darn.

 

Let’s just say we picked up some French chocolates for our parents at the tiny terminal gift shop and hopped back on the ship to eat lunch. And it’s a good thing we did, because as we were chowing down on deck fifteen, the skies got dark and sheets upon sheets of rain started pouring down.

 

Oh man, we dodged a bullet.

 

I later read a post from someone who went on our Honfleur tour that said that “the guide out and out hated Americans”. Lovely.

 

Paris, Rouen, and other French ports deserve all the time you can give them. They are beautiful cities and I wish we had more time to visit them. We had two more days after the cruise was over and we chose to spend them in London just as others had chosen to spend theirs in France. If for some crazy reason we ever are lucky enough to wind up near France again, we will give Paris all of the love and attention it deserves.

 

Au revoir for now, France...

 

 

 

To view all of my LeHavre photos, you can visit: http://photobucket.com/lehavre2012

For all of the Princess Patters, including LeHavre, you can visit:http://photobucket.com/princesspattersbritishisles

 

Movies Under The Stars = "Johnny English Reborn" (Mr. Bean), "The Phantom of the Opera" (silent movie), "Dolphin Tale" (my husband's friend's wife did the theme song for this movie!), "Pink: Funhouse" (concert)

Theater: "Midnight In Paris" (movie), "Farewell Showtime".

 

 

 

 

Next Chapter: Disembarking & Two Days in London (an Addendum)

Edited June 19, 2012 by DeloreanGirl