British Isles 8-13 Cruise Review (aka you can plan an affordable vacation in 5 weeks)

[dchip]

I thought the castle steps both up and down were "interesting." :eek: I couldn't imagine someone with a long dress doing either (back in the day).

Cole

 

...or anyone with big feet. I actually sat and slid down the stairs. :eek: :D :eek:

 

Cheers, Denise

[CAMONYPA]

It's great to hear from others who were on the trip. Yes, Ejccgma- we remember you from Passenger Feud. We had a good team that night even if we came up a few points short.

 

As for the stairways, castle stairs were definitely a bit of an adventure during the entire trip. In some places, there isn't enough room for people to go up and down. The worst for us was the Walter Scott Monument in Edinburgh. We joked that they out to put up traffic lights at the entryways to the spiral staircases so that there would only be traffic going up or down at any one time.

[CAMONYPA]

Part 7: Dublin

 

What we did: Trinity College and the Book of Kells, Hop On Hop Off Bus, National Gallery, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Guinness Brewery Tour

Transportation Costs: Approximately 25 euros for taxis and 15.3 euros per person for HOHO Bus

 

Because we arrived in Dublin at 9 AM, Princess did a numbered disembarkation system. This meant that if you weren’t on one of the ship’s tours, you had to go to Club Fusion to get a number and couldn’t get off the ship until your number was called. This was supposed to minimize crowding and lines at the gangway, which it seemed to. My husband and I picked up our numbers around 8:50 and didn’t have to wait long to get off. This is in contrast to Belfast.

 

Princess offers shuttle buses from the dock into Dublin for $8 per person each way. My husband and I decided to take a taxi to Trinity College. The taxi there cost 15 euros with tip, which was more than Princess would have charged us. However, we did get a personalized tour from our friendly cab driver and didn’t have to wait for the Princess bus to fill up before getting into town. We went straight to the line to see the Book of Kells, which was less than half an hour long. It costs 9 euros per person to see the Book of Kells exhibit, and at the end you get to see the Trinity College library, which has an impressive collection of restored books. It’s a former college English major’s dream.

 

After Trinity College, we walked several blocks north to a location near the post office (GPO) to pick up our Hop On Hop Off bus tickets. If you pre-book, you save 15%. This was the only HOHO bus we used the entire cruise, although there were HOHO buses in almost every city where we stopped. We enjoyed the live commentary and corny jokes. In general, we thought that a HOHO buss could be worth it if your priority was to see several places in the city without a train/ subway that were too far to reach by walking.

 

We started the Hop On Hop Off bus at stop 1 and got off at the National Gallery. The collection here is free but relatively small (the National Galleries in London and Edinburgh were far more impressive). We would probably skip it if we returned to Dublin in the future.

 

We then used the HOHO bus to get to Christchurch Cathedral, but opted to only walk around the exterior. We then walked a short distance to St. Patrick’s Cathedral and paid the 5.5 euro entry fee. There was a piano recital going on that day so we were able to listen to the music as we admired the architecture.

 

After St. Patrick’s, we took the HOHO bus to the Guinness Brewery. I think that most of the sites in Dublin are easily walkable. The only thing that would be a bit of a hike is the Guinness Brewery. It is 16.5 euros to enter, although you get 1 euro off with the HOHO bus discount map. The brewery takes itself a bit too seriously, but you get a couple samples on the tour and a pint at the end (in other words, I got a few sips and my husband got 2+ pints.) You can either get your free pint at the bar on the 7th floor, which has great views but was ridiculously crowded (we walked around and took pictures but decided not to redeem our coupon there) or on the 4th floor, where you can learn to “pour the perfect pint.” Yes, there is an art to pouring Guinness so that there isn’t too much head or any spillover. If you take the perfect pint class, you get a certificate, which I will definitely be displaying in my office alongside my diplomas.

 

Because it was getting late and my husband was already pleasantly buzzed from drinking his 2+ pints of Guinness, we skipped the Jameson Distillery. Instead we rode the HOHO bus from the Guinness Brewery to the last stop. We then caught the Docklands tourbus (included with the HOHO bus ticket) and stopped at the convention center. We chose to get off there because this was the closest stop to the ship’s dock, and we took a cab back to the ship (cost only 10 euros this time because we bypassed most of the city traffic).

 

The bottom line for transportation in Dublin is that if you are a group of two, taking the Princess bus is probably a few dollars than taking a taxi, unless you choose to take a taxi to and from the convention center, which is a 15+ minute walk from the center of town. However, if you are a group of more than two, then a taxi is cheaper even if you take it to and from the center of town. I think we made the right choice for us because we were able to maximize our time in port (boarding the ship 15 minutes before the “all aboard” call).

[CAMONYPA]

Part 8: Liverpool

 

What we did: Beatles Story, Maritime/ Slavery Museum, Museum of Liverpool

Transportation Costs: None

Like many others who have talked about this cruise, I am going to echo the fact that this is a very port intensive itinerary without a sea day until after the first week. Therefore, you need to pick a slightly easier day, especially if you pack most of your days full of sights and walking. We decided to make Liverpool an easier days. While we both like the Beatles, neither of us are die hard fans, so we didn’t book any of the Beatles tours that take you to the musician’s houses, Penny Lane, etc. Instead, we walked toward Albert Dock, which was very close to where the ship docked. Along the way, we stopped in the Museum of Liverpool, which is free. The museum had some areas that we noted would be good for children if we return with our family in the future.

 

There are lots of restaurants/ shops along Albert Dock. Many of them had lunch specials, but our plan was to have lunch back on the ship. The main attractions at Albert Dock are the Beatles Story and the Maritime/ Slavery Museum.

 

We started at the Beatles Story, which cost 12.95 pounds per person. There was a bit of a line, but it moved relatively quickly. The cost of admission includes a good audioguide, which is narrated by John Lennon’s sister. The museum glosses over some of the later conflicts but does have very good detail regarding the formation of the band and their rise to prominence. With admission to the museum, you also get into a “Fab 4D Experience,” which is a cheesy 3D movie with water and scent effects (strawberries when they play “Strawberry Fields Forever”), and a photography exhibit. These latter two exhibits are located between Albert Dock and the ship dock.

 

After we walked through the Beatles Story, we stopped by the Merseyside Maritime Museum and International Slavery Museum. This museum is also free, and there was a very good Titanic exhibit. We took our time going through the Titanic exhibit since we knew we would be going to Giant’s Causeway rather than the Titanic Museum in Belfast.

 

We saw the “Fab 4D Experience” movie and the Beatles Hidden Gallery photography exhibit on the way back to the ship and were back on board by 2 PM. We enjoyed a late lunch with a combination of Horizon Court and grill cuisine and then tried to compensate for our indulgence by going to the fitness center.

[Rosethorn40]

After St. Patrick’s, we took the HOHO bus to the Guinness Brewery. I think that most of the sites in Dublin are easily walkable. The only thing that would be a bit of a hike is the Guinness Brewery. It is 16.5 euros to enter, although you get 1 euro off with the HOHO bus discount map. The brewery takes itself a bit too seriously, but you get a couple samples on the tour and a pint at the end (in other words, I got a few sips and my husband got 2+ pints.) You can either get your free pint at the bar on the 7th floor, which has great views but was ridiculously crowded (we walked around and took pictures but decided not to redeem our coupon there) or on the 4th floor, where you can learn to “pour the perfect pint.” Yes, there is an art to pouring Guinness so that there isn’t too much head or any spillover. If you take the perfect pint class, you get a certificate, which I will definitely be displaying in my office alongside my diplomas.

 

Because it was getting late and my husband was already pleasantly buzzed from drinking his 2+ pints of Guinness, we skipped the Jameson Distillery.

 

I read somewhere that The Guinness Storehouse is the #1 attraction in Ireland. We made Guinness our first stop, and were able to beat the crowds. The views on the 7th floor are worth the trek.

 

We actually like Jameson's better then the Guinness (Loved the bar there:)).

[notes4theheart]

Great review so far! Thanks :-)

[CAMONYPA]

Part 9: Greenoch

 

What We Did:

Glasgow -- The Lighthouse, George Square

Edinburgh -- Walter Scott Monument, National Gallery, St. Giles Cathedral, National Museum of Scotland, Fringe Festival

Transportation Costs -- Train to Glasgow Central (6.9 pounds round trip per person), train from Glasgow to Edinburgh Waverly (12.9 pounds round trip per person off peak, which means you can’t return to Glasgow before 6:30 PM)

 

To give people time to attend the Military Tattoo in Edinburgh, the ship was scheduled to be in Greenoch until 2 AM. My husband and I discussed attending the Tattoo but neither of us was that excited about it and, due to our last minute planning, tickets were prohibitively expensive. The cheapest option we found was through Princess, who wanted almost $200 per person, so we decided against it.

 

However, we were very excited about Edinburgh and wanted to get some extra time there. Our plan was to spend the morning in Glasgow and the afternoon in Edinburgh doing everything except the Castle, which I had pre-booked for the day the ship docked in South Queensferry.

 

Greenoch is a small town with very friendly people. If I hadn’t been pregnant, we might have decided to hang out in a bar that evening. People we talked to who did that said it was a great experience.

 

The train station is a 15 walk from the cruise terminal. There are trains to and from Glasgow central every 15-20 minutes until about 6:30pm, when the trains run less frequently. I wrote down some of the later train times so that we could target our return accordingly. When you return, make sure you take one of the trains with the final destination of Gourock.

 

From Glasgow Central, we walked to The Lighthouse. Glasgow is known for its architecture, something my husband and I know little about. The Lighthouse has design exhibitions and information about Charles Rennie Mackintosh. You can also climb a spiral staircase into the water tower and get some good views/ photos of Glasgow.

 

Because my husband and I know so little about architecture, we decided to skip the Glasgow School of Art and head to Edinburgh. Most trains from Glasgow to Edinburgh Waverley leave out of Glasgow Queen Street station, which is about a 10 minute walk from Glasgow Central. Along the way, we saw George Square, which was unfortunately blocked off due to construction.

 

The train from Glasgow to Edinburgh costs 12.9 pounds each if you select the off peak option. This means that you cannot return before 6:30 PM. If you want to come back earlier, you have to pay the full fare of 21 pounds.

 

Both my husband and I agree that Edinburgh was our favorite destination. From the moment we stepped out of Waverley station, we were immediately struck by how beautiful the city is. It was so beautiful that we decided to pay to climb the Walter Scott Monument (4 pounds)—about 300 steps up some narrow winding staircases to get a better look. These were the most narrow stairways we encountered during the trip. In most sections, there wasn’t enough room for both people going up and going down. The Walter Scott Monument was the only thing we did that day that had an admission fee (rather than being free with a suggested donation).

 

We then visited the National Gallery, which while less grand than the gallery in London, did have a nice collection and allowed photography. After that, we decided to head toward the Royal Mile.

 

Because of the Edinburgh Festival and the accompanying Fringe Festival, the city was packed. There were performers and great people watching in every square.

 

We stopped at a restaurant just off the Royal Mile for what became the beginning of my Fish and Chips tour through Scotland (I had no desire to try haggis). This first restaurant had large portions—my husband and I were able to split an order—but the quality was unremarkable.

 

Our two other stops along or near the Royal Mile that day were St. Giles Cathedral and the National Museum of Scotland. The National Museum had some interesting exhibits that took you through Scottish history and some nice artifacts.

 

After the National Museum, we went back to Edinburgh Waverley to try to take a train back to Glasgow only to learn that our off peak tickets weren’t good until 6:30 (it was a little after 5:00 at the time.) This fact is posted around the station but we hadn’t taken the time to look that morning, which is why I have mentioned this several times in my review. Not wanting to pay the extra fare, we went back to the Royal Mile and took in some of the Fringe Festival, including some singers in a church that had been converted into a bar.

 

When we finally did get back to Glasgow, we debated whether to have dinner in Glasgow or return to the ship. Based on the train times from Glasgow to Greenock that I had recorded that morning, we had a reasonable chance of making dinner on the ship, so we chose to do that and save our pounds for sightseeing. We got back to the ship around 8:45 PM. There were several other cruise passengers on the train back with us who had also done the daytrip to Edinburgh. This is a trip I would certainly recommend if you are looking to get some extra time in Edinburgh and willing to do some walking. To do everything we really wanted, we probably could have used at least two full days there.

 

That night, Princess brought on a local music group that gave a Scottish bagpipe and dancing performance in the theater. We debated going back into Greenoch after seeing the show (many of the crew went out that night), but due to the facts that I couldn’t drink and we wanted to be well-rested for our day on the Irish coast, we did not.

[CAMONYPA]

Here is the next part of my review. This is the part that may generate some discussion because of the tour experience we had. It's also the longest section of the review due to what happened.

 

Part 10: Belfast

 

What We Did: Giant’s Causeway, Carrick-A-Rede Rope Bridge

Transportation Costs: 25 pounds each with Odyssey Coach Tours (cruisingexcursions.com)

 

This is the day that almost made me decide against posting a review on Cruise Critic. Due to a combination of factors, we had an interesting experience with Odyssey Coach Tours. Since I found this tour through Cruise Critic, I can only assume there were other Cruise Critic members on the bus with us. However, I decided that the factors that drove me to start this review in the first place should not be negated by one day.

 

My husband and I decided we wanted to visit Giant’s Causeway and spend some time outdoors in the Irish countryside. We both enjoy hiking and some of our most treasured vacation photos have been on the top of strenuous trails. I could not find good public transportation options from Belfast, and Princess wanted $150 per person for their tours. A search of Cruise Critic then led us to Odyssey Coach Tours, who charged 25 pounds per person for a tour that included Giant’s Causeway, the Carrick-A-Rede Rope Bridge, and a city tour. We would have been perfectly happy to spend the whole day at Giant’s Causeway, but this wasn’t an option. We considered the Rope Bridge to be a bit of a bonus since Princess didn’t have any tours that went to both Giant’s Causeway and the Rope Bridge.

 

The main problem was our delayed arrival in Belfast. In the original itinerary, the ship was scheduled to arrive in Belfast at 9:00. This was amended to 9:30. Again, Princess used the numbered disembarkation system. We got one of the early numbers (the second independent group off the ship) but still didn’t get off the ship until 10 since Princess gave priority to people who were booked on ship’s tours. By the time everyone on our tour got off the ship, it was after 10:15. We did have an extra half hour in port at the end of the day due to our delayed arrival, but apparently this message wasn’t conveyed to the Odyssey Coach Tours staff until later.

 

The drive from Belfast to Giant’s Causeway took about an hour and a half. We had a brief photo stop at the ruins of Dunluce Castle along the way. We were then given about 90 minutes to explore Giant’s Causeway.

 

A couple money-saving tips at Giant’s Causeway: You do not have to go the Visitors Center (costs 8.5 pounds). If you do, you get an audioguide and access to some restaurants and gift shops. We chose to skip this to maximize our time for hiking. You also don’t have to take the shuttle, which costs 1 pound each way. It is less than a mile walk from the parking lot to the stones.

 

Giant’s Causeway was one of our favorite stops on the cruise. The coastline was breathtakingly beautiful, and the hexagonal stones are unique whether or not you believe that they were created by the giant Finn MacCool. There is great hiking in the area—my husband and I climbed up a small bluff that was about halfway between the parking lot and the stones. Unfortunately, due to time constraints, we didn’t have the chance to take some of the longer hikes around the area—there were 45 minute and 90 minute options that took you further up the cliffs overlooking the stones and the coast.

 

After Giant’s Causeway, our tour guide stated that he was unsure whether we would have time to cross the rope bridge without cutting short either lunch or our city tour. He asked the group whether we would be satisfied going to a place where we could photograph the rope bridge instead of crossing it. There were more murmurs of agreement than discontent after this question.

 

This is when I felt compelled to speak up since our goal for the day had been to see as much of the Irish countryside as possible. We did not have any interest in a city tour where we would be limited to taking pictures of sites through the windows of the moving bus. Our feeling was that if we had wanted a city tour, we would have chosen a different excursion for the day. Therefore, I raised my hand and asked whether it would be possible to cut short the city tour so that we could have more time at the rope bridge. I was immediately met with resistance as several people on the bus felt very strongly about the city tour. The tour guide then said that he would wait until we drove to the rope bridge before making a decision. He then stated that during one of his other recent tours, there was a 30 minute line at the bridge and that group had to skip the rope bridge because of this.

 

When we got to the rope bridge, the tour guide made a few calls and came to the conclusion that we likely would be unable to cross the rope bridge. He put it to a vote whether we should cut out the rope bridge or cut short the city tour but prefaced this by saying that it was his recommendation that we skip the rope bridge. My husband and I (along with the couple we had met at the Cruise Critic meet and greet) got badly outvoted, and the verdict was to skip the rope bridge and instead go to a point where we could photograph the bridge.

 

When we reached this photo site, which was pretty far away from the bridge (we would have needed the telephoto lens on our camera to get a decent picture), I decided to talk to the tour guide privately. I respected the fact that we got outvoted and was prepared to skip the rope bridge. However, I was bothered by the tour guide saying that his last tour (which I presumed had not been delayed by a late ship arrival) had also missed the rope bridge. I asked the tour guide how often the tour participants had a chance to cross the rope bridge and stated that, if the bridge was often skipped, then a disclaimer should be placed on the website stating this (Princess makes disclaimers on their tours about potential long waits that would cause people to miss tour sites). As I was making my point, two other couples also came to the tour guide expressing their disappointment about missing the rope bridge.

 

This was when our bus driver came up with what I thought was a fair solution. He stated that, if people who wanted to cross the rope bridge were willing to skip lunch, he would drop us off at the bridge and pick us up while the other tour participants were eating lunch. All six of us eagerly agreed to this.

 

After we got back on the bus, the tour guide made an announcement that we were going back to the rope bridge and that anyone who was willing to skip lunch could then cross the bridge. This caused angry mutterings on the bus as people were concerned the city tour would be cut short because of this. The tour guide assured everyone it would not but I could see some angry glares in my direction. I think I was assumed to be the ring leader of the “Rope Bridge Revolt” since I had spoken up earlier.

 

We were given an hour to cross the rope bridge and the guide warned us that the wait to cross the bridge (which was posted at 15 minutes) could make it impossible for us to cross. We promised to be back on time. I especially didn’t want to be late since I sensed some hostility from some of the other passengers. A total of 8 people ended up getting off the bus to explore the area and/or cross the rope bridge.

 

The bottom line about the rope bridge: it costs 5.6 pounds to cross. It is a 1 km (0.6 mile) walk from the entrance to the bridge, which we were able to do in under fifteen minutes. The wait to cross the bridge was less than 5 minutes. The actual bridge crossing isn’t much—it’s a short bridge that connects to an island—but the ocean is a long way down when you’re crossing. The reason to cross the bridge is that you get some great views of the coastline, especially on the other side of the bridge. In all, it took us about 45 minutes to reach the bridge, cross it, and return to the parking lot. We didn’t linger on the other side of the bridge for fear of being late, but were able to get some nice pictures.

 

The bus driver met us in the parking lot, and offered us the chance to buy a salad or sandwich in town while we waited for the people to finish lunch. We all declined—I especially didn’t want to be seen eating as the “ringleader” and made do with cereal from the breakfast buffet. All of us thanked him for giving us the chance to cross the bridge. I think the bus driver did put himself on the line to do this for us, and while we were waiting for the others to finish lunch, he got a call from his boss. He asked me (again assuming I was the ringleader) to speak to his boss about what had happened. I happily expressed my gratitude to the bus driver to his boss and the people around me echoed this. After I hung up, I joked that at least I knew I had seven friends on the bus even if everyone else wanted to stone me.

 

We ended up waiting in town for over 15 minutes for everyone to get back from lunch. As people passed me, they asked about the rope bridge. Some seemed genuinely curious while others seemed a bit snarky. I told them that the bridge itself wasn’t anything special but that the countryside was beautiful.

 

We then made a pretty but foggy drive along the Antrim Coast back to Belfast. We encountered some traffic on the outskirts of Belfast. Our tour guide gave us a nice narration as we drove through the city, although he did gloss over the political aspects of the conflict. As I suspected, the city tour did not have any stops where people could get out and the only photo opportunities were through the bus windows. We ended up not having time to drive past City Hall due to traffic. When our tour guide announced that, one passenger made a snarky comment about the rope bridge, but no one else spoke up.

 

We made it back to the ship about 15 minutes before “all aboard”. I finished the day happy that I’d had the chance to see the Irish countryside but disconcerted by the feelings of hostility I had experienced on the bus. I hope no one really thought that it was my desire to cross the rope bridge that caused the Belfast city tour to be cut short. However, I do not believe that the rope bridge was the cause of the curtailing of the city tour. Like I mentioned, we waited for over 15 minutes in town for the others to finish lunch and get back on the bus.

 

In the end, I think this day highlighted the main thing we dislike about cruising. There are many things to like: great value for food and transportation, and opportunities to see unique places, especially if you are willing to do the research to maximize your time in port. However, there is a lack of flexibility to spend more time in places that you enjoy. The day also shows why we prefer to arrange our own transportation rather than take tours so that we can decide how long we want to spend in one place.

 

That being said, I would recommend Odyssey Coach Tours to anyone looking to visit Giant’s Causeway from Belfast. If people on Cruise Critic know of other ways for two people to get to Giant’s Causeway, I’d love to hear them.

[Steph27]

Glad you were persistent in your desire to cross the bridge. It sounds like you were very polite in how you handled it with the discontents on the bus. I agree completely on doing tours on your own. We a similar experience in Saigon when the tour leader decided to skip one of the sites on our itinerary and I did speak up.

 

I commend you for keeping a cool head when some of the other passengers were snarky. I might not have been so nice. Glad you decided to write your review. We were on Ocean Princess in the British Isles around the same time. For the 2 tender ports we did get off the ship prior to any of the shore excursions. We had a Princess shorex in Wales and at first they didn't want us taking a tender earlier. It was no problem and we got great seats on the bus before any other passenger arrived.

 

In Guernsey we were on our own but still left the ship prior to any ship excursions. I highly recommend trying to leave the ship early before the tours.

[phabric]

We were on one of the other Odyssey's coaches and we had a great driver/guide. I had organized this tour and there was only 16 passengers.

 

While at the stop for the Dunluce Castle ruins, I asked if we could visit the distillery also as this is on one of their tours, he said we could not do the tour but he would stop and we could go into the gift shop as it was close to the Giant Causeway. We also had about 90 minutes at the Giant Causeway, about 10 minutes at the distillery, we stopped at the Rope Bridge and anybody that wanted to go across did (about 1/2 the group) and the others waited near the parking lot then a stop at the photo spot so everyone could take a picture of the Rope Bridge from a distance. We stopped for lunch at our own expense, followed by a very scenic drive along the Antrim Coast.

 

Our driver/guide was very proud to be from Belfast and wanted to show and tell us about Belfast. He did a great job, explaining about the troubles of Belfast. I am sure we saw more of Belfast than most other coach tours, he even drove us through the metal gates that separate Belfast. He did explain about the different murals as we drove by them.

 

Our driver/guide was very friendly and talked to the passengers whenever we stopped.

 

We had to keep telling him our embarkment time as he wanted to keep showing us places. We were the last people onboard with 1 minute to spare.

 

We have been on coach tours with driver/guide that have been excellent, good and bad it all depends on the driver/guide's personality and knowledge.

 

I would recommend Odyssey Coach tours.

[phabric]

Part 9: Greenoch

 

[

 

That night, Princess brought on a local music group that gave a Scottish bagpipe and dancing performance in the theater. .

 

If you miss this live performance, Princess shows it on one of the TV channels.

[jtamchay]

We were on one of the other Odyssey's coaches and we had a great driver/guide. I had organized this tour and there was only 16 passengers.

 

While at the stop for the Dunluce Castle ruins, I asked if we could visit the distillery also as this is on one of their tours, he said we could not do the tour but he would stop and we could go into the gift shop as it was close to the Giant Causeway. We also had about 90 minutes at the Giant Causeway, about 10 minutes at the distillery, we stopped at the Rope Bridge and anybody that wanted to go across did (about 1/2 the group) and the others waited near the parking lot then a stop at the photo spot so everyone could take a picture of the Rope Bridge from a distance. We stopped for lunch at our own expense, followed by a very scenic drive along the Antrim Coast.

 

Our driver/guide was very proud to be from Belfast and wanted to show and tell us about Belfast. He did a great job, explaining about the troubles of Belfast. I am sure we saw more of Belfast than most other coach tours, he even drove us through the metal gates that separate Belfast. He did explain about the different murals as we drove by them.

 

Our driver/guide was very friendly and talked to the passengers whenever we stopped.

 

We had to keep telling him our embarkment time as he wanted to keep showing us places. We were the last people onboard with 1 minute to spare.

 

We have been on coach tours with driver/guide that have been excellent, good and bad it all depends on the driver/guide's personality and knowledge.

 

I would recommend Odyssey Coach tours.

 

 

I was on Phabric/Wendy's coach...we as a group decided what the itinerary would be even after Wendy had organized this tour.

All 16 of us were included in the rope bridge discussion and even though it was a long wait for those who accomplished this adventure I did not hear any grumbling about amount of time devoted to this stop.

The delayed lunch that followed, our stop at The distillery and the historical and cultural visit through the areas of Belfast were all accommodated by our great driver, David. We were the envy of another Odyssey Tour that was with us at lunch. They had a driver who was not as passionate about his tour and they were told they were not going to see the "Troubles" area even after they asked.

We nearly missed the all aboard but we all said it was a fantastic tour. One we could not have anticipated but greatly appreciated.

Yes, these tours are not for everyone...too little time to do it all but we did see everything we had originally been promised and then some...we did not feel rushed anywhere but we "just made the ship"...

I highly recommend Odyssey Coach Tours

[CAMONYPA]

It was good to hear Odyssey Coach Tour experiences from others on the same cruise. Like I mentioned in my review, I would recommend them if you are looking to go to Giant's Causeway, but I wish they had a tour that just focused on Giant's Causeway and the Antrim Coast.

 

Now onto the sea days.

 

Part 11: Sea Days #1 and #2

 

Since this review is already ridiculously long, I’m going to combine our two sea days into one part. We used the sea days to relax, sleeping in until 10am and then going to gym before lunch. The first sea day was especially welcome after a busy and exciting week of ports.

 

Some highlights and thoughts:

 

- On the second sea day, we went to the “Life at Sea” presentation by the cruise director and deputy cruise director. It offers interesting insights into the life of the cruise staff. They won’t answer questions about salary or security, but were otherwise pretty open. We learned that a contract is for 10 months on and 2 months off. We also learned that your room steward can work up to 13 hours per day every day of the week. There are no mandated days off. That fact definitely prompted us to tip our room steward a little extra on the last day of our cruise.

 

- On the second sea day, the ship’s navigational chart was for sale at the art auction. For the last few cruises, my husband and I have bid on the navigational chart because we collect maps. We have never been willing to pay enough to win, however. This time was no exception as the chart went for $800. However, they did give out a free lithograph to everyone who went to the art auction.

 

- The Captain’s Gala dinner, which features the escargot appetizer and lobster entrée, was on the second sea day. This is definitely our favorite dinner on the Princess menu.

 

- If you need to do laundry, the laundry rooms are packed on sea days. We got around this by doing our laundry the evening before the first sea day. FYI, the laundry room closes at 11:00 PM. You can buy laundry detergent from a vending machine on the ship for $1.25. The detergent is powdered All, which was fine for us.

 

- Movies under the Stars is also shown in the afternoon. We saw Iron Man 3 during a 3:00pm showing, but it was still cold enough to require deck blankets. If you want to see a particular movie but don’t want to brave the elements, they do show the movies from Movies under the Stars on your stateroom TV the next day.

 

- Because this isn’t really a beach/ warm weather cruise, there were no problems with pool and chair crowding.

 

- They do serve a pub lunch on sea days. We prefer dining room lunches on sea days but I did have fish and chips once since that was my food theme on this cruise.

 

- The Captain’s Circle cocktail parties were spread out between the sea days. There was the usual watered down cocktail selection (i.e. probably would have been safe for me to have one even in my pregnancy). We mainly go to see how many days the most travelled passengers have been at sea. (We have even made it a bit of a game by making over/under bets beforehand.) The top three most travelled passengers all had over 700 days at sea with Princess. We later had the chance to talk with one of the winning couples, and they mentioned that they have done three world cruises.

[CAMONYPA]

Part 12: South Queensferry

What we did: Edinburgh Castle, Royal Mile

Transportation costs: 10 pounds a person (Cramond coaches)

Having already had a taste of Edinburgh on Greenock day, we were eager to maximize our day in port. We were ready to disembark around 8:45am and were able to walk right off the ship onto a tender boat. The ride was very smooth.

 

At the dock, you have several independent transportation options to get to Edinburgh. You can take a taxi (not sure how much this would cost). You can also take the train—DeLorean Girl has a great walking map that shows you how to do this—for under 5 pounds per person. There is also a bus that costs 10 pounds per person round trip. We decided to use the bus because we wanted the quickest way into Edinburgh (the bus left a few minutes after we got on) and didn’t want to waste any time port time with the walk and the wait for the train. It was a 20 minute bus ride into Edinburgh, and the bus dropped us off about 15 minutes away from the castle. We arrived at the castle about 10 minutes before the gates opened.

 

As many others have mentioned, you can save time by buying your tickets to Edinburgh Castle ahead of time. There is no discount for doing this, but if you arrive at the castle at mid-day, this could easily save you half an hour. We were able to walk right into the castle at 9:30am before it got too crowded.

 

We spent close to four hours at the castle. We started with the free walking tour that takes about 30 minutes. We then saw the crown treasures and the Stone of Scone. After that, we walked the grounds, stopping in each of the museums and lingering in the War Museum. We stayed for the 1 PM cannon firing and then walked down the Royal Mile.

 

Because we were in Edinburgh on a Saturday in August, the streets were packed. I continued my fish and chips tour of Scotland at a restaurant off the Royal Mile. Food at the place we found was pricier than our first attempt at fish and chips, but much tastier. My husband had some Shetland muscles that were also excellent. We finished this with desert at a fudge shop along the Royal Mile.

 

We reached the Palace of Holyrood but decided not to enter due to time constraints. So we have something on our list for our return trip! We then walked down the side streets and enjoyed the fringe festival. We passed a book fair on our way to the Cramond Coach pick-up spot (last coach was at 4:30pm, which was my only complaint about this transportation option—I would have liked a 5:00 bus, which still would have gotten us back to South Queensferry in plenty of time). Unfortunately, we didn’t go into the book fair – we later heard that JK Rowling was there.

 

Overall, I think our two favorite days of the cruise were Greenock and South Queensferry because of how much we enjoyed Edinburgh. We agreed that this was somewhere we would return with our children when they are old enough to appreciate it (and able to handle the walking the cobblestones, hills, and stairs in the city.)

[sunshine nana]

Thanks for a great review.We did a similar trip on Princess two years ago in June (it rained some each day!). For the Belfast stop, we took a taxi to my grandmother's childhood home in Lisnalee which was a thrill, but we had to miss The Giant's causeway, so we want to go back.

For others who may visit Guernsey, if you read the Potato Society book about the **** occupation or if you are a WWII buff,you will want to visit the private WWII museum which you can find on the local bus route.

Glad you took the opportunity for a wonderful trip.

[CAMONYPA]

For those of you keeping score at home, I am posting the last two ports today. After today, there are two more parts of the review (disembarkation day and a summary). I hope to have these up by the end of the weekend.

[B]Part 13: Invergordon[/B]

[I]What we did: Jacobite Sensation tour (30 pounds per person—includes admission to Urquhart Castle and Loch Ness Center), walk around Inverness
Transportation costs (aside from tour): 18 pounds per person (10 pounds for the Invergordon tour bus into town and 8 pounds for train ride back)[/I]

Based on DeLorean Girl's and Rick Steves’ reviews of Jacobite, we decided that we wanted to take the Sensation tour, which included a 30 minute cruise down the Loch Ness, an hour at Urquhart Castle, and a visit to the Loch Ness Centre. However, we knew transportation would be challenging because we were arriving on a Sunday, which meant that the local bus might not get us to Inverness on time and the trains did not start running until noon. I researched transportation options online and on Cruise Critic and finally decided to book the tour, figuring that my husband and I could “wing it” when it came to transportation. Worst case scenario was an overpriced taxi to Inverness (40 pounds per taxi) and then either the train (8 pounds) or bus (5.5 pounds) back, which still would have been cheaper than the Princess “Inverness on Your Own” transportation option for two people, which was about $60 per person.

When we got off the ship, there was a small tourist information booth with train and bus schedules. Not wanting to chance the bus (it was scheduled to arrive at 10:18 but the TI was vague about how likely an on time arrival was), we walked to the parking lot where taxis and private tour buses were waiting. That early in the morning, most taxis were holding out for all day tours, but a few were willing to drive to Inverness for 40 pounds. Luckily, we found the Invergordon tour company (invergordon-bustours.com). They had a bus tour that was leaving Invergordon at 9:00 with scheduled arrival in Inverness at 9:50. That gave us plenty of time to make our 10:15 pick-up from Jacobite at the Inverness bus station. We spoke with the tour company representative who was willing to sell us tour tickets at 10 pounds each and let us leave the tour at Inverness. (The actual tour provided round trip transportation with a side trip to Beauly after a couple hours on your own in Inverness, but would have left Inverness before our Jacobite tour ended).

We received a nice narrated drive into Inverness and were in town at 9:40. We took a few pictures during our short walk to the bus station, which is less than 10 minutes from the city center.

When you choose the Jacobite Sensation tour, you have the option of selecting a pick-up at the Inverness bus station (at 10:15) or Inverness city center/ Bank street (at 10:30). The good thing about the pick-up at the bus station is that most people tend to get on there, so you can get better seats. However, Bank street is at the city center so the stop is easier to get to.

The cruise on the Loch Ness was a bit crowded—Jacobite combines several tours onto one boat. We were able to get good pictures from the top deck. We didn’t see any potential Nessie shadows, though. The cruise then docks outside Urquhart Castle. This castle was destroyed to prevent its occupation by the Jacobites, so there isn’t much left in terms of large structures. However, there are some areas to climb and picturesque views of Loch Ness.

After an hour at the castle, we got back on the Jacobite bus and drove to the Loch Ness Centre. This museum takes about 45 minutes to go through and consists of rooms of slideshows/ videos talking about the Loch Ness monster legend and debunking some of the sightings. Lots of private research with things like sonar has been done looking for large creatures in the lake. At the end of the museum, you wind up in a huge souvenir shop. My husband and I decided that we wanted to pick up a Nessie toy for our daughter. There was, of course, a huge array of stuffed Nessies of all shapes and sizes, but we ultimately chose a green rubber duck bath toy (Duck Ness) because our daughter already has too many stuffed animals. So far, the bath toy has been a hit.

The Jacobite tour ended at 1:30, dropping everyone off at the Inverness bus station. We decided to walk around town and stopped in a Scottish pub that had no tourists (aside from us) and soccer on television. There, we finished our Scotland fish and chips tour. The prices were a bargain (two servings of fish and chips for 8 pounds and a Scottish ale for 2 pounds), and the quality was reasonable. We then had the option of taking either the train or the bus back to Invergordon. We elected to take the train, even though it was more expensive (8 pounds one way rather than 5.25 pounds) because the next local bus wasn’t one of the express lines, meaning it would take over an hour to get back to Invergordon rather than 40 minutes, and we figured we would have more room to spread out and see different parts of the Scottish Highlands on the train. The train ride took about 45 minutes and was not at all crowded. The train station is a 10 minute walk from the ship’s dock. Invergordon looked very nice, but since it was a Sunday, almost everything was closed by the time we got back.

Overall, I think the Jacobite tour company does a good job and there is a reason why they are recommended by almost all Inverness tourist sites. If you don’t care about the Loch Ness monster, there are probably better tours for you, but we found it to be an entertaining day.

[CAMONYPA]

[B]Part 14: Le Havre[/B]

[I]What we did: Princess tour of Normandy Beaches[/I]

In some ways, I wish that this cruise had one more stop in the British Isles rather than a stop in Le Havre. The problem with Le Havre is that it’s very far away (2+ hours) from the major advertised attractions—either the Normandy Beaches or Paris. However, it’s close enough that, if you aren’t sure when you’ll have the opportunity to come back to France, you feel compelled to see one of these sights. We had already visited Paris on a European vacation ten years ago, so we decided to go to the Normandy Beaches.

Side note: If we had never been to Paris, I think we would have gone for the “Paris on your own” option through Princess. I know this is a very expensive bus ride and only gives you about 5 hours in Paris, but again my reasoning would be that you have already paid for your plane tickets/ cruise tickets to Europe so you are now closer to Paris than you are going to be for a while. As for public transportation, there are train options to Paris (cheaper than the Princess bus but the difference is less significant if you don’t qualify for discounts and don’t buy in advance—would have been around $80 per person round trip for us), but this is one place where I would be more wary of trains. There have been many strikes in France (our tour guide made several jokes about this), and getting stuck in Paris would mean a very expensive taxi back to Le Havre or, even worse, a very expensive EuroStar train or ferry ride to England and a challenge trying to get your belongings from Southampton (especially if you hadn’t finished packing yet).

Second side note: My husband and I have never missed the ship but we did come close on our first ever port day—Naples on our honeymoon. We decided to take the train to Pompeii and then a bus up Mount Vesuvius. On the way down the mountain, traffic came to a standstill and our bus driver eventually just stopped the bus and got out. He talked to some of the other drivers and told us that there was a broken down bus blocking traffic. There was no mention of when this would be cleared. My husband and I waited for a while, nervously checking our watches. We ultimately decided to get off the bus and walk down the mountain. About a quarter mile later, we passed the broken down bus, which had stopped on one of the switchbacks and was blocking both lanes of the road. Shortly after that, we found a taxi driver who already had picked up several others and paid for a ride to the nearest train station. We made it back to the ship with about half an hour to spare and have continued to do most things on our own, but this incident does make me more seriously consider worst case scenarios during port day planning.

Back to the review: Having decided to visit the Normandy Beaches, I researched our options. There aren’t really any good public transportation options if you want to see multiple sites (plus I had reservations about using any sort of public transportation for such a distance as I described in the side notes above), so our best options were either the Princess tour or a private tour. For a party of two, a private tour is prohibitively expensive. Since we decided on the cruise at the last minute, all the 8 person private tours from our roll call were also full. The Princess tour was expensive but certainly cheaper than taking a private tour for two. Also, Princess had a sale on shore excursions for Platinum and Elite members at the time we booked the cruise, so we received 10% off the price by pre-booking online.

Overall, we thought the Princess excursion was well done. We got to see one museum detailing the British artificial harbor, the American Cemetery, and multiple beaches. We also got to walk along two stretches of Omaha beach—one at the photo stop and one that was accessible from the cemetery. We felt that we had an appropriate amount of time at each site. The tour also included a three-course lunch with wine (my husband got to try a glass of red and a glass of white since I couldn’t do more than sip and said they were both good.) Our tour guide did a great job describing the history and also taught us some French along the way. This is definitely a place worth seeing.

The main downside of the Princess excursion was crowding at the sites due to the number of Princess visitors (this was worst at the museum and much less of a problem at the other sites). I also would have preferred a shorter lunch in favor of more sightseeing time.

If you want to see the Normandy beaches from Le Havre and are a group of two, I would recommend the Princess excursion. If you have a group of four or more, you probably can find a cheaper private tour that would give you more flexibility.

[CAMONYPA]

Almost to the end. Thanks to everyone who has been reading. I'll be back tomorrow to post the final section.

[B]Part 15: Disembarkation Day and the End of Vacation[/B]

[I]What we did: International Friends tour to Stonehenge, Bath, and Windsor
Transportation Costs: 69 pounds per person[/I]

The end of a cruise or vacation is always a little sad. However, my husband and I have found that taking 10-14 day vacations lessens the sadness because after that period of time, we begin to miss things about home (sleeping in your own bed, not feeling like you are spending tons of money each day). And of course, this time, we were eager to get back to our daughter.

Disembarkation in Southampton is easy. You don’t have to clear customs so you walk right off the ship, find your luggage, and leave the terminal. The International Friends representative met us outside the terminal and loaded luggage into different buses depending on the tour. We asked for a 7:20 disembarkation time and were at the terminal less than 10 minutes after we disembarked.

We chose the Stonehenge, Bath, and Windsor tour option (the different tours are listed on the London Toolkit website). This was the longest tour offered and we wanted to maximize our last day in England rather than hang out around Heathrow. The tour gives you approximately an hour at Stonehenge, 90 minutes in Bath, and 90 minutes at Windsor. There is a fair amount of driving between each of these sites. You have the option of pre-paying your admissions for each site with the tour company, which I would recommend because this gets you the group discount and saves you from having to wait in line to buy your own tickets at each site. Admission to each site includes a free audioguide. We used this at Stonehenge, listened to part of it at Bath, and skipped it at Windsor Castle.

Stonehenge is easily do-able in an hour. It is intriguing to think about how and why people transported these large stones to this site.

Bath is a beautiful town. The Roman baths are do-able in an hour, although it would have been nice to have a little more time. We rushed through a bit so that we could see the inside of the Bath Cathedral and grab some food to eat on the bus. (There is no lunch stop on this tour.) The Roman baths are very well preserved and the museum signs and audio narration are very well done.

The tour doesn’t give you enough time for Windsor Castle, but 90 minutes there is better than not seeing it at all. The good thing was that, since we got there later in the day, there was no crowding. We were able to see Queen Mary’s dollhouse and the State Apartments, but didn’t have time for the chapel or much walking around the grounds.

Because we had an 11 AM flight out of Heathrow the next morning, I decided to make reservations at a Heathrow hotel so that we wouldn’t have to deal with public transportation from Central London with our luggage. I didn’t really want to spend a ton of money on a hotel that we would only use for a few waking hours. This is how I stumbled on the Yotel Heathrow airport. This is a place you can rent by the hour (minimum four hours). The standard room is small (7 square meters—makes an interior cruise cabin seem like a suite in comparison) and has a small bed (bigger than a twin but smaller than a full), TV, desk, toilet, sink, and a shower. There is no room to walk around so we spent the evening lying in bed and watching TV. The room rate includes free WiFi (faster than cruise ship WiFi) and coffee/tea. It cost us about 70 pounds for 12 hours, which is a bargain by London standards. Plus, since the hotel is located in Heathrow terminal 4 (outside the secured area), we had no additional transportation costs.

The tour bus dropped us off at Heathrow terminal 4 around 6:30. We had a leisurely dinner at the airport British pub style restaurant before checking in. It was our 13th night in a row in a room without windows (and I would guess that we were one of the only people who has ever stayed at one of these hotels after a cruise), but the room was perfectly adequate for our needs.

We flew back the next day without incident, cleared customs without any scrutiny of our declaration of $40 in souvenir magnets and $7 for our daughter’s bath toy, and made it home in time to have dinner with our daughter.

[HRPro]

Thanks for a well written and very helpful review. this cruise is definitely on our bucket list. Looking forward to your closing thoughts/comments.

[RNRcruisers]

Thanks for all the great details. I have your posts saved so I can refer to them when we do this cruise :) Sounds like a wonderful trip!

[CAMONYPA]

Here is the final part of the review. I hope the information has been helpful for those of you who are planning this cruise in the future and that someone who books this cruise at the last minute next summer will stumble upon this and use it to plan their trip. Please feel free to ask questions-- it will give me an excuse to read these boards during what will likely be a several year break from cruising. If the cruising withdrawal gets too bad, I may be back asking for tips on how to take two young children on a cruise to Alaska.

[B]Part 16: Summary[/B]

This was an amazing trip—filled with castles, museums, and breathtaking scenery. We loved the British Isles and definitely plan to visit again. Perhaps next time we’ll have more than 5 weeks to plan the trip. However, if for some reason you find yourself with the last minute opportunity to book this cruise, definitely go for it. By spending a little time on Cruise Critic, TripAdvisor, and browsing guidebooks, you can plan a trip quickly and economically.

One general question is whether it would be better to cruise the British Isles or instead do train/ ferry trip with car rentals. People who read Cruise Critic probably lean toward the former, but here is my take on the matter:

Upsides of cruising the British Isles: You travel from one destination to another in comfort (even an inside cabin is much more comfortable than an overnight bunk on a train). For a party of two who are ineligible for discounted tickets (i.e. not students or seniors), cruising is probably cheaper if you want to visit England, Scotland, and Ireland. Also, with cruising, you don’t have the stress of driving on the “wrong side of the road.”

Downsides of cruising the British Isles: There is a lack of flexibility to extend time at a place that interests you. You don’t have as many opportunities to try local cuisine (although we could have eaten more food in port but decided to spend money on places rather than food since there was so much food on the ship.) You have less itinerary control and visit some ports that matter less to you.

For what it’s worth, if you have the time and money, a way to get the best of both worlds would be to combine a land tour (i.e. a few days in London, Edinburgh, Paris, Dublin, or other city of your choice) with a cruise.

I am glad we decided to take the cruise this time. It made sense given the limited time we had to plan, budget constraints, and my pregnancy. However, if we to go back to the British Isles in 10 years with two elementary school age children, I think we will probably opt for car rental, trains, and ferries due to cost and the need for flexibility.

That is all for now. Thanks again to all the helpful people at Cruise Critic for making it possible for us to take full advantage of our time in the British Isles!

[simok99]

Great in depth review, really enjoyed reading. If you visit in 10 years time it will be a lot more expensive using planes, trains and automobiles. I live in Liverpool and get a buzz when the cruise ships come in, especially when we are due on one in November.


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[MMDown Under]

I think the most inexpensive way to travel with a young family is to hire a car and rent cottages by the week. Doing day trips from a base, before moving on for another week somewhere else.

If you are adventurous, you can swap houses and cars, which we did many times in England, Europe and USA.

[silverbird]

Kudos for an extremely well-written review of your cruise. You recreated so many wonderful memories for me from three years ago. Your observations were keen and you have a good eye for detail.

Best wishes on your pregnancy and your next career step.