British Isles Cruise Report--Royal Princess--May 13, 12 Nights

[hlperez]

HI! Were there tour operators outside the ports offering transportation into towns? We are going on the June 30th sailing and I have not booked our transportation from Invergordon into Inverness. I was hoping there were perhaps cabs or tour operators offering transportation on the fly (I am envisioning all the operators that hang outside the port in Conzumel, LOL). Also, hoping for the same thing in LeHavre - a taxi or tour at the port ready and willing to take me to Honfleur...??? Did you notice? Hoping.....

 

In Europe you do not generally find tour operators hanging about outside ports. There are usually taxis you can arrange a private tour with. In LeHavre you can take a taxi to Honfleur, but arrange for them to pick you up and take you back as well, as there are usually no taxis to be had in Honfluer. In Invergordon you can get the public X25 bus to Inverness from the High Street (5 min walk). It takes about 45 minutes.

[FLCruise7]

We did the British Isles a few years ago & our arrival in Belfast was delayed by quite a few hours. Our tour was set to leave the ship around 8:30 and when we went to the meeting place we were told that we were not able to dock yet due to high winds. We basically just sat outside the port area until late afternoon. We wondered why they didn't just skip the port and add a sea day, but found out that they were taking on provisions there. Unfortunately, we didn't get to go to the Giants Causeway. They refunded our tour cost & set up a later tour which we could have taken, but it was for just a couple of hours and missed some of the places scheduled for our original tour - and the cost was just $20 less. We decided to skip it.

[cymraes42]

Thank you !

Really looking forward to our trip June 18th -30th .

Fingers crossed for Guernsey !

 

Karen

[Prince George]

Thanks for all the great information we do this cruise on the Royal August 17th and I am very excited.

[suemi]

We embark on the Royal on Wednesday, thx for the tips! If we make it to Guernsey (fingers crossed) will head back early. Also good tip about cab in Dublin, we are already in London and have been using Uber all over the place. For a small group cheaper and easier than shuttles or buses.

 

I hope embarkation is smoother although I know some of that is the fault of the port not the cruise line.

 

 

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I thought I read where Uber was not being used in London? That may come in handy for us if it is easy to use. We need an early morning ride from our hotel to Victoria Coach Station to catch a tour to Highclere Castle. Thinking it may be our best option?

[NoWhiners]

I thought I read where Uber was not being used in London? That may come in handy for us if it is easy to use. We need an early morning ride from our hotel to Victoria Coach Station to catch a tour to Highclere Castle. Thinking it may be our best option?

 

I thought that too, and asked on the Britain Ports of Call board (https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2611776). Post #4 says

 

"...Uber’s licence to operate in London was not renewed last year, but they are still allowed to operate during the appeal process, which will likely last until the summer at least. " So, depending on when you'll be there, you might be able to use Uber.

Good luck

ML

[jagsfan]

Very informative review. Thank you for giving such great details. I would love to do the St Andrews tour but have mobility problems these days. When I was a docent at the World Golf Hall of Fame I took many photos of people on the replica Swilcan Bridge with a variety of cameras. I’d love to have mine on the original.

 

 

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[sunsetbeachgal]

I thought I read where Uber was not being used in London? That may come in handy for us if it is easy to use. We need an early morning ride from our hotel to Victoria Coach Station to catch a tour to Highclere Castle. Thinking it may be our best option?

 

 

 

Uber is everywhere in London! From our flat if you ordered an Uber they were there within two minutes. No problems, cars and drivers fine.

 

 

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[riclop]

Thanks for the report.

[Lucky TGO]

Thanks for a great review.

Tony

[anthonyy7]

Thanks for the review! I hope they are better organized when we board on June 30. I've already received 2 slight itinerary changes for our sailing. Embarkation pushed back 1 hour in Southampton and Belfast arrival moved from 8am to 6:15am due to the tides.

[ChristyLNDRN]

Enjoyed reading your review! Nice details!

[sunsetbeachgal]

We are on the Royal now, and we made it to Guernsey!! So far cruise is great!

 

 

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[cityguy300]

Dublin shuttle forms for $8 USD each way left in our staterooms last night (first night of June 6 sailing). Free Ride over?

[jagsfan]

53sunset--There is some difficult walking involved but you have some options. At the Giant's Causeway they have a shuttle that takes you from the Visitor Center to the stones. You are allowed to walk but it is about a 20 minute hike. There were lines for the shuttle when we were there. The stones themselves can be difficult to walk on as they are very irregular and slippery if you get close to the water.

 

 

 

Walking to the rope bridge is the only option that I observed and it is not only a decent distance, it also includes two steep staircases.

 

 

 

The drive along the coast however is truly beautiful and may be worth the trip in and of itself.

 

 

 

That will have to satisfy me. I use a cane for anything more than a block and a rollator if any standing around more than a couple of minutes. Thank you for sharing the information.

 

 

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[jagsfan]

Dublin shuttle forms for $8 USD each way left in our staterooms last night (first night of June 6 sailing). Free Ride over?

 

 

 

[emoji25]

 

 

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[rocklinmom]

Bummer. I figured that free Princess shuttle was too good to last. That will be $40 each way for us now.

[h82work]

Its was free on the May 13th cruise. I always thought the shuttle were free because they didn't want ton of people walking around the port. Both Dublin and Belfast are industrial port. The taxi driver will be happy. It's only 10 euros taxi ride to Dublin tourist area. It's not that far. I want to say it less than 2 miles to town.

[fishdancer]

We were also on the May 13 Royal Princess and had a great time. Beautiful weather most of the time helped. I would add:

We did anytime dining and always asked for a table for 2. We waited once or twice for a table but no more than 20 minutes maybe (unlike on Caribbean Princess in February when we once waited about an hour). We were usually eating around 6-6:30. We made a reservation once or twice and I overheard the maitre d' tell some people that you can only make a reservation for 5:45 (I believe) or earlier or after 7 or 7:30 because they need to in effect be able to use the anytime dining tables twice an evening. We told the waiter one time we were in a rush (needed to be out in an hour) and were able to have a four course meal. We ate in both Symphony and Concerto and did not have a preference.

There was a piano player, Kory Simon, who developed a devoted following. He played in Crooners and almost always had a late (11:30pm or so) show as well as two or three earlier shows. He talks to the crowd in addition to singing and playing the piano and he was quite talented. He had a show in the Vista Lounge the night before Le Havre. If you like piano players I recommend finding him early because I was disappointed we hadn't had more chances to listen to him because we didn't start attending until the middle of the cruise.

We also saw that the late shows in the main theater didn't get full, except the Silk show will probably be full, and Encore was also standing room only (but I can't remember if I went to the early or the late show).

The pizza (personal size) in Alfredo's was very good but as it is cooked to order it takes a while. We didn't realize that and the first time we ate there, when it wasn't crowded, it took much longer than we expected. When it was busy the waiter seating guests warned that the wait would be 20-25 minutes for a pizza, but I think even when it wasn't crowded it took that long.

I thought the buffet was huge but it was so spread out that I could not figure out my way around and it required a full walkthrough of maybe 4 rooms to see everything. Most of the things I tried were fine. At dinner time I think there were 2 or 3 meats in the carving stations. When there was beef wellington in the dining room there was beef wellington on the buffet and it was still delicious from the buffet. I think the comment on hash browns being just like McDonalds was meant negatively but we loved the hash browns on the buffet! They are so crispy!

People loved the band that played in the piazza - there were almost always many people dancing in the piazza, which I haven't seen on other cruises.

We watched the TV station with the location of the boat - you can zoom in and out - but missed the station with our speed, the condition of the seas, distance to port etc.

Tourism office employees got on the boat in at least Dublin, Greenock, Edinburgh and had maps to hand out. We did excursions in Belfast with Irish Tour Tickets and Invergorden with Invergorden Tours and both were excellent.

At Cobh we took the train to Cork. There was a long line to buy train tickets with a credit card. They were 10 euros round trip. I didn't see an ATM close to the Cobh train station but there was an ATM in the train station in Glasgow. From Cork we took a bus to Kinsale, which was a cute town but there wasn't much to do. We also walked around Cork after Kindle, and then in Cobh, which was mostly shut down around 6 pm save for a couple of tourist stores. Because there was a cruise ship in port, the Cobh/Cork train (which is like a shuttle) was running every 30 minutes, which is more frequent than the posted schedule online.

The wait for the shuttle to Dublin on the first day seemed like it was going to be so long that we decided to walk into town. The shore excursion lady implied you were not permitted to walk out, but that wasn't the case. I think I saw about 6 buses waiting for us when we arrived, and they were double deckers that probably sit about 60 people, so if you got to the dining room right when they started giving out the bus tickets, you might not have had much of a wait even if you were one of many. But then the next group has to wait for the buses to get to the drop off and come back. The walk wasn't too bad or hard, most of it is in the shade until you get to the river, when it becomes much more interesting. In addition to walking around generally, we went to EPIC, the immigration museum (not as good as I was hoping, it was mostly about famous people with Irish heritage) and to the Teeling Distillery, which was a good tour (we're from Kentucky so have done many whiskey tours). We did have a line for the shuttle back on Day 1 (7pm -ish?), but the buses were coming quickly and it wasn't too long. They are double deckers so many people fit on the bus. On the second day we had a land based tour to make in town and we decided to walk again because we didn't know how long of a wait there'd be that morning and because they warn that the traffic can make the shuttle trip long. That day we used DoDublin to do a bus trip to Glendalough and Powerscourt Estate and it was great. We walked from the port to a pickup point. I would recommend that trip, which also included a free loop on their Hop On Hop Off bus (it seemed there were at least 3 companies in Dublin offering HOHO).

At Greenock we took the train into Glasgow. The walk to the station was about 20 minutes. There is also a shuttle bus for 8 pounds round trip that leaves/returns much closer to the boat, only a block outside the port. They were handing out brochures with the scheduled times in the port (in Greenock you walk through an inside area just after getting off the boat; it sold souvenirs and had tourist information). The last bus back wasn't that late relative to when our boat left, so taking the train allows for more time in town. You can get the bus one way and the train back.

In South Queensferry we took the 6 pound bus into town. You can buy tickets with a credit card. The ride is billed as taking 45 minutes but it only took about 20 minutes to get there mid-morning and maybe 35 minutes back in the afternoon). We elected to stand on the bus on the trip there as to not have to wait for the next bus to get into town.

We had boarded in Southampton and disembarked in Le Havre so we could spend a few days in France. When we got off the ship around 2pm, we had to wait a little bit until a taxi arrived that was dropping off new passengers. It wasn't obvious how we would otherwise find a taxi, but I don't know what it was like early in the morning.

We thought the staff was very friendly and loved the cruise staff.

[Diver2014]

These reviews are very informative and very helpful! Thank you! We'll be on Crown in May, 2019 for the British Isles cruise.

I've been to England many times but never to Ireland and only Glasgow and Edinburgh in Scotland but for a specific purpose so didn't do much sightseeing. Nine ports seems like a lot but there's a lot to see! Can't wait!

[anthonyy7]

Thanks Fishdancer, how was the DoDublintour? We’re taking the same tour departing at 1030.... you walked from the ship to the O’Connell street departure?

 

Bummer about the Dublin port shuttle charge...

[caribill]

Dublin shuttle forms for $8 USD each way left in our staterooms last night (first night of June 6 sailing). Free Ride over?

 

The shuttles are provided by the port, not by Princess. When the port has budget problems, they start charging for the shuttle.

[majortom10]

The shuttles are provided by the port, not by Princess. When the port has budget problems, they start charging for the shuttle.

 

We have done British Isles cruise 5 times with Princess in recent years and have always had to pay $8pp each way in Dublin for the shuttle bus. The shuttle bus in Belfast used to be free and provided by local authority but due to budget restraints they stopped and the last time we went there was a $8pp charge again like Dublin. Edinburgh we always take the short but steep walk to railway station and get the train into Edinburgh (Waverley) from Dalmeny (South Queensferry).

[fishdancer]

Thanks Fishdancer, how was the DoDublintour? We’re taking the same tour departing at 1030.... you walked from the ship to the O’Connell street departure?

 

Bummer about the Dublin port shuttle charge...

 

The tour was great, the bus had wifi (I don't think it worked in the afternoon) and we had sufficient time at Glendalough and Powerscourt. You might want to bring some snacks from the boat. Our driver said he wasn't supposed to let us eat on the bus but he didn't mind if we did and any drinks needed a lid.

We walked to the Spencer Hotel on N. Wall Quay and got on the bus there. It was a lot closer than the O'Connell St office. We picked up a paper pamphlet about the tour in Dublin and it listed pick up locations and times (just various hotels and the DoDublin office), and that was the last pick up time and closest to the ship. I think the listed time was 10:45. It was a bit nerve-wracking waiting for the bus and when one of their HOHO buses came to the stop we asked the driver if the Powerscourt bus would pick us up and he said no, but then he called the office who said yes, they pick up there, and the bus hadn't left the O'Connell St. office yet. We probably got picked up around 10:55. When we booked the tour we were told we didn't need to tell them about where we'd get on.

[loge23]

We were also on the May 13 Royal Princess and had a great time. Beautiful weather most of the time helped. I would add:

We did anytime dining and always asked for a table for 2. We waited once or twice for a table but no more than 20 minutes maybe (unlike on Caribbean Princess in February when we once waited about an hour). We were usually eating around 6-6:30. We made a reservation once or twice and I overheard the maitre d' tell some people that you can only make a reservation for 5:45 (I believe) or earlier or after 7 or 7:30 because they need to in effect be able to use the anytime dining tables twice an evening. We told the waiter one time we were in a rush (needed to be out in an hour) and were able to have a four course meal. We ate in both Symphony and Concerto and did not have a preference.

There was a piano player, Kory Simon, who developed a devoted following. He played in Crooners and almost always had a late (11:30pm or so) show as well as two or three earlier shows. He talks to the crowd in addition to singing and playing the piano and he was quite talented. He had a show in the Vista Lounge the night before Le Havre. If you like piano players I recommend finding him early because I was disappointed we hadn't had more chances to listen to him because we didn't start attending until the middle of the cruise.

We also saw that the late shows in the main theater didn't get full, except the Silk show will probably be full, and Encore was also standing room only (but I can't remember if I went to the early or the late show).

The pizza (personal size) in Alfredo's was very good but as it is cooked to order it takes a while. We didn't realize that and the first time we ate there, when it wasn't crowded, it took much longer than we expected. When it was busy the waiter seating guests warned that the wait would be 20-25 minutes for a pizza, but I think even when it wasn't crowded it took that long.

I thought the buffet was huge but it was so spread out that I could not figure out my way around and it required a full walkthrough of maybe 4 rooms to see everything. Most of the things I tried were fine. At dinner time I think there were 2 or 3 meats in the carving stations. When there was beef wellington in the dining room there was beef wellington on the buffet and it was still delicious from the buffet. I think the comment on hash browns being just like McDonalds was meant negatively but we loved the hash browns on the buffet! They are so crispy!

People loved the band that played in the piazza - there were almost always many people dancing in the piazza, which I haven't seen on other cruises.

We watched the TV station with the location of the boat - you can zoom in and out - but missed the station with our speed, the condition of the seas, distance to port etc.

Tourism office employees got on the boat in at least Dublin, Greenock, Edinburgh and had maps to hand out. We did excursions in Belfast with Irish Tour Tickets and Invergorden with Invergorden Tours and both were excellent.

At Cobh we took the train to Cork. There was a long line to buy train tickets with a credit card. They were 10 euros round trip. I didn't see an ATM close to the Cobh train station but there was an ATM in the train station in Glasgow. From Cork we took a bus to Kinsale, which was a cute town but there wasn't much to do. We also walked around Cork after Kindle, and then in Cobh, which was mostly shut down around 6 pm save for a couple of tourist stores. Because there was a cruise ship in port, the Cobh/Cork train (which is like a shuttle) was running every 30 minutes, which is more frequent than the posted schedule online.

The wait for the shuttle to Dublin on the first day seemed like it was going to be so long that we decided to walk into town. The shore excursion lady implied you were not permitted to walk out, but that wasn't the case. I think I saw about 6 buses waiting for us when we arrived, and they were double deckers that probably sit about 60 people, so if you got to the dining room right when they started giving out the bus tickets, you might not have had much of a wait even if you were one of many. But then the next group has to wait for the buses to get to the drop off and come back. The walk wasn't too bad or hard, most of it is in the shade until you get to the river, when it becomes much more interesting. In addition to walking around generally, we went to EPIC, the immigration museum (not as good as I was hoping, it was mostly about famous people with Irish heritage) and to the Teeling Distillery, which was a good tour (we're from Kentucky so have done many whiskey tours). We did have a line for the shuttle back on Day 1 (7pm -ish?), but the buses were coming quickly and it wasn't too long. They are double deckers so many people fit on the bus. On the second day we had a land based tour to make in town and we decided to walk again because we didn't know how long of a wait there'd be that morning and because they warn that the traffic can make the shuttle trip long. That day we used DoDublin to do a bus trip to Glendalough and Powerscourt Estate and it was great. We walked from the port to a pickup point. I would recommend that trip, which also included a free loop on their Hop On Hop Off bus (it seemed there were at least 3 companies in Dublin offering HOHO).

At Greenock we took the train into Glasgow. The walk to the station was about 20 minutes. There is also a shuttle bus for 8 pounds round trip that leaves/returns much closer to the boat, only a block outside the port. They were handing out brochures with the scheduled times in the port (in Greenock you walk through an inside area just after getting off the boat; it sold souvenirs and had tourist information). The last bus back wasn't that late relative to when our boat left, so taking the train allows for more time in town. You can get the bus one way and the train back.

In South Queensferry we took the 6 pound bus into town. You can buy tickets with a credit card. The ride is billed as taking 45 minutes but it only took about 20 minutes to get there mid-morning and maybe 35 minutes back in the afternoon). We elected to stand on the bus on the trip there as to not have to wait for the next bus to get into town.

We had boarded in Southampton and disembarked in Le Havre so we could spend a few days in France. When we got off the ship around 2pm, we had to wait a little bit until a taxi arrived that was dropping off new passengers. It wasn't obvious how we would otherwise find a taxi, but I don't know what it was like early in the morning.

We thought the staff was very friendly and loved the cruise staff.

 

Good to hear that Mr. Simon developed a following. We were on the crossing and initial British Isles cruise (4/16 to 5/13) and had the imitable Perry Grant in the Crooners for the crossing segment - packed house every night. When Mr. Simon took over on 5/2, the place was a ghost town for a few nights until he got his stride - Perry is a tough act to follow! We loved the trip, btw.