BRILLIANCE (British Isles) June 19-July 2,2018 REVIEW w/lots of photos

[Hoopster95]

The clouds were ever so slowly dissipating, and there were no further spits of rain as a made it up the hill to the Fort George area (on the map). I continued on through the little streets and the main roads.... gorgeous town with beautiful cottages/homes, well manicured, English gardens and stone walls lining the roads, brick architecture... really beautiful and made for a great ride. It's also a very clean island, a very upper class feel.

 

 

I had noted (and now found!) Route de Jerbourg which would take me to my first couple of points of interest.....

 

 

... the first being Doyle's Column.

 

 

I pretty much did zero homework on the history of the island, other than what I had read from the biking/route map sites. Very little was mentioned about Doyle's Column other than being "a site of interest". Turns out Doyle was of major importance to Guernsey, having led the defense of the island and improving it's defenses (gun batteries, forts, etc) during the Napoleonic War

 

 

The re-built monument itself is really not much to look at... a tower of bricks.

 

 

However the view from here is gorgeous. Here you can see how far I've ridden so far with the ships and Castle Coronet off in the distance.

 

[Hoopster95]

Continuing on Route de Jerbourg, I arrive at a hotel called..... yep, Jerbourg Hotel, and a parking lot/view point called..... uh huh, Jerbourg Point. This marks the farthest south-eastern tip of Guernsey, on clear days offering views all the way out to Jersey.

 

 

Today's view was a little darker with the weather, with the only island visible being a small island called Jethou. Behind it and a little farther would be the more well known Channel island of Herm, but can't be seen in this photo. On the left you can make out Castle Coronet, with the Brilliance just left of the castle, and then Royal Princess almost dead center in the photo

 

 

Gorgeous viewpoint and topography down into the bays.... Say? What's that there.... hmmmm, a pathway down to the bottom. Guess where I'm goin'?

 

 

Had to bush wack a bit, doesn't seem to be very much foot traffic down the little path with broken stone steps and underbrush growing into the path. That was quite an elevation drop, so I'm not looking forward to climbing back up! Supposedly the cliff height here is about 200 ft, and other areas on this coast up to 300 feet at it's highest elevations.

 

 

Ah! The reward...

 

 

I chilled out here for a few minutes, watching the seagulls fish and exploring around a little bit. Only took about 10 minutes to get down, a bit longer (and way more sweat and lactic acid build up) to get back up. This was a fun stop and well worth the short visit. Unlocking my bike back up at the car park I noted two separate taxis, one of them with 4 cruisers getting out as they hired a private taxi tour around the island.... 2 of them were on Chefs Table with me. I understand it was 50 pounds per hour, so a 3 hour (with stops) tour around the island for the morning divided by 4 people... not too shabby.

 

Me? I got back on my bike and paddled back on Jerbourg Road, past Doyle's column and past a farm with the Guernsey Cows I had mentioned in the first post. There were a couple of equestrian farms along here as well with riding rings and stables as I watched a rider take her horse slowly around the fence line as I biked by.

 

[Hoopster95]

Back up Route de Jerbourg, I came up to the main intersection I had come from, and found the bus stop and street sign that gave me comfort as this is the direction I needed to go. Note that bus #81 goes round the whole island, and I understand that a couple of cruisers used this as a "HOHO" of sorts and got off a couple of times and then back on the next bus.

 

 

After some more wonderful smaller roads with gorgeous homes and rocks walls lining the streets, I came across a fork in the road. A nice gentleman helped me out here, explaining the left road would lead me down to Moulin Huet Bay where famous French artist Renoir painted 12 paintings of this Bay, and still looks roughly the same today.

 

What wasn't explained to me was how far downhill it was..... it's wwwwaaaaaaayyyyyyy downhill. And then you come to a dead end of the road where only foot traffic is allowed so I had to lockup my bike.... and more downhill walking.

 

 

The road opened up to the beautiful bay and I came across the Moulin Huet Bay cafe. I was told to stop here for a snack, but I didn't. I regret that now as supposedly they have incredible scones and real cream (Guernsey cow cream) and other local eats. Would've been great to just sit for 15min and soak in the view.

 

 

There's also signage here indicating approximately where Renoir likely sat in order to produce his famous paintings in the late 1800's. The scenes he painted are pretty much the same today as the bay has not changed at all

 

 

And why would a renowned famous artist want to paint here?

 

 

Yes... so gorgeous! So it was here I climbed on the rocks and hung out for 15-20 minutes, watching one of the locals playing fetch with her dog in the water. What a place... the most beautiful site of this day.

 

[Hoopster95]

It was a slow/long walk back up to my bike.... and another long ride/walk with my bike to get up to level ground. I heeded that gentleman's advice I had spoken before heading down and now took the right fork in the road, biking through a few more beautiful side roads until getting to the main street leading down to Saint's Bay. Again heading downhill, you have to keep the brakes on the brake pressed else you'd gain so much speed.

 

 

I got all the way down to a remote area of the bay, with what looks like a boat launch, but nothing else, quite barren. I was trying to get to the lookout point on the map which is to the right of this photo up above the hillside looking down on the boats.

 

 

Luckily there was a kiosk down here with water, ice cream and some basic snacks. I grabbed an ice cream and water, and noted the currency for the first time... it's local Guernsey pounds. Guernsey has no problem using British pounds at par, but you can't take these back to mainland UK and expect to use them wherever you wish... you have to use them here ion Guernsey.

 

 

The ladies there told me to look for the stairs just beside the bathrooms, and carry my bike all the way up, where I'd connect with the main road without biking/hiking all the way back from where I'd just come from. This wasn't easy I discovered, but I did make it by carrying 10-15 steps, resting, and going again. Finally making that road, I arrived at the viewpoint very shortly thereafter.... again another gorgeous site

 

[Hoopster95]

Remember I mentioned the Cliff paths earlier? These paths intersect here at Saint's Bay and continue from here, and all the way to ICart Point if you wish. I locked up my bike and headed on up, rather than down, this time.

 

 

Along the path and up the hill are a couple of dilapidated concrete barracks, probably built by Governor General Doyle (Doyle's Column) back in the 1800's. However at the top is a gorgeous bird's eye view of Saint's Bay below as well as a partial view Moulin Huet Bay a little further ahead. You can also make out the foot path ("Cliff" path) that winds it's way around the cliff and all the way back to St Peter Port.

 

 

From here at the top I can continue to ICart Point. Instead I made my way down the 317 steps (I counted) that I just climbed to get my bike and ride around to the next point instead

 

 

Having arrived at ICart Point, here's the view... just beautiful at this elevation. Unlike the previous bays, there's no way to get down here.

 

[Hoopster95]

When I started the day, I actually came across Sausmarez Manor before reaching Doyle's Column, however it was closed that early in the morning. I took note to stop by on my way back to port just to check things out. I found the main road I had been biking on to get to all the bays, and was retracing my journey. I came to the intersection of Route de Jourbourg yet again and noted to old Sausmarez Mill in the background

 

 

And just down the road from here is the main entrance

 

 

 

I did see and read a little about this place when figuring out my bike route pre-crusie, but didn't think much of it. Earlier in the morning, I did read the signage and saw that it was much like a family "amusement" park with it's own train, a tropical garden, a pitch & putt, and radio controlled boats (which you can rent and take out on the lake). This place looked to be somewhat interesting....

 

 

However, my first impression was very weak. There were maybe 4 cars in the parking lot and the grounds were not to a level of a public gardens per se. The main house itself is cute, and they do provide tours at certain times of the day, however I was not interested so I didn't go in to inquire.... besides, it was a ghost town as it seemed I was the only human there!

 

 

This "manor" had some very weird sculptures and art all over the grounds.... a haphazard metal cobra, then a wire rhino, and then other weird stuff all over the place that looked like it came from a grade 8 art class. Truthfully, I didn't get it. The funniest thing I saw was Robert Deniro looking out from the greenhouse here at the back of the manor

 

[Hoopster95]

Around the back of the property is the Tea room, as well as entrance to the Tropical gardens, Lake and pitch & Putt. Everything is for a fee, and yet barely anyone was there.

 

 

I felt a couple of rain drops and decided to check out the inside. I peeked into the Tea Room... it was about 30 x 20, and only had maybe 5 small tables. I noted the menu above the bar area... coffees, pastries, simple stuff. I continued on through out back and came across the Coppersmith. I had read pre-cruise that Guernsey is famed for Silversmiths and Coppersmiths so I thought this would be worth seeing.

 

 

As it turned out, he was busy making a set of Guernsey copper milk jugs of various sizes. After chatting up about Guernsey and his craft, he invited me to watch him put one together

 

 

On the main counter he had a bunch of jewelry for sale, including unisex bracelets. I asked if they were all hand made by him, and they were not... always ask. However, he did point out 3 of them which he personally made that were off to one side, and in fact he was wearing one of the ones that he had made. THAT was the one.... I bought it! This is my cool souvenir from Guernsey

 

 

So about 15 minutes went by when I entered the Tea Room and his shop, and then exited.... the skies had opened and it was pouring rain. I went back into the Tea Room thinking I might grab a coffee, however all the 5 tables were filled and a short line-up was at the bar with one server seemingly trying to move at 100 miles an hour... I don't understand... between the poorly kept grounds, the amateurish set up, the super small Tea Room, actually having to pay to see a small garden, I can't see how this place can support hundreds of visitors at one shot for example. Thankfully I was not here for long, and truthfully I left confused.

 

I waited at the doorway for a few minutes, then impatiently walked around to my bike and hovered under a tree. Here I waited about another 15 minutes... my choice was to get on the bike, book it as fast/safely as I can to port and get totally soaked doing so, or wait here not knowing whether the rain would stop in 5, 10, 30 or 60 minutes. I chose to get going, so I put my camera/iphone away in the deepest pockets I had to keep them dry and road off into the pouring rain.

[Hoopster95]

It's amazing how quick and precise with directions you can become when very cold, extremely wet and super motivated to get from point A to B! lol. I immediately recognized my entire path back to port from earlier in the morning, retracing the exact road and bike path all the way down to the pier in only about 15-20min I estimate... very quick from Sausmarez Manor mostly downhill to the port area.

 

It's here, at about 1pm with the rain subsided to a drizzle, I had the choice of whether I should call it a day and bring the bike back, or head into Castle Coronet... which was on my target to visit. Instead of heading back to the tenders, I put my lunch hunger away in my back pocket for the time being, and road through the port area towards the castle.

 

 

 

Locking my bike and walking the distance of the boardwalk to the entrance, I discovered a long line at the ticket counter within the gift shop, it was packed. I guess a lot of people wanted to get inside from the rain on this afternoon.... this obviously happens on a rainy day with 6000 cruisers in port! Also once walking down the boardwalk to the entry, the rains started up again. I retreated out from the gift shop, thinking about the line-up of people, all aboard in a couple of hours, and the cold/wet hitting me harder now with my jacket sticking to my arms... I decided to bail and left the entrance area of the castle to heads back to the tender pier

 

 

Out on the boardwalk, I got the chance to take a few pictures of both Brilliance and Royal Princess out on the water

 

 

and a last one of the outer walls of Castle Coronet, and then quickly buried my cameras deep into my pockets to keep them dry.

 

[Hoopster95]

So from the point of the photo above, to getting my bike, and then riding it back to my drop off point, it rained hard for about 10 minutes... and then lightened up for a bit ... and then it stopped. Once in the tender line-up the rain never came back as it turned out, but I didn't care. I was ready to get back.

 

Now let's think logically for a moment.... 2000 cruisers on Brilliance, 4000 on Royal Princess... when it rains for an hour where do you think most cruisers will go? Right!!! Back to the tender. So let's say even 1000 from Royal Princess line-up all at once with 100 people in each tender... that's a 10 tender line-up and easily over an hour wait for those cruisers

 

 

There were plenty of loud Princess customers mouthing off to staff... one specifically yelling. They were absolutely not happy. I had overheard some of them saying they had been an hour already in line and cold/wet they weren't that close to the front. There were some very strong words by many, and there were lots of officers/staff from Princess it seems talking to various customers. I guess this is something to consider at a tender port when you're on a massive ship. Keep that in mind for Freedom, Quantum and Oasis Class if/when they ever tender.

 

So turning around 180 degrees from the above photo, I take the photo below. See the blue fencing? That's the entry to the Brilliance tender, easily less than half the length of Princess. I had thought about leaving the port and having lunch in a warm restaurant somewhere, but when I learned about our line-up for Brilliance being so much shorter, I got in line as well.

 

 

We had a tender line-up that wound around three rows, and took about 1/2 hour to get through.

 

 

Ah, soon I'd be dry, warm and getting some food in me!

 

 

We had left the Princess line-up in the dust, getting on to one of the Guernsey contracted large tenders, so they got at least 200 of us on board at one shot with this boat.

 

 

I wonder what happened to some of those people in that Princess line-up. There were several, like some here on the RCL forum, that loudly proclaimed they would never sail Princess again, and/or they should be compensated. I'd be willing to bet that if any one of them spent a measly $10 for a coffee and pastry in a nice, warm cafe across the street they would've had zero line in about an hour from now when all the other 999 passengers in that line-up had already taken the tenders to get out of the rain. **it happens.... no one should ever be so entitled to expect perfection from everyone and everything at all times. It's inevitable ... Traveling is never perfect 100% of the time.

[Cotswold Eagle]

Great trip report, thank you for the effort to pull it together. It will be a great resource for some of the queries we get over on the Britain Ports of Call board.

 

Just to avoid confusion, the middle note here is a Bank of England £5, not a States of Guernsey local issue, which of course illustrates your point about interchangeability.

 

... noted the currency for the first time... it's local Guernsey pounds. Guernsey has no problem using British pounds at par, but you can't take these back to mainland UK and expect to use them wherever you wish... you have to use them here ion Guernsey.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[Hoopster95]

Well, I must really have been "done" for this day.... lol! I have very few photos for the rest of the afternoon and evening. Lunch? Check. Gym? Check. Steam room & sauna.... Check!!! Really needed that. Nap? Double check :cool:

 

Brilliance was to have set sailed around 4pm, however I have a couple of poor pictures in the Viking Crown overflow (so past 5pm) looking at the Princess ship finally sailing away in front of us, and then Brilliance behind. I also headed back to the WJ for dinner rather early right a 6pm as my late lunch was very small (just enough to get me through my workout). The rear of the WJ was closed due to the weather, so I headed back in

 

 

Tonight was a no brainer theme night yet again in the WJ with more dishes never served in the MDR... Thai Night was the theme with Pad Thai, satay chicken with peanut sauce, beef fried rice and red curry to name a few. Again, quite a good dinner.

This would be my final WJ dinner of the cruise and I would have to say all of them expect for 2 were better than expected, so to LMaxwell and a few others who posted on all here on CC that WJ has become a decent alternative... yes, I'd have to agree. Specialty is still better in my books, however WJ has upped their game thankfully.

 

 

 

The rest of the night? Latino night again in the Centrum and this time I found a salsa partner for a couple of songs.

"Soul Satisfaction" Headliner perfoirmed in the Pacifica Theatre and received a standing O with people dancing in the isles.... I didn't understand this. There have been much better soul groups perform on previous sailings, but hey, the majority had a great time!

 

And then the Quest at 10:15pm... note the time here. The Colony Club was full. Enzo did a great job running the Quest (not Abe) and had the room divided into 4 teams only, so much more intimate and easier to get people involved for the Captains. This Quest was pretty good with a few different things I had not seen before. And because most of the inner players were hard at it, the outsiders were ok with clapping and laughing along at the histerics. It was a well attended and participated Quest.

 

With the final day tomorrow approaching, and another early morning getting off the ship, I retired for the evening.

[Hoopster95]

all board. Just to avoid confusion, the middle note here is a Bank of England £5, not a States of Guernsey local issue, which of course illustrates your point about interchangeability.

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Aha!! Thx for catching that. I'm pretty sure I had a Guernsey 5 as well, however grabbed the British 5 instead in error and didn't even notice :D

[KansCocoa]

Tonight was the 2nd and final formal night... Mike did not bother with the tux whereas I donned my newly purchased tie from the Book of Kells gift shop from Trinity College. Sherri was a beautiful as always (.... bonus points for me!!! I know she'll read this and laugh, lol)

 

Ha ha! You know me well! But thank you for your kind words...! ;)

 

Your tie was amazing - it was getting quite a few compliments from everyone - even Mike was a bit envious!

 

I’m loving the review! Bringing back memories, but I’m also seeing things that I didn’t get to see myself, since some of my tours were very different...funny how we can both visit the same ports, yet get totally different experiences!!!

[KansCocoa]

And one more comment - about Mike’s tux.

 

He debated ahead of time on whether to wear a tux or not...he has his own tux, but since he’s taken up marathon running, he’s lost a bunch of weight. He tried his tuxedo on at home about a month before sailing, and it was 10x too big!

 

So, he decided to go with a tux rental onboard, although I tried to tell him that the trend was to be “less formal” on formal nights - and most likely, a nice suit and/or coat would be sufficient.

 

Anyway - he wore the tux the first night, but did indeed see that he was one of the few men onboard in a tux. He decided to go less formal the 2nd formal night.

 

I only post this to give others something to think about...when it comes to men & their formal wear. Go with what is comfortable for you - don’t worry about what others are wearing - or not wearing.

 

Now, ladies - I saw the gamut of long formal gowns to very casual wear...so, anything goes!

[tugtraveller]

And one more comment - about Mike’s tux.

Anyway - he wore the tux the first night, but did indeed see that he was one of the few men onboard in a tux. He decided to go less formal the 2nd formal night.

 

I only post this to give others something to think about...when it comes to men & their formal wear. Go with what is comfortable for you - don’t worry about what others are wearing - or not wearing.

 

Now, ladies - I saw the gamut of long formal gowns to very casual wear...so, anything goes!

 

That's very good to hear. Thank you.

[texmex.ferr]

Ha ha! You know me well! But thank you for your kind words...! ;)

 

 

 

Your tie was amazing - it was getting quite a few compliments from everyone - even Mike was a bit envious!

 

 

 

I’m loving the review! Bringing back memories, but I’m also seeing things that I didn’t get to see myself, since some of my tours were very different...funny how we can both visit the same ports, yet get totally different experiences!!!

 

 

 

Hi

 

Can you tell me which tour operators you used in Edinburgh & Greenock.

 

Thanks very much in advance

 

Margaret

 

 

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[KansCocoa]

Hi

 

Can you tell me which tour operators you used in Edinburgh & Greenock.

 

Thanks very much in advance

 

Margaret

 

 

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Hi, Margaret -

 

For all of my tours in Scotland & Ireland, I used a website called ToursByLocals. You can pull up your particular port and see the various tours that are offered - as well as who the guides are, and their reviews.

 

Once I had settled on a particular guide with a “general” idea of the tour, I was able to email & communicate directly with the guides to personalize the tours more.

 

Hope that helps!

[billsgal]

We were on this cruise with you and we thank you for posting your pictures....it brings our good times back to us. We loved this cruise and would do it again in heartbeat, even though it involved a lot of walking and a lot of touring. Loved Amsterdam for the 3 days before the cruise, still looking out for bicycles now that we are home;)

 

We were the ones that hired the taxi in Guernsey, and it was money well spent. We had 7 of us, 3 in one taxi, 4 in the other, saw pretty much all of the island at our own pace, and the taxi drivers were funny, courteous, and very knowledgeable about their home. I loved Guernsey and would like to go back and spent a week.

 

I have to laugh at you with your comments about the tender lines and the folks waiting in the rain and complaining When we arrived back at the pier it was just starting to rain, so we went into the restaurant on the pier, had a wonderful dinner and when we left the lines were still long, but the rain had stopped and the sun was shining. So many folks complaining about the wait (mostly Princess people).........but it took us about 1/2 hour to reach the tender.....but we were well fed and it was sunny!

 

Thanks again for your great pictures and commentary.

 

Rita

[IrishLassie]

Thanks for the heads up on the "savory bites"! They are my favorite & our last cruise on Oasis last Sept. they said they didn't do them any more! I will ask for them again when we go in Oct.

[texmex.ferr]

Hi, Margaret -

 

For all of my tours in Scotland & Ireland, I used a website called ToursByLocals. You can pull up your particular port and see the various tours that are offered - as well as who the guides are, and their reviews.

 

Once I had settled on a particular guide with a “general” idea of the tour, I was able to email & communicate directly with the guides to personalize the tours more.

 

Hope that helps!

 

Hi Sherri

 

Thanks for the information. We stay in Central Scotland, and are sailing on Oasis Eastbound TA in April 2019, and there is someone from Canada, who is hoping to visit Scotland, after our TA, and looking for information of where to visit, or tour operators. So I have given reference to this review of Hoopster (which is excellent) and the tours he has used, so I will now pass on the details of the website you used.

 

Looking forward to seeing your review too.

 

Margaret

[Hoopster95]

Hey everyone! A couple of 12 hour days, so I had to put this review down. I will finish this review with Dover (Canterbury) hopefully tomorrow.

 

Thx for all the kind words from everyone and thx Sherri for Helping me answer some questions here... yes, it’ll be great for readers to see how your days went as we did totally different things at most ports. There’s plenty of choices to be sure [emoji846]

 

 

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[NemoCrownie]

Hoopster95, again, another stellar review! I have gotten so much great advice and wonderful excursion ideas from your reviews over the years. Unfortunately for my husband, you put Oceania and French Polynesia on the top of my bucket list. This particular itinerary has never really appealed to me but, because of your review, I know I would really enjoy it.

 

As others have said, the cruise lines should pay you or, at least, provide you with free accommodations. You are a cruise ambassador nonpareil. Thank you for your contributions to Cruise Critic and to the readers of these forums, it is much appreciated.

[madra2112]

This is one of my favourite ever reviews for a number of reasons. I was born in Kilkenny, raised in Waterford and live in Donegal, so to see places I know well through the eyes of a visitor is a real pleasure.

 

My surname is Kavanagh, Caomhánach in Irish, which means "of Kevin". The was initially a nickname given to Diarmuid Mc Murrough's son Art, because he had been sent to Glendalough to study under St Kevin. Essentially, the name indicated he was Art Mc Murrough, the pupil of Kevin. Seeing the pictures of Strongbow's tomb (Art's brother in law) followed by the pictures of Glendalough was lovely.

 

Then, the picture of the motorway junction outside Dublin - I was caught in traffic on that overpass yesterday as I drove from Waterford to Donegal.

 

Rarely has a review on CC spoken to me so much of home!

 

A really well written review as always, Claudio, and I'm glad you enjoyed your time here.

 

One point re : Holyhead, any fans of 1960s TV may remember a TV series called 'The Prisoner'. It was quite weird and starred Patrick Mc Goohan, probably best known for its opening dialogue "Who is Number 1?" "You are Number 6". "I am not a number, I am a free man". It was filmed in a village called Portmeiron which is just over an hour away from Holyhead, and a fascinating place to visit.

[Hoopster95]

We were the ones that hired the taxi in Guernsey, and it was money well spent. We had 7 of us, 3 in one taxi, 4 in the other, saw pretty much all of the island at our own pace, and the taxi drivers were funny, courteous, and very knowledgeable about their home. I loved Guernsey and would like to go back and spent a week.

 

I have to laugh at you with your comments about the tender lines and the folks waiting in the rain and complaining When we arrived back at the pier it was just starting to rain, so we went into the restaurant on the pier, had a wonderful dinner and when we left the lines were still long, but the rain had stopped and the sun was shining. So many folks complaining about the wait (mostly Princess people).........but it took us about 1/2 hour to reach the tender.....but we were well fed and it was sunny!

 

Thanks again for your great pictures and commentary.

 

Rita

 

Hey Rita.... were you traveling with Laura? Were you one of the taxi's that drove by me on my bike between Doyle's column & Jerbourg Point by chance?

Yes, the taxi would've been a great way to see the island, and not to bad price wise shared by 4 people.... nice call regarding the restaurant vs. rain!!! So instead of being both cheap & miserable, you spent 10 pounds for lunch (that you will never miss) and instead you had a great memory... well done! :D If you were at the pier during the rain, OMG you would've heard much louder & direct complaining from the Princess line. They were beyond not happy.

[Hoopster95]

Thanks for the heads up on the "savory bites"! They are my favorite & our last cruise on Oasis last Sept. they said they didn't do them any more! I will ask for them again when we go in Oct.

 

Haha!! Yes, they told me the same, that they don't have them anymore.... deargsheafóid!, a leithéid d'amaidí!!

(you like that one?... "What a load of rubbish!" in gaelic)) . Damn... I need an Irish and/or Scottish emoticon for this review :evilsmile::D