British Isles 2021 - Which itinerary?

[eurodl]

1 hour ago, NavyVeteran said:

The itineraries for the British Isles cruises in August are designed specifically for the Tattoo.

 

Those ships stopping in South Queensferry for the Tattoo will normally overnight there. On these cruises, you have all day in Edinburgh before the Tattoo. Since the ship is there until the next day and since South Queensferry is relatively close to Edinburgh, you can arrange your own transportation if you want.

 

Those covering the Tattoo from Greenock will have a scheduled departure time of around 2:00 am. If you go to Edinburgh on your own, then you do need to make sure you get back to the ship before 2:00 am - or, at least, before the last Princess excursion gets back. You can take a private excursion, but I would recommend doing so with a tour company that guarantees you get back to the ship. These itineraries often have a stop in South Queensferry as well as the one in Greenock - the South Queensferry stop leaves in the afternoon, so it is not suitable for the Tattoo.

 

I took a Princess excursion to the Tattoo from Greenock. I also know several people on my ship who took private excursions they had booked in advance with no problems.

 

 

Thanks NavyVeteran for the information.  Very helpful.

[ontheweb]

4 hours ago, eurodl said:

 

Would we be in port long enough to see either, or both?

On the Princess British Isles cruise we sailed on there was an overnight in the port of Rosyth for Edinburgh, so we definitely had time for both.

 

We did miss the last train back (after having bought round trip tickets), and had to take a cab back.

[NavyVeteran]

43 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

On the Princess British Isles cruise we sailed on there was an overnight in the port of Rosyth for Edinburgh, so we definitely had time for both.

 

We did miss the last train back (after having bought round trip tickets), and had to take a cab back.

That's not so bad with an overnight in Rosyth or South Queensferry. However, it's not quite so easy to get back to Greenock before a 2:00 am departure.

[capriccio]

We were on the Caribbean Princess on our BI cruise and docked in Greenock.  We had probably our longest excursion day of any cruise ever.  It was exhausting but one of our favorite days.  Various members of our very active roll call (over 121 pages long and 3,000+ postings) arranged an incredible day:

 

• pick up in small vans (Timberbush Tours) for a day of sightseeing en route to Edinburgh with stops at Loch Lomond and Stirling Castle and drop off around 4 pm in Edinburgh.  The driver told us where to meet our new driver for the return to the ship.
• couple hours of free time to investigate the city (didn't go to the castle at that time because later in the cruise we had a full day in Edinburgh) and take in lots of the free acts at the Fringe Festival (https://www.edfringe.com/)
• we all met for a Scottish dinner at the Cafe Hub (at the foot of the street to the Tattoo) around 6 pm.
• we had individually bought tickets to the Tattoo on their website the previous December so we split up again after dinner.
• as I said before the 90 minute Tattoo was incredible (music, marching, light show, fire works and a finale that should not be missed).
• after the Tattoo we met our van and new driver in the agreed upon meeting place and returned to the ship around 1 am - before any of the Princess buses arrived.  Departure was scheduled for 2 am IIRC (I was asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow).

[ontheweb]

9 hours ago, NavyVeteran said:

That's not so bad with an overnight in Rosyth or South Queensferry. However, it's not quite so easy to get back to Greenock before a 2:00 am departure.

Yes, I realize that. I was directly answering a question in response to a post I had made. And I specifically mentioned that the ship was docked in Rosyth overnight because I knew that made a difference.