12 night British Isles Cruise - Your experiences with excursions at each port

[shepcookie]

For Belfast, my cousin and I did most of it on our own.  When we docked, we took a taxi to the Titanic Belfast.  We were there when it opened and had it mostly to ourselves. By the time we were done, it was starting to get crowded.  We then walked the Maritime Mile.  At one point, we did get on the HOHO to see a few things that were farther away.  We had a great time doing this on our own.

 

We did not take a tour of Dublin as we went back there after the cruise.

 

Tammy

[grammawmoses]

Thank you shepcookie! I guess we will plan to taxi to town from cruise terminals in most ports.

 

[grammawmoses]

Thank you fruitmachine! I will definitely book tickets to Edinburgh Castle in advance!

[casaloma]

On 8/24/2023 at 2:23 PM, grammawmoses said:

I have British Isles cruise booked with Princess for May 2024 and have been trying to find out if Hop On Hop Off has stations near cruise terminals. I believe Belfast does but not sure about the others. I have asked Hop On Hop Off but they don't answer questions. They simply respond to all inquiries with the same paragraph that does not answer the question. I see some blogs refer to a shuttle. Are there shuttles at all ports? Thanks for any information you can provide!

In Dublin the HOHO buses were about a block and a half from where the cruise shuttle dropped us off.  

We tendered into Edinburgh then there was a bus to take us into town.  

Cobh you're parked right in town and a train right there will take you to Cork.  

In Belfast we just took a taxi to the Titanic Museum.  

In Greenock you can walk into town and take the train to Glasgow.  We couldn't find the HOHO bus and just wandered around.  

I loved that cruise too

[grammawmoses]

Wow!! Thank you so much!!! What cruise line was that? Do all cruises lines have shuttles into town? I would think that would cost them loss of excursion money!

[azbirdmom]

On 8/24/2023 at 2:23 PM, grammawmoses said:

I have British Isles cruise booked with Princess for May 2024 and have been trying to find out if Hop On Hop Off has stations near cruise terminals. I believe Belfast does but not sure about the others. I have asked Hop On Hop Off but they don't answer questions. They simply respond to all inquiries with the same paragraph that does not answer the question. I see some blogs refer to a shuttle. Are there shuttles at all ports? Thanks for any information you can provide!

 

We were on a British Isles cruise in June / July this year.  In Dublin there is not a HOHO right at the cruise terminal.  When you get off the tender walk towards the DART train station.  Before you get there you'll see people selling tickets for both the green and red HOHOs.  We had done research before the cruise and selected the green HOHO.  The cost includes the train ticket into Dublin.  You take the train to the Pearce station (our outbound it was the 6th stop, return was an express and we were the first stop, it varies so you need to pay attention).  The HOHO was right across the street from the station and there were people from the HOHO to guide you.

 

In Belfast the HOHO was right around the corner from where the Princess shuttle dropped you off.  The shuttle was $15.95 per person round trip.  We did take the shuttle but decided against the HOHO as the main attraction was Titanic Belfast.  We walked there and back, doing some shopping on our return.

[grammawmoses]

Thank you so much! This is just what I needed to know!

[KKB]

On 4/23/2022 at 12:37 PM, luvtocruise52 said:

We are looking at the 12 Night British Isles Cruise and wonder whether the amount of time in port (usually about 12 hours) allowed you to get a good feel for the area, especially Belfast and Dublin. We're curious what people were able to see and do in each of the ports. (I've read the descriptions of excursions but think personal experience is valuable.) Also, which excursions were the most enjoyable in any of the ports, and was it easy to arrange your own excursion instead of taking the ones offered by the cruise line? Thanks in advance for your feedback.  

 

Belfast I HIGHLY recommend the HOHO bus & the Titanic exhibit. I did the full tour of the city (murals were AMAZING) then stayed on & dropped at Titanic then cabbed back to the port from there. Cab at pier took me to HOHO bus. Was about 10E each way by cab.

 

Cork, Dublin, Glasgow & Edinburgh easy just grab a train from the port to the city & wander.

Cork is a lovely little town on it's own; spent a few hours in Rob Roy Pub with local musician. 

Heads up--there is NOTHING in Kirkwall. Go to Glasgow.

 

Orkney is a COOL little town with a number of nice shop. Area around it is amazing.

HIGHLY recommend the Stagecoach T11 that for 23E you book at the Travel Center where the ship shuttle drops you in town. Was a fantastic 6? hour tour. But go early--10AM tour?

 

Invergordon--Did a tour thru invergordon-bustours.com. About 90E

Again HIGHLY recommend--the Highlands are gorgeous & we spent an hour or so in Inverness which is LOVELY. 

 

Edinburgh--we are doing the St. Andrews tour as seeing it is DH's bucket list (well PLAYING it really is)

 

Le Havre--we are doing a Normandy tour via Overlord tours in Oct. 

Edited August 26, 2023 by KKB

[KKB]

On 8/24/2023 at 4:23 PM, grammawmoses said:

I have British Isles cruise booked with Princess for May 2024 and have been trying to find out if Hop On Hop Off has stations near cruise terminals. I believe Belfast does but not sure about the others. I have asked Hop On Hop Off but they don't answer questions. They simply respond to all inquiries with the same paragraph that does not answer the question. I see some blogs refer to a shuttle. Are there shuttles at all ports? Thanks for any information you can provide!

We are booked April 2024...I did a very similar one on MSC in May.

Check out whatsinport.com.

SUPER helpful so you know what is at each port & if you will need shuttle/train/transfer to cities.

[grammawmoses]

Thank you all for your advice!!!

[shackpacker]

First I have to say that this cruise was my favorite of all the ones we have done.  

 

Guernsey--we did the tour based on the book The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. Even though we found out the book was not all that accurate about the experiences during WWII, the tour was terrific.  We learned a bunch of the actual history and our tour guide was excellent.

 

Cobh--We went to the Blarney Castle in the morning and did not climb up to the stone (I already talk a bunch!) but there was a ton more to see on the grounds.From there we went to the small town of Kinsale but didn't have much time to look around because we had a huge included lunch with Irish dancers which took up a bunch of time.

 

Dublin--We did a tour that included the Christ Church Cathedral (and had one of our more memorable experiences with a strange man and a backpack following our group around).  From there we went out to the monastery of Glendalough.  So beautiful and got to see a lot of the Irish countryside.

 

Belfast--we went to the northern coast which is spectacular. Again seeing the countryside and not just another big city was great. One of our stops was at the Avoca woolen mill which I didn't think I wanted to visit but this was fascinating.

 

Greenock (for Glasgow)--we went to Loch Lomond & the charming little village of Luss. Again, good to see the countryside instead of a city.

 

Orkney Islands--one of the most interesting places we visited.  We toured a Scotch distillery (at 10 in th morning!) Then a couple of stops at some standing stones which are older than Stonehenge and the best stop was the Neolithic village of Skara Brae.  Absolutely fascinating.  We also got to see the chapel built by Italian prisoners of war during WWII.  This was a great day.

 

Invergordon for Inverness.  Another really great day with a wonderful tour guide.  Inverness is a lovely city.  From there we toured the Culloden battlefield.  The presentation there is excellent.  After that it was one to Urquart Castle and then a cruise on Loch Ness.  This whole day was a really good one.

 

Edinburgh--city tour and then quite a bit of time at the Castle.  Our tour guide was horrible, got the historical facts mixed up and mostly wrong, lost our tickets at the Castle, couldn't keep count of our group, and just wanted to provide lots of time for shopping.  I would like to go back with someone who knew what they were doing or let me have the mic to actually tell the history (I know it well; ex-history teacher).

 

France-- My husband went to Honfleur and got to try lots of very potent cider.  I chose to go to Versailles which was incredibly crowded but amazing.  Parts were closed so that gives me an excuse to go back.  There really wasn't time to adequately do the palace and the gardens and Petit Trianon so this is just a taste of what is there.  Again I would like to go back.

 

We had the absolute best time!!

 

 

 

 

[shackpacker]

5 minutes ago, shackpacker said:

First I have to say that this cruise was my favorite of all the ones we have done.  

 

Guernsey--we did the tour based on the book The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. Even though we found out the book was not all that accurate about the experiences during WWII, the tour was terrific.  We learned a bunch of the actual history and our tour guide was excellent.

 

Cobh--We went to the Blarney Castle in the morning and did not climb up to the stone (I already talk a bunch!) but there was a ton more to see on the grounds.From there we went to the small town of Kinsale but didn't have much time to look around because we had a huge included lunch with Irish dancers which took up a bunch of time.

 

Dublin--We did a tour that included the Christ Church Cathedral (and had one of our more memorable experiences with a strange man and a backpack following our group around).  From there we went out to the monastery of Glendalough.  So beautiful and got to see a lot of the Irish countryside.

 

Belfast--we went to the northern coast which is spectacular. Again seeing the countryside and not just another big city was great. One of our stops was at the Avoca woolen mill which I didn't think I wanted to visit but this was fascinating.

 

Greenock (for Glasgow)--we went to Loch Lomond & the charming little village of Luss. Again, good to see the countryside instead of a city.

 

Orkney Islands--one of the most interesting places we visited.  We toured a Scotch distillery (at 10 in th morning!) Then a couple of stops at some standing stones which are older than Stonehenge and the best stop was the Neolithic village of Skara Brae.  Absolutely fascinating.  We also got to see the chapel built by Italian prisoners of war during WWII.  This was a great day.

 

Invergordon for Inverness.  Another really great day with a wonderful tour guide.  Inverness is a lovely city.  From there we toured the Culloden battlefield.  The presentation there is excellent.  After that it was one to Urquart Castle and then a cruise on Loch Ness.  This whole day was a really good one.

 

Edinburgh--city tour and then quite a bit of time at the Castle.  Our tour guide was horrible, got the historical facts mixed up and mostly wrong, lost our tickets at the Castle, couldn't keep count of our group, and just wanted to provide lots of time for shopping.  I would like to go back with someone who knew what they were doing or let me have the mic to actually tell the history (I know it well; ex-history teacher).

 

France-- My husband went to Honfleur and got to try lots of very potent cider.  I chose to go to Versailles which was incredibly crowded but amazing.  Parts were closed so that gives me an excuse to go back.  There really wasn't time to adequately do the palace and the gardens and Petit Trianon so this is just a taste of what is there.  Again I would like to go back.

 

We had the absolute best time!!

 

All of our tours were booked through the ship and had no real complaints especially because there were traffic and weather issues in some of the ports so we might have missed the ship if we had been on our own.  As one guide said, no one goes to Scotland for the weather!          At every stop there was some type of send off on the dock--bagpipers, drummers, dancers, etc. We really loved that. Lunch ((large ones) were included on nearly all of the tours. This provided nice breaks and aslo a chance to interact with fellow cruisers.

 

 

 

[grammawmoses]

Thanks so much Shackpacker for your lovely descriptions of what you did. Also interesting that you chose cruise excursions over Hop On Hop Off bus tours. I did worry that if we do that we could risk getting back to the ship on time!

[Rick&Jeannie]

We did the British Isles in 2019 on the Crown Princess.  Great cruise!  We did a pre-cruise transfer from London to Southampton via Stonehenge with International Friends Tours:

 

 

Then in Liverpool we saw the Cavern Club:

 

 

We stood in line a LONG time to see the Blarney stone...we didn't have enough time!

 

Edited August 29, 2023 by Rick&Jeannie

[grammawmoses]

Thanks for this! Good to know about the Blarney Stone!

 

[Lady Meer]

In Belfast this year - the taxis are inexpensive. It was much cheaper to take a taxi, rather than the shuttle, from the port into the city centre - our driver going into Belfast gave us a number to call for a taxi back to the ship. The return journey was even cheaper as it was a set price from the port into the city, but on the meter going back! The queue for the shuttle into Belfast was huge, but no queue for a taxi. 

Edited August 29, 2023 by Lady Meer

[grammawmoses]

Thank you!!! I will definitely use the taxi!

[greatestvalue]

On 4/23/2022 at 2:49 PM, Blondilu said:

I've done this cruise twice.

Cant thank you enough for such a great post.  With being there 2x would you say it should be a land based trip or a cruise type visit?

We are planning on doing Ireland/Scotland and cant decide which would be best.  Both seem a bit pricey so it may just be an area of the world that is more expensive than others such as Italy; Australia, New Zealand etc which we are ok with, as long as we do our research. 

[greatestvalue]

On 8/29/2023 at 10:19 AM, shackpacker said:

I have to say that this cruise was my favorite of all the ones we have done. 

Sounds amazing!!  What cruise line did you go on for your cruise, if you dont mind me asking?

[Rick&Jeannie]

Here are a few more shots from our British Isles cruise on the Crown in 2019:

 

[Blondilu]

On 10/20/2023 at 11:14 PM, greatestvalue said:

Cant thank you enough for such a great post.  With being there 2x would you say it should be a land based trip or a cruise type visit?

We are planning on doing Ireland/Scotland and cant decide which would be best.  Both seem a bit pricey so it may just be an area of the world that is more expensive than others such as Italy; Australia, New Zealand etc which we are ok with, as long as we do our research. 

I loved our cruises. Cruising is perfect if you love cruising and are OK with the limitations of time and distance in any given area.  If you want more in depth or want to stay in an area for a longer period of time it definitely needs to be a land based trip. Or if you want to see an area that is too far from a cruise port to get there and back in a few hours. 

 

Honestly, if I had the time and money (and wasn't afraid of driving on the left side of the road) I would rent a car and road trip it.  Another option would be going by train.  The UK has a great train system.  

 

Have a great trip whatever you choose.

[RNCheryl]

We were on Regal Princess this summer.  The favorite stop by far was in Orkney Islands.  We toured with Tours by Locals. with Mark.  We saw Skara Brae, the Standing Stones of Stenness, and the Italian Chapel.  

 

As an example of his willingness to make our day great, we saw a glimpse of the Regal at the dock from up high, but not enough time for a picture.  He did a detour round so that we could get that picture.  A delightful gentleman with a world of knowledge about his home island.