Live - Emerald Princess - July 8-20 British Isles

[rabin1]

Hello

Would you please see if you could find out what they are doing at the drydock in October.

Thank you and ENJOY YOUR CRUISE

KATHY

[Tiki_Koro]

Flight and Day One in London

 

Our flight was only delayed once and left at the new departure time of 8:45pm. The plane seemed full, and we were all the way in the back two rows. My parents were in the last row, and my brother and I were directly in front of them. Our seats were in the middle section, and my father and brother had the aisle seats while my mother and I sat in the middle seats next to them. The middle section had four seats across, and in the back of the plane, the sections next to the windows each had two seats. A couple sat next to me in our row, but there were two seats available next to a window. The couple took those seats once the plane doors closed, so my brother and I were able to spread out across the empty seats in our row! It may have been the most comfortable economy seats I've ever had!

 

 

Even though we left so late, we were still served a dinner. The options were rosemary chicken or pasta with cheese sauce. I wasn't sure about chicken on a plane, so I opted for the pasta. The flight attendants failed to mention it had tofu or some other rubbery substance with fake grill marks! We hit some really bad turbulence off the coast of Canada. Both the ferocity and duration were like nothing I've ever experienced. The pilot told us later that it was forecasted and could not have been avoided. Still, I managed to get some sleep, as did my parents. My brother, unfortunately, did not. We were served a light breakfast that consisted of a small croissant sandwich and blueberry yogurt. The ham and cheese croissants were out, so I was given a cheese and sundried tomato sandwich. We finally landed at Heathrow at 10:45am, which was two hours later than originally scheduled. 

 

Getting through the border was a nightmare on our trip in 2019. It took about 90 minutes to get through the switchback queue. Back then, only EU passports (which included the UK) could be scanned. The rest of us had to go through a border patrol agent. This time, USA passports could also be scanned, and we breezed right through in 10 minutes! By the time we got through, there literally was no queue. We waited almost an hour, however, for our luggage to arrive. It was after 12pm when we finally left Heathrow on the Tube and headed for Victoria Station with one switch at Hammersmith. I won't be giving Tube directions throughout my posts, but I mention this because we were concerned about negotiating the Tube with our luggage. My first time to Paris, I was the American with all the luggage trying to squeeze into the Metro during business rush hour! Thankfully, that did not happen this time, and we did fine. Both stations had lifts, and from Victoria Station we were a short taxi ride to our hotel, the St. George Hotel in Pimlico.

 

 

My brother and I have been joking all day about us staying at the Royal Imperial Windsor Arms (from European Vacation)! It is worn, basic, with missing lights and dark marks on the walls, but it sleeps four with the added benefit of a queen and two singles rather than two queen beds. It also has an en suite bathroom and serves breakfast in the morning. It is nothing fancy, but we got what we expected and are pleased. Also, we are located on the first floor, which to us means the second floor, and there are only stairs and no lifts. Could be worse if we were on a higher floor! The location is quiet and a short walk to the Pimlico Station. If the breakfast is a good English fry-up, then I would recommend the St. George if you manage your expectations. 

 

After freshening up, we had to reconsider our itinerary. We deliberately planned very little for today anticipating we would run into some delays. Assuming we had arrived at our hotel before noon, our plan was to begin with the Rick Steves' Westminster Walk audio tour that begins at Westminster Bridge and ends at Trafalgar Square. It takes about 70-90 minutes. Then, our next plan was to have afternoon tea at Fortnum & Mason. I made reservations for us for 3pm. We decided to skip the Rick Steves' tour and head straight to Fortnum & Mason. I left time in our morning tomorrow to begin with the tour in case we did not get to it today. 

 

We took the Tube to Piccadilly Circus and walked down to Fortnum & Mason. We booked a table at the Diamond Jubilee Tea Salon and were sat at a nice table next to a window. The tea and food were delicious, but the service left a little to be desired. I've done this tea three times now, and the first two times were exceptional. This time, we felt that our server was not very attentive, and we seemed to have trouble communicating with her. For instance, when she asked if we wanted a refill on any of the food, I requested more scones and clotted cream. She sent a food runner with a plate of more patisseries. Those were good, don't get me wrong, but they were so rich that we could not eat another plate of them. When she checked up on us, I again requested scones and clotted cream. Another food runner came by our table with more patisseries! We ended up with three additional plates of patisseries until finally someone brought us some scones - but no clotted cream! F&M is such an institution that should be experienced, but I think on my next trip, I will try a new location for tea. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After tea, we took the Tube to Westminster and got our first glimpse of the Elizabeth Tower. Last trip, it was covered in scaffolding. We were excited to see it unveiled and looking better than ever. One can really tell the difference compared to the rest of the Houses of Parliament. 

 

 

We had booked ahead of time a 6pm river cruise with Thames River Sightseeing. The cruise departed from Westminster Pier, went past the Tower Bridge, and back to Westminster. The round trip lasted a little less than an hour. It was a nice way to end our first day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Tiki_Koro]

20 hours ago, High C's said:

Tiki - I have a big ask.  And please, only see if you can find the answer at the Purser's Desk when you have reasons of our own to be there.

 

Would you kindly ask them if they do testing on board for passengers who will disembark Emerald and board another Princess ship the next day (in our case the Enchanted).

 

Again, I do not want to put you out.  Just when you are at the Purser's desk 🙂

 

Many thanks and once again Bon Voyage!

 

2 hours ago, rabin1 said:

Hello

Would you please see if you could find out what they are doing at the drydock in October.

Thank you and ENJOY YOUR CRUISE

KATHY

 

Sure, I'll check on both requests Friday!

[Tiki_Koro]

20 hours ago, gadabout60 said:

Well I genuinely wish you luck in my home city of Glasgow!

We have transport issues at the moment with a shortage of taxi drivers and train drivers. Trains are often cancelled just now

I suggest you make sure you have the Uber app downloaded in case you struggle getting a regular cab to take you back to the ship

 You will also need a Perth taxi for your journey to the castle and I recommend you have that car stay at the castle as you could have a long wait for a car back to Perth

A return ticket Glasgow to Perth is almost £20 per head and would not give flexibility to stop at Stirling so I still think a private car would be better both in terms of time and cost. I hope you have a lovely day here

 

Thanks for the advice. Unreliable transportation would definitely pose us some problems. 

 

16 hours ago, insidecabin said:

What time are some of these lunch stops the mornings look ambitious.

Dublin and Edi you have tenders to deal with then getting to the city give them 1hr each way. Last tenders are 1hr before departure.

 

Greenock to Perth is min 2hrs making short connection 2hr30-3hr more realistic.

a change of station in Glasgow if train

Clyde flyer might work better to get to Glasgow there is a stop near Queen Street station for the train to Perth. But bus needs traffic wiggle room

With the 6pm departure at Greenock looking at leaving Glasgow on the 16:06 /16:17 train from Glasgow central, next train is too late.

 

 

 

We are doing the Rick Steves audio walking tours in Dublin and Edinburgh in the mornings, so our schedule for lunches will be very flexible as we can skip over any of the stops. If it takes us three hours to get to Perth, then we will be spending very little time seeing Fingask before returning back to the ship and skipping Stirling. I have no doubt that day will be quite an adventure! 

 

13 hours ago, caribill said:

 

A visit to the Belfast Titantc Museum is definitely the more important of the two.

 

Be sure to allow time to see the SS Nomadic, a land-based tender for the Titanic that is located across the street from the museum and is included in the museum admission price. Allow at least 30 minutes for this.

 

You may want to consider booking the Museum tickets in advance. Can cancel up to 24 hours in advance if necessary.

 

Thanks, we've already booked tickets for the Museum. We will be sure to see the SS Nomadic!

 

7 hours ago, AF-1 said:

Wonderful review.  I know you and your family are having a ball.  All the best and keep the pictures coming.  Cheers

 

Thanks!

[xiaoqb]

Thank you for sharing!  The afternoon tea looks yummy especially those scones!!!  I forgot if Princess afternoon tea serves scone or not, please do take a picture if you have a chance. We will be flying to LHR from Dallas on 7/19 and get on Emerald cruise after you.  We are trying to take carry-on only to avoid delay and still yet to figure out what to pack (t shirt, jacket, sweater, etc).  Seems like you have lovely weather in London now.  Hope there won't be much rain as you travel other places.  Keep writing!

[caribill]

12 hours ago, xiaoqb said:

The afternoon tea looks yummy especially those scones!!!  I forgot if Princess afternoon tea serves scone or not

 

They do.

[phabric]

Looking forward to more of our reviews

[rabin1]

20 hours ago, Tiki_Koro said:

 

 

Sure, I'll check on both requests Friday!

Thank you. Enjoying your review. You look like one happy family

ENJOY

Kathy

[Sunset329]

I am exhausted just reading your scheduled itinerary! We will be following your report. We will be cruising on the Regal Princess in 2023 with many of the same ports. Thanks for trip report and have fun!

[brynmelyndavid]

My wife and I will be on the Emerald in October so I shall be following your reports with great interest.

 

One suggestion: Belfast is a place we visited last September, somewhat apprehensively I have to confess given its reputation. In actually fact it was a fascinating place that we thoroughly enjoyed and felt very comfortable in. It's extremely tourist friendly and easy to walk around but my main recommendation would be to make sure you do both the Titanic Museum (which is very good) (and possibly have a drink in the adjoining Titanic Hotel given that it occupies the old Harland and Wolff offices and is full of character and displays), but also do the Open Top Bus. There is a stop adjacent to the Titanic museum (and possibly close to the dock) but it offers a very good overview of a unique city. Unlike many it does not attempt to hide the fact that this is a city with a very troubled history. Not only will you see the main sites of interest but you will also get to see The Falls, the Peace Wall, the Murals, Crumlin Road Gaol, and you will emerge with a much better understanding of the history of Ireland and Belfast. We are so please we visited and very pleased we took that tour.  

[jimbri]

Great report and photos.  Have a great time.

[Tiki_Koro]

Just checking in. We made it to the ship and had the best night’s sleep on those amazing Princess  beds! WiFi has been awful, and I am having difficulty loading photos. I hope to find better WiFi and catch up on my reviews later today. 

[insidecabin]

Be interested in a summary of the embarkation, been following the Southampton departures of all 3 ships to get a feel for how its going, there have been some major FUBAR on some days Sky has been hit twice. Terminal also seems to play a factor.

[amajaa]

On 7/5/2022 at 4:24 AM, insidecabin said:

What time are some of these lunch stops the mornings look ambitious.

Dublin and Edi you have tenders to deal with then getting to the city give them 1hr each way. Last tenders are 1hr before departure.

 

Greenock to Perth is min 2hrs making short connection 2hr30-3hr more realistic.

a change of station in Glasgow if train

Clyde flyer might work better to get to Glasgow there is a stop near Queen Street station for the train to Perth. But bus needs traffic wiggle room

With the 6pm departure at Greenock looking at leaving Glasgow on the 16:06 /16:17 train from Glasgow central, next train is too late.

 

 

When you get off the water shuttle at Edinburgh just on the left under the Forth Bridge will be the X99 bus a one minute walk away . It is the Cruiselink bus to Edinburgh and only runs when a ship is in. It goes straight to Edinburgh and you can see the castle from where the bus stops and as you go in. I have a leaflet I picked up recently . On the 17th July the buses start at 07.55 and the last one leaves the city centre at 17.20. It cost £10 return and you can use any Lothian bus for the whole day as well with the ticket while you are there. For example if you wanted to go over to see the Royal Yacht Britannia. The day we went there was a train strike so we got stuck in a bit of commuter traffic on way in ( people having to use their car instead of train) but still didn’t take long.

 

I have a list of dates the bus runs if anyone wants times, although all the Princess ships seem to be the same time except the Island Princess on 8th August which is running 08.00 to 21.20

 

Some people bought Hop on Hop off tickets at the same time ( you get a £1 I think senior discount) . There were 3 different HOHO buses in St Andrews Square right near where the bus stops ranging in price from £10 to £15 so you can pick when you get to Edinburgh. There were guys selling HOHO tickets outside the station ( Edinburgh Waverley) just behind where the bus stops as well .

Edited July 9, 2022 by amajaa
Typo

[wowzz]

On 7/7/2022 at 10:55 AM, brynmelyndavid said:

somewhat apprehensively I have to confess given its reputation

Can I ask why you were apprehensive? 

40 years ago, I could understand your apprehension - and I visited Belfast monthly back then.

There are far more places in the world to be apprehensive about now than Belfast.

[junglejane]

We'll be boarding on July 20. Sorry to hear the WiFi is awful. Interested to know how full the ship is. Hope you have a great cruise and can manage to post.

[amajaa]

On 7/7/2022 at 10:55 AM, brynmelyndavid said:

My wife and I will be on the Emerald in October so I shall be following your reports with great interest.

 

One suggestion: Belfast is a place we visited last September, somewhat apprehensively I have to confess given its reputation. In actually fact it was a fascinating place that we thoroughly enjoyed and felt very comfortable in. It's extremely tourist friendly and easy to walk around but my main recommendation would be to make sure you do both the Titanic Museum (which is very good) (and possibly have a drink in the adjoining Titanic Hotel given that it occupies the old Harland and Wolff offices and is full of character and displays), but also do the Open Top Bus. There is a stop adjacent to the Titanic museum (and possibly close to the dock) but it offers a very good overview of a unique city. Unlike many it does not attempt to hide the fact that this is a city with a very troubled history. Not only will you see the main sites of interest but you will also get to see The Falls, the Peace Wall, the Murals, Crumlin Road Gaol, and you will emerge with a much better understanding of the history of Ireland and Belfast. We are so please we visited and very pleased we took that tour.  

We did the Hop On Hop Off bus last month. It was very good The only thing I would say is it all depends on which guide you get and which side of the political division they are from as to what you are told about the history ( well according to the lady doing the port talk on the ship) We were lucky we had a guide who appeared to be unbiased. 
When we went the Shanklll Road was still full of all the union Flags and bunting from the Jubilee.

 

When you dock in Cobh ( pronounced Cove) you will also find a small museum dedicated to Titanic there as she called there on her voyage.

[nini]

The WiFi was very good for our May 9-21 cruise.

[xiaoqb]

Aside from internet quality, please also let us know if the buffet and other dining rooms are fully open.   I think previous cruises reported buffet area was not fully open (one area/section was closed).  Thank you!  

[brynmelyndavid]

18 hours ago, wowzz said:

Can I ask why you were apprehensive? 

40 years ago, I could understand your apprehension - and I visited Belfast monthly back then.

There are far more places in the world to be apprehensive about now than Belfast.

Exactly. But reputations persist. We were very happy to have our prejudices totally blown out of the water, partly why I'm so evangelical about the attritions of Belfast now.

[brynmelyndavid]

18 hours ago, amajaa said:

We did the Hop On Hop Off bus last month. It was very good The only thing I would say is it all depends on which guide you get and which side of the political division they are from as to what you are told about the history ( well according to the lady doing the port talk on the ship) We were lucky we had a guide who appeared to be unbiased. 
When we went the Shanklll Road was still full of all the union Flags and bunting from the Jubilee.

 

When you dock in Cobh ( pronounced Cove) you will also find a small museum dedicated to Titanic there as she called there on her voyage.

When we did the HOHO bus there wasn't a live guide. It was all pre-recorded. 

[amajaa]

36 minutes ago, brynmelyndavid said:

When we did the HOHO bus there wasn't a live guide. It was all pre-recorded. 

We got straight off the shuttle bus and waited in the queue for the HOHO, it was a Sunday so they didn’t start until 10 o’clock. They told us our commentary would be in English but the bus waiting behind had the audio in different languages. 

[Malleykatt]

Hi. We will be on this cruise 13 August so will be following with interest. Hope you have a great time.

[Triptkr]

Tiki_Koro,

Thanks for putting in the time to document such detail about your trip.  Love the pictures!   We plan (fingers crossed) on being on the Emerald in November.   I am curious about a couple things if you have the time to answer:

--What kind of condition is the Emerald Princess in?  Is the exterior well maintained, interior updated, etc?

--How many passengers are onboard and how many crew are onboard?  What is the service like?  

 

Thanks for your time!

[Aggie83]

I see that the Irish singer Ella Ryan is performing on the Emerald.  My DH and I 'discovered' Ella when we did the British Isles cruise in 2018.   I highly recommend relaxing with a beverage of your choice as Ella performs.