British Isle Cruise - Regent Shore Excursions

[pappy1022]

I am a little antsy about taking the Regent shore excursions be it the normal or small group size. I understand that the quality of the shore excursions are dependent on the location, the specific guide, and type of excursion one takes. For our British Isle cruise we will stop at the following ports: Edinburgh, Invergordon, Kirkwall, Ullapool, Killybegs, Belfast, Glasgow, Liverpool, Waterford and St Peter Port. For those of who you have visited some or all of these ports with Regent, can you identify where you had a great shore experience or even a bad shore experience using Regent tours? I am trying to get a sense as to what to expect and whether we should look more at private tours, which would obviously add to the cost. We currently have a mix of regular sized excursions (6), small group tours (3) and private tours (1). Our 1 scheduled private tour is in Belfast where we felt strongly that splitting a private guide amongst 3 couples added a lot of value.

[DeepFreeze63]

We've had terrific regular Regent excursions in Kirkwall and Belfast. Kirkwall archeology tour is NOT to be missed (but very cold and windy) and the Titanic Museum in Belfast is wonderful (but crowded). Regent's contractor did a great job; I don't think a private guide would have added much for DW and I.

[Techno123]

I highly recommend visiting the Royal Yacht Britannia (especially if you have been watching the Crown 😁) which is permanently docked in Edinburgh. Lovely afternoon tea there too. Edinburgh Castle is a must especially for the gun salute at 12 noon (they have an audio tour) and a stroll down the Royal Mile before or afterwards.

 

we did these on our own on a trip to Edinburgh but I am sure Regent will have a tour to at least one of them.

 

Edited February 22, 2023 by Techno123

[RachelG]

We did a great evening pub crawl tour with Regent in Belfast.  This was years ago and my husband still is talking about it.  There were about 20 on the tour.  We went to 3 different pubs. 

 

Also did good regular Regent tours in Kirkwall--an archeological tour and a hiking tour.  In Waterford, we did the Regent tour to the crystal place.  Could have easily done on our own, but we pretty much just used Regent to transport us there and back.  Once we got there, we did our own thing.  We actually tend to do that a lot--let Regent transport us but do our own thing once we get there.  

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[fruitmachine]

1 hour ago, Techno123 said:

Edinburgh Castle is a must especially for the gun salute at 12 noon (they have an audio tour) and a stroll down the Royal Mile before or afterwards.

It's called the "One o'clock Gun" for a reason!!

 

😉😊

[mrlevin]

Kirkwall I would book a private tour of Highland Park Distillery.  In Belfast I would go to the Guinness Experience tour; fantastic.  Edinburgh if you are there in August definitely go to Tattoo.  Otherwise, Edinburgh Castle and also Royal Mile and Holyrood House and Britannia.  In Waterford take the choice excursion to the Waterford Factory.  

 

I am not a fan of the "small group" as it usually means "small bus."

[welshfamily]

I know Liverpool well. Please give me some ideas of the excursions on offer and I will try to help.

 

[Techno123]

1 hour ago, fruitmachine said:

It's called the "One o'clock Gun" for a reason!!

 

😉😊

The one in the photo was definitely 12 noon though as it was for the (then) Prince of Wales' birthday - hadn't realised it was different on 'normal' days but I stand corrected  😂

[seasickphil]

3 hours ago, mrlevin said:

Kirkwall I would book a private tour of Highland Park Distillery.  In Belfast I would go to the Guinness Experience tour; fantastic.  Edinburgh if you are there in August definitely go to Tattoo.  Otherwise, Edinburgh Castle and also Royal Mile and Holyrood House and Britannia.  In Waterford take the choice excursion to the Waterford Factory.  

 

I am not a fan of the "small group" as it usually means "small bus."

Is the Guinness experience tour also held in Belfast?,i know and have visited the one in Dublin not sure there is one in Belfast.

[mrlevin]

52 minutes ago, seasickphil said:

Is the Guinness experience tour also held in Belfast?,i know and have visited the one in Dublin not sure there is one in Belfast.

I'm sorry Dublin, not Belfast.  In Belfast I did a walking pub crawl which was great.  Wife did gardens all across Ireland whilst I drank my way.

[GOARMY]

Following comments are based on our September, 2019 Explorer segment, which wrapped-up a B/t/B which began in Stockholm.  So, time and tide (and COVID) have intervened.  

 

Overview:  No "private" tours were involved in our case.  Those taken were either "Free" (not really, better categorized as included in basic fare); or at-an additional cost.  And, I am excluding those we took at sites you did not indicate you will be visiting. 

 

One word categorizes our experience.  OUTSTANDING in every respect as to maintaining the announced schedule; articulate and knowledgeable Tour Guides; amenities such as enhanced afternoon teas; and comfortable tour vehicles whether vans or small busses.  And, the weather cooperated.  This is no-small issue, given time of year.  

 

Of course, this was pre-COVID.  YMMV.  So--would recommend, if offered, the following:

 

Edinburg.  Braveheart Country & Sterling Castle.  Yep, "another" Castle, which was the refrain heard on this segment.  But, we concentrated on the history of that location.  

 

Glasgow.  Loch Lomond & a Distillery.

 

Belfast.  THIS IS A MUST!  The Titanic Trail.  You will be retracing (walking) in history. Cannot emphasize this enough.  Tour included boarding the only remaining HRM Ship still-afloat which participated in WWI's Battle of Jutland. Toured this Battle Cruiser, followed by "Tea and Scones" in Officers' Mess.  Again--HISTORY.  O.K.  (I will forthwith eschew additional CAPITALIZATIONS.)  

 

Liverpool.  Victorian Port Sunlight & Tea.  Delightful, just delightful.  One unanticipated bonus was visiting Port Sunlight's (Lever Brothers' planned community) Museum.  Antiquities--Greek and Egyptian--going way, way back.  Followed by afternoon tea.  

 

One Note as to Liverpool:  You should expect Regent to offer a late afternoon (1745H) Theater performance by a local group emulating The Beatles.  This was announced in "Passages" beginning several days in advance as: "The Boys from Liverpool."  Not-to-be-missed.  Our Port Sunlight tour bus arrived back at the Pier, on-time, which was important.  Spouse and self expedited our exit from same to facilitate boarding and obtaining great balcony seats--on Port side almost-above the Stage.  Those guys were great.  Ergo:  whatever tour you take--if "Beatles" is in the offing--schedule getting back aboard NLT 1715H.  

 

Waterford.  A Walking Tour.  

 

Hope this helps your decision making.  Any further questions--let me know.  

 

GOARMY!

 

 

[Gilly]

Last Summer, Navigator docked in Leith, adjacent to Britannia, so very easy indeed to go on over to Britannia and do a tour independently.  Also in Edinburgh, there was a frequent shuttle to the city centre, so again, very easy to be independent and visit galleries, go shopping, do whatever the mood takes - though it was August, the Festival was on and the city looked a mess!

 

Agree re Kirkwall and Invergordon, where the Regent included tours were good, with local guides who knew their stuff.  In all of these ports, the tours visit places of real historic importance and there are "serious" stories to be told 😉 The neolithic sites in Orkney and Shetland are phenomenal and we could have done no better with a private guide since some of these places are crowded anyway (especially if there is another ship in port)  Dublin and the Guinness Factory are always busy with tourists but make for an enjoyable day out.  Waterford's a good place to wander around too, though the Crystal makes for an interesting stop.   As for Liverpool - it's one of my all time favourite cities and I second all that @GOARMY advises above.  

[Lonedaddy]

Tank museum in Bovington is fantastic even if you aren’t a history buff.  
 

can even do pre or post cruise out of Southampton.

 

[papaflamingo]

We did some of these ports this past summer on Navigator.  In Kirkwall we did ORKNEY'S ARCHAEOLOGICAL WONDERS and enjoyed the tour.  Did not do Small Group and wouldn't since a lot of the tour is done on your own.  For us the small group wasn't worth the upcharge. 

In Belfast we did THE TITANIC TRAIL and really enjoyed the tour.  Again, no need for small group.  But it was interesting to see the museum.  It focuses more on Belfast's building of the ship rather than the sinking,.  I'm a "ship junkie" so seeing where the Titanic was build was really interesting for me.

Glasgow we went to Sterling Castle.  Again, don't think small group is necessary as you can basically tour the castle on your own,.  We enjoyed it. Beautiful castle. 

In Liverpool we did the Small Group In the Steps of the Beatles.  Here we were very happy we did the Small Group as the guide was excellent and we were able to spend more time at each stop having only around 12 on the bus.  As a Beatles fan, we loved this tour.  If you're not much of a Beatles fan you might want to look at other options.  

Waterford we did KILKENNY CASTLE & WATERFORD CRYSTAL and enjoyed this tour also.  Only glitch was one lady wandered off after lunch and we had to search for her.  Almost missed the Waterford Crystal but made it anyway.  Again, not the small group, and other than the lady wandering off, don't really think the small group is necessary.

Small Group vs regular tour is really dependent on both the tour and the interest level you have.  I won't book a small group unless it's a tour that will have a lot of narration and I'm very interested in the tour, like the Beatles tour we did.  On a tour where there is a guide the small group is better for time, questions, narration, etc.  On a tour where you are stopping for an unguided tour, don't see the need.  But that's really up to you. The small group is nice being limited to 16 people, however keep in mind you might be trading a large bus with 30 or so on it for a small bus filling all the 16 seats.  

 

[fruitmachine]

18 hours ago, Techno123 said:

The one in the photo was definitely 12 noon though as it was for the (then) Prince of Wales' birthday - hadn't realised it was different on 'normal' days but I stand corrected  😂

Was that a single shot or a salvo of many? If the latter, then you must have had a great sight!

 

The One o'clock Gun is a single shot and would have been fired then, even on a day with another Royal salute like you describe.

[fruitmachine]

6 hours ago, Gilly said:

though it was August, the Festival was on and the city looked a mess!

We had a refuse collector strike last year,and it was was very embarrassing for those of us who want to show our city off to the world.  Even in festival time, it's normally very clean.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

I'm not sure if this is an excursion option, but if they offer a trip to Inverewe Gardens from Ullapool, and the weather is decent, and you like gardens and scenery, I would consider it.  I was there decades ago and still remember it fondly.  I think it's about an hour from Ullapool, and the drive would no doubt be very scenic too, as are the gardens. https://www.nts.org.uk/visit/places/inverewe

Edited February 23, 2023 by Wendy The Wanderer

[moogwan]

We were on this same basic cruise this past September.

 

Edinburgh we missed because of the Queen's funeral but had been before where we did the Royal Mile walking tour. I remember it as being interesting.

 

Invergordon we did the Cawdor Castle and Culloden Battlefield tour. Castle was a gem with beautiful gardens. The battlefield is just a field with some flags showing where each side was, but our guide's commentary made history come to life. If you are an Outlander fan you will imagine Jamie riding his horse into battle😉 By the way, our guideDonald was one of the best we have had on any tour, Regent or not.

 

In Kirkwall the archeological wonders tour should not be missed. Skara Brae is fascinating.

 

Ullapool is a cute little town in its own right. We did the Knockan Crag hike and discovered our guide was to be the same Donald as we had in Invergordon. The hike itself is not for everyone, narrow, rocky, steep trail that was often on the edge of a cliff. Some people apparently did not read enough of the description and wore flimsy sneakers instead of the sturdy shoes recommended. If you like geology you will be fascinated as you will see where the theory of plate tectonics originated. Since Donald was at one time the head geologist of the Highlands we had expert commentary. Even if you don't like geology the scenery is gorgeous.

 

From Killybegs we did the Wild Sliabh Liag cliffs.It is mostly a see-it-yourself place though there is commentary on the bus ride there. Our guide on this tour was a dud, providing nothing useful. He wasn't even sure whether the tea stop should be before or after the cliffs. The cliffs themselves are beautiful, but it was very windy there. You are given about 45 minutes to wander on your own which a lot of people were not happy about. We loved it and hiked quite a way up the cliffside.

 

Having been to Belfast a couple of times before we had done the main tours. We opted for the Traditional Irish Music Tour. A lot of fun visiting several pubs and hearing the music.

 

In Waterford we did the walking tour. Found the tour mildly interesting.

[Techno123]

16 hours ago, fruitmachine said:

Was that a single shot or a salvo of many? If the latter, then you must have had a great sight!

 

The One o'clock Gun is a single shot and would have been fired then, even on a day with another Royal salute like you describe.

It was the salvo of many and was pretty amazing - lots of local dignitaries sat at the front 😁