Ports in the British Isles

[gullcruiser]

Hello,  I would like to know if it is possible to get a tour at the port w/o going thru your cruise ship.  The ports are Portland, England, COBH for Cork, Ireland, Belfast, Ireland and Greenock in  Scotland. I haven't cruised for 3 years due to covid but before then one could always pick up a tour getting off your ship and I just don't know if that is possible or wise for these ports.

I would appreciate any advice you can give.

Thanks

[Heidi13]

1 hour ago, gullcruiser said:

Hello,  I would like to know if it is possible to get a tour at the port w/o going thru your cruise ship.  The ports are Portland, England, COBH for Cork, Ireland, Belfast, Ireland and Greenock in  Scotland. I haven't cruised for 3 years due to covid but before then one could always pick up a tour getting off your ship and I just don't know if that is possible or wise for these ports.

I would appreciate any advice you can give.

Thanks

 

Lots of private tours available in most ports. In addition to the previous suggestions, google

 

small group private tours in xxx (enter port name)

 

Once you get past Trip advisor, viator, trip advisor, etc you should find some small local tour providers.

[Host Kat]

4 hours ago, gullcruiser said:

Hello,  I would like to know if it is possible to get a tour at the port w/o going thru your cruise ship.  The ports are Portland, England, COBH for Cork, Ireland, Belfast, Ireland and Greenock in  Scotland. I haven't cruised for 3 years due to covid but before then one could always pick up a tour getting off your ship and I just don't know if that is possible or wise for these ports.

I would appreciate any advice you can give.

Thanks

 

@gullcruiser

 

Thank you for your new thread on the Ask a Cruise Question forum. It is the forum for general questions regarding cruising. However, your thread is off topic there since your topic concerns specific ports of call.

 

To help you out I have moved your thread to the British Isles/Western Europe forum where it will be on topic. The majority of your fellow Cruise Critic members that have been there or live there frequent this forum and provide feedback here. Browse through the thread titles on this forum looking for threads of interest. You will probably find your fellow Cruise Critic members have already posted questions and received answers that may be of interest to you.

 

Hope this will be helpful and glad to have you aboard Cruise Critic!

 

Happy sails,

 

Host Kat

[John Bull]

Portland is a secure port, it's a naval base. You can only take a ship's tour or a shuttle between ship and nearby diminutive Portland Castle or the Victorian seaside resort of Weymouth (free to Portland Castle, payable - £10 ? -  to Weymouth).

 

There will not be any tours or taxis available on-spec., but you can pre-book a private tour (and either seek sharers via your RollCall or check your RollCall to see if anyone else has organised one & is seeking sharers). Tour operators meet their clients off the shuttle at Portland Castle. Places of interest include Corfe Castle and Lulworth Cove and Durdle Door, or Chesil Bank and the Jurassic Coast and West Bay / Bridport, or a tour of the Dorset Downs and rural villages. Lots of other options too. 

Google those, see what you think.

 

More info and tour operators via a search of this forum. Little search box top right of this page - type in the name of the port, in the drop-down select "this forum", click on the little spyglass alongside & allow a few moments for the magic to work.

Here are the threads which mention Portland, do the same for your other ports

 https://boards.cruisecritic.com/search/?q=Portland&quick=1&type=forums_topic&nodes=148

 

Ships offer excursions to either Bath or Stonehenge. Both are distant & involve sitting on the bus for hours.

 

JB 🙂

Edited April 17, 2023 by John Bull

[VMax1700]

For Cobh you should pre book a private tour or just use a taxi which will be at the quayside.  There is a train station right beside where the ship docks, which will take you into Cork city. 

There will not be "tours" offered at the quayside as you would see in the Caribbean.

[Aunt Tina]

John Bull - is there a way to go from Portland to Torquay for just the day to visit relatives who are not able travel?

[Mrs f.]

On 4/16/2023 at 7:36 PM, Heidi13 said:

 

Lots of private tours available in most ports. In addition to the previous suggestions, google

 

small group private tours in xxx (enter port name)

 

Once you get past Trip advisor, viator, trip advisor, etc you should find some small local tour providers.

For Portland,  I booked with Dorset Tours. They offer a bunch of different tours for cruise passengers 

[Globaliser]

10 minutes ago, Aunt Tina said:

... is there a way to go from Portland to Torquay for just the day to visit relatives who are not able travel?

 

Is this for Friday 1 September, with scheduled time in port from 1100 to 2100? And are you prepared to rent a car and drive yourself?

[gumshoe958]

36 minutes ago, Aunt Tina said:

John Bull - is there a way to go from Portland to Torquay for just the day to visit relatives who are not able travel?

Almost impossible by public transport and allow 2 hours each way to drive if you rent a car. It’s a 160 mile round trip, not on particularly fast roads.

[Aunt Tina]

I will be on the Oceania Riviera approximately that date (not home with the schedule now).  Eyesight not good enough to drive at night and on the "wrong side" of the road on unfamiliar roads!   

Also looking at going there after the cruise from Portsmouth. 

 

Thanks very much for your information.

[rcrabb1513]

On 4/16/2023 at 5:31 PM, gullcruiser said:

Hello,  I would like to know if it is possible to get a tour at the port w/o going thru your cruise ship.  The ports are Portland, England, COBH for Cork, Ireland, Belfast, Ireland and Greenock in  Scotland. I haven't cruised for 3 years due to covid but before then one could always pick up a tour getting off your ship and I just don't know if that is possible or wise for these ports.

I would appreciate any advice you can give.

Thanks

We pre booked Hop On/Hop off tickets for Dublin, Glasgow (Greenock) and Belfast.  We do these quite a bit.  We ride the full circuit noting researched stops and some presented during the circuit and then the 2nd time around we "hop off/hop on" at stops that peaked our interest.  Those 3 booked tours added together for 2 (senior rates) were less than cost of most of the excursions cruise line offered excursions for 2 persons. 

 

We do not have experience with country-side tours.

 

 

[KKB]

I am doing Cobh, Belfast & Greenock next month.

 

Cobh--doing Heritage museum (maybe), Titanic Experience & figure I hit a pub or 2. 

(we don't dock until 3PM so that is limiting)

 

Belfast--cab to town & doing the HOHO bus--seems to hit all the things I want to see.

 

Greenock--Stumped about this one. Would love to go to  Edinburgh, but so far.

HOHO bus is sold out on our date. May do a ship excursion...just not sure yet.

Maybe train to Glasgow & wander.

 

Edited April 26, 2023 by KKB

[fruitmachine]

24 minutes ago, KKB said:

Greenock--Stumped about this one. Would love to go to  Edinburgh, but so far.

HOHO bus is sold out on our date. May do a ship excursion...just not sure yet.

Maybe train to Glasgow & wander.

Not quite sure what you're meaning by this. The HoHo bus in Edinburgh (https://edinburghtour.com/) will never sell out.  My fist choice would be the Green HoHo route as it has a live guide.

 

Edinburgh is quite a long-haul from Greenock.  If there is a ship's "Edinburgh on your own" or similar excursion, then entertaining yourself in Edinburgh is easy until the return bus. 

It's also doable by train if you want to DIY - essentially get to Glasgow as you were thinking, and then onwards to Edinburgh, though you have to take a short walk between the two main stations in the middle of Glasgow.  Greenock to Glasgow Central is about 30-45 minute journey, walking between the stations 10 minutes, and Glasgow Queen St to Edinburgh Waverly 45-55 minutes.  Be careful not to get on one of the slow trains that stop everywhere!

[KKB]

4 minutes ago, fruitmachine said:

Not quite sure what you're meaning by this. The HoHo bus in Edinburgh (https://edinburghtour.com/) will never sell out.  My fist choice would be the Green HoHo route as it has a live guide.

 

There is a busy bus from Greenock that looked like a good choice but sold out.

We are in port 10 hours...not sure I want to put in 4 hours of travel.

Glasgow by train is my likely avenue.