British Isles Cruisers -- How long do shore excursions typically take?

[abdullahhoneymoon]

Nearly all the shore excursions we've signed up for begin by 9:30 a.m. These are to take place in Invergordon, Kirkwall, Greenock, and some ports in Iceland. One booking is estimated at nearly five hours, for instance. In your experience, are shore experiences meant to take up the full day, leading right up to when you must return to ship? Or can you squeeze in additional activities on your own?

[Pushpit]

Usually the long excursions are obvious - for example they involve a long drive to somewhere and back. The ship's arrival and departure time will be indicated in the Daily Programme, and with a bit of research you can guess what they are in advance (e.g. checking a port's schedule online). A 7 am arrival, 4pm departure isn't unusual, as advertised, and they won't leave early, some of the crew will take the opportunity to go landside to stock on personal supplies. Some of the excursions will typically arrive back early afternoon and then yes, you are free to do things before the ship departs, you don't have to go straight back on. You could also go back on, drop off any souvenirs and then go back off again (though at tender ports that's probably best avoided). In some locations you can just ignore the published excursions and do you own thing, so in your list I'd be tempted to do that at Kirkwall, but not for Invergordon, just based on what is easy to get to at a given port. 

Edited March 22 by Pushpit

[exlondoner]

9 minutes ago, Pushpit said:

Usually the long excursions are obvious - for example they involve a long drive to somewhere and back. The ship's arrival and departure time will be indicated in the Daily Programme, and with a bit of research you can guess what they are in advance (e.g. checking a port's schedule online). A 7 am arrival, 4pm departure isn't unusual, as advertised, and they won't leave early, some of the crew will take the opportunity to go landside to stock on personal supplies. Some of the excursions will typically arrive back early afternoon and then yes, you are free to do things before the ship departs, you don't have to go straight back on. You could also go back on, drop off any souvenirs and then go back off again (though at tender ports that's probably best avoided). In some locations you can just ignore the published excursions and do you own thing, so in your list I'd be tempted to do that at Kirkwall, but not for Invergordon, just based on what is easy to get to at a given port. 

At Kirkwall, a half day tour of the archaeological sites gave us time to mooch about the city(?) beforehand. That archaeology tour was by a massive amount the best Cunard tour I’ve ever been on. 
 

But, when it comes down to it, you may not want to do as much as you think, especially if it means, say, missing tea. 😀

[Host Hattie]

The duration will be shown before booking so you can choose a duration that suits you. Short excursions may also have a choice of start times.

As long as you are back on board by the time shown in the Daily Programmes and at the gangway as you leave the ship your time is your own.

[Victoria2]

8 minutes ago, exlondoner said:

At Kirkwall, a half day tour of the archaeological sites gave us time to mooch about the city(?) beforehand. That archaeology tour was by a massive amount the best Cunard tour I’ve ever been on. 
 

But, when it comes down to it, you may not want to do as much as you think, especially if it means, say, missing tea. 😀

Love Kirkwall. We have visited at least five times now, QE and QV.

 

Afternoon tea v the archaeological aspects of Orkney?

 

No contest. Let's hear it for Neolithic Orkney and yes, the Cunard archaeology excursions are excellent.

[exlondoner]

12 minutes ago, Victoria2 said:

Love Kirkwall. We have visited at least five times now, QE and QV.

 

Afternoon tea v the archaeological aspects of Orkney?

 

No contest. Let's hear it for Neolithic Orkney and yes, the Cunard archaeology excursions are excellent.

We were very lucky in that our guide was an actual archaeologist who had actually dug on some of the sites. I usually loathe guided tours - too much blathering - but that was excellent.

 

I don’t mind missing tea, but try not to miss lunch.

[dear prudence]

8 hours ago, Host Hattie said:

The duration will be shown before booking so you can choose a duration that suits you. Short excursions may also have a choice of start times.

As long as you are back on board by the time shown in the Daily Programmes and at the gangway as you leave the ship your time is your own.

 

I've been reading Cruise Critic for a long time and you are my favorite host!

 

Happy birthday! I saw it on page 1 and just had to send you best wishes for the day.

 

🥰

[3rdGenCunarder]

21 hours ago, abdullahhoneymoon said:

Nearly all the shore excursions we've signed up for begin by 9:30 a.m. These are to take place in Invergordon, Kirkwall, Greenock, and some ports in Iceland. One booking is estimated at nearly five hours, for instance. In your experience, are shore experiences meant to take up the full day, leading right up to when you must return to ship? Or can you squeeze in additional activities on your own?

 

What excursions are you doing?

[foodsvcmgr]

In my experience the majority of excursions tend to average about 5 hours in duration.

Generally this allows adequate time for independent shopping, touring the port, or lunch locally.

Alternatively you can usually make it back to the ship in time for a slightly late lunch if you prefer.

[hampshirelad]

I find that the "Whats in Port site " gives you a broad brush feel of whats do-able on your own and whats best left to an excursion. Key is where does the ship dock in relation to the town / destination. My wife and I now find in Europe that last time we were in a particular port you just got off the ship and were in the town. Now a bespoke cruise terminal has been built say 5 miles from the town. It pays to do your research.

 

Kirkwall can be done by yourself if you wish. Iceland - students used to do free tours (a donation asked ) around the capital

 

The length of tours varies. They all start early. Travel any distance then they will be 5 hours . Walk and Talk tours will be 3 to 4 hours.

 

Hope that helps

 

 

https://www.whatsinport.com/Kirkwall-Orkney-Islands-Scotland.htm

[3rdGenCunarder]

1 hour ago, hampshirelad said:

I find that the "Whats in Port site " gives you a broad brush feel of whats do-able on your own and whats best left to an excursion. Key is where does the ship dock in relation to the town / destination. My wife and I now find in Europe that last time we were in a particular port you just got off the ship and were in the town. Now a bespoke cruise terminal has been built say 5 miles from the town. It pays to do your research.

 

Kirkwall can be done by yourself if you wish. Iceland - students used to do free tours (a donation asked ) around the capital

 

The length of tours varies. They all start early. Travel any distance then they will be 5 hours . Walk and Talk tours will be 3 to 4 hours.

 

Hope that helps

 

 

https://www.whatsinport.com/Kirkwall-Orkney-Islands-Scotland.htm

 

I use "whats in port," too. If it links to a city's own website you might see the actual arrival and departure times instead of Cunard's vague "morning" and "afternoon."

 

I also look at googlemaps to get a sense of where the dock is in relation to the port city or nearby major city. 

 

Tripadvisor now has a category of "shore excursions," which can give you an idea of what your ship is likely to offer. I hate that there's no way to see the actual list before you book. 

[fabnfortysomething]

are you tendering-particularly in kirkwall?

that can add extra time till you actually get ashore and cut into day

a few years ago [admittetly on a different cruise line and private excursion] the line back for tender back to ship was very long and cruiseline excursions had to jin same line so limited time to explore on your own