Edinburgh Military Tattoo HAL Aug 21 2024

[doinothin]

Hi all, we missed out on the shore excusion with Holland America so I booked direct with the Tattoo.  Any thoughts about getting back to Queensferry?  Sharing a cab or Uber maybe?  And what time is the last tender back to the Nieuw Statendam?  Cheers, Jim and Lynn.

[fruitmachine]

2 hours ago, doinothin said:

Hi all, we missed out on the shore excusion with Holland America so I booked direct with the Tattoo.  Any thoughts about getting back to Queensferry?  Sharing a cab or Uber maybe?  And what time is the last tender back to the Nieuw Statendam?  Cheers, Jim and Lynn.

From memory, each year the fireworks at the end of the Tattoo go off about 10:45 - 10:50pm, and I think that's immediately before the final segment.  You then have to get out of the venue, which can be slow.

 

A cab or Uber are your simplest and quickest options.  The last train to Dalmeny (a 5 minute downhill walk to Hawes Pier) is at 23:18 from Waverley station.  The 43 bus (which becomes the X43 overnight) is another option.  In both cases, get off at Dalmeny Station and take the same walk as for the train.

 

It's almost certain that you will beat the excursion coaches back to the pier if you take a taxi or Uber.  You should aim to achieve that, as it will save you waiting in the queue that will build up when they arrive.

[VMax1700]

If you are looking to share a cab, then you should post on your Roll Call.

Presuming that you are sailing on Nieuw Statendam you will find your Roll Call here: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/824-nieuw-statendam/

 

Check through to find the date you are sailing and make see if anyone else wants to share.

[Host Kat]

9 hours ago, doinothin said:

Hi all, we missed out on the shore excusion with Holland America so I booked direct with the Tattoo.  Any thoughts about getting back to Queensferry?  Sharing a cab or Uber maybe?  And what time is the last tender back to the Nieuw Statendam?  Cheers, Jim and Lynn.

 

Hello @doinothin and welcome to the Cruise Critic message boards!

 

Thank you for your first new thread on the Ask a Cruise Question forum! However, it is the forum for general questions regarding cruising. Your inquiry concerns a specific location and is off topic there.

 

To help you out I have moved your new thread to the Ports of Call - Europe - 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.

 

The Cruise Critic website and message boards are both great resources for new as well as experienced cruisers and we are so glad you have posted! Please feel free to browse the Cruise Critic Community categories list of the various forums. I suggest you Bookmark the page or put it in your Favorites for easy access in the future. Please read a few threads in the different forums to get a feel for what each forum is about. Make sure you read any pinned threads (aka Stickies) on the top of the first page of threads in most forums. You will find very important instructions or information there.

 

And @VMax1700 is correct. You need to find and post on the Cruise Critic Roll Call thread for your specific line, ship and sail date. That is where you will find fellow Cruise Critic members sailing with you! Please read What is a Roll Call? Everything you Need to Know and How To: Create A New Roll Call. For more information about our famous Roll Calls, please read the Roll Calls and Our Policy Regarding Facebook and Roll Calls sections in the Guidelines. We also have the following Cruise Critic article you might enjoy: 8 Reasons to Join a Cruise Critic Roll Call

 

The specific Cruise Critic Roll Call thread for your ship, line, and sail date is the ONLY place on the Cruise Critic message boards where you and your fellow Roll Call thread members are allowed to post personal ads about sharing private tours, excursions or transportation with each other to save money. There is a "captive audience" there since you are all sailing together! Your fellow Roll Call thread members may have important information posted in your Roll Call thread. Especially those that may have sailed your line, ship or itinerary before. Also, they may have already posted share requests that may interest you. Roll Calls are for Cruise Critic members on the same cruise. They get to know one another before their cruise so there will be all kinds of discussion in the Roll Call thread for their cruise!

 

Once you locate the Roll Call thread for your specific line, ship and sail date if one is already created, first read through the whole thread to get to know the other Cruise Critic members sailing with you. Then use the dark blue Reply to this topic button to join the Roll Call by posting an introductory post about yourself on the Roll Call thread. When done with your message, click the dark blue Submit Reply button. 

 

If you want to address a particular post already in the thread, be sure to use the Quote feature on that post as I did yours above. That way all will be aware of what your post concerns. Click the Quote function on the post you want to address. When the Message Reply box opens, the quote appears in a box at the top. You type your message UNDER the quote box. When done with your message, click the dark blue Submit Reply button. If the member you quoted has used the Follow feature on the thread, they will get a notification that you have replied to their post

 

If a Roll Call thread for your specific line, ship & sail date has NOT been created, please feel free to create it! Just follow the directions in How To: Create A New Roll Call. Please make sure you use the complete alpha date format for the sail date in the Roll Call thread title. Example: January 01, 2024 Then sit back and wait for your fellow Cruise Critic members sailing with you to join in by posting on the thread. They will appreciate you starting the Roll Call! And don't worry about any responsibilities in starting a Roll Call thread. Roll Calls belong to everyone; there is no designated leader or owner. It does not matter who started the thread.

 

If you ever need technical help in regard to using the Cruise Critic message board software, go to the Need Help Using the Forums? Check Here! forum. You will see a large amount of "How to..." pinned threads toward the top of the forum's first page. Also, browse through the threads in the forum looking for threads of interest. Again, you may find your fellow Cruise Critic members have already posted questions and received answers that may be of interest to you.

 

So sorry this is so long, but I sincerely hope this will be helpful to someone new to posting on our message boards. We are glad to have you aboard Cruise Critic! 

 

Happy sails,

 

Host Kat

[CruiserBruce]

HAL typically lists their "last tender" 30 minutes before scheduled sailing time.

[VMax1700]

2 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

HAL typically lists their "last tender" 30 minutes before scheduled sailing time.

If it is the Nieuw Statendam then the ship is at anchor overnight. On our cruise last year the tenders ran until about 2am and then stopped for a few hours.

[CruiserBruce]

16 minutes ago, VMax1700 said:

If it is the Nieuw Statendam then the ship is at anchor overnight. On our cruise last year the tenders ran until about 2am and then stopped for a few hours.

OK. Didn't think about that, just gave standard tender rules and procedures.

[doinothin]

Thanks for that, very helpful.

[phabric]

When I went to the Tattoo (have been 2x), I was told from a passenger from the year before, to leave when the solo piper starts to play to try to exit before the crowds as there is only 1 entrance/exit.  We could hear the piper and see the fireworks as we walked.

 

There is no intermission during show.  The seats are in one long row from one aisle to the other aisle.

Port-a-potties are near the entrance/exit.

[SueMo]

I recommend booking a hotel room for the night.  In the morning, do some extra touring of Edinburgh before heading back to South Queensferry.

[doinothin]

Thank you SueMo, that is exactly what we have done.  Tha Nieue Statendam leaves the next day so we'll have time for more stuff in Edinburgh.

[SueMo]

40 minutes ago, doinothin said:

Thank you SueMo, that is exactly what we have done.  Tha Nieue Statendam leaves the next day so we'll have time for more stuff in Edinburgh.

I think it’s the best solution.  It’s difficult making your way back to the ship after dark and stand in line to tender back to the ship, only to wake up in the morning and make your way back into the city.  We did the Nieuw Statendam last summer and we stayed in a hotel in the Haymarket area (behind the castle).  The cost of spending the night at a hotel plus tattoo tickets was about the same as the ship’s tattoo excursion.  We took the train from Dalmeny to Haymarket, checked in, and did some touring before the tattoo.  Afterwards, it was a quick 10-15 minute walk to our hotel.  The next morning we had a leisurely breakfast, did some more touring, and took the train from Waverly back to Dalmeny.  

[doinothin]

That's what we'll do too.  Thanks again.  Jim.