Rare cr8tiv1 Posted June 2 #101 Share Posted June 2 @smilesntravels This may be too late for you....but are you open to other options? or request a move over about the same timing? The fares for Iceland/Greenland on July 26 are ridiculously low on an older ship with many insides, ocean views, and balcony cabins available. I do hope you are able to put everything together so that you can begin to pack and get excited about your voyage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Pirateskigirl Posted June 2 #102 Share Posted June 2 8 hours ago, fruitmachine said: The X99 Cruiselink bus (https://www.lothianbuses.com/cruiselink-x99/) is a dedicated non-stop service that runs into Edinburgh on days when there is a ship at South Queensferry. About 25-35 minutes each way. You can use the £12 round-trip ticket on every city bus and the Edinburgh Tram all day. With the saving over a ship's 'on your own' excursion, you can buy a Royal Edinburgh HoHo combo-ticket (https://edinburghtour.com/royal-edinburgh-ticket/) from the X99 ticket sellers at the pier, which will get you on all the HoHo buses; entry into the Castle, Holyrood Palace and The Royal Yacht Britannia; and still have enough change for a light lunch! The X99 with the HOHO add on worked great for our on our own day in Edinburgh. Even though the castle was listed has sold out for the day we were there. The HOHO has a set number of tickets each day. Just ask when booking when you get off a Queensbury. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smilesntravels Posted June 2 Author #103 Share Posted June 2 3 minutes ago, cr8tiv1 said: @smilesntravels This may be too late for you....but are you open to other options? or request a move over about the same timing? The fares for Iceland/Greenland on July 26 are ridiculously low on an older ship with many insides, ocean views, and balcony cabins available. I do hope you are able to put everything together so that you can begin to pack and get excited about your voyage. I did see that cruise! I don't really want to go on an older ship, and with that many sea days I would be very sad not having a balcony to sit out on. Also, hubby won't want to take more than two weeks off. And it will be hard to leave our cuckoo cats for over two weeks with a pet sitter coming once a day. They eat probably eight times a day! Otherwise, this would be a great cruise to take! 🙂 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Pirateskigirl Posted June 3 #104 Share Posted June 3 I recommend looking at Discover Scotland tours for Inverness and Greenock stops. They have some great tour options. Glasgow is a great town to explore especially the National Museum and Glasgow Cathedral. So many pub options. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smilesntravels Posted June 3 Author #105 Share Posted June 3 7 minutes ago, Pirateskigirl said: The X99 with the HOHO add on worked great for our on our own day in Edinburgh. Even though the castle was listed has sold out for the day we were there. The HOHO has a set number of tickets each day. Just ask when booking when you get off a Queensbury. Thank you. I think you're the one that was posting daily from this cruise just last week, or so! I did see some of your posts. Very nice. I just haven't had a chance to go back and read more. About the HOHO- you said a set number of tickets and just ask when booking when you get off at Queeensferry. Are you saying not to book the HOHO in advance? Or book in advance, and ask what? So from the port, take the bus in to town then find the HOHO bus? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Pirateskigirl Posted June 3 #106 Share Posted June 3 54 minutes ago, smilesntravels said: Thank you. I think you're the one that was posting daily from this cruise just last week, or so! I did see some of your posts. Very nice. I just haven't had a chance to go back and read more. About the HOHO- you said a set number of tickets and just ask when booking when you get off at Queeensferry. Are you saying not to book the HOHO in advance? Or book in advance, and ask what? So from the port, take the bus in to town then find the HOHO bus? We booked both the X99 and the HOHO when we got off the tender at South Queensferry. Several folks there to help us and explain our options. We had pre booked our castle tickets, so we didn’t need them but others used that option. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MCARAB1 Posted June 3 #107 Share Posted June 3 12 hours ago, VaCruzers said: Just so you know, balcony cabins do not have a sofa unless perhaps the suites do. Standard and deluxe balconies only have the one chair at the desk. Hope that makes you feel better about not getting the balcony. deluxe and premium deluxe balcony cabins both show a “twin/double” loveseat that serves as a bed for a 3rd person IF the cabin shows for 3 or if 4 will also have a pull down bed near the balcony sliding doors which definitely makes it tight to move around in the cabin at bedtime 😉 We originally had a deluxe balcony booked which showed the loveseat but changed to a Premium deluxe “sunset “ aft balcony. Hoping for some nice weather for 1 or 2 days at sea to enjoy the balcony. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MCARAB1 Posted June 3 #108 Share Posted June 3 11 hours ago, fruitmachine said: The X99 Cruiselink bus (https://www.lothianbuses.com/cruiselink-x99/) is a dedicated non-stop service that runs into Edinburgh on days when there is a ship at South Queensferry. About 25-35 minutes each way. You can use the £12 round-trip ticket on every city bus and the Edinburgh Tram all day. With the saving over a ship's 'on your own' excursion, you can buy a Royal Edinburgh HoHo combo-ticket (https://edinburghtour.com/royal-edinburgh-ticket/) from the X99 ticket sellers at the pier, which will get you on all the HoHo buses; entry into the Castle, Holyrood Palace and The Royal Yacht Britannia; and still have enough change for a light lunch! THANKS for the link. I’d seen a Youtube but wasn’t sure about actual details on this. With your excellent post I was able to add their app to my phone and will be ready to “roll” when we get off the tender. I had decided that the uphill walk might be a little much for Gary so had planned on a HOHO to get us started at the Castle and then walk as much as we wanted down hill towards Holyrood Palace. We sail on 8/31/24 so looking forward to meeting some of our fellow Cruise Critic “sailors” 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samkitty1 Posted June 3 #109 Share Posted June 3 On 5/27/2024 at 2:05 PM, KKB said: Orkney Island are AMAZING--they dropped it from ours the last minute & I was SO sad. Take the free shuttle into Kirkwall (LOVELY seaside town) earlY & get in line a the travel center. For 25lbs you get an AMAZING tour of the area. HIGHLY recommend. Plus time to wander Kirkwall after your several hour tour Hi there...our cruise is schedule to stop at Kirkwall and I'm really looking forward to it. Can you tell us a little more about the tour you took for 25 GBS each? What sites did you visit and how long was the tour? Thanks, in advance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare KKB Posted June 3 #110 Share Posted June 3 1 hour ago, Samkitty1 said: Hi there...our cruise is schedule to stop at Kirkwall and I'm really looking forward to it. Can you tell us a little more about the tour you took for 25 GBS each? What sites did you visit and how long was the tour? Thanks, in advance Tour was about 3-4 hours I think. The link shows where we stopped. It is very scenic--very different than the rest of Scotland! Our tour guide was FANTASTIC too. https://www.orkney.com/listings/open-top-bus Odd...this one claims to be the same bus, but says they go to Skara Brae, which we did not. https://www.greatscenicjourneys.co.uk/journey/t11-orkney-tour/ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MCARAB1 Posted June 4 #111 Share Posted June 4 does anyone know if the cabin temperature controls have an option for “fan on” or does the fan/air circulation only work when adjusting the temperature to the set temp on the thermostat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smilesntravels Posted June 5 Author #112 Share Posted June 5 On 6/2/2024 at 9:51 PM, MCARAB1 said: deluxe and premium deluxe balcony cabins both show a “twin/double” loveseat that serves as a bed for a 3rd person IF the cabin shows for 3 or if 4 will also have a pull down bed near the balcony sliding doors which definitely makes it tight to move around in the cabin at bedtime 😉 We originally had a deluxe balcony booked which showed the loveseat but changed to a Premium deluxe “sunset “ aft balcony. Hoping for some nice weather for 1 or 2 days at sea to enjoy the balcony. Yes, I saw that also. Deluxe balconies show a loveseat, but regular balconies don't. I don't know what cruise you'll be on. I've never tried an aft balcony. It could be nice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jones721 Posted June 8 #113 Share Posted June 8 On 5/26/2024 at 5:36 PM, smilesntravels said: Hi all, I haven't posted in cruise critic for a long while as our last two vacations have been at all-inclusives. I work in education (special -ed.) and unfortunately the only good time to travel is during the summer. My dream cruise is to go to the British Isles, among a few others (Canary Islands, Transatlantic, South Pacific, etc.) I have a couple of dilemmas and am not the best decision maker, so would appreciate any advice. Except for my very first cruise, which was a window cabin, all have been balconies and I loved them. For this cruise, it will be a little out of our budget to get a balcony as it's a 12- night cruise to the British Isles. There aren't any window cabins, ughh. So it's either a small box w/o a window for 12 days, or a balcony. Since the cruise is starting the exact same day as the Olympics, I won't be wasting the days away staring at the sea or reading books out on the balcony. Just about every free minute I'll have in the room, I'll be wanting to watch NBC. Since it's a port intensive cruise and I'll be trying to watch a lot of the Olympics (since I never miss them and can't possibly record 100 hours of tv and have time to watch them before school starts again,) can any of you that cruise often say if it's miserable having an inside cabin and for 12 days? I'm also debating on whether to get either a balcony or the princess plus pacakage. They end up being approximately the same extra charge. To get a balcony for 12-night cruise for hubby and I, it would be about 1450 more. For the plus package it would be approximately the same. The last two cruises we did, had the beverage package included and I got spoiled (for cocktails, the occasional soda and specialty coffees.) I have to remind myself though, that if we don't get the package that doesn't mean we can't drink! If you have a recommendation on which to pick- balcony or package, that would be great. I've been to Ireland, England (London), and France (Paris.) So, it will by my first time seeing Scotland and Wales. These are the five countries the cruise will visit. It will be husbands' first time to Europe. Yes, we could do a shorter cruise to the Caribbean or to even the Med. All my previous cruises have been to the Caribbean and Bermuda, and I don't have a ton of interest in the Med. I'm dying to see Scotland/Lockness, Stonehenge, Normandy beaches and the parts of Ireland I haven't seen yet. Portland, England I'll probably designate as another sea day, to relax, enjoy the ship and watch Olympics. I am wondering how the scenery from a balcony will be on this type of cruise. I realize sea days will be mostly open water, but when we get close to land if it will be disappointing not having a balcony. If any of you have any tips on port excursions, those are welcome too! I have been looking and do have ideas, but always debate between ship and non- ship excurions: Cork, Dublin, Glasgow, Invergorden, Edinburgh, Holyhead, Portland, and Le Havre. Thanks in advance! Hi, Haven’t logged into cruisecritic for a while but thought I should now start planning my next cruise - same one you are on. I’m from the UK and there are 9 of us on that cruise, all from UK. I live 45 minutes from Portland (was there yesterday on a sailing trip with the children in my class and it’s a beautiful coastline). Yes, I teach too so stuck to school holidays as well. I have done this cruise now almost every year since the 2012 Olympic year (excluding Covid years). Usually with Princess but that one was with Cunard and went with my mum. She is a huge sports fan and managed to watch most things she wanted - even leaving dinner in the restaurant one evening to go to eh golden Lion pub to watch Usain Bolt and then back into dinner again (set dining)!! Cunard cancelled the normal entertainment in the theatre on the first night and screened the opening ceremony in there. I have to say, it was very special watching in there on the big screen with lots of other nationalities (even though I personally watch very little of the Olympics). Queen Victoria doesn’t have a large outdoor screen so most was shown in the pub. I would imagine that Princess will show stuff outdoors. Regal was my daughter’s wedding ship in October 2021 so it has very special memories for us. My mum (she’s 86) is a huge Liverpool fan and I had to go and drag her away from the Liverpool match on the outdoor screen to come to dinner on the wedding day - so I know they show a lot of popular events outdoors (sailing from the UK, show most of the UK football matches outdoors so guessing Olympics will be shown somewhere - or cabin). We often book inside cabins and, has been mentioned before, I get a better night’s sleep in there. We have a midship deck 8 balcony on this cruise as they are classed as obstructed cabins (the midship ones don’t have an obstruction) and priced not much higher than insides. But, you have to book early for those. I am more than happy with an inside cabin though. I didn’t realise that July 26th was the first day of the Olympics this year too so don’t know what my mum will have to say about that (it’s a surprise, so she doesn’t know that she is coming with us yet). Hoping she won’t prefer to stay at home!! 😬 Regarding the weather: we always take either this sailing or one of the two following sailings as I am also stuck to UK school holidays. Weather has been mixed and certainly much cooler once you head north and into Scotland. However, we have also had beautiful weather and I have been in the pools and jacuzzis on every cruise, weather hasn’t stopped me. Recently, we had a heatwave in the UK that lasted weeks and we have very little aircon here and had had no rain for weeks and weeks. I was so looking forward to boarding the ship, going in and out of aircon and using the pools… The weather broke the day after we boarded and it rained almost the whole of the cruise and was not very warm!!! The Americans on board thought this was normal and didn’t believe the beautiful weather (and lack of rain) we had had beforehand! Last year, I had to lend an American my sun cream because the first port was Guernsey and she had booked a cycling tour of the island and there were no clouds and beautiful sunshine all day! She hadn’t brought any with her thinking she wouldn’t need it. Ireland almost always rains or drizzles. Scotland often does too. Le Havre should be warm and sunny, same with Portland. however, I live on the south coast and am waiting for this summer to arrive - it hasn’t yet!!!!!!! Edinburgh (my favourite) normally cool but one year sunbathing weather. It might also be the Edinburgh fringe (I think it starts beginning of August) so the city will be bustling and lots of street entertainment. Anything you want to know about ports, let me know. And you might find yourself sitting next to my mum watching the Olympics!!! Tracey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranchi Posted June 8 #114 Share Posted June 8 On 6/2/2024 at 2:14 PM, smilesntravels said: Thanks for your response to this post and a previous post, Navy Veteran. One thing, I know it docks in Greenock but that's the same with a lot of ports... Cobh for Cork, Dun Laoghire (sp?) for Dublin, South Queensferry for Edinburgh, right? So, I meant Glasgow to walk around in and not walk around right where the ship docks. You recommend tours for both of those ports? We definitely want to do a tour for Invergordon to go to Lock Ness and probably not see the monster, but still go for a cruise on the lake. I figured in either Glasgow or Edinburgh walk around the city, do a hop on hop off bus and go to a restaurant/pub for local food/drink and watch an hour, or so of the games. Two months until our trip so now I'm rushing to figure it out 🙂 . Tendering in to South Queensferry you will have a number of options: Princess tour ($$$ but you may get the expertise of a guide & perhaps quick/ included entry into, say the castle;) Get a shuttle bus into Edinburgh ( run by Lothian Transport I think it’s about £12 single - but you can check that.) You can then plan your day & wander yourself. One point, although they have bus priority lanes the journey can be slow. The option we picked was rail from Dalmeny station - a short uphill walk from the tender drop off. I think we were £9 return last summer. Fast, quite frequent and no hold ups. There is a signposted footpath. If you have walking difficulties then I would not suggest this. once in Edinburgh a trams day ticket is about £3.50 (I think) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare karatemom2 Posted June 8 #115 Share Posted June 8 1 hour ago, Ranchi said: Tendering in to South Queensferry you will have a number of options: Princess tour ($$$ but you may get the expertise of a guide & perhaps quick/ included entry into, say the castle;) Get a shuttle bus into Edinburgh ( run by Lothian Transport I think it’s about £12 single - but you can check that.) You can then plan your day & wander yourself. One point, although they have bus priority lanes the journey can be slow. The option we picked was rail from Dalmeny station - a short uphill walk from the tender drop off. I think we were £9 return last summer. Fast, quite frequent and no hold ups. There is a signposted footpath. If you have walking difficulties then I would not suggest this. once in Edinburgh a trams day ticket is about £3.50 (I think) This is why we invested in a Princess excursion in Edinburgh. We really wanted to max out our day here and with the tendering situation, even being Elite and having priority, we wanted to make sure we were off the ship and at Edinburgh castle promptly. Once we factored in the cost of entry at the castle and transportation the Princess excursion didn’t cost that much more but it guaranteed us departure on the first water shuttle of the morning and we were at the castle right as it opened before the hordes of crowds. What a great experience - no long line for the Crown Jewels like we experienced at the Tower of London and ease of seeing everything in a reasonable amount of time. This left us the entire rest of our day to enjoy the Royal Mile and shops and attractions there and still have plenty of time to make it to the Royal Yacht Britannia in the afternoon. Something to consider if you want to ensure you are off the ship bright and early! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare insidecabin Posted June 8 #116 Share Posted June 8 1 hour ago, Ranchi said: Tendering in to South Queensferry you will have a number of options: Princess tour ($$$ but you may get the expertise of a guide & perhaps quick/ included entry into, say the castle;) Get a shuttle bus into Edinburgh ( run by Lothian Transport I think it’s about £12 single - but you can check that.) You can then plan your day & wander yourself. One point, although they have bus priority lanes the journey can be slow. The option we picked was rail from Dalmeny station - a short uphill walk from the tender drop off. I think we were £9 return last summer. Fast, quite frequent and no hold ups. There is a signposted footpath. If you have walking difficulties then I would not suggest this. once in Edinburgh a trams day ticket is about £3.50 (I think) The X99 shuttle bus is £12 for an all day ticket and that includes the tram all day as well. For anyone thinking about the train. The up hill walk through the woods is as high as the rail(red) bridge. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare insidecabin Posted June 8 #117 Share Posted June 8 56 minutes ago, karatemom2 said: This is why we invested in a Princess excursion in Edinburgh. We really wanted to max out our day here and with the tendering situation, even being Elite and having priority, we wanted to make sure we were off the ship and at Edinburgh castle promptly. Once we factored in the cost of entry at the castle and transportation the Princess excursion didn’t cost that much more but it guaranteed us departure on the first water shuttle of the morning and we were at the castle right as it opened before the hordes of crowds. What a great experience - no long line for the Crown Jewels like we experienced at the Tower of London and ease of seeing everything in a reasonable amount of time. This left us the entire rest of our day to enjoy the Royal Mile and shops and attractions there and still have plenty of time to make it to the Royal Yacht Britannia in the afternoon. Something to consider if you want to ensure you are off the ship bright and early! What's "not much more" than the £50pp($65) max to DIY(coach, taxi, entry) with the 8am first x99 for Regal and the 9:30 first castle entry. The on your own was $99 on our cruise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smilesntravels Posted June 9 Author #118 Share Posted June 9 (edited) 12 hours ago, Ranchi said: Tendering in to South Queensferry you will have a number of options: Princess tour ($$$ but you may get the expertise of a guide & perhaps quick/ included entry into, say the castle;) Get a shuttle bus into Edinburgh ( run by Lothian Transport I think it’s about £12 single - but you can check that.) You can then plan your day & wander yourself. One point, although they have bus priority lanes the journey can be slow. The option we picked was rail from Dalmeny station - a short uphill walk from the tender drop off. I think we were £9 return last summer. Fast, quite frequent and no hold ups. There is a signposted footpath. If you have walking difficulties then I would not suggest this. once in Edinburgh a trams day ticket is about £3.50 (I think) Hi Ranchi, thanks for the information. I've gotten so many tips on this post! I keep reading posts, but never write anything down. Is taking the bus and/or train into town something we can purchase when we get off the ship, or do we need to buy/plan that in advance? Karatemom, and others who have posted, is the Edinburgh castle something not to be missed? I hadn't planned on doing this cruise until a couple of weeks ago, or so, and it will be our first time to Scotland. Also, what is the Royal Yacht Britannia? I saw your post about getting an excursion. That's something we might do, but I also want one port where we just walk around, see a sight or two, and just relax at a restaurant/pub and watch a bit of the Olympics. I suppose we could do that after going to Edinburgh castle? Then maybe we wouldn't need the HOHO option. Decisions, decisions... Thanks again for all of the responses. Edited June 9 by smilesntravels Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smilesntravels Posted June 9 Author #119 Share Posted June 9 10 hours ago, insidecabin said: The X99 shuttle bus is £12 for an all day ticket and that includes the tram all day as well. For anyone thinking about the train. The up hill walk through the woods is as high as the rail(red) bridge. Can you explain a little bit more what you mean? If we buy an x99 shuttle bus ticket, that is good for all day, with the tram? So, we wouldn't need to buy the HOHO ticket I suppose. Was that sentence about the train, referring to your next sentence about the uphill walk? And are you saying that is not a good choice?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smilesntravels Posted June 9 Author #120 Share Posted June 9 14 hours ago, jones721 said: Hi, Haven’t logged into cruisecritic for a while but thought I should now start planning my next cruise - same one you are on. I’m from the UK and there are 9 of us on that cruise, all from UK. I live 45 minutes from Portland (was there yesterday on a sailing trip with the children in my class and it’s a beautiful coastline). Yes, I teach too so stuck to school holidays as well. I have done this cruise now almost every year since the 2012 Olympic year (excluding Covid years). Usually with Princess but that one was with Cunard and went with my mum. She is a huge sports fan and managed to watch most things she wanted - even leaving dinner in the restaurant one evening to go to eh golden Lion pub to watch Usain Bolt and then back into dinner again (set dining)!! Cunard cancelled the normal entertainment in the theatre on the first night and screened the opening ceremony in there. I have to say, it was very special watching in there on the big screen with lots of other nationalities (even though I personally watch very little of the Olympics). Queen Victoria doesn’t have a large outdoor screen so most was shown in the pub. I would imagine that Princess will show stuff outdoors. Regal was my daughter’s wedding ship in October 2021 so it has very special memories for us. My mum (she’s 86) is a huge Liverpool fan and I had to go and drag her away from the Liverpool match on the outdoor screen to come to dinner on the wedding day - so I know they show a lot of popular events outdoors (sailing from the UK, show most of the UK football matches outdoors so guessing Olympics will be shown somewhere - or cabin). We often book inside cabins and, has been mentioned before, I get a better night’s sleep in there. We have a midship deck 8 balcony on this cruise as they are classed as obstructed cabins (the midship ones don’t have an obstruction) and priced not much higher than insides. But, you have to book early for those. I am more than happy with an inside cabin though. I didn’t realise that July 26th was the first day of the Olympics this year too so don’t know what my mum will have to say about that (it’s a surprise, so she doesn’t know that she is coming with us yet). Hoping she won’t prefer to stay at home!! 😬 Regarding the weather: we always take either this sailing or one of the two following sailings as I am also stuck to UK school holidays. Weather has been mixed and certainly much cooler once you head north and into Scotland. However, we have also had beautiful weather and I have been in the pools and jacuzzis on every cruise, weather hasn’t stopped me. Recently, we had a heatwave in the UK that lasted weeks and we have very little aircon here and had had no rain for weeks and weeks. I was so looking forward to boarding the ship, going in and out of aircon and using the pools… The weather broke the day after we boarded and it rained almost the whole of the cruise and was not very warm!!! The Americans on board thought this was normal and didn’t believe the beautiful weather (and lack of rain) we had had beforehand! Last year, I had to lend an American my sun cream because the first port was Guernsey and she had booked a cycling tour of the island and there were no clouds and beautiful sunshine all day! She hadn’t brought any with her thinking she wouldn’t need it. Ireland almost always rains or drizzles. Scotland often does too. Le Havre should be warm and sunny, same with Portland. however, I live on the south coast and am waiting for this summer to arrive - it hasn’t yet!!!!!!! Edinburgh (my favourite) normally cool but one year sunbathing weather. It might also be the Edinburgh fringe (I think it starts beginning of August) so the city will be bustling and lots of street entertainment. Anything you want to know about ports, let me know. And you might find yourself sitting next to my mum watching the Olympics!!! Tracey Hello! I can't believe you've done a British Isles cruise almost every year since 2012. How nice! You must know the Regal well. Did your daughter enjoy having her wedding on the ship? I do have questions, but have been on the computer so much and am mostly reading and not actually planning anything, lol. So you meant that you'll be on the 7/26/24 sailing? Great. That's funny that your mom watches the games, but not so much you. I never miss them, but made an exception for this trip. I meant to ask others... are there many places/bars on the ship that will have tv (hopefully the Olympics) on? Since we booked an inside, I think I'll be depressed sitting in a small dark cabin to watch them a little bit, instead of having the view of the ocean passing us by. I don't mind an obstructed view either. We had a partially obstructed view on HAL once. It's just nice to be able to step outside and get fresh air, and see the water now and then without having to run upstairs to see where we are. Yes, I know there are ship cams. I just haven't been in an inside cabin yet. Oh well :(. Okay one question for now- many have given me tips on what to see in Edinburgh, or more like the busses. I have no idea still if that is something we just buy when we get off the ship, buy a ticket for the bus, then go? Is the Edinburgh Castle something not to miss? Thanks! More questions later, maybe 🙂 Vicky Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranchi Posted June 9 #121 Share Posted June 9 (edited) To Castle or not? It’s a tough call. If you like your history and good views over the city then go for it. If possible I would book tickets in advance as they may limit the rate of entry. You get an audio guide to walk round with. Don’t forget to see the Scottish Crown Jewels ( there may be a queue) and also stick around for the firing of the 1 o’clock gun if you can. Britannia is also worth a visit ( though it is many years since we did it) -again book tickets as you will be allocated a time to board. Britannia is berthed at Newhaven and you would take the tram there (from St Andrew’s Sq. for example.) Both the bus (X99? -right from the tender drop off) or the railway you can purchase tickets when you get there. The walk to Dalmeny station isn’t too bad ~ 15 mins. uphill. Come off the tender landing, turn left, past The Hawes Inn and under the rail bridge. The path is signposted (small - see photo) on the rhs. Take the train to Waverley. Trains are frequent. If you like art then the National Gallery of Scotland is worth a visit ( & is free.) It’s just off Princes’ St. Edited June 9 by Ranchi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare insidecabin Posted June 9 #122 Share Posted June 9 6 hours ago, smilesntravels said: Can you explain a little bit more what you mean? If we buy an x99 shuttle bus ticket, that is good for all day, with the tram? So, we wouldn't need to buy the HOHO ticket I suppose. Was that sentence about the train, referring to your next sentence about the uphill walk? And are you saying that is not a good choice?? You can do a lot without a HoHo, X99 good for all day. Buses and tram to get to royal yacht. The up hill is OK but not mobility impaired friendly, look on Google to see how far up the bridge is from the sea. If there is a bus ready to go you don't save much time with the train and with train you need another ticket if not walking everywhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare insidecabin Posted June 9 #123 Share Posted June 9 Anyone think of doing round Britain the schedules for 2026 are significantly fewer dates, this year and next give the best selection of dates. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fruitmachine Posted June 9 #124 Share Posted June 9 (edited) 7 hours ago, smilesntravels said: Is taking the bus and/or train into town something we can purchase when we get off the ship, or do we need to buy/plan that in advance? Yes. Whether you take the X99 or the train, you don't need to buy your ticket until you're here. 6 hours ago, smilesntravels said: Can you explain a little bit more what you mean? If we buy an x99 shuttle bus ticket, that is good for all day, with the tram? So, we wouldn't need to buy the HOHO ticket I suppose. The X99 ticket includes all-day free access to all the city buses and the tram. It doesn't give access to the HoHo routes. 7 hours ago, smilesntravels said: Also, what is the Royal Yacht Britannia? I saw your post about getting an excursion. That's something we might do, but I also want one port where we just walk around, see a sight or two, and just relax at a restaurant/pub and watch a bit of the Olympics. I suppose we could do that after going to Edinburgh castle? Then maybe we wouldn't need the HOHO option. Although one of the HoHo routes passes The Royal Yacht Britannia, it'd simpler and quicker to get the tram. (https://edinburghtrams.com/) 6 hours ago, smilesntravels said: Is the Edinburgh Castle something not to miss? Most visitors would say not to miss Edinburgh Castle because it's so iconic. I might suggest that The Palace of Holyroodhouse is better! (https://www.rct.uk/visit/palace-of-holyroodhouse) 3 hours ago, Ranchi said: The walk to Dalmeny station isn’t too bad ~ 15 mins. uphill. Come off the tender landing, turn left, past The Hawes Inn and under the rail bridge. The path is signposted (small - see photo) on the rhs. Take the train to Waverley. Trains are frequent. In the 15 minutes to walk to the station, you could easily be half way into Edinburgh on the X99 if it's about to leave. For a Princess ship, they will leave at least every 15 minutes. You're here on a Saturday, and morning train times are 07:40, 08:05, 08:19, 08:40, 08:59, 09:29, 09:40, 10:02, 10:20, 10:47, 11:17, and 11:42 so the gap between trains is between 11 and 30 minutes. And adding some information on pre-purchasing attraction tickets and timed entry... Edinburgh Castle is the only location where they will be sold-out. Others will encourage you to buy in advance (they're then guaranteed the sale) but you can buy on the day. With a standard ticket, the Castle now let you in up to 15 minutes before your timeslot, and as long after as you wish. I also see that they have launched Flexi Tickets. They are £10 more expensive, but let you in (once) at any time and on any day over their 7-day validity period. Edited June 9 by fruitmachine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveoc Posted June 9 #125 Share Posted June 9 Just got back from the Regal round UK and there is one more option for getting to Edinburgh that is rarely talked about and that is the local bus, 43 from memory. We usually do the 99 shuttle but this year we thought we would miss Edinburgh and just have a walk around the town of South Queensferry. When you get off the tender you turn right and the town is straight in front of you. We walked and got to the centre in about 10 minutes. In truth there is not a lot to see there but it is quite pretty and if you don't want Edinburgh it's a nice enough hour or two. In the middle of town there is a main road on the left and a few yards up it there is a bus stop. We saw a few people waiting for the bus so we thought we would give it a go. The bus runs every 25 minutes and the flat fare into Edinburgh is £2. The bus itself is a newish double decker, similar to the 99 shuttle. In Edinburgh there are three stops along Princess Street, west middle and end and coming back the stops are on the opposite side of the road. Again the fare is £2 back, all Scottish buses, in fact pretty much all UK buses, are running a Government scheme of £2 for any length of journey on a scheduled bus route. So £4 each return into Edinburgh, the shuttle takes around 20/30 minutes while the 43 takes around 30/40 minutes, all dependent on time of day and traffic. Hope that helps some of the adventurous among you. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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