Advocating for a BIE2 Itinerary

[formernuke]

Having completed the British Isles Explorer (BIE) cruise a couple of months ago and thoroughly enjoying it, I was thinking how great it would be to do another BIE but with different ports. I would suspect there are others who would potentially be interested in such an itinerary. Maybe if we get enough support, Viking would consider it in the future? To start the discussion, here's a strawman of possible ports. (Note that I don't know enough about these ports to say if they would be appropriate for a ship of the VO class, or if there is enough infrastructure and interesting attractions to make them good ports of call or not, but  I suspect there are others in this forum who would have some insight.) So here goes (let the sparks fly!)

-London (since you can never have too much of London, and logistics make sense to start)

-Portsmouth

-Channel Islands (Guernsey or Jersey?)

-Plymouth

-Cardiff, Wales

-Waterford or Cork Ireland

-Galway Scotland

-Isle of Man (Douglas)

-Londonderry Northern Ireland

-Glasgow (Greenock)

-Isle of Skye

-Hebrides (Stornoway)

-Either Faroe Islands or Orkney (Stromness)

-Aberdeen or Newcastle to finish...

 

Comments, please!

 

[LindaS272]

Galway is in Ireland, not Scotland. 

[formernuke]

Obviously you are correct! Sorry for the typo!

[Planning to cruise]

Living in the UK, this seems an interesting collection.  As you say, not all ports are likley to be navigationally suitable.  An itinerary planner would need ro be selective, that list covers a lot of ground (sea!). 

 

I would support a second itinerary.  After all, cruises to Spain and elsewhere vary the ports.  

[duquephart]

8 hours ago, LindaS272 said:

Galway is in Ireland, not Scotland. 

 

When I woke up I was all alone
With a broken heart and a ticket home
And I ask you now, tell me what would you do
If her hair was black and her eyes were blue
Cuz I've traveled around I've been all over this world
Boys I ain't never seen nothin' like a Galway girl  

 

"Galway Girl" ----- Steve Earle

[Jim Avery]

Good idea.  🍹

[JerryInIL]

Our BIE docked in Isle of Man last August.  One of our better ports.

[tobique33040]

Oh Mark Cavendish, the Manx Missile, is a native. I’d love to call at that port. 

[Hanoj]

1 hour ago, tobique33040 said:

Oh Mark Cavendish, the Manx Missile, is a native. I’d love to call at that port. 

 

Me too. Be awesome to arrange some sort of excursion to include a casual bike ride or other opportunity to meet Cav. He considers his Isle of Man residence his "real home." I'd shell out some real quid to do this. Yeah, I'm a dreamer.

[Baron Barracuda]

You may find VO receptive.  They have 8 new ships on order and will need to develop new itineraries for them

[Heidi13]

19 hours ago, formernuke said:

Having completed the British Isles Explorer (BIE) cruise a couple of months ago and thoroughly enjoying it, I was thinking how great it would be to do another BIE but with different ports. I would suspect there are others who would potentially be interested in such an itinerary. Maybe if we get enough support, Viking would consider it in the future? To start the discussion, here's a strawman of possible ports. (Note that I don't know enough about these ports to say if they would be appropriate for a ship of the VO class, or if there is enough infrastructure and interesting attractions to make them good ports of call or not, but  I suspect there are others in this forum who would have some insight.) So here goes (let the sparks fly!)

-London (since you can never have too much of London, and logistics make sense to start)

-Portsmouth - Viking ships have used the port before. It does have a cruise terminal, but it is at a Ro/Ro terminal

-Channel Islands (Guernsey or Jersey?) - tender ports only

-Plymouth - I believe this would also be a tender port, as other than Ro/Ro, I don't believe the port has a berth long enough

-Cardiff, Wales - port entry is via a lock, same as Swansea. I suspect the Viking ships are too big for the lock, based on the last time I used them 45-50 yrs ago. Probably a tender port. You also have Avonmouth (Bristol) across the estuary.

-Waterford or Cork Ireland - Waterford would be a tender port. The port for Cork is Cobh, which has a passenger terminal and cruise berth. Tours normally head up to Waterford.

-Galway Scotland (Ireland) - can't help, never been to that port

-Isle of Man (Douglas) - should be alongside berth (Ro/Ro berth)

-Londonderry Northern Ireland - not sure how close the ships could get to Londonderry, better options would be tendering at Port Stewart or Portrush

-Glasgow (Greenock) - cruise terminal is an old cargo shed.

-Isle of Skye - tender only at Portree

-Hebrides (Stornoway)  - tender only

-Either Faroe Islands or Orkney (Stromness)

-Aberdeen or Newcastle to finish...also have Dundee as an option, all having alongside berths. Dundee has better access to numerous championship golf courses.

 

Comments, please!

 

 

See comments in red regarding your proposed ports

[formernuke]

Thanks Heidi! I knew you would have a wealth of pertinent info. 

[allyg]

We would love BIE #2.

[SantaFe1]

1 hour ago, Heidi13 said:

 

See comments in red regarding your proposed ports

Oh I’m so glad you chimed in.  I have a proposal and many questions for BIE II.  I have wished that the BIE cruise could just be a circumnavigation of the British Isles.  London to London.  So much easier flights.  Bergen is hard to fly from.  Now if you haven’t been to Norway, then BIE I is for you.  But if you’ve been to Norway many times, as we have, then maybe just lop that last part off.  But, although I love York, it is not a port.  Are the ports in NE England?  I would personally love to visit the Channel Islands, the Hebrides, the Faroes, and visit again Skye.  

[Heidi13]

14 hours ago, SantaFe1 said:

Oh I’m so glad you chimed in.  I have a proposal and many questions for BIE II.  I have wished that the BIE cruise could just be a circumnavigation of the British Isles.  London to London.  So much easier flights.  Bergen is hard to fly from.  Now if you haven’t been to Norway, then BIE I is for you.  But if you’ve been to Norway many times, as we have, then maybe just lop that last part off.  But, although I love York, it is not a port.  Are the ports in NE England?  I would personally love to visit the Channel Islands, the Hebrides, the Faroes, and visit again Skye.  

 

Closest port to York would be Hull, which also has a lock gate entrance, which I suspect is too small for the Viking ships. Might be able to dock alongside the river (tides ??), otherwise it would be a tender port.

 

You could also do tours from Newcastle/North Shields. The sailing down the Tyne to Newcastle is pleasant, although I suspect it has changed significantly since my last trip up/down the river in 1977. The cruise port is located at North Shields.

 

The UK also has Cabotage Laws, similar to Canada & USA, but I haven't kept current with UK Shipping Regs since I moved to Canada. Therefore, I am unaware of the requirements for foreign tonnage carrying pax around UK waters. Similar to the current cruise, it may require embarkation/disembarkation in different countries, which could be London to Dublin, with a return cruise to London.

[kcpvwill]

Would love a BIE 2 

 

What about Bristol, Newcastle, Aberdeen, Glasgow, Oban, Douglas IOM, Falmouth, Cobh, Isles of Scilly, Channel Islands.  
 

Would also love the East coast, but ports limited.  
 

 

[Heidi13]

My thoughts for a BIE 2, with local attractions are:

 

 - Greenwich

 - Portsmouth - Stonehenge/Amesbury, Salisbury, New Forest (great pubs), Winchester, Hamble, North Downs, South Downs, Isle of Wight

 - Channel Islands (tender) - Jersey, Guernsey

 - Penzance (tender) - Cornwall, Devon, Land's End, St Michael's Mount, St Ives, Godrevy Lighthouse, Falmouth and possibly Isles of Sicilly

 - Avonmouth (Bristol) - Bath, Bradford-on-Avon, Canal boating, Cotswolds, Wales

 - Cobh (Cork) - Blarney Castle, Waterford,

 - Galway (tender) -

 - Portstewart/Portrush (tender) - Giant's Causeway, Belfast, Titanic, Royal Portrush Open Championship golf course

 - Barrow-in-Furness (possibly alongside) - Lake District, Steam Train, Lakeland Motor Museum & Bluebird Exhibit, Blackpool

 - Greenock - Loch Lomond, Glasgow, Troon Open Championship golf course, Dunoon, Rothsey

 - Fort William (tender) - Steam train, Glenfinnan Viaduct, Skye, Loch Ness, Commando Monument

 - Thurso (tender) - John O'Groats, Castle Mey

 - Dundee - St Andrews Old Course + many others, Carnoustie Open Championship golf course, Balmoral Castle, Forfar, Perth, Crieff, Strathspey Whisky Trail, Stirling, Falkirk Wheel, Gleneagles Golf Course

 - North Shields (Newcastle) - Northumberland Coast, Yorkshire Moors, Whitby, Thirsk (James Herriot, Scarborough.

 - Greenwich

 

Probably require 17 or 18 days

[SantaFe1]

13 minutes ago, Heidi13 said:

My thoughts for a BIE 2, with local attractions

Well, from your mouth to god’s ear, as they say.  I would book this in an instant.  I think I’ve been to all the places suggested,  but not all at once and most many years ago, in the 90s, mostly.  And I really do like the Greenwich to Greenwich aspect.  Just a RT plane ticket to London.  Thanks for taking the time to do this!

[kcpvwill]

Just read an article in the Sunday Times about the Cornish port of Fowey welcoming cruise ships.  Lovely area of UK.  They prefer cruise ships rather than coaches because the roads are narrow, so there may be limited excursion possibilities.  

[downsmead]

We have just done a BIE on Princess which called into Cobh, Greenock and Orkney which left and returned to Southampton, with a call into Le Havre, presumably to meet the Cabotage Laws. We also did Dublin, Belfast, Invergordon and Edinburgh. As we joked, not a true BIE trip since it only visited Ireland, N. Ireland, Scotland and France! As Heidi13 says, Viking has used Portsmouth since we did a short BIE round trip from there when sailing first started after Covid and there are great places to visit from there. We also called into Falmouth, Belfast and Liverpool on that trip. We were scheduled to visit the Scilly Isles but it got cancelled as another ship was there that day and they cannot cope with two ships.

We absolutely love the BIE trips and would quickly jump on another one if there were sufficient ‘new’ ports on the itinerary to make it worthwhile. Even though we live in the U.K. (in the south) we love this way of visiting other U.K. destinations.

Edited September 1 by downsmead

[WanderingBrit]

On 8/29/2024 at 5:38 PM, Heidi13 said:

 - Portsmouth - Stonehenge/Amesbury, Salisbury, New Forest (great pubs), Winchester, Hamble, North Downs, South Downs, Isle of Wight

 

Southampton would be better for all the locations listed than Portsmouth, and it's already a major cruise ship port. Mind you, as a Soton lad I'd argue that it's better than Pompey for everything 😉

[SantaFe1]

2 hours ago, WanderingBrit said:

Southampton would be better for all the locations listed than Portsmouth, and it's already a major cruise ship port. Mind you, as a Soton lad I'd argue that it's better than Pompey for everything 😉

We we in Portsmouth on our WC in 2019 after something necessitated a schedule change.  We went to Stonehenge and I just loved the port.  I’ve also been on a cruise with Regent that docked in Southhampton (for London), and I just hated it.  Just too big and industrial.  To each their own, but for my fantasy BIE2 cruise, I’d choose Portsmouth.

[Jim Avery]

Plymouth is a nice historical port as well.  

[SantaFe1]

2 hours ago, Jim Avery said:

Plymouth is a nice historical port as well.  

Agree!

[aungrl]

On 8/28/2024 at 12:08 PM, Hanoj said:

 

Me too. Be awesome to arrange some sort of excursion to include a casual bike ride or other opportunity to meet Cav. He considers his Isle of Man residence his "real home." I'd shell out some real quid to do this. Yeah, I'm a dreamer.

The Isle of Man is one of our more favorite locations.  We flew in for a four-night stay from London one December and thought it was absolutely magical.  I understand arriving by sea can be pretty rough, but I know from first hand experience that arriving by air is not usually a picnic, either.  Worth it, though.