Semi-live UK and Ireland cruise on Regal - the no-frills version (September-October 2024)

[MyriamS]

Dublin is cancelled 

 

Have you ever tried sleeping in a rollercoaster? That's what we felt last night in our cabin right at the front of the ship. Therefore we were disappointed but not surprised when the captain announced the waves were too high and the winds too strong to tender into Dublin.

 

I didn't have much appetite for breakfast but I did try the egg Benedict from the buffet. Surprisingly the yolk was good perfectly but the Hollandaise didn't taste right.

It was a bright sunny day and the blue sky seemed to taunt us as we couldn't go into Dublin. We made the best of it by going to the hot tubs on deck and even made it to the pool for a bracing swim. They were playing Dirty Dancing on the big screen and I ended up watching it in its entirety. It has surprisingly serious themes for a film known mostly for its ending dance.

 

We went to the MDR as they were serving the sea day lunch menu. We shared the Monte Cristo sandwich and the fried chicken and waffles. While the latter was good, the Monte Cristo was limp and tasteless so I would advise skipping it.

For desserts we went on deck to try the complementary soft serve, it was pretty standard in taste. I prefer the vanilla over the chocolate. 

Btw we had to cross the buffet to get to Swirls and it was packed. We couldn't find anywhere to sit (it was between 12 and 13). So if you want a quiet lunch on a sea day, definitely go to the MDR instead.

 

After that we went to the Life at Sea talk by the entertainment director. It was a really great talk about what it's like to work on a cruise ship (hours, ranks, salaries etc) and he also took many questions from the audience. We also did trivia.

 

For dinner we went to the MDR again. It was Italian night. I had the mushroom arancini as a starter (a bit dry) and my partner had the seafood salad. Our waiter also insisted we try the pasta arrabiata.

For mains, we shared the shrimps and scallops on a bed of polenta and the butter chicken (not very Italian, I know, but neither is chicken parmesan 🙂). Both were nice, the butter chicken was better than the one we had in Salisbury. 

 

For desserts we shared the gianduja souffle and amaretto crème brûlée. There were good but I didn't really feel the amaretto in the creme.

After dinner we saw the stand up comedian (which was better than the previous one) then headed to the production show "Born to Dance". We were 25 min early but the theatre was already pretty packed and eventually became completely full! So if you want to be sure to get a good spot, be very early.

 

The show focused on the lives on dancers and the famous choreographers who made history on Broadway. There were video testimonials on former dancers alternating with the Princess dancers renacting scenes from famous musicals such as West Side Story, Chicago, Hairspray etc. I love Broadway shows so I thought it pretty interesting and the cast was very talented. I'll try to catch the other production shows.

[MyriamS]

We have some Irish luck in Belfast

 

The ship rocked much less than night and we successfully docked in Belfast in the morning. 

 

We booked an organised tour with Belfast City Sightseeing. Their shore excursion to Giant's Causeway was 30£ a head versus 200$ for the Princess Excursion so the choice was quick.

 

After a quick breakfast in the buffet and picking up some lunch snacks from International Cafe, we disembarked and easily found the right coach.

 

We left on time at 8:30am. Our driver was Rob and the guide was Gavin, both from Belfast. Gavin was very knowledgeable and friendly and gave us a short history of Ireland as we drove about 1h15 to our first photo stop in front of Dunlunce Castle.

The next stop was a public toilet as the one in Giant's Causeway had huge lines, then the Causeway itself. Gavin recommended going there with the steeper red route for better views then returning through the flat blue route, which is what we did. We had great view of the Causeway and even some good weather (it started raining at the end).

For lunch we stopped in a restaurant called Harry's in Cushendall. I can't comment on the quality of the food as we decided to head to Cushendall beach instead to eat our snacks. We had glorious weather for Ireland.

After that we drove along the Antrim Coast, stopping briefly in Carrickfergus castle, before returning to Belfast. We stopped to see a peace wall and saw the gates still separating the Catholic and Protestant communities of Belfast (they close at night). The city is still bearing deep wounds, even over a quarter of century after The Troubles. We also drove through the city centre and Titanic quarter before returning to the ship at around 5pm, well before all aboard time.

 

Since we were both hungry, I cancelled my 7pm reservation in the Allegro dining room and we went to the walk-up dining room, Concerto. There was no queue and we were seated immediately.

 

For starters we shared the chicken croquette and potted shrimp. The croquette was a bit dry but the shrimps were smothered in garlic butter. I liked that!

For mains, we shared the beef pot roast and fish and chips. The pot roast was excellent, very tender and served on a bed of mash. The battered fish was nice and crispy too. In general I really like how Princess cooks its meat and fish, it's always been on point so far.

For desserts nothing in the MDR appealed so we decided to go to the buffet where the leaflet we got in the beginning of the cruise promised a chocolate fountain. Unfortunately there was none to be found, so we grabbed enough chocolate cake to feed an army.

The peanut butter chocolate layer cake was the best by the way.

 

After dessert we headed to the theatre for the Beatles tribute act, Just John and Paul. We went 30 min early and found the theatre pretty packed again. I really recommend going to see them, they were very talented but also hilarious. They got everyone on their feet for the final dance which considering the demographics of this cruise is quite impressive.

 

We stayed in the theatre afterwards to see the enrichment talk with former Beatles drummer Pete Best. It was a very interesting and well attended about the early career of the Beatles. 

 

That's all for today, tomorrow is Liverpool!

[Arizona Wildcat]

Hope the weather forecast is wrong for Liverpool. Cardiff as I write this has 30mph winds gusting to 45mph with light rain.  Tomorrow winds forecast about 20mph with morning rain here.  Similar for Liverpool with a yellow rain warning there.

PS - great pictures and recap. We board in 7 days.

Edited September 29 by Arizona Wildcat

[MyriamS]

2 hours ago, Arizona Wildcat said:

Hope the weather forecast is wrong for Liverpool. Cardiff as I write this has 30mph winds gusting to 45mph with light rain.  Tomorrow winds forecast about 20mph with morning rain here.  Similar for Liverpool with a yellow rain warning there.

PS - great pictures and recap. We board in 7 days.

In Liverpool right now and it's actually pretty good weather! Quite windy but no rain and even a little sun on deck.

Maybe we will miss the rain.

[Arizona Wildcat]

1 hour ago, MyriamS said:

In Liverpool right now and it's actually pretty good weather! Quite windy but no rain and even a little sun on deck.

Maybe we will miss the rain.

Hope so.  Visibility here a few hundred yards.  About 52F with real feel in low 40s.  UK weather radar sadly showsthe storm about to reach Liverpool.   Likely rough seas tonight.

Hope to meet some of you on board on the 6th.  Black baseball cap, full white beard and a moose for sail-away.

Need 1 trivia player?  Let me know.

[MyriamS]

17 hours ago, Arizona Wildcat said:

Hope so.  Visibility here a few hundred yards.  About 52F with real feel in low 40s.  UK weather radar sadly showsthe storm about to reach Liverpool.   Likely rough seas tonight.

Hope to meet some of you on board on the 6th.  Black baseball cap, full white beard and a moose for sail-away.

Need 1 trivia player?  Let me know.

We're getting off on the 6th but about half the ship is staying on to Galveston so you'll have good company. 🙂

 

Let's continue on with Liverpool!

 

I had a bad headache that morning but I still went out to see Liverpool. It's a very convenient as one can walk straight off the ship.

 

We visited the famous Matthew Street where the Cavern Club is located. We also passed through the city centre and stopped in the free World Museum. They have a pretty good Egyptian exhibit.

 

We then walked back towards the ship, saw the Royal Albert Docks and visited the Maritime Museum. The exhibit about modern cruising is pretty laudatory. We then found it had been financed by amongst others Royal Carribbean, Windstard and Fred Olsen.

It was done for after four hours of walking so we returned to the ship. We started a round of laundry then went top deck for pizza. I mixed lemonade and iced tea for the traditional cruise ship drink.

The pizza was pretty good. Hot and fresh, in the New York style. We also got chicken tacos and a chili cheese hot dog and these were disappointing. While the hot dog at least as a decent sausage, the tacos were dry and cold. 

We will stick with the pizza for deck snacks! 

 

We got our laundry back then had to scour four different decks to find a free dryer. Most rooms had a broken dryer so it's no surprise they're in high demand. We decided to do laundry on a port day so it would be less busy but it still wasn't enough. 

 

For dinner, we went to the MDR and shared the French onion soup and shrimp and spinach dip. I wasn't really convinced by the latter as it wasn't really a dip, more a thin layer of spinach and shrimp. The onion soup was good but quite sweet.

Then we shared the pork vindaloo and New York strip steak. Both meat were sadly tough and the curry didn't have enough sauce. The fries were also limp and cold (the ones from the pool grill are much better). It was the first time I was really disappointed with the mains in the MDR.

Finally we both had my favourite British pudding, sticky toffee pudding, and I compensated for my disappointment with the mains by ordering an extra dessert, the Princess Love Boat Dream (always available) which is a raspberry and chocolate mousse. While the sticky toffee pudding was a lot better than on P&O, it still didn't hit the mark. The cake was more like a muffin than a pudding and it came without vanilla ice cream. 

After dinner, we saw the comedian in the Vista Lounge then went to the Theatre to see an illusionist. It was again jammed pack with people and the organisers almost scolded us for it. "Don't save seats, it's against policy", "The 9.30pm show is not full!" Well then don't schedule it so late if it's not popular. It's like Princess doesn't know its own audience. 🙂

 

I haven't mentioned it so far but 90% of people on this cruise are over 65. It's not a problem per se, but we do feel pretty out of place sometimes. The illusionist did manage to find one of the rare children in the audience for one of his tricks. The magician was quite good, it was a very high energy show.

[Arizona Wildcat]

Glad things going well.  Watched the lifeboat service head out twice yesterday.  Met the second time with ambulance.

Brighter today and the weather up.north and all the UK looking better till late Friday.   See you all soon.

Joss

[MyriamS]

We visit Stirling Castle near Glasgow 

 

We disembarked in Greenock to a bagpipes player serenading us from the dock. We walked to Greenock Central train station, which took about 20min. I was surprised to see an actual person selling the tickets instead of a vending machine. We bought off-peak returns to Sterling Castle for about 20£ each. The hardest part was understanding the accent of the Scottish lady who sold us the tickets. 🙂

 

We took the 10 o'clock to Glasgow Central, which took about 30min. We then had to change to Queen Street station, a five minute walk away. We passed through Buchanan Street and George Square on the way. They have quite the sense of humour in Glasgow, they put traffic cones on the heads of equestrian statues. 

We took the 11.18 train to Stirling, arriving just before noon. Then it was a 20 min walk to the castle, but all uphill so quite the workout. We bought our tickets for 19.5£ each, which includes an hour long guided tour.

 

The tour covers some of the outside of the castle as well as the chapel and great hall. 

After the tour, we saw the royal appartements, great kitchen and some of the gardens.

There is much more to see in Stirling Castle. You could easily spent 4h here. We limited ourselves to 2 because we were getting tired and didn't want to risk missing the ship.

 

Going to Stirling Castle from Greenock port independently is three to five times cheaper than through a Princess or even an independent excursion but it does require enough mobility to walk for half an hour at the time and use the stairs.

 

Once we made it back to the ship it was about quarter to five, though we got lost on the way back to the port (there was no sign for the pedestrian entrance).

 

As we skipped lunch again it was straight to dinner in the MDR again. For starters, we both had the calamari, I had the mushroom soup and my partner had the rum-roasted pineapple. The calamari were good but could have been crispier. The soup was pretty ordinary, the pineapple was good but very dessert-like.

For mains we shared the flounder and roast beef. The fish was very good and completely boneless. Unlike yesterday the beef was cooked pretty much perfectly and came with a huge Yorkshire pudding! The roast potatoes were strangely salty though

For dessert we had the blueberry cobbler and lemon-raspberry bar. The cobbler was good but the bar tested like bubblegum.

On the way out of the dining room we saw a bagpipes showcase in the piazza.

There is a production show tonight but we will have to miss it as the Harry Potter trivia is at the same time and we're going to this one to win it! Tomorrow is a sea day so I'll pick up the live the day after tomorrow, when we are (hopefully) docked in Kirkwall.

[MyriamS]

We went to the Harry Potter trivia and it was brutally hard. Definitely only for super fans. We did win (the prize was a bottle of sparkling wine) but I felt a bit bad about it. It must not have been very fun for the other contestants - this is the reason I never go to music trivia.

 

After we returned to our cabin, there was an announcement for all first aiders to come to deck 4. We thought it might be a medical emergency but the captain updated us later in another global announcement: it was a small fire in the engineering room that had been quickly put out and everything was fine. So now you know what happened if there is a fire on a cruise ship.

 

On to a sea day...

 

For breakfast, I decided to give the MDR another chance. I specifically asked for soft poached eggs this time, and they delivered. My partner ordered a salmon bagel and we shared the tropical fruit salad. The fruit on the ship has always been quite sweet and ripe and this salad has a very elegant presentation.

After breakfast we got changed for the pools and saw the food and beverage showcase on the way. They didn't really explained about how they chose the dishes or prepare them, it's more of an ad for specialty dining on board.

 

We left and went on deck where it was brilliantly sunny. They were playing Back to the Future on the big screen and all the hot tubs were occupied. We went to the Retreat, at the back, and that was very quiet. We had our own hot tube and also went swimming in the pool.

 

Contrary to what I've read here, the outside pools on Princess are heated. It's a sunny day but we're the 1st of October off the coast of Scotland. The pool temperature felt pleasantly warm so it has to be (slightly) heated.

 

For lunch we tried the savoury offerings in International Cafe. Mostly there were cold sandwiches, with just two warm options: the cheeseburger pie and the goat cheese and artichoke quiche. The pie tastes exactly like a cheeseburger so if you're a fan, this is the snack for you. The quiche was good but I would have liked more goat cheese (I love goat cheese).

After lunch went to the destination talk in the theatre. All the previous talks had been at really weird hours (like 9am on a sea day) so it's the first one we went to. We were not too convinced by the destination expert. She said to take the bus from the pier in South Queensferry to Edinburgh and rubbished the train option, which isn't quite right considering there will be longer lines for the bus. Her tips about Paris also weren't the best. 

 

We headed to afternoon tea again for the scones, then to trivia. I tried not to overeat because tonight is another formal dinner in the MDR. 

 

For starters we shared the vol-au-vent and the beef carpaccio. Both were good though the vol-au-vent didn't have much shrimp.

For mains we both had the beef Wellington, which was very good. 

For dessert, my partner had the coconut mousse and I had the treacle tart. Both were really good.

 

Overall a very satisfying dinner. Then we went to see another smaller show in Princess Live! by the magician Ottavio who was in the theater the other day. It was again a very good show, very theatrical.

 

Tomorrow, the Orkney Islands!

[fruitmachine]

1 hour ago, MyriamS said:

She said to take the bus from the pier in South Queensferry to Edinburgh and rubbished the train option, which isn't quite right considering there will be longer lines for the bus.

The bus (https://www.lothianbuses.com/cruiselink-x99/) takes around 100 passengers at a time and is the best option for nearly everyone going into Edinburgh.  Queues are typically no more than one bus full of passengers.  The train station is a 15 minute uphill walk from the pier on a path that can be muddy if it's been wet - you have to get up to the height of the track on the Forth Bridge.  At some times of day, if you miss a train the next one is not for 40 minutes.  (https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/search/detailed/gb-nr:DAM/to/gb-nr:EDB/2024-10-03/0800-1200?stp=WVS&show=call&order=wtt) The train is a bit cheaper, but the bus ticket lets you on every bus and the Edinburgh tram all day, so useful for an uphill journey of a stop or two when you're tired!

 

[MyriamS]

16 hours ago, fruitmachine said:

The bus (https://www.lothianbuses.com/cruiselink-x99/) takes around 100 passengers at a time and is the best option for nearly everyone going into Edinburgh.  Queues are typically no more than one bus full of passengers.  The train station is a 15 minute uphill walk from the pier on a path that can be muddy if it's been wet - you have to get up to the height of the track on the Forth Bridge.  At some times of day, if you miss a train the next one is not for 40 minutes.  (https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/search/detailed/gb-nr:DAM/to/gb-nr:EDB/2024-10-03/0800-1200?stp=WVS&show=call&order=wtt) The train is a bit cheaper, but the bus ticket lets you on every bus and the Edinburgh tram all day, so useful for an uphill journey of a stop or two when you're tired!

Well maybe you should become a Princess destination expert as your advice is a lot better than the one the lady gave on the ship! 🙂 She didn't mention that the bus was valid on local transport. She also didn't say the price of the train: it's 10£ peak versus 6£ off-peak return, so depending on when you visit, the train is either half the price of the bus or nearly the same!

 

We visited during peak time so chose the bus. In general though I would say that 90% of the time, to get from A to B, the train is better than the bus. Our misadventures in the Orkney islands that I will post later today are a great example of that. 

Edited October 3 by MyriamS

[MyriamS]

Don't go to Orkney!

 

Our plan for the day was to use the public bus X1 to go to Skara Brae, then the Rings of Brodgar, walk to the Standing Stones of Stenness and back to Kirkwall.

 

In fact it was a ridiculous plan but we had no idea. 

 

We had downloaded the Stagecoach bus app and bought our tickets in advance. Then we walked to the closest bus stop from the ship (about half an hour away) and waited.

 

The bus drove right past us. Only after we ran after it did the driver condescend to tell us it was full.

 

We walked a further 10 min to Kirkwall, passed by Saint Magnus cathedral and arrived to the travel centre.

 

This was the line of poor souls waiting for the X1 bus. 

You might not think it's that many, but we're not talking a double decker or even a large city bus here. They use a small coaches and they only run hourly. We and many others did not get on that second bus. 

 

My partner and I talked it over and decided not to even try for the third bus. Even if we could make it to Skara Brae, we would risk having the same problem with the buses on the way back. Skara Brae is an hour drive away from port, you do not want to get stranded there.

 

So we gave up. If you absolutely want to see Skara Brae, absolutely do not plan on taking the bus. You can either rent a car at least 9 months in advance (we tried 8 months early but all was sold out) or take an excursion. The cruise ship excursion cost an arm and a leg though, and the independent ones are not much cheaper (they are also non refundable if you don't dock). We didn't try taxis but a fellow passenger told us they were all booked out. 

 

We felt pretty disappointed at this point, having bought bus tickets that were useless, but decided to look for walks in the area. My partner found a 3h walk to a place called Wideford cairn, on top of a hill. A long walk but it was a exceptionally beautiful and sunny day that day. 

 

The first hour - from Kirkwall to the bottom of the hill - is easy and suitable for all. We saw no people but lots of sheep including a black sheep.

We first ran into issues trying to reach the cairn. We found a plaque next to the parking lot saying it was a mere 15 min away. Well the person who wrote the plaque must have measured the distance on a flat terrain moving at a quick jog. It took us 40 min trudging through mud. I wasn't just dirty, it was dangerous as one could slip and break a limb extremely easily. 

 

Once we reached the cairn (you can go inside, though it's very narrow), we tried to continue through the other side of the hill. Finding that path was very difficult, we had to cross through the bushes and that again was neither safe nor pleasant. There were some beautiful views of the area but it wasn't worth it, trust me.

As we tiredly walked back to Kirkwall, we saw an entirely empty X1 bus going to Skara Brae. Who could have guessed hundreds of people would want to go there in the morning and come back in the afternoon? Not the geniuses who came up with that bus schedule, that's for sure!

 

You might say I'm being too harsh. The Orkney islands are small, they don't have enough buses or cars for thousand of tourists. And I would disagree. Cruise ships don't "sneak in". They are allowed in by the local authorities and pay port fees accordingly. 

 

Tourism brings in money. But you have to do the work of making tourism sustenable - safe walking paths, sensible bus schedules etc. If not, it's a miserable experience all around (even more so for the locals than the tourists). 

 

The only thing that was done to accommodate the number of tourists they chose to let in that day is the complementary, frequent port shuttle between Hatston pier and Kirkwall travel centre. Nothing else worked, so we won't be back.

 

It was past 2pm by the time we made it back to the ship so we had a quick lunch in the buffet and collapsed into our cabin until dinner in the MDR.

 

For starters we both had the baked brie parcels. It was good but teeny-tiny. I understand it's a starter but I was expecting 2-3 bites not just one.

For mains we shared the cioppino and lamb stew. While I didn't really like the stew, I was impressed by the cioppino, especially by the tender shrimps and scallops.

For desserts, we both had the warm chocolate chip cookie plus an additional exotic fruit mousse cake. The cookie was one of my favourite dessert on board, it's warm, soft and chocolatey and goes perfect with vanilla ice cream.

 

 

After dinner we went to the production show, Bravo. It was vocalists performing both opera (like Carmen) and modern songs (like James Bond openings), backed by an orchestra. While all the performers were very talented, there was no rhyme or reason to it. It was also the last production show of the cruise.

[Lady Meer]

@MyriamS - sorry you didn’t get to see Orkney. We were there last year on Regal and had a private tour, arranged thru’ the roll call, which was fully refundable if we didn’t dock.

[maggieq]

Wow we are looking at the majestic in 2026 and I was leaning toward September vs may for better weather.  I guess anything can happen.  Disappointing for sure that you missed these stops. 

[EDVM96]

8 hours ago, MyriamS said:

You can either rent a car at least 9 months in advance (we tried 8 months early but all was sold out) or take an excursion.

I had booked my British Isle cruise (for August 2023) about 8 months in advance. When I checked the Princess ShorEx, the tours to Skara Brae were already sold out. So I checked the rental cars and booked one at Tullock & Sons Ltd in downtown Kirkwall, which was no problem 8 months in advance.

[MyriamS]

19 minutes ago, EDVM96 said:

I had booked my British Isle cruise (for August 2023) about 8 months in advance. When I checked the Princess ShorEx, the tours to Skara Brae were already sold out. So I checked the rental cars and booked one at Tullock & Sons Ltd in downtown Kirkwall, which was no problem 8 months in advance.

Well, it didn't work for us for October 2024. 🙂

We checked several car rental places, all booked out. The shorex weren't, but too expensive for us. 

 

4 hours ago, maggieq said:

Wow we are looking at the majestic in 2026 and I was leaning toward September vs may for better weather.  I guess anything can happen.  Disappointing for sure that you missed these stops. 

The weather was really exceptional in Orkney for beginning of October! It was more normal in Edinburgh, grey and cold but no rain though.

 

On to Edinburgh!

 

We got up early that morning and my partner went to the buffet to grab drinks and fruit while I went to International Cafe for pastries. We met up in the the atrium, picked up our water shuttle tickets and had breakfast while we waited for our number to be called. The first wave of tender went at 7.30am, we went on the second wave at about 8am.  

 

We were not actually on one of the ship's tender but on a local boat. There was a commentary during the 15 min ride across the Forth Bridge. Very smooth, no waves. On exit a crew member mentioned we were the last ship of the season, he and his colleagues had done to this shuttle 15-20 times that season.

We arrived at about 8.15 so the train still had its peak fare (around 10£ pp return). Therefore we decided to take the bus instead to get the local bus and tram included (12£pp return). We didn't have to wait for the bus at all, just bought our tickets with a debit card and climbed in. The only problem with the bus is that it gets stuck in peak time traffic so it took us about 40 min to get to central Edinburgh. 

 

After passing by the Walter Scott monument, we started Rick Steves' guide of the Royal Mile at Lawnmarket (it starts on castle hill but we will go there later on). This included the famous tenement houses, Writers' Museum and St Giles cathedral. We stopped halfway through the walk in John Knox's house to try to traditional haggis and Irn Bru soda. It's good but tiny portions for 11£.

We passed the World's End pub and continued on to the modern Scottish parliament (interestingly they never took down the EU flag) and Holyrood Palace.

 

We then took bus 35 back up the Royal Mile (the driver was puzzled by our ticket as she'd never seen it before) and started our walk to the castle through the famous Victoria Street. 

We bought our timed-entry tickets to the castle the day before, which was good as they were now sold out. We saw the firing of the canon at 1 o'clock over the heads of many tourists. 🙂

 

Though it has the crown jewels of Scotland, I much prefer the less crowded and more majestic Stirling Castle to Edinburgh Castle. We tried the audioguide but it wasn't great, both long-winded and lacking key information.

 

After the castle we decided to go back to the ship. It would have been nice to see Dean Village but it was too tired after the hike from hell in Orkney yesterday. There was no traffic so the bus only took 20 min, then it was a tender back to the ship.

 

We had some snacks from the buffet and noticed the carrot cake today was way better than a week ago. It must be the same recipe and the same ingredients, so what can it be? Better baker? Did they overbake it last time? Any ideas?

 

For dinner in the MDR we both started with the steak and beet tartare. It was quite good but a bit too beet-y for my taste.

For mains we had the seafood jambalaya and corned beef brisket. I didn't like the rice but the seafood is always good on this ship. Unfortunately the brisket was tough. 

For dessert, we shared the flourless chocolate cake and lemon meringue cheesecake (we had it once already on this cruise). The chocolate cake was more like a giant truffle so of course I liked it.

We're about to sail away so the blog for this evening as well as the final sea dea will be posted on Saturday after we dock in Le Havre.

[RNCheryl]

So sorry that you were disappointed and recommend not visiting Orkney Islands.

 

This was the highlight of our 2023 cruise.  Tours by Locals.  got a great tour guide and a good group of travelers.

 

Do it Yourself is not always the better option.  

[Senga]

We always travel with the thought in mind it might be our only time there and I can’t think of anything more disappointing than returning home saying “I wish we had…..”.  We’d rather wait a little longer, save a little more, and see all our must see places.

[Morgans]

So sorry you didn't have much luck in the Orkneys - we were on the cruise immediately before yours and they were the highlight of the trip. We booked a car with Orkney Car Hire (and can recommend. ) We paid £104 for the whole day and saw all the sights. The Italian chapel was beautiful and it was very easy to get there. We managed to get around the island  (Mainland) quite easily so it's a shame you missed out.

One thing however, we left the cruise with covid - so we were out of luck there.

[OTrail]

I live in Queensferry (the town where the boat stops) so saw the boat in today! Last one of the season is correct, and so glad you had a dry day for visiting as the weather's not been great lately. I've been enjoying the pics, especially the food 

[sandancer]

8 hours ago, maggieq said:

Wow we are looking at the majestic in 2026 and I was leaning toward September vs may for better weather.  I guess anything can happen.  Disappointing for sure that you missed these stops. 

You can’t rely on the British weather. We did this same cruise in August and had awful weather most of the time. It was a great cruise, we throughly enjoyed it but we, of course, living in the North of England are used to dodgy weather. Just go prepared and enjoy the experience. 

[MyriamS]

On 10/3/2024 at 8:20 PM, Senga said:

We always travel with the thought in mind it might be our only time there and I can’t think of anything more disappointing than returning home saying “I wish we had…..”.  We’d rather wait a little longer, save a little more, and see all our must see places.

We are in our thirties and live in Europe so we can always return if we missed something. My partner was really disappointed about Dublin being missed, but I'm sure we'll make it there someday! 

 

About Orkney, I just double-checked the price of the tours and they are way outside of budget. Car rental is affordable, but not everyone can or want to drive. Expecting a decent public transport system in Northern Europe is pretty reasonable, so I don't think I was unfair in my assessment of Orkney.

[Lady Meer]

@MyriamS Orkney is no different from small islands we have visited around the world. Local transport is minimal, if there is any at all.

[MyriamS]

1 hour ago, Lady Meer said:

@MyriamS Orkney is no different from small islands we have visited around the world. Local transport is minimal, if there is any at all.

It's in Scotland, and fairly prosperous. Comparing it to Sicily or Corsica, to stick to European examples, would not be fair.

 

Let's continue on with the blog from two days ago. 

 

After dinner we went to another 'guess the destination' trivia. We teamed up again with the couple from Texas and won. The prize was a Princess wine stopper (we got one each 🙂 ).

 

Then it was time to see the magician Martin Brock in the Princess Theatre. He was good too, in a very different style from the Italian illusionist.

 

The last sea day 

 

After a quick breakfast in the buffet, we headed to guest service to settle our bill. You will remember that Princess deposit transaction was so suspicious that my bank outright cancelled my credit card, so we asked if we could just pay what we owe (the princely sum of 6$, for laundry tokens) in person. They did allow us to do that, which was nice. 

 

We then headed to the theatre for the culinary demonstration. They set up the whole stage as a kitchen. 

 

 

The head chef and restaurant manager were really funny. They made pesto pasta, shrimp fra diavolo and Black forest cake. It smelled really delicious in the whole theatre!

 

At the end they brought several of the galley staff to get some applause, which I really appreciated. We were also allowed to walk through the galleys as well.

 

After a brief soak in one of the hot tubs, we went straight to the buffet, as the chef had reminded us it was the seafood and cake extravaganza today.

 

And what a buffet it was! They didn't skimp on the quality or quantity of the seafood. We had shrimps, scallops and tuna and salmon sashimi.

 

 

There were also many different cakes, we tried three of them (carrot cake, gianduja and Black Forest). They also had little pots of ice cream.

 

I wanted to see at least one of the game shows so I went to the finale of the Voice of the Ocean. The judges were really funny and some of the singers sounded pretty professional. The winner got a whopping 64% of the votes!

 

It was formal night again in the MDR, and this time it was also lobster night! We had my favourite starter, escargot.

 

 

I didn't mention bread on this cruise because it generally wasn't very good but, just for that night, they made cheesy puff pastry rolls that were cute and delicious.

 

For mains we both had land and sea (beef tenderloin + lobster tail). The waiter came back later to remove the shell and offer us some extra melted butter. 

 

 

As usual the meat was cooked to perfection and you do get a generous amount. You can have this entree once for free (an additional lobster and steak is 15$) but we didn't feel like the need to order extra!

 

For desserts, we had the chocolate caramel mousse and raspberry cream puff. I really liked the crunchy nutty inside of the mousse.

 

 

After that we went to see the comedian, who wasn't very good. The ventriloquist that we saw in the theatre afterwards was hilarious though. I didn't think ventriloquism could be that funny, so I'm glad I gave it a chance.

[EDVM96]

4 hours ago, MyriamS said:

Car rental is affordable, but not everyone can or want to drive.

Yes, I paid 70 £ for a full day rental in Kirkwall last year (Ford Focus). Less expensive than any tour. And I could visit a lot more then on any regular tour.

Mull Head, Churchill Barriers, The Italian Chapel, Stenness Standing Stones, Ring Of Brodgar, Yesnaby Cliffs, Skara Brae + Skaill House, all that in just one port day (07:00 AM to 06:00 PM).

Sorry you missed that.