The Waterford Crystal factory tour from ship at Dunmore East dock.

[6787]

In August our ship will be docking at Dunmore East. We are wondering if it is possible to get to Waterford without taking the ship's tour. Hope there is some time of public transportation available.

[luvnorway]

I always think it's important to know the experience on which a reply is based so I'll qualify this by saying that, although we've visited Dunmore East/Waterford on cruiseships about half a dozen times, our most recent day there was in 2003. As a result, some of this info may no longer be accurate , and other posters who have been their recently may provide more up to date info.

 

Ships don't dock at Dunmore East - it's always a tender port. Be sure to allow time for tender ticket lines and shorexes being given priority disembarkation if you're on a large cruiseship.

 

Whenever we've been here, the cruise line has run a shuttle into the city of Waterford - some lines charge and some provide it free.

The shuttle drop off has always been on The Quay in Waterford city - which is right near the bus stop to get to the Crystal Factory.

A tour of the Waterford Crystal Factory is definitely worth doing. It goes without saying that DIY is much less expensive compared to the inflated prices of ship's shorexes. I would definitely recommend doing this one on your own.

 

We have toured it twice, first time on a ship's shorex (felt really rushed and didn't have enough time to watch the craftsmen), 2nd time we just took a local bus from the main street of Waterford (took 15-20 min IIRC) and got off at the Crystal Factory and took the tour on our own. The 2nd time the tour seemed longer and more detailed - when we asked one of the staff organizing the tours, we were told that the cruiseship tours are often abbreviated on busy days.

 

When you go on your own, you may have to wait for half an hour or so for the next tour to start, so make sure you get a tour ticket as soon as you arrive, before you look around. You can use the time to browse through the showrooms/shop and, unlike on the ship's tour, you have all the time you want or need to make your selection of purchases.

 

The website below has info about the tours and an email contact which you could use to get specific instructions re which bus to take from The Quay. The driver of your shuttle bus from Dunmore East will also be able to tell how to get to the factory.

 

http://www.southeastireland.com/individual_results.asp?sID=438

 

You could also Google to check the Waterford Crystal Factory website for more info.

 

Hope this helps.

[6787]

Thanks for the detailed information, much appreciated as we enjoy doing sights on our own.