ship tours and on our own review Grand Princess

[Genessa]

We returned from our Grand Princess cruise 7/25 - 8/6.

 

we had a fantastic time and really enjoyed our ports of call and London, thanks in large part to info we discovered here!

 

We started our time well in London by taking the Heathrow Express to Paddington Station. I swear that this train went so fast in parts, I thought I was on one of the rides at Six Flags! Well worth the 29 pounds.

 

We used 20 years accumulated Amex rewards points to book 2 nights at

The Milestone Hotel located across the street from Kensington Gardens in London. They e-mailed me pre-stay to find out our preferences and, once we arrived, the staff (especially Terry and Malcolm) treated us as if we were the owners of the hotel and greeted us with a welcome fruit plate and champagne cocktail. If we ever win the lottery, we will definitely stay there again ;). Cab ride through Hyde Park cost us just under 8 pounds.

 

As we had a red-eye flight from the East coast of US, I wanted to stay as active as possible until a relatively normal bedtime in London. We left the hotel, accompanied by a hand-marked map showing us how to get to and from Harrods and strolled through Kensington Gardens and the area around the hotel and Harrods. Harrods was an experience! We ate dim sum there, paying about $40 for enough food for a guppie, but it was fun. I bought some chocolate and requested a bag, which my sister wants for a souvenir. We found the tube station we would be using the next morning and we stopped at Whole Foods for a look around and had dinner there before crashing for the night.

 

The next day, we got on the wrong train at the tube station, totally MY fault, and then compounded it by getting on another wrong train, also totally MY fault. I managed to get us lost in London, Dublin, Chester, and Glasgow – but getting lost was part of the fun and it was never lost “enough” to be REALLY lost ;).

We were able to walk right in to the Tower, no line, and listening to one of the guided tours was a highlight of our trip. The yeomen all had booming speaking voices and made the tower come to life.

I thought the "moving sidewalk" at the Crown Jewels was an excellent idea! Really kept people hogging the exhibit.

 

We followed this with a Thames river cruise to Westminster Pier and took a verger-led tour of Westminster Abbey. If you are a history or church buff, the verger-led tour is a must! Well worth the additional 3 pounds per person.

 

In the morning, we took a cab to Waterloo. Malcolm warned us that the trains depart exactly on time and we found out that they sure did. No biggie, there was another National Rail train to Southampton in 20 minutes. We were on the 11:05 Am train, arrived at Southampton Central at 12:20PM and I think we were in our room by 1.

 

 

 

We did a ton of ship’s tours and loved them all. We also explored Dublin and Glasgow on our own. Dublin, we took the ship shuttle, $5pp/each way and we saw the Book of Kells, early. I really enjoyed the exhibition “before” the book and read all of the displays.

Then, I thought we’d go to Dublinia, a “boutique” (small  ) museum about the Vikings in Dublin. I really enjoy pre-medieval and medieval history. Discovered that the streets don’t all have street signs, especially the larger streets. And the streets with signs weren’t indicated on our maps. So, we had some fun getting “lost” and finally figured out where we were when we stumbled upon St. Patrick’s, several blocks “past” where we wanted to go.

The museum was not quite as sophisticated as I was expecting, but it had some great displays and kept us interested for over an hour.

 

Glasgow, I tried to follow the directions to the train station in Greenock. Obviously took a wrong turn or non-turn somewhere and we asked a couple of Scots women for help. They both directed us to a station which we found, turned out to be Greenock East, not Greenock Central. Which worked out well, as we got our choice of prime seats, ahead of everyone else from our cruise going independently ;). Train tickets were a little over 11 pounds, round trip, for both of us. At Glasgow, we took a cab up to the Cathedral and had the best cab driver. He gave us pens and keychains and maps of Glasgow to hand out. The cab fare was very reasonable, too. We should have asked him to wait, but didn’t think of it until later. We walked down from the cathedral and enjoyed walking through the farmer’s market in George Square. You could smell the cheese stalls from several stalls away!

The rest of the ports we took tours and thoroughly enjoyed them all.

 

Ship's tours:

 

Guernsey, Channel Islands, we took a walking tour of Herm. It was conducted by one of the 51 permanent residents of Herm and her husband. More physically active than we thought it would be, but loads of fun and information.

 

Cobh (prounounced Cove), we took a tour of Cork, Kinsale, and Blarney Castle. We didn’t kiss the stone, but did walk around the extensive gardens. The food on this tour was very nasty, though and I was thankful I had a couple of protein bars in my bag.

 

Liverpool we took a tour to Wales and Chester. We needed more time in Wales, but Chester was amazing. I got us lost again, but more briefly, and we had a fascinating time walking the walls of Chester and strolling along the river in the rain (one of the few days it rained). Had ice cream cones while standing under a tree.

Finished out the rain in the "rows", the upper level of the shopping strip.

We also did a brief bus tour of Liverpool at the end, and I was amazed at the “dog thing statues” all over the city. Lunch was okay, hotel was nice.

 

Belfast we did a tour of the Antrim Coast and Giant’s Causeway. Everything I imagined and then some. The stones at the causeway boggle my mind. We walked down the long hill, but rode the bus back up. We also stopped at the ruins of a castle – Dun luce. Very interesting. Lunch was good.

 

The day we cruised the Hebrides was NOT a nice day. The scenery was great though and I can just imagine what it would be on a super clear day.

 

Invergordon we had left our curtains open and I woke with the sun. Got some incredible sunrise photos. We had a tour of Culloden Moor, Inverness, and Loch Ness. At Culloden Moor they recently opened a new visitor's center. It has "stations" where you make choice on a video display and hear the story of Culloden from various viewpoints - everything from ardent Jacobites to ardent - hmm, can't remember what the other side was called, Loyalists, maybe? We had a nice chunk of time here, something like an hour and a half. I could have used another half an hour, but was very happy with what we did get.

 

Loch Ness was a disappointment. It was pretty, but looked like many mountain lakes I’ve seen before. The driver and guide were great, though, bringing us down for another look at the loch and Urquhart Castle and taking us up a road to see heather because someone asked. Inverness was our least favorite city. Crowded sidewalks, sketchy looking "characters", even the British version of a "dollar" store - called "The Pound Store".

 

South Queensferry, Edinburgh. Loved Edinburgh. Loved it. We will go back.

We did a walking tour of the Royal Mile. If you are anything of a history buff, read up on what’s there, then do a self-tour. This was the only tour we would have skipped. Our tour guide was informative, but there was no time to slow down or have a second look at anything. We had the option of staying in Edinburgh and going back on the train (at additional expense), but we had an afternoon tour booked.

Braveheart Country and Stirling Castle. Terrific tour. We went to Bannockburn and Stirling Castle and our tour guide, Jennie, was entertaining and fun and informative. She really gave 120%.

The views from Stirling Castle are amazing.

 

 

LeHavre. DH wanted to see Eiffel Tower. I didn’t care. We took the Paris and Seine River tour and it was one of our favorites. The food on the river boat was delicious, waiter was really nice and pointed out things that weren’t included in the commentary. The guide, Karen, is a treasure and thanks to her and her alone, I plan on going back to Paris. She really increased our interest in Paris. There are many things we want to go and see at leisure.

This was the most exhausting cruise we have ever taken, including our Alaska cruise and land tour. We were up most mornings before 6 AM and didn’t get back to the ship until 5 or 6 on most days. With only 2 sea days, you can see how busy we were!

 

But, I’d do it again, in a heart beat. While we saw everything on our “premier” list except Stonehenge, there are enough things to go back and see that we’ll be in the British Isles/Paris for weeks ;).

 

And, now, we need a nice relaxing 7-10 day Caribbean cruise to give us a vacation from our vacation!

[JackieT]

Thank you for this review. I'm leaving Friday for London, our cruise leaves the 18th on the Grand. I'm really looking forward to it. I'm glad you had such a wonderful time. I think we really need to pace ourselves for this one. It seems very busy. We have about 5 ship tours planned as of now.

[Genessa]

Thank you for this review. I'm leaving Friday for London, our cruise leaves the 18th on the Grand. I'm really looking forward to it. I'm glad you had such a wonderful time. I think we really need to pace ourselves for this one. It seems very busy. We have about 5 ship tours planned as of now.

 

my husband was joking that I took out an extra life insurance policy on him, dragging him on all these tours ;).

 

on the positive side, neither of us gained any weight and we didn't watch what we were eating.

 

enjoy!

[JackieT]

I keep wondering if we'll even have time to eat. I want to add a few more tours on the ship on top of what we already have. I think anytime dining would've been better. We are on the 8:15 seating. I can imagine after a long day just wanting to eat dinner then once in the cabin crash out! It's mom and I, I told her we may be doing more causal buffet nights than in the past.

[jstducky]

You may want to consider doing private tours.

 

I did this same exact cruise from July 25 to August 6th.

 

I met up with tons of people on our roll call and we were able to organize private tours at most of the ports. We were able to see more than the ships tours and in most cases it was considerably cheaper. Also, being on an organized private tour, we were always the first bus out of the parking lot, which meant that we beat the ships tours to all the popular attractions.

 

For example, in Cobh, we took a private tour that is highly recommended on these boards for a cost of 20 Euros per person... roughly $32. We went through Cork, got a tour of Cobh, stopped at Kinsale and also Blarney Castle. We were the first bus out of the parking lot and were the first people at Blarney Castle when it opened. I walked right up and kissed the Blarney Stone. When we were finally leaving the castle, that is when the first ship tour arrived. I heard later that the afternoon ship tours had a 1.5 hour waiting time to kiss the Blarney Stone. The ship tour cost well over $125 per person compared to the $32 I paid.

 

In Belfast, I did a private tour. There were 45 people on this tour at a cost of 30 pounds per person, roughly $60. We went to Carrickfergus and had a photo stop of the castle. We drove along the Antrim Coast. Had a comfort stop at a small seaside village. Continued along the coast. Had photo stops at some amazing locations. Had a photo stop at Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge. Stopped at Giant's Causeway long enough to see the Causeway as well as have lunch and stop at the souvenir shop. We then stopped at the Old James Distillery for a souvenir stop. We drove back in to Belfast and had a tour of the city including a tour of the murals on Shankill Road and Falls road. There wasn't an equivalent Princess tour that did all of that, but the Princess tour that just went out to Giant's Causeway was about $150.

 

Just a suggestion to keep in mind.

[Genessa]

I keep wondering if we'll even have time to eat. I want to add a few more tours on the ship on top of what we already have. I think anytime dining would've been better. We are on the 8:15 seating. I can imagine after a long day just wanting to eat dinner then once in the cabin crash out! It's mom and I, I told her we may be doing more causal buffet nights than in the past.

 

 

Jackie,

 

we were not happy that due to dh making the booking so late caused us to "get stuck" with anytime dining, but it worked out perfectly for this cruise. Most nights we stopped off at the cabin to wash up, change quickly, and drop off our backpack before going to dinner. We even had dinner one night in the buffet, something we've never done before.

 

enjoy!

[Genessa]

You may want to consider doing private tours.

 

I did this same exact cruise from July 25 to August 6th.

 

I met up with tons of people on our roll call and we were able to organize private tours at most of the ports. We were able to see more than the ships tours and in most cases it was considerably cheaper. Also, being on an organized private tour, we were always the first bus out of the parking lot, which meant that we beat the ships tours to all the popular attractions.

 

jstducky,

 

as soon as dh "sprung" the surprise on me, I checked out the roll call. I was so jealous of all your plans. There was no room left on any of the private tours you guys had arranged.

 

I researched some private ones on our own, but with just 2 people I had no luck finding reasonable private tours at a late date.

 

Even though they were expensive, we didn't feel we were getting ripped off. The guides were all terrific. I filled out a number of tour guide recognition papers. The buses were very nice coaches.

 

There was a long line at Blarney Castle - but we didn't want to kiss the stone and a couple of people on our bus did manage to.

 

We would have loved to have spent more time in Wales, but even doing a private tour we wouldn't have been able to, as we wouldn't have wanted to give up our time in Chester, either.

[jstducky]

 

We would have loved to have spent more time in Wales, but even doing a private tour we wouldn't have been able to, as we wouldn't have wanted to give up our time in Chester, either.

 

Did you get to Chester in time to see the noontime performance of the town crier? it was great!

[JackieT]

I would love to do some private tours, but it made my mother anxious to not do one from the ship when I brought it up to her after my research. My husband and I do the private ones, never from the ship. But she felt more comfortable being with the ship's tour. I don't think she gets it, this is also the same woman that can barely use a computer outside of checking email and my parents don't even own an ATM card and aren't interested in one.

[Genessa]

Did you get to Chester in time to see the noontime performance of the town crier? it was great!

 

We did not see the crier.

I'm not sure what exactly we were doing at noon - maybe lunch?

 

I loved Chester though. The walls really put all my historical novels into perspective.

[jstducky]

We did not see the crier.

I'm not sure what exactly we were doing at noon - maybe lunch?

 

I loved Chester though. The walls really put all my historical novels into perspective.

 

It was quite the city wasn't it? I loved it and was quite surprised by it.

 

I was also quite surprised at the crowds that were there!

[jstducky]

Here's a suggestion on St. Peter Port in Guernsey. When we went, we were really unfamiliar with the place and hadn't done too much research in to it as it is an often missed tender stop.

 

After we had walked out to the castle and through the main parts of the town we were looking for something else to do. So we went to the local bus station on the main street and found that bus 7 and 7A do a complete loop around the island. It's not a guided tour, but the man at the information desk can give you a good map of the island. A complete circuit of the island lasts about 1 hour 30 minutes. There are some gorgeous views and beaches on the other side of the island. Great little cottages. It's a great way to see the whole island. And the best part is the fact that it only costs 60 pence per person for the bus for a complete loop.

 

We, along with many others from the ship, did this bus trip. And the locals who get on the bus are great. They have tons of great ideas and suggestions as to what and see and do on the island. They are extremely friendly.

 

You just couldn't beat the deal!

[Genessa]

It was quite the city wasn't it? I loved it and was quite surprised by it.

 

I was also quite surprised at the crowds that were there!

 

Maybe thanks to my getting dh lost, we weren't really near any crowds. We walked the walls for a long time - from near East Gate to the river, then strolled along the river, watching some kids learning to kayak down the weir (I think that's what it's called), getting ice cream, then walked back through the Roman Gardens. THEN we went to East Gate where the clock is and there were some people out, but not too many 'cos it was drizzling.

 

I would love to go back and spend another day there if I ever get back to England!

[Genessa]

Here's a suggestion on St. Peter Port in Guernsey. When we went, we were really unfamiliar with the place and hadn't done too much research in to it as it is an often missed tender stop.

 

 

We, along with many others from the ship, did this bus trip. And the locals who get on the bus are great. They have tons of great ideas and suggestions as to what and see and do on the island. They are extremely friendly.

 

You just couldn't beat the deal!

 

 

that was my one, not quite a regret, but a choice that we had to make. The walking tour of Herm was great, but it was all day. So, we met people from Herm and some from St. Peter Port who were travelling over on the ferry, but didn't have time to explore Guernsey at all.

 

Although my dd wants to visit Sark one day, so maybe we'll be back.

[gregandamy]

You may want to consider doing private tours.

 

.

 

For example, in Cobh, we took a private tour that is highly recommended on these boards for a cost of 20 Euros per person... roughly $32. We went through Cork, got a tour of Cobh, stopped at Kinsale and also Blarney Castle. We were the first bus out of the parking lot and were the first people at Blarney Castle when it opened. I walked right up and kissed the Blarney Stone. When we were finally leaving the castle, that is when the first ship tour arrived. I heard later that the afternoon ship tours had a 1.5 hour waiting time to kiss the Blarney Stone. The ship tour cost well over $125 per person compared to the $32 I paid.

 

We were thinking of doing this tour next year. Can you tell me any more about it? How long of a tour was it? How much was it to get into Blarney Castle? Did you go to some place nice for lunch? How long did you have in Kinsale? Thanks in advance for your answers!

[jstducky]

 

We were thinking of doing this tour next year. Can you tell me any more about it? How long of a tour was it? How much was it to get into Blarney Castle? Did you go to some place nice for lunch? How long did you have in Kinsale? Thanks in advance for your answers!

 

The tour was through a company called eCoach. I think if you do a Google search of eCoach and Blarney you'll come up with them.

 

They arrange tours specifically for cruises. They say the earlier you book the tour the cheaper it is. When I booked it was 20 Euros about 6 months in advance of sailing. When I checked about a month prior to sailing the cost was about 24 Euros. The good thing about their company is that they run their tour regardless of how many people have signed up (ie, there is no minimum for the tour to go). And the price is the same regardless of whether its 1 person or 100 people.

 

Anyhow the tour lasted all day. We were supposed to meet the driver and guide as soon as we could get off the ship. They were there waiting for us. And then we got back to the ship about 30 minutes prior to all aboard.

 

As to entrance to Blarney, it's not cheap. It's 10 Euros per person for an adult. But when you add up the costs it still doesn't equal what the Princess excursion costs even though the Princess excursion includes admission. As a side, you don't have to go in to Blarney Castle if you don't have an interest in kissing the stone or don't want to pay the admission fee. You can spend your time walking around Blarney and the Blarney Woolen Mill.

 

We were given 1 and half hours basically at Blarney to go to the Castle and shop at the Woolen Mill.

 

Lunch was on our own in Kinsale. Kinsale is known as the Gourmet Capital of Ireland due to the fact that it has a disproportionately large number of restuarants when compared to its residents. We were given a few suggestions for restaurants in Kinsale and then were given I think 2 hours on our own there to eat lunch and explore the city.

 

Hope this answers your questions. Let me know if you have any others!

[dpalmquist]

I would love to do some private tours, but it made my mother anxious to not do one from the ship when I brought it up to her after my research. My husband and I do the private ones, never from the ship. But she felt more comfortable being with the ship's tour. I don't think she gets it, this is also the same woman that can barely use a computer outside of checking email and my parents don't even own an ATM card and aren't interested in one.

 

I am also anxious doing outside tours but we did the Busybus Northern Wales tour in July and it was wonderful. We beat the ship's tours to Conwy Castle and almost had it to ourselves.

 

My only regret was not taking the train back from Edinburgh instead of the tour bus. The train is only about 15 minutes I heard later.

 

We just wandered St. Peter Port and my daughters tell everyone that is their favorite place we saw.

 

Enjoy! It is amazing!

[gregandamy]

The tour was through a company called eCoach. I think if you do a Google search of eCoach and Blarney you'll come up with them.

 

They arrange tours specifically for cruises. They say the earlier you book the tour the cheaper it is. When I booked it was 20 Euros about 6 months in advance of sailing. When I checked about a month prior to sailing the cost was about 24 Euros. The good thing about their company is that they run their tour regardless of how many people have signed up (ie, there is no minimum for the tour to go). And the price is the same regardless of whether its 1 person or 100 people.

 

Anyhow the tour lasted all day. We were supposed to meet the driver and guide as soon as we could get off the ship. They were there waiting for us. And then we got back to the ship about 30 minutes prior to all aboard.

 

As to entrance to Blarney, it's not cheap. It's 10 Euros per person for an adult. But when you add up the costs it still doesn't equal what the Princess excursion costs even though the Princess excursion includes admission. As a side, you don't have to go in to Blarney Castle if you don't have an interest in kissing the stone or don't want to pay the admission fee. You can spend your time walking around Blarney and the Blarney Woolen Mill.

 

We were given 1 and half hours basically at Blarney to go to the Castle and shop at the Woolen Mill.

 

Lunch was on our own in Kinsale. Kinsale is known as the Gourmet Capital of Ireland due to the fact that it has a disproportionately large number of restuarants when compared to its residents. We were given a few suggestions for restaurants in Kinsale and then were given I think 2 hours on our own there to eat lunch and explore the city.

 

Hope this answers your questions. Let me know if you have any others!

Thanks for all the great info. about this tour. It sounds like our family will love it. I have already sent an email to ecoach and he has already added our cruise to his website.

 

Did anyone do the Princess tour in Paris that goes to the Louvre and then eat lunch in the Eiffel Tower?