Tips for UK cruise Ports

We were travelling on Oceania ,sept 2017 however, I am sure most cruise lines would have a shuttle of some sort $$ in most ports.

The local TI's either come on the ship or are in most terminals to give out maps and give directions to various sites.

We arrived in Southampton a day prior to our cruise and used Smiths for Airports for a private transfer.They were great and right on time! In fact our flight was quite late and they waited without a charge.

We stayed at Premier Inn West Quay in Southampton and it was clean,quite basic and very well situated for walking.

Day 2

We walked to Old Tudor House and merchant’s house from Middle Ages 1500s

Went to Duke of Wellington pub - also Tudor era

Old Wool House down by Harbour is now a nice pub

Newcastle

There was a ship shuttle which took us to the light rail/subway station to travel into Newcastle Central Station and we caught train to Durham (15 minutes to Durham from Newcastle Central)

Saw cathedral built 1095- Norman Romanesque style -rounded arches and zig zagging patterns on walls and columns

Marble floors with patterns and colours we have seen in Florence -fabulous!

Looked around Durham castle which is now a university

Found the Shakespeare pub and had chips,a meat patty and a sandwich and a beer.

Train station on top of a very high hill.

Edinburgh

Caught ship shuttle to Princes St and walked along gardens to Edinburgh castle

Walked Royal Mile from castle to St Giles church and to Holyrood Palace -caught local bus #35 back to ship in Leith Harbour

Had lunch on ship and walked to Royal Yacht Britannia in pm which is moored in Leith right beside the terminal

Glasgow

Timberbush tours small group with CC- absolutely great!

Barry did a terrific tour.

Busy bus also has tours here.

Went to Stirling CASTLE and saw sight of battle with William Wallace and English (ie Braveheart)

Stopped at a distillery to taste Scotch , then on to view Doune Castle which was filmed for Outlander - Castle Leoch

Stopped to see long haired highland cows and had tea, sandwiches and scones with jam for lunch

Drove through Trossachs national park through the highlands to Loch Lomond - very narrow, windy roads - but we were not driving

Walked around a small village near Balloch called Luss and had tea on the shores of Loch Lomond

Belfast

We took shuttle to city centre and TI office on Donegall Square opposite city hall

Then caught #26 bus to Titanic Quarter

Toured Titanic Experience which was amazing - interactive ride through the ship yards during construction as well as 3D hologram tour of ship, IMAX film of discovery of wreck

Saw the dry dock where she was constructed and slip where she was launched

Building looks like a ship which has been cut by an iceberg

Returned on same bus downtown and walked some of main streets to Belfast cathedral - st Anne’s

Found a pub and had great seafood chowder with huge chunks of salmon and a Guinness

Dublin

Took the shuttle to Merrion Square and then Hoho bus

Did most of the route and saw a lot of the city

Very large park 2times larger than Central Park

Walked to Temple Bar area and had lunch at a pub

Walked to Christ Church which is oldest church in Dublin 1200’s

Then on to St Patrick's - largest church in Ireland

Walked many streets in rain and then a taxi back to ship

Liverpool

Beautiful dock area along the Mersey River

We docked right downtown and walked along the water front to Albert dock area(it is a short walk along the river)

Toured Beatle experience and saw piano John used to play “imagine”, costumes for Lonely hearts Club band ,and a replica of the Cavern bar/ stage and Abbey Road recording studio with the Beatles' instruments

Toured excellent museum of slavery and Mersey maritime museum -saw artifacts from Lusitania and battle of the Atlantic

Holy head Wales

Took Busy bus tour with a group from CC- excellent!

Went to Carnarvon castle - built by Edward 1

Wandered along the river and some shops

Went to Betsy Co Ed and had great fish and chips

Visited small church from 1400’s

Visited Snowdonia National. Park Saw many waterfalls, mount Snowdon, billions of sheep both black and white, heather on the rocks

Went to Conway castle- best castle in Britain still in its original state overlooking the river and town _extremely well fortified with 7 defence towers and a wall that still surrounds the town fully intact

Waterford Ireland

Took shuttle in to town

Went to Medieval museum -very interesting regarding Ireland’s history

Went to Bishop’s Palace - he lived very well

Lots of historical Waterford Crystal on display

Found the Gingerman pub in a side alley and had a Guinness and home made soup and brown bread - very yummy

Weymouth Dorset

Took the shuttle in to town from Portland pier

Walked along the sea front and stopped for a Cornish pasty, then another tea room for clotted cream tea

Then a pub for a final Guinness

Thanks for your feedback.

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Sounds like a great trip. We went to many of the same ports on our Princess cruise last month. I'm already thinking of going back to see the things we missed.

It was a great itinerary. We thoroughly enjoyed it.

What tour did you use for the Beatles experience? We're planning for July 2019 and there are so many tours online!

What tour did you use for the Beatles experience? We're planning for July 2019 and there are so many tours online!

What appears to be mentioned is the Beatles museum, which is called the 'Beatles Story' and is in The Albert Dock, and walkable from the cruise dock, you do not need a tour as they provide audio headsets:- https://www.beatlesstory.com/ Check out the Mersey Ferry terminal building as there is another museum upstairs (content changes) and you used to be able to buy combined tickets for both that and the Beatles Story.

You could also take a 50 min "Explorer cruise" with commentary on the Mersey Ferry:- https://www.merseyferries.co.uk/cruises/river-explorer-cruise/pages/default.aspx

You can buy tickets for all those things above on the day, but do not know if there is a financial advantage to pre book.

If you want to go inside John and Paul's childhood homes, the only way you can do that is with The National Trust as they run them: - https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/beatles-childhood-homes and you will likely need to pre book that.

There is a reduced price for National Trust members, but they still need to with the NT transport as there is not open access to the homes - the cost to NT members is just for the transport, if I remember correctly. Note you would need a departure from Jurys Inn, which is in the city centre.

There are hoho buses and other 'tours' of Liverpool now, but they are just money making and are not really needed as the city is right by the cruise dock as previously mentioned.

Very helpful info, thanks tring!

Very helpful info, thanks tring!

You are welcome - enjoy what I still consider to be my home city (even though I have lived 'over the water' on the Wirral for more than 40 years).