texbecca

We'll be in Edinburgh on May 13 (HAL). It is one of the ports that we are going to do on our own. I've already booked our Edinburgh castle tix. (9:30-10:00 entry). Now I'm trying to prioritize to make the most of our short time. Our HAL itinerary says we'll depart Queensferry at 5pm so I assume that means "back on board" will be at 4:00? In a perfect world, our itinerary would look like this: Edinburgh Castle Lunch/Royal Mile Mary King's Close Holyrood Palace Royal Yacht Britannia Obviously, we will not have enough time for all this. What would you prioritize? Also, I know about the Cruiselink x99, but I think we will be willing to spend the extra money and take a taxi or Uber to get to/from Edinburgh more quickly. Will taxi's be plentiful? (Or, is Cruiselink x99 so efficient that it would be ridiculous to take a taxi?) FYI- We have Club Orange so we will be able to be some of the first to tender. Thanks! Rebecca

What's the latest someone has gotten an upgrade? We sail a week from today and both my bids still say "pending." I think this cruise is pretty much sold out so I'm starting to think I won't get lucky.☹️

Hi Lizard13, Looking at the choices, it appears The Man of Storr and Quiraing would both be amazing. I'm thinking my husband and I might forgo our planned cruise excursion (hiking close to Portree) and go on our own to one of these. My understanding that either will take approximately 2 hours to complete. I'm curious how you are planning to get to your planned walks/hikes. Are you taking a bus or hiring a driver? In a perfect world, I would love to find a driver to take us to one of the long hikes and then afterward drive us by some of the other beautiful sights.

Thank you so much for this great information. Although, I'm still struggling a bit with what to do. In reading more about Quiraing and The Old Mann of Storr, I'm wondering if we should cancel our morning hike with the cruiseline and spend our hiking energy at either Quiraing or Storr. (If you had to chose to do the full hike at either which would you chose?) I think with our time limitations combined with our ages, we will need to limit our hiking to only about 4 miles. I wish I knew if the hike offered by Holland America (Portree Bay and then around Ben Chacraig and Torvaig) would offer the beauty we are looking for. I like the idea of having a guide with us. Decisions, decisions!

We'll be in the Isle of Skye in May on the Rotterdam (Holland America.) We've signed up for one of the ship's excursions. It is a 4 mile hike around Portree Bay and then around Ben Chacraig and Torvaig. I look forward to the exercise as well as the beautiful views. Our excursion is only 2.5 hours so we will have plenty of time to do something else. The pics I see of the Isle of Skye are amazing and I want to be sure to see the most beautiful sight. I tried unsuccessfully to find a half day tour on Viator or Tours by Locals. If I can find a tour guide or driver, what should be our priority? ( I think we will have about 4 hours for this extra tour.) Neist Point seems too far away but there seems to be some other spots not too far (Kilt Rock). Or, is there an amazing spot that taking an Uber to would be feasible?

I'm making some final logistical plans for our cruise this week. Can anyone tell me the precise location in Bar Harbor where the tender docks? (We'll be on the HA Zuiderdam.) Thanks!

Sorry I forgot to include the ports! 🤪 Edinburgh Inverness Stornoway Portree Belfast Dublin Liverpool Holyhead Cork Bruges/Brussels

We’re cruising the British Isles with HA in May 2024. I hadn’t planned on researching and booking excursions until we returned from a cruise we’re taking next month. (New England/Canada with HA) But, I see several of the excursions are already sold out! I’m not too panicked because I know we’ll be able to find excursions on Viator. But it’s made me realize I need to start looking now. We’ve got HA credits for two excursions. Which port excursions are best taken with the cruise line as opposed to booking independently? Thanks!

Yes, but we need to get to the Acadia Visitors Center. Which, according to Google, is 3 miles away from the Bar Harbor Visitors Center. Certainly walkable if need be but worried about getting there on time.

We stayed at the Hotel Estherea in Amsterdam just last month. Beautiful! Great location. We walked to everything but the cruise port. If you like beautiful, unique properties you will love it.

We'll arrive at Bar Harbor at 7am on a Sunday morning. We booked an Acadia biking excursion through Viator that departs at 9am from the Acadia visitors center. Will we be able to get an Uber or cab to get us over there from wherever the ship docks? (actually I think this may be a tender port). Hoping this is doable. The excursion sounds fun.

I just went to the Princess website and pretended book a new cruise to see how many suites were still available on my cruise. (Ruby Princess departing Feb 26) It said the cruise was no longer available to book. Does this mean the cruise is completely sold out or do they cut off online sales once it gets this close to the cruise?

I'm booked on the Ruby Princess sailing out of Galveston February 26. I was excited for the bidding to open for my cruise which for me, as I understood the process, would have been this past Saturday. I got on the website on Saturday, 85 days out from my cruise, and it said I was not eligible. I tried again the next day and still no luck. I reached out to princess via their chat and they said they couldn't help me because I booked through a "trip advisor." I informed them I had booked the cruise myself directly with Princess. They said that the person I reached on the phone when I called Princess was now my trip advisor. This didn't make sense to me. I emailed and called the woman with whom I booked the cruise. I have not heard back from her. I called Princess again today and talked to an agent and they informed me that you can only bid the 5 days following final payment due- so day 90 through day 85. This doesn't make sense either. I've been trying to upgrade directly on the website. And yes, I'm paid in full and I've opted in for emails (I double checked.) Ugh! What am I missing here?

Hi, My partner and I will visit Belize on the Ruby Princess Mar 1 2023. We are planning our excursions and are very interested in snorkeling at Hol Chan, especially visiting Shark Ray Alley. Princess offers an excursion that visits Cay Caulkner and Shark Ray Alley. My only concern is that the group may be too large. I just spoke to a rep at Princess and she said that they can book up to 50 people on this excursion. That being said, at this late date NO ONE has booked this excursion. She said she would guess that the group will end up being around 20 people but of course there are no guarantees. Have any of you used a fantastic independent tour that would offer a similar experience but with a guarantee of a smaller group?