fruitmachine

They can always give (or, better for them, sell) an upgrade to two people in one of those triple cabins.

Did you ... a) book directly with them, rather than thorough a third party such as Viator? b) cancel more than 12 hours before your tour date (i.e. by noon the day before)? As @VMax1700 says, their terms are clear. In my view, they are quite generous. They say they would have refunded you in full if both the above were true. Unfortunately, the more generous those Ts&Cs are, the more they have to charge in order to price-in the risk they are taking. Instead you took the risk, and didn't (or couldn't) lay that risk off with an insurance policy that covered you for this sort of scenario.

Specifically answering your travel insurance question... you will have had 14 days 'cooling-off; in which to cancel. If it's a single-trip policy, after that there will not be a refund. However, if you contact your insurer with amended dates they may agree to amend the policy, perhaps charging an admin fee and an additional premium if the cover is for a longer period. Remember, if your new dates start on or after the original start date, and finish on or before the original end date, you need do nothing. You're covered because the new trip falls within the original holiday dates. Regarding the potentially unfair contact, here's Edinburgh Council's advice on some options you might have: https://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/trading-standards/consumer-advice-education

Yes. This is exactly the position we were in last October returning to the UK from Istanbul. There was no problem booking an airport transfer onboard and using up our OBC balance to pay for it. From memory we had a very small debit balance by the end of the cruise and after this, so they charged that to our credit card as normal.

You should see the same number of points (and also a breakdown) if you login to the underlying Seaware site here: https://seaware.azamara.com/touchb2c/ then click on the down-arrow next to "CLUB PROGRAMS" near the top of that page. The breakdown is obtained by clicking on the "xxx BASE POINTS" or "xx yy POINT NIGHTS" entries. If the two areas do not agree, then I'd suggest you contact Azamara Loyalty.

I asked at the Castle gate a couple of weeks ago. Timed ticketholders are now allowed in up to 15 minutes before your timeslot, but as long afterwards as you want. So I would buy your earlier slot and if you're late it doesn't matter.

Good option. The X99 now stops almost directly outside it.

Remember that early starts will be the most difficult and late evenings the easiest - your body will still think 8 or 9 in the morning is still the middle of the night for at least a couple of days.

Goodness, poor you! 18mph average speed 😞 ... but I think your post probably belongs on this thread:

9am is unusually late for South Queensferry. What date are you here? I might be able to double check the booked arrival time with another source.

There are two distilleries in Edinburgh now: Holyrood Distillery (https://www.holyrooddistillery.co.uk/) is just south of the city centre (easily accessed with a city bus that comes free with an X99 ticket, or using a taxi). They have been distilling for a few years and have their own whisky for sale. Port of Leith Distillery (https://www.leithdistillery.com/) has only been distilling for a few weeks, so doesn't sell any of its own whisky, but is interesting because it's the world's first vertical whisky distillery and on a good day has fantastic views from the bar. It's next door to the Royal Yacht Britannia. Again, your X99 ticket will get free transport there, this time on the tram. If you're interested in buying something different from what you can get elsewhere, then check out Cadenhead's on the Royal Mile (https://www.cadenhead.scot/)

Sites like CruiseMapper and CruiseTimetables are just aggregators that scrape information from the rest of the Internet and are often neither accurate nor up to date. If Azamara are saying Chioggia, then it's highly likely that they will have booked the berth and that's where you'll be docking.

The fastest and most practical option is probably a taxi which will cost around £50. That will take just over 30 minutes on a Sunday; at the very worst 40. https://maps.app.goo.gl/kpnGrH8SBaX4gJRRA For the return trip an Uber (from either Britannia or in town) will be cheaper than an Edinburgh taxi. The alternative is a combination of taxi (or shuttle bus if Viking are running one) to Inverkeithing station, then train, then tram, reversing that for the return. With connections, that'll probably take 2-3 times as long. There is no car hire at Rosyth (though there is free parking at Britannia). Let me know if you're determined to try this way and I'll give a more detailed reply. If you want to visit Edinburgh city centre after Britannia, then it's an easy 20-25 minute journey on the tram from Britannia. Buy your ticket at the machine on the platform. https://edinburghtrams.com/ Some folk take the included tour in the morning, which gives you 60 minutes on your own near the castle, then leave that tour, making their own way back to the ship. You could leave it and visit Britannia, then head back to Rosyth. You have sufficient time to do this.

Yes for Uber, AFAIK no for Lyft

With the strong caveat that I don't have first hand experience of a Viking ship at Rosyth, and I won't see the the person I need to ask for a week or so, plus the fact that Viking have most of their Edinburgh calls to Newhaven, and may still be feeling their way for Rosyth... The 'standard' offering at Rosyth is a shuttle bus that runs to Dunfermline and North Queensferry (https://www.cruiseforth.com/content/getting-around-rosyth/). This may be supplemented by Viking with additional buses, but I don't believe they go into Edinburgh. I would make plans on the basis that you take a taxi (though check for a shuttle-bus on the day) the two miles to Inverkeithing station, and then catch a train into Edinburgh Waverley. Most trains take around 25 minutes, and you can check timetables here: https://www.scotrail.co.uk/ Buy your ticket on the day, either from the station or on the Scotrail app as an e-ticket. After 9:30, the current off-peak return fare is £7.10. Until the end of June, peak-time tickets are priced the same as off-peak (https://www.scotrail.co.uk/tickets/off-peak-tickets). There are no seat reservations, and you can catch any train to Edinburgh (either off-peak or anytime, depending on your ticket) and any train back.

It may be completely unworkable, but there might be the option of joining a car club and doing an hourly rental. For example, Enterprise have a Holyhead location, and you collect it unattended: https://www.enterprisecarclub.co.uk/gb/en/home.html

The HoHo ticket sellers have timed tickets. They have a separate allocation for the "add-on" to a HoHo tour from those that are included in a "Grand 24" or "Grand 48" ticket, so even if the former sell out, the latter are almost always available. https://edinburghtour.com/ However... Despite previous assurances, I've just been told that the X99/HoHo ticket sellers at Hawes Pier do not, in fact, have access to the "add on" tickets for the Castle or other attractions. Perhaps that will change, perhaps it won't, so don't bank on it! Attraction tickets can still be bought from HoHo sellers once in town, but the risk is higher that they have sold out by the time you get there. At the pier they can, however, still sell the Grand 24/48 ticket that includes entrance to all three of the Castle, Holyrood, and Britannia and access top all three HoHo routes. Some people, finding that all online, walk-up, and HoHo add-on tickets to the Castle are sold-out, splash out and buy a Grand 24 just to get Castle admission, throwing the rest away!!

Quieter, but there are several sets of school holidays across the UK in October, so not "quiet". AFAIK, it's just the admission ticket that's available from the X99 sellers. You can still pick up an audio guide at the Castle (for an extra fee) but I think you'll need to book the in-person guide and admission online. The 10.00 tour time is OK if you get on-shore by around 8:45, but I'd go for a later time. Take the HoHo first, as that will also get you nearer to the Castle without the effort of the uphill walk. My recommendation for scones and cream is Mimi's Bakehouse. They have a place on Market Street in the City Art Centre, and another on the Royal Mile. https://mimisbakehouse.com/locations/

All Castle tickets are timed entry, none are "general admission". There is no fast track entry.

Yes, Dalmeny Station is closest to Hawes Pier. It's 120 steps up a path (you need to get to the same height as the rail track on the Forth Bridge) that can get muddy & slippery when wet, and takes about 10 minutes. The fare is less than the X99, but the X99 includes all city buses and the tram all day. You can check timetables here: https://www.scotrail.co.uk/ Current weekday morning trains are at 0701, 0721, 0740, 0803, 0809, 0822, 0842, 0856, 0929, 0940, 1020, 1046, 1122, 1145, and 1220 and take about 20 minutes. Including the walk to the station, the bus and train take about the same time, but the train station is probably 3-5 minutes nearer the Royal Mile than the X99 stop. I'm really surprised at pink845's comments about passengers they saw queueing for the X99 not arriving until 45 minutes after them in town, and can only imagine they must have waited for friends to come ashore before they boarded the bus. Buses leave every 20 minutes, and more frequently for larger ships or if full, so that would be the maximum wait for the next bus. If you miss a train, you could have a 40 minute wait for the next one. If there are big queues for the ticket sellers, you can usually pay for the X99 on the bus. Contactless cards, Google/Apple Pay, and cash (no change given) are all accepted. If you're going to take a HoHo bus, then you can buy Castle tickets in conjunction with your HoHo ticket from the X99 ticket sellers. They get a daily allocation (over and above those you can buy online) but it does run out on busier days. Otherwise, unless you're here at a quiet time of year, you should buy your ticket online in advance as they frequently sell out a few days before. The Castle website lists how many are still available for each time slot, so you can keep an eye on general availability. I checked today, and you can now enter the Castle up to 15 minutes before your timeslot, and as much after as you like.

Other than a taxi from Charlotte Square, you can either walk all the way to the Castle (see below) or walk to Hannover Street and take the first city bus to come (they all follow the same route at this point) from Hannover Street, two stops to George IV Bridge. This takes out most of the uphill part. I like to send people this route, as it has good views of the 'back' of the Castle from Castle Terrace, and takes you through the Grassmarket. If you're wanting something slightly shorter,turn left at the end of Castle Terrace, and up Johnston Terrace. https://maps.app.goo.gl/mLRkHcGA9SPd5KnV8 The other significant alternative is the HoHo bus (https://edinburghtour.com/) The green Edinburgh Tour route has a stop where the Viking shuttle drops you off. This route has a live guide and is always the one I recommend first if you don't need a multilingual tour. Get on at Stop 3 and off at Stop 9 for the Castle and the start of the Royal Mile.

The Viking shuttle from Newhaven Harbour (where you tender to) runs to Charlotte Square in the New Town. "New" is a relative term, it's 200-250 years old! It takes 15-20 minutes and runs every half hour on the hour and half hour.

As long as it's booked together through a UK travel agent, all those costs and other similar ones will be covered by the UK's Packaged Travel Regulations and refunded by the TA. A perfect example of the advantages of having a TA responsible for all significant non-refundable costs. In this instance the cruise is more than a year away (though those US-format, number only dates are easily confusing to the rest of the world) but the same principle applies if it had been next month, next week, or tomorrow.

Edinburgh Gin have closed their current location, opening what looks like a spectacular new distillery & showroom, but not until autumn this year (https://www.edinburghgin.com/our-distillery). An aside for me is that I see that it's going to be in the arches that our family business occupied 50+ years ago! The two other gin distilleries that I'm aware of are Summerhall Distillery (https://summerhalldistillery.com/collections/pickerings-gin) and Lind & Lime (https://lindandlime.com/). I toured Summerhall a few years ago and it was interesting. Lind & Lime are the sister company of the Port of Leith Distillery I mentioned in my previous post and I'm going on a tour soon. Lind & Lime are probably easier to get to if you're visiting Britannia - a ~10 minute walk from Ocean Terminal. There are lots of public transport options to get back into town, all free with your X99 ticket. The number 10 or 16 bus, or the tram, all work to return to the x99 in George Street, the 35, the 7, or the 14 if you want to get nearer the Royal Mile. https://www.lothianbuses.com/ The public transport option on Google Maps works well. To add real-time bus information, download the Transport for Edinburgh App: https://tfeapp.com/ Enjoy your day!

You might have seen that I got mixed up with another thread and thought you were on the train wanting to get to the airport! From the X99 stop double back on George Street; cross St Andrew Square through the gardens and past the Melville Monument; and you're at the tram stop. Catch the tram to Newhaven (heading to your left as you exit the gardens) and get off at Ocean Terminal. The Royal Yacht Britannia is accessed via the shopping mall. While you're there, consider visiting the Port of Leith Distillery (https://www.leithdistillery.com/) the world's first vertical whisky distillery. The views from the top are fantastic on a clear day, and if you don't want a tour you can still visit and have a coffee or drink.