BluenoseCaper

We also did a tour with Dougie of Highland Tours. We visited Dunrobin Castle, which was fabulous, as was Dougie. I highly recommend him.

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In my opinion, the far and away best deal in Greenock is the FREE 4 hour local tour put on by the locals. They might tell you that you can make a donation to help pay for the bus, but there is no pressure to do so. We have taken 2 different "locals" tours and they were both delightful, well organized and informative. We would do that again in a heartbeat.

 

Doug

We took a taxi from the ship to the train station. It cost about 2 pounds and was very convenient. The station is outdoors but we didn't wait long for the train. When we returned there were no taxis at the station but within a minute or 2 of walking, we were able to flag one down.

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We live in Cape Breton and did this cruise last summer. This was the only excursion we booked and it was wonderful. It included a fiddle player, a piano player and a guitar player, and 2 of the 3 were great singers. The show lasted about 90 minutes and consisted entirely of Celtic music, one of the mainstays of Cape Breton culture. There was a brief intermission where tea and oatcakes were served. This would be the traditional fare at a Cape Breton ceilidh. Near the end, they asked people to get up and learn how to do a square set - one part of a traditional square dance. This was a great deal of fun and the performers made it real easy to learn. I would highly recommend this excursion. It is right in the cruise pavilion, so no travel or transportation required. We had a meeting spot near the pavilion and a bagpipe player piped us into the venue. At the end we were all given a certificate enrolling us in the Big Fiddle Society.

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It depends upon where you are also. We did a British Isles cruise last year and arranged several private excursions. All of the guides were appreciative but seemed very surprised to get a tip. That is our experience, for what it is worth.

We were on the Zuiderdam in May 2016. We could make anytime dining reservations up to 3 days ahead, so we made 3 bookings the first day, then each day after we made another reservation for 3 days down the road. You can request any size table you like and once we found a waiter we liked, we asked for him each night when we arrived for dinner.

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We used MacLeod's Highland Tours out of Invergordon. Our guide was Dougie MacLeod and he was just great.

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We used East Coast Taxis back in May and had a wonderful day. Our guide was Clive and he was terrific. He was just a wealth of information. Our tour was to Alnwick Castle (used in the final episodes of Downton Abbey). We stopped first at Warkworth Castle, then proceeded to Alnwick. We spent about 3-4 hours there but could have stayed longer. It is worth the extra admission to see the gardens. On the return, we did a few scenic stops and then Clive took us to see some of the sights in Newcastle, including the Millennium Bridge. We had booked a 5 hour tour for 170 pounds. We were gone at least 7 hours and Clive still charged us only 170 pounds. He even had a few other places he wanted us to see but we were being very conservative on time - didn't want to be late back. There were 8 of us, so under 30 pounds each for 7 hours was a great deal. I heartily recommend East Coast Taxi Tours.

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We just did this on May 17 and May 29, 2016. From a hotel near Nyhavn - the hotel booked a car for 4 with luggage and we opted for a fixed rate of 250 DKK. On the return we got a cab at the cruise terminal to a hotel near Tivoli and it was 240 DKK on the meter.

We recently stopped in Stavanger, Norway on the HAL Zuiderdam. We wanted to take the boat ride up the Lysefjord to Pulpit Rock using Rodne (rodne.no). On the ship, the excursion cost $129 US. I booked it online and we paid $72 Canadian.

The boat for the fjord cruise docks in the same area as the ship did. It is about a 5 minute walk away. You walk towards the town and the fjord cruise boat is just on the opposite side of the harbour. With your pre-purchased ticket receipt, you can just board the boat. The tour started at 10 AM and we were there about 9:20 or so. You can buy tickets at the location but run the risk of them being sold out.

The tour itself is fabulous with amazing scenery. It was one of the best excursions we ever did, and this was our 14th cruise. It took about 3 hours.

After the cruise, we decided to eat in town. We ate at a very nice burger restaurant (not fast food) called Dognvill. It was on the next street parallel to where we caught the fjord cruise boat.

Stavanger was a lovely city and we spent the rest of the afternnon shopping and looking around the harbour area.

We recently visited Oslo on the HAL Zuiderdam. We decided to purchase the Oslo Pass. If you buy it online, you have to go the Visitor Centre to redeem your coupon, so we opted to buy it when we got there. When you exit the ship, there is a little shopping arcade there. One of the stores in the arcade sells them. They did not ask for ID for those purchasing a senior's pass, so some of my friends paid about half price. That was a pretty good deal.

Our first stop was to be the island across the harbour (Bygdoy) to see the Viking Ship Museum and the Norwegian Folk Museum. You can use your pass on the ferry. You do not have to stop at the ferry ticket booth, just go directly to where the ferry lands. Once you get to the island, it is a fair hike to the Viking Ship Museum, and it is all uphill. For those with mobility issues, it might be a problem. There are buses on the island, but I'm not sure if you can catch one to go to the Museum. The museum is worth the walk.

The Norwegian Folk Museum is not too far from the Viking Ship Museum (maybe 5-7 minutes). It is massive with many different buildings and displays. You really have to pick and choose if you have limited time. The map they give you does highlight the must sees. One of those is the Old Stave Church. It is an uphill walk to reach it - seems like a lot of Oslo is uphill. After visiting the museum, I inquired and we got a bus back to the ferry. The bus stop was just outside the entrance to the left of the museum. It took you to the Fram and Kon-Tiki museums. The ferry also stops there.

Downtown Oslo is very accessible by foot. we went back to the ship for lunch then walked up to City Hall (which is right on the harbour) and on to the National Gallery to see "The Scream". There isn't much else noteworthy in that museum.

We recently sailed on the HAL Zuiderdam out of Copenhagen. We purchased the Copenhagen Card online. There is a location at the airport where you can bring your receipt from online and pick up the cards. After you exit the lugagge area, there is an information desk to the left. You can get your cards there. Don't let them fill in the starting time, if you are not planning to use the card right away. We arrived in the evening and were not planning to use it until the following day. The next morning we filled in the starting time at our first attraction. It was well worth the money.

We recently visited Glasgow on our cruise on the Zuiderdam. We decided to go it alone. We took the train from Greenock Central Station to Glasgow Central. The ship docked at 7 AM and we took a taxi from the ship to the station. It cost us 4 pounds. The station is really just a ticket office and you wait out on the platform. A one day return ticket cost 10 pounds. With that ticket you can take any train in and back on that day. We were lucky to catch the 7:56 train. It was an express train with only a few stops and we were in Glasgow in about 30 minutes. If you need the toilet at the station, just watch for the signs - it is downstairs. But it costs 20 p. There are change machines there. Glasgow was easy to get around. We had a local map and walked around Buchanan Street and the adjacent streets and eventually went to George Square to get the HOHO bus. Every second bus has a live tour guide. The others have a recorded commentary for which they give you earbuds. The live commentator is best. It cost 14 pounds for 1 day. We had limited time so only stopped at the Glasgow Cathedral, including the Necropolis (which was a fantastic graveyard), and the Riverside Museum (a transportation museum), which we really enjoyed. We did however do the full loop on the bus (about 80 minutes), just to see the city and the sights. At every stop a bus comes along every 15 minutes. There is a schedule posted at each stop to tell you the approximate times. We went back to the station around 1 PM and had a quick lunch there, although there were lots of places in the area to eat. We got an express train back to Greenock around 2 PM. It took about 30 minutes, as opposed to the regular train, which took around 45 minutes. When we got back to Greenock Central, there were no cabs around so we decided to walk. It is a fair hike and we were a little uncertain about the route. After about 5 minutes, we saw a cab so we hailed it. It only cost 2 pounds 60 from where we were and we were glad we took it.

Thank you very much. That looks really good.

Do you think it is do-able in one day?

Hi Danish Viking

We are arriving in Copenhagen on Sunday, May 15 prior to our cruise on May 17, so we have a full day in Copenhagen on Monday, May 16.

We are staying at the Best Western City Centre, near Nuhavn.

I have a tentative itinerary, if you would be so kind to comment on.

In the morning, we plan to walk over to Nyhavn to catch a boat tour first thing. We will have a Copenhagen Card.

After the boat tour, we are interested in Amaliensborg Castle, Rosenborg Castle and Christiansborg Castle as well as a walk down the Stroget and then an evening visit to Tivoli Gardens. If this is too much, we would drop the Amaliensborg Castle.

We will have part of the day on our return to Copenhagen on Sunday, May 29 and plan to visit the National Museum and St. Saviour, Church.

For our visit on Monday, it looks pretty walkable except for Amaliensborg to Rosenborg. I wonder if you could provide public transit info for that route as well as Rosenberg to the Stroget and Tivoli Gardens back to our hotel.

Many thanks!

JJ MacLellan

Nova Scotia, Canada

Cabin # - 6158

Class – Verandah - 2C

Starboard or Port Side - Starboard

Bed near?(balcony or bath) –Bath

Quiet Cabin - Occasional noise from adjoining cabins, but not a problem.

Balcony View - Obstructed - top of lifeboats level with floor of balcony. Horizontal view fine, vertical view obstructed.

Balcony Size? Normal or oversized for class? - slightly larger because it is angled.

Was wind a problem? Nope

If an aft cabin, was soot a problem? N/A

Any specific problems with this cabin? Not really a problem but with separated beds it was tight getting around the beds.

Any other comments? The bathroom is really spacious and modern and there was lots of storage space. Really liked the TV that could be rotated.

Cabin # - 6162

Class – Verandah - 2C

Starboard or Port Side - Starboard

Bed near?(balcony or bath) –Bath

Quiet Cabin - Occasional noise from adjoining cabins - ringing phone, some voices but not a problem.

Balcony View - Obstructed - top of lifeboats level with floor of balcony. This cabin was between lifeboats so white posts raised higher than floor level. Horizontal view fine, vertical view obstructed.

Balcony Size? Normal or oversized for class? - normal.

Was wind a problem? Nope

If an aft cabin, was soot a problem? N/A

Any specific problems with this cabin? No problems.

Any other comments? The bathroom is really spacious and modern and there was lots of storage space. Really liked the TV that could be rotated.