Jump to content

Scotland -Ireland cruise


texasstar
 Share

Recommended Posts

For those that have taken this cruise...

We are considering this cruise, but are wondering how many ports use tenders, and how difficult they are to board in the seas? My husband is visually impaired and is currently recovering from foot surgery. We are hoping the foot will not be a problem by August, but just in case, we would like to know if this will be an issue.

Thank you.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We did this on the Wind Surf in June which has tenders that are actually a little more difficult than the motor yacht tendrts that are doing this itinerary 2018. We have tendered on all of these and they are relatively easy. The crews are well trained in getting people on board with physical limitations. Unless he does not recover enough to walk around I would go for it. We had two people on board who used walkers and they managed to get around. We saw them in Tobermory and Kirkwall. This itinerary is phenomenal. We would love to do it again. Our 12th or 13th Windstar and by far one of the very best.

 

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you, that is what I wanted to hear! He is walking with a cane now, and we are hoping he can ditch that soon. If you have any "words of wisdom" about sights to see, excursions or hotels, I would love to hear them. We are flying in to Inverness pre-cruise.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Same one we did except we were on the Wind Surf. Every port was wonderful. Send me an email with your info and I'll send a copy of our tours etc to you. sb44ins at gmail dot com. We had a few superb guides and great hotels.

 

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Gaelic Explorers that departs Edinburgh Aug. 24.

Invergordon, Kirkwall, Portree, Tobermory, Portrush,Isle of Man, Dublin.

Thank you.

I took this trip 2 years ago it was actually one of my favorite Windstar experiences however if there were different owners of Windstar at the time. We really did enjoy all of our excursions and going to very small quiet very green places one of the highlights was going to a man's estate and having a tour of all of his ground livestock and beautiful bird watching as well as a little bit of a snack inside of the Salon of his house that was quite special. We totally enjoyed this experience and then we remained in Dublin for 4 days after and had an even better time than anyone could have imagined also booking a beautiful private tour on our own for a full day to the beautiful countryside and castles

 

Sent from my SM-G955U using Forums mobile app

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Took this cruise in 2016, here’s what I posted when I returned. It was a superb trip:

 

Here's what we did on shore, we were travelling with another couple so we were able to split our guides for cost efficiency.

 

Invergorden- Windstar offers the Culloden complimentary excursion in the afternoon. When we docked my husband met up with a fishing guide I prearranged and fly fished for Atlantic Salmon. He had a great day, missed Culloden but caught a fish and enjoyed his time with his guide. He did this by himself. I decided to walk the town which really doesn't have much to see or do. This was ok for me after three days of busy in Edinburgh.

 

Kirkwell- we had a private excursion with Orkney Uncovered, Kindley. We were able to do the church in town, highly recommend, saw the WWII sights on Scapa Flow, Skara Brae and the Ring of Brodgar. This was our most expensive tour (don't remember how much though) but well worth the price. Kindley scheduled our sights to alleviate bus tours so we were virtually the only people at the sights. Great day, all day.

 

Portree- we utilised Skye Day Tours and our guide was Doug. This tour was in a minivan and we shared it with two other couples from our ship. Skye Tours put us together. One of the other couples cancelled last minute but our price remained the same, £35pp. Our guide was sweet and took us all over the island. There are such beautiful spots there. Some people rented cars and hiked, that would have been nice as the landscape out of Portree is spectacular.

 

Tobermory- my husband and I enjoyed a non-excursion day here. The weather was beautiful and the town was sleepy but picturesque. We had a wonderful sunny day. Walked to end of town and had fish and chips, along with free wifi, on the pier. Then we hiked to the lighthouse, a muddy hike but were rewarded with spectacular views of the sound, our ship and the lighthouse. All to ourselves. It would be cool to have the ship pack a picnic lunch and enjoy that spot. A favourite memory.

 

Portrush- a great excursion with Alister from City & Causeway Tours out of Belfast. Unfortunately can't squeeze in Belfast and the Northern Coast. Alister took us to Devils Causeway (gave us a hint how to see without "paying), a viewpoint of Carrick-a-Rede Bridge (wait time too long to go over), Bushmills and a drive on the Antrim Coast no tour bus can ride on. Alister was professional and his minivan was immaculate. Highly recommend. Cost was £300 (total) for the full day, and I mean a full day. We were there during a bank holiday and traffic in town was a bit of a mess. Alister had a handle on it all.

 

Isle of Mann- we used Steve from wildlife@manx.net. Steve was a very nice guide, obviously loves his island and was able to take us all over the place via a circular route of the southern part of the island. While we didn't tour any castle, we were able to go see some ruins not visited by the tour buses, saw places from one of our favourite movies filmed there, Waking Ned Devine. Steves car was a bit tight but the places we saw and the stories we heard gave us such an appreciation for the Isle of Mann. Full day tour was £45pp. Steves specialty is wildlife so if that interests you I'm sure he'd be happy to help with that also.

 

Couple of helpful hints

Edinburgh dock was really Dundee, at least for our cruise. I was surprised at the number of unhappy people that thought they were meeting the ship IN Edinburgh. I'm an excessive planner so I was prepared. We booked a car to take us from our hotel to the ship, Airport-Transfers-Direct.com. Cost was £120 which is probably a bit expensive but it was immaculate, on time, great driver and made a couple of sightseeing stops along the way. He had returned from taking someone from the Surf to Edinburgh before us so he was well aware how to get to the dock, which seemed to confuse some cabs.

 

Do the Royal Tattoo if you are able. What a great experience. Purchase tix online from their website as soon as you are able because they do sell out. Tickets came to my home a couple months ahead of time, I tucked them in my passport for safekeeping.

 

We stayed at the Apex Grassmarket hotel. I highly recommend. Not fancy but very, very nice. The location couldn't be better, at the foot of the Castle. We were there during The Fringe Festival and it was so much fun.

 

I'd be glad to answer any questions you may have. What a fantastic cruise!

 

Jean

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you so much for the information. I am just starting to plan, so this will be very helpful. I have made hotel reservations in Edinburgh. We will be there when the festival is going on, so the rates were astronomical. Thanks for the info on the Military Tattoo, we will get tickets.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

My husband and I will be on this cruise and are so excited! We are taking a b2b cruise also starting in Edinburgh on Aug. 17th, going to Norway, then back to Edinburgh and continuing around Scotland to Dublin. We are trying to look for a hotel in Edinburgh. Did you book your hotel through Windstar or on your own? I know prices are high because of the festival. Where did you end up making reservations?

(Looks like you’re from Texas- so are we)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My husband and I will be on this cruise and are so excited! We are taking a b2b cruise also starting in Edinburgh on Aug. 17th, going to Norway, then back to Edinburgh and continuing around Scotland to Dublin. We are trying to look for a hotel in Edinburgh. Did you book your hotel through Windstar or on your own? I know prices are high because of the festival. Where did you end up making reservations?

(Looks like you’re from Texas- so are we)

I'll jump in here too as we did this last year and stayed at amazing GV Royal Mile. It was one of the best hotels that we've ever stayed at and absolutely in the center of everthing but a half block removed from the noise. Another suggestion while there is tea at the Signet Library which is hidden but only across street from hotel. Lovely 2 hour plus high tea. Must have reservations. Enjoy your b2b. It will be delightful.

 

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Dorothy Alice, We are staying at the Hotel du Vin in the old town. I hope it will be ok. There are good and bad reviews. I am researching shore excursions because I usually find the ship excursions are overpriced. I am finding all excursions are high. Maybe it is the time of the year. The one that sb44 and Jean recommended on Orkney Island is booked up. I have made a reservation with Jean Ross. She got very good reviews. If you would like, I can see if it would be possible for you to join us.

We grew up in Texas, but now live if Washington state. Where are you from?

Carron

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi sb44 and Texasstar,

Thanks for the info about Edinburgh hotels. We are hoping to get some reservations made this week. I’m afraid we may not have much choice since the Fringe Festival is going on. So far, we have booked a tour with Inverness tours with “Dave” when we dock in Invergordon. We also try to arrange things ourselves since the ship excursions are so high. Thanks for your kind offer about the Orkney tour but we are traveling with another couple and we’re not quite sure how we will plan each stop.

We are originally from Iowa but have lived in Texas for 37 years. We are north of Houston in Conroe.

We are really looking forward to this trip!

Barb

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share

  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...