Crown Cruise Ireland, Scotland?

[iggy25]

Has anyone done this cruise? Would you recommend? If so, why? Considering it for next July.

 

Thanks!

[haggis]

This is a good cruise. However, I would suggest you do it in August as that is the month the Edinburgh Tattoo is on and that is one show not to be missed. Its also a bit warmer in August.

Jimmy

[Mapu]

Has anyone done this cruise? Would you recommend? If so, why? Considering it for next July.

 

Thanks!

 

If you haven't already done so, you should check out the roll call for this year's Crown British Isles cruises. Lots of good reading.

[iggy25]

This is a good cruise. However, I would suggest you do it in August as that is the month the Edinburgh Tattoo is on and that is one show not to be missed. Its also a bit warmer in August.

Jimmy

 

What's the temp in July and August?

[BobT172]

We did the British Isles cruise on the Crown in 2009... it was good and had alot of good ports. The only thing I didn't like was the casino was closed 75% of the time because you never left British waters... of course, that wouldn't bother many people and probably saved me money besides.

 

We did it in July..weather was perfect.

[Maryandi]

We'll be on the Crown from May 7 to June 3rd, 2011. Leaving from Ft. Lauderdale - this is the beginning of the British Isles,Rotterdam,Belguim, etc for the summer season.

 

How is the ship , in good shape ?

 

I have read that the Tattoo is great, dates just didn't work for us and we wanted to leave from FLL.

 

Enjoy,

 

MaryAnn

[caber]

What's the temp in July and August?

 

It could be hot, it could be cold.

 

It could be wet, or dry, or windy or and combination.

 

I could be all three in one day.

 

The only weather you PROBABLY won`t get is snow.

 

Enjoy Scotland.:D

[6MonthsHere6MonthsThere]

Has anyone done this cruise? Would you recommend? If so, why? Considering it for next July.

 

Thanks!

 

 

Just completed it this last Monday, weather was PERFECT, warm & sunny and the sea was like a millpond, definately reccommend it. But like a previous poster had stated there is limited Casino time, closed completely 4 nights and limited hours on most of the others.:(

[Shogun]

Ah The British Weather,

 

Well it might get as hot as 32 degrees or down to 10,

 

it could be dry, it could be wet, it could be sunny, most likey all of these,

 

then in the afternoon.

 

The most important thing is to go in August and go to the edinburgh tatoo.

 

 

yours Shogun

[Grannycb]

It was our favorite cruise out of the 28 we've done. The ports are interesting, the people very friendly, food was great (try haggus), private tours were easy to set up and were real money savers. Bring rain gear and hope you won't need it. As others have said, watch the dates so you can see the Tattoo in Edinburgh.

[sunshine nana]

Would some of the posters give more details of the cruise? We are considering it for May 2011. We can't get away in August. What did you do in London, pre or post? How did you get to the ship? Which were the best ports? I want to get a driver in Belfast to visit where my grandma lived and also go to the Giant's causeway. Did you talk to anyone who did this? Thanks.

[hcat]

Just completed it this last Monday, weather was PERFECT, warm & sunny and the sea was like a millpond, definately reccommend it. But like a previous poster had stated there is limited Casino time, closed completely 4 nights and limited hours on most of the others.:(

 

We are booked for next July & truly looking forward to it! Any details or "must dos " would be appreciated--it'll be our first time on Princess. Did you try either specialty restaurant?

 

casino closure is not an issue for us--we'll have the same situation on our upcoming Bemruda cruise too!.

[Grannycb]

Would some of the posters give more details of the cruise? We are considering it for May 2011. We can't get away in August. What did you do in London, pre or post? How did you get to the ship? Which were the best ports? I want to get a driver in Belfast to visit where my grandma lived and also go to the Giant's causeway. Did you talk to anyone who did this? Thanks.

 

You asked! We arrived in London two days before our cruise. We used one of the online bid companies to get the Hilton for around $85. We walked around on our first day and took an organized tour the second. We took a cab to the pickup point for our cruise line's transportation. I believe it was at a large bus station. It was an easy way to get from London to Southampton.

 

It's hard to tell which port we enjoyed most. They were all excellent. It poured rain in Belfast, but we still managed to see the International Wall Murals, walk the botanical garden and enjoy the atmosphere. We loved our Scottish stops of Glasgow, Inverness and Edinburgh. We hired Craig McCall Flynn to take us around Glasgow. A historian gave us our tour to Loch Ness and surrounding area at Inverness. In Edinburgh, it rained but we had a blast at Edinburgh Castle and the Golden Mile - a DIY day. Liverpool was very special. Our guide was a policeman and his bus driver brother. They took us around Liverpool and then to Chester and on to Wales. That was a wonderful tour! In Cork, our CC group filled two buses from eCoach. That was another fun tour. I'm sure I've left a lot out but hope this gives you a rough idea.

[Pam in CA]

This is a great cruise. We did it a year ago and will be repeating Dublin and Belfast in September. In Belfast, I didn't do the Giants Causeway last year but will be this year.

 

Heard on my cruise last year: "Why do they have a Northern Ireland and Ireland, and different currencies? Aren't they the same thing?" I think my Irish ancesters rolled over in their graves and had another pint.

[babygoo]

It could be hot, it could be cold.

 

It could be wet, or dry, or windy or and combination.

 

I could be all three in one day.

 

The only weather you PROBABLY won`t get is snow.

 

Enjoy Scotland.:D

 

I remember having snow in June :p

[Maryandi]

Pam in CA, I think my ancestors did the flip when I just read that, too.:eek:

 

Does anyone have a link to the tours that you all just mentioned ?

 

Care to comment on the ship ?

 

Thanks,

 

MaryAnn

[caber]

I remember having snow in June :p

 

There was skiing in the Cairngorms this June.

 

MaryAnn,

 

You won`t be disappionted with Crown. She is a lovely ship. I cannot think of anything I could fault.

[spongerob]

Would some of the posters give more details of the cruise? We are considering it for May 2011. We can't get away in August. What did you do in London, pre or post? How did you get to the ship? Which were the best ports? I want to get a driver in Belfast to visit where my grandma lived and also go to the Giant's causeway. Did you talk to anyone who did this? Thanks.

 

We have taken British Isles cruises twice, both in late July/August so we could go to the Edinburgh Tattoo.

 

London - the first time we stayed a couple of nights in London, visited the Tower of London, Buckingham Palace, and the Queen's Art collection. Most of this we booked well in advance on line. One nice thing about the UK is just about everyone and everything has a really nice website. We used the underground to get around and chose our hotel so that it would be close to a tube station that gave access to the lines we needed. London is very expensive however. On the second trip we went directly from Heathrow to Southampton. Both times (actually all three times we have visited) we have used Woodford Chauffeurs to pick us up at the airport and take us to Southampton. On our first trip we had the driver pick us up at our hotel and we spent the day touring the countryside between London and Southampton.

 

Best ports - the ports have changed a little. IMO the best port was Orkney but I think I was in the minority opinion on that one. All of the ports are very good and it is easy to arrange independent tours. In Belfast their is a company called Black Taxi Tours. If you google the city name and "tours" you can probably find several options.

 

Weather - you need to be prepared for a little bit of everything. I used my golf rain suit and bought one for my wife since they are easy to pack and provide a lot of protection without being too warm. Remember, Scotland has only two seasons - winter, and July. Most of the time we had great weather. We have booked independent tours in Belfast, Greenock, Invergordon, Orkney, and Wales without any problem just by searching this site and on line. Edinburgh is easily done on your own, too. You can take the train into the city.

 

Check out the Ports of Call page and search for cruise reviews from past years that have done this itinerary (Golden Princess and Grand Princess).

[sunshine nana]

Thanks to all who replied! We'd love to hear more. We can't book until later, but want to be prepared for the best!

[BobT172]

What did you do in London, pre or post? How did you get to the ship?

 

We flew into Gatwick 3 days early. Took the Gatwick Express direct from the airport to Victoria Station in London. Then a taxi to the Waldorf Hilton (we wanted a central location and that was it).

 

What a fantastic city. We didn't do any organized tours (as we ahd been there before) but planned ahead... alot of walking but did Buckingham Palace changing of the Guard, Big Ben, Parliment Buildings, Covent Garden, London Eye, etc..alot to see in a relatively small area...saw a play (great theater district)

 

Took a train from Waterloo Station direct to Southampton..and a taxi to the port (about 5 monutes away)...don't try to walk it..very industrialized and no sidewalks in some areas.

 

All the info as to trains, etc can be found on line. Mapquest has some pretty good maps of London.

[NancyIL]

This is a great cruise. We did it a year ago and will be repeating Dublin and Belfast in September. In Belfast, I didn't do the Giants Causeway last year but will be this year.

 

Heard on my cruise last year: "Why do they have a Northern Ireland and Ireland, and different currencies? Aren't they the same thing?" I think my Irish ancesters rolled over in their graves and had another pint.

 

A friend asked me just yesterday why Ireland doesn't have the same currency as "the rest of the UK"!

 

I also just returned from the June 23, 2010 Crown Princess British Isles cruise, and it was wonderful. It was a bit rainy in Belfast and Invergordon, but mostly sunny the rest of the time. I am glad to have gone in June/July rather than in August for the Military Tatto in Edinburgh, because the city will be a zoo.

[travelbig]

We are booked for next July & truly looking forward to it! Any details or "must dos " would be appreciated.

 

Anyone who hasn't done this itinerary before, I would be glad to send you my port notes. My e-mail is gthiel at tampabay dot rr dot com

[HappyChick]

Thanks to all who replied! We'd love to hear more. We can't book until later, but want to be prepared for the best!

 

We just returned from this cruise, and I just posted our review. Check it out, and let me know if you have any questions.

 

Lisa

[Catpal]

Just got back from this cruise on Monday. It was awesome! It was in the 70's every day, even in Inverness. Only 2 sea days, so it was a new port almost every day. We took the train into Glasgow from Greenock and it was a treat to talk to the locals. If you don't want to do a lot of shore excursions, there are hop-on-hop-off double decker buses in Dublin, Belfast, Glasgow and Edinburgh. You can get a narrated tour for a fraction of the price. I have always been a great proponent of Princess's shore excursions, but it was fun to do a couple of the ports on our own for a change. I can highly recommend this one. However, the demographic of the passengers is older, so if you're looking for a lot of lively nightlife on the ship, you won't get it here. Also, the ship cruises so close to land that the casino could only be open about 4 days out of 12. But we loved the cruise.

[irislady]

We just got back from the June 23 sailing of this cruise. We loved everything about it (except for the food onboard which was very disappointing.) The ports were very interesting, the Crown is gorgeous, service was excellent. Even the weather was good most of the time . (I saw that someone else said it poured while they were in Belfast. We just had a light rain while on the bus, and a drizzle while at Giant's Causeway. It sounds like we lucked out with our timing.)

 

We'll definitely go back someday and see more of the Isles.

 

We chose to take this cruise in June to miss the huge crowds in August. Much of the rest of the world take their holiday in August, and the crowds are biggest then. I'm sure the Tatoo is magnificent if you like bagpipes, but I can't imagine how crowded Edinburgh, particularly the Castle, will be then. It was pretty darn crowded in Edinburgh and in the Castle in early July... especially if you try to go in and see the Scottish Crown Jewels. (Beware if you're claustrophobic. You have to go through a series of small rooms to get to the Jewels. By the time we got to the last 3 rooms we were packed tighter than sardines and couldn't go forward or backward. We took a quick peak at the jewels and headed straight for the exit and fresh air! That was a shame because the displays in the rooms told the history and were well done. By the end we couldn't get close enough to see much of anything.)

 

One of our fellow CCers overheard a little old lady on our cruise who was just miserable that the casinos were closed most of the time AND there was NO Bingo either due to UK law. Bless her heart, the casino and Bingo were her favorite parts of cruising, and she didn't know ahead of time that they would be so limited.

 

We had 3 full days in London before the cruise. We really enjoyed that and wish we had had even more time. There is so much to see and do. We stayed at the Crowne Plaza, St James, though not through Princess. The location was wonderful. The lobby, etc. is quite lovely, but the rooms were, as DH put it "quite tired", and in need of a makeover. Plenty of space, but the carpet, etc. all needed to be updated. You can walk to dozens and dozens of places from St. James, but you can get around even faster with an Oyster card which was so quick and easy to use.

Shae