Edinburgh, Military Tattoo Aug 5th - Infinity

[edgeman61]

Has anyone done a Ship's excursion to the Royal Military Tattoo with Celebrity?

 

We are on the August 5th, 2013 sailing of the Infinity around the British Isles. There is a stop in Grennock until 2:00 AM, for what I suppose is so passengers can attend the Tattoo and still be able to make it back to the ship.

 

We inquired with Celebrity's Shore Excursions department as to whether an excursion to the Tattoo would be offered and their response was that they were not going to arrange a unique excursion for one or two sailings during a season.

 

Is it the consensus of Cruise Critic members that this is the case and we should try an arrange our own excursion or is it just too early and they eventually will offer a ship sponsered tour to the Tattoo?

 

Your responses will be greatly appreciated.

[kitty9]

That response is absolutely ridiculous. The Tattoo only runs in August, and many cruise lines arrange their itineraries just so their passengers can take in that wonderful event. And considering that a lot of port stops are infrequent especially on longer itineraries, their response makes no sense because they could use that excuse for every port that they visit infrequently, and we all know that isn't the case because cruise lines make a lot of money from tours. Crystal Cruises generally makes one stop in Edinburgh in the month of August, and they always arrange a tour for the Tattoo.

 

My only concern for arranging a private tour is your missing the ship. Yes, I know your ship doesn't leave until 2, but the traffic after the show is over is horrendous, at best. Buses park way down from the Royal Mile and the Castle and it just takes forever if you arrange a private tour, you must consult with the tour company and determine if they can get you back to the ship in time.

 

Good Luck

[maggie.1008]

I was born in Scotland. I have been on British Isles cruise but always missed the Tatoo by a day or so. It is suppose to be wonderful and not to be missed. I will make it one day soon. Book on your own as tickets sell our early. My relatives that live in Scotland have seen it many times.

[sandancer]

Apply for tickets as soon as they are available. It is very difficult to get them if you don't. It is a wonderful experience and if you are going to be in that part of the world it would be a shame to miss it. On Saturdays there are two performances and if you were there on one of those days you could book the earlier one so you would not have to worry about missing the ship. The tickets range from £24 to £58 each.

[HappyTvlr]

If you can get tickets to the 730 or 9pm you should have no trouble, but there is always a risk to consider and it is a shame Celebrity will not offer the excursion. If this is your only chance to see it you should make every reasonable effort as it is beyond incredible.

[AGGSBAGGS]

Hi there, I live in glasgow and know the drive time from Greenock to Edinburgh is approximately 2 hours and that is if there are no jams which can happen frequently. Def get the early show but I would also enquirer in Greenock for transport. Trains are not a great option as you need to change Train stations in glasgow city centre. I wil have a look at a tour group I know here for you f you want. Allison:)

[Jade13]

We went with HAL last year and it is not to be missed. The Military Tattoo is amazing.

 

This was a tender port for HAL with our ship leaving at about 11:59PM. We paid for the ships excursion even though we almost always arrange private tours, so we could watch the full performance.

 

There was a couple on the ship who booked privately to save money, but their plan was to miss the end of the performance so they could catch a train back, and then I think they were going to hire a taxi back to the dock to catch the tender. I am not sure what happened, but it was poring down rain the whole night (did not ruin the performance), and we were glad we were in a bus on the way back to the port.

 

What port is Celebrity using?

[uktog]

Whilst you might want to see this spectacle, make sure you arrange all your transport in advance and do not rely on public transport. Edinburgh is a nightmare during the tattoo and whilst I can certainly drive to Greenock in 2 hours, you need to bear in mind the first performance of the tattoo does not finish until 2100 and you will have to walk some distance to any transport, taxis are very hard to find and you have to walk some distance before you are at roads open to traffic. But you would not take a taxi to Greenock!

 

Then if you were relying on trains you have to change stations in Glasgow and will be getting close to last train times.

 

If its an 0200 departure from Greenock you should be ok with a private driver/minibus if others in your roll call can join you. You would need to get others to commit very soon so you can all get tickets to be seated in the same section of the stands.

 

Never miss the end of the tattoo, that is the highlight, pointless going and missing the massed pipes and drums and the march off!

 

The tattoo has never been cancelled, it goes on despite rain etc.

[Keith1010]

The Military Tattoo is very special.

 

As others have said book tickets on line as soon as they are available.

 

Keith

[rwr235]

Has anyone done a Ship's excursion to the Royal Military Tattoo with Celebrity?

 

We are on the August 5th, 2013 sailing of the Infinity around the British Isles. There is a stop in Grennock until 2:00 AM, for what I suppose is so passengers can attend the Tattoo and still be able to make it back to the ship.

 

We inquired with Celebrity's Shore Excursions department as to whether an excursion to the Tattoo would be offered and their response was that they were not going to arrange a unique excursion for one or two sailings during a season.

 

Is it the consensus of Cruise Critic members that this is the case and we should try an arrange our own excursion or is it just too early and they eventually will offer a ship sponsered tour to the Tattoo?

 

Your responses will be greatly appreciated.

 

Hi,

 

Have you joined our Roll Call for this cruise ? Some parties have already arranged private tours...that include the evening at the Tattoo.

 

Hope to see you onboard.

 

Woody

[Eglesbrech]

Tickets for the 2013 tattoo went on sale in mid December 2012 so the chances of getting a block booking are slim but you could be lucky. It is an event well worth seeing but come dressed for all weathers as in August you can get hot sun, rain or cold (or some days all of them in the same day!)

[jo-b]

It is worth asking Celebrity again, on the Constellation Immersive wine cruise they are running there was no transfer to Paris from Le havre for those wanting an overnight stop.

One of the roll calls contacted them and because enough people wanted it they arranged to provide a transfer for that and all the subsequent cruises.

 

It is an amazing experience very atmospheric a wonderful spectacle.

[lucyd]

Unfortunately, since port days in Glasgow are mid-week there is no early (7:30 PM) show only the later time.

I believe Princess has two ships docking in Edinburgh and Glasgow and one is acutally on a Saturday which would allow for the eariler show.

[sandancer]

Tickets for the 2013 tattoo went on sale in mid December 2012 so the chances of getting a block booking are slim but you could be lucky. It is an event well worth seeing but come dressed for all weathers as in August you can get hot sun, rain or cold (or some days all of them in the same day!)

Tickets go on sale on Dec 3rd and any individual can only purchase a maximum of 8 tickets. As well as dressing for all weathers you need a blow up cushion. Those seats are HARD!

[MonDreamr1]

Tickets go on sale on Dec 3rd and any individual can only purchase a maximum of 8 tickets. As well as dressing for all weathers you need a blow up cushion. Those seats are HARD!

 

The new seats weren't too bad last year. They were renting cushions for £1.

[kitty9]

And for my disabled friends, they do an amazing job in accommodating those with disabilities. Instead of having to walk or take your mobility transport up to the area, they provide accessible transportation right into the arena and we are seated before they open the gates to anyone else. After the show, they bring the vehicles back into the arena and we are taken back to where our regular transportation is waiting for us.

 

I must congratulate those who organize the Tattoo for doing such a great job for us disabled.

[uktog]

All the information you need about booking will appear here

 

http://www.edintattoo.co.uk/

 

As booking is not open you will have no problems getting block tickets

 

My apologies, when I read your earlier post I thought you were in port on a saturday, I should have checked. It will be that reason Celebrity will probably consider the timings too risky to run a shore excursion

 

You will be looking at the 2100 performace which will finish at 2230

 

Allow a good 30 minutes to get back to your pre arranged transport and two hours to drive back to the ship so you would be back on board about 0100

 

You have to hope nothing goes wrong, but at that time of night once out of Edinburgh the traffic will be quiet

[edgeman61]

We re-checked the shore excursions page on Celebrity's web site yesterday (11/11/2012) and lo and behold there were two options for the Edinburgh Military Tattoo for our cruise. One option was for seating at the end of the "stadium" for lack of a better term and the other option was for seating on the sides of the stadium. I believe the end seating gives you a head-on view of the bands and the side seating give you ..... a side view of the festivities.

 

We went ahead and booked it with X, having to arrange an excursion on our own and posibly putting down non-refundable deposits didn't appeal to us. Plus, we know that if we are late getting back that the ship has a better chance of being there waiting for us.

 

I want to thank everyone for their inputs.

 

I don't know if anyone has mentioned it here before but Celbrity's web site is confusing to navigate ;). It seems like there are two or three layers of redundant inputs to place an excursion in your shopping cart.

[sandancer]

Very happy with your successful outcome. You spurred me into booking our own 2 night hotel package which includes tickets for the tattoo. It's so much easier than booking tickets and trying to make arrangements around them. No doubt it is a little more expensive for both of us but very well worth it.

[bbappel]

We re-checked the shore excursions page on Celebrity's web site yesterday (11/11/2012) and lo and behold there were two options for the Edinburgh Military Tattoo for our cruise. One option was for seating at the end of the "stadium" for lack of a better term and the other option was for seating on the sides of the stadium. I believe the end seating gives you a head-on view of the bands and the side seating give you ..... a side view of the festivities.

 

We went ahead and booked it with X, having to arrange an excursion on our own and posibly putting down non-refundable deposits didn't appeal to us. Plus, we know that if we are late getting back that the ship has a better chance of being there waiting for us.

 

I want to thank everyone for their inputs.

 

I don't know if anyone has mentioned it here before but Celbrity's web site is confusing to navigate ;). It seems like there are two or three layers of redundant inputs to place an excursion in your shopping cart.

 

I'm so glad you were able to book this. We went in 2007 (I think) but we were on Princess and were docked in North Queensferry, just outside Edinburgh. When my husband suggested this, I thought - ho hum - do I really want to see a bunch of bagpipes, but he wanted to do it, and I don't like to miss things, so I went along. It was absolutely fascinating. I thoroughly enjoyed it - and I'm not overly fond of bagpipes. We had the head-on seats so they were marching right toward us and the sound was wonderful. They put on a really magnificent show, and now I'm so glad we didn't miss it. It is much safer to book it through Celebrity - especially since you are docked in Greenock.

We had private transport and that was a nightmare because the cab couldn't meet us at the pre-arranged spot. Luckily my cell phone worked and we were able, after a lengthy wait, to meet the driver.

[Eglesbrech]

Glad I that you got booked, you will really enjoy it.

 

If you are going to be in Edinburgh early enough to eat before the show then can I strongly suggest that you pre book a restaurant as they get really busy during the festival.

 

For something nice try the Witchery which is right next to the Castle.

 

There are also lots of street entertainers to keep you amused in the queue to the castle esplanade.

 

Have a wonderful time here in Scotland.