Not quite live from the Caribbean Princess: British Isles June 5 - June 17, 2013

[Big Chippy]

Hi thanks for a very informative and interesting review. We are taking the cruise on 11th July and you have been a great help.

Just one query (at the moment:)) did you notice if there were taxis at the Invergordon dock? we are going into Inverness to pick up a tour, it would be easier to go by taxi and return by public transport as we will have more time on the return journey.

[Wandering_star]

Saturday, June 15 - Cobh

 

We finally left Dublin around midnight. The trip down to Cobh was rocky, bumpy and choppy! We weren’t scheduled to arrive in Cobh until around noon, so we went for breakfast in Horizon Court. The approach to Cobh is very scenic! If your ship is meant to arrive in Cobh in the morning, I recommend getting up early to enjoy the view!

 

Since we were late arriving, a number of the tours were canceled. Tours for Blarney Castle were rescheduled and shortened (I think). We didn’t have any plans, so we walked around the town, walked up to the cathedral (It’s a bit of a trek, but worth it!), and did some shopping to spend the rest of our Euros. I saw some very reasonably price Baleek china and Crystal, if you can get it home undamaged!

 

For us, a half day in Cobh was just the right amount of time, so the delay in arrival didn’t bother us at all. We were anxious to know if we would be able to get into Guernsey!

 

Sunday, June 16 - Guernsey

 

It was a rough sail, but we arrived in Guernsey on time on Sunday morning. For some reason, the wait to get a tender ticket was really long! The tender ride is longer than Edinburgh.

 

I will warn you, we did not think much of Guernsey. It was the least friendly and least accessible port we visited.

 

When we got to Guernsey we didn’t see much in the way of tourist info - 2 ladies on the dock were handing out maps, but that was it. St. Peter Port was holding a Father’s Day Marathon and other events that closed down the main street by the harbour. Due to the Marathon, the bus stops were relocated down the street - a good 15 minute walk from where the tenders let off. There was no organization to the bue line-ups - we waited for 15 minutes for the 91 bus - the route that takes you around the island - 2 pounds per person. A bus arrived, but filled up just as we got to the front. Another bus pulled up behind it and everyone standing in line behind us piled into the bus first - no direction or line control from the bus personnel. Very not cool people!

 

Also, be warned - if your ship comes here on a Sunday, almost nothing is open!. While at every other port we were welcomed and genuinely felt like the city was happy we were there, Guernsey seemed to have the motto” “Welcome to Guernsey, Show yourself around.” It was really disappointing - we got fed up of the attitude of the people and went back to the tender to go back to the ship.

 

On the way back on the tender, we saw one of the fast ferries from the mainland coming into dock - very impressive!

 

Around 10pm this evening, we were able to see the Royal far off in the distance! Very cool to see and I hope we get to try it out soon.

 

Monday, June 17 - Southampton

 

All packed up. Sad to leave. Barely any breakfast in the platinum disembarkation lounge. Disembarkation ran 30minutes behind schedule, but once off we found our luggage with no problems. Grabbed a taxi and headed to the train station. We have another week in the London area, so we will be visiting a number of sights before heading home and back to our normal, newly married lives.

 

Couple of final thoughts from this cruise:

Really glad we brought sunscreen, rain jackets, gloves and toques (for Orkney), our own entertainment and light layers of clothing

 

This cruise seemed completely focussed on the targeted demographic while ignoring everyone else - in the evenings we often didn’t have anything to do as trivia would be replaced by dancing in all the lounges. Evening trivia was often geared towards older individuals, not towards those who were born in the last 30 years.

 

There was a lack of guest entertainment - only one comedian and one vocal comedian on the cruise.

 

If you are going to ignore the younger generations, at least fix the tv system to show all the movies shown throughout the cruise. We heard the Royal is going to have an on demand entertainment system - should be interesting

 

I found the wifi internet to be quite good, compared to the past cruises we’ve been on. It was slow every once in awhile but not too bad.

 

The bed was really comfortable! And the pillows were a huge improvement from past cruises.

 

Movies Under Stars was weather dependent, but they did have a simulcast in your stateroom as well.

 

Kelvin Joy and his staff did a really great job!

 

The food was awesome! Really recommend the Crown Grill if you’ve never tried it! We had no trouble getting reservations, just call from your stateroom. Be sure to go on a night when you are really hungry and when you have lots of time. This is not an experienced to be rushed!

 

Despite any problems we had, we had an amazing time! It was probably the best cruise we’ve had to date, with the exception of our Caribbean cruise in 2011 when we got engaged :) We whole heartedly recommend this itinerary to anyone!

 

That’s it for us! Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it!

 

Shuttle List:

 

Le Harve

Princess shuttle into the pedestrian area of Le Harve

8 Euros each person, each way

It takes about 20 minutes to walk from the ship to where the shuttle drops off

 

 

South Queensferry/Edinburgh

Independent shuttle into Edinburgh

10 pounds each, return

Drops off in Charlotte Square, just behind Princes Street

 

 

Invergordon/Inverness

Public Transit

Taxis available right at the dock

 

 

Kirkwall/ Orkney Islands

Complementary Shuttle from the pier to the centre of Kirkwall - drops off just outside the Cathedral

Runs every 30 minutes

 

We also saw a double decker bus with an open top that seemed to be offering tours around the island - google Discover Orkney for more info - I wish we had!

 

 

Belfast

Complementary Shuttle into Belfast

Runs every 20-30 minutes

 

 

Dublin

Ship’s shuttle to Kildare Square

$8 each person, each way

 

No Shuttles in Cobh or Guernsey

[Wincurl]

having done this cruise in May for its first voyage, most of my comments would be the same, as well a s what we did.our rough spot was Guernsey which we never did get into, but it sounds like we didnt miss much, although it was disappointing. Our weather into and out of cobh was beautiful and calm so it was a lovely experience.

I would agree, that for the size of the ship, NOT much to do at night besides gamble which we dont and I am 60. Most nights we were tired but still not much aside from watching Karioke. I noticed many doors being decorated on birthdays and despite the fact that my group advised them and so did I, I never got any and my birthday was on board.

[melody hounddog]

Wonderful review. Thanks so much for taking the time to do it. I have taken notes and this will be very useful for our trip next summer.

[Chloe1500]

Thanks for your detailed review. I was on the British Isles cruise May 24-June 5, and our visit to Guernsey was very different. We enjoyed it very much, and it was one of the highlights for us.

 

We waited until the first rush for the tenders was over, then walked into the dining room to get our tender ticket. There was no wait and we got right on a tender. The weather started out cool and partly cloudy but warmed up when the sun came out.

 

We opted to hike along the cliff paths, in a loop from the port to Fermain Bay, a beautiful beach, and then returned along another route that went past the lavish estates built over the remains of Ft George. My DH and I decided that we will move there when we win the lottery!

 

We had time to shop for French wine and goodies in the cute little shops before getting into a very, very long line for a tender--about an hour and a half wait. We were told by a shopkeeper that when the big ferry is available, the tender process is not horrific, but that day, there was another cruise ship in port and the ferry was not available to Princess.

[majortom10]

We were also on that cruise Chloe1500 and there were horrendous queues at the port for the tender but the Sark Ferry was being used and tendering back so we didnt have to wait that long.

[Chloe1500]

We were also on that cruise Chloe1500 and there were horrendous queues at the port for the tender but the Sark Ferry was being used and tendering back so we didnt have to wait that long.

 

Well, we probably just hit the queues at the wrong time. At least, the weather was good! Anyway, I didn't expect much from the port day in Guernsey but was pleasantly surprised at how beautiful it was.

[RRFPresident]

Couple of final thoughts from this cruise:

 

This cruise seemed completely focussed on the targeted demographic while ignoring everyone else - in the evenings we often didn’t have anything to do as trivia would be replaced by dancing in all the lounges. Evening trivia was often geared towards older individuals, not towards those who were born in the last 30 years.

 

There was a lack of guest entertainment - only one comedian and one vocal comedian on the cruise.

 

If you are going to ignore the younger generations, at least fix the tv system to show all the movies shown throughout the cruise. We heard the Royal is going to have an on demand entertainment system - should be interesting

 

I was also on this cruise and I completely agree with the above points. I'm 33 and traveled with my 66 yr old dad and we both found ourselves bored throughout our time on board. I recall a past cruise comedian who joked that the TVs were so great on the cruise, his new favorite show was "No Signal."

 

I overheard a couple 20 something young men who also walked out of that one other singer's show (the one who shared the bill with the vocal comedian that one night) commenting on how the entertainment wasn't with their age group in mind.

 

We are trivia buffs and I noticed that one of our busiest port days they scheduled a whole bunch of trivia sessions that we had to miss. Otherwise, the evenings were either learning to dance, a band or dj playing to dance to, or the piano entertainers to sit and listen to. When you've got such a port intensive cruise where the bulk of the passengers aren't even on the ship until evening, wouldn't it make more sense to include something for everyone then?

 

One of the cruise staff told us when we mentioned the lacking activities that while on the schedule (i.e. there's supposed to be a trivia before each themed music night, such as Beatles trivia for Beatles night) if the cruise director doesn't "want to do it" then it's scrapped from the schedule.

[Keith1010]

Enjoyed your almost live review/report.

 

Keith