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British Isle Cruise

doone

By doone,
in Princess Cruises

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doone

doone

Posted
Posted

Looking to try Princess Cruises, always sailed Holland America, but like Princess' itinerary for this cruise better.

 

Looking for anyone's advice on this cruise, best time of year to sail, suggestion on excursions and anything else you can think of.

 

I am also looking for anyone who has sailed both Holland America and Princess for their comparisons on both lines.

 

Thanks!

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loma linda ca a & j

loma linda ca a & j

Posted
Posted

as you can see we have sailed a few times !!

 

brit isles last summer was one of our all time favs -

if we could we take it again this year but have other

trips to do first !!

one of several great reviews is delorean girl from 2 years ago

people still are reading, raving over, & discussing it -

if you can find it,you will really enjoy her review & photos !!

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Pam in CA

Pam in CA

Posted
Posted

I've been to the British Isles on both Princess and HAL. There are minor differences between the two lines and overall, the average age on Princess is younger than on HAL.

 

In general:

 

-- Princess entertainment is better than HAL

 

-- Princess cabins don't have couches unless you book a mini-suite or full suite, but they have much more storage and a good-sized open closet/dressing area.

 

-- Princess cabin bathrooms are smaller than HALs and no tubs unless you book a mini-suite or full suite.

 

-- The Horizon Court on Princess is open from 6am-11pm for a full breakfast, lunch or dinner. The International Cafe, if your ship has one, is open 24/7 and is outstanding with sandwiches, salads, pastries, paninis, muffins, donuts, etc. HAL has nothing similar.

 

-- Princess room service has basic menus and are not as extensive as HAL's.

 

-- Princess has the best pizza and pastas at sea.

 

-- Overall, as Elite on Princess and a 3-star Mariner on HAL, in my experience, Princess food (very subjective) and service has been much better than HAL's.

 

-- Princess bar service is good but HAL's is much better.

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mskaufman Great Review Rare

mskaufman

Posted
Posted

We have sailed on Zuiderdam (Alaska) and Ruby Princess (Med). The biggest difference was that the Ruby P is a newer and more modern ship. Food was similar. Live entertainment was better on HAL but features like Movies under the stars were nice on Princess.

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atlasali

atlasali

Posted
Posted

We went on the same cruise as Delorean Girl. We jumped on a fabulous last-minute price drop, and booked air and cruise just 10 days prior to sailing. So, we were not as prepared as Delorean Girl. No time to research. But we loved it. Weather was exceptionally warm for the end of May in London.

Flew in to London, stayed at Premier Inn at Heathrow-nice and inexpensive.

London was gridlocked due to the Queen's Jubilee, so we did not even head into town to do the hop-on, hop-off tour as planned.

Next morning, we took a bus to the port of Southampton via Stonehenge, with time to tour one of my bucket list items. We drove though Salisbury, too. Arrived at the ship about 1:30pm.

St. Peter Port - Clear, warm day. A Sunday, so shops etc. were closed. We waited in line and boarded the public transportation bus for a circle around the island. Lovely seascapes. Charming little street fair along the harbor. Everyone headed into town, so there was a huge line for the tenders back to the ship.

Cobh - Walked off ship, hopped on train to Cork. Recommend that you take the public bus to center of Cork, rather than walk from the train station. HO/HO tour. Or stay in quaint Cobh: Museum, a park on the water, scenic painted buildings side-by-side on the curving streets, and a hike up to the Cathedral. Be on deck as you sail away.

Dublin - Pay for the shuttle to and from the ship. We had, (in the US) pre-booked HO/HO tickets. Art Teacher here, so I had to see the Book of Kells at Trinity College. Tip: go there after 1:00pm when the crowd dies down. Also we ate at Trinity's Buttery Food Court with the students and staff. Nice to be with locals and the Hake was delicious.

Liverpool - We took Princess excursion to the Lake Country. Long day but beautiful. Took a steam rail trip to Lake Windemere, then a steam boat ride. Have never seen so many swans in one location. Lunch was at a resort. Sticky toffee pudding!

Belfast - Same privately booked bus trip as Delorean Girl. Do not miss. The fascinating part was the contrast between modern city - Belfast, and the ongoing issue - "the troubles". Very eye opening.

Greenock - This was an amazing port. We were welcomed by a dynamic group of volunteers with: a shot of Scotch, 3 free bus trips, info on clans, etc. We took one of the 3 bus trips, they went out of their way to drop us off at a train station so we could head into Glasgow. When we arrived at Glasgow we ate at a pub: Steak and Abbott's Ale pie, mushy peas, fish and chips. We decided to pass on the HO/HO. As we sailed away, we were serenaded by bag pipes, the volunteers were waving, and a jumbo, inflated, kilted figure danced. Sailing through the Firth of Clyde was beautiful. For me, it felt familiar. Later, I traced my ancestors to one of the lochs that we sailed by.

Day at Sea. Woke up to see Barra. It was a beautiful day sailing in between the Hebrides and mainland Scotland. Just could not pull away from watching the scenery especially as we rounded the top of Scotland. It was light well after 10.

Invergordon - Booked a Princess excursion to the Battlefield of Culloden, through Inverness, to Loch Ness. Lunch, then a boat ride on Loch Ness to ruins of Urquardt. No monsters sighted. It was a partly sunny day, not misty and gloomy. Saw Highland cattle, tasted honey scotch, shopped at the finest souvenier shop, glimpsed the moors. We were piped away at this port, too.

Edinburgh - I was in pain. We took a bus tour of this fascinating city. Went to the top of Arthur's Seat, toured the museum. Vowed we would return. And we did the next summer. Recommend: Stirling Castle, the World of Scotch, the HO/HO-there are 4 routes.

Day at Sea - interesting to see the structures in the North Sea.

Le Havre - Paris - just incase we never returned, I had to take my husband to see Paris on the Princess (stop at Notre Dame) tour. It was a good one-day experience.

I keep hoping to find a similar bargain, so we can jump on it, again!

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Mom33

Mom33

Posted
Posted

The British Isles are beautiful. You will be off the ship more than on it as this cruise is port intensive. Princess does have the more favorable itinerary but which ever you choose, keep in mind that tender ports can be missed due to weather and seas. We missed Liverpool and Edinburgh. We will have to go back one day. :)

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capriccio

capriccio

Posted
Posted

This is a wonderful cruise - one of our best! I have two recommendations:

 

 

  1. Go in August for the Tattoo (as many others have noted). The Tattoo excursions are from Greenock (not Edinburgh). You can save lots of money by booking a private excursion. We had a very active roll call and 32 of us arranged excursions with Timberbush Tours that picked us up in the morning for a day in the Scottish countryside (Loch Lomond, Stirling Castle) and dropped us off in Edinburgh around 4:30 for 'free time.' August is also the month for the very famous Edinburgh Fringe Festival and there were street performers everywhere! We met up again at 6 pm and went to dinner at the Hub Restaurant (very near the entrance to the Tattoo) which had all been reserved months in advance. We bought our own Tattoo tickets and all met up after the Tattoo (ends around 10:30 -- DO NOT miss the ending as some did who wanted to avoid the exiting crowds) and then met our new van drivers (we had 2 vans) by 10:45 at a pre-arranged meeting place. We were back on the ship around 12:30 - 12:45 (before any of the Princess excursions) even though our van driver got lost for a few minutes at the port.
  2. It is very easy to arrange private tours in every port. See posting 2965 on our roll call to give you an idea of all the private tours taken: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1594858.

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cole

cole

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Posted

Princess has two different cruises to the British Isles. Last year we did the longer one in August on the Caribbean Princess. This year, that particular cruise will be on the Ruby. We are doing the shorter one this year, which is on the Ocean Princess. As someone mentioned, the longer cruise is quite port intensive, but exceptional. We booked private tours at each port and had a great roll call group with different people organizing a variety of tours. One of the highlights was LeHavre and our tour to Normandy. We were unable to book the Tattoo - but plan on including it on the cruise this August. We would highly recommend this cruise no matter the length you choose.

Cole

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pj-atsea

pj-atsea

Posted
Posted
Celebrity also does a British Isles, however they overnight in Liverpool and skip Kirkwall and Edinburgh.

Which do you believe is the better itinerary?

I was looking at the Celebrity also but booked the Ruby Princess. I think the Ruby has a better itinerary but Celebrity stays later in a few ports. We love Edinburgh and Kirkwall so for us, the Ruby was the one to pick. I had wanted to go on a Celebrity cruise, but the Ruby was a day longer,had an extra port, had Edinburgh and Kirkwall and was a bit less money. Plus we get some perks on Princess....

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tre72ow75

tre72ow75

Posted
Posted
Looking to try Princess Cruises, always sailed Holland America, but like Princess' itinerary for this cruise better.

 

Looking for anyone's advice on this cruise, best time of year to sail, suggestion on excursions and anything else you can think of.

 

I am also looking for anyone who has sailed both Holland America and Princess for their comparisons on both lines.

 

Thanks!

Wife and I did this in Aug 2004 just for the Edinburgh Tattoo as we felt the Tattoo was worth the entire trip alone and highly recommend you schedule the trip for the tattoo. Rest of the trip was enjoyable.

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tre72ow75

tre72ow75

Posted
Posted
Looking to try Princess Cruises, always sailed Holland America, but like Princess' itinerary for this cruise better.

 

Looking for anyone's advice on this cruise, best time of year to sail, suggestion on excursions and anything else you can think of.

 

I am also looking for anyone who has sailed both Holland America and Princess for their comparisons on both lines.

 

Thanks!

 

Make that 2009

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