British Isles on Ruby Princess, Part 1

[shipsealand]

A British Isles Cruise on the Ruby Princess you say? When my wife and I first saw this as a possible destination, we thought why would anyone want to go on this cruise when there are so many other more exotic places in the world. Where would be the interesting landscapes, exciting sightseeing locales, and different tongues of speech? We would hear the familiar voices of English but then again, the British English does sound somewhat foreign to our American hears. Also British food would be different although in the popular American point of view not that appealing.

 

But again we would have a less stressful time at the overseas airport since they do speak English although with an accent. And the accent is very interesting and appealing. Besides it would be a direct flight on British Airways from LAX to Heathrow, the airport near London. Also we had experienced British food on prior cruises when one of the specialty restaurants had Pub Lunch and it was pretty good. In addition, we heard that Ireland is very green and scenic. So we decided to proceed.

 

It turns out that the LAX to Heathrow flight is one of the premier flights in air travel and that British Airways is the flagship carrier for the UK as the folks there liked to be referred to. Also British Airways uses an A380 for this flight. The A380 is a new design, largest airplane type in the world, built by Airbus. Like that new car smell, I would like the new plane aroma.

 

We boarded the plane on Tuesday, about one year ago. I was expecting formal perhaps upper class stuffiness but was pleasantly surprised how extremely nice was the flight crew. In particular during the meal service, even we had special requests, we were treated like valued customers, even as special guests of the airline. During our 10 hour plus flight, British Airways provided us with a very nice dinner and breakfast in addition to about half a dozen rounds of refreshments.

 

There was a large selection of very recent, even before showing on cable TV, movies and videos and the headsets were included.

 

Now back to the new car smell, the air was very refreshing in the new A380 airplane and we did not get that usual dry nose and throat feeling. As far as adjustable overhead air nozzles, there were none. But none was needed, the airflow was just right and better yet wide distributed so could be at gentle flow rates vs being concentrated from small outlets at high velocities.

 

My wife and I would seriously consider British Airways with their A380's for our future travel plans.

 

Now on the subject of British food. We were on a ship's excursion to see the Giant's Causeway in Belfast, Northern Ireland and rather than eat at the visitor's center, we ate at the Causeway Hotel. It was a traditional British style restaurant and I ordered fish and chips. It was excellent and the batter on the fish was perfect, and somehow it did not cling to the fish itself, so the batter was crispy. British food when prepared right, in the real traditional manner, is great.

Edited April 12, 2015 by shipsealand
correcting date

[Working 2 Cruise]

A review, a year later????

[shipsealand]

Was originally written for a writing class last year. Ran across it again on my iPad so decided it would be fun to share with my Cruise Critic family.

[Pam in CA]

Glad to hear you had a good experience with BA. I've had some really bad experiences over the years. From nasty to horrible service. If I can avoid them, I do. For instance, I was flying from LA to LHR in Business Class and after my dinner entrée, I didn't want dessert so I turned out my light, laid my seat flat and pulled the blanket up over my head. Not sure how much more obvious I could be without putting up a "Do not disturb" sign. An hour later, the stewardess physically shook me awake and asked if I wanted dessert. I was awake the rest of the very long overnight flight. I've got other examples of why I hate BA. :)

Edited April 12, 2015 by Pam in CA

[lovevacadays]

OP. Thank you for sharing some thoughts on your vacation last year. I hope you have more to come.:):):)

[Kenswing]

BA and Delta are the only nonstops from Seattle to LHR. And as much as I dislike Delta it's an easy decision to choose them over BA.

[dickinson]

Waiting on the edge of my seat for more!

[Colo Cruiser]

Thanks for posting your review.

[shipsealand]

Appreciate the kind thoughts so in response to special requests, here is Part 2:

 

One of the great things about a vacation in a distant land is doing via a cruise ship. My wife and I had 10 ports of call on our 12 day cruise of the British Isles. It was good that we had to pack and unpack only once during rather than doing it 10 times. Also after each day's excursion, we had the comfortable feeling of returning to the Ruby Princess, our ship, our home away from home, our motor home at sea, all 113,000 tons, 3 football field long, and 19 decks of her.

 

A big advantage of being our motor home at sea is that most of the sailing to the next port was while we were sleeping so we woke up to a new port of call the next morning, ready for another day of sightseeing. Of course offsetting that was a few of the sightseeing destinations were far inland so time was expended traveling from the port to these destinations and return.

 

Of course, there is no getting left behind when the ship sails since there are plenty of notifications of when is all aboard time and in addition the ship's security staff scans our cruise card ID's when disembarking for each port and scans them when we return. Even so there are a few times when we hear over the PA system the ship calling a few passengers who have not yet checked in. So as long as you don't hear your names, you're fine.

 

Another big advantage is not being concerned about where to eat. For dinner, you have the the formal dining restaurants with their 4 course dinners, the buffet alternative, the specialty restaurants, the pizzeria restaurant, the coffee shop, the pizza fast food, the hamburger fast food, the ice cream shop, and of course, room service. We requested and were assigned a set dinner time at one of the formal restaurants. For breakfast and lunch, almost all of the above choices. And some of the eating venues are all day from early morning to late at night. As the ship's cruise director said at the welcoming evening theatre show, "let the eating contest begin". But this time around, while we enjoyed all the great food, we tried not to go overboard. Nevertheless, my wife and I noticed that halfway into the cruise, my clothes started feeling too tight. We joking said it must be the sea air that was shrinking my clothes.

 

There is a well equipped exercise facility on board but we spent very little time there, for after all priority needs be given to the eating contest. Besides we sort of did our exercising walking the 3 football field length of the ship and going up and down decks of the ship when going from our cabin back to the restaurant to the theatre and back to the buffet.

 

The cabins are maintained by the ship's hotel staff. And we were spoiled by our room steward. Most times when we left our cabin, by the time we came back, there were new towels, the bed was made, and the room was cleaned and straightened up.

 

We opt to eat dinner at the buffet when our excursions got us back to the ship after our assigned dining time. But most of the time we had dinner at our reserved table at our assigned restaurant where our assigned waiter and assistant waiter learned our drink preferences, green tea with tea bag on the side. The only downside would be if one decides to try some other drink.

 

The vast majority of the ship's staff greeted us with a friendly attitude whenever they saw us, we're very helpful, and looking for ways to provide service. In particular, our room stewart and restaurant waiter always greeted us by our names.

 

There are a large variety of entertainment and things to do on board the ship. In fact, at times, one must choose from several good choices. Our favorites are the broadway type production shows and magician shows. An additional highlight was the Scottish singers and dancers who came aboard the ship while it was in port to perform so we could enjoy the traditional culture of Scotland.

Edited April 13, 2015 by shipsealand
grammar and improve wording

[shipsealand]

Instead of doing the weary traveler’s 10 countries in 10 days, my wife, and I did what we thought would be a more leisure 10 ports via cruise ship in 12 days. Sometimes the ship would dock in a commercial industrial port, but most times at the seaport part of town. We especially enjoyed these locales for they were like picture postcards that welcomed us when we awoke in the morning. Speaking of being welcomed, at one of the ports for Scotland, we were serenaded by a 3 piece bagpipe band as we were on the pier leading to the entrance into town.

 

We sailed from Southampton to Guernsey in England, then to Cork, Ireland, next to Liverpool, followed by Belfast, Glasgow, Dublin, Inverness, Edinburgh, Paris, and finally back to Southampton.

 

Upon arrival at each port, after breakfast or on some days after lunch, we had our excursions to see what sights and wonders these lands had for us. At each stop, we had the anticipation of new places we had heard of but were visiting first the first time. Usually the sights were well worth it.

 

Many of the excursions were with a guide who lives in the area and he or she at times asked the driver to take slight deviations from the planned route to avoid traffic if needed or to include a special local event that was not on the itinerary or we had spare time to go to an extra interesting sight or stop.

 

Besides the destinations of the excursions, the travel itself was often by scenic lakes or rivers. We saw castles, architectural elaborate buildings and bridges, historical monuments, beautiful seascapes, scenic meadows, quaint villages, and sheep and … more sheep.

 

Even the departure from one of the ports was eventful. A local junior high school band composed of 17 band members dresses in Scottish regalia played their drums and bagpipes while marching and turning in formation. Better yet while trying to find a good enough place on the crowded deck to film it, a crew member quietly motioned to me a place somewhat away from the crowd but turned out to be a great spot to catch the significant action and the turning 180 degree marching formation change.

 

Our preference was half day excursions if at all possible, for after all this was supposed to be a relaxing vacation by cruise ship. But for a few of the ports that was not doable. Due to what we wanted to part take of from the large selection of excursion choices, that meant we were on long all day excursions from early morning to very late in the afternoon. This meant the bus got back shortly before sailing time. Although no worries, due to these being Princess Cruises ship excursions which guarantee to hold the ship for us.

 

Nevertheless, even with 2 sea days to recuperate, after our vacation of the British Isles, we needed a vacation from our vacation.

 

Perhaps our home away from home, the Ruby Princess, wasn't as relaxing as home. One would think after the excursions, we would relax aboard our floating hotel at sea. But perhaps the multiple activities that came on multiple sheets of paper that were delivered to our cabin daily were problematic. Beckoning for our attention were so many shipboard activities from morning to late in the evening. And quite often, we had time issues were events were occurring simultaneously or overlapping portions of each other. So many choices and so little time.

 

And don't forget, the multiple venues calling us with their servings of food and tasty treats which we have to make time for. The tasty treats were smaller than the typical portion size so it seemed OK to have one. But that lead to another one that looked good to eat so of course I did. But so many of them looked good and it would be a ashamed not to try them. Besides it was hard to choose and rather than have to choose, I just got a big plate and loaded several up. And besides I was going to share them with my wife.

[sunshine nana]

We liked our 2011 BK cruise so much on either the Crown or Emerald, that we wanted to go again as there was so much to see at each port. We were disappointed to see that only the Royal was doing that itinerary this year. We really enjoy our balcony on our mini-suite and as many have noted, the Royal balconies are tiny. We booked anyway and are all set for July. We are hoping the curtain around the bed will be a plus.

[wowzz]

BA and Delta are the only nonstops from Seattle to LHR. And as much as I dislike Delta it's an easy decision to choose them over BA.

 

Personally I'd rather walk than use Delta. Just shows how we all differ in our opinions of airlines [and cruise lines!]

[aquilegia]

Just to correct one misconception. Guernsey is not in England. It is one of the Channel Islands, which are British Crown dependencies and are situated off the coast of France.