On board British Isles cruise Royal Princess

[GolfMom321]

I will be very interested to hear your experiences in Edinburgh. I've read that tendering can be a nightmare, and if you aren't on a Princess tour, you may not get off until after 10:00 am. We have tickets for a tour in Edinburgh that starts at 10, so I'm hoping to hear it isn't a problem after all.

 

Enjoy Inverness! I'm looking forward to that port most of all, as we are doing an Outlander tour!

[HRPro]

Does anyone have a suggestion for a hotel in London. Would you rent a car there and drive around or take public transportation? we are planning on spending two days before the cruise leaves.

 

:)

 

Definitely do not rent a car for London. They have excellent public transportation or you can take the HOHO, and you don't want to deal with traffic and congestion charges with a rental car. The tube is easy to use and even their buses are excellent and easy to use.

[phabric]

Does anyone have a suggestion for a hotel in London. Would you rent a car there and drive around or take public transportation? we are planning on spending two days before the cruise leaves.

 

:)

 

I think we will stick with public transportation and stay within the city. We may only have one or two days there. Is Southampton the best area to stay in because the cruise leaves from there? I am a bit overwhelmed already.

 

:)

 

I am staying at Premier Inn Waterloo post cruise in August. Other hotels within walking distance of each other - Premier Inn Country Inn (no A/C), Park Plaza Westminster. It is close to Big Ben, London Eye, Westminster Bridge, Parliament, HOHO, pubs, restaurants, regular bus, tube station, Waterloo train station.

 

The Victoria area is another good area for a hotel, close to Buckingham Palace, Queen's Royal Galley, The Mews, The Mall, Victoria Train station, National Express Coach station, pubs, restaurants, HOHO, regular bus, grocery.

 

I would not recommend driving in London, driving on the opposite side, heavy traffic, bikes, parking, people not watching when crossing the road. If you wanted to rent a car to see areas outside London, I would rent from the airport and go from there.

 

The HOHO is a great way to see London.

 

We have rented a car from Heathrow, an one way drive to Southampton one year and then the next time we drove to Portsmouth, (a hour from Southampton) spend 2 nights then to Southampton.

 

We have stayed at the Holiday Inn Herbert Walker and the Premier Inn West Quay in Southampton.

 

We used http://www.justairports.com from/to LHR from/to London hotel.

 

We used the National Express Coach http://www.nationalexpress.com to/ from London Victoria Coach Station to Southampton Coach station. Check their site a few months before your cruise for their cheap fares. Once at Southampton Coach station, take a taxi (less than 10GBP) to the dock. Princess London transfer service is from Victoria Coach station.

 

Check out the Port of Call - Britain for great information.

Edited June 10, 2015 by phabric

[ka7370]

Enjoying reading your post Nancy48. Thank you for the updates, we'll be sailing on the Royal for the B. Isles, Aug. 25th :))

[ka7370]

I will be very interested to hear your experiences in Edinburgh. I've read that tendering can be a nightmare, and if you aren't on a Princess tour, you may not get off until after 10:00 am. We have tickets for a tour in Edinburgh that starts at 10, so I'm hoping to hear it isn't a problem after all.

 

Enjoy Inverness! I'm looking forward to that port most of all, as we are doing an Outlander tour!

 

I'm also excited to hear of their "Nancy48" Inverness adventure, for the same reason.... Leaving Aug. 25th and we also booked the Outlander Tour with Inverness Tours, and our guide is Hugh

[caribill]

I think we will stick with public transportation and stay within the city. We may only have one or two days there. Is Southampton the best area to stay in because the cruise leaves from there? I am a bit overwhelmed already.

 

 

If you want to sight see in London, you do not want to be based in Southampton which is about two hours away by bus or car, a little less by train.

[whatcruiseisnext]

I will be very interested to hear your experiences in Edinburgh. I've read that tendering can be a nightmare, and if you aren't on a Princess tour, you may not get off until after 10:00 am. We have tickets for a tour in Edinburgh that starts at 10, so I'm hoping to hear it isn't a problem after all.

 

Enjoy Inverness! I'm looking forward to that port most of all, as we are doing an Outlander tour!

 

I also looking forward to hearing about Edinburgh as we have an independent excursion there

[cboyle]

Hi, I have been posting information on our 2 June Roll Call site but thought it might be more useful on here. We are Currently on the 2 June cruise round the British Isles and Ireland on Royal Princess.

 

Just to update we are in Dublin today, and instead of berthing inDun Laoghaire as scheduled, they have brought us into Dublin itself which is great. They have laid on a shuttle bus service $8 each way per person and it takes aBout 25minutes. Not thAt far really but it seems that Dublin is being dug up!! Road works everywhere. There were plenty of double decker buses lined up on the dock when we arrived aNd the service seems very efficient.

 

Weather ok, raining earlier but now sunny, but still a cold wind.

 

We are back on board at 3 p.m. For an early sailing toLiverpool.

 

If anyone has any questions ask away and I will try to answer them.

Sue

 

Sue,

 

Would you be able to check on the Dublin port for us? We are on the August 25 cruise and the port is reporting we will arrive at noon. We are listed on our itinerary as arriving at Dun L. at 7 am. We booked a private tour from 8-12:30 for Glendalough and the tour operator is wanting to refund our money because of the new schedule. He also can't help us later as he has another tour booked. I thought maybe Excursions or Customer service on the ship might know if this is the new schedule. A phone call to Princess got me nowhere and our travel agent is on 2 week vacation. Would appreciate it.

Pam

 

<snip>

 

Re Dublin, as has been sad, they are trying to get us into port there, rather than tendering from Dun Laoghaire. The problem is this is a very big ship so they need high the to be able to manoeuvre, and that s why there are such variations on timing. From our experiences last week I would say that the lunch time arrival is probably right, but don't quote me on that. Will try to get one of the navigation officers on board and see what they have to say, but may be a while before I find one. Will get back to you all on that.

 

<snip>

 

Dear Sue,

 

First, thank you so much for spending the time and Internet minutes to post about your experiences on the June 2 Royal Princess British Isles cruise.

 

I am on the same August 25 sailing as Pam (Boston Accent) and I am also very confused about Dublin.

 

From your comments, it sounds that on YOUR sailing, the ship arrived around noon and you had to be back on board around 3 p. m. Is that correct or am I just confused?

 

Please confirm the times the ship was in port in Dublin on the June 2 sailing.

 

It would be a great disappointment if we only have three hours for such an interesting city (especially if the shuttle to the city center takes 25 minutes each way).

 

Thanks!

 

Carolyn

[insidecabin]

I will be very interested to hear your experiences in Edinburgh. I've read that tendering can be a nightmare, and if you aren't on a Princess tour, you may not get off until after 10:00 am. We have tickets for a tour in Edinburgh that starts at 10, so I'm hoping to hear it isn't a problem after all.

 

Enjoy Inverness! I'm looking forward to that port most of all, as we are doing an Outlander tour!

 

We were in SQon the 30th we picked up tender ticket(for those not on princess tours) at 9:00 on the tender 9:35 at the pickup point end of pier 9:55.

Loads of people got off before us I think we were ticket group 22.(no idea how many in a group) Jus t get up early and go to the tender lounge to get your tickets, take a coffee.

[Shogun]

Hi All

Dublin has a number of issues, it's busy, tidal and can be windy, it took me three cruises to get a day there first one was windy so missed tide had to wait hours to get in second time rough seas so had to wait to get in, third time great day no issues most cruise ships get in

 

Yours Shogun

[insidecabin]

Dublin port cruise schedule for Royal(arrival, no departure times given)

 

29/06/2015 06:40

17/07/2015 11:59

23/07/2015 07:00

04/08/2015 04:15

16/08/2015 11:59

28/08/2015 11:59

 

note Dun.L still has the ships in on their schedule.

 

Princess really should be updating passengers about these potential changes.

Edited June 10, 2015 by insidecabin

[melody hounddog]

Hi All

Dublin has a number of issues, it's busy, tidal and can be windy, it took me three cruises to get a day there first one was windy so missed tide had to wait hours to get in second time rough seas so had to wait to get in, third time great day no issues most cruise ships get in

 

Yours Shogun

 

Thanks for the update on Dublin. I never was able to go on the British Isles trip last summer and am hoping to make it there in 2016 or 2017.

[CruisingObsessed]

Hi so we have established that photography is not my strong suit. Shan't waste internet minutes on that again. But it was beautiful, you will have to take my word for it. And today our first sea day, thank goodness, the sea is very very calm and we are sailing through islands, beautiful, although the sky is overcast. Lovely scenery, and thanks for the tip Shogun, will be sure to look out for the wildlife.

 

Re Dublin, as has been sad, they are trying to get us into port there, rather than tendering from Dun Laoghaire. The problem is this is a very big ship so they need high the to be able to manoeuvre, and that s why there are such variations on timing. From our experiences last week I would say that the lunch time arrival is probably right, but don't quote me on that. Will try to get one of the navigation officers on board and see what they have to say, but may be a while before I find one. Will get back to you all on that.

 

Yes it is our second formal night tonight. And re itinerary it is very port intensive, it's true, but we are limiting ourselves, because of my illness, to just doing one thing each day and it is working fine. Spoke to someone this morning who did an official tour to Stirling Castle yesterday and it sounded very "busy". But we are. Glad we have a sea day today, it's very relaxing.

 

Talk more later.

Sue

 

Dublin--you never know. We were on the cruise just before yours (May 21), and they got the ship right in to the berth at 7am. But I understand we may have been lucky. The weather was sunny and nice; and that's not always the case there. It's kind of a crap shoot, that's probably all they could tell you....

[lighthousemom]

Princess option is a $16 shuttle,

 

The tram is a good walk from the current dock never used it.

http://www.luas.ie/

 

I am so confused about Dublin! Is this $16 shuttle from right off the ship in Dublin or after the tenders in Dun Laoghaire? And where does it drop you off? Do you get tickets for it ahead of time? :confused:

 

Thanks!

[Nancy48]

Hi everyone, well here I am again, wonderful day ashore, which I will tell you about in a minute. Came back starving and needed to eat, this sea air really does make you hungry, when we first came on board one of the little waitresses used to push me to our table in my wheelchair. For some reason tonight it was one of the big waiters, don't know where my usual girl has gone!! He said something about it being too big a job for her, guess I must have put on a bit of weight😉😉.

 

First of all, Dublin, having asked loads of people on the ship, and being given various answers, I have come to the conclusion that they really want to dock in Dublin itself, and yes the $16 shuttle is from the docks in Dublin. However it is all dependent on the tides and weather, and that is why they are not committing. so I have decided we have our captain's circle reception onFriday night and I will accost the Captain, or as weaffectionatelycall him, El Capitano, and will demand a definitive answer from him. I will get back to you on that one, I promise.

 

Now to Invergordon, a long pier, about 100 yards, I guess, to the gates where all the coaches, private tour buses, taxis, and hire cars await. Pretty little town with a marvellous Information Kiosk right there, manned by local volunteers, who go out of their way to help with information. We had hired a car with another couple who we linked up with on our Roll Call. On the road at 8.30 and a marvellous day. We drove right round Loch Ness, sadly Nessie wasn't feeling sociable, but it was simply beautiful. Visited the obligatory Urquhart Castle, which is well presented. But the highlight for me, was the four of us having coffee at a little coffee shop/restaurant at the very end of the Loch, at Fort Augustus. The sun was shining, the birds were chirruping, and there wasn't another sound. And the view right down the Loch was stupendous. Life doesn't get any better than that. We also visited Inverness, for a little retail therapy and sightseeing, and made a fleeting trip to Culloden, as time was running out by then. The temperatures were in the 22 to 23 degrees range, and those of you familiar with British weather will know that this is practically unheard of in these very Northern parts of the UK.

 

Tonight we are sailing down to Edinburgh and the North Sea is like a Mill pond, perfectly calm. Quite a beautiful sight. May have to disappoint some of you with Edinburgh, as at the moment we have decided not to go ashore. I am just about done here, this certainly is a full on tour, and as it is a tender port I feel it may be just one trip too far. Being Brits we have visited Edinburgh before, so not too big a loss for us. Will try to get local Information though.

 

They have given us a leaflet tonight to book shuttle tickets for Le Havre. They are pricing them at $8 one way, $16round trip. Journey from ship to Rue de Paris in Le Havre takes approximately 20/25 minutes and they reckon it is a 40 minute walk. They also say taxis will be available at approx €10 depending on traffic. And thetrainticket one way to Paris they say is approx 35.40euros one way. The ship shuttles start at 8.30 approx and run every 15/20 minutes.

 

Well I guess that's all I have for you tonight. The Ancient Mariner has just brought the cocoa, so it is an early night for me, and will get back to you all in the morning.

Sue

[Shogun]

Hi

Thanks for the up date, did you see any wild life, Queensferry has nice little shops may be go ashore for an hour or two mid day when tenders quite

 

Yours Shogun

[whatcruiseisnext]

Hi everyone, well here I am again, wonderful day ashore, which I will tell you about in a minute. Came back starving and needed to eat, this sea air really does make you hungry, when we first came on board one of the little waitresses used to push me to our table in my wheelchair. For some reason tonight it was one of the big waiters, don't know where my usual girl has gone!! He said something about it being too big a job for her, guess I must have put on a bit of weight😉😉.

 

First of all, Dublin, having asked loads of people on the ship, and being given various answers, I have come to the conclusion that they really want to dock in Dublin itself, and yes the $16 shuttle is from the docks in Dublin. However it is all dependent on the tides and weather, and that is why they are not committing. so I have decided we have our captain's circle reception onFriday night and I will accost the Captain, or as weaffectionatelycall him, El Capitano, and will demand a definitive answer from him. I will get back to you on that one, I promise.

 

Now to Invergordon, a long pier, about 100 yards, I guess, to the gates where all the coaches, private tour buses, taxis, and hire cars await. Pretty little town with a marvellous Information Kiosk right there, manned by local volunteers, who go out of their way to help with information. We had hired a car with another couple who we linked up with on our Roll Call. On the road at 8.30 and a marvellous day. We drove right round Loch Ness, sadly Nessie wasn't feeling sociable, but it was simply beautiful. Visited the obligatory Urquhart Castle, which is well presented. But the highlight for me, was the four of us having coffee at a little coffee shop/restaurant at the very end of the Loch, at Fort Augustus. The sun was shining, the birds were chirruping, and there wasn't another sound. And the view right down the Loch was stupendous. Life doesn't get any better than that. We also visited Inverness, for a little retail therapy and sightseeing, and made a fleeting trip to Culloden, as time was running out by then. The temperatures were in the 22 to 23 degrees range, and those of you familiar with British weather will know that this is practically unheard of in these very Northern parts of the UK.

 

Tonight we are sailing down to Edinburgh and the North Sea is like a Mill pond, perfectly calm. Quite a beautiful sight. May have to disappoint some of you with Edinburgh, as at the moment we have decided not to go ashore. I am just about done here, this certainly is a full on tour, and as it is a tender port I feel it may be just one trip too far. Being Brits we have visited Edinburgh before, so not too big a loss for us. Will try to get local Information though.

 

They have given us a leaflet tonight to book shuttle tickets for Le Havre. They are pricing them at $8 one way, $16round trip. Journey from ship to Rue de Paris in Le Havre takes approximately 20/25 minutes and they reckon it is a 40 minute walk. They also say taxis will be available at approx €10 depending on traffic. And thetrainticket one way to Paris they say is approx 35.40euros one way. The ship shuttles start at 8.30 approx and run every 15/20 minutes.

 

Well I guess that's all I have for you tonight. The Ancient Mariner has just brought the cocoa, so it is an early night for me, and will get back to you all in the morning.

Sue

 

Thanks for all the detail!

 

Are you planning on going into Le Harve on the shuttle?

[Colo Cruiser]

Another excellent day. :)

[ka7370]

Nancy48, oh my gosh......... thank YOU for the time you are taking to fill us in. Your details are so wonderful, making me even more excited to know in Aug. we also will get to experience these ports, especially Invergordon. I could just visualize the sights you were describing for us. Again thoroughly enjoying your updates. :cool:

[Shogun]

http://www.princess.com/webcam/royal_bridge.jpg?1434004626256

 

 

Hi All

 

Great pics from Royal Princess web cam

 

 

yours Shogun

 

<img src="http://www.princess.com/webcam/royal_bridge.jpg?1434004761381" alt="Princess Bridge Cam"/>

Edited June 11, 2015 by Shogun

[insidecabin]

I am so confused about Dublin! Is this $16 shuttle from right off the ship in Dublin or after the tenders in Dun Laoghaire? And where does it drop you off? Do you get tickets for it ahead of time? :confused:

 

Thanks!

 

To clarify these are two different ports both for "Dublin".

 

you won't know where you are docking till you get there but princess seem very keen on docking even if it cuts the day VERY short, planned arrivals posted, departures info needs to be found.

 

1. Dublin, dock near the city(but a long walk) shuttle $16 return drop near Trinity college right in he center.

 

2. Dun Laoghaire, Tender into the harbour, short walk to the Dart(train) €6 return, there are a few stops to choose depending what you want to do.

[HRPro]

http://www.princess.com/webcam/royal_bridge.jpg?1434004626256

 

 

Hi All

 

Great pics from Royal Princess web cam

 

 

yours Shogun

 

<img src="http://www.princess.com/webcam/royal_bridge.jpg?1434004761381" alt="Princess Bridge Cam"/>

Looks like a beautiful day in Scotland. Can't wait to be there next month. Shogun, is the weather warming up?

[Shogun]

Hi hrpro

It's around 25c today, should be 15c by the weekend, as for next week who knows, welcome to Scotland in the summer, might even be some frost tonight in the highlands

 

Yours Shogun

[lighthousemom]

Thanks for the info about Dublin. I guess there is simply no way to plan ahead for it. Wow.

[MaChere]

Our BI cruise last summer with ideas for tours and more is post #6 at this link:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=45475472#post45475472