British Isles

[jandm]

We are scheduled to cruise along the British Isles in July. We usually plan our own land tours unless the location makes that difficult or one of the Princess tours is highly recommended. I would apr4eciate any advice from people who have taken this cruise.

Thanks for any help.

[Desert Nurse]

I did this cruise in 2002 and for the most part did my own land tours. Princess offers inexpensive shuttles in every port then you can do your own thing. I did use the Princess tour in the Orkney Islands as there wasn't much to offer from the locals and the Princess tour was fantastic. In Edinburgh, I booked a private tour with Jim Scott at Caledonian Aspects.([url]www.caledonianaspects.fsnet.co.uk[/url]) There were three of us and we had a customized tour that was less expensive than the Princess tours that didn't go where we wanted to go. One of my must sees was the Roslyn Chapel which I want to go back and see again. Jim is the consummate gentleman and it doesn't hurt that he sounds like Sean Connery! Let me know if you have any questions about the other ports.

Cricket

Diamond Princess, Alaska 5/15/04
[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=00bfff&cdt=2004;5;15;12;00;00&timezone=GMT-0800[/img]

Diamond Princess, Mexico, 9/25/04
[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=ff0000&cdt=2004;9;25;12;00;00&timezone=GMT-0800[/img]

Island Princess, Hawaii 3/20/05
[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=da70d6&cdt=2005;3;20;12;00;00&timezone=GMT-0800[/img]

[jandm]

Thanks for the help, Cricket. I will follow your advice and plan on arranging my own land tours except for the locations you mentioned. Thanks also for the useful info on Jim Scott. I will contact him. I appreciate your help. It makes our planning much easier.

[cruiserdru]

We also did the British Isles in 2002. The Orkney Isles is the only place we went out on our own. We bought some books and picked out things we would like to visit (mostly ancient "rock" sites). We rented a car and the lady at the car rental place packed us a lunch that she made at her own home and we tooled around the main island. We went up to Skara Brae, an incredible old (like pre-Stonehenge) village ruin on the coast and also visited a number of other incredible sites. I have to say we had a better time doing that on our own than all the Princess tours that we took.

[silkismom]

What did you do in Invergordon? That is a real puzzlement to me. We go in June.

Norway 12/80, Bergen (Norway)6/86, NCL Skyward 9/88, Royal Princess 12/90, CrownPrincess 9/91, Song of America 10/92, Fair Princess 10/94, NCL Seaward 10/95, Imagination 6/95,Inspiration 4/96, Island Princess 12/95, Ryndam 5/97, NCL Star 12/97, NCL Crown 5/99, NCL Dream 3/00, Royal Princess 12/00, Sensation 10/00, Olympic Countess 5/01, Volendam 12/01, Sandpiper(Yangtze River) 7/02, NCL Wind 12/02,Tahitian Princess 4/03 Horizon 4/04, Royal Princess 6/04

[jandm]

Thanks cruiserdru. We considered a car rental, but ruled it out because we thought there might be some difficulties adjusting to English rules of the road. Did you encounter problems? Does anyone have any specific suggestions about port tours they have enjoyed? Thanks for the help.