British Isles Cruise Photo Heavy Review

[disneydancersmom]

Wow I really enjoyed your cruise and vacation, thank you for taking the time to share it. I feel like I just had a vacation myself! Best to you guys!

 

 

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[disneydancersmom]

I contacted Smiths for our LHR —> London hotel transfer in June, and I found their price for that service to be considerably higher than others. Here’s what Smiths quoted me:

 

“Hi, the cost would be £90 plus £8 parking and £11.50 congestion charge. Please let me know if you wish to make a booking.”

 

[emoji15][emoji15][emoji15][emoji15][emoji15]

 

I ended up booking with Blackberry cars for a total of £44 — less than half of Smith’s, for the same size car (Estate Vehicle). Smith’s has a great reputation, but there are other good companies and I couldn’t justify paying more than double.

 

We’re using Woodford Cars/Cruise Connections for London to the port (with 2 sightseeing stops) and the port to LHR. Those trips will have 3 couples in a larger vehicle for £310 on the way to Southampton and £160 from the port to the airport.

 

 

 

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[Kevin's girl]

Wow I really enjoyed your cruise and vacation, thank you for taking the time to share it. I feel like I just had a vacation myself! Best to you guys!

 

 

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Thank you, glad you came along :)

[styme123]

Loved the review! The pictures were the best part! Any advice on how to avoid the warts on Princess since I might be booking with them next summer for the same type cruise?

[Kevin's girl]

Loved the review! The pictures were the best part! Any advice on how to avoid the warts on Princess since I might be booking with them next summer for the same type cruise?

I'm so glad you enjoyed the review. I always love to see the reviews with photos. It helps me with the planning as well as the waiting until it's finally my turn to cruise. If you choose to book an itinerary like this one, I'm sure you will love it as much as we did. Advice on avoiding the warts? If you book the Caribbean Princes for your BI cruise, book it because the itinerary is great, the ports are wonderful and the British Isles warm and friendly. On board the ship be flexible and remember that this is your cruise and find people and places that make you happy.

 

I will work on writing up a warty list with as soon as I can be sure it won't just sound like whining. I can't stand whiners.

[5bestyears]

This looks fab!

We just booked a cruise on July 20, 2019 for the Crown Princess / British Isles .... Ring of Kerry Cruise/landtour.

 

I have several questions:

1. Did you go to the Military Tattoo? (Was it really worth it?)

2. Dublin--2 days?

3. Normandy--

4. Suggestions on excursions, etc?

 

Thanks.....this is our very first trip to Europe.

[Walt fan]

Still following along:) I think warts aren't whining. It helps to make others aware of things you might encounter and plan accordingly. Especially if you are on the ship for a good length of time. More warts will be encountered.

Still adding to my notes from your awesome review. Hope you are enjoying your planning to Alaska! My brother (who thinks he knows everything) called asking my thoughts on a family cruise, Caribbean or Alaska. I talked him into Alaska. They booked the Inside Passage cruise for May.

[Kevin's girl]

This looks fab!

We just booked a cruise on July 20, 2019 for the Crown Princess / British Isles .... Ring of Kerry Cruise/landtour.

 

I have several questions:

1. Did you go to the Military Tattoo? (Was it really worth it?)

2. Dublin--2 days?

3. Normandy--

4. Suggestions on excursions, etc?

 

Thanks.....this is our very first trip to Europe.

1) We missed the Military Tattoo by a couple of days. We had considered going pre cruise but just couldn't make it work. Just one more reason for us to plan another trip.

2) 2 days in Dublin would be fun to just be able to enjoy the night life. The city is very visitor friendly and much to see and do especially if you don't need to rush.

3) Normandy is wonderful. We did a small group tour with other Cruise Critics through Overlord Tours. You can customize as you like. We were so glad we managed to squeeze in some time in Honfleur, and the beaches and American Cemetery were awe inspiring.

 

I hope this helps

[Judie]

We went to the military tattoo in Edinburgh. Totally enjoyed it

 

 

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[Eeyore1962]

Wow, what a fantastic review and wonderful photos. Thank you so much for taking the time to do this for others.

 

My hubby and I are doing the British Isles next June on Royal's Brilliance of the Seas for hubby and my's 30th Anniversary and this was extremely helpful!! :)

[Kevin's girl]

Wow, what a fantastic review and wonderful photos. Thank you so much for taking the time to do this for others.

 

My hubby and I are doing the British Isles next June on Royal's Brilliance of the Seas for hubby and my's 30th Anniversary and this was extremely helpful!! :)

Alison, I'm really glad you found the review helpful. The Brilliance is one of our favorite ships, we have cruised on her twice and her sister the Serenade once. The ship's layout is very nice. I'm sure you will have a great cruise and happy 30th :):)

[5bestyears]

Wow! What ship were you on?

 

Ugly Wart Alert (Kevin's scorecard? Ugly Warts equaled minus points)

I am a firm believer that there is no such thing as a bad cruise and any day spent cruising is better than your best day at work. This cruise ship experience did have more than it’s share of ugly warts. I will get the dining room warts out of the way before moving on to Guernsey.

We only ate in the dining room 3 nights out of our 12 nights on board. This had nothing to do with the food quality as that was pretty good. It had to do with our service. Our main server Tatiana and our Head waiter. I know that servers work very hard and having children who have worked in food service deserve recognition for that hard work. That being said' date=' our server constantly made derogatory comments every time I ordered anything from the menu, and comments about food left on my plate or the fact that I ate all of the food on my plate. Her comments were such that even the people at the next table would turn and look. I never complained to the Head Waiter because he was also less than professional from the first night to or third. The poor gentleman sitting next to me seems to have had Celiac Disease and we now know this and all of his menu options in the dining room as well as the specialty restaurants because the Head Waiter announced it to our entire section of the dining room. He then announced he would go talk with the chef. On his return to our section, he loudly apologized to the next table for delaying their welcome to the dining room because he needed to take care of the other gentleman’s special needs. The first man was terribly embarrassed and they left early. By the time he made his way to us for his introduction I really could not have cared less. My husband then witnessed him letting into our server in front of the dining room behind me. He said she was in tears. Next night was formal night, no Tatiana. The Head Waiter explained she was needed to take the night off, we had a sub. Service was better, but situation and explanation left us uncomfortable. Following night we went to the Crown Grill. It was wonderful, service was great. Following night, back for the third and final night in the dining room. Tatiana was back, derogatory comments were back. It seemed that even my choice of the lighter dessert choice was reason for comment. She said”oh, I’m surprised”. Kevin looked at me and I just shook my head. We waited for 30 minutes and never received dessert or even tea. We decided we could get this elsewhere and started to leave. Tatiana saw us leaving and actually grabbed Kevin’s sleeve, holding it and told us we had to go back and sit down. She said we could not leave. I told her I was sorry but we needed to go. The rest of the cruise we got to know the buffet staff well. Food there was really very good. We also found ourselves trying the other specialty dining venues which we may not have done if things were different. [/font']

[Walt fan]

Your dining issue was a huge wart. I am appalled to read of someone in the dining service to be so incredibly rude. This situation must have been so uncomfortable, and then to have a head waiter act so unprofessionally. I hope you wrote a thesis to any email address you could find to make them aware. I would not like to see anyone removed from a job but in this situation it warrants it. I am so sorry this happened. Huge wart.

[rocklinmom]

Great review! Thanks for posting.

[Kevin's girl]

Great review! Thanks for posting.

Thank you and I'm so glad you enjoyed it.

[Kevin's girl]

Wow! What ship were you on?

5bestyears, we were on the Caribbean Princess. I do hope that the warts we encountered during this cruise were a group of one offs, but just the fact that there is a group of them makes me wonder. For now we will make the most of our loyal cruiser perks and see more of the world among the Royal ships and Celebrity stars :)

[Kevin's girl]

Your dining issue was a huge wart. I am appalled to read of someone in the dining service to be so incredibly rude. This situation must have been so uncomfortable, and then to have a head waiter act so unprofessionally. I hope you wrote a thesis to any email address you could find to make them aware. I would not like to see anyone removed from a job but in this situation it warrants it. I am so sorry this happened. Huge wart.

Walt fan, following the cruise I received a survey where I reported the dining room warts as well as the whole warty list. I never heard anything from Princess. I was going to air my frustrations in an email but decided to focus on the positive points of the cruise and write this review. The dining room incidents were embarrassing for the guest with the special needs as well as everyone around him.

I am working on the Wart list as I write this and will have it posted soon. As requested, it may be useful to someone else later on.

[cricketts]

Walt fan' date=' following the cruise I received a survey where I reported the dining room warts as well as the whole warty list. I never heard anything from Princess. I was going to air my frustrations in an email but decided to focus on the positive points of the cruise and write this review. The dining room incidents were embarrassing for the guest with the special needs as well as everyone around him.

 

I am working on the Wart list as I write this and will have it posted soon. As requested, it may be useful to someone else later on.[/quote']

 

 

 

I applaud your positive attitude and approach!

 

 

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[Kevin's girl]

Welcome the the Warty World of the Caribbean Princess. This will be my wart list that everyone has asked for. I will do my best to present each wart as completely as possible as well as lesson learned or work around we did to overcome the hairy little thing.

Wart #1. The rented tuxedo.

Given we were flying from Chicago and I had promised Kevin that I would keep the luggage down to 1 suitcase (luggage weight 50 lbs)for each of us and a carry on bag each, I decided it would be best if we rented the tux. We have done this multiple times before and had great luck each time. Each time the tux, shoes and accessories were waiting in the closet when we entered our cabin. There was always a card from the ship’s tailor with the tux (Royals and Celebrity stars).

The Princess rental experience went like this. We walked into the cabin and Kevin’s tux, shoes and accessories were in the closet, YAY!! I asked Kevin for the tailor’s card so I could put it by the phone so I could let him know we received everything and arrange a fit if needed. No card from the tailor, in fact no tailor info at all. Okay. No big deal as long as the tux fits. Try it on now, even before the very important CC Sail Away Party. Pants? Fit really nice ;) The shirt? About as expected for someone 6’ 4” with a 20 1/2” neck. Not bad. The jacket a little short in the sleeve and wide in the shoulder. Again 6’ 4” tall, not a bad fit. No reason to worry about the absent tailor (my error there).

The first formal night arrives and we return back to the cabin with just 45 minutes to get ready. We should be able to pull this off easy, after all, all of our clothes are ready and waiting. Right?? Oh boy - WRONG!! As I was getting dressed I heard a slur of words coming from the bedroom and noticed the blue air that come with language like that. Kevin was dressed in pants and shirt and trying to put on the baby sized bow tie that was included in the accessory bag. I believe I mentioned his 20 1/2” neck earlier. I also know that I measured and ordered the correct size tie. I did review my printed order which I pulled from my trusty cruise folder. Yep, not my fault (WHEW!!) I made a few suggestions to deal with the child sized bow tie to no avail. I called the cabin steward to ask about a tailor or the possibility of getting a new tie quickly as we now had less than 15 minutes to get to dinner on time. He called his boss and stated we would need to talk to Guest Relations (spoiler alert on Wart #2). We decided there was no time to seek out any other help and Kevin changed into nice pants and a dress shirt. Off to dinner we went to experience the previously discussed dining room warts.

Making the best of it.

Lesson: Tuxedo rental can save you room and weight in your luggage. The quality is the same as any other rented tux. And is worth the money. Assume all ships have a tailor, Try on and inspect little item you receive.

Wart #2: Guest Services. Following the dinner experience we went to Guest Services to ask about the absent tailor and the possibility of a refund for the unwearable tux. The man (no gentleman) or officer (there were bars on his shoulders) working the desk asked what we needed. As we explained the situation and he rolled his eyes and Kevin was told he needed to try the suit on when we first boarded. We tried again to explain that the tux itself fit fine but the tie was a child size and not wearable by any adult. We explained that our cabin steward said we need to contact someone at Guest relations to see if we could find a solution. The man again rolled his eyes and said Kevin needed to try on the tie as well as the suit itself. There was some discussion man to man as to whether any man tries on the bow tie when renting a tux. Curious - Do you guys try on the tie? I then asked about the tailor and why there was none on this ship. He looked at me as though I had just sprouted a second head and said”well, yes mam, we have a tailor” then suggested that we should have called the tailor instead of coming to see him. I asked (in my nicest, sweetest voice) how we were to know that when there was no card or tailor contact information. He let out a deep sigh rolled his eyes again and said he would contact him but not to expect anything until the next day.

Next day following our excursion we received a phone call from the tailor asking if he could come to the cabin for a fitting of the tux. When he arrived he fussed and measured and fixed the fit of every item including the child sized bow tie. This made the wart feel oh so very much smaller.

Lesson: Find the appropriate person to report your problem to and speak in a nice respectful manner. Hold your ground and be nice.

All fixed and he looked so nice :)

[Kevin's girl]

I applaud your positive attitude and approach!

 

 

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Thank you, I hope you can say the same by the time I finish the warty lists. It will take a few posts to get it all in.

[cricketts]

Thank you' date=' I hope you can say the same by the time I finish the warty lists. It will take a few posts to get it all in.[/quote']

 

 

 

I’m sure it will be - your positive attitude looks for a resolution and lesson learned... what a great approach! I also appreciate you sharing the warts - we will all learn from your outcomes [emoji3]

[Kevin's girl]

Wart #3: An issue at the International Cafe. This event occurred on day number four of the cruise. It’s not that we had received bad service here during the prior three days. It was just a nothing special sort of thing. I’m sure that many of you have had bar tenders who remembered your favorite drink by the second day of the cruise. There was nothing like that here. My husband drinks a blinding amount of coffee each day hence we bought a drink package to cover. On the evening of the fourth day we made our 6th or 7th trip to the IC where Kevin ordered his usual Cappuccino with two extra shots of espresso. The girl behind the counter took his card and then said she could not make his coffee as he ordered it. Kevin asked what the problem was and she replied it would be too strong. Kevin explained that he knew how strong it would be and that this is how he likes his coffee. She said no again and stated it would be to strong. Kevin in best management problem solving way explained that this had been his order since the beginning of the cruise and there had never been a problem and asked again for his cappuccino and 2 extra shots. She said “No, but I will make it my way and you taste it and then you will see.” Kevin asked for his card back and stated he no longer wanted the coffee. She refused to give him back his card. Kevin stated she had no right to keep his card and she said she wanted him to see. Kevin walked away and she looked at me and asked “what is his problem?” I walked up to her, smiled took his card from her hand and said she might want to think about the customer being right. It was just a cup of coffee and I walked away.

Following this miserable experience we found Coffee & Cones. I must say they make a better cup of coffee, have a great sense of humor and remember coffee orders for days and days.

Not to mention they are artists. Never gave the IC a second thought.

Lesson: I guess one should never lower their expectations but rather find a place that shares them. Coffee & Cones shared and lifted ours.

[Kevin's girl]

To all that have followed this review, thank you. For anyone waiting for the completion of the Warty World report, I have decided that the warts just really don't matter and will not continue on with the list. The trip was wonderful and we have so many fun memories of the places we visited and people we met, the rest just doesn't matter.

[cricketts]

To all that have followed this review' date=' thank you. For anyone waiting for the completion of the Warty World report, I have decided that the warts just really don't matter and will not continue on with the list. The trip was wonderful and we have so many fun memories of the places we visited and people we met, the rest just doesn't matter.[/quote']

What a nice positive attitude! Happy sailing :)

[fabnfortysomething]

To all that have followed this review' date=' thank you. For anyone waiting for the completion of the Warty World report, I have decided that the warts just really don't matter and will not continue on with the list. The trip was wonderful and we have so many fun memories of the places we visited and people we met, the rest just doesn't matter.[/quote']

 

I followed your trip report day by day and we are seriously considering a British Isles cruise-yes we live in UK but to drive/fly to some of those ports takes so long there are places we haven't visited!

 

unfortunately with our dreadful broadband[we love out in the sticks] it is taking so long to download photos from all 14 pages as I try to re read the whole thing for private tour info

 

so can you do me a massive favour and list the tour companies you used and what score out of 10 you would give them

 

I research on trip advisor and on here but a recommendation from someone such as yourself is invaluable

 

I should mention my husband has walking difficulties so levels of activity would be useful

 

looking forward to your next trip report