Music and Dancing on the Royal Princess? Dublin and Edinburg DIY sightseeing?

[gam888]

Hello, we are sailing on the Royal Princess in a couple of weeks to the British Isles.. Would like to hear from those who just came back from the ship recently. What type of music do the bands play? Do they play some ballroom and Latin, or mostly pop music? Do you recall the names of the bands? During the evenings, would there be more than one venue of dancing option simultaneously offered at a certain time, so you can pick and choose which venue to go to,or there is only one live band playing at a certain lounge at a given time? For Dublin and Edinburgh, we have not booked any excursions, we are planning to take a shuttle bus or a local bus from the pier to the city center, and either walk around or take the hop on and off bus. For Edinburgh, the ship is docked at S. Queensferry, which is a tender port. Would there be any taxi or local buses we can take from these two ports to the city center? I read that Dublin is very compact, is it worthwhile to take the hop on and off bus, or would you be able to walk around and see most of the landmarks? Any info on the ship and the ports are welcome. Thank you in advance.

[skynight]

Hello, we are sailing on the Royal Princess in a couple of weeks to the British Isles.. Would like to hear from those who just came back from the ship recently. What type of music do the bands play? Do they play some ballroom and Latin, or mostly pop music? Do you recall the names of the bands? During the evenings, would there be more than one venue of dancing option simultaneously offered at a certain time, so you can pick and choose which venue to go to,or there is only one live band playing at a certain lounge at a given time? For Dublin and Edinburgh, we have not booked any excursions, we are planning to take a shuttle bus or a local bus from the pier to the city center, and either walk around or take the hop on and off bus. For Edinburgh, the ship is docked at S. Queensferry, which is a tender port. Would there be any taxi or local buses we can take from these two ports to the city center? I read that Dublin is very compact, is it worthwhile to take the hop on and off bus, or would you be able to walk around and see most of the landmarks? Any info on the ship and the ports are welcome. Thank you in advance.

The Royal Princess does not have a dance lounge. Most of the dancing is done in the Piazza with rotating live music, a classical or classical style group, pop & rock that plays everything from the 50's to current (no rap), piano player, jazz groups, as well as theme parties. When we were on board there was also some dancing sets in the Vista Lounge. Some were to live music playing mostly Latin, some sessions were recorded music, and I think I remember one live Big Band session. There is a small dance floor in Club 6, open late evening, where there is a DJ. There is also live music in the Wheelhouse Bar. The Wheelhouse doesn't really have a dance floor, but there is a small marble area, basically in the walkway, where some people dance. It is probably only around 12 feet in diameter. All music times, groups and locations are listed daily in the Princess Patter.

 

Dublin city center is very compact and you can walk around the pedestrian only streets. You will have to take transportation from the pier. I can't remember if it was a shuttle, public bus or taxi. The HO-Ho also gives a nice tour around the city. We have done both.

Edited May 9, 2018 by sknight

[geoherb]

Last year, Princess had a free shuttle to Merrion Square in Dublin. We were on the itinerary that had two days in Dublin. We walked the first day to tour Dublin Castle, go by St. Patrick's Cathedral, and tour the National Gallery. We used a HoHo bus the second day to go to the Guinness Storehouse and see more. Be sure to get one of the ones with live commentary instead of taped.

 

If you're interested in going to Edinburgh Castle, you should buy tickets in advance to avoid the wait.

 

Be sure to check out the British Isles board.

[hlperez]

To get to Edinburgh from South Queensferry, this season there is a new direct bus service right from the pier to the centre of Edinburgh. It's the X99, run by the local bus company, and return fare is GBP 6. There are deals to include all day local buses and the HOHO bus.