Three Nickles take on the British Isles. And a little bit of France.

[MamaStite]

Glad you are safe. Enjoy another day in the Spa!!! I have a couple of questions for you. Are there 2 formal nights? What nights are they? Also, I am so looking forward to seeing the new show "Secret Silk" by Stephen Schwartz. Do they show it more than one evening? I have heard horror stories about the lack of seating at shows and I would be so upset if I missed it. Thanks, Karen

[bnickle]

Hope Storm Hector hasn't affected you too much and the ship makes Invergordon today !

 

The storm can definitely be felt in the swaying of the ship, but overall it’s pretty calm. We had to miss Invergorden but it’s all good.

[brewcrew]

I am loving this trip report! Definitely taking notes!!!! Enjoy the rest of your trip!

[jones721]

Greenock/Glasgow

 

A note about the pier at Greenock: the point where private hires, taxis, and local buses drop people off for the ship is directly in front of a large Aldi’s. We trooped in after Graham dropped us off to purchase a bottle of wine and some more Diet Coke for Greg. Apparently that was a common idea amongst our fellow cruisers because they were wandering all over the aisles, taking a moment for some quick purchases. So if, by Greenock, you need something, you might find it at the Aldi’s that’s mere steps from the ship.

 

On to our room for relaxation, to the Enclave for me to soak my knee, and actually all of the rest of me, and another night in which I did not awaken to check on the comfort level of my bed. Tomorrow, a day at sea, then, on to Invergorden we sail...or....DO WE? (Whomp whomp whomp)

 

 

 

 

I was planning on visiting this supermarket as it is so close to the port. Did they take the wine away from you when you boarded (I am guessing not from the remainder of your post)?

Tracey

[bnickle]

I was planning on visiting this supermarket as it is so close to the port. Did they take the wine away from you when you boarded (I am guessing not from the remainder of your post)?

Tracey

 

So, here’s the deal. They have you send your bags through x-ray when you reboard, and we are not sure anyone bothers to look at the screen as the bags go through. Everyone seems to bring wine back onboard, and no one catches it, or cares, when it goes through the screening process, at least no one did on this cruise. Which, on one hand, is great, but on the other hand...yikes. So no one took the wine from us, we were never charged, and no one is apparently caring if you bring wine on board or not.

[jones721]

So, here’s the deal. They have you send your bags through x-ray when you reboard, and we are not sure anyone bothers to look at the screen as the bags go through. Everyone seems to bring wine back onboard, and no one catches it, or cares, when it goes through the screening process, at least no one did on this cruise. Which, on one hand, is great, but on the other hand...yikes. So no one took the wine from us, we were never charged, and no one is apparently caring if you bring wine on board or not.

 

Okay, thanks. I am sure that they do look at the bags as they go through the scanner but seems that wine is not their priority and I know that it is not ship's security that does the scanning as it is inside the terminal at this port.

[Thrak]

So, here’s the deal. They have you send your bags through x-ray when you reboard, and we are not sure anyone bothers to look at the screen as the bags go through. Everyone seems to bring wine back onboard, and no one catches it, or cares, when it goes through the screening process, at least no one did on this cruise. Which, on one hand, is great, but on the other hand...yikes. So no one took the wine from us, we were never charged, and no one is apparently caring if you bring wine on board or not.

 

It seems to be fairly common. They tend to be pretty lax about bringing wine onboard other than at embarkation. We carried rum onboard in Barbados. They did tell people that, if they had purchased rum, etc. they should declare it at the table. A few folks - especially those with large bags marked Mount Gay (rum distillery) and such complied but many just took their bags and walked past. We weren't planning to drink the stuff on the ship - heck, we had the PBP - but didn't declare it and just took it to the cabin and stuck it in the suitcase. I'm sure the "vigilance level" varies from ship to ship and port to port but I'm sure quite a few folks bring wine back from port with nothing said about it by the crew.

[where_to_next]

I have a question about currency. Can I use US dollars for food purchases, taxis, and gratuities when in port?

[dundeene]

I have a question about currency. Can I use US dollars for food purchases, taxis, and gratuities when in port?

Sorry if I misunderstood, but are you asking about using US dollars in UK and Europe?

If so. . . no, you must use the currency of the country you are traveling in (either pounds sterling in UK or Euro in Europe).

It might seem more obvious if you imagine walking into the grocery store in Texas or New York and asking to pay in euro. The clerk would be confused.;)

The best option is to use you credit card and the currency will be changed by the bank at the best exchange rate vs. other options. You can also use most US based debit cards to take the currency you need from atms in each country you visit. We once took a 3 week trip where we needed 10 different currencies:eek:.

[geoherb]

I love the agnolotti at Alfredo's. The vegetarian antipasto is also great. For breakfast, the International Café is another option for something quick.

 

It's sad to hear that Princess is charging for the shuttles in Dublin now. They were free last summer.

[majortom10]

I love the agnolotti at Alfredo's. The vegetarian antipasto is also great. For breakfast, the International Café is another option for something quick.

 

It's sad to hear that Princess is charging for the shuttles in Dublin now. They were free last summer.

 

It is not a new thing that the shuttle bus is charged it is only possibly last year and the year before where it was free. We have done British Isles cruise 5 times with Princess and the Dublin shuttle has always been chargeable at $8pp each way.

[lolabarola]

I’m enjoying your travelogue very much, especially since we’ll be following in your footsteps on Monday. This’ll be our third time, so I should know, but could you confirm that the formal nights are on the 2 sea days? If so, I guess you’re having one tonight? Or last night maybe? Were they very formal or not so much? Yes, I’m at the packing stage and torn between the long....or maybe the short....dress!

[js10]

The Dublin shuttle was free on Royal's May 13 cruise this year.

[bnickle]

I’m enjoying your travelogue very much, especially since we’ll be following in your footsteps on Monday. This’ll be our third time, so I should know, but could you confirm that the formal nights are on the 2 sea days? If so, I guess you’re having one tonight? Or last night maybe? Were they very formal or not so much? Yes, I’m at the packing stage and torn between the long....or maybe the short....dress!

 

We opted to not do formal and ate at the Horizon and at Alfredos both nights, but there were a lot of people dressed up. We saw a little of the whole scale of "dressed up", but very few formal gowns and tuxes. Mostly suits and cocktail dresses or nice pantsuits. Have a wonderful time!

[cymraes42]

Glad you made it to Edinburgh. Looking forward to the next instalment !

Karen.

[dundeene]

Do you make a reservation in the evening for Alfredo's or just walk up? Did you have a wait?

Also who is the captain? We join this cruise the 30th.

thanks

[elaine5]

Did they have the sea shak seafood pop up dinner? And what night? What was pm entertainment in Dublin? What movies were shown? Did you have some movies as pm entertainment or only as muts?

Edited June 15, 2018 by elaine5

[anthonyy7]

Do you make a reservation in the evening for Alfredo's or just walk up? Did you have a wait?

 

Also who is the captain? We join this cruise the 30th.

 

thanks

 

 

 

Alfredo’s doesn’t do reservations, it’s walk up on a first come basis. It usually takes a few days for people to realize it’s free so less busy early in the cruise.

[bnickle]

1st Sea day

So, as you’ve noticed, this is a really port intensive itinerary for the time allotted. And the days in port are full, time-generous stops, so that if you are like us, you want to make the most of your time and go, go, go, go, till you are just done. That first sea day pops up and is greeted with a huge collective sigh of relief. In fact, that sigh of relief is felt somewhat as the ship sets sail from Greenock the night before. Everyone is clearly happy and having a wonderful time; everyone just needs to stop and breathe a bit.

We breathed a bit on our sail away, and kicked back in exhaustion. On our sea day morning, we began with a leisurely breakfast at the Allegro, and leisurely spent the day being leisurely. We really kind of flew through the day under the radar, just hanging out, chilling ever so slightly and catching up on some z’s. I’ve had a question from a nice lady here on the thread about evening shows. I am sorry to report we did not hit a single one. Evenings we typically hung out in our room, on the deck, or in a quiet space in an empty bar, playing a game. By evening on most nights we were in wind down mode.

We did attend the Maitre D’Hotel Wine Club, which is the premium wine tasting held the first sea day. There is a $25 per person fee. I am not attempting to dog on Princess here, but I think they rely on people thinking this is the only wine tasting and signing up for it, not realizing there is a $10 wine tasting on the second sea day. The difference is that in the premium wine tasting, you are allowed to sample some truly expensive and robust wines. Just be aware that there are two wine tastings, and the second sea day is the cheaper offering. In any case, the tasting was handled well, not too talky, and each wine taster had a small plate of canapés to pair with their tastes. It was very nice and we enjoyed it.

Towards evening, the Captain came on and announced that there was some storm activity up north, and that while things looked ok at the moment, there might be an issue docking in Invergorden. So be prepared. He said there would be pretty choppy seas through the night so everyone should make sure that all their belongings were stowed safely away. To be honest, I never checked to see if the ship was rocking or not. I slept all night long.

Which leads to the fabulous day in Invergorden...

We awoke about 6:00 and turned on the tv to catch our location, and there it was. On the pathway of the ship it showed the ship gaining on Invergorden, then suddenly doing a 180 and zipping out of the channel the way we had sailed in. Around 7:00 the Captain came on the speakers to announce that they had watched a storm system all night and that it was upgraded to enough magnitude that it had a name (“Hector”) and as a result we’d be missing Invergorden. I don’t know if this is accurate but I heard that it was the first time in over 5 years that a Princess BI itinerary had missed Invergorden. We are pretty much make the best of the situation people, and while we had really looked forward to this port in particular, we totally understood and kicked back for a little more restive day at sea.

In our opinion, Princess rose to the occasion nicely. They had revised Patters out within an hour, and all day long there seemed to be pop up activities all over. The Wheelhouse Bar area was a designated game area, and a bunch of different board games and a huge box of unopened decks of cards were left out for people to play as they wished. NOTE: I wish I had packed a couple of small, easily stowed travel games, like Farkle, Bananagram, or Phase Ten. We never may have touched them, but then again, it would have been fun to have them on an unexpected sea day. As it was I was able to take two decks of regular cards and make them into a Phase Ten game, so we made do.

We heard that the storm winds were pretty fierce, but except for a little extra sassy sway we were fine. All in all, it was a pretty nice day.

 

[bnickle]

Edinburgh

So back on track...we sailed into Edinburgh at roughly 7 in the morning, into a slightly overcast, but calm day. We were in line for the tender by 7:15, and by 7:30 we were on the tender, headed to shore. To all the people who push their way to the front of the line for the tender: KNOCK THAT CRAP OFF. They give out a certain number of tender tickets to load each boat and count off how many people actually board. If you’re in the middle of the group you will get to the dock at the exact same time as someone up front or at the end of the line for that boat. Chill, have a lovely time, and be patient.

I feel a need to offer up a side bar here: everyday there is a lecture given on the upcoming port for the next day. The lectures are presented live and shown on demand on the TVs in your cabin. I am not sure what went down where or what feedback Princess has gotten from friends at the ports, but in the lecture about Belfast, it was emphasized to say “please” and “thank you” when making purchases, asking directions, paying a bill, ordering food, and asking for any kind of assistance. Somehow, it felt that it was needed to remind people to be nice. We thought, holy cow. Then we saw several examples of why Princess felt that was needed. Please be polite. Thank you for listening.

Back to Edinburgh. What a wonderful, fun, lively city! The tender docks at South Queensferry, about 20 minutes out of town (as the crow flies) and a short 15 minute or so tender ride from the ship. The sail out from the ship was smooth and quick; later in the day the return would be a totally different story.

In any case, as soon as you get off the tender, you are directed up a short hill and there are shuttle busses that take you right into downtown Edinburgh. The shuttle is 6$ per way per person, and drops you off along Saint Andrew’s Green downtown. About .7 mile in one direction takes you to Holyrood Palace, and a distance of about a mile in the other direction takes you to Edinburgh Castle. Both are very walkable. That area of downtown is under heavy road construction, so our trek to Holyrood Palace was hampered by faulty GPS directions as several pedestrian pathways were closed off.

We were at Holyrood Palace by 9:30, which is when it opens. I had repurchased tickets online and printed them out, and they come printed out ready to scan so you don’t have to exchange them at the ticket window. Audio guides are provided, and I cannot emphasize enough, no matter where you are really, take advantage of the audio guides. Otherwise you will be that guy we saw at Windsor complaining to his wife that “Great...there were more pictures of old people I don’t know.” The tour takes about 45 minutes or so, and be sure to wander through the Abbey Ruins and look at some of the almost indecipherable, weather worn grave markings. It’s fascinating.

We left Holyrood, and popped into the Queens’ Gallery to hit the shop. A note about the Queens’ Gallery. It’s an annex, separately priced, from Holyrood (Buckingham Palace also has one) that features major art exhibitions presented with Royal approval. In 2012 we saw, in London at the Queen’s Gallery, a large collection of rarely exhibited DiVinci anatomical drawings and it was magnificent. The exhibition at Edinburgh currently is Canaletto and the Art of Venice. It’s just sublime.

Across the street is the building of Scotland’s Parliament. We only hit the gift shop looking for Scottish souvenirs, but public tours are offered every day, for free.

Wandering down the Royal Mile about three blocks we hit Clarinda’s Tearoom. It’s a small, kitschy, old fashioned tea room, with about 7 or 8 tables and a sideboard that just groans with an array of freshly baked goods. We decided to split a pot of tea (Scottish Breakfast, which I’m now obsessed with finding) and each had a scone with clotted cream and jam. If you would like a pick me up, it is perfect. They also offer a selection of sandwiches and soups, but we decided to go easy on lunch that day.

Onward down the mile, in and out of shops, till we were about halfway down the way and turned to go three blocks over on Bridge Street till we got to the first stop on our Edinburgh Bookstore Crawl, Blackwell’s. Blackwell’s is a wonderful bookstore, 4 stories high, which features an impressively knowledgeable staff, well stocked new release shelves, and a huge department devoted to Scotland fiction and non-fiction, and Scottish history. Also, there was a ton of sales going on.

Again with the sidebar: Edinburgh is the hometown of JK Rowling, and there are Harry Potter stores everywhere. Three stores down from Blackwell’s is a huge store that at first glance is kind of like Forbidden Planet, called Galaxy. It has a ginormous Harry Potter section of the store, but in much smaller quantity also features prominent gamer accoutrements, collectibles, and clothing.

After Blackwell’s and Galaxy we headed down towards the Waterstones by Edinburgh Castle, and along the way hopped in and out of more stores, tasted whiskey, visited another Harry Potter store so Kate could get her Hogwarts on, and finally made it to the Waterstones.

An interesting note about this portion of the journey: for the entire trip, the weather two days out from all of our ports promised “70 % chance of rain” and “60 % chance of rain.” But until we got about .3 miles from the Waterstones we had not seen a drop of rain THE ENTIRE TRIP. All of a sudden, the skies opened up and sprinkled heavily, and by the time we stopped to tug out our raincoats and put them on, it stopped. That was it for any rain.

After Waterstones we decided to take a cab back to the port, because my knee was swelling and I didn’t think I could walk back to the shuttle stop. The cabbie was nice and the ride was about £25, but we were expecting that. Greg figured that since our Invergorden excursion we had arranged had been canceled we could splurge.

The line to get back on board was pretty long, but manageable. We ended up being in line for 45 minutes before we were able to board a tender, and...holy cow. The waters had gotten noticeably rougher during the day and the tender bobbed up and down with great splashes, making boarding an interesting adventure. The ride back was pretty choppy and a couple of times we hit a wave just right to give it a carnival ride kind of feel, but we made it back fine. I have no idea if the line was the issue but we were over an hour late setting sail from Edinburgh, and after dinner at the Symphony we were ready to read a bit and then head to bed.

 

[bnickle]

Glad you are safe. Enjoy another day in the Spa!!! I have a couple of questions for you. Are there 2 formal nights? What nights are they? Also, I am so looking forward to seeing the new show "Secret Silk" by Stephen Schwartz. Do they show it more than one evening? I have heard horror stories about the lack of seating at shows and I would be so upset if I missed it. Thanks, Karen

 

I am so sorry about my half reply! Formal nights were Guernsey and first sea night. Also, we were slugs at night and hung out either playing games in a quiet corner of a bar or in our room, watching tv. (I was trapped with two “sports people” as my daughter puts it so I got to watch 2 World Cup games and part of the Stanley Cup final). I cannot speak to the size of the theatres because I never went to them. I apologize for lack of info on that. I believe Secret Silk was only shown one evening, for two showings. I could be wrong on that

[bnickle]

Did they have the sea shak seafood pop up dinner? And what night? What was pm entertainment in Dublin? What movies were shown? Did you have some movies as pm entertainment or only as muts?

 

Of course I would love to answer your plethora of succinctly put questions! The Crab Shack pop up was offered once, at Cobh. PM entertainment offerings in Dublin consisted of Folkloric Showtime: Gaels Afloat, the Celtic Festival, a Celtic Speaker Series offering on Liverpool, Classical String Melodies with the Romantica String Trio, Ladies Night at the Art Gallery, Guitarist and Vocalist James Guilmartin, Feature Film: Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Ballroom Dance, Feature Film: The 15:17 to Paris, Elegant Harmonies with the Romantica String Trio, Kory Simon Entertains, Motown Music Trivia, I’ll Take Trivia for 100 Game Show, Late Night Sounds with the Prestige Quartet, 50’s and 60’s Music Hour with DJ Fever, Piano and Cocktails with Ryszard, Karaoke Madness, Texas Hold’Em Players Meet, Music and Dancing with Evolution, All Request Express Dance Music with DJ Fever.

 

Any Films shown at MUTS will be available in the cabins On Demand the day they are first shown till the end of the cruise. there are several concerts shown at MUTS that are not shown in the cabins, which actually would be nice if they could be viewed in the cabins. By the end of the cruise the following recent releases had been featured as MUTS releases, and were available in cabins On Demand: Game Night, Star Wars, Black Panther, Dr. Strange, Murder on the Orient Express, The Post, Molly’s GAme, Eddie the Eagle, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, Greatest Showman, Victoria and Abdul, Darkest Hours, Red Sparrow, Justice League, and Battle of the Sexes. There are several other movies, available from embarkation On Demand, but those are the recent releases.

[bnickle]

Do you make a reservation in the evening for Alfredo's or just walk up? Did you have a wait?

Also who is the captain? We join this cruise the 30th.

thanks

 

 

The great thing about Alfredos is that you can just walk up. At least you could any portion of our sailing. I am truly astonished that it’s not better utilized, since there’s no additional charge and it really is a nice sit down, full service alternative. Also, a tip: they offer two different sangrias. You can get one 250 ml glass or a 500 ml glass, which is really a carafe. The carafe is 10$ and you can easily get four glasses out of it, and it’s a better deal than two people ordering one 250 ml glass each. Also, the white sangria is amazing.

The Captain is Nick Nash.

[elaine5]

thanks so much for info. Good to know about Alfredos.

[BabsinTX]

Loving your review!