Help - feeling overwhelmed planning British Isles cruise

[elaine5]

so, for those interested in the WWII museum, ask the curator to show you where the underground newsletter is. In addition to the RAF dropping war news via airplanes, some had an illegal radio and listened to the real news and then typed a paragraph and the residents circulated that single typed paper all over the island door to door. It lasted for years, until someone turned them in.

[Guernseycruiser]

D C has posted some excellent information earlier in this thread.

 

Whilst I agree we do have a great bus service, with the limited time that the cruise ships allow you at our port, and factoring in tender time, using public transport will only allow you to see one or two of the attractions.  As many visitors have travelled thousands of miles, and may not have the opportunity to visit again, I recommend using a driver and/or guide to take you to the attractions you wish to visit.  You will see so much more during your day.

 

I highly recommend the Little Chapel and the German Occupation Museum.  With regards to the underground newsletter, there were two different newspapers running during the occupation, one group were shopped to the Germans, and transferred to camps in Europe.  The other group carried on throughout the occupation, I have family connections to the editor of this second newspaper.

 

[geoherb]

I enjoyed our day of touring from Invergordon with https://www.invergordontours.com/. Our excursion included going to Urquhart Castle (ruins), a boat cruise on Loch Ness, Clava Cairns, and Cawdor Castle. It looks like they've changed the tour to go to Culloden Battlefield instead of Cawdor Castle this year, but there's the other one that starts at Cawdor and ends up at Urquhart without a stop at Clava Cairns or Culloden. There's another that goes to Dunrobin Castle.

 

[4cordelia]

 

We are thinking of doing this same cruise, but have never sailed on Princess.  (8 cruises with Disney). 

Thanks for all the great recommendations!

 

Heidi 

 

 

[D C]

22 hours ago, Guernseycruiser said:

D C has posted some excellent information earlier in this thread.

 

Whilst I agree we do have a great bus service, with the limited time that the cruise ships allow you at our port, and factoring in tender time, using public transport will only allow you to see one or two of the attractions.  As many visitors have travelled thousands of miles, and may not have the opportunity to visit again, I recommend using a driver and/or guide to take you to the attractions you wish to visit.  You will see so much more during your day.

 

I highly recommend the Little Chapel and the German Occupation Museum.  With regards to the underground newsletter, there were two different newspapers running during the occupation, one group were shopped to the Germans, and transferred to camps in Europe.  The other group carried on throughout the occupation, I have family connections to the editor of this second newspaper.

 

Excellent advice on Guernsey.  I need to remember to look at it from the perspective of only having a few hours on the island.   A taxi would be much better than the buses, though the buses can be managed, I think. 

 

I've read many times where people wait until late morning to tender ashore.  I would be on deck, ready to go, as the ship pulls in (can't beat the view of St Peter Port at sunrise!) and be first in line to tender, as well as the last person on the last tender back to the ship :)

 

Some of the stories of the occupation from friends and relatives on the islands are incredible.  A friend on Sark was in kindergarten at the time, and told stories of how the children couldn't play in certain areas because of the land mines.   My family left Guernsey for the US in 1912, long before the occupation. 

 

 

Edited May 6, 2019 by D C

[caripoo]

If you will be in Scotland in August....DO THE TATTOO.....you will not be sorry.

[Meandmymum]

On 4/27/2019 at 7:20 PM, kayred said:

We just booked what for us is a last minute cruise. Typically we book at least a year and a half in advance but we got a good deal on Princess British Isles cruise in August.  We have never been to Europe and as I try to figure out the ports I just get overwhelmed and shut down, sometimes for me there is just too much on YouTube and even here or CC. So I am reaching out for some help. We are in our early 50's have no disabilities and don't mind walking. We are pretty conservative travelers, one of the few people on CC who like cruise excursions but we also like to mix it up with exploring on our own.

 

we are going to London, Guernsey, Cork, Dublin, Belfasr, Glasgow, Invergordon, and Edinburgh

 

What I am trying to accomplish with my planning is a mix of city and country views. We want to tour some castles but don't want to only tour castles etc.... We are pretty sure we will walk London on our own and I have my heart set on seeing Scottland countryside but that's as far as I get before I am overwhelmed 

 

will you share with me:

your favorite port to walk and roam without a planned excursion 

your favorite castle tour

your favorite/most helpful review/YouTube video/website that helped you plan for your cruise

 

 

thank you - I am off to have some tea and remind myself that vacations don't have to be perfect to be wonderful!!!

 

 

Feel free to check out the Shutterfly site I set up when I did the BI cruise a couple of years ago. It may help with your planning

 

https://caribbeanprincess20may2016.shutterfly.com/excursions

 

Guernsey is easy enough to do independently! I would highly recommend the Little Church - I visited it many times as a child!

 

my favourite castle tour was Blarney Castle - we arrived early and so enjoyed a kiss of the Blarney Stone followed by time spent wondering the stunning gardens. 

 

Favourite port to walk/wander without anything planned - easy - Edinburgh! Although I can highly recommend the Sandemanns walking tour.

 

CC is the best website I can recommend for planning but I have consolidated a lot of the info on my SF site.

 

have a fabulous time

[styme123]

On 4/27/2019 at 9:03 PM, elaine5 said:

Belfast-booked Giants Causeway with Odyssey Tours. We paid a bit extra for the smaller "extra legroom" minibus.  Awesome drive, sights (including castle ruins) and fabulous commentary of struggles in Belfast-great price, great tour! Our minibus seated 18. We didn't need extra legroom--just wanted less people and more personalized and we got it. My daughter actually wrote a college essay about the Peace Walls and N. Ireland conflict after seeing then and listening to our guide. The drive is fantastic, the causeway is very interesting and there are a number of stops--plenty of oppurtunties to be active and also a photographers dream.

When you booked with Odyssey Tours, how do you book the 18 seater? or did you book a private tour? When I go to the site it just has you put in how many tickets you want to buy. I saw the option for the extra leg room. It would only be for 2 people. 

[elaine5]

The extra legroom group tour is the 18 passenger minibus. 

Edited June 9, 2019 by elaine5

[styme123]

56 minutes ago, elaine5 said:

The extra legroom group tour is the 18 passenger minibus. 

Did you do the private hire or just the add on to the group that they have? I'm liking the tour option with the Titanic Museum at the end but I think that's the private hire one. 

[elaine5]

We just booked the extra legroom tour online. It is a group tour of up to 18 persons. Not a private hire. You only pay for your spots. No titanic at the end. 

Edited June 9, 2019 by elaine5

[styme123]

31 minutes ago, elaine5 said:

We just booked the extra legroom tour online. It is a group tour of up to 18 persons. Not a private hire. You only pay for your spots. No titanic at the end. 

If you book the extra leg room one, is it automatically the 18 person bus? Trying to avoid the larger 30-45 person bus.

[elaine5]

Yes. But you can email them to confirm after you book. They describe and show the minibus in their description of extra legroom tour. I just looked on website and they have a new one this year that seats 20 vs 18. 

Edited June 9, 2019 by elaine5

[Diver2014]

We just returned from the Crown Princess British Isles cruise on June 6, 2019.  What an awesome cruise!!!!!  We booked all of our shore excursions thru Princess with the exception of Guernsey and Liverpool (HOHO bus in Liverpool did the same route as Princess tour but was $150 cheaper for 2 people). Being a Beatles fan, we did the Beatles Story since it was included in the HOHO fare.   We thoroughly enjoyed every port and were fortunate enough to have good weather except for Invergordon (rainy on Loch Ness boat ride) and Glasow (rainy on Loch Lomand boat ride).  It was cold but beautiful every where else....cold for us because we're from Florida originally.  I took over 2000 photos because I wanted to remember everything we saw.  While everyone else went to the D Day celebrations on June 5, we went to Mont St Michael in France.  I'd been wanting to go there for the past 50 years - ever since I took French class in junior high.  What a treat!

Edited June 9, 2019 by Diver2014

[TW6cruiser]

Hi Diver2014 I've seen some of your posts as we are heading on the Crown for British Isles in August.   Can you comment on tendering in Guernsey as not being on a Princess tour...if you had trouble or delays in getting off.   Also if you know in Edinburgh if there were problems in delays on tenders.  We are one cruise away from having priority tendering...and in both of those ports we have private tours set up.  Thanks a bunch. 

[Adventures ahead]

5 hours ago, Diver2014 said:

We just returned from the Crown Princess British Isles cruise on June 6, 2019.  What an awesome cruise!!!!!  We booked all of our shore excursions thru Princess with the exception of Guernsey and Liverpool (HOHO bus in Liverpool did the same route as Princess tour but was $150 cheaper for 2 people). Being a Beatles fan, we did the Beatles Story since it was included in the HOHO fare.   We thoroughly enjoyed every port and were fortunate enough to have good weather except for Invergordon (rainy on Loch Ness boat ride) and Glasow (rainy on Loch Lomand boat ride).  It was cold but beautiful every where else....cold for us because we're from Florida originally.  I took over 2000 photos because I wanted to remember everything we saw.  While everyone else went to the D Day celebrations on June 5, we went to Mont St Michael in France.  I'd been wanting to go there for the past 50 years - ever since I took French class in junior high.  What a treat!

Thanks for posting.  So nice to hear positive comments!

 

We're only taking one Princess tour so hoping for no delays getting off the Crown in tender ports where we won't have priority. How was the timing for you to go ashore in St Peter Port?

 

Regarding 2000 photos, reminds me of a friend who asked another friend (who also took lots of pictures) if they ever saw anything through a naked eye, lol! Good for you!

[Adventures ahead]

4 minutes ago, TW6cruiser said:

Hi Diver2014 I've seen some of your posts as we are heading on the Crown for British Isles in August.   Can you comment on tendering in Guernsey as not being on a Princess tour...if you had trouble or delays in getting off.   Also if you know in Edinburgh if there were problems in delays on tenders.  We are one cruise away from having priority tendering...and in both of those ports we have private tours set up.  Thanks a bunch. 

Funny, you were asking the same question as I was typing. We have Elite tender priority; however, not everyone in our private tour groups do.  Glass half full... : ) 

[mahi mahi]

Belfast and Dublin are great to do on your own.  First time in Belfast we did the Titanic Museum (amazing) and toured City Hall on our own (beautiful building and free), had lunch in an out of the way old pub, did a little shopping along the way.  Second time we did a tour with McComb's that included Titanic (loved it the second time), Giant's Causeway and drive through the countryside which was lovely.  In Dublin we did the HOHO bus.  Don't miss Kilmainham Gaol which is one of the stops.  Tickets can be booked online for timed entry and tours are guided.  Also did Jameson Distillery tour and St. Patrick's Cathedral.  You can see so much just by wandering and getting lost!

 

In Greenock we did a tour with Busy Bus, it was fantastic.  Lots of out of the way places you wouldn't normally see.  Driver/guide was great and kept us well entertained throughout.  In Invergorden we also used Invergorden Tours and it was well worth it.  Being fans of the Outlander series we were interested in Culloden and the Clava Cairns.  Driver/guides were once again fantastic.

 

I highly recommend doing tours in lesser known areas as you really do get a feel for these from the locals conducting them.  Major cities are much easier to do on your own as there is so much information out there to read up on.  Seeing the Scottish Highlands with a local, doing whiskey shots on a mountainside with your guide and fellow travelers while watching sheep being herded in the valley below - priceless!

[MrsEmmaPeel]

See my review from last year for more details (posted earlier in the thread), but we found ZERO issue on Royal Princess last year getting a quick tender in Guernsey.  We had zero status and were not using a Princess excursion

 

"We all grabbed breakfast and were at Symphony to get our tender tickets at 8:10 (our car was to be ready at 9:00). We got tender tickets 96-101. We were on a tender within 2 minutes. We were at the pier by 8:40."

 

Direct link to my guernsey post from that thread:

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=56441647&postcount=14

 

Basically, you likely have little worry about.  Bigger question is whether you'll skip Guernsey entirely owing to seas.

 

 

[Adventures ahead]

23 minutes ago, MrsEmmaPeel said:

See my review from last year for more details (posted earlier in the thread), but we found ZERO issue on Royal Princess last year getting a quick tender in Guernsey.  We had zero status and were not using a Princess excursion

 

"We all grabbed breakfast and were at Symphony to get our tender tickets at 8:10 (our car was to be ready at 9:00). We got tender tickets 96-101. We were on a tender within 2 minutes. We were at the pier by 8:40."

 

Direct link to my guernsey post from that thread:

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=56441647&postcount=14

 

Basically, you likely have little worry about.  Bigger question is whether you'll skip Guernsey entirely owing to seas.

 

 

I read your review several weeks ago with great interest! Thanks so much for posting.

Fingers crossed for a smooth tendering operation!  Sounds like it's been more of an issue for the Crown.  Shhhh... the wind and sea will be kind that day! 😉

[KBAJ]

Hi Diver2014 I've seen some of your posts as we are heading on the Crown for British Isles in August.   Can you comment on tendering in Guernsey as not being on a Princess tour...if you had trouble or delays in getting off.   Also if you know in Edinburgh if there were problems in delays on tenders.  We are one cruise away from having priority tendering...and in both of those ports we have private tours set up.  Thanks a bunch. 

 

We totally missed the port of Guernsey on June`7, 2019 as the waves/winds were too strong. A big disappointment but safety first! Don't get your hopes up too high, just in case.  In Edinburgh we were told that they had recently contracted with some larger local boats (like ferry boats) to help alleviate the waiting times to tender.  This seemed to work well and the wait was not too bad... One of the ferries had an open top deck and, if you didn't mind the wind, you could get a ride up there even quicker! Princess wouldn't force anyone to ride outside but, if you volunteered, you could go to the head of the line.

[TW6cruiser]

KBAJ thanks for the info!   Yes it is disappointing to miss a port but I understand your comment about safety.