Military Tattoo

[Boardwalkfun]

We will be in Edinburgh on the Crystal Symphony in August. The ship excursions are not out yet and the tickets to go on our own to the Military Tattoo are opening soon. If anyone has experience with going through the ship vs going on your own we would appreciate your input. Approximately how much was it either way? How did you get there if you went on your own? We are just not sure if we should wait till the excursions open or book it on our own. Thank you. 

[Marilyn Johannes]

We did this last August with a group from our roll call. We did the tour with Exquisite Scotland. (If Kay isn’t available, try George from Great Highland Day Tours. We used George in two different ports and enjoyed his tours. He used to work with Kay from Exquisite Scotland.) The tour started at 8:30 AM and we got back to the ship after midnight. The tour cost £75 not including lunch, dinner or Military Tattoo tickets. We purchased the tickets directly from the Military Tattoo. Not sure if you are part of the Friends of the Military Tattoo, but if you are, you can purchase tickets sooner than the general public. If there are more questions don’t hesitate to ask. 

We did this tour from Glasgow not Edinburgh. 

[styme123]

3 hours ago, Marilyn Johannes said:

We did this last August with a group from our roll call. We did the tour with Exquisite Scotland. (If Kay isn’t available, try George from Great Highland Day Tours. We used George in two different ports and enjoyed his tours. He used to work with Kay from Exquisite Scotland.) The tour started at 8:30 AM and we got back to the ship after midnight. The tour cost £75 not including lunch, dinner or Military Tattoo tickets. We purchased the tickets directly from the Military Tattoo. Not sure if you are part of the Friends of the Military Tattoo, but if you are, you can purchase tickets sooner than the general public. If there are more questions don’t hesitate to ask. 

We did this tour from Glasgow not Edinburgh. 

 I think K and George are booked for this year when I'm going 🙁. I'm looking to do the same tour as you did with Military Tattoo transport.

[Mrs.Dukes]

We did the Military Tattoo this past summer when on a cruise with Azamara. We docked in Leith (not sure which port Crystal docks at.) We took a bus from right outside the cruise port. It was about a 15 minute bus ride, and a few minutes walk from where the bus stopped. We bought the tickets directly on the Tattoo site. We took the bus back afterwards also. We were not concerned about getting back to the ship quickly as we were overnighting in Edinburgh  we had what I thought were pretty decent seats and they were about $70 each.

[caripoo]

YOU WILL LOVE IT!!!... We ended up doing the Princess excursion, because of the distance from our ship, all the seats are good...but I wish we had been closer, we would have done it on our own.

[tartanexile81]

On 11/18/2019 at 7:25 PM, Boardwalkfun said:

We will be in Edinburgh on the Crystal Symphony in August. The ship excursions are not out yet and the tickets to go on our own to the Military Tattoo are opening soon. If anyone has experience with going through the ship vs going on your own we would appreciate your input. Approximately how much was it either way? How did you get there if you went on your own? We are just not sure if we should wait till the excursions open or book it on our own. Thank you. 

 

Your ship is scheduled to dock at Queensferry for Edinburgh. As a local I have only ever gone on my own.  It would be VERY easy to book tickets and then arrange a taxi to take you there and back - approx £25 each way).  Bookings have already opened for Friends of The Tattoo (anybody can pay £25 to get this) and as you know booking opens to the general public on 2nd. if you wanted to push the boat out, there are special packages available   https://www.edintattoo.co.uk/tickets/exclusive-packages .  Or you can book a pre-tattoo dinner at the Witchery by the Castle then just go on to the event. 

[tlund]

We, too, are getting tickets to the Tattoo.  We have a group of 12 so I am trying to figure out if we should book an excursion from Greenock to Edinburgh and back (just to get there and back) or should we try to get a private vehicle for our group.  I quickly looked and it seems hard to get a "private" vehicle for the group that will fit 12 of us.  Any advise as to good tour groups that will do a tour from the cruise port to Edinburgh for the Tattoo and then bring us back ON TIME for our 2:00 a.m. departure?  Also, any recommendations for a private vehicle that we can look into to get our group of 12 there and back?

[angie7911922]

Dont be scared to do it on your own. The tickets are quite easy to get. We took a taxi there when we went. The bus would probably have been cheaper, but I felt more comfortable with taxi to make sure would make it back on time. Maybe you can find another couple to share the taxi with?

[maui6284]

I believe that the tattoo  tickets begin August 7th and you will have already  departed Edinburgh. 

 

Please correct me if I am wrong

[Cotswold Eagle]

6 hours ago, maui6284 said:

I believe that the tattoo  tickets begin August 7th and you will have already  departed Edinburgh. 

 

Please correct me if I am wrong

 

It’s not clear to whom you are responding, but the OP is on a cruise specifically marketed for the Tattoo and will be overnighting at Queensferry on 10th/11th August. 

[Hlitner]

We will be at the Tattoo on a Princess cruise and faced the same issue as the OP.  But the Princess excursion made little sense since it was simply an overpriced round trip bus ride (from Queenferry) plus Tattoo tickets.  So we simply joined with a few others (on our CC Roll Call) and joined a small group tour (14 persons) that will last all day and costs less then the simply Princess transportation.  Our tour driver will drop us near the Castle before 6 so we can all go off and enjoy a nice dinner and then the 9pm Tattoo performance (we simply bought our Tattoo tickets online).  Our driver will then return us to Queensferry.  

 

DW and I have been to Queensferry a few times and always used the train to an from Edinburgh.  But in the case of the Tattoo we did not want to deal with a late night train back to Queensferry.  And our small group tour is kind of interesting with a terrific price.

 

Hank

[edinburgher]

Sorry to bring disappointing news but an announcement was made this week that this years Tattoo has been cancelled.