Excursions

[Emsybell]

What are opinions on excursions?  Should we stick with the cruise company’s excursions or can we research our own?  We will be on the Regal Princess in the British Isles in July 2024.  I would love to hear any and all suggestions!  Thank you! 😊

[GrammieCruising]

I would suggest for first time cruising that you book thru the cruise line. It just eliminates another stresser from the other unique first-time worries you may have. NEXT cruise though, after experiencing a cruise, you’ll be better informed about how it all works and what risk you are willing to take. ENJOY.

[crystalspin]

5 hours ago, Emsybell said:

What are opinions on excursions?  Should we stick with the cruise company’s excursions or can we research our own?  We will be on the Regal Princess in the British Isles in July 2024.  I would love to hear any and all suggestions!  

There is a place for ship's excursions: If the weather is apt to be dicey, it's easier to have cruiseline's money refunded in case of a cancellation. Some tours are just too long or take you far out from port, where any problem with a vehicle could make you miss the ship!

 

Third-party excursion leaders make their reputation by giving you a good time AND getting you back to the ship on time. It is very rare to miss the ship! But vote with your feet if you don't feel good about an excursion. (It is also possible to miss the ship on a sponsored excursion as happened to a busload of passengers in Costa Rica not long ago.)

 

It can also work out to not plan anything and see what is available on or off the dock. I see the powers that be have moved your topic from the general forum to the ports of call British Isles board. Browsing that board should give you things to think about!

 

However, despite your slim cruising history, I see you are not approaching this like a newbie but have started your Roll Call. Once you get people joining, it will be likely that some are visiting at least some ports for a second time -- they will be a great resource. 

 

Have fun and go with the flow!

[edinburgher]

If you are first time cruisers I agree  you will be more confident taking ship shorex albeit at some cost to yourselves.

 

If you are not first time cruisers it is a personal decision as to whether you choose to go off the ship independently or pay for more shorex.  Many pax including ourselves will go off independently in most ports where it is easy to do so, but with the occasional one booked as a shorex, if eg, it is too complex a journey or too far from the port to do independently.  Others will use private tours arranged with local operators, usually sharing with others from your Roll Call. T hese can be popular as they are usually for a maximum of 8 or 10 people and can stop more often for photo ops etc.  Ship shorex are usually in large coaches seating around 40-50 so stops are less frequent and you go at the pace of the slowest. And you cannot decide how much time you can spend at stops as there will be a timed plan which guides will adhere to. It is all a matter of personal choice and confidence.  The more you learn the more confidence you will achieve..

 

If you are doing a UK itinerary, there should be no language issues as I see you are based in the US and most places will have a good network of local public transport.

 

Do join your Roll Call where your fellow pax will be exchanging info and tips for the different ports and there may also be opportunities to join private tours which others have arranged. And do research your ports too.  Much info here on CC and you can use the search option to bring up previous hreads about each of your ports, but also Local Tourist Information Sites, Tripadvisor and others. The info is all out there, you only need look for it.

[John Bull]

Good advice given on here already - but do others know something I don't know? 🤔

I can't see anywhere in the OP that mentions a first cruise or a slim cruising history, though it does sounds like a first European or at least a first British Isles cruise.

 

Whether to take a ship's excursion or a private or shared independent excursion or to DIY is going to depend to a large extent on which ports and how far from port you want to travel.

 

In Europe generally, it's rare to find excursions available on-spec on the quayside, so you need to research in advance and pre-book excursions or figure where you want to visit and the DIY transport options

 

For instance, Invergordon (frequently inaccurately referred to as Inverness) has nothing local to suit a visitor and precious little accessible by public transport.  Favourite destinations from Invergordon include Loch Ness or the Cairngorms or the wild & woolly north. All require a tour (or for the adventurous a rental car), none can be visited by public transport in a port-of-call visit.

There are few tour operators in or near Invergordon so an independent tour needs to be booked well in advance. And most (all?) operators only book out vans, not seats-in-van, so your cruise RollCall is very useful to find sharers or folk seeking sharers.

 

And Falmouth is a pretty little port with twin castles (one on the other side of the river, & accessible by ferry) good for a lazy day, But if you want to visit other places from there (for example the Eden Project / Charlestown / The Lost Gardens of Heligan / Mevagissey or St Michael's Mount / Mousehole / Minak Theatre) you'll need to book a van  in good time. (narrow little roads, many with unforgiving stone walls, most wouldn't choose to self-drive)

 

At the other end of the scale, Belfast - or Dublin (Laughaire) - or Edinburgh can easily be explored either on foot or using local transport.

 

So post the names of your ports (and if possible the day-of-the-week and ship's hours in those ports) and we can offer advice & suggestions.

 

And you can scroll thro previous posts about the ports via the little "search" box, top right of this page - type into the box the name of a port or city , change "this topic" to "this forum" and hit the little spyglass alongside the search box. Give the magic a few moments to work and it will bring up all posts which mention the place.

 

I looked-up your RollCall in order to link it for you.

It's been started by someone whose name sounds familiar 😄

No responses to date, but it's a long way out and will be a valuable resource.

 

OK, I mentioned that Invergordon is misleadingly quoted by cruise lines as Inverness (25 miles away).

Worse than that they quote Southampton as London (85 miles away !!) and Le Havre as Paris (120 miles away !!!)

 

Research, and more research. Then more research.

But you've given yourself plenty of time.

 

JB 🙂

[gnome12]

1 hour ago, John Bull said:

I can't see anywhere in the OP that mentions a first cruise or a slim cruising history, though it does sounds like a first European or at least a first British Isles cruise.

From the signature this is only the second cruise; the first was Bahamas.

[Emsybell]

Thank you all for the advice.  This is my 2nd cruise, my first was to the Bahamas.  This time I will be traveling with my mother-in-law who has cruised many times, but leaves the planning up to me.  I did create the roll call, because I remember that being super helpful with my first cruise, but like you said, it's a long way out, I'm just a planner lol

 

Our itinerary is:

Cork on Tuesday 7/16/24

Dublin on Weds. 7/17/24

Belfast on Thurs. 7/18/24

Glasgow on Fri. 7/19/24

Orkney Islands on Sun. 7/21/24

Invergordon on Mon. 7/22/24

Edinburgh on Tues. 7/23/24

Paris/Normandy on Thurs. 7/25/24

S. Hampton on Fri. 7/26/24

 

Thank you for the information on the distances from port.  That's definitely good to know.

[edinburgher]

For your Edinburgh port call, there is a very helpful website for cruise pax which gives info on the different port or tender locations (and which of them  your ship will be using) and how to reach central Edinburgh from each, but for now only ship calls for 2023 are showing, so you might want to wait a few months before checking yours.

it is called cruiseforth. 

 

Once in central Edinburgh, most first time visitors will be time restricted to Edinburgh Castle and the Royal Mile/Old Town area all of which are best explored on foot and in close proximity to each other.  You can of course visit and/or explore anywhere you like in the city, you only need read  Tourist Information and review sites to help you decide which sights are of most interest to you personally, not to others.

 

Should you decide to visit inside Edinburgh Castle, it is advisable to pre-book your entry tickets as otherwise there could be long lines and waits for tickets.

 

On the CC French Ports Forum, there are multiple threads about le Havre options.  Again, do read them to help you decide.  Use the search option for previous threads about all your ports, you only need be on the correct geographical forum, although CC sometimes has a rather puzzling  sense of geography.

Edited June 7, 2023 by edinburgher

[Harters]

2 hours ago, John Bull said:

narrow little roads, many with unforgiving stone walls, most wouldn't choose to self-drive)

And with high hedges, so you don't get to see too much scenery while driving about. It can be almost like driving in a tunnel. We spent a week in Mevagissey a few years back. If anyone has the slightest interest in gardening the Eden Project and Heligan are thoroughyl recommended.

[John Bull]

OK, OK. I'm not the most-observant guy on Cruise Critic 😄

 

Normandy / Paris.

 

As I mentioned, Paris is a long drive - a total of about 5 hours sat on a tour bus - but ships tend to leave mid-evening to allow enough time for a half-decent overview of Paris.

It's one of the few excursions where even I would favour taking ship's tour.

Ships also offer "Paris on your own" ie just transportation to & from. Unless I wanted to spend most of my time in one place (the Louvre, for instance) t's something I wouldn't advise for Paris because you'd waste so much of the precious time orientating yourselves and using local transport from sight to sight.

 

Alternatively, the D-Day beaches & sights. For a WW2 buff there's enough for a week or more, but a port-of-call visit will give you a decent overview. Public transport isn't an option, you need a rental car (and lots of research), or car + driver (and some research) or a tour.

 https://www.overlordtour.com/product-category/tour-from-ports/ is the best-known and comes highly-rated Either book a van & find shares via your RollCall, or book seats-in-van just for yourselves (with your limited experience probably best not to be responsible for co-ordinating a van).  Expensive, but very highly-rated by Cruise Critic members.

Ships' tours are in 44-56 seater coaches, consequently much less personal and slower to alight & board at the stops. But still highly-rated by those who've used them.

For D-Day both ships' tours and independent tours book out months in advance, all-too-often I find folk on these pages desperately seeking a D-Day tour. So I suggest you decide soonest and book (Ships' tours are normally cancellable so if you book & subsequently find someone on your RollCall looking for sharers you're covered).

 

For a lazy day, the fishing / tourist harbour of Honfleur is just a 25-minute taxi ride from your ship.

 

Or, if you haven't yet booked your flights, and want to spend some "proper" time (2 or 3 days or more) in Paris ..............

Princess is one of the cruise lines that permit passengers to disembark at Le Havre. You'll only miss your last night on the ship and you'll be in Paris almost a full day before the cruise finishes in Southampton. A few nights in a Paris hotel, then fly home from Paris.

Air-fares will be much the same as London return flights. The two flights will have to be with the same airline or airline-alliance (not difficult for New York) - check out  "multi-city" or "open jaw" flights on flight  booking websites.

Princess charge a fairly nominal fee for disembarking in Le Havre, and you have to take your luggage with you when you leave the ship.

 

Or skip Paris & put it no the back-burner for a "proper" visit at some time in the future.

 

All just MHO as always

 

JB 🙂

[crystalspin]

7 hours ago, John Bull said:

Good advice given on here already - but do others know something I don't know? 🤔

I can't see anywhere in the OP that mentions a first cruise or a slim cruising history, though it does sounds like a first European or at least a first British Isles cruise.

@Emsybell first posted in the First-Time Cruiser board, despite her previous island cruise. The Sysops moved it to British Isles... No huhu!

[John Bull]

39 minutes ago, crystalspin said:

@Emsybell first posted in the First-Time Cruiser board, despite her previous island cruise. The Sysops moved it to British Isles... No huhu!

 

 

Yep, as I posted above "OK, OK. I'm not the most-observant guy on Cruise Critic 😄"

 

JB 🙂

[mskaufman]

We are on the cruise the week after you and have a mixture of cruise line excursion, private excursions and DIY.  The DIY is where we are going into the city and excursions are where we are going further away,

[Emsybell]

Thank you all!  This gives me some great information, but leaves me with a few thoughts.

 

We are definitely planning to do the D-Day site visit.  As a heads-up for anyone traveling in the area around that time like @mskaufman, I just realized that the 2024 Olympics will be in Paris starting around that time, so we will certainly be avoiding the area.

 

How far ahead can you book the cruise excursions?  I definitely want to make sure we get the Normandy sites.  That is largely why I picked this itinerary.

 

 

[edinburgher]

I think your difficulty is that you are too good at planning!  You are way too early for docking locations, shorex etc to hve been uploaded  for July NEXT YEAR and will have to wait until they are available.

 

having said that, should you miss booking the excursion through the ship, there are a number of highly recommended privae tour companies offering the same tours on this France Ports Forum, (JB in post #10 has mentioned one of them) so that could be your "plan B".  It is also possible that someone, (or even yourself) would organise such a private tour and be looking for others to share with them.

[Emsybell]

@edinburgher you are absolutely right.  I know I am way too far out, but I just want to have an idea of what I'm going to be looking at for next year.  😀

[Cotswold Eagle]

On 6/7/2023 at 3:15 PM, Emsybell said:

 

S. Hampton on Fri. 7/26/24

Please don’t do this - the port is Southampton, not S. Hampton or South Hampton (or even as we occasionally see Southhampton…) 

 

That’s not just being pedantic, it’s important when searching and booking things! Likewise, to avoid confusion in the rest of the world, it helps to spell out your dates, rather than use the anachronistic American layout 🤣

Edited June 8, 2023 by Cotswold Eagle

[Cotswold Eagle]

1 hour ago, Emsybell said:

, I just realized that the 2024 Olympics will be in Paris starting around that time

That’s a very good and important observation, thank you. The Games open the day after you are in Le Havre. 
 

Something for us to bear in mind when less organised planners post queries here over the next year 😀

Edited June 8, 2023 by Cotswold Eagle

[Emsybell]

16 minutes ago, Cotswold Eagle said:

Please don’t do this - the port is Southampton, not S. Hampton or South Hampton (or even as we occasionally see Southhampton…) 

 

That’s not just being pedantic, it’s important when searching and booking things! Likewise, to avoid confusion in the rest of the world, it helps to spell out your dates, rather than use the anachronistic American layout 🤣

Thank you!  Those are 2 things I didn't even consider.

 

[Cotswold Eagle]

23 minutes ago, Emsybell said:

Thank you!  Those are 2 things I didn't even consider.

 

It’s a funny place the Old World 😀

It’s fairly obvious, if slightly jarring, for your dates, but something like today which is 8/6 here and 6/8 there can get v confusing….

[Emsybell]

14 minutes ago, Cotswold Eagle said:

It’s a funny place the Old World 😀

It’s fairly obvious, if slightly jarring, for your dates, but something like today which is 8/6 here and 6/8 there can get v confusing….

Absolutely!

[Turtles06]

On 6/8/2023 at 9:18 AM, Emsybell said:

How far ahead can you book the cruise excursions?  I definitely want to make sure we get the Normandy sites.  That is largely why I picked this itinerary.

I highly recommend Overlord Tours (mentioned above) for Normandy. (It’s been some years since we toured with them, but they continue to be highly recommended here.). If it’s too early to book with them now, you can e-mail

them and ask when bookings will open for your dates. 
 

And I’d definitely want to take a private shorex in Normandy rather than a ship’s tour. 

 

Good luck with your planning!
 

 

Edited June 11, 2023 by Turtles06