Kirkwall, Orkney Island to limit ships

[MagnoliaBlossom]

We are booked on a British Isles cruise 6/26 on the Dawn with a port of call at Kirkwall.  Last week we received an itinerary change that we will skip Kirkwall and have a sea day.  No reason was given, as is their prerogative.  Today I was reading a Cruise News article that said the council in Kirkwall has decided to limit the number of ships as it is disrupting public services and quality of life for the residents.   If you have had the privilege of call thre, you know it is a lovely, small island.  According to the article on some days they have received three ships with a total of 7,000 passengers.    I had hoped to show my grandkids the Shetland ponies and zillions of sheep, but maybe next time.

 

no need to flame me - I am NOT complaining, I am NOT going to cancel my cruise, and I am NOT going to “never sail NCL again”.  I’m just sorry we didn’t make the cut.

 

we are seeing more areas prohibit or limit ship calls, so this is another on the list.

MB

[Pitzel]

Any chance your sailing stops in Shetland? Our day in Orkney was good, but not nearly as memorable as our day in Shetland. We rented a car and spent the day driving around the island. We made our way to a local farm that I had come across on a social media site and we got to spend quite a bit of time there petting and feeding the Shetland Ponies, the sheep, and lots of native Shetland animals. One of the absolute highlights of our trip!

[MagnoliaBlossom]

16 hours ago, Pitzel said:

Any chance your sailing stops in Shetland? Our day in Orkney was good, but not nearly as memorable as our day in Shetland. We rented a car and spent the day driving around the island. We made our way to a local farm that I had come across on a social media site and we got to spend quite a bit of time there petting and feeding the Shetland Ponies, the sheep, and lots of native Shetland animals. One of the absolute highlights of our trip!

The new itinerary does not sub the Shetlands for Orkney, which would be nice.  But we enjoyed the Orkney more than the Shetland island.  Different strokes, I guess, but so glad we saw them both.

[DCGuy64]

18 hours ago, MagnoliaBlossom said:

no need to flame me - I am NOT complaining, I am NOT going to cancel my cruise, and I am NOT going to “never sail NCL again”.  I’m just sorry we didn’t make the cut.

It was nice of you to put that caveat in there. Too often local decisions not to allow cruise ships are simply a vehicle to vent about the cruise line and blame them for something clearly not of their doing. I would LOVE to visit Scotland on a cruise. (I went to Edinburgh once on my own and had a great time, but my wife has never been.)

[Pitzel]

51 minutes ago, MagnoliaBlossom said:

The new itinerary does not sub the Shetlands for Orkney, which would be nice.  But we enjoyed the Orkney more than the Shetland island.  Different strokes, I guess, but so glad we saw them both.

I think our enjoyment of Shetland was that we actually rented a vehicle and were able to get out and explore things on our own. Had we stuck around the port area or taken an excursion or tour, we probably would have been underwhelmed as well. We loved being able to explore places that were truly off the beaten path and go places that were not necessarily designed for tourists. Our son was 6 at the time that we went and he LOVED being able to be up close with the animals on the farm, even getting to feed the sheep himself. 

[MagnoliaBlossom]

4 hours ago, DCGuy64 said:I would LOVE to visit Scotland on a cruise. (I went to Edinburgh once on my own and had a great time, but my wife has never been.)

Scotland is a magical place.  So many wonderful castles and so much history.  NCL has some very nice Northern European itineraries since restart.

[dhanakorn]

We stopped by Lerwick earlier this June when we cruised on NCL Star. It was a nice small town. You could just walk around without taking any public bus. 

 

 

I did take s public bus from Lerwick to Scalloway. 

Trying local delicacies. 

[dexddd]

We missed it in September due to 'weather'.

[kby1216]

We just did this itinerary in July and Kirkwall was one of my favorite stops. I can understand that they need to limit ships because it is a very small town. I really like the smaller stops with shops that are owned by locals so you can get a feel for the location and sample the local foods. 

[MagnoliaBlossom]

On 8/18/2023 at 10:17 AM, kby1216 said:

We just did this itinerary in July and Kirkwall was one of my favorite stops. I can understand that they need to limit ships because it is a very small town. I really like the smaller stops with shops that are owned by locals so you can get a feel for the location and sample the local foods. 

I remember a fantastic yarn shop.  All the wool was grown and processed on the island.  It was beautiful yarn, but maybe only a fabric arts person could fully appreciate that. 😋.  We were to have seen the puffins but the island where they nest was closed to an outbreak of bird flu, but the island was beautiful.  Soooo many sheep, it was crazy!

[kby1216]

3 hours ago, MagnoliaBlossom said:

I remember a fantastic yarn shop.  All the wool was grown and processed on the island.  It was beautiful yarn, but maybe only a fabric arts person could fully appreciate that. 😋.  We were to have seen the puffins but the island where they nest was closed to an outbreak of bird flu, but the island was beautiful.  Soooo many sheep, it was crazy!

I saw that shop but I knew I would have blown my whole budget there so did not go in. LOL. I crochet and have more yarn than I could possible ever use.

[MagnoliaBlossom]

1 hour ago, kby1216 said:

I saw that shop but I knew I would have blown my whole budget there so did not go in. LOL. I crochet and have more yarn than I could possible ever use.

I feel your pain.  I have a ginormous armoire that is filled with yarn.   BTW, I was raised in NOLA and until six years ago, spent my life in Alex.  I see you’re a Louisiana girl, too

[kby1216]

On 8/19/2023 at 5:11 PM, MagnoliaBlossom said:

I feel your pain.  I have a ginormous armoire that is filled with yarn.   BTW, I was raised in NOLA and until six years ago, spent my life in Alex.  I see you’re a Louisiana girl, too

Born and raised in Lake Charles, then lived in Texas for 20 years and  now I am back home.

[MagnoliaBlossom]

1 minute ago, kby1216 said:

Born and raised in Lake Charles, then lived in Texas for 20 years and  now I am back home.

Ayeee, yeehaw.   What a combo.

[DesertJake]

Any idea if they are modifying future itineraries to reflect this? I'm just now looking at booking a cruise next year that will go to either Kirkwall (NCL) or Shetland (Princess). This could help me decide.

[MagnoliaBlossom]

I only know about our sailing (6/23/24, Dawn) and they did not replace the port, just added a sea day.