Rosyth docking for Edinburgh

[longterm]

We will be arriving at Rosyth on July 14th on the BIE cruise. I have a question for the knowledgeable sailors on here:

 

According to Apple Maps, Rosyth dockyard is 30 minutes from the royal yacht Britannia. Two questions:

 

1. ls the Rosyth dockyard where Viking will most likely dock the ship, if the itinerary says Rosyth, or will we be farther away? 

 

2. Is it reasonable to assume that we can make the 15-mile journey from the Royal yacht to the Viking ship in a half hour, on a Sunday in Edinburgh?

 

Our ship departs at 5 PM, and I am trying to work out a safe schedule.

 

 Thanks!

[Heidi13]

3 hours ago, longterm said:

We will be arriving at Rosyth on July 14th on the BIE cruise. I have a question for the knowledgeable sailors on here:

 

According to Apple Maps, Rosyth dockyard is 30 minutes from the royal yacht Britannia. Two questions:

 

1. ls the Rosyth dockyard where Viking will most likely dock the ship, if the itinerary says Rosyth, or will we be farther away? 

 

2. Is it reasonable to assume that we can make the 15-mile journey from the Royal yacht to the Viking ship in a half hour, on a Sunday in Edinburgh?

 

Our ship departs at 5 PM, and I am trying to work out a safe schedule.

 

 Thanks!

 

In Rosyth, the ships docks on the north shore, after passing underneath both Forth Road Bridges and the Railway Bridge. The berth is just before the lock entrance to the basin.

 

If you are hiring a car, you should be able to drive to the RY at Leith in 1/2 hr. While I have driven the road many times, I have never looked for parking, so will need to rely on one of the locals to assist with availability of parking.

 

Rosyth has a train station at the north end of town, but it isn't on the main Aberdeen to London line, so I have no idea how many trains head to Edinburgh Waverly. North and South Queensferry are both on the mainline, so I expect have more trains stopping. I suggest checking the Network Rail site and checking which station has service when you want to head into Edinburgh. A taxi from the port to the station would be your best best, unless Viking has a shuttle. North Queensferry is closer, but the mainline express trains rarely stop there, probably only the local trains.

 

From Edinburgh Waverly Station, you can get a city bus outside the station down to Leith, which stops at the Royal Yacht. Depending on connections, should take 35 - 45 mins.

[fruitmachine]

7 hours ago, longterm said:

We will be arriving at Rosyth on July 14th on the BIE cruise. I have a question for the knowledgeable sailors on here:

 

According to Apple Maps, Rosyth dockyard is 30 minutes from the royal yacht Britannia. Two questions:

 

1. ls the Rosyth dockyard where Viking will most likely dock the ship, if the itinerary says Rosyth, or will we be farther away? 

 

2. Is it reasonable to assume that we can make the 15-mile journey from the Royal yacht to the Viking ship in a half hour, on a Sunday in Edinburgh?

 

Our ship departs at 5 PM, and I am trying to work out a safe schedule.

 

 Thanks!

The fastest and most practical option is probably a taxi which will cost around £50.  That will take just over 30 minutes on a Sunday; at the very worst 40.  https://maps.app.goo.gl/kpnGrH8SBaX4gJRRA For the return trip an Uber (from either Britannia or in town) will be cheaper than an Edinburgh taxi.

 

The alternative is a combination of taxi (or shuttle bus if Viking are running one) to Inverkeithing station, then train, then tram, reversing that for the return.  With connections, that'll probably take 2-3 times as long.  There is no car hire at Rosyth (though there is free parking at Britannia).  Let me know if you're determined to try this way and I'll give a more detailed reply.

 

If you want to visit Edinburgh city centre after Britannia, then it's an easy 20-25 minute journey on the tram from Britannia.  Buy your ticket at the machine on the platform. https://edinburghtrams.com/

 

Some folk take the included tour in the morning, which gives you 60 minutes on your own near the castle, then leave that tour, making their own way back to the ship.  You could leave it and visit Britannia, then head back to Rosyth.  You have sufficient time to do this.

[longterm]

Thanks for the answers--that was exactly what I was wanting to know.

 

We've got our day planned out and will rely on either a taxi or Uber to get from ship to the castle, then same to get from the Royal Yacht to the ship at 3:30pm. I've compiled a list of places we want to see; should be a great (but busy) day in Edinburgh!

[Peregrina651]

19 hours ago, longterm said:

We will be arriving at Rosyth on July 14th on the BIE cruise. I have a question for the knowledgeable sailors on here:

 

According to Apple Maps, Rosyth dockyard is 30 minutes from the royal yacht Britannia. Two questions:

 

1. ls the Rosyth dockyard where Viking will most likely dock the ship, if the itinerary says Rosyth, or will we be farther away? 

 

2. Is it reasonable to assume that we can make the 15-mile journey from the Royal yacht to the Viking ship in a half hour, on a Sunday in Edinburgh?

 

Our ship departs at 5 PM, and I am trying to work out a safe schedule.

 

 Thanks!

 

Don't forget to allow for the time it will take you to get from the drop off point to the ship.  No one has commented if cabs and Ubers can drop you right at the berth. What if it is a shuttle from drop off point to gangway?

 

  

 

 

Edited May 3 by Peregrina651

[longterm]

38 minutes ago, Peregrina651 said:

 

Don't forget to allow for the time it will take you to get from the drop off point to the ship.  No one has commented if cabs and Ubers can drop you right at the berth. What if it is a shuttle from drop off point to gangway?

I did think about that; our plan is to make sure we're in a car by 3:30, which should get us to the dockyard by 4, and then if it takes 10 minutes to get on board, we'll be fine.

We like being early, so we'll probably err on the side of caution when the day comes. 🙂

On our Med cruise, we watched from our balcony as 2 people ran up to the gangway, right at the time we were supposed to push off. They ran up the gangway, and within minutes the gangway was stowed, lines pulled in, and we were pushing off the dock.

[uktog]

8 minutes ago, longterm said:

I did think about that; our plan is to make sure we're in a car by 3:30, which should get us to the dockyard by 4, and then if it takes 10 minutes to get on board, we'll be fine.

We like being early, so we'll probably err on the side of caution when the day comes. 🙂

On our Med cruise, we watched from our balcony as 2 people ran up to the gangway, right at the time we were supposed to push off. They ran up the gangway, and within minutes the gangway was stowed, lines pulled in, and we were pushing off the dock.

Could I suggest you aim to be at the car a little earlier. 30 minutes from Leith to Rosyth is optimistic during commute times which starts around 3 these days. It’s a route I do a lot and one I’d say is 45 minutes is the minimum during rush hour as you’ve got to get out from Leith as well. Even with its “hard shoulder” it just takes a little breakdown and everything really slows down on the bridge as well 

[longterm]

Thanks for the great info; that was exactly what I was looking for. 

[longterm]

2 hours ago, uktog said:

Could I suggest you aim to be at the car a little earlier. 30 minutes from Leith to Rosyth is optimistic during commute times which starts around 3 these days. It’s a route I do a lot and one I’d say is 45 minutes is the minimum during rush hour as you’ve got to get out from Leith as well.

Even on a Sunday?

[uktog]

22 minutes ago, longterm said:

Even on a Sunday?

Sunday can have the day trippers out. Took me an hour last weekend to just up the road from the dockyard. Roadworks in Edinburgh and a breakdown just before the bridge. It’s quite unpredictable but I’ve rarely done it in 30 minutes 

[Peregrina651]

3 hours ago, longterm said:

and then if it takes 10 minutes to get on board, we'll be fine.

 

And if it takes longer??

 

At least by the time you leave the ship that day,  you will have a better idea of the arrangements at the port  -- and especially the time of the last shuttle back to the ship (especially if it is the only way you can get back to the ship).

 

 

[whitbob]

We docked Rosyth on the BIE on Mars in August 2022. 
 

Our research in advance and the port talk on the ship led us to believe we would not be able to hail a cab in Rosyth.  We read on the port websites and the ship port talk confirmed that we could only get a shuttle to the train station or a taxi to the train station.  Edinburgh is only 15 miles, so why cabs don’t line up when a cruise ship appears didn’t make sense, but it was confirmed multiple places to be the case.  🤷🏼‍♀️
 

Our first hand experience was:

-viking did not have a shuttle to Edinburgh. The shuttle ran from the ship to Dunfermline stopping at the Inverkeithing train station. Guest relations provided directions and maps on how to take the train to Edinburgh.

 

-as we left the ship there was a tent (see below in top right corner) that functioned as the cruise terminal.  Once inside, there were guides directing you to Viking Excursions, shuttle buses.  They had maps, brochures, etc..  We asked if there was a taxi queue to catch a taxi to Edinburgh.  The guide said no, but he could call one for us, which he did and reported it would take 20 minutes for them to arrive.  We then wandered outside of the tent to wait.   As it turned out, there were Taxis coming and going right outside the tent/terminal.  Not a line of cabs, maybe one or two every few minutes.    People coming out and seeing the line to catch the shuttle to train station, and jumping in the cabs.  We could have done the same, but decided to wait.  Our driver arrived, spoke to the guide, collected us within the 20 minutes and we were off.  Clean, large sedan, driver was an owner/operator for the service, we were happy with service they called.
 

We cannot remember why we didn’t just Uber, but I would check the app for Uber or Lyft to see if they are operating in the area.  

And yes, the return taxi dropped us right at the terminal/tent, so we were back on the ship in a few minutes.

 

 

 

[longterm]

13 hours ago, whitbob said:

We docked Rosyth on the BIE on Mars in August 2022. 
 

Our research in advance and the port talk on the ship led us to believe we would not be able to hail a cab in Rosyth.  We read on the port websites and the ship port talk confirmed that we could only get a shuttle to the train station or a taxi to the train station.  Edinburgh is only 15 miles, so why cabs don’t line up when a cruise ship appears didn’t make sense, but it was confirmed multiple places to be the case.  🤷🏼‍♀️
 

Our first hand experience was:

-viking did not have a shuttle to Edinburgh. The shuttle ran from the ship to Dunfermline stopping at the Inverkeithing train station. Guest relations provided directions and maps on how to take the train to Edinburgh.

 

-as we left the ship there was a tent (see below in top right corner) that functioned as the cruise terminal.  Once inside, there were guides directing you to Viking Excursions, shuttle buses.  They had maps, brochures, etc..  We asked if there was a taxi queue to catch a taxi to Edinburgh.  The guide said no, but he could call one for us, which he did and reported it would take 20 minutes for them to arrive.  We then wandered outside of the tent to wait.   As it turned out, there were Taxis coming and going right outside the tent/terminal.  Not a line of cabs, maybe one or two every few minutes.    People coming out and seeing the line to catch the shuttle to train station, and jumping in the cabs.  We could have done the same, but decided to wait.  Our driver arrived, spoke to the guide, collected us within the 20 minutes and we were off.  Clean, large sedan, driver was an owner/operator for the service, we were happy with service they called.
 

We cannot remember why we didn’t just Uber, but I would check the app for Uber or Lyft to see if they are operating in the area.  

And yes, the return taxi dropped us right at the terminal/tent, so we were back on the ship in a few minutes.

 

 

 

Perfect, thanks!

Sounds like we can easily catch a cab right outside the tent--we'll give ourselves plenty of time going out, and see how it goes.

[uktog]

Oops posted on the wrong thread previously

 

Datapoint. Yesterday a Sunday I did that trip at around 1530 and as I passed the dock gates at Rosyth my time from Ocean Terminal was 50 minutes,  The route is such a lottery.  So allow plenty time!  That was an average of around 18mph just heavy traffic on one part of the route for about 4 miles and a tail back on the bridge for no known reason - may have been a problem further up the motorway.  So allow plenty time would be my advice.

[WanderingBrit]

Rosyth for Edinburgh is like Tilbury for London - yes you can get there, but it ain't quick.