Question for Recent Scotland Intensive Cruisers

[Mimiya11]

Am looking for a shore excursion to get to St Andrews but none are listed on the Azamara site for our June 2025 cruise.  Not sure if this is a just not yet listed or just not being offered. 

 

Has anyone been on this cruise within the last year and can provide some information as to whether there is/was one available through Azamara? 

Any and all private excursion offerings that I have researched (excluding one that would charge $1000! for 2 of us) did not fit within our port times. 

 

Thank you in advance.    

[bunnybeck]

We were on the Scotland Intensive in June 2024. There was an excursion offered to St Andrews. We did not book it, so can’t speak to the price. From The posting on The Insider, it looks like it was transportation to/from with free time to explore.

[bunnybeck]

The excursion I referenced was from Dundee to St. Andrews. Wanted to be clear about that.

[scotsahoy]

Dundee to St Andrews is only c 20/25minutes drive. Driving time from Leith, Edinburgh ( where ship usually docks) is at least 1:5 hours. Maybe the concierge at Guest Relations could suggest a company to use and you could share a private trip with another 2 passengers? 
Alternatively, you could take the tram from near where ship docks to Waverley train station ( c 20 mins), then a train to Leuchars ( at least 1 hour) and then a taxi /bus to St Andrews ( c 20 mins) - would depend how long you have in port. Sorry, don’t know about the excursions. 

[NeilWM]

We used Rabbies tours who were excellent, not sure if they have a suitable time that day

[fruitmachine]

St Andrews excursions are frequently available, so it may be a case of waiting a little for them to be made available for your cruise.  However, DIY is straightforward and a lot cheaper than the $1,000 you've seen so far.

 

To minimise the stress of the public transport option, I'd suggest a tweak to @scotsahoy's routing, starting with 

• Taxi to Haymarket station (you could also take the tram, it's three stops beyond Waverley).  The reason I suggest Haymarket is that every train to/from the north stops there, but it's a much smaller station than Waverley and so much easier to navigate).
• And then continuing as suggested.

 

Alternatively, you should expect to pay in the region of £375-£400, perhaps a little more by next year, for a Mercedes Vito van and driver (who won't be a qualified guide, but should be able to talk to you a bit about the locations) for the day.  That would let you visit St Andrews; have time for a walk around the town and Old Course (no play on the Sunday you're here); take some selfies on the Swilcan Bridge; walk on the beach; and have time for a stop for fish & chips in one of the Fife fishing villages on the way back.  With a bit less time in St Andrews, you could visit Culross Palace as well.

 

Final option: You could take an Uber straight to St Andrews, and for the return pre-book a St Andrews taxi back to Edinburgh (there is no Uber or equivalent there).

[cruisingsfun]

We took the public bus from Dundee to St Andrew’s. It was so easy! Bus route 99. We had a great day wandering the sites and played 18 holes at the Himalayas - the women’s putting green. So much fun. You can make the reservations 3 days ahead. Of course, if you are a serious golfer, it may not be for you. We’re not golfers,but could say we golfed at St. Andrews. We even bought a golf ball at thir clubhouse to give to a golfer at home.

[uktog]

1 hour ago, cruisingsfun said:

We took the public bus from Dundee to St Andrew’s. It was so easy! Bus route 99. We had a great day wandering the sites and played 18 holes at the Himalayas - the women’s putting green. So much fun. You can make the reservations 3 days ahead. Of course, if you are a serious golfer, it may not be for you. We’re not golfers,but could say we golfed at St. Andrews. We even bought a golf ball at thir clubhouse to give to a golfer at home.

The Himalayas are the best day trip experience in St Andrews. Fiendishly tricky but great fun. The bus from Dundee is an excellent suggestion- also leads to some local interaction! 

[Scots Caz]

doesn't look like there is a Dundee port stop on the June 2025 itinerary so would be North from Edinburgh or South from Aberdeen

[Mimiya11]

On 9/27/2024 at 9:44 PM, NeilWM said:

We used Rabbies tours who were excellent, not sure if they have a suitable time that day

That is who I reached out to as it looked like a perfect day.  Unfortunately starts too early and ends too late.   

[AllisonJames]

We love St. Andrews and I agree with those who say better to DIY or take a private car. We were on Scotland Intensive Aug 2023 and were going to rent a car in Edinburgh and with another couple spend the day in St. Andrews. I personally didn’t think the AZ excursion provided enough time there, it’s about 90 minutes from Edinburgh and so it looked like the AZ excursion provided only about 3-3 1/2 hours in St. A. Unfortunately that was the cruise where due to rough seas we couldn’t go through the lock in Edinburgh and eventually ended up docked in Rosyth very late in the day so our St. A plan didn’t happen. There is so much to see and do in St. A that even if you are not golfing you can fill a full day there. And if it is Sunday don’t forget the Old Course is closed and it is really fun to walk the course and have a picnic there.

[Mimiya11]

17 hours ago, AllisonJames said:

We love St. Andrews and I agree with those who say better to DIY or take a private car. We were on Scotland Intensive Aug 2023 and were going to rent a car in Edinburgh and with another couple spend the day in St. Andrews. I personally didn’t think the AZ excursion provided enough time there, it’s about 90 minutes from Edinburgh and so it looked like the AZ excursion provided only about 3-3 1/2 hours in St. A. Unfortunately that was the cruise where due to rough seas we couldn’t go through the lock in Edinburgh and eventually ended up docked in Rosyth very late in the day so our St. A plan didn’t happen. There is so much to see and do in St. A that even if you are not golfing you can fill a full day there. And if it is Sunday don’t forget the Old Course is closed and it is really fun to walk the course and have a picnic there.

 

Thanks.     Not sure we are brave enough to rent a car and refuse to spend the $1,000 quoted to us by a private driver.  Been researching our own travel there, and there are some private tours once you get there.  The plan is not to golf but wander the course, picnic and head back.   Thanks all.   .

[fruitmachine]

3 hours ago, Mimiya11 said:

 

Thanks.     Not sure we are brave enough to rent a car and refuse to spend the $1,000 quoted to us by a private driver.  Been researching our own travel there, and there are some private tours once you get there.  The plan is not to golf but wander the course, picnic and head back.   Thanks all.   .

There will be others, but Andy Mason comes highly recommended by an ex taxi-driver friend of mine.  The easiest way to contact Andy is probably WhatsApp on +44 7805 020521.  Asking for a price will cost you nothing!

Unfortunately, my friend now drives an Edinburgh city bus!

Edited Tuesday at 04:27 PM by fruitmachine

[aussie travel bird]

On 9/29/2024 at 3:07 AM, cruisingsfun said:

We took the public bus from Dundee to St Andrew’s. It was so easy! Bus route 99. We had a great day wandering the sites and played 18 holes at the Himalayas - the women’s putting green. So much fun. You can make the reservations 3 days ahead. Of course, if you are a serious golfer, it may not be for you. We’re not golfers,but could say we golfed at St. Andrews. We even bought a golf ball at thir clubhouse to give to a golfer at home.

Yes we did the public bus on June this year. Very easy and the driver was fantastic.